Nazarene (sect) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia For other uses, see Nazarene.

The Nazarene sect ( ) during the New Testament Church in Acts 24:5 Paul the Apostle is accused before Felix at Caesarea (the capital of Roman Judaea) by Tertullus of being "a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes."[1] Then after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 BCE they had migrated into Transjordan according to Epiphanius,[2] Jerome and Augustine of Hippo.[3][4] [edit]Nazarene (title) Main article: Nazarene (title) The title "Nazarene" is first found in the Greek texts of the New Testament as an adjective, nazarenos, used as an adjectival form of the phrase apo Nazaret "from Nazareth."[5] [edit]The Sect of the Nazarenes (1st century) Main articles: Book of Acts and Early Christianity The name Nazaraios is the standard Greek spelling in the New Testament for a man from Nazareth, the plural Nazaraioi means "men from Nazareth" (see Nazarene (title)).[6] The title Nazarenes, "men from Nazareth," is first applied to the Christians by Tertullus (Acts 24:5), though Herod Agrippa II (Acts 26:28) uses the term "Christians" which had first been used at Antioch (Acts 11:26). The name used by Tertullus survives into Rabbinical and modern Hebrew as notzrim ( )a standard Hebrew term for "Christian", and also into the Quran and modern Arabic as nasara (plural of nasrani "Christians"). The Arabic word nasara ( ) comes from the Arabic root "n s r" () . However, since "Christian" was the name the Christians accepted themselves, and is in 1 Peter, the term "Nazarene" used by Tertullus appears to have never been adopted by Christians. Tertullian (c.160 c.220, Against Marcion, 4:8) records that the Jews called Christians "Nazarenes" from Jesus being a man of Nazareth, though he also makes the connection with Nazarites in Lamentations 4:7.[7] Jerometoo records that "Nazarenes" was employed of Christians in the synagogues.[8] Eusebius, around 311 AD, records that the name "Nazarenes" had formerly been used of Christians. [9] The use relating to a specific "sect" of Christians does not occur until Epiphanius.[10] Epiphanius (see below) in discussing the 4th Century Nazarene sect claims pre-Christian origins for the sect, but there seems to be no evidence of the term prior to Tertullus, and no evidence for Epiphanius' opinion. According to Ehrhardt, just as Antioch coined the term Christians, so Jerusalem coined the term Nazarenes, from Jesus of Nazareth.[11] The terms "sect of the Nazarenes" and "Jesus of Nazareth" both employ the adjective nasraya ( ) in the Syrian Aramaic Peshitta, from Nasrat ( ) for Nazareth.[12][13][14] [edit]The Nazarenes (4th century) According to Epiphanius in his Panarion the 4th Century Nazarenes were originally Jewish converts of the Apostles[15] who fled Jerusalem because of Jesus' prophecy on its coming siege (during the Great Jewish Revolt in 70 AD). They fled to Pella, Peraea (northeast of Jerusalem), and eventually spread outwards to Beroea and Bashanitis, where they permanently settled.[16] The Nazarenes were an early Jewish Christian sect located in and about Jerusalem which proclaimed Jesus of Nazareth was the promised Messiah and the Son of God.[17][18][19][20][21][22] The Nazarenes were similar to the Ebionites, in that they considered themselves Jews, maintained an adherence to the Law of Moses, and used only the Aramaic Gospel of the Hebrews, rejecting all the Canonical gospels. However, unlike half of the Ebionites, they accepted the Virgin Birth.[21][22] As late as the eleventh century Cardinal Humbert of Mourmoutiers still referred to the Nazarene sect as a Sabbath-keeping Christian body existing at that time.[23] Modern scholars believe it is the Pasagini orPasagians who are referenced by Cardinal Humbert suggesting the Nazarene sect existed well into the eleventh century and beyond (the Catholic writings of Bonacursus entitled "Against the Heretics"). It is believed that Gregorius of Bergamo, about 1250 CE, also wrote concerning the Nazarenes as the Pasagians. [edit]Gospel of the Nazarenes Main article: Gospel of the Nazarenes The Gospel of the Nazarenes is the title given to fragments of one of the lost Jewish-Christian Gospels of Matthew partially reconstructed from the writings of Jerome. [edit]Patristic references to "Nazarenes" In the 4th century Jerome also refers to Nazarenes as those "...who accept Messiah in such a way that they do not cease to observe the old Law." In his Epistle 79, to Augustine, he said: What shall I say of the Ebionites who pretend to be Christians? To-day there still exists among the Jews in all the synagogues of the East a heresy which is called that of the Minans, and which is still condemned by the Pharisees; [its followers] are ordinarily called 'Nasarenes'; they believe that Christ, the son of God, was born of the Virgin Mary, and they hold him to be the one who suffered under Pontius Pilate and ascended to heaven, and in whom we also believe. But while they pretend to be both Jews and Christians, they are neither.[24] Jerome viewed a distinction between Nazarenes and Ebionites, a different Jewish sect, but does not comment on whether Nazarene Jews considered themselves to be "Christian" or not or how they viewed themselves as fitting into the descriptions he uses. He clearly equates them with Filaster's Nazarei.[25] His criticism of the Nazarenes is noticeably more direct and critical than that of Epiphanius. This following creed is from a church at Constantinople at the same period: I renounce all customs, rites, legalisms, unleavened breads & sacrifices of lambs of the Hebrews, and all other feasts of the Hebrews, sacrifices, prayers, aspersions, purifications, sanctifications and propitiations and fasts, and new moons, and Sabbaths, and superstitions, and hymns and chants and observances and Synagogues, and the food and drink of the Hebrews; in one word, I renounce everything Jewish, every law, rite and custom and if afterwards I shall wish to deny and return to Jewish superstition, or shall be found eating with the Jews, or feasting with them, or secretly conversing and condemning the Christian religion instead of openly confuting them and condemning their vain faith, then let the trembling of Gehazi cleave to me, as well as the legal punishments to which I acknowledge myself liable. And may I be anathema in the world to come, and may my soul be set down with Satan and the devils."[26]

"Nazarenes" are referenced past the fourth century AD as well. Jacobus de Voragine (1230 98) described James as a "Nazarene" in The Golden Legend, vol 7. Thomas Aquinas (122574) quotes Augustine of Hippo, who was given an apocryphal book called Hieremias by a "Hebrew of the Nazarene Sect", in Catena Aurea Gospel of Matthew, chapter 27. So this terminology seems to have remained at least through the 13th century in European discussions. [edit]Nazarene beliefs The beliefs of the Nazarene sect or sects are described through various church fathers and heresiologists. in Jesus as Messiah: The Nazarenes... accept Messiah in such a way that they do not cease to observe the old Law. Jerome, On. Is. 8:14 in the Virgin Birth: They believe that Messiah, the Son of God, was born of the Virgin Mary. Jerome, Letter 75 Jerome to Augustine in Jesus as the Son of God: Matthew, also called Levi, apostle and aforetimes publican, composed a gospel of Christ at first published in Judea in Hebrew for the sake of those of the circumcision who believed, but this was afterwards translated into Greek though by what author is uncertain. The Hebrew itself has been preserved until the present day in the library at Csarea which Pamphilus so diligently gathered. I have also had the opportunity of having the volume described to me by the Nazarenes of Beroea, a city of Syria, who use it. In this it is to be noted that wherever the Evangelist, whether on his own account or in the person of our Lord the Saviour quotes the testimony of the Old Testament he does not follow the authority of the translators of the Septuagint but the Hebrew. Wherefore these two forms exist Out of Egypt have I called my son, and for he shall be called a Nazarene. Jerome, Lives of Illustrius Men Ch.3 They have no different ideas, but confess everything exactly as the Law proclaims it and in the Jewish fashion except for their belief in Christ, if you please! For they acknowledge both the resurrection of the dead and the divine creation of all things, and declare that God is one, and that his Son is Jesus Christ. Epiphanius of Salamis, Panarion 29.7.2 Adhering to circumcision and the Law of Moses: They disagree with Jews because they have come to faith in Christ; but since they are still fettered by the Law circumcision, the Sabbath, and the rest they are not in accord with the Christians. Epiphanius of Salamis, Panarion 29.7.4 Use of Old Testament and New Testament: They use not only the New Testament but the Old Testament as well, as the Jews do. Epiphanius of Salamis, Panarion 29.7.2 Use of Hebrew and Aramaic New Testament source texts: They have the Gospel according to Matthew in its entirety in Hebrew. For it is clear that they still preserve this, in the Hebrew alphabet, as it was originally written. Epiphanius of Salamis, Panarion 29.9.4 And he [Heggesippus the Nazarene] quotes some passages from the Gospel according to the Hebrews and from the Syriac [the Aramaic], and some particulars from the Hebrew tongue, showing that he was a convert from the Hebrews, and he mentions other matters as taken from the oral tradition of the Jews. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 4.22 Epiphanius confused Philo of Alexandria's description of the Therapeutae with "Jessaens," (Iessaioi), according, incorrectly, to Epiphanius a Christian group.[27] [edit]Modern "Nazarene" churches A number of modern churches use the word "Nazarene" or variants in their name: The Apostolic Christian Church (Nazarene), originating in the Swiss Nazarene Baptist movement. The Church of the Nazarene, a mainstream Christian (Protestant) denomination that was born out of the Holiness Movement of the early 20th century. The Saint Thomas Christians, or "Nasrani", a Christian group in Kerala India claiming ethnic Jewish descent. [edit]References ^ Edward Hare The principal doctrines of Christianity defended 1837 p318 "The Nazarenes of ecclesiastical history adhered to the law of their fathers ; whereas when Tertullus accused Paul as "a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes," he accused him as one who despised the law, and " had gone about to the temple," Acts xxiv, 5, 6. " ^ David C. Sim The Gospel of Matthew and Christian Judaism 1998 p182 "The Nazarenes are first mentioned by Epiphanius who records that they upheld the Torah, including the practice of circumcision and sabbath observance (Panarion 29:5.4; 7:2, 5; 8:1-7), read the Hebrew scriptures in the original Hebrew" ^ Petri Luomanen "Nazarenes" in A companion to second-century Christian "heretics" pp279 ^ Memoirs of Dr. Joseph Priestley - Page 670 The term Ebionites occurs in Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen, and Eusebius but none of them make any mention of Nazarenes ; and yet it cannot be denied, that they must have been even more considerable in the time of these writers, ^ Frank Ely Gaebelein, James Dixon Douglas The Expositor's Bible commentary: with the New International Version 1984 "Matthew certainly used Nazoraios as an adjectival form of apo Nazaret("from Nazareth" or "Nazarene"), even though the more acceptable adjective is Nazarenos (cf. Bonnard, Brown, Albright and Mann, Soares Prabhu)." ^ "G3480", Lexicon, Strong.

^ Teppler, Yaakov Y; Weingarten, Susan (2007), Birkat haMinim: Jews and Christians in conflict in the ancient world, p. 52, "This presumption is strengthened by the statement of Tertullian: The Christ of the Creator had to be called a Nazarene... Unde et ipso nomine nos ludaei Nazarenos appellant per eum. Nam et sumus iie auibus scriptum est: Nazaraei...". ^ Schnelle, Udo (1987), Antidoketische Christologie im Johannesevangelium, p. 41, "usquehodiein synagogis suis sub nomine Nazarenorum blasphemant populum christianum... 191; In Esaiam 5,1819: ...in blasphemiis et ter per singulos dies in omnibus synagogis sub nomine Nazarenorum anathematizent uocabulum Christianum..." ^ Bulletin, School of Oriental Studies, 2002. ^ Priestley, Dr Joseph, Memoirs, "The term Ebionites occurs in Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen, and Eusebius but none of them make any mention of Nazarenes" ^ Ehrhardt, Arnold, p. 114, "(John 1 :46) is an apt commentary upon this development, for there seems to be no evidence to support the thesis of a... We only mention it because it has given rise to all sorts of speculations amongst the more imaginative students of Christian origins" ^ Metzger, Bruce Manning (1977), The early versions of the New Testament, p. 86, "Peshitta Matt, and Luke... nasraya, 'of Nazareth'" ^ Jennings, William (1926), Lexicon to the Syriac New Testament, p. 143 ^ Smith, Robert Payne (1903), Compendious Syriac Dictionary, p. 349. ^ Panarion 29.5.6 ^ Panarion 29.3.3. ^ Cross, FL; Livingston, EA, eds. (198892), The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, Oxford University Press, pp. 597, 722. ^ (Acts 24:5) ^ Thayers's Lexicon: (Nazraios). ^ Strong, G3480, Blue Letter Bible. ^ a b Krauss, Samuel. Nazarenes. Jewish Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2007-08-23. ^ a b Hegg, Tim (2007) (PDF). The Virgin Birth An Inquiry into the Biblical Doctrine. TorahResource. Retrieved 2007-08-13. ^ Strong (1874), Cyclopedia, I, New York, p. 660. ^ "Jewish Encyclopedia". ^ Filaster (ca. 397 AD) was a bishop who wrote the "Book of Diverse Heresies" (lived about the time ofEpiphanius). Pritz, Ray, Nazarene Jewish Christianity: from the end of the New Testament period until its disappearance in the fourth century, p. 73, "The sect of Filaster (Nazorei/Nazarei) derives somehow from the Nazirites and accepts the Law and prophets". ^ Parks, James (1974), The Conflict of The Church and The Synagogue, New York: Atheneum, pp. 39798. ^ "arrived during Passover and observed their customs, and how some of them kept the holy week of Passover (only) after a postponement of it, but others by eating every other day though others, indeed, ate each evening. Panarion 29.5.1 Catholic Encyclopedia Nazarene (Nazarenos, Nazarenus). As a name applied to Christ, the word Nazarene occurs only once in the Douai Version, viz. in Matthew 2:23, where the Vulgate reading isNazaroeus (Nazoraios). Elsewhere (Matthew 26:71; Mark 1:24; 10:47; 14:67; Luke 4:34; John 17:5; Acts 2:22 etc.) Jesus Nazarenus is uniformly translated "Jesus of Nazareth". In Acts 24:5 the Christians are spoken of by Tertullus as "the sect of the Nazarenes". The name has obvious reference to Nazareth, the early home of the Saviour, and it is applied to Him in the Gospels only by those who are outside the circle of His intimate friends. In the Acts, however, it is employed by St. Peter and St. Paul, and by the risen Lord Himself, according to Paul's account of his conversion given to the multitude of angry Jews who had attacked him in the Temple (Acts 22:8). InMatthew 2:23 we read that "coming he dwelt in a city said by the prophets: That he shall be called a Nazarene". No explicit prediction to this effect is found in the recorded Old Testament prophecies, and various theories have been advanced to explain the reference. Some would connect the passage with the netzer (flower) of Isaiah 11:1; others with the netzure (dregs, Douai) of Isaiah 49:6, but these interpretations seem far-fetched, to say nothing of other difficulties. That the quality of Nazarite is alluded to by the Evangelist is disapproved by the fact thatChrist was not a Nazarite, nor is the theory that reference is here made to some lost or merely traditional prophecy supported by any positiveproof. No more plausible explanation has been found that the one given by St. Jerome in his "Commentary on St. Matthew", viz. that the mention of the "prophets" in the plural precludes references to any single passage, and points rather to the general predictions that the Messiaswould be despised (cf. John 1:46). JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA NAZARENES: Jerome's Account. Sect of primitive Christianity; it appears to have embraced all those Christians who had been born Jews and who neither would nor could give up their Jewish mode of life. They were probably the descendants of the Judo-Christians who had fled to Pella before Titus destroyed Jerusalem; afterward most of them, like the Essenes in former times, with whom they had some characteristics in common, lived in the waste lands around the Dead Sea, and hence remained out of touch with the rest of Christendom. For a long time they were regarded as irreproachable Christians, Epiphanius ("Hres." xxix.), who did not know much about them, being the first to class them among heretics. Why they are so classed is not clear, for they are reproached on the whole with nothing more than with Judaizing. As there were many Judaizing Christians at that time, the Nazarenes can not be clearly distinguished from the other sects. The well-known Bible translator Symmachus, for example, is described variously as a Judaizing Christian and as an Ebionite; while his followers, the Symmachians, are called also "Nazarenes" (Ambrosian, "Proem in Ep. ad Gal.," quoted in Hilgenfeld, "Ketzergesch." p. 441). It is especially difficult to distinguish the Nazarenes from

the Ebionites. Jerome obtained the Gospel according to the Hebrews (which, at one time regarded as canonical, was later classed among the Apocrypha) directly from the Nazarenes, yet he ascribed it not only to them but also to the Ebionites ("Comm. in Matt." xii. 13). This gospel was written in Aramaic, not in Hebrew, but it was read exclusively by those born as Jews. Jerome quotes also fragments from the Nazarenic exposition of the Prophets (e.g., of Isa. viii. 23 [in the LXX. ix. 1]). These are the only literary remains of the Nazarenes; the remnants of the Gospel according to the Hebrews have recently been collated by Preuschen in "Antilegomena" (pp. 3-8, Giessen, 1901). Jerome gives some definite information concerning the views of the Nazarenes ("Ep. lxxxix. ad Augustinum"). Jerome's Account. "What shall I say of the Ebionites who pretend to be Christians? To-day there still exists among the Jews in all the synagogues of the East a heresy which is called that of the Minans, and which is still condemned by the Pharisees; [its followers] are ordinarily called 'Nazarenes'; they believe that Christ, the son of God, was born of the Virgin Mary, and they hold him to be the one who suffered under Pontius Pilate and ascended to heaven, and in whom we also believe. But while they pretend to be both Jews and Christians, they are neither." The Nazarenes, then, recognized Jesus, though it appears from occasional references to them that they considered the Mosaic law binding only for those born within Judaism, while the Ebionites considered this law binding for all men (Hippolytus, "Comm. in Jes." i. 12). The Nazarenes therefore rejected Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles. Some accordingly declared even that the Nazarenes were Jews, as, for instance, Theodoret ("Hr. Fab." ii. 2: ); that they exalted Jesus as a just man, and that they re ad the Gospel of Peter; fragments of this Gospel of Peter have been preserved (Preuschen, l.c. p. 13). Aside from these references, Theodoret, however, makes the mistake of confounding the Nazarenes and Ebionites; he is the last one of the Church Fathers to refer to the Nazarenes, who probably were absorbed in the course of the fifth century partly by Judaism and partly by Christianity. The term "Minans," which Jerome applies to the Nazarenes, recalls the word "min," frequently used in rabbinical literature to designate heretics, chiefly the Christians still following Jewish customs; the Rabbis knew only Judo-Christians, who were either Ebionites or Nazarenes. Hence they applied the name "Nori" to all Christians, this term remaining in Jewish literature down to the present time the designation for Christians. The ChurchFathers, Tertullian, for instance ("Adversus Marcion." iv. 8), knew this very well; and Epiphanius and Jerome say of a certain prayer alleged to be directed against the Christians that although the Jews say "Nazarenes" they mean "Christians" ("J. Q. R." v. 131). In the Koran also the Christians are called "Al-Naara." The name may be traced back to Nazareth, Jesus' birthplace. The Mandans still designate themselves as "Nasoraya"; and they were formerly incorrectly regarded as the remnant of the Nazarenes (W. Brandt, "Die Mandische Religion," p. 140, Leipsic, 1889). Bibliography: Fabricius, Cod. Apocryph. N. Test. i. 355; Mosheim, Hist. Eccl. i. 153, Yverdon, 1776; Jones, The New and Full Method of Settling the Canonical Authority of the New Testament, i. 385; Hilgenfeld, Die Ketzergesch. des Urchristenthums, pp. 441-445, Leipsic, 1884; idem, Judenthum und Judenchristenthum, pp. 32, 74, Leipsic, 1886; Kaulen, in Wetzer-Welte's Kirchenlexicon; Krauss, Das Leben Jesu nach Jdischen Quellen, pp. 254 et seq., Berlin, 1902; Rubin, in Ha-Eshkol, 1902, iv. 46; G. R. S. Mead, Fragments of Faith Forgotten, p. 104, Berlin, 1902. Pasagians From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Note that the Pasagium were also a name given the Crusades. The Pasagians, also spelled Passagians, were a religious sect which appeared in Lombardy in the late 12th or early 13th century and possibly appearing much earlier in the East.[1] The Summa contra haereticos, ascribed to Praepositinus of Cremona, describes the Pasagians as retaining the Old Testament rules on circumcision, kosher foods, and the Jewish holy days; in other words, they observed theLaw of Moses except in respect to sacrifices, and thus also were given the name Circumcisi.[1] They considered Christ the highest created being and a demiurge by whom all other creatures were brought into being, citing both the Old and New Testaments in support of their doctrine. They were accused of preaching a form of subordinationism, teaching that Christ was a created being and less than the Father.[1] As late as the eleventh century Cardinal Humbert of Silva Candida referred to a sect of Nazarenes, a Sabbath-keeping Christian body existing at that time.[2] Modern scholars believe it is the Pasagini who are referenced by Cardinal Humbert, suggesting the Nazarene sect existed well into the eleventh century and before. The writings of Bonacursus entitled "Against the Heretics" is the chief authority of their history.[1] It is believed that Gregorius of Bergamo, about 1250 CE, also wrote concerning the Nazarenes as the "Pasagini".[2] The name, if indeed it is from the Italian passagieri which means birds of passage, is either suggestive of an emigration from another place, or referring to their iterant lifestyle.[1]