 Rev. G.J. Ouseley -- translated the Gospel of the Twelve to English |
The Gospel of the Nazarenes contains all of the doctrines that the Ebionites believed. Epiphanius said that their gospel was possibly identical to the Gospel of the Twelve which is another name for the Gospel of the Nazarenes.
The following are passages that reveal that the beliefs the Ebionites held were teachings of Jesus contained in the Gospel of the Nazarenes: |
They used only the Gospel of the Hebrews written by Matthew.
…used only the Gospel according to the Hebrews, making but slight account of the others. (Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. iii.27.4.)
They did not believe Jesus was born of a virgin.
2:12 Joseph, now awake, did as the angel directed him, and went in to Mary his espoused bride. In her womb she conceived the Holy One.
They believed that Jesus was a natural born son of Joseph and Mary.
8:8 And Yeshua was beginning his thirtieth year, being by physical body indeed the Son of Joseph and Mary
They rejected all animal sacrifice. They were strictly vegetarians.
38:4 Wherefore I say to all who desire to be my disciples, keep your hands from bloodshed and let no flesh meat enter your mouths, for God is just and bountiful, who ordains that man shall live by the fruits and seeds of the earth alone.”
They believed that Jesus came to destroy animal sacrifices.
21:8 He also said, “I have come to end the sacrifices and feasts of blood, and if you don’t cease offering and eating of flesh and blood, the wrath of God will not cease from you.
75:9 I say to you, for this end have I come into the world, that I may put away all blood offerings and the eating of flesh of the beasts and the birds that are slain by men.
They rejected Paul’s writings and considered him to be a liar and apostate from the law.
Jesus taught to obey the law of God:
25:8 Don’t think that I have come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I have not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass, one jot or one title shall in no way pass from the law or the prophets until all be fulfilled. But behold one greater than Moses is here, and He will give you the higher law, even the perfect Law, and this Law will you obey.
33:3 …for sins against the Law of God there can be no remission, save by repentance and amendment.
46:22 And when the disciples heard these words, they beat on their breasts, saying, “Wherein we have offended, O God forgive us; and may thy wisdom, love and truth within us, incline our hearts to love and keep this Holy Law.”
46:24 This is the new law to the Israel of God, and the law is within, for it is the law of love, and it is not new but old. Take heed that you add nothing to this law, neither take anything from it. They who believe and obey this law will be saved, and they who don’t know and obey it will be lost.
Paul taught just the opposite:
Rom 3:20 by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified
Rom 3:28 a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
Rom 6:14 ye are not under the law
Rom 7:4 dead to the law
Gal 2:16 a man is not justified by the works of the law… justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
Gal 3:13 curse of the law… Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree. (Jesus was cursed??)
They were observant of the Law, but the spirit of the Law.
41:7 And Yeshua beheld a man working on the Sabbath, and He said to him, man, if you know what you are doing, you are blessed, for you are not breaking the law in the spirit; but if you don’t know, you are accursed and a transgressor of the law.
43:22 Who so breaks the law of purification by necessity, is blameless, for they do it without exercising their own free will. They don’t despise the law which is just and good. For cleanliness in all things is great gain.
46:7 And Yeshua said to them, “Behold a new law I give to you, which is not new but old. Even as Moses gave the Ten Commandments to Israel after the flesh, so also I give to you the twelve for the kingdom of Israel after the spirit.”
47:1 And when they came down from the mount, one of His disciples asked Him, “Master, if a man does not keep all these commandments will he enter into life?” And he said, “The law is good in the letter, but more excellent in the spirit, for the letter without the spirit is dead, but the spirit makes the letter alive.”
47:2 “Take heed that you obey, from the heart, and in the spirit of love, all the commandments which I have given to you.“
They did not accept the Law of Moses in its entirety; certain sayings they rejected.
33:3 The priests indeed receive such offerings as a reconciliation of the worshippers for the trespasses against that which they believe to be the Law of Moses; but for sins against the Law of God there can be no remission, save by repentance and amendment.”
51:12 And certain of the elders and scribes from the temple came to him saying, “Why do your disciples teach men that it is unlawful to eat the flesh of beasts though beasts are offered in sacrifice as Moses ordained.”
51:17 And He said against Moses “Indeed I do not speak against the law, but against those who corrupted his law, which he permitted because of the hardness of your hearts.
28:3 You believe that Moses indeed commanded such creatures to be slain and offered in sacrifice and eaten, and so do you in the temple, but I have come to light The Way back to The Law, even the true Law of Moses, and He comes to put away the bloody sacrifice of the law, and the feasts on them, and to restore to you the pure oblation and unbloody sacrifice as in the beginning, even the grains and fruits of the earth.
They were conformed to the customs of the Jews. They were justified according to the law, and saying that Jesus was justified by fulfilling the law
25:8 Don’t think that I have come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I have not come to destroy, but to fulfill.
23:11 …for salvation comes to those who are made strong with The Law, for these indeed are the true Israel”)
75:13 Keep the commandments. Love your God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself. On these hang all the law and the prophets. And the sum of the law is this– Don’t do to others what you don’t want them to do to you. Do you to others, what you want others to do to you.”
75:14 Blessed are they who keep this law, for God is manifested in all creatures. All creatures live in God, and God is hidden in them.”4:18 …And when they had performed all things according to the law, Mary and Joseph returned to Galilee, to their own city Nazareth
They believed Jesus was the Messiah and true prophet mentioned in Deuteronomy 18:15.
10:8 …”We have found Him, of whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets did write.
46:3 And Moses spoke, saying, “This is He of whom I foretold saying, ‘a prophet from the midst of your brothers like myself, will the eternal send to you, and that which the eternal reveals to him, he will tell you. And to him will you listen. Those who will not obey will bring their own destruction upon themselves’.”
88:4.”These are the words which I spoke to you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.”
They believed in “holy poverty”.
14:11 …Yeshua answered, “Go, sell all you have and divide with the poor, and follow me.”
25:2 “Blessed in spirit are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
94:8 And yet another asked him, “Master, how many of the rich and mighty will enter into life and join us who are poor and despised.
They held Jerusalem in great veneration.
4:12 …they brought the child to Jerusalem, to present it to God, for it is written in the Law of Moses: “Every male that opens the womb will be called holy to the Lord.”
4:18 …those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. And when they had performed all things according to the law, Mary and Joseph returned to Galilee, to their own city Nazareth.
6:1 Now, Joseph and Mary His parents, went up to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover.
6:2.When Mary and Joseph had completed their stay, and as they returned, the child Yeshua stayed behind in Jerusalem.6:15 …and He taught there and in Jerusalem as an accepted Rabbi, even in the temple, none hindering Him.
6:24 James being in and around Jerusalem, and John all around and about the outlying and surrounding areas of Judea.
23:10 …you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.”
46:2.And, behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elias talking with him and speaking of the law, and of His purpose which He should accomplish at Jerusalem.