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Lecture 2

This document provides an overview of early Christian heresies, including the Ebionites. It defines key terms and lists sources for studying heresies. The Ebionites believed Jesus was fully human and that Christianity should be practiced as a Jewish religion, requiring male circumcision and observance of Jewish law. As Jewish Christians, they viewed Paul as a heretic for arguing faith alone was necessary. They may have used a Gospel of the Nazarenes based on Matthew. The Jewish nature of their beliefs made the sect difficult to grow among Gentiles not interested in Jewish practices. Next week's topic will be the Marcionites.

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228 views13 pages

Lecture 2

This document provides an overview of early Christian heresies, including the Ebionites. It defines key terms and lists sources for studying heresies. The Ebionites believed Jesus was fully human and that Christianity should be practiced as a Jewish religion, requiring male circumcision and observance of Jewish law. As Jewish Christians, they viewed Paul as a heretic for arguing faith alone was necessary. They may have used a Gospel of the Nazarenes based on Matthew. The Jewish nature of their beliefs made the sect difficult to grow among Gentiles not interested in Jewish practices. Next week's topic will be the Marcionites.

Uploaded by

api-249898488
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Diversity in Early Christianity and Later Heresies

Week 2

Overview
Week 1: Introduction
Week 2: The Ebionites
Week 3: The Marcionites
Week 4: The Gnostics
Week 5: Nestorianism
Week 6: Catharism

Defining Terms
Orthodox: Right way, right belief, correct opinion
Heresy: Choice
Heterodox: Different way
Proto-orthodox: group that would, one day, become
dominant
Canon: Collection of authoritative books
Codex: form of writing that uses both sides of the papyrus
Christology: Study of the nature of Jesus Christ
Church Fathers: Prominent Proto-orthodox Christian Writers
of the 2nd and 3rd century
Heresiologist: Someone who exposes the false nature of
heresies

Our Sources
Irenaeus: Bishop of Lyon, Gaul (France) about 180 A.D.
5 volume work Against Heresies

Tertullian: 160 A.D.


Wrote a five volume work The Five Books Against Marcion (earlychristianwritings.com)

Epiphanius: Bishop of Salamis, Cyprus around 340 A.D.


Compendium of heresies Panarion (Medicine Chest)
Persecuted non-Christians on the island of Cyprus
Spoke Hebrew, Greek, Syriac, Egyptian and Latin

Athanasius of Alexandria: 296-373 A.D.


1st record of our 27 books of the New Testament and only those books 367 A.D. (catholic.org)
Prominent figure in the Council of Nicea (justus.anglican.org)

Eusebius of Caesarea: 260-341 A.D.


Father of church history
Wrote 10 volume work, Ecclesiastical History, covering the time between the time of Christ until
the Council of Nicea

Nag Hammadi Library

Discovered by Muhammad Ali in 1945


West Bank of the Nile
23 leather bound codices containing 52 Gnostic writings
Coptic Gospel of Thomas

Diversity in Modern Christianity


Religious Catholic
Authorit
y

Orthodo
x

Luthera Presbyteri
n
an

Episcopal
ian

Methodi
st

Baptist

Purgator
y

Yes

No

No

No

No

No

No

Ordinati
on of
Women

No

Deaconne
ss is
being
considere
d

Yes
(ELCA)
No
(LCMS)

Yes
(PCUSA)

Yes
(ECUSA)
Some
Parishes
(CofE)

Yes

Yes (ABC)
No (SBC)

Infant
Baptism

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes
(UMC)
No (WC)

No

View of
Eucharis
t

Transubstantiatio
n

Transubstantiatio
n

Consubstantiati
on

Symbolic

Real
Presence

Symbolic

Symbolic

Other
Sacrame
nts

5 others

Anointing

None

None

5 others

None

None

The New Testament


Four Sections
Gospels
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John

Acts
Acts

Epistles
13 credited to Paul
Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians,
Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, Philemon
Ephesians, Colossians, 2 Thessalonians
1 & 2 Timothy, Titus

2 credited to Peter
1,2 Peter

1 credited to James
James

3 credited to John
1,2,3 John

1 credited to Jude
Jude

1 Anonymous
Hebrews

Apocalypse

Ancient Viewpoints (2nd and 3rd


Century)
How many Gods are there?
a.
b.
c.
d.

1 Proto-Orthodox & Ebionites


2 - Marcionites
30 - Gnostic
365 - Gnostic

Was Jesus human or divine?


a. Fully human, not divine - Ebionites
b. Fully divine, not human - Marcionites
c. Fully divine and human
Proto-orthodox

What was the purpose of Jesus death?


a. Died for our sins Proto-orthodox
b. Substitute sacrifice - Marcionites
c. Didnt die - Gnostic

What was the nature of creation?


a. Created by the one true God Proto-orthodox & Ebionites
b. Created by the Wrathful god - Marcionites
c. Divine accident by the lowest of the gods - Gnostic

Why didnt they just read the New Testament?


It didnt exist
The individual books had been written but not grouped together until 367
A.D.
Different communities had access to only one or two books
Not all of these books ended up being in our canon

Shepherd of Hermas
Barnabas
Gospel of Peter
Coptic Gospel of Thomas
Gospel of Mary Magdalene
Gospel of Judas
3 Corinthians
Apocalypse of Peter
Infancy Gospel of Thomas
Secret Book of John (Apocryphon of John)
And many more

Ebionites
Source of name unclear
Ebion could have been the name of their leader
Ebyon is Hebrew for poor

Also called Jewish Christian Adoptionists


Believed Christianity was a Jewish religion
Jesus was the Jewish Messiah, sent to the Jewish people,
by the Jewish God in fulfillment of the Jewish scriptures
One must convert to Judaism before converting to
Christianity
Had to keep kosher, observe Sabbath, and if male, had
to be circumcised

Believed that God adopted Jesus to be His Son at


Jesus baptism
Jesus was completely human, not divine
Jesus death was a perfect sacrifice, so no further
sacrifices were needed

Ebionite Apostolic Claim


Claim to follow the teaching of James, brother of
Jesus
Early-on, James and Peter held that Christians
must also follow the Jewish Law
Paul disagreed, holding that faith in Jesus alone was
sufficient for salvation
Peter acquiesced at meeting in Antioch (Galatians
2:11-21 )

Ebionites were a very early form of Christianity


Paul writing in the 50s A.D.
Complains about false teachers preaching another
gospel stating that the Law must be followed
(Galatians 1:6-9, 2:2-5)

Because of Pauls position, Ebionites viewed him


as the chief heretic
How could Paul claim the Torah for Christians without
keeping the Law found in it?

Ebionite Scriptures
No Ebionite writings exist
Heresiologists do cite some quotes from Ebionite texts

Gospel of the Nazarenes


A form of Matthew (most Jewish of the Gospels), but excluding chapters 1 and 2
Circulated in Aramaic, translated from Greek
First reference to the Gospel of the Nazarenes (180 A.D.) by Hegesippus (five-volume Memoirs,
preserved only in a few quotations in the writings of Eusebius). (earlychristianwritings.com)
Fragments are preserved in the works of Origen (early in the third century) and Eusebius (early in the
fourth century);
Epiphanius (late fourth century) attests to the existence of this gospel, but does not quote from it.
Most of the fragments assigned to the Gospel of the Nazarenes come from the writings of Jerome (ca.
400 A.D.)

Gospel of the Ebionites

Merged Matthew, Mark, and Luke into a single, Ebionite-friendly account


Irenaeus (late in the second century) attests to the existence of this gospel
Preserved in a few quotations in the writings of Epiphanius (fourth century A.D.)
Pancakes and Honey

No letters of Paul used

Difficulties in Growing the Jewish Christian Church


Jews
Jews were expecting a powerful figure to save them from their enemies
Political figure
Military Commander
Cosmic Savior

Jesus couldnt be the Messiah since he was executed as a common criminal


No 1st Century Jew expected a suffering Messiah
Jesus crucifixion was the largest stumbling block
because cursed of God is the one who has been hanged on a tree. (Deuteronomy
21:23)

Gentiles
Most Gentiles not interested in:
Keeping Kosher
Observing the Sabbath and Jewish Holidays
Getting circumcised (quite understandably)

Next Week:

The
Marcionites

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