So I’ve been watching the Star Wars saga, from the 1977 debut to the upcoming release just around the corner. This tidbit accounts for the opening paragraph below.

Even though it’s been “a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away” since Pharisees were running around in Century One causing trouble for God’s messengers, Pharisees and Pharisaism are still here.

They’re like the poor. They’ll always be with you.

While Pharisaism is in sharp decline today (experiencing advanced stages of rigor mortis), the pharisaic spirit still exists. And it’s the chief reason why so many non-Christians want nothing to do with Jesus.

When I was 18 years old, I spent a lot of time in a group that bred Pharisees like rabbits. And I will shamefully admit that I was one of them.

Thank God, however, I experienced the washing-machine of life and it drained much (or all, hopefully) of the Pharisee out of me. Regrettably, that doesn’t happen with everyone. Many Christians waste their sufferings. And so they remain just as hardened, callous, self-righteous and judgmental as they were in their youth.

What follows are 8 characteristics of a “Christian” Pharisee .  . .

Read the rest of the article by Frank Viola here.