Ebionites: Encyclopedia II - Ebionites - History

Ebionites - History

Few writings of the Ebionites have survived, and in uncertain form (see below). There are two chief sources for our knowledge of the literature and ideas of the Ebionites:

(1) Brief quotations from their writings in orthodox Christian theologians, such as Irenaeus, Hippolytus, Tertullian, and Epiphanius of Salamis, who considered the Ebionites to be heretics. The most complete of these comes from Epiphanius of Salamis, who wrote his "Panarion" in the fourth century, denouncing 80 heretical sects, among them the Ebionites, described in Panarion 30. In addition to quotations from their gospels, there are also general descriptions of their ideas and point of view.

(2) The Recognitions of Clement and The Clementine Homilies, two third-century Christian works, are regarded by general scholarly consensus as largely or entirely Jewish-Christian, and specifically Ebionite, in origin. These can be found in volume 8 of the Ante-Nicene Fathers.

Mainstream or Pauline Christian writers sometimes distinguished the Ebionites from the Nazarenes, one patristic author often depending upon another for his assessment. In any event, there is far more information in the church fathers about Ebionites than about Nazoraeans, Nasaraeans, or Nazarenes (in any spelling). Jerome clearly thinks that the Nazoraeans and the Ebionites were a single group (Letter 112). Without surviving texts, it is even less easy now for us to establish exactly the basis for their distinction. The "Nazarenes" are spelled "Nazoraeans" by Epiphanius, a slight but clear difference in Greek from the terms used to refer to "Nazarenes" or "residents of Nazareth," and since this spelling is also found in the New Testament (though usually translated "Nazarene") it is likely the original spelling. Even more confusingly, Epiphanius also refers to yet another group, the "Nasaraeans," which has beliefs very close to the Ebionites.

All these sources within mainstream Christianity agree that the Ebionites denied the divinity of Jesus, the doctrine of the Trinity, the Virgin Birth and the death of Jesus as an atonement for the Original Sin. Epiphanius describes them as opposing animal sacrifice and as vegetarians. Epiphanius quotes their gospel as ascribing the words to Jesus, "I have come to destroy the sacrifices" (Panarion 30.16.5), and as ascribing to Jesus rejection of the Passover meat (Panarion 30.22.4). This is in agreement with numerous passages found in the Recognitions and Homilies (e. g. Recognitions 1.36, 1.54, Homilies 3.45, 7.4, 7.8).

The Ebionites emphasized the humanity of Jesus as the mortal son of Mary and Joseph, who was 'adopted' as a son of God when he was anointed with the Holy Spirit at his baptism, and therefore could have become the messianic king-priest of Israel (by virtue of also being both a descendant of king David through his father and a descendant of high priest Aaron through his mother) but was chosen to be the last and greatest of the prophets.

The Ebionites revered the Desposyni (a sacred name reserved only for Jesus' blood relatives), especially James the Just, as the legitimate apostolic successors of Jesus, rather than Peter. This is supported by passages in the letters of Paul (Galatians 2), and portions of the Book of Acts (e. g. Acts 15) that present James as outranking Peter.

The Ebionite Gospel, or Gospel of the Hebrews, tells how the resurrected Jesus appeared to his brother Jacob ("James") and persuaded him to eat bread. This visit is mentioned in I Corinthians 15:7. Since the early Ebionites clearly did believe in the ability of Jesus to perform powerful miracles, it may be possible that the charges of their denying his divinity, etc. were merely propaganda on the part of the patristic sources, eager to paint them as heretics.

Epiphanius states (Panarion 16:9) that some gossiped that Paul was a Greek who converted to Sadduceean Judaism in order to marry the High Priest's daughter, and then apostasized when she rejected him.

Of the books of the New Testament the Ebionites only accepted an Aramaic version of the Gospel of Matthew, referred to as the Gospel of the Hebrews, as scripture. This version of Matthew, Pauline Christian critics reported, omitted the first two chapters (on Jesus' virgin birth), and started with Jesus' baptism by John.

Ebionites believed that all followers of Jesus, whether they be Jewish or Gentile, must adhere to Noahide Laws and Mosaic law through an either more restorative (Essene) or progressive (Pharisee) interpretation and observance, tempered with the wisdom teachings of Jesus.

The church fathers describe the Cerinthians as "Jewish Christian" but this is disputed among scholars, and it is unlikely that Cerinthus or the Cerinthians were closely related to the Ebionites.

The influence of the Ebionites is debated. Hans-Joachim Schoeps argues that their primary influence on orthodox Christianity was to aid in the defeat of gnosticism. It has also been argued (Akers, The Lost Religion of Jesus) that they had an influence on Islam and the Sufis. However, the Ebionites are represented in history as the sect encountered by the Muslim historian Abd al-Jabbar (ca. 1000 A.D.) almost 500 years later than most Christian historians admit for the survival of the Ebionites. An additional possible mention of surviving Ebionite communities existing in the lands of the east, Theyma and Thilmes, around the 11th century, is said to be in Sefer Ha'masaoth, the "Book of the Travels" of Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela, or Benyamin Bar-Yonnah, a sephardic rabbi of Spain.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki