| Revision as of 20:52, 27 December 2003 edit24.202.135.211 (talk)No edit summary← Previous edit | Revision as of 20:58, 27 December 2003 edit undo24.202.135.211 (talk)No edit summaryNext edit → | ||
| Line 11: | Line 11: | ||
| A later form of Ebionitism (or Ebionism) was ] in its teachings while another was ]. Whether they were truly historical developments of earlier Ebionitism, or simply shared the name, is not clear. | A later form of Ebionitism (or Ebionism) was ] in its teachings while another was ]. Whether they were truly historical developments of earlier Ebionitism, or simply shared the name, is not clear. | ||
| In 1995, Shemayah Phillips started a modern Ebionite revival by forming the online ] whose goals are the promotion of Judaism to Gentiles, the restoration of Jesus as a Jewish prophet through the deconstruction of the "Christ myth", and disproving that Christianity is a biblically related religion. | In 1995, Shemayah Phillips started a modern Ebionite revival by forming the online ] whose goals are the promotion of Judaism to Gentiles, the restoration of Jesus as a Jewish prophet through the deconstruction of the "]", and disproving that Christianity is a biblically related religion. | ||
Revision as of 20:58, 27 December 2003
The Ebionites (from Hebrew אביונים, Ebionim, "the poor ones") were a Messianic Jewish sect which existed east of the Jordan River during the early centuries of the Common Era.
Virtually no writings of the Ebionites have survived, except as excerpted in the writings of orthodox Christian theologians, such as Irenaeus, Hippolytus, and Tertullian, who considered the Ebionites to be heretics.
All these sources agree that the Ebionites denied the divinity of Jesus and the doctrine of the Trinity. One group, apparently the larger, denied the Virgin Birth as well, while a smaller group accepted this doctrine. The former emphasized the humanity of Jesus as the human son of Mary and Joseph, who was 'adopted' as a son of God when he was anointed by the Holy Spirit at his baptism. They viewed Jesus as a legitimate priest-king of Israel by virtue of being a descendant of high priest Zadok through his mother and a descendant of king David through his father.
Both groups revered James the Just as the legitimate apostolic successor of Jesus rather than Peter, considered Paul to be an apostate, and of the books of the New Testament only accepted a version of the Gospel of Matthew to be Scripture. Both groups also adhered to the Jewish religious law. Apparently, one group considered observance of the law mandatory for all followers of Jesus, while the other considered it to apply only to Messianic Jews.
Neither group exerted any great influence, and both gradually dwindled into obscurity and extinction.
A later form of Ebionitism (or Ebionism) was Gnostic in its teachings while another was Essene. Whether they were truly historical developments of earlier Ebionitism, or simply shared the name, is not clear.
In 1995, Shemayah Phillips started a modern Ebionite revival by forming the online Ebionite Jewish Community whose goals are the promotion of Judaism to Gentiles, the restoration of Jesus as a Jewish prophet through the deconstruction of the "Christ myth", and disproving that Christianity is a biblically related religion.