Floyd Parker, «The Terms "Angel" and "Spirit" in Acts 23,8», Vol. 84 (2003) 344-365
In any discussion of the Sadducees, there will always remain a certain amount of doubt due to the paucity of sources about them. Based on what data has survived, the older theory that the Sadducees rejected the extravagant beliefs about angels and spirits provides the most convincing solution to the problem of Acts 23,8. The Sadducees’ reasons for rejecting these views were twofold: 1) angels were integrated into the apocalyptic world view that they rejected; and 2) angels often served as God’s servants to administer predestination or providence. Thus, when Paul claimed that a heavenly being had appeared to him in a manner and with a message that appeared to be predestinarian in nature, the Sadducees were unwilling to entertain the idea that an angel or spirit had appeared to him. Certainly new theories will arise in an attempt to grapple with this issue, but to re-appropriate the words of Jesus in Luke 5,39, "the old is good enough".
("angel or spirit") where the plural is expected ("angels or spirits")8. Although the collective singular of a noun is attested in both classical and biblical literature9, the usage here is a break from the usual plural in Synoptics employed to describe angels as a class of beings (e.g. Mark 12,25; Matt 22,30; Luke 20,36; cf. Acts 7,53). The use of the singular raises the possibility that something other than the description of a class of beings might be intended, as some will argue in a later section; 2) if this minor difference between Pharisees and Sadducees is included in this passage, why are some of the more significant differences omitted?10; 3) the Sadducees’ high regard for the Torah, and probably a larger corpus of scripture, makes it inconceivable that they would have rejected belief in the existence of angels, for these documents are replete with stories of angels11; and 4) the Pharisees and Christians neither criticize nor debate with the Sadducees because of the latter’s views concerning angels in biblical or extra-biblical literature12. Even when angels are discussed on the periphery of debates with the Sadducees, the existence of these beings is never questioned13. These arguments are not of equal weight, but the last two alone are enough to undermine the credibility of this position.