Acts 23:8 Meaning and Explanation
“For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both.”
King James Version (KJV)
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Read Full Chapter →Luke explains the rift: Sadducees deny resurrection, angels, and spirits, while the Pharisees confess them.
What Does Acts 23:8 Mean?
Luke pauses to explain the division for his readers. The Sadducees denied any resurrection, any angel, any spirit; the Pharisees confessed them all. Two views of death and the unseen world sat on the same council benches.
The gospel answers this old debate not with a theory but with an event: God raised Jesus, angels announced it at the empty tomb (Luke 24:4-6, 23), and the risen Lord showed His disciples His hands and His feet (Luke 24:39). What one party denied and the other awaited, the apostles proclaimed as accomplished fact — and on it rests the believer's confidence that death does not have the last word.
Acts 23:8 in the Original Language
homologeo (ὁμολογέω), 'confess' -- to acknowledge openly, literally to say the same thing.
Frequently Asked Questions About Acts 23:8
What does Acts 23:8 mean?
Luke explains the rift: Sadducees deny resurrection, angels, and spirits, while the Pharisees confess them.