1 / 6

The Ebionites

The Ebionites. Heresy: Then & Now. Origins of the Ebionites. Jewish Christians Earliest evidence: Pharisees who became Christian, present in Jerusalem and instigate the Jerusalem Council (cf. Acts 15:5ff) May have also been the Judaizers or ‘circumcision party’ whom Paul opposes

everly
Download Presentation

The Ebionites

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The Ebionites Heresy: Then & Now

  2. Origins of the Ebionites • Jewish Christians • Earliest evidence: Pharisees who became Christian, present in Jerusalem and instigate the Jerusalem Council (cf. Acts 15:5ff) • May have also been the Judaizers or ‘circumcision party’ whom Paul opposes • After the Fall of Jerusalem (AD 70) • Most Jewish Christians became less and less Jewish and became part of the larger orthodox Christian community • A few groups, however, held on to Judaism in different forms • Ebionites possibly mixed with refugee Essenes • Later evidence shows that these two groups held some similar beliefs and practices • Essenes called themselves ‘the poor’, which in Aramaic is ‘ebionim’ • Believers motivated by a desire to evangelize to faithful Jews • Wanted to understand Jesus and Christianity in exclusively Jewish categories

  3. Ebionite Beliefs • God • Creator of the world • Creation included a good, masculine force and an evil, feminine force • The Law • Strict observance of the law • Kept Sabbath and the Lord’s Day, circumcision, dietary laws • Extended it to include vegetarianism, ritual washings • Separated table fellowship between Jewish and Gentile believers • Sacrificial system was a corruption of God’s original intent • The Scriptures • Old Testament • Accept Moses and the Pentateuch • Believe that some of the Pentateuch was corrupted • New Testament • Used truncated form of the Gospel of Matthew, and the Gospel of the Hebrews • Rejected Paul

  4. Ebionite Beliefs • Jesus • No virgin birth • A mighty prophet like Moses (cf. Deut 18:15) • Jesus was the final teacher of Torah • Jesus rejected the sacrificial system • He did not eat the passover lamb before his death • Indwelt by an archangel (‘Christ’) at baptism • Empowered his ministry • Taught through him to reveal the unknown god • Left him before the crucifixion • Jesus’ death was not a sacrifice

  5. Ebionite Beliefs What makes ebionite beliefs heretical? “In the end, Ebionitism became heretical because it was a symbol of parochialism within a faith that was clear about its universal significance and calling.” --AlisterMcGarth, Heresy, 110

  6. Ebionitism Today • Later Adoptionism • Groups which wish to understand Jesus only within the framework of Judaism (no new wineskins) • Some forms of Messianic Judaism (Jews for Judaism) • The Quests for the Historical Jesus

More Related