[87] Textualists, that is. It was attached to them in the first instance as a term of reproach.
[88] The tenets of the Karaites are said to have been:
1. The Creation of the world, as opposed to its eternal existence.
2. That God had no beginning, has no form, and that His unity is absolute.
3. That He sent Moses, and delivered to him the Law.
4. That every believer must derive his belief from the simple interpretation of Holy Scripture, without regard to tradition.
5. That God will raise the dead, and judge men hereafter.
6. That He has not cast away His chosen people.
In recording these opinions, it should be noted that it is quite possible (indeed, likely) that a party existed among the Jews, long previously to the time of Ananus, who held notions identical with or very like them, and who were also called Karaites, i.e., ‘Textualists;’ but they did not withdraw themselves into a separate community, under the name of Karaites, until A.D. 780.