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Nazarene (sect)

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: Talmidaism; Jewish Christians

Nazarene is a title by which the Jewish followers of Jesus were referred to in the early years after his death. In the New Testament book of Acts Paul is tried in Caesarea, and Tertullus is reported as saying:

"We have, in fact, found this man a pestilent fellow, an agitator among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes" (Acts 24:5, New Revised Standard Version).

Several distinct sects (at least one of which existing a century prior to the Christian movement) with a continuity up to the fourth century also used, or were designated with, terms which have been translated into English as Nazarene.

Epiphanius and Theodoret are said to have equated certain of these groups with the Ebionites.

For information on the Nazarene group of artists, see the article Nazarene movement.

"Jesus the Nazarene"

It seems clear that "Christian" was not the earliest term for the followers of Jesus, since Acts 11:26 reports its first use, in Antioch - at a time and in a place at least 10 and possibly 20 or more years after the death of Jesus. Many authors have argued that "Nazarene" was not just one term that was used, but the dominant term, and that it was also used to describe Jesus himself.

The chief argument for this claim rests on an interpretation of the way Jesus is referred to by the writers of the gospels. The original Greek forms of all four gospels call him, in places, "Iesou Nazarene" (e.g. Matthew 26:71; Mark 1:24, 10:47, 14:67; Luke 4:34; John 17:5; Acts 2:22). Translations of the Bible, from the fifth century Vulgate on, have generally rendered this into a form equivalent to "Jesus of Nazareth". This is a reasonable translation given that it is clear that all four evangelists did believe that Jesus came from Nazareth. However, it is not the only possible translation. Linguistically, "Jesus the Nazarene" would be at least as correct, and some critics have argued that it is more plausible given that Nazareth seems to have been a place of no significance at the time; it is unmentioned in contemporary history, and it is not even possible to prove, other than by reference to the gospels, that it even existed in Jesus' time. The Vulgate does use a form equivalent to "Nazarene" in one verse (Matthew 2:23), where its reading is Nazaroeus (Nazoraios), but here the original Greek has the word Nazarene on its own, without Iesou.

However we translate these verses from the gospels, the evidence from Acts 24 does support the claim that "Nazarene" was an early term for the followers of Jesus. But it does not appear to have been the term most used by those followers: the earliest Christian writings we have, the letters of Paul (which predate the gospels by ten to forty years), use the phrase "followers of the way" or, by far the most common, "the church".

Derivations of "Nazarene"

However, regardless of these issues of translation, it seems clear that the term "Nazarenes" had at least some currency as a description of some followers of Jesus. What, therefore, does the word mean?

  • the place-name Nazareth, via the Greek form Iesou Nazarene; this is the traditional interpretation within mainstream Christianity, and it still seems the obvious interpretation to many modern Christians. In support of this interpretation is that Iesou Nazarene is applied to Jesus in the Gospels only by those who are outside the circle of his intimate friends, as would be natural if a place-name was meant. However in Acts it is employed by Peter and Paul, and attributed by Paul to the risen Christ (Acts, 22:8). Matthew 2:23 reads that "coming he dwelt in a city said by the prophets: That he shall be called a Nazarene", though no convincing identification of the prophecy concerned has been brought forward, the phrasing again strongly suggests that Matthew meant Nazarene to refer to a place name.
  • the word netzer meaning "branch" or "off-shoot" (as in Isaiah 11:1 נֵצֶר). This could in turn refer to the claim that Jesus was a "descendant of David", or to the view that Jesus (or rather the teachings he or his followers advocated) were an offshoot from Judaism.
  • the word nosri which means "one who keeps (guard over)" or "one who observes" (as in Jeremiah 31:5-6 נֹצְרִים)
  • the word nazir, meaning separated (as in Nazirite נְזִיר). A Nazirite was a man who is consecrated and bound by a vow to God see details below.

None of these interpretations is unproblematic (for example, the gospels describe Jesus as avoiding ascetic practices, which would make it odd to describe him as a Nazirite). The English word "Nazarene" was possibly a deliberate play on words that suggested more than one of these interpretations.

Nazirites/Nazeiraios/Naziraios

Nazirites were Jews who had taken special vows of dedication to the Lord whereby they abstained from alchohol and grape-products, cutting their hair, and approaching corpses for a specified period of time. At the end of the period they were required to immerse themselves in water. There are a number of references to Nazirites in the Old Testament.

Netzarim / Nazoraios (Branches)

The term Netzarim (Hebrew) means Branches and was rendered Nazoraios in Greek. The towns of Nazareth and Netzarim both deive their names from this meaning. To be absolutely precise, any descendant of Israel's king David belongs to the netzarim, the term being an designation of royal pedigree rather than any religious sub-category. The modern netzarim beth-din in Israel who use this term as a self designation wile acknowledging the facts of the matter. Thus literal netzarim have continually been in existence since the demise of Jechonia upto the present most of whom who are aware of their descent being also still Jewish, and not associated with the Jehoshua Movement. The modern Netzarim have been based mostly in Israel and accept Yehoshua (Pandera) Ben Yosef Ben David (whom they see as the historical personality behind the Christian Jesus) as a Messianic figure and as a legitimate rabbi, but not as God.

Epiphanius however was under the impression that the original Netzarim Jews (Greek Nazoraios) should be classified as Christians and he called them Nazoraeans. This has been taken to suggest that a significant body of netzarim Jews had become central to a Jewish Jehoshua Movement who took their self-designation after them. They were evicted from Jerusalem in 135 CE and forced into conformity with the Holy Roman Empre in 333. By 370 CE Epiphanius wrote that only a few rare Nazoraeans were still to be found, and these were in Upper Egypt and beyond Arabia. Thus they may have had some late connection to the Arabic Sabians who preceded Islam and considered themselves to be living in the messianic era. Harvey Falk (NY 1985) argues convincingly that they were nothing more than a Davidic branch of Judaism building on Hillel's Noahide mission to the Gentiles in an attempt to bring about the Messianic Era.

Notzrim / Nasaraioi (Watchers)/ Jewish Christians

The original Nasoraean/Notzarim sect pre-dated the common era by at least a century but is thought to have eventually exerted its influence over the Jesus movement. Epiphanius calls them Nasaraeans (Nasaraioi) distinguishing them from Nazoraeans (Nazoraioi) and confirms the existence of their heresy before the Christian period. From the end of the 1st century onwards, Notzrim came simply to mean Christians. Famous Notzri of the pre-Christian era (who lived during the reign of King Yannai -Alexander Jannnaeus) include a rebellious student mentioned in the Baraitas as Yeishu (Ha-Notzri) and his followers. It is not known if there were ever any Notzrim Paqidim (clerics). In Arabic they were known as Nasara. Epiphanius says it was unlawful for them to eat meat or make sacrifices. According to him they were Jews only by nationality who lived in Gilead, Basham, and the Transjordan. They revered Moses but believed he had received different laws from those acredited to him. They also disparaged the Christian books as fiction. In the Mishnah they are often refered to as Minim and are frequently been connected with the Mandaeans [1] and Naaseni/Naasenians/Naassenes but at any rate they were certainly a Gnostic sect. Thesedays however the term is most commonly used to refer to Messianic Jews.

After the word "Christian" had become established as the standard term for the followers of Jesus, there appear to have been one or more groups calling themselves "Nazarenes", perhaps because they wished to lay claim to a more authentic and/or a more Jewish way of following Jesus. Descriptions of groups with this title are given by the fourth century church father Epiphanius (flourished 370 CE), and Jerome. On the basis of their accounts, the Encyclopaedia Britannica of 1911 stated definitely that the name Nazarenes specifically identified an obscure Jewish-Christian sect, existing at the time of Epiphanius.

Epiphanius gives the more detailed, though thoroughly disapproving, description, calling the Nazarenes neither more nor less than Jews pure and simple. He mentions them in his Panarion (xxix. 7) as existing in Syria, Decapolis (Pella) and Basanitis (Cocabe). According to Epiphanius they dated their settlement in Pella from the time of the flight of the Jewish Christians from Jerusalem, immediately before the siege in 70 CE. He describes them as those "...who accept Messiah in such a way that they do not cease to observe the old Law." Epiphanius adds, however, that they recognized the new covenant as well as the old, and believed in the resurrection, and in the one God and His Son Jesus Christ. He cannot say whether their christological views were identical with those of Cerinthus and his followers, or whether they differed at all from his own.

Jerome (Epistle 79, to Augustine), on the other hand, says that though the Nazarenes believed in Christ the Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary, who suffered under Pontius Pilate, and rose again, desiring to be both Jews and Christians, they are neither the one nor the other. He wrote that he received permission from those at Beraea of Syria to translate their "Hebrew Gospel of Matthew" into Greek, and criticized it for containing matter which would be damaging to Christianity. He said they used the Aramaic Gospel of the Hebrews, but, while adhering as far as possible to the Mosaic economy as regarded circumcision, sabbaths, foods and the like, they did not refuse to recognize the apostolicity of Paul or the rights of Gentile Christians (Jerome's Commentary on Isaiah, ix. I). Jerome's description, taken along with the name (cf. Acts 24:5) and geographical position of the sect, strongly suggest that the Nazarenes of the 4th century interacted with the Ebionites in spite of Epiphanius' distinction.

These two references are all we know of groups calling themselves Nazarenes in the early centuries of the church. Earlier church fathers such as Justin Martyr, Origen and Eusebius mention groups who, to varying extent, accepted Jesus as Messiah while continuing to observe the Jewish Law. It is often suggested that these are the same as the groups identified by Jerome and Epiphanius as Nazarenes, but that can only be speculation. One such group were the Ebionites, referred to in second century writings; Epiphanius draws a distinction between Nazarenes and Ebionites (he is even more disapproving of the latter). Some scholars have argued that there was no real distinction, but again this can only be speculation since there is no documentary evidence.

Nazarene Judaism

Nazarene Judaism was first written about in 1972 and is now the name adopted by a subset of Messianic Judaism defining themselves as Jewish, and who say that Jesus (who they call Ribi Yehoshua) is the Messiah, but not God, or part of a Trinity.

Modern Netzarim

The modern Netzarim movement was founded by former Baptist minister Clint Van Nest who published about their ancient manifestation in 1972. He and his wife renounced Christianity and all its works to follow a Jewish way of life and he re-named himself Yiremeyahu ben David in 1983. He moved to Israel in 1985 upon conversion to Orthodox Judaism and established a Ger Tzedek manifestation of the Netzarim movement with himself as cleric (Paqid). Following this sequence of events, various messianic Judaic sects adopted the name Nazarene Judaism for themselves, though the dogma they follow places them firmly under the Notzrim category (see above) and not within the Netzarim frame.

Texts

The movement uses the complete and original Hebrew Tanakh and Mishnah. While it rejects the "New Testament", they do however several reconstructed Hebrew works, including

  • Matityâhu (viewed as the only trustworthy guide to the life of Jesus),
  • the Ma•avâr, based on the Book of Acts, and
  • Ha-Hitgalut, (the unveiling) based on the Apocalypse of John (who they call Yokhânân "Bên-Rōgêz" Bar-Zavdi•eil).

The movement does not consider any of these works as "gospel" but rather take a scholastic approach to critically analyse any relevant early Christian writings.

Organization

They do not count any Netzarim clerics (Paqidim) outside of Jerusalem prior to James the Just, neglecting even Yehoshua/Jesus, no comment is made with regards to Jochanan the Immerser (John the Baptist) who supported him. Nor do they count any Paqidim after their expulsion from Jerusalem in 135 CE, until the post 1980's manifestation. They are distinguished from the Notzrim in that they reject Pauline Notzrim dogma, appearing more Pharasaical and looking to James Halophai (Cleophas/Alpheus) the "brother" of Yehoshua as their founder. Netzarim also distinguish themselves from a Rome-oriented sect (called?) present in Jerusalem which split from them in 135CE. The first bishop of this new era and sect was called Marcus. Under the influence of such hellenized Israelites & their cousin nations the orthodox Jewish structures in Jerusalem had been successfully dismantled and the Netzarim fled Jerusalem.

The Netzarim operate within the established orthodox Bethei K'nesset and do not set up their own synagogues. Neither does the Netzarim movement set up its own rabbis, but rather operates under the existing Orthodox Jewish rabbinical system and its rabbis, using the Yemenite Baladi liturgy. As in standard rabbinical Judaism, the movement considers love (fraternity, charity, mercy, forgiveness, self-sacrifice) as the current "blood" of atonement and believe that the temple exists through the congregation. Their primary concern is to counter Christian missionaries through proselytizing which they also see as the best way to counter anti-Judaism. One can become a member of the Netzarim movement only by obtaining recognition from the Netzarim beit din in Raanana, Israel. Recognition is afforded only to Torah-observant Jews and non-Jewish disciples learning to become Torah-observant (i.e. geir toshav).

Nazarene Judaism of James Scott Trimm

Netzari Yehudim, or Nazarene Judaism is the name adopted by a subset of Messianic Judaism consisting of small number of believers, based mostly in United States, who call themselves Jewish, and who say that Jesus (who they call Y'shua) is the Messiah, who they believe is a manifestation of God.

"Nazarene Judaism maintains a belief in Y'shua as the Messiah. We do not leave the Jewish identity, heritage and culture to "convert" to a new or foreign religion." [2]

The movement's beliefs regarding God are that "YHWH reveals Himself in many ways, characteristics and sefirot, including those of Father, Word (Memra), and the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit)." This view mirrors that of most Christian and Messianic Jewish groups, though its formulation is more in line with Oneness theology, rather than classical Trinitarianism.

The movement believes that northern Europeans are generally descended from the ten lost tribes of Israel, in accord with the writings of Yair Davidy. The movement was founded by former Christian James Scott Trimm in the early 1990s, and uses the Old Testament and New Testament as its scriptures, though it also values Jewish commentaries, law codes, and works of mysticism, including the Mishna, Midrash, and Kabbalah.

The movement has its own course of training, which it calls a Yeshivah, and calls the graduates of its programs Rabbis.

The Unification Church has almost precisely the same belief about Jesus as does Nazarene Judaism belief -- it supports the idea of Jesus' non-Trinitarian humanity along with his claim to Messiahship -- yet the affinity remains on the theological level and there is no relationship between the two bodies.

Modern Notzrim

In the modern era, some Christian denominations have revived the word "Nazarene" as a description of Jesus, or of themselves as his followers. The term Notzrim is commonly used these days by a number of other groups with views that involve some kind of synthesis of Judaism and Christianity, often involving unorthodox versions of both. The Notzrim sects attempt to take what is believed to have been the position of the historic "Nazarenes". The best known of these is perhaps the Church of the Nazarene.

Nazaraeans

Theodoret wrote that the Nazaraeans were Jews who knew the messiah as a righteous man, and used the "Gospel According to Peter". St. Jerome on the other hand wrote that he received permission from the Nazaraeans at Beraea of Syria to translate their "Hebrew Gospel of Matthew" into Greek. He criticized their original for containing matter which would be damaging to Christianity.

Other similar terms needing clarification: Nasoreans, Nazoreans, Nazerini, Nusairi, Nosairi, Nusayri, Nizari, Nasouraeans


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