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The Ebionites (Greek: Ἐβιωναῖοι Ebionaioi from Hebrew; אביונים, Ebyonim, "the Poor Ones") were an early Jewish Christian sect that lived in and around Judea and Palestine from the 1st to the 4th century CE.^[1]

Modern scholars, aiming at elucidating on the views, practices and history of the Ebionites attempt to reconstruct information from the available sources. Much of what is known about them derives from the Church Fathers, who wrote polemics against the Ebionites, whom they deemed heretical Judaizers.^[1][2]

Some scholars agree with the substance of the traditional portrayal as a re-judaizing offshoot of mainstream Christianity,^[3][4] while others consider them the mainstream of the early Jerusalem church who were gradually marginalized by the followers of Paul of Tarsus.

Some have argued that the Ebionites may have been more conservative of the teachings of Jesus.^{[5][6][page # needed][7][8] [9]}

Some scholars distinguish the Ebionites from other Jewish Christian groups, e.g. the Nazarenes^[10], while others believe the two names refer to the same sect and that noted disagreements among Jewish Christians to not correspond with these names^[11] Still others contend that the term was not used to describe a single group at all, but rather denoted any group of Christians of that time who sought to adhere both to Jesus and the Jewish law.^{[12][clarify]}

Contents 1 Name 2 History 3 Legacy 4 Views and practices 4.1 Judaic and Gnostic Ebionitism 4.2 Jesus 4.3 Other Figures 5 Writings 6 Religious perspectives 7 References 8 Literature 9 Primary sources

[edit] Name

The term Ebionites derives from the Hebrew Evyonim, meaning "the Poor Ones".^[3]

Because of their poverty, the early Christians of Jerusalem were in contempt called "the poor" by Pagans and Jews.^[3] Christians however adopted the term as a reference to religious poverty, in line with Jesus' Sermon on the Mount^[14][15]

The Greek equivalent (Greek: πτωχοί) ptōkhoi appears in the New Testament, possibly as an honorary title of the Jerusalem church.^[16] The term also has parallels the Psalms and the self-given term of pious Jewish circles^[17][4]

The term "the poor" was at first a common designation for all Christians. Following schisms within the early Church, the graecized Hebrew term "Ebionite" was applied exclusively to Jewish Christians separated from the developing Pauline Christianity, and later in the fourth century a specific group of Jewish Christians or to a Jewish Christian sect distinct from the Nazarenes. All the while, the designation "the Poor" in other languages was still used in its original, more general sense.^{[3][4][18] [19]} The divergent application of "Ebionite" persists today, as some authors choose to label all Jewish Christians, even before the mentioned schism, as Ebionites, ^[18][19] while others, though agreeing about the historical events, use it in a more restricted sense.^[20] Mainstream scholarship commonly uses the term in the restricted sense.^[3][4]

Origen reinterpreted the name Ebionites as a reference to "their low views of Christ".^[21] Another inaccurate explanation was put forth by Tertullian, who derived the name from a fictional heresiarch called Ebion.^[3][4]

[edit] History

Part of the series on Jewish Christians

Figures Jesus John the Baptist Simon Peter Twelve Apostles James the Just Simeon of Jerusalem Jude Paul of Tarsus Patriarchs of Jerusalem

Ancient sects Cerinthians Ebionites Elcesaites Essenes Nasoraeans Nazarenes Nazoraeans

Modern sects Ebionite Jewish Community Messianic Jews Nasranis

Adversity Antinomianism Christian anti-semitism Bar Kokhba Revolt Aelia Capitolina Emperor Constantine

Writings Clementine literature Didache Gospel of Matthew Epistle of James Gospel of the Ebionites Gospel of the Hebrews Gospel of the Nazoraeans Liturgy of St James

Issues Aramaic of Jesus Aramaic name of Jesus Background of Jesus Council of Jerusalem Early Christianity Expounding of the Law Sabbath Quartodecimanism Sermon on the Mount Seven Laws of Noah

Pejoratives Judaizers Legalists This box: view • talk • edit

The factual accuracy of this section is disputed. Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page.

Without authenticated archaeological evidence, attempts to reconstruct their history must be based on textual references, mainly the writings of the Church Fathers.

The Ebionites are mentioned or referred to by various Church Fathers. 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.^[22] 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.^[23] Origen in c. 212 remarks that the name derives from the Hebrew word "evyon," meaning "poor."^[24] 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.^[25][26] Epiphanius mostly gives general descriptions of their religious beliefs and includes quotations from their gospels, which have not survived.

The actual scope of the term Ebionites is difficult to ascertain, as the contradictory patristic accounts in their attempt to distinguish various sects, sometimes confuse them with each other.^[4] Other groups mentioned are the Carpocratians, the Cerinthians, the Elcesaites, the Nasoraeans, the Nazarenes, the Nazoraeans, and the Sampsaeans, most of whom were Jewish Christian sects who held gnostic or other views rejected by the Ebionites. Epiphanius, however, mentions that a group of Ebionites came to embrace some of these views despite keeping their name.^[27]

It is impossible to create a continuous history for the Ebionites.

As the Ebionites are first mentioned as such in the 2nd century, their earlier history and their relation to the first Jerusalem church remains obscure and a matter of contention. Many scholars link the origin of the Ebionites with the First Jewish-Roman War. Prior to this, they are considered to be part of the Jerusalem church led by the Apostle Peter and later by Jesus' brother James. Eusebius relates a tradition, probably based on Aristo of Pella, that the early Christians left Jerusalem just prior to the war and fled to Pella beyond the Jordan River.^[4][3] They were led by Simeon of Jerusalem (d. 107) and during the Second Jewish-Roman War, they were persecuted by the Jewish followers of Bar Kochba for refusing to recognize his messianic claims.^[27]

According to these scholars, it was beyond the Jordan, that the Nazarenes/Ebionites were first recognized as a distinct group when some Jewish Christians receded farther from mainstream Christianity, and approximated more and more closely to Rabbinical Judaism, resulting in a "degeneration" into an exclusively Jewish sect. Some from these groups later opened themselves to either Jewish Gnostic (and possibly Essene) or syncretic influences, such as the book of Elchasai.^[28] The latter influence places some Ebionites in the context of the gnostic movements widespread in Syria and the lands to the east.^[4][11]

In contrast to the re-judaizing "degeneration" view, scholars James Tabor and Robert Eisenman argue that the Ebionites developed from messianic Essenism,^[7][29][30] being initially the Jewish followers of John the Baptist,^[31][32] whom they regarded as a priestly Aaronic Messiah^[33] or Messianic leader^[34]. After John's death they continued to follow the ministry of Jesus, who had been baptised into the movement by John, and whom they regarded as the royal Davidic Messiah^[35]. These scholars relate that, at some point around this time, or slightly later, the movement organized itself into communes in several cities.^{[36][page # needed]}

Further Eisenman and Tabor closely link the Ebionites with the Jerusalem church under Jesus' brother James the Just, who became leader after Jesus' death. These scholars define the Ebionites by their conflict with Pauline Christianity,^[37][38] under James or later. They identify the Ebionites with the "judaizing teachers" that opposed and were denounced by the Apostle Paul^[39] and the men from Judea who according to the Acts of the Apostles insisted that Gentile converts had to be circumcised to attain salvation.^[40] They consider the first bishops of Jerusalem, Jesus' brother James^[41][42][43] and Simeon of Jerusalem (whom the Ebionites considered another of Jesus' brothers^[44][45], as heads of the Ebionite movement. After James' martyrdom (62 CE), they record the Ebionites' flight to Pella under Simeon's leadership^[46][47], which is the last clear historical event before Simeon's martyrdom (107 CE).^[48]

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 the Levant, where it was slowly eclipsed by gentile Christianity, which then spread throughout the Roman Empire without competition from "judaizing" Christian groups.^[49] Once the Jerusalem church, still headed by Jesus' relatives, was eliminated during the Bar Kokhba revolt in 135, the Ebionites gradually lost influence and followers. This decline was due to marginalization and persecution by both Jews and Christians.^[20] 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 mainstream Christian church. Those who remained at Pella and continued in obedience to the Law were deemed heretics.^[50] In 375, Epiphanius records the settlement of Ebionites on Cyprus, but by the mid-5th century, Theodoret of Cyrrhus reported that they were no longer present in the region.^[27] Most historians place the end of the Ebionites during this time.

However, some scholars argue that the Ebionites survived much longer and identify them with a sect encountered by the historian Abd al-Jabbar around the year 1000.^[51] 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.^[52] 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.^[53] Some scholars argue that they contributed to the development of the Islamic view of Jesus due to exchanges of Ebionite remnants with the first Muslims.^[54][4]

[edit] Legacy

In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, several small yet competing new religious movements, such as the Ebionite Jewish Community and others, have emerged claiming to be revivalists of the views and practices of early Ebionites,^[55] 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.^[56]

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.^[57][58]

In a recent polemic, a Messianic leader asked whether Christians should imitate the Torah-observance of "neo-Ebionites".^[59]

[edit] Views and practices

[edit] Judaic and Gnostic Ebionitism

Most patristic sources portray the Ebionites as traditional yet ascetic Jews, who zealously followed the Law of Moses, revered Jerusalem as the holiest city,^[23] and restricted table fellowship only to Gentiles who converted to Judaism.^[22] They celebrated a commemorative meal annually^[60], on or around Passover, with unleavened bread and water only, in contrast to the daily Christian Eucharist.^[61][62][25]

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,^[63] 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,^[64] opposing animal sacrifice,^[65] denying parts or most of the Law,^[66] and practicing religious vegetarianism.^[67]

The reliability of Epiphanius' account of the Ebionites is questioned by some scholars.^[1][68] 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.^[51]

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.^[69] Regarding the Ebionites specifically, a number of scholars have different theories on how the Ebionites may have developed from an Essene Jewish messianic sect.

According to Robert Eisenman, James Tabor, and other scholars, the Ebionites originated with, and drew much of their original inspiration, rules, customs, theology, beliefs and even their name from either the alleged Essene roots of John the Baptizer and James the Just or other Essene sects. The authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls, for example, referred to themselves by many epithets, including "the poor". ^[70][71]

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;^[54] while some conclude that the Essenes did not become Jewish Christians but still had an influence on the Ebionites.^[72]

[edit] 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.^[1] 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.^{[20][36][page # needed]}

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.^[23]

The Ebionites believed that all Jews and Gentiles must observe the commandments in the Law of Moses,^[22] in order to become righteous and seek communion with God;^[73] but that these commandments must be understood in the light of Jesus' expounding of the Law,^{[36][page # needed]} revealed during his sermon on the mount.^[13] 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.^{[20][36][page # needed]}

[edit] Other Figures

The factual accuracy of this section is disputed. Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page.

In one excerpt from the Gospel of the Ebionites quoted by Epiphanius, John the Baptist is portrayed as a vegetarian Nazirite teacher of righteousness.^[74][75] It is a matter of debate whether John was in fact a vegetarian (a notion reinforced by the "Slavonic version" of Josephus^[76][7]) or whether some Ebionites (or the related Elchasaite sect which Epiphanius took for Ebionites) were projecting their vegetarianism onto him.^[51]

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^[42] (due to a patrilineal succession of relatives of Jesus^[77]) rather than Peter.^[78][79] Furthermore, 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.^[80][81].

Patristic sources report Ebionites as denouncing Paul of Tarsus as an apostate from the Law of Moses.^[23] 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.^[82] Some scholars argue that Paul was an apostate and developed the early Christian church as a Gnostic Jewish mystery religion.^[20]

[edit] 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.^[26]

The 1908 Catholic Encyclopedia mentions four classes of Ebionite writings:^[83]

• 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".^[68] 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.)

Some also speculate that the core of the Gospel of Barnabas, beneath a polemical medieval Muslim overlay, may have been based upon an Ebionite or gnostic document.^[84] The existence and origin of this source continues to be debated by scholars.^[85]

[edit] Religious perspectives

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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.^[83] 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 mainstream theology.^[86]

Some Christian apologists have criticized the quest for the historical Jesus as having resulted in a "revival of the Ebionite heresy".^[87] 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.^[88]

The mainstream 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.^[20]

Some Muslims who charge Christians with having corrupted the Bible, believe that the Ebionites (as opposed to Christians they encountered) were faithful to the original teachings of Jesus with shared views about Jesus' humanity, though the Islamic view of Jesus conflicts with the Ebionites' views regarding the virgin birth and the crucifixion.^[89]

[edit] References

[edit] Literature

• 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. 
• 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. 
• G. Uhlhorn, "Ebionites", in: Philip Schaff (ed.), A Religious Encyclopaedia or Dictionary of Biblical, Historical, Doctrinal, and Practical Theology, 3rd ed. (1894), p. 684–685 (vol. 2).

[edit] Primary sources

• Ebionites according to the Church Fathers