Sanders’ current position is defined, in a complex way, by his disagreements with both of these. Over against Jeremias’ view of the Pharisees’ widespread authority, he suggests that, in the first century AD, the Pharisees were a small group, based only in Jerusalem, with little political significance, following their own limited agendas and without taking much interest, at least qua Pharisees, in the major movements of the day.105 Over against Neusner, however, he contends that the Pharisees continued to concern themselves with matters other than merely the maintenance of private priest-like
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