Prophet Jesus (pbuh) left behind a small community of loyal believers. According to the New Testament, the members of this community, which consisted of his 12 disciples, his family, and those Jews who believed in him, were called Nazareans by other Jews.11This term is believed to have come from the expression Jesus of Nazareth in the New Testament, or from the source of this expression.
The Nazareans continued to abide by the Mosaic Law and other commandments and prohibitions that the Jewish rabbis had developed over time. One important difference between the Nazareans and the other Jews is that the former adopted the new religion brought by Prophet Jesus (pbuh) and regarded him as a Messiah. They believed that he was the prophet foretold by Prophet Moses (pbuh)12 a man sent by God to turn the Jews to the true path and purify their religion from its deviant beliefs. Following his ascension to God's presence, the Nazareans made great effort to spread his message. The Book of Acts, the most important text in the New Testament after the four Gospels, provides important information on this subject.
The Nazarean Message
According to the Book of Acts, the Nazareans began coming under pressure after God raised Prophet Jesus (pbuh) to His presence. Orthodox Jews regarded them a heretical sect and sought to silence and intimidate them. The Nazareans were also in a difficult position with regard to the Roman occupiers. However, oppression and intimidation failed to silence them, for such policies could not defeat their belief in God and the ensuing firm solidarity, brotherhood, and sisterhood. As we read in the Book of Acts:
All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he [she] had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:44-47)
In another section the solidarity and loyalty among the Nazareans is described in these terms:
All of the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his [her] possessions was his [her] own, but they shared everything they had … much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time, those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales, and put it at the apostles' feet. It was distributed to anyone, as he [she] had need. Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), sold a field he owned, brought the money, and put it at the apostles' feet. (Acts 4:32-37)
With such great discipline the Nazareans continued to tell other Jews about Prophet Jesus' (pbuh) message, saying that he was the last prophet sent by God to the Jews. The words of Apostle Peter to a group of Jews at the Temple of Solomon are reported as follows:
"Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders… Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that He may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as He promised long ago through His chosen prophets. For Moses said: 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people.
' Indeed, all of the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have foretold these days. And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers. He [God] said to Abraham: 'Through your offspring, all peoples on Earth will be blessed.' When God raised up His servant, He sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways." (Acts 3:17-26)
In these expressions, Peter refers to Prophet Jesus (pbuh) as a servant of God and stresses that he is a prophet. People are told that Prophet Jesus (pbuh) is a prophet foretold by Prophet Moses (pbuh). And furthermore, there is no mention of a "son" of God. There is no reference to the trinity or of Prophet Jesus' (pbuh) alleged divine status. (Surely God is beyond that!)
Oppressing the Nazareans
According to the Book of Acts, the Nazareans made Jewish religious figures uneasy. This unease grew as their message continued to spread. Both the Jewish religious establishment and the Roman occupation administration incited by them came to regard the Nazareans as a political threat and began targeting them. According to historical records, the policy of oppressing the Nazareans grew apace. They were subjected to arrest and flogging, and were warned not to talk about Prophet Jesus (pbuh). This oppression increased considerably in 48-49. Finally, around 62-65, the Nazarean leader was arrested and executed. According to the New Testament, the Nazareans were unable to reach an understanding with the other Jews, particularly the religious establishment (the Sadducees and Pharisees), because the latter group consisted of those who nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. (Mark 7:13)
According to the New Testament, the distinguishing feature of this community, led by Prophet Jesus' (pbuh) family and the apostles, was their belief in God as the One and Only. For the Nazareans, Prophet Jesus (pbuh) was a chosen messenger of God. Belief in the trinity meant nothing to them, for what mattered to them was his message. Indeed, Nazarean texts – such as the Epistle of James – all call on belief in God and concentrate on matters of faith.
Between 48 and 49, the Roman governor crucified many Nazareans, for it was thought that they played a role in every uprising against Rome. This oppression continued during the 50s. In 65, the Nazarean community left Jerusalem and migrated to Mesopotamia.
Heretics and Ebionites
From the second century on, the Church Fathers began to call the Nazareans a heretical sect. One of these, Justin Martyr, in a text written in 150, referred to a sect that recognized Prophet Jesus (pbuh) as a Messiah but nevertheless regarded him as a man; in other words, not as the son of God. (Surely God is beyond that!) Justin Martyr further stressed another matter. These people were criticized by those who believed in the trinity, and relations between the two sides were irretrievably damaged.13
Approximately fifty years later, Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, published a text called Adversus Haereses (Against the Heretics). Heading the list of the hereticscondemned by Irenaeus was a community described as the Ebionites.
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The word Ebionites, or Ebionæans (Ebionaioi), is a transliteration of an Aramean word meaning poor men.14According to Irenaeus, the Ebionites wereheretics because they believed that Prophet Jesus (pbuh) was a normal human being. Moreover, according to Irenaeus, they still adhered scrupulously to the Mosaic law and accepted only one of the four gospels: the Gospel of Matthew.15 It appears from the written sources that the Ebionite community was actually the Nazareans. Church leaders used the words Ebionite and Nazarean as synonyms for each other. According to Epiphanius, the heresy of this group lay in their rejecting the so-called divinity of Prophet Jesus (pbuh) and describing him as a normal human being. Epiphanius stressed that these people did not use the New Testament books approved by the Church, but used other versions of these books.15
The fact that the Ebionites believed that Prophet Jesus (pbuh) was human and possessed no divine nature was emphasized in an article, "The Lost Gospels," published in the 22 December 2003 edition of Time magazine:
They believed in Christ but saw him, as Ehrman puts it, "as the Jewish Messiah sent … to the Jewish people in fulfillment of Jewish Scripture." The Ebionites' Jesus was not a member of an eternal Trinity. They claimed he was a man whose original distinction was that he kept the entire Jewish law – with its hundred of commandments handed down from God through Moses – to perfection…16
Over the following centuries, the Nazareans who left Jerusalem migrated to Syria and lived in Mesopotamia. Although they lived in this region as a community, Nazarean teachings rapidly spread far and wide. At least during the first four centuries of Christianity, Christian sects adhering to Nazarean beliefs developed in those regions not reached by the Catholic Church in Rome. The best known "heretical" group to emerge from the Nazarean teachings, or at least to be influenced by it, was the Arianist movement, named after Bishop Arius of Alexandria.
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