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The Ebionite Records on the Trial of Paul
Historical Evidence for The Trial Spoken Of In (Rev. 2:2)
Apart from what we reviewed so far from the Bible, are there any historical records of a trial of Paul? Yes, indeed there are.
According to Eusebius (260-340 A.D.) and Epiphanius (3157-403 A.D.), there was an early Christian group known as the Ebionites. They made findings judicial in character about Paul's background. These findings claimed both of Paul's parents were Gentile. Further, they found Paul was not circumcised until he was an adult. 1 Obviously, the implication of these findings was that Paul lied when he made claims to the contrary. (See (Phil. 3:5).)
When Eusebius mentioned the Ebionites' findings, he launched attacks on the Ebionites, challenging their orthodoxy. Eusebius charged the Ebionites were heretics. They supposedly did not believe in the virgin birth." They also taught the Law had not been done away with. While it is likely true that the Ebionites believed Paul erred by abolishing the Law, the question of what they taught on the virgin birth account in Luke's Gospel may have been exaggerated or inaccurately portrayed. There are no clearly recognized writings of the Ebionites on these issues which actually have survived. Therefore, we cannot validate Eusebius' accusation. Nor did Eusebius quote any records of the Ebionites that could substantiate the charges. Thus, these accusations merely serve as ad hominem which do not resolve the claims of Paul's truthfulness about his heritage, as we shall see.
- For the quote, see "The Ebionite Charge Against Paul" on page 306. JWO/JWO_12_04_TheEbioniteChargeAgainstPaul_0066
Regardless, we are obliged to re-weigh the facts. First, Eusebius in particular appeared willing to exaggerate his attacks on the Ebionites. The reason was precisely because the Ebionites wanted Paul excluded from canon. Eusebius did not want Paul discredited. What was Eusebius' motivation in preventing Paul from being discredited? Was it to protect a true prophet or for political reasons? Eusebius was associated closely with Emperor Constantine. Eusebius was a promoter of the new-found powers of the bishop of Rome granted by Constantine's decrees. How would this potentially impact Eusebius' treatment of the Ebionites who attacked Paul?
- There is never any legitimate quote offered to prove the Ebionites denied the virgin birth. Rather, what is offered as proof by Eusebius is primarily an argument from silence. The original Ebionite version of the Gospel of Matthew in Hebrew was missing what we all today see as chapter one: the virgin birth narrative. From this absence, the charge was made that the Ebionites did not believe in a virgin birth. However, Jerome ca. 400 A.D. validated the Hebrew Matthew of the Ebionites. He cited several small variances from the Greek translation of the original Hebrew Matthew. None implied any unorthodox view. Thus, was the omission of the virgin birth narrative proof of heresy? No, because the same virgin-birth narrative is missing from Mark and John. Eusebius also tried to smear the Ebionites by claiming Symmachus, a Jewish scholar, was one of them. Symmachus disputed apparently the accuracy of the Greek Matthew's translation in Matthew chapter 1 of (Isa. 7:14) on the word virgin. Symmachus was correct. Therefore the fact this passage in Greek with its erroneous translation of Isaiah 7:14 is missing in the Hebrew Matthew actually heightens the validity of the Ebionite Matthew as more authentic. Regardless, Symmachus was never a Christian, and was anti-Matthew. He could not possibly be an Ebionite. The Ebionites were pro-Matthew. The impetus to bring exaggerated charges against the Ebionites was due to their position on Paul. There is no substantial evidence, pro or con, to support the Ebionites denied a virgin birth. Even if they did, because John, Mark and probably the original Matthew omit this story, how can it be a core doctrine of the church? How could denying the virgin birth make one a heretic? Jesus could still be from "everlasting" ((Mic. 5:2)) if God occupied Jesus conceived by Mary and Joseph. In fact, one could make the case that the virgin birth account in Luke contradicts the prophecy that Jesus had to be of the lineage of David. ((Jer. 23:6).) If there was a virgin birth, then Jesus would be, as the Epistle of Hebrews says, of the Order of Melchisedek, with no human father. How could an adoption by Joseph truly satisfy the prophecy of Jeremiah 23:6? This perhaps was the problem raised by the Ebionites with Luke's virgin birth account. We may never know for certain. Yet, if the Ebionites disputed the virgin birth, it could not possibly make them real heretics.
The answer is obvious. After Peter founded the church of Rome and left, Paul arrived and appointed the first bishop of the church of Rome (Linus), according to Constitution of the Apostles (ca. 180-200 A.D.) at 7:46. That means Paul appointed the very first pope of Rome-although the name pope for the bishop of Rome was not yet in use. (Peter never apparently used the label bishop to identify his status at Rome.) Thus, the validity of the lineage of the Roman church depended crucially upon Paul. If Paul were discredited, it would discredit the Roman Catholic church virtually from inception.
Why No Other Ebionite Writings Survived
We do not know the Ebionites' true views because we cannot find the Ebionite works preserved in any library anywhere. Imperial Rome beginning with Theodosius' reign (379-395) outlawed any religion but that of the "bishops of Rome" (Codex Theod. XVI, I, 2). This was enforced by the destruction of both public and private libraries in Roman territories. If any heretical material was found, the owner suffered the death penalty. This suppression of historical works was interpreted broadly. For example, in 371, Emperor Valens ordered troops to remove from private homes at Antioch (Syria) works on liberal arts and the law, not just heretical works. "Discouraged and terrorized people all over the eastern provinces of the Empire, wishing to avoid any possible suspicion, began to bum their own libraries." This grew worse under Theodosius. Then in 435 and 438, the emperors of Rome again commanded the public burning of unorthodox books throughout the empire.
So effective were these decrees, that there is not one single record written by an Ebionite that we can find preserved anywhere in any library. We know them only through the interpretation of their enemies. Our only records on the Ebionites' views are what Roman government authorities allowed to escape from the fire because the Ebionite's writings were quoted in the approved writings of Eusebius and Epiphanius.
Thus, it is not fair to judge the Ebionites solely from their enemies' writings. What Eusebius says needs to be taken with a grain of salt, particularly when bias can so easily enter and distort the analysis.
A Fortuitous Discovery of Ebionite Writings?
Or is that all that we now have from the Ebionites? Did the world recently discover a treasure trove of their writings from which we can objectively measure their orthodoxy? A good argument has been recently made by Professor Eisenman in James: The Brother of Jesus that we have recovered some of the Ebionites' writings among the Dead Sea Scrolls. How so?
- Clarence A. Forbes, "Books for the Burning," Transactions of the American Philological Society 67 (1936) 114-25, at 125.
Many of the sectarian works at the Dead Sea are written by a group who in Hebrew call themselves the Ebyonim or Ebion-The Poor. They even describe themselves as the "Congregation of the Poor." 4 The Poor of the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) claimed to be followers of "The Way," part of "The New Covenant" who found the "Messiah" who is called the "Prince of the Congregation" and "Teacher of Righteousness." He is gone, killed at the urging of the priests at Jerusalem. After the departure of the Messiah (who will return), the temporal leader who led the Poor was called the Just One, i. e ., Zaddik in Hebrew.
Furthermore, their leader-the Zaddik-is in a struggle against the "Spouter of Lies" who seeks to seduce the New Covenant community from following the Law of Moses. The Poor (Ebion) reject the idea (Hab. 2:4) means justification is by faith and insist its meaning is "justification by faithfulness." The DSS Ebion have two works called "Justification by Works" which reaffirm their rejection of the position of the "Spouter of Lies."
When we compare the Ebion of the Dead Sea Scrolls to what Eusebius describes as the Ebionites, the similarities are striking. The Christian sect of Ebionites seem to match the writings of the Poor ( Ebyonim , Ebion) whose writings were found at the Dead Sea site of Qumram. These Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) reflect ideas and thoughts that are unmistakably Christian . 5 The question is whether the writings of The Poor found at Qumram pre-date or post-date Christ.
- The Dead Sea Scrolls identify the community as The Poor of Psalm 37 where "the congregation of the Poor ...shall possess the whole world as an inheritance." (Psalm 37 in Dead Sea Scrolls Pesher 3:10.) Their self-identification is evident repeatedly in the Habakkuk Pesher. The Wicked Priest who killed the Zaddik will be "paid back in full for his wickedness against the 'Poor' (Hebrew, ebyonim)." (Norman Golb, Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?) 1995) at 85.) The verbatim original was: "The Lord will render destructive judgment [on that Wicked Priest] just as he plotted to destroy the Poor." (lQpHab 12.2.)
Unfortunately, this cannot be done by carbon dating the papers found at the Dead Sea. Such dates only tell us the date of the age of the paper. Carbon dating can not tell us the date of the writing on the paper. Yet, we have other reliable means to identify the date of the activity of the people whose writings were preserved at Qumram. Fifty-seven to sixty-nine percent of all the coins in the Dead Sea caves are from the period 44-69 A.D.-part of the Christian era. Thus, the only way to know whether Christians or non-Christians wrote these writings is to study the words on the pages of the DSS.
Professor Eisenman finds significant proof the Dead Sea Ebyonim is a Christian group. For example, in the DSS, the temporal ruler of the Ebion who succeeds the killed Messiah (who will return) is called the Zaddik. Numerous ancient sources outside the DSS identify James the Just (the brother of Jesus) as The Zaddik. Translated, this means Just One. Jerome by the 400s will call him James the Just. In Christian writings of that era, the name of James was rarely used. He was merely called the Zaddik or Just One 6 As we saw previously, James - the Zaddik - was the first bishop of Jerusalem after Jesus' resurrection.
So is it then mere coincidence that the head of the Ebion of the Dead Sea Scrolls is called the Zaddik? Of course not. Professor Eisemnan appears to have stumbled upon a major discovery.
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For example, in the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) there is the uncanny debate over justification by works vs. faith, centering upon a discordant view of (Hab. 2:4). The DSS writings advocate justification by works. Their "enemy" is one who espouses that the Law is no longer to be followed. "A similar vocabulary of justification was used by the [DSS]...[Paul's] invective in 2Cor. 6:14 has close affinities with the DSS polemic." (Alan F. Segal, Paul the Convert (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1990) at 174.) Segal goes on to explain: "Paul reads Habbakuk as contradicting the notion that Torah justifies. In the [DSS] the same verse was used to prove that those who observe the Torah...will be saved." Id., at 180. The DSS thus mirror uncannily the Paul v. James debate.
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"Jame's title was 'the Just' or 'the Just One, which Epiphanius tells us was so identified with this person as to replace his very name itself." (Eisenman, James: The Brother of Jesus, supra, at 375.)
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See "James Is the Head Bishop of the Church" on page 242.
If Professor Eisenman is correct, this means the Ebionites in Eusebius' writings are the Jerusalem Church under James. What Professor Eisenman then notes to corroborate this idea is that Paul refers twice to sending money to the poor at Jerusalem. Eisenman says this just as easily could be The Poor. (Rom. 15:26; Gal. 2:9-10.) If we translate back Paul's words into Hebrew, he was saying The Ebion of Jerusalem was the name of the church under James. They were the Congregation of the Poor , just like we might call a church The Lighthouse Church. We do not see Paul's intent due to case size in the standard text which changes The Poor into the poor.
What heightens the probability Professor Eisenman is correct is recent archaeology. The initial hypothesis was that the DSS were exclusively the writings of an Essene sect from the 200 B.C. era. This idea recently crumbled in 2004. Golb's contrary hypothesis that the DSS came from the Temple at Jerusalem between 65-70 A.D. has now been strongly confirmed by extensive archaeological digs under auspices of Israeli universities. These digs proved there was no community site of monks at Qumram. It was a clay plate factory. The initial inference of a large community of monks from the presence of a large number of plates misinterpreted the evidence. Second, we can now infer the scrolls were hidden in the mountains to protect the scrolls, and not because a large community had been involved in copying activity. In fact, archaeology now proves there was no copy center or Scriptorum, as originally claimed. None of the metal clips copyists use to guide copying were found at Qumram. A few ordinary pens and numerous coins were found. Yet, no metal clips of copyists. Not even a fragment of one!
- Eisenman, James the Brother of Jesus (Penguin: 1998) at 156.
The very nature of the scrolls likewise demonstrate that no monkish community was engaged in copying them. The Dead Sea Scrolls, it turns out, are not only an eclectic collection of sectarian materials but also a cache with numerous copies of the Bible texts. This is just what one would expect to find from the Temple Library at Jerusalem had it been secreted away in advance of the Roman troops sieging Jerusalem prior to 70 A.D. The Essenes would not be expected, by contrast, to preserve several opposing strains of sectarian writings. One such strain is the writings of The Poor-The Ebion. On the other hand, we would expect to find Jewish Rabbis at Jerusalem wanting to keep copies of Christian writings for infonnational purposes at the Library of the Temple of Jerusalem. We would expect to find records of sectarian differences maintained by such a library.
Golb's argument has now essentially been vindicated. Golb made a scholarly case that the DSS are writings that were taken from the Temple at Jerusalem during the years of the Roman siege that finally prevailed in 70 A.D. Hiding them in these caves preserved them from the torches which in the end destroyed the Temple in 70 A.D. after a long siege. 9
Thus, recent archaeological discoveries at Qumram establish that many of the documents can be potentially prepared in the Christian-era. We no longer are forced to disregard the Christian character of certain writings merely because of the Essene hypothesis which strangled DSS studies until now. Among the newer writings in the DSS, we find some in Hebrew written by a group calling itself The Poor - The Ebion. This transliterates very well as The Ebionites . 10
- Norman Golb, Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls (N.Y.: Scribner, 1995) at 11, 12, 30, 36. See also the archaeological report of 2004 by Magen and Peleg that destroyed many myths about Qumram, proving it was not an Essene settlement. See, AP 8/18/04; S.F. Chronicle (9/6/04); Ha 'aretz (Israel), July 30, 2004. Finally, this story is now being carried in mainstream publications. See Carmichael, "Archaeology: Question in Qumram," Newsweek (Sept. 6, 2005), available at http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5842298/site/newsweek. Newsweek mentions that Magen and Peleg set off what can only be called an academic revolution" which now corroborates "Norman Golb" who first argued what Magen and Peleg now confirm. See also, "The Dead Sea Scrolls," http://virtualreligion.net/iho/dss.html ("After 10 years of excavation Magen and Peleg conclude that the settlement at Qumran could not have been a monastery, but rather was a pottery factory which was vacated by its few inhabitants during the Jewish-Roman war.")
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