Who Were The Ebionites?

An early church commentator, Irenaeus writing bout 180 CE, clearly states that the Ebionites were Christians who rejected Paul and followed the Law. In Against the Heresies, 1.26 Irenaeus says:

"Those who are called Ebionites 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."

This is comparable to Eusebius who reported that the Ebionites "thought that it was necessary to reject all the epistles of [Paul], whom they called an apostate from the Law." Eusebius, Church Hist 3:26 325 AD.

Several sources say the Ebionites practiced circumcision. Tertullian, in de Praescriptione Haereticorum 33,  in his poem, Carmen adversus Marcionitas, lists circumcision specifically as an Ebionite practice. Origen says the same in his Homilia in Genesim 3.5. So does Jerome in Epitulae 116.16 and in his commentary on Galatians (3.5.3), as does Rufinas' Commentarius in Symbolum 39. Epiphanius is not an unbiased source on Ebionites, but even he says the Ebionites practiced circumcision. (Panarion 30.2.2).

Elsewhere the following sources say the Ebionites were observant of Torah/the Law: Irenaeus, Origen, in Contra Celsum 5.61, Commitarius in Matthaeum 11.12 (Greek);  Hippolytus in Refutatio Omnium Haereses 7.34, 10.22; Eusebius in Historia Ecclesiastica 3.27, 6.17; Jerome in de Situ et Nominibus Locorum Hebraicorum 112, Commentarius in Esiam 1.1.12, and Commentarius in Matthaeum 2.12.2; and Epiphanius Panarion 30.2.2.

For this, Ebionites are deemed apostates by modern Christians. But notice that, as the Jewish Encylopedia explains, in Judaism that those who were not observant of the Law were apostates. It says apostasy

is applied in a religious sense to signify rebellion and rebels against God and the Law, desertion and deserters of the faith of Israel... Accordingly it is stated in I Mace. 2:15 that “the officers of the king compelled the people to apostatize,” that is, to revolt against the God of Israel; and Jason, the faithless high priest, is “pursued by all and hated as a deserter of the law.” (II Mace. 5:8)... [Gratz in History of the Jews explains apostasy as:] “those of the Jewish race who voluntarily apostatized from the holy God and from the law of God, transgressing the divine commandments for the belly’s sake.” (“Apostasy and Apostates from Judaism,” Jewish Encyclopedia (editors  Isidore Singer, Cyrus Adler) (Funk and Wagnalls, 1912)  at 13.)

For links to all early church texts on Ebionites, see http://www.earlychurchtexts.com/main/irenaeus/ebionites.shtml

Hence, the derision the Ebionites received for following the Law by Epiphanius in the 300s is a persecution they suffered for what our Lord said was obeying and following His words, e.g., Matt. 5:17-19.

Eusebius on the Ebionites' View of Christ

Roman Catholicism by 325 AD came to a docetic view of Jesus -- He only appeared to be human but His flesh was divine from birth. Instead of Jesus being a man indwelled by God as Jesus Himself repeatedly said He was (John 14), the Roman Catholics eventually taught that Jesus supposedly came only in the appearance of a man. (Protestants who see this error correct this by claiming Jesus was 100% God and 100% man. More accurately, a 100% man was filled fully 100% by God's Shekinah presence.)

Eusebius in the History of the Church wrote that the Ebionites were heretics for insisting Jesus was a true man:

A link to all Patristic mention of the Ebionites is at this link -- the original Latin texts.

Ebionites On Authority of Apostles

In the Recognitions of Clement (transl 400 AD by Rufinus) which is typically ascribed to the Ebionites from the 200s, we read through a speech of Peter to Simon Magus (a cipher, scholars concur, for Paul) that their view (from the mouth of Peter) is that an Apostle only had authority to relay Jesus's words, and a true Apostle would never inject any new teaching:

Then Peter:  “Do not rashly take exception, O Simon, against the things which you do not understand.  In the first place, I shall answer your assertion, that I set forth the words of my Master, and from them resolve matters about which there is still doubt.  Our Lord, when He sent us apostles to preach, enjoined us to teach all nations⁶²⁸⁶²⁸ .the things which were committed to us.  We cannot therefore speak those things as they were spoken by Himself.  For our commission is not to speak, but to teach those things, and from them to show how every one of them rests upon truth. Nor, again, are we permitted to speak anything of our own.  For we are sent; and of necessity he who is sent delivers the message as he has been ordered, and sets forth the will of the sender.  For if I should speak anything different from what He who sent me enjoined me, I should be a false apostle, not saying what I am commanded to say, but what seems good to myself.  Whoever does this, evidently wishes to show himself to be better than he is by whom he is sent, and without doubt is a traitor.  If, on the contrary, he keeps by the things that he is commanded, and brings forward most clear assertions of them, it will appear that he is accomplishing the work of an apostle; and it is by striving to fulfil this that I displease you.  Blame me not, therefore, because I bring forward the words of Him who sent me.  But if there is aught in them that is not fairly spoken, you have liberty to confute me; but this can in no wise be done, for He is a prophet, and cannot be contrary to Himself. (Recognitions of Clement XXXIII.)

For we apostles are sent to expound the sayings and affirm the judgments of Him who has sent us; but we are not commissioned to say anything of our own, but to unfold the truth, as I have said, of His words.” (Recognition of Clement XXXIV.)

Ebionites on Paul

Christian scholars rarely quote or mention these references, apparently in the hope that by not mentioning them, we--the flock--will not have any questions about Paul arise in our mind. As Hyam Maccoby--a Jewish scholar--said:

"In considering the background of Paul, I have returned to one of the earliest accounts of Paul in existence, that given by the Ebionites ["the poor"], as reported by Epiphanius. This account has been neglected by scholars for quite inadequate and tendentious reasons " (Hyam Maccoby, The Mythmaker Paul and The Invention of Christianity (Harper & Row, 1987) at xii.)

The quotes to which Maccoby is referring are these:

“And these reckoned that all the epistles of the apostle ought to be denied, calling him an apostate from the law, and, using only the Gospel called according to the Hebrews, they make little of the word of the rest.” (Eusebius, History of the Church 3.27.4.) See http://www.textexcavation.com/gospelhebrews.html

"[The Ebionite] thought that it was necessary to reject all the epistles of [Paul], whom they called an apostate from the Law.” (Eusebius, Church Hist 3:26.)

They use the Gospel according to Matthew only, and repudiate the Apostle Paul, maintaining that he was an apostate from the Law." (Irenaeus Against Heresies 1.22, 1.26.)

They declare that he (Paul) was a Greek... He went up to Jerusalem, they say, and when he had spent some time there, he was seized with a passion to marry the daughter of the priest. For this reason he became a proselyte and was circumcised. Then, when he failed to get the girl, he flew into a rage and wrote against circumcision and against the sabbath and the Law. (Epiphanius, Panarion, 30.16. 6- 9.)

Thus, these are quotes rarely related in the history of the early church by Christian historians.

The Coded Language of the Recognitions of Clement

Scholars are unanimous in their view that the Ebionites used the name Simon Magus in their work Recognition of Clement as a cipher for Paul. They were forced to use a key like this so as to preserve their works from destruction. This rewrite may have happened around 325 AD, as Eusebius and others regarded them now as heretics.

As Alexander Roberts, the editor of The Anti-Nicene Fathers, explains: "This passage has therefore been regarded as a covert attack upon the Apostle Paul."  Roberts explains that the wording in Homily 17 of the Clementine Homilies is where Peter says his opponent claims he "stands condemned." Roberts says this is a clear allusion to Paul's telling Peter he "stands condemned" in Gal. 2:11. Roberts then explains: "This passage has therefore been regarded as a covert attack upon the Apostle Paul."

Likewise, Robert Griffin-Jones, a pro-Pauline scholar, admits Paul is the true adversary in this passage: "Paul is demonized...in a fictional dispute [in the Clementine Homilies] in which Peter trounces him." (Robert Griffith-Jones, The Gospel According to Paul (San Francisco: Harper Collins, 2004) at 260.)

Finally, Bart Ehrman concurs in this Homily that "Simon Magus in fact is a cipher for none other than Paul himself." (Ehrman, Peter, Paul and Mary Magdalene (Oxford: 2006) at 79.)

Another code word for Paul other than Simon Magus was the label "Enemy."

In the Preface to the Clementine Homolies we find a letter of Peter to James that refers to an enemy with lawless teachings. It now is in code--referring to an unnamed "enemy," and it says:

There is a history in those times about using coded writing. It was designed to preserve one's points to a generation after censorship was lifted who could decipher the original persons to be identified, or the sense in which false praise was made. Just so we know this is not dishonesty in the Ebionites, let's see the example of Eusebius -- later in life -- had to feign praise when he was, as we can decipher now, criticizing Constantine. To decipher this, we must find the code Eusebius was using.

Eusebius' Coded Writing Close in Time Typifies The Technique

Specifically, Eusebius, a bishop at Rome, and himself earlier a critic of the Ebionites in 325 AD, by 337 AD was trapped. He had to write a servile biography of the Roman Emperor Constantine who by now transformed the church into a very pagan institution. Unable to speak out against Constantine, Eusebius copied the Ebionites' technique to express dissent to Constantine's changes by using coded language.

Eusebius used slobbery praise that was so excessive that we today can see we should not take it at all seriously. It could pass the attention of a deluded and egotistical monarch like Constantine. So to interpet Eusebius correctly, one must find the key, and for this "one must strip away all his sycophant comments about Constantine he gave in his 'Introduction' ...and one will be left with some revealing information that shows the real character of Constantine and the actual type of government that Eusebius thought Constantine was introducting." (Ernest Martin, The Secrets of Golgatha (1996) at 221.)

Eusebius tipped off his readers who were cogently reading. He mentioned in his Introduction to the life of Constantine that Scripture itself is often written in a "disguised form" or in a "veiled way." Id. at 222. Eusebius mentions in the same context that when Plato spoke to the "unitiated" he would refer to "gods," but among the "initiated," who could accept his belief in one God, he would speak of "God." Id., at 224. Eusebius was confessing thereby, amidst glowing and almost incessant praises of Constantine, to the necessity to speak one way in front of those unaware / uninitiated while hoping the initiated might gather the true meaning of his words.

Eusebius' struggle, and the one of the Ebionites before Eusebius, is hard for us to appreciate in the USA. We do not know what it is like to live under censorship. But the Ebionites, like Eusebius after them, had no choice but to veil their meaning if their writings were to survive. And by the time of Recognitions of Clement were written or re-written, their writings would have been destroyed had the name Paul been used rather than Simon Magus. While censorship may have been possible in the 200s, we know for certain Paul had become a hero in Rome in the early 300s. Why? Because his words preached the abolition of Saturday Sabbath. (See "Paul Abolished Sabbath.") By then, Paul had become a pivotal charachter for Constantine to support. Constantine wanted Sun-Day -- the day of rest he commemorated to his God-of-the-Sun (Sol Invictus) -- to become the new Sabbath. So at least by that era, the Ebionites had to rewrite their stories to appear to be about Simon Magus so the Ebionites could preserve for a different era, and an astute audience, about whom they were speaking.

Ebionites On Birth of Christ

The Ebionites insisted Jesus was sired in the flesh by a David heir - Joseph. By 180 AD, due to an obvious mistranslator's illicit license with the text, a virgin birth account, had been added to Matthew. Later a single line was added to Luke to inject a virgin birth account. See our article "Virgin Birth Issues."

Irenaeus circa 180 AD criticized the Ebionites for insisting Jesus’ father was Joseph and not solely conceived by a virgin. (This is the first documented reference to the virgin birth account in church history -- but we are presuming his writings themselves were not tampered with.) Irenaeus explains:

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,” [Isa. 7. 14] as Theodotion the Ephesian has interpreted, and Aquila of Pontus. Both Jewish proselytes. The Ebionites, following these, assert that He was begotten by Joseph; thus destroying, as far as in them lies, such a marvellous dispensation of God, and setting aside the testimony of the prophets which proceeded from God. (Philip Schaff, Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martin and Irenaeus (Edited Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson) Vol. 1 Ch. 21 http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf01.ix.iv.xxii.html.)

Indeed, almah in Iaiah 7:14 means "young maiden." Only had it said "bethulah" would "virgin" have been intended.

Next, near 236 AD Hippolytus wrote of the Ebionites -- again presuming no tampering with Hippolytus' writings:

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 Ebionæans,) that (the Saviour) was named (the) Christ of God and Jesus, Or, “that the Christ of God was named Jesus” (Bunsen) 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.... They assert that our Lord Himself was a man in a like sense with all (the rest of the human family). (Hippolytus, Refutatio Omnium Haeresium 7.22.)

This implies that the Ebionites did not have a virgin birth account.

Finally, Epiphanius in the mid-300s says:

The Ebionites, following these, assert that He was begotten by Joseph.... http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf01.ix.iv.xxii.html

Hence, the Ebionites contended Jesus was a man begotten by Joseph. Therefore, it appears that there was no virgin birth account in the Gospel of Matthew they used.

Fate of Ebionites aka Essenes

Some modern followers of Ebionite doctrine call themselves Essenes. They believe the Essenes of whom Josephus spoke most closely aligns with their views, and they believe these were the true Ebionites. At the website Essene.net, we read a verifiable conclusion on the fate of the "Essenes" aka Ebionites:

It is apparent that many of the doctrines, traditions, and writings of the earlier Nasarene disciples of Yeshua were either destroyed or altered over time by those adhering to Roman, rather than Essene, culture. "The Way" of the early nature loving Nasarenes eventually began to be labeled heretical, and all who held to these original beliefs were persecuted and their scriptures banned and burned. This persecution, so systematic and state supported, resulted in the rewriting of history and scripture and in the recasting and reinterpretation of the meaning and mission of the Essene Yeshua. (New Testament Alterations.)