Ebionites
Early Christian sect / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Ebionites (Greek: Ἐβιωναῖοι, translit. Ebiōnaîoi, derived from Hebrew אֶבְיוֹנִים,[1] ʾEḇyōnīm, meaning 'the poor' or 'poor ones') as a term refers to a Jewish Christian sect, which viewed poverty as a blessing, that existed during the early centuries of the Common Era.[2][3] The Ebionites rejected as untrue orthodox Christian beliefs in Jesus' divinity, pre-existence, virgin birth, and atonement; they therefore maintained that Jesus was a mere man, born the natural son of Joseph and Mary, who, by virtue of his righteousness in perfectly following the Law of Moses, was adopted by God to be a Messiah in the mold of a new "Prophet like Moses".[4]
Beyond voluntary poverty, the Ebionites were said to insist on the necessity of following the letter and spirit of Mosaic Law, which Jesus internalizes and radicalizes in his Sermon on the Mount; opposed animal sacrifices and practiced religious vegetarianism; used one, some or all of the Jewish–Christian gospels, such as the Gospel of the Ebionites, as additional scripture to the Hebrew Bible; and revered James the Just as an exemplar of righteousness and the true successor to Jesus (rather than Peter), while rejecting Paul as a false apostle and an apostate from the Law.[5][6][7]: 88
Since historical records by the Ebionites are scarce, fragmentary and disputed, much of what is known or conjectured about them derives from the Church Fathers who saw the Ebionites as either identical or distinct from other Jewish Christian sects, such as the Nazarenes,[8][9] whom they all labeled heretics and "Judaizers" in their polemics.[10][11][page needed] Consequently, very little about the Ebionite sect or sects is known with certainty, and most, if not all, statements about them are speculative.