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B'nai-Amen & Ebionæans

Excerpts from The Gospel of the Ebionæans
Clementine Homilees
Ancient Writers on the Ebionæans
Conclusion
References

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B'nai-Amen & Ebionæans

The Ebionæans were a branch of "Jewish Christianity" mentioned by several "Christian" writers. They made use of the original Aramaic Hebrew Gospel written by Saint Matthew. This text was sometimes referred to as the Gospel of the Hebrews, or According to the Hebrews. (This original edition was different than the later altered and translated version adopted by Rome, now known as Matthew.) The B'nai-Amen accept this Ebionite gospel as the True Gospel before being corrupted and rewritten as the New Testament Matthew by Rome.

Epiphanius, pretending or believing that he had the original version, accused the Ebionæans, and other Hebrew speaking disciples, of changing this Gospel of Matthew to reflect their own vegetarian and Essene views. The truth is that Epiphanius' own "Christian" church had been the one to change the text to reflect its own meat eating and non Essene approach to religion. The quotes preserved in his Panarion, despite all his railing to the contrary, are the original words spoken of by Yeshua and faithfully recorded in Aramaic by Matthew and others.

Excerpts from The Gospel of the Ebionæans

In the Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis (Epiphanius, Panarion 30.13.2-3), we read:

In the Gospel that is in general use among them (Ebionæans) which is
called "according to Matthew", which however is not whole and
complete but forged and mutilated - they call it the Hebrew's Gospel
- it is reported:

There appeared a certain man named Jesus of about thirty years of
age, who chose us. And when he came to Capernaum, he entered into
the house of Simon whose surname is Peter, and opened his mouth and
said: "As I passed the Lake of Tiberias, I chose John and James the
sons of Zebedee, and Simon and Andrew and Thaddeus and Simon the
Zealot and Judas the Iscariot, and you, Matthew, I called as you sat
at the receipt of custom, and you followed me. You, therefore, I
will to be twelve apostles for a testimony unto Palestine."

And:

It came to pass that John was baptizing; and there went out to him
Pharisees and were baptized, and all of Jerusalem. And John had a
garment of camel's hair and a leather girdle about his loins, and
his food, as it is said, was wild honey, the taste if which was that
of manna, as a cake dipped in oil. Thus they were resolved to
pervert the truth into a lie and put a cake in the place of locusts.
(Epiphanius, Panarion 30.13.4-5)

And the beginning of their Gospel runs:

It came to pass in the days of Herod the king of Judaea, when
Caiaphas was high priest, that there came one, John by name, and
baptized with the baptism of repentance in the river Jordan. It was
said of him that he was of the lineage of Aaron the priest, a son of
Zacharias and Elisabeth : and all went out to him. (Epiphanius,
Panarion 30.13.6)

And after much has been recorded it proceeds:

When the people were baptized, Jesus also came and was baptized by
John. And as he came up from the water,  the heavens was opened and
he saw the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove that descended and
entered into him. And a voice sounded from Heaven that said: "You
are my beloved Son, in you I am well pleased. " And again: " I have
this day begotten you". And immediately a great light shone round
about the place. When John saw this, it is said, he said unto him :
"Who are you, Lord?" And again a voice from Heaven rang out to him:
"This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." And then, it is
said, John fell down before him and said: "I beseech you, Lord,
baptize me." But he prevented him and said: "Suffer it; for thus it
is fitting that everything should be fulfilled." (Epiphanius,
Panarion 30.13.7-8)

Moreover, they deny that he was a man, evidently on the ground of
the word which the Savior spoke when it was reported to him:

"Behold, your mother and your brethren stand without." namely: "Who
is my mother and who are my brethren?" And he stretched his hand
towards his disciples and said: "These are my brethren and mother
and sisters, who do the will of my Father."
(Epiphanius, Panarion 30.14.5)

They say that Christ was not begotten of God the Father, but created
as one of the archangels ... that he rules over the angels and all
the creatures of the Almighty, and that he came and declared, as
their Gospel, which is called Gospel according to Matthew, or Gospel
According to the Hebrews?,
reports:

"I am come to do away with sacrifices, and if you cease not
sacrificing, the wrath of God will not cease from you."
(Epiphanius,  Panarion 30.16,4-5)

But they abandon the proper sequence of the words and pervert the
saying,
as is plain to all from the readings attached, and have let the
disciples say:

"Where will you have us prepare the passover?" And him to answer to
that: "Do I desire with desire at this Passover to eat flesh with
you?"
(Epiphanius, Panarion 30.22.4)

Clementine Homilees

Most scholars concur that the Clementine Homilees (and the Recognition's of Clement) contain large Ebionite interpolated additions. Within this writing we learn of a different Peter than the one presented in the gentile "Book of Acts". In the Clementine Homilees Peter expounds many profound principles and doctrines of immense worth to modern Essenes and B'nai-Amen. They also contain information of the daily lifestyle and diet of early Nasarene leaders such as Peter. We learn that Peter bathes in flowing water every morning before dawn and that he eats only wheat, olives, fruits and vegetables. We also learn of the strict Nasarene rules governing association and eating with meat eaters. All doctrines and principles espoused by these Clementine works are received by the Essene Church of the B'nai-Amen.

Ancient Writers on the Ebionæans

"Those who are called Ebionæans agree that the world was made by
God; but their opinions with respect to the Lord are similar to
those of Cerinthus and Carpocrates. They use the Gospel according to
Matthew only, and repudiate the Apostle Paul, maintaining that he
was an apostate from the law. As to the prophetical writings, they
endeavor to expound them in a somewhat singular manner: they
practice circumcision, persevere in the observance of those customs
which are enjoined by the law, and are so Judaic in their style of
life, that they even adore Jerusalem as if it were the house of
God." (Irenaeus, Adversus haereses (Against Heresies), 180 A.D.)

God, then, was made man, and the Lord did Himself save us, giving us
the token of the Virgin. But not as some allege, among those now
presuming to expound the Scripture, [thus:] "Behold, a young woman
shall conceive, and bring forth a son," as Theodotion the Ephesian
has interpreted, and Aquila of Pontus, both Jewish proselytes. The
Ebionæans, following these, assert that He was begotten by Joseph;
thus destroying, as far as in them lies, such a marvelous
dispensation of God, and setting aside the testimony of the prophets
which proceeded from God. (Irenaeus, Adversus haereses (Against
Heresies), 180 A.D.)

He will judge also the Ebionæans; [for] how can they be saved unless
it was God who wrought out their salvation upon earth? Or how shall
man pass into God, unless God has [first] passed into man? And how
shall he (man) escape from the generation subject to death, if not
by means of a new generation, given in a wonderful and unexpected
manner (but as a sign of salvation) by God [I mean] that
regeneration which flows from the virgin through faith? Or how shall
they receive adoption from God if they remain in this [kind of]
generation, which is naturally possessed by man in this world? And
how could He (Christ) have been greater than Solomon, or greater
than Jonah, or have been the Lord of David, who was of the same
substance as they were? How, too, could He have subdued him who was
stronger than men, who had not only overcome man, but also retained
him under his power, and conquered him who had conquered, while he
set free mankind who had been conquered, unless He had been greater
than man who had thus been vanquished? But who else is superior to,
and more eminent than, that man who was formed after the likeness of
God, except the Son of God, after whose image man was created? And
for this reason He did in these last days exhibit the similitude;
[for] the Son of God was made man, assuming the ancient production
[of His hands] into His own nature, as I have shown in the
immediately preceding book. (Irenaeus, Adversus haereses (Against
Heresies), 180 A.D.)

He shall also judge those who describe Christ as [having become man]
only in [human] opinion. For how can they imagine that they do
themselves carry on a real discussion, when their Master was a mere
imaginary being? Or how can they receive anything steadfast from
Him, if He was a merely imagined being, and not a verity? And how
can these men really be partaken of salvation, if He in whom they
profess to believe, manifested Himself as a merely imaginary being?
Everything, therefore, connected with these men is unreal, and
nothing [possessed of the character of] truth; and, in these
circumstances, it may be made a question whether (since, perchance,
they themselves in like manner are not men, but mere dumb animals)
they do not present, in most cases, simply a shadow of humanity.
(Irenaeus, Adversus haereses (Against Heresies), 180 A.D.)

"The Ebionaeans, however, acknowledge that the world was made by Him
Who is in reality God, but they propound legends concerning the
Christ similarly with Cerinthus and Carpocrates. They live
conformably to the customs of the Jews, alleging that they are
justified. according to the law, and saying that Jesus was justified
by fulfilling the law. And therefore it was, (according to the
Ebionaeans,) that (the Savior) was named (the) Christ of God and
Jesus, since not one of the rest (of mankind) had observed
completely the law. For if even any other had fulfilled the
commandments (contained) in the law, he would have been that Christ.
And the (Ebionaeans allege) that they themselves also, when in like
manner they fulfill (the law), are able to become Christ's; for they
assert that our Lord Himself was a man in a like sense with all (the
rest of the human family)." (Hippolytus, d. c. 235, Against All
Heresies)

"But the Ebionaeans assert that the world is made by the true God,
and they speak of Christ in a similar manner with Cerinthus. They
live, however, in all respects according to the law of Moses,
alleging that they are thus justified." (Hippolytus, d. c. 235,
Against All Heresies)

[The Heresy of the Ebionæans.] "The evil demon, however, being
unable to tear certain others from their allegiance to the Christ of
God, yet found them susceptible in a different direction, and so
brought them over to his own purposes. The ancients quite properly
called these men Ebionæans, because they held poor and mean opinions
concerning Christ. For they considered him a plain and common man,
who was justified only because of his superior virtue, and who was
the fruit of the intercourse of a man with Mary. In their opinion
the observance of the ceremonial law was altogether necessary, on
the ground that they could not be saved by faith in Christ alone and
by a corresponding life. There were others, however, besides them,
that were of the same name, but avoided the strange and absurd
beliefs of the former, and did not deny that the Lord was born of a
virgin and of the Holy Spirit. But nevertheless, inasmuch as they
also refused to acknowledge that he pre-existed, being God, Word,
and Wisdom, they turned aside into the impiety of the former,
especially when they, like them, endeavored to observe strictly the
bodily worship of the law. These men, moreover, thought that it was
necessary to reject all the epistles of the apostle, whom they
called an apostate from the law; and they used only the so-called
Gospel according to the Hebrews and made small account of the rest.
The Sabbath and the rest of the discipline of the Jews they observed
just like them, but at the same time, like us, they celebrated the
Lord's days as a memorial of the resurrection of the Savior.
Wherefore, in consequence of such a course they received the name of
Ebionæans, which signified the poverty of their understanding. For
this is the name by which a poor man is called among the
Hebrews."(Eusebius, 4th century, Ecclesiastical History)

[The Translator Symmachus] "As to these translators it should be
stated that Symmachus was an Ebionite. But the heresy of the
Ebionæans, as it is called, asserts that Christ was the son of
Joseph and Mary, considering him a mere man, and insists strongly on
keeping the law in a Jewish manner, as we have seen already in this
history. Commentaries of Symmachus are still extant in which he
appears to support this heresy by attacking the Gospel of Matthew.
Origen states that he obtained these and other commentaries of
Symmachus on the Scriptures from a certain Juliana, who, he says,
received the books by inheritance from Symmachus himself."(Eusebius,
4th century, Ecclesiastical History)

"The matter in debate, therefore, or I should rather say your
opinion regarding it, is summed up in this: that since the preaching
of the gospel of Christ, the believing Jews do well in observing the
precepts of the law, i.e. in offering sacrifices as Paul did, in
circumcising their children, as Paul did in the case of Timothy, and
keeping the Jewish Sabbath, as all the Jews have been accustomed to
do. If this be true, we fall into the heresy of Cerinthus and Ebion,
who, though believing in Christ, were anathematized by the fathers
for this one error, that they mixed up the ceremonies of the law
with the gospel of Christ, and professed their faith in that which
was new, without letting go what was old. Why do I speak of the
Ebionæans, who make pretensions to the name of Christian? In our own
day there exists a sect among the Jews throughout all the synagogues
of the East, which is called the sect of the Minei, and is even now
condemned by the Pharisees. The adherents to this sect are known
commonly as Nasarenes; they believe in Christ the Son of God, born
of, the Virgin Mary; and they say that He who suffered under Pontius
Pilate and rose again, is the same as the one in whom we believe.
But while they desire to be both Jews and Christians, they are
neither the one nor the other. I therefore beseech you, who think
that you are called upon to heal my slight wound, which is no more,
so to speak, than a prick or scratch from a needle, to devote your
skill in the healing art to this grievous wound, which has been
opened by a spear driven home with the impetus of a javelin. For
there is surely no proportion between the culpability of him who
exhibits the various opinions held by the fathers in a commentary on
Scripture, and the guilt of him who reintroduces within the Church a
most pestilential heresy. If, however, there is for us no
alternative but to receive the Jews into the Church, along with the
usages prescribed by their law; if, in short, it shall be declared
lawful for them to continue in the Churches of Christ what they have
been accustomed to practice in the synagogues of Satan, I will tell
you my opinion of the matter: they will not become Christians, but
they will make us Jews." (Jerome, CE 404, Letter 75 - Jerome to Augustin)

Conclusion

The surviving literature of the ancient Ebionæans contain many accurate and true preservations of original B'nai-Amen Essenism. The various quotes preserved therein are more accurate portrayals of original scripture than the mutilated and edited New Testament books used by modern Christianity. The few preserved quotes of Yeshu (Jesus) that survive in them radically reorientate the true believer toward the true role and teachings of Yeshua.

References

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