Wednesday, 6 August 2008

Who are the real Christians

The Ebionites (Greek: Ἐβιωναῖοι Ebionaioi from Hebrew; אביוניםEbyonim, "the Poor Ones") were an early Jewish Christian sect that lived in and around Judea and Palestine from the 1st to the 4th century.[1]
To throw light on the
views, practices and history of the Ebionites, modern scholars attempt to reconstruct information from the available sources. Much of what is known about the Ebionites 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 an offshoot of mainstream Christianity attempting to reestablish Jewish Law.[3][4] According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Ebionite movement may have arisen about the time of the destruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem (AD 70).[5] Others have argued that the Ebionites were more faithful to the authentic teachings of Jesus and constituted the mainstream of the Jerusalem church before being gradually marginalized by the followers of Paul of Tarsus.[6][7][8][9][10][11]
In contrast to mainstream Christianity, the Ebionites insisted on a universal necessity of following
Jewish religious law and rites,[12] which they interpreted in light of Jesus' expounding of the Law.[13] They regarded Jesus as a mortal human messianic prophet but not as divine, revered his brother James as the head of the Jerusalem Church and rejected Paul of Tarsus as an "apostate of the Law"[citation needed]. Their name suggests that they placed a special value on religious poverty.
Some scholars distinguish the Ebionites from other Jewish Christian groups, e.g. the
Nazarenes,[14] while others believe the two names refer to the same sect and that noted disagreements among Jewish Christians do not correspond with these names.[15] 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.[16}

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