Although readers of this book are much more likely to have familiarity with the portrayal of the Pharisees in the Gospels than in the Scrolls, I suspect that it may come as a surprise when I say that the gospel writers view the Pharisees as too lenient—a surprise precisely because the Christian stereotype of the Pharisees is that they are legalistic and literalistic, following every precept of the Torah to an exacting degree.
