A.10 The Ebionites

Jesus’ creed and the Nasoreans disappeared as a direct result of the 66-70 AD Jewish war. However there were a few survivors who kept and transmitted the message. A sect called Ebionism, or Ebionite, was a direct descendant of James’s Church and followed his teaching; they also believed that Jesus was a great teacher, but a mortal man. This was the name used by the Qumranians to describe themselves; it also means “the poors”. The members of this sect considered themselves to be Jews, that Jesus had been the Messiah after his “coronation” by John the Baptist, and they did not like Paul. The words Ebionites and Nasoreans were interchangeable for a long time after Jesus and James’s death, and the Roman Church condemned both sects as heretics. Like most followers of the Jerusalem Church, with the exception of the Pauline branch, they believed that Jesus was a man, and not a god. From this we could conclude that the Christians are the real heretics. (8)