5 JWO_12_03_TheReliabilityofTheEbionitesDespitetheOne SidedChargesAgainstThem_0065
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The Reliability of The Ebionites Despite the One-Sided Charges Against Them

Nevertheless, even if the Ebionites did not believe in the virgin birth as charged (see footnote 2 of this chapter for why this charge appears unfounded or does not involve true heresy), they still believed in Jesus' divinity and His resurrection. They were Jewish Christians. They simply did not regard the Law as abrogated. They still rested on the Saturday-Sabbath. For this too they were condemned by Eusebius and Jerome later. Yet, resting on Saturday-Sabbath was apostolic practice, as demonstrated by the Constitutions of the Apostles dating at least to the early 200s. It was only in 363 A.D. that Constantine's bishops in the Roman Empire made it heresy and anathema to rest on the Saturday-Sabbath. The churches that fonn the modern Eastern Orthodox church escaped this Roman decree. They were largely in territories that were not under the Roman Emperor's authority. As a result, the 250 million members of the Orthodox Church today and their members of twenty centuries past keep the Saturday-Sabbath while worshipping on Sunday.

15."Firstborn Sonship of Christ," The New' Birth (February 2000) Vol. 25 No. 2.

Thus, Eusebius (who was quoting Epiphanius) presented an illogical and weak case why we should ignore the Ebionites' investigation. Eusebius clearly engaged in the fallacy of ad hominem. The correct response was always to examine the plausibility of the Ebionite charges against Paul from independent evidence. It may very well be that the Ebionites are not only orthodox in every respect, but more so than ourselves because they were led by James and the twelve apostles.