Josephus also says that the Pharisees believe in divine providence, but not at the expense of free will. Put another way, individuals bear responsibility for the choices they make and thus have a measure of control over their lives, but providence is also at work in a complementary sense. This “middle way” distinguishes the Pharisees from the Sadducees, on the one hand, who think everything that happens is determined solely by human action, and from the Essenes on the other, who claim that nothing whatsoever happens unless it is in accord with fate.
