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While mainstream [[biblical scholarship|biblical scholars]] do suppose some Essene influence on the nascent Jewish-Christian Church in some organizational, administrative and cultic respects, some scholars go beyond that assumption. Among them, some hold theories which have been discredited and others which remain controversial.<ref name="Vermes 1992">{{cite paper| author = [[Géza Vermes]]| title = Brother James' Heirs? the community at Qumran and its relations to the first Christians| date = 1992 | url = http://priory-of-sion.com/psp/eisenman.html| accessdate = 2007-07-23}}</ref> Regarding the Ebionites specifically, a number of scholars have different theories on how the Ebionites may have developed from an Essene [[Jewish messianism|Jewish messianic]] sect.
While mainstream [[biblical scholarship|biblical scholars]] do suppose some Essene influence on the nascent Jewish-Christian Church in some organizational, administrative and cultic respects, some scholars go beyond that assumption. Among them, some hold theories which have been discredited and others which remain controversial.<ref name="Vermes 1992">{{cite paper| author = [[Géza Vermes]]| title = Brother James' Heirs? the community at Qumran and its relations to the first Christians| date = 1992 | url = http://priory-of-sion.com/psp/eisenman.html| accessdate = 2007-07-23}}</ref> Regarding the Ebionites specifically, a number of scholars have different theories on how the Ebionites may have developed from an Essene [[Jewish messianism|Jewish messianic]] sect.


[[Robert Eisenman]], [[James Tabor]], [[Martin A. Larson]] and [[Keith Akers]] argue that the Ebionites drew much of their original inspiration from [[Essene#Rules.2C customs.2C theology and beliefs|rules, customs, theology, beliefs]], and even their similarity in name{{fact}} from the Essenes through the founding influence of [[John the Baptist]].<ref name="Eisenman 1997"/><ref name="Tabor 2006"/><ref name=" Rabinowitz 2004">{{cite book| author = Rabinowitz, Jacob | title = [http://www.invisiblebooks.com/Angels.pdf Buried Angels]| publisher = Invisible Books | year = 2004}}</ref><ref> [[James H. Charlesworth]], [http://fenopy.com/torrent/BBC_The_Dead_Sea_Scrolls_DVB_XviD_MP3_www_MVGroup_org_avi/NDkzNjUx/index.html Unique features shared by Essenes and John the Baptist in interpretation of Isaiah 40:3]</ref> The fact that both the [[Qumran community]] and the [[Jerusalem church]] under [[James the Just]] referred to themselves by many epithets, including "the poor"; the [[Vegetarianism and religion#Judaism|religious vegetarianism]] of some Essene communities{{Fact|date=August 2007}} and of the Ebionite leaders John the Baptist, Jesus (as portrayed in the [[Gospel of the Ebionites]]) and James the Just{{Fact|date=August 2007}} (as reported by [[Hegesippus (chronicler)|Hegesippus]]);<ref>Epiphanius, Panarion 30.22.4</ref> and the shared customs of [[Poverty#Religious poverty|religious poverty]], [[religious communism]] and [[Mikvah|ritual bathing]] of the Ebionites and the authors of the [[Dead Sea scrolls]]; are all cited as evidence for this view.<ref name="Eisenman 1997"/><ref name="Tabor 2006"/><ref name="Larson 1989">{{cite book| author = [[Martin A. Larson|Larson, Martin A]]| title = The Essene-Christian Faith| publisher = Truth Seeker| year = 1989 | id = ISBN 0-939482-16-9}}</ref><ref name="Akers 2000">{{cite book| author = [[Keith Akers|Akers, Keith]]| title = The Lost Religion of Jesus : Simple Living and Nonviolence in Early Christianity| publisher = Lantern Books | year = 2000 | id = 1930051263}}</ref><ref name=" Rabinowitz 2004">{{cite book| author = Rabinowitz, Jacob | title = [http://www.invisiblebooks.com/Angels.pdf Buried Angels]| publisher = Invisible Books | year = 2004}}</ref> Countering this view, some scholars argue that apparent similarities between John the Baptist and the Essenes may be attributed to more general traditions and practices of [[Second Temple]] Judaism,<ref "Murphy 2003">{{cite book | author = Murphy, Catherine | title = John the Baptist - Prophet of Purity for a New Age | publisher = Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN | year = 2003 | id = ISBN 0814659330}}</ref> while others, such as [[James H. Charlesworth]] consider a connection between the Essenes and Jesus or the early Jewish-Christians to be improbable, based on major differences in their approaches and objectives.<ref "Charlesworth 1992">{{cite book | author = Charlesworth, James | title = Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls | publisher = Charlesworth, James (ed.), Anchor Bible Reference Library, NY | year = 1992 | id = ISBN 0385478445}}</ref> The religious vegetarianism of the Essenes is called into question by the discovery of animal bones at Qumran during the period the site was occupied by the sectarian community.<ref name="Price 2004">{{Cite paper | author = Price, Randall | title = New Discoveries at Qumran | year = Fall 2004 | url = http://www.worldofthebible.com/Documents/SpecialOnlineReport.pdf | accessdate = 2007-07-26}}</ref><ref name="Price 2005">{{cite paper | author = Price, Randall | title = Qumran Yields New Secrets - 2005 Dig Report | year = Winter 2005 | url = http://www.worldofthebible.com/Documents/Winter%20Newsletter%202005%20copy.pdf | accessdate = 2007-07-26}}</ref>
[[Robert Eisenman]], [[James Tabor]], [[Martin A. Larson]] and [[Keith Akers]] argue that the Ebionites drew much of their original inspiration from [[Essene#Rules.2C customs.2C theology and beliefs|rules, customs, theology, beliefs]], and even their similarity in name{{fact}} from the Essenes through the founding influence{{Fact|date=August 2007}} of [[John the Baptist]].<ref name="Eisenman 1997"/><ref name="Tabor 2006"/><ref name=" Rabinowitz 2004">{{cite book| author = Rabinowitz, Jacob | title = [http://www.invisiblebooks.com/Angels.pdf Buried Angels]| publisher = Invisible Books | year = 2004}}</ref><ref> [[James H. Charlesworth]], [http://fenopy.com/torrent/BBC_The_Dead_Sea_Scrolls_DVB_XviD_MP3_www_MVGroup_org_avi/NDkzNjUx/index.html Unique features shared by Essenes and John the Baptist in interpretation of Isaiah 40:3]</ref> The fact that both the [[Qumran community]] and the [[Jerusalem church]] under [[James the Just]] referred to themselves by many epithets, including "the poor"; the [[Vegetarianism and religion#Judaism|religious vegetarianism]] of some Essene communities{{Fact|date=August 2007}} and of the Ebionite leaders John the Baptist, Jesus (as portrayed in the [[Gospel of the Ebionites]]) and James the Just{{Fact|date=August 2007}} (as reported by [[Hegesippus (chronicler)|Hegesippus]]);<ref>Epiphanius, Panarion 30.22.4</ref> and the shared customs of [[Poverty#Religious poverty|religious poverty]], [[religious communism]] and [[Mikvah|ritual bathing]] of the Ebionites and the authors of the [[Dead Sea scrolls]]; are all cited as evidence for this view.<ref name="Eisenman 1997"/><ref name="Tabor 2006"/><ref name="Larson 1989">{{cite book| author = [[Martin A. Larson|Larson, Martin A]]| title = The Essene-Christian Faith| publisher = Truth Seeker| year = 1989 | id = ISBN 0-939482-16-9}}</ref><ref name="Akers 2000">{{cite book| author = [[Keith Akers|Akers, Keith]]| title = The Lost Religion of Jesus : Simple Living and Nonviolence in Early Christianity| publisher = Lantern Books | year = 2000 | id = 1930051263}}</ref><ref name=" Rabinowitz 2004">{{cite book| author = Rabinowitz, Jacob | title = [http://www.invisiblebooks.com/Angels.pdf Buried Angels]| publisher = Invisible Books | year = 2004}}</ref> Countering this view, some scholars argue that apparent similarities between John the Baptist and the Essenes may be attributed to more general traditions and practices of [[Second Temple]] Judaism,<ref "Murphy 2003">{{cite book | author = Murphy, Catherine | title = John the Baptist - Prophet of Purity for a New Age | publisher = Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN | year = 2003 | id = ISBN 0814659330}}</ref> while others, such as [[James H. Charlesworth]] consider a connection between the Essenes and Jesus or the early Jewish-Christians to be improbable, based on major differences in their approaches and objectives.<ref "Charlesworth 1992">{{cite book | author = Charlesworth, James | title = Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls | publisher = Charlesworth, James (ed.), Anchor Bible Reference Library, NY | year = 1992 | id = ISBN 0385478445}}</ref> The religious vegetarianism of the Essenes is called into question by the discovery of animal bones at Qumran during the period the site was occupied by the sectarian community.<ref name="Price 2004">{{Cite paper | author = Price, Randall | title = New Discoveries at Qumran | year = Fall 2004 | url = http://www.worldofthebible.com/Documents/SpecialOnlineReport.pdf | accessdate = 2007-07-26}}</ref><ref name="Price 2005">{{cite paper | author = Price, Randall | title = Qumran Yields New Secrets - 2005 Dig Report | year = Winter 2005 | url = http://www.worldofthebible.com/Documents/Winter%20Newsletter%202005%20copy.pdf | accessdate = 2007-07-26}}</ref>


Hans-Joachim Schoeps argues that the conversion of some Essenes to Jewish Christianity after the [[Siege of Jerusalem (70)|Siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE]] may be the source of some Ebionites adopting Essene views and practices;<ref name="Schoeps 1969"/> while some conclude that the Essenes did not become Jewish Christians but still had an influence on the Ebionites.<ref name="Stendahl 1991">{{cite book| author = Stendahl, Kriste | title = The Scrolls and the New Testament | publisher = Herder & Herder | year = 1991 | id = ISBN 0824511360}}</ref>
Hans-Joachim Schoeps argues that the conversion of some Essenes to Jewish Christianity after the [[Siege of Jerusalem (70)|Siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE]] may be the source of some Ebionites adopting Essene views and practices;<ref name="Schoeps 1969"/> while some conclude that the Essenes did not become Jewish Christians but still had an influence on the Ebionites.<ref name="Stendahl 1991">{{cite book| author = Stendahl, Kriste | title = The Scrolls and the New Testament | publisher = Herder & Herder | year = 1991 | id = ISBN 0824511360}}</ref>

Revision as of 17:06, 11 August 2007

Jesus's expounding of the Law during a sermon he gave, around 30 CE, on a mountainside to his disciples and a large crowd, may have been a central issue to Jewish Christians such as the Ebionites.[1] Image: The Sermon on the Mount by Carl Heinrich Bloch, 1890

The Ebionites (Greek: Ebionaioi from Hebrew; אביונים, Evyonim, "the Poor Ones") were an early Jewish Christian sect that lived in and around the land of Israel in the 1st to the 5th century CE.[2]

The term was at first, like "Nazarenes", a common name for all early Christians, signifying their religious poverty, which was especially characteristic of the early Jerusalem Church. Following schisms within the early Christian communities the "Ebionite" application was limited to Jewish Christians who rejected the emerging influence of Paul of Tarsus. Later in the 4th century, the name was retrospectively used for a separate party within the Jewish Christian community distinct from the Nazarenes.[3]

Without authenticated archaeological evidence for the existence of the Ebionites, their views and practices can only be reconstructed from textual references. The little that is known about them comes from polemics by early and influential theologians and writers in the Christian Church who considered them to be heretics.[2] Several modern scholars, however, contest the traditional portrayal of Ebionites as "Judaizers" by asserting that they were not only the legitimate spiritual successors to the original disciples of John the Baptist, his cousin Jesus the Nazarene and Jesus' brother James the Just, but that they were more faithful than the followers of Paul to the original teachings of the historical Jesus.[4][5][6][7]

History

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The Ebionites are mentioned or referred to by various Fathers of the Church. The earliest reference to a group that might fit the description of the Ebionites appears in Justin Martyr's Dialogue with Trypho (c. 140). Justin distinguishes between Jewish Christians who observe the Law of Moses but do not require its observance of others, and those who believe the Mosaic Law to be obligatory on all.[8] Irenaeus (c. 180) was the first to use the term "Ebionites" to describe a heretical judaizing sect, which he regarded as stubbornly clinging to the Law.[9] Origen in c. 212 remarks that the name derives from the Hebrew word "evyon," meaning "poor."[10] Epiphanius of Salamis in the 4th century gives the most complete but also questionable account in his heresiology called Panarion, denouncing eighty heretical sects, among them the Ebionites.[11][12] Epiphanius mostly gives general descriptions of their religious beliefs and includes quotations from their gospels, which have not survived.

The Church Fathers distinguished the Ebionites from the Carpocratians, the Cerinthians, the Elcesaites, the Nasoraeans, the Nazarenes, the Nazoraeans, and the Sampsaeans, most of whom were early sects of Jewish disciples of Jesus who held orthodox or gnostic Christian views rejected by the Ebionites. Eusebius, however, mentions that a minority of Ebionites came to embrace some of these views despite keeping their name.[13]

Several established academics and fringe researchers, some of whom are engaged in the third quest for the historical Jesus, have sought to reconstruct the history of the Ebionites. They critically reexamine the few historical facts which exist, with an eye towards rewriting history with newly discovered information. Their assumption is that the history of Jewish Christian sects as it has been traditionally told by the Fathers of the Church is neither fair nor accurate. However, their methodologies and conclusions are often at variance with mainstream scholarship.

Although it remains an open question whether the Ebionites, denounced by the Church Fathers, were direct descendants of the earliest Jersualem church or the first Judeo-Christian synagogue built on Mount Zion,[2][14] some scholars argue that the first self-identified Ebionites were poor Jewish peasants who began to follow the wilderness ministry of John the Baptist. [7][15] After the death of John, many of them joined the ministry of Jesus, who they believed was the Messiah come to fulfill the Law of Moses.[16] The ministry sparked a movement which organized itself into communes in several cities overseen from Jerusalem by Jesus' brother, James the Just, after his death.[7] It was during this time that Paul of Tarsus joined the movement. This eventually led to a dispute with regard to the circumcision of gentile converts, which Paul maintained was unnecessary. The book of the Acts of the Apostles records the compromise that James brokered during the Council of Jerusalem c. 49, which did not require that gentile converts circumcise.[17] However, in 58, Paul complains, in his second epistle to the Corinthians, of "super-apostles" that were questioning his honesty and continuing to counter his mission with their "judaizing teachings".[18] After the death of James in 62, Simeon of Jerusalem, another of Jesus' relatives, was chosen as the new leader.[6][7] [19] It is a matter of debate whether or not the movement fled across the Jordan River to Pella, Jordan before the siege of Jerusalem in 70.[6][7]

After the end of the First Jewish-Roman War, the importance of the Jerusalem church began to fade. Jewish Christianity became dispersed throughout the Jewish diaspora in Southwest Asia, where it was slowly eclipsed by Pauline Christianity. The orthodox Christian church, which had previously been struggling to survive against the disapproval of Jerusalem, now spread throughout the Roman Empire without impediment.[20]Once the Jewish leadership of the movement was eliminated during the Bar Kokhba revolt in 135, the Ebionites gradually lost the struggle for their claim to being the true followers of Jesus. This decline was due to marginalization and persecution by both Jews and Christians.[5] Following the defeat of the rebellion and the expulsion of all Jews from Judea, Jerusalem became the gentile city of Aelia Capitolina. Many of the Jewish Christians residing at Pella renounced their Jewish practices at this time and joined to the orthodox Christian church. Those who remained at Pella and continued in obedience to the Law were deemed heretics and their name was used mockingly to suggest that were "poor in doctrine".[21] Epiphanius personally knew of a settlement of Ebionites on Cyprus c. 375, but by the mid-5th century, Theodorus of Cyprus reported that they were no longer present in the region.[22]

Map showing the region of Hejaz outlined in red

The Ebionites might be represented in late antiquity as the sect encountered by the Muslim historian Abd al-Jabbar c. 1000, almost 500 years later than most Western historians allow for their survival.[23] Another possible reference to surviving Ebionite communities in northwestern Arabia, specifically the cities of Tayma and Tilmas, around the 11th century, appears in Sefer Ha'masaot, the "Book of the Travels" of Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela, a rabbi from Spain.[24] 12th century Muslim historian Muhammad al-Shahrastani, in his book Kitab al–Milal wa al-Nihal, the "Book of Sects and Creeds", mentions Jews living in nearby Medina and Hejaz who accepted Jesus as a prophetic figure and followed traditional Judaism, rejecting mainstream Christian views.[25]

Legacy

The legacy of the Ebionites is debated. Some scholars argue that the primary influence of the Ebionites was their contribution to the developing Islamic view of Jesus due to their exchanges with the first Muslims.[4] In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, several small yet competing new religious movements, such as the Ebionite Jewish Community, have emerged claiming to be revivalists of the views and practices of early Ebionites,[26] although their idiosyncratic claims to authenticity cannot be verified. The counter-missionary group Jews for Judaism favorably mentions the historical Ebionites in their literature in order to argue that "Messianic Judaism", as promoted by missionary groups such as Jews for Jesus, is Pauline Christianity misrepresenting itself as Judaism.[27] Some Messianic groups have expressed concern over leaders in Israel that deny Jesus' divinity and the possible collapse of the Messianic movement due to a resurgence of Ebionitism.[28][29] In a recent polemic on the Torah-observance of neo-Ebionites, a Messianic leader asked whether Christians should do likewise.[30]

Views and practices

Judaism

Most patristic sources portray the Ebionites as traditional yet ascetic Jews, who zealously followed the Law of Moses, revered Jerusalem as the holiest city,[9] and restricted table fellowship only to gentiles who converted to Judaism.[8] They celebrated a commemorative meal annually, on or around Passover, with unleavened bread and water only, in contrast to the Christian practice of performing a mystical meal in commemoration of Jesus through the daily use of bread containing leaven and wine mixed with water.[31][32][11]

Jewish or Gnostic Christianity

Epiphanius of Salamis is the only Church Father who describes some Ebionites as departing from traditional Jewish principles of faith and practice; specifically by engaging in excessive ritual bathing,[33] possessing an angelology which claimed that the Christ is a great archangel who was incarnated in Jesus when he was adopted as the son of God,[34] opposing animal sacrifice,[35] denying parts or most of the Law,[36] and practicing religious vegetarianism.[37]

The reliability of Epiphanius' account of the Ebionites is questioned by some scholars.[2][38] Shlomo Pines, for example, argues that the heterodox views and practices he ascribes to some Ebionites originated in Gnostic Christianity rather than Jewish Christianity, and are characteristics of the Elcesaite sect, which Epiphanius mistakenly attributed to the Ebionites.[23]

Essenism

While mainstream biblical scholars do suppose some Essene influence on the nascent Jewish-Christian Church in some organizational, administrative and cultic respects, some scholars go beyond that assumption. Among them, some hold theories which have been discredited and others which remain controversial.[39] Regarding the Ebionites specifically, a number of scholars have different theories on how the Ebionites may have developed from an Essene Jewish messianic sect.

Robert Eisenman, James Tabor, Martin A. Larson and Keith Akers argue that the Ebionites drew much of their original inspiration from rules, customs, theology, beliefs, and even their similarity in name[citation needed] from the Essenes through the founding influence[citation needed] of John the Baptist.[6][7][15][40] The fact that both the Qumran community and the Jerusalem church under James the Just referred to themselves by many epithets, including "the poor"; the religious vegetarianism of some Essene communities[citation needed] and of the Ebionite leaders John the Baptist, Jesus (as portrayed in the Gospel of the Ebionites) and James the Just[citation needed] (as reported by Hegesippus);[41] and the shared customs of religious poverty, religious communism and ritual bathing of the Ebionites and the authors of the Dead Sea scrolls; are all cited as evidence for this view.[6][7][42][43][15] Countering this view, some scholars argue that apparent similarities between John the Baptist and the Essenes may be attributed to more general traditions and practices of Second Temple Judaism,[44] while others, such as James H. Charlesworth consider a connection between the Essenes and Jesus or the early Jewish-Christians to be improbable, based on major differences in their approaches and objectives.[45] The religious vegetarianism of the Essenes is called into question by the discovery of animal bones at Qumran during the period the site was occupied by the sectarian community.[46][47]

Hans-Joachim Schoeps argues that the conversion of some Essenes to Jewish Christianity after the Siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE may be the source of some Ebionites adopting Essene views and practices;[4] while some conclude that the Essenes did not become Jewish Christians but still had an influence on the Ebionites.[48]

Jesus

The majority of Church Fathers agree that the Ebionites rejected many of the central Christian views of Jesus such as the pre-existence, divinity, virgin birth, atoning death, and physical resurrection of Jesus.[2] The Ebionites are described as emphasizing the oneness of God and the humanity of Jesus as the biological son of both Mary and Joseph, who by virtue of his righteousness, was chosen by God to be the messianic "prophet like Moses" (foretold in Deuteronomy 18:14-22) when he was anointed with the holy spirit at his baptism.[5][49]

Of the books of the New Testament, the Ebionites are said to have accepted only a Hebrew version of the Gospel of Matthew, referred to as the Gospel of the Hebrews, as additional scripture to the Hebrew Bible. This version of Matthew, Irenaeus reports, omitted the first two chapters (on the nativity of Jesus), and started with the baptism of Jesus by John.[9]

The Ebionites believed that all Jews and gentiles must observe the commandments in the Law of Moses,[8] in order to become righteous and seek communion with God;[50] but that these commandments must be understood in the light of Jesus' expounding of the Law,[49] revealed during his sermon on the mount.[1] The Ebionites may have held a form of "inaugurated eschatology" positing that the ministry of Jesus had ushered in the Messianic Age so that the kingdom of God might be understood as present in an incipient fashion, while at the same time awaiting consummation in the future age.[5][49]

John the Baptist

In one excerpt from the Gospel of the Ebionites quoted by Epiphanius, John the Baptist is portrayed as a vegetarian Nazirite teacher of righteousness.[6][7][42] It is a matter of debate whether John was in fact a vegetarian (a notion reinforced by the "Slavonic version" of Josephus[51][7][42]) or whether some Ebionites (or the related Elcesaite sect which Epiphanius took for Ebionites) were projecting their vegetarianism unto him.[23]

James the Just

Some scholars argue that the Ebionites may have claimed unique legitimacy in terms of apostolic succession from James the Just, the first bishop of Jerusalem, whom they believed the rightful leader of the Church (due to a patrilineal succession of relatives of Jesus) rather than Peter[52]. Futhermore, they argue that the Ebionites viewed James as the legitimate high priest of Israel, by virtue of his righteousness, in opposition to the officially recognized high priest.[42][6][7]

Paul of Tarsus

Patristic sources report Ebionites as denouncing Paul of Tarsus as an apostate from the Law of Moses[9]. Epiphanius relates that some Ebionites alleged that Paul was a Greek who converted to Judaism in order to marry the daughter of a high priest of Israel but apostasized when she rejected him.[53] Some scholars argue that Paul was an apostate and developed the early Christian church as a Gnostic Jewish mystery religion.[5]

Religious perspectives

Christian views

The mainstream Christian view of the Ebionites is based on the polemical views of the Church Fathers who portrayed them as heretics for rejecting many of the central Christian views of Jesus, and allegedly having an improper fixation on the Law of Moses at the expense of the grace of God.[54] In this view, the Ebionites may have been the descendants of a Jewish Christian sect within the early Jerusalem church which broke away from its orthodox theology.[55]

Some Christian apologists have criticized the quest for the historical Jesus as having resulted in a "revival of the Ebionite heresy".[56] Some scholars with mainstream Christian beliefs are acknowledging the recent emphasis on the Jewishness of Jesus and his earliest followers, and commenting on how they reconciled the Jewish Jesus with the Christ of faith.[57]

Jewish views

The orthodox Jewish view of the Ebionites is that they were Jewish heretics due to their refusal to see Jesus as a false prophet and failed Jewish Messiah claimant but also for wanting to include their gospel into the canon of the Hebrew Bible.[5]

Islamic views

Some Muslims believe that the Ebionites were "People of the Book" faithful to the authentic teachings of Jesus and his disciples because they held beliefs identical or similar to the Islamic view of Jesus.[58]

Writings

Few writings of the Ebionites have survived, and these are in uncertain form. The Recognitions of Clement and the Clementine Homilies, two 3rd century Christian works, are regarded by general scholarly consensus as largely or entirely Jewish Christian in origin and reflect Jewish Christian beliefs. The exact relationship between the Ebionites and these writings is debated, but Epiphanius's description of some Ebionites in Panarion 30 bears a striking similarity to the ideas in the Recognitions and Homilies. Scholar Glenn Alan Koch speculates that Epiphanius likely relied upon a version of the Homilies as a source document.[12]

The 1908 Catholic Encyclopedia mentions four classes of Ebionite writings:[54]

  • Gospel of the Ebionites. According to Irenaeus, the Ebionites used only the Gospel of Matthew. Eusebius of Caesarea (Historia Ecclesiae IV, xxi, 8) mentions a Gospel of the Hebrews, often identified as the Aramaic original of Matthew, written with Hebrew letters. Such a work was known to Hegesippus (according to Eusebius, Historia Eccl., ), Origen (according to Jerome's De viris illustribus ii, and to Clement of Alexandria (Strom., II, ix, 45). Epiphanius of Salamis attributes this gospel to Nazarenes, and claims that Ebionites only possessed an incomplete, falsified, and truncated copy. (Adversus Haereses, xxix, 9). The question remains whether or not Epiphanius was able to make a genuine distinction between Nazarenes and Ebionites.
  • New Testament apocrypha: The Circuits of Peter and Acts of the Apostles, including the work usually titled the Ascents of James. The first-named books are substantially contained in the Homilies of Clement under the title of Clement's Compendium of Peter's itinerary sermons, and also in the Recognitions attributed to Clement. They form an early Christian didactic fiction to express Jewish Christian views, i.e. the primacy of James the Just, their connection with the episcopal see of Rome, and their antagonism to Simon Magus, as well as gnostic doctrines. Scholar Robert Van Voorst opines of the Ascents of James (R 1.33-71), "There is, in fact, no section of the Clementine literature about whose origin in Jewish Christianity one may be more certain".[38] Despite this assertion, he expresses reservations that the material is genuinely Ebionite in origin.
  • The Works of Symmachus the Ebionite, i.e. his Koine Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, used by Jerome, fragments of which exist, and his lost Hypomnemata, written to counter the canonical Gospel of Matthew. The latter work, which is totally lost (Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., VI, xvii; Jerome, De vir. ill., liv), is probably identical with De distinctione præceptorum, mentioned by Ebed Jesu (Assemani, Bibl. Or., III, 1).
  • The Book of Elchesai (Elxai), or of "The Hidden power", claimed to have been written about 100 CE and brought to Rome in c. 217 CE by Alcibiades of Apamea. Ebionites who accepted its gnostic doctrines were judged to be apostates and called Elcesaites. (Hipp., Philos., IX, xiv-xvii; Epiphanius., Adv. Haer., xix, 1; liii, 1.)

It is also speculated that the core of the Gospel of Barnabas, beneath a polemical medieval Muslim overlay, may have been based upon an Ebionite or gnostic document.[59] The existence and origin of this source continues to be debated by scholars.[60]

Archaeology

In his 2004 book Buried Angels, biblical scholar Jacob Rabinowitz suggests that artifacts discovered by Franciscan biblical archaeologists in Jerusalem, Hebron and Nazareth may have belonged to the first Ebionites. The artifacts, which include ossuaries, figurines and ritual objects, incorporate the cross as a decorative motif combined with other biblical symbols. The Franciscans believe they are the work of a late 3rd or 4th century heretical judaizing sect. [15]

References

  1. ^ a b Viljoen, Francois P. (2006). "Jesus' Teaching on the Torah in the Sermon on the Mount" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-03-13. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. ^ a b c d e Klijn A.F.J.; Reinink, G.J. (1973). Patristic Evidence for Jewish-Christian Sects. Brill. ISBN 9004037632.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Uhlhorn, G. (1894). A Religious Encyclopaedia or Dictionary of Biblical, Historical, Doctrinal, and Practical Theology, 3rd edn., Vol. 2. Funk & Wagnalls Company. ISBN 9004037632.
  4. ^ a b c Schoeps, Hans-Joachim (1969). Jewish Christianity: Factional Disputes in the Early Church. Translation Douglas R. A. Hare. Fortress Press.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Maccoby, Hyam (1987). The Mythmaker: Paul and the Invention of Christianity. HarperCollins. ISBN 0062505858." " Cite error: The named reference "Maccoby 1987" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Eisenman, Robert (1997). James the Brother of Jesus: The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Viking. ISBN 1842930265.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Tabor, James D. (2006). The Jesus Dynasty: A New Historical Investigation of Jesus, His Royal Family, and the Birth of Christianity. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0743287231.
  8. ^ a b c Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho ch. 47.
  9. ^ a b c d Irenaeus of Lyon, Adversus Haereses I, 26; II,21.
  10. ^ Origen, De Principiis IV, 22.
  11. ^ a b Epiphanius of Salamis, Panarion 30.
  12. ^ a b Koch, Glenn Alan (1976). A Critical Investigation of Epiphanius' Knowledge of the Ebionites: A Translation and Critical Discussion of 'Panarion' 30. University of Pennsylvania.
  13. ^ Eusebius of Caesarea, History of the Church, III, 27
  14. ^ Pixner, Bargil (1990). "Church of the Apostles found on Mt. Zion". Retrieved 2007-03-11. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  15. ^ a b c d Rabinowitz, Jacob (2004). Buried Angels. Invisible Books. {{cite book}}: External link in |title= (help)
  16. ^ Matthew 5:17-20
  17. ^ Acts of the Apostles 15
  18. ^ Second Epistle to the Corinthians 11:4-5, 11:13-15, 12:11
  19. ^ Simeon, Bischof von Jerusalem, Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon, vol. X. Friedrich-Wilhelm Bautz (ed.), Herzberg. 1995. ISBN 3-88309-062-X. Simeon, Bischof von Jerusalem. Retrieved 2007-08-05.
  20. ^ Brandon, S. G. F (1968). The fall of Jerusalem and the Christian church;: A study of the effects of the Jewish overthrow of A. D. 70 on Christianity. S.P.C.K. ISBN 0281004501.
  21. ^ Gibbon, Edward (2003). The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Chp.15, pp.390-391. Random House, NY. ISBN 0375758119. Chp. 15. Retrieved 2007-08-02.
  22. ^ Wace, Henry & Piercy, William (1911). A Dictionary of Early Christian Biography. Retrieved 2007-08-01.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  23. ^ a b c Pines, Shlomo (1966). The Jewish Christians Of The Early Centuries Of Christianity According To A New Source. Proceedings of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities II, No. 13. ISBN 102-255-998.
  24. ^ Adler, Marcus N. (1907). The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela: Critical Text, Translation and Commentary, pp 70-72. Phillip Feldheim.
  25. ^ Shahrastani, Muhammad (2002). The Book of Religious and Philosphical Sects, William Cureton edition, page 167. Gorgias Press.
  26. ^ Self Help Guide (2006). "Jesus Christ". Retrieved 2006-02-21. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  27. ^ Kravitz, Bentzion (2001). The Jewish Response to Missionaries: Counter-Missionary Handbook. Jews for Judaism International.
  28. ^ Koniuchowsky, Moshe (2007). ""Messianic" Leaders Deny Yeshua in Record Numbers". Retrieved 2007-07-21. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  29. ^ Prasch, James (2007). "You Foolish Galatians, Who Bewitched You? A Crisis in Messianic Judaism?". Retrieved 2007-07-21. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  30. ^ Parsons, John (2007). "Should Christians be Torah-observant?". Retrieved 2007-07-21. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  31. ^ Exarch Aneed, Anthony J. (1919). "Syrian Christians, A Brief History of the Catholic Church of St. George in Milwaukee, Wis. And a Sketch of the Eastern Church". Retrieved 2007-04-28. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  32. ^ Irenaeus of Lyon, Against Heresies V, 1.
  33. ^ Epiphanius, Panarion 19:28-30
  34. ^ Epiphanius, Panarion 30.14.5, 30.16.4
  35. ^ Epiphanius, Panarion 30.16.5
  36. ^ Epiphanius, Panarion 30.18.7-9
  37. ^ Epiphanius, Panarion 30.22.4
  38. ^ a b Van Voorst, Robert E. (1989). The Ascents of James: History and Theology of a Jewish-Christian Community. Society of Biblical Literature. ISBN 1555402941.
  39. ^ Géza Vermes (1992). "Brother James' Heirs? the community at Qumran and its relations to the first Christians". Retrieved 2007-07-23. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  40. ^ James H. Charlesworth, Unique features shared by Essenes and John the Baptist in interpretation of Isaiah 40:3
  41. ^ Epiphanius, Panarion 30.22.4
  42. ^ a b c d Larson, Martin A (1989). The Essene-Christian Faith. Truth Seeker. ISBN 0-939482-16-9.
  43. ^ Akers, Keith (2000). The Lost Religion of Jesus : Simple Living and Nonviolence in Early Christianity. Lantern Books. 1930051263.
  44. ^ Murphy, Catherine (2003). John the Baptist - Prophet of Purity for a New Age. Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN. ISBN 0814659330.
  45. ^ Charlesworth, James (1992). Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Charlesworth, James (ed.), Anchor Bible Reference Library, NY. ISBN 0385478445.
  46. ^ Price, Randall (Fall 2004). "New Discoveries at Qumran" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-07-26. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  47. ^ Price, Randall (Winter 2005). "Qumran Yields New Secrets - 2005 Dig Report" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-07-26. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  48. ^ Stendahl, Kriste (1991). The Scrolls and the New Testament. Herder & Herder. ISBN 0824511360.
  49. ^ a b c Tabor, James D. (1998). "Ancient Judaism: Nazarenes and Ebionites". Retrieved 2006-09-31. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  50. ^ Hippolytus
  51. ^ The Slavonic Josephus' Account of the Baptist and Jesus
  52. ^ James the Just's position as Jerusalem leader after Jesus' death is testified by Clement of Alexandria, Eusebius of Caesarea, the Gospel of Thomas and Hegesippus
  53. ^ Epiphanius of Salamis, Panarion, 16, 9.
  54. ^ a b Arendzen, J.P. (1904). Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume V.: Ebionites. Robert Appleton Company. Cite error: The named reference "Arendzen 1909" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  55. ^ Daniélou, Jean (1964). The theology of Jewish Christianity: The Development of Christian doctrine before the Council of Nicea. H. Regnery Co. ASIN B0007FOFQI.
  56. ^ Bromling, Brad (1995). "Jesus: Truly God and Truly Human". Retrieved 2007-08-05. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help); Unknown parameter |Publisher= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help)
  57. ^ Loader, William. "Jesus the Jew". Retrieved 2007-08-05. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  58. ^ al-Ashanti, Abdulhaq and Bowes, Abdur-Rahmaan (2005). Before Nicea: The Early Followers of Prophet Jesus. Jamia Media. ISBN 0955109906.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  59. ^ John Toland, Nazarenus, or Jewish, Gentile and Mahometan Christianity, 1718.
  60. ^ Blackhirst, R. (2000). "Barnabas and the Gospels: Was There an Early Gospel of Barnabas?, J. Higher Criticism, 7/1, pp 1-22". Retrieved 2007-03-11. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

Primary sources

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