The Nazarene sect (''ἡ τῶν Ναζωραίων αἵρεσις'') is used in two contexts:

Firstly of the New Testament early church where in Acts 24:5 Paul is accused before Felix at Caesarea by Tertullus of being "a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes."

Secondly of a 4th Century Jewish-Christian sect located in Transjordan called the Nazarenes by Epiphanius, Jerome and Augustine of Hippo.

Nazarene (title)

The title "Nazarene" is first found in the Greek texts of the New Testament as an adjective, ''nazarenos,'' used as an adjectival form of the phrase ''apo Nazaret'' "from Nazareth."

The Sect of the Nazarenes (1st Century)

The name ''Nazaraios'' is the standard Greek spelling in the New Testament for a man from Nazareth, the plural ''Nazaraioi'' means "men from Nazareth". (see Nazarene (title)). The title Nazarenes, "men from Nazareth," is first applied to the Christians by Tertullus (Acts 24:5), though Herod Agrippa II (Acts 26:28) uses the term "Christians" which had first been used at Antioch (Acts 11:2). The name used by Tertullus survives into Rabbinical and modern Hebrew as ''notzrim'' (נוצרים) a standard Hebrew term for "Christian", and also into the Quran and modern Arabic as ''nasara'' (plural of ''nasrani'' "Christians").

However, since "Christian" was the name the Christians accepted themselves, and is approved in 1 Peter, the term "Nazarene" used by Tertullus appears to have never been adopted by Christians. Tertullian (c.160–c.220, Against Marcion 4:8) records that the Jews called Christians "Nazarenes" from Jesus being a man of Nazareth, though he also makes the connection with Nazarites in Lamentations 4:7. Jerome too records that "Nazarenes" was employed of Christians in the synagogues. Eusebius, around 311 AD, records that the name "Nazarenes" had formerly been used of Christians. The use relating to a specific "sect" of Christians does not occur until Epiphanius. Epiphanius (see below) in discussing the 4th Century Nazarene sect claims pre-Christian origins for the sect, but there seems to be no evidence of the term prior to Tertullus, and no evidence for Epiphanius' opinion. According to Ehrhardt, just as Antioch coined the term Christians, so Jerusalem coined the term Nazarenes, from Jesus of Nazareth.

The terms "sect of the Nazarenes" and "Jesus of Nazareth" both employ the adjective ''nasraya'' (ܕܢܨܪܝܐ) in the Syrian Aramaic Peshitta, from ''Nasrat'' (ܢܨܪܬ ) for Nazareth.

The Nazarenes (4th Century)

According to Epiphanius in his ''Panarion'' the 4th Century Nazarenes were originally Jewish converts of the Apostles who fled Jerusalem because of Jesus' prophesy on its coming siege ( during the Great Jewish Revolt in 70 A.D.). They fled to Pella, Peraea (which is northeast of Jerusalem), and eventually spread outwards to Beroea and Bashanitis, where they permanently settled. It is close to a historical certainty that Matthew belonged to this group, as The Gospels affirm this to be true.

The Nazarenes were an early Jewish Christian sect located in and about Jerusalem which proclaimed Jesus of Nazareth was the promised Messiah and the Son of God. The Nazarenes were similar to the Ebionites, in that they considered themselves Jews, maintained an adherence to the Law of Moses, and used only the Aramaic Gospel of the Hebrews, rejecting all the Canonical gospels. However, unlike half of the Ebionites, they accepted the Virgin Birth.

As late as the eleventh century Cardinal Humbert of Mourmoutiers still referred to the Nazarene sect as a Sabbath-keeping Christian body existing at that time (Strong’s Cyclopedia, New York, 1874, I, 660). Modern scholars believe it is the Pasagini or Pasagians who are referenced by Cardinal Humbert suggesting the Nazarene sect existed well into the eleventh century and beyond.(The Catholic writings of Bonacursus entitled "Against the Heretics"). It is believed that Gregorius of Bergamo, about 1250 CE, also wrote concerning the Nazarenes as the "Pasagini".

Gospel of the Nazarenes

The Gospel of the Nazarenes is the title given to fragments of one of the lost Jewish-Christian Gospels of Matthew partially reconstructed from the writings of Jerome.

Patristic references to "Nazarenes"

In the 4th century Jerome also refers to Nazarenes as those "...who accept Messiah in such a way that they do not cease to observe the old Law." In his ''Epistle'' 79, to Augustine, he said:

:"What shall I say of the Ebionites who pretend to be Christians? To-day there still exists among the Jews in all the synagogues of the East a heresy which is called that of the Minæans, and which is still condemned by the Pharisees; [its followers] are ordinarily called 'Nasarenes'; they believe that Christ, the son of God, was born of the Virgin Mary, and they hold him to be the one who suffered under Pontius Pilate and ascended to heaven, and in whom we also believe. But while they pretend to be both Jews and Christians, they are neither."

Jerome viewed a distinction between Nazarenes and Ebionites, a different Jewish sect, but does not comment on whether Nazarene Jews considered themselves to be "Christian" or not or how they viewed themselves as fitting into the descriptions he uses. He clearly equates them with Filaster's Nazarei. His criticism of the Nazarenes is noticeably more direct and critical than that of Epiphanius.

The following creed is that of a church at Constantinople at the same period:

:"I renounce all customs, rites, legalisms, unleavened breads & sacrifices of lambs of the Hebrews, and all other feasts of the Hebrews, sacrifices, prayers, aspersions, purifications, sanctifications and propitiations and fasts, and new moons, and Sabbaths, and superstitions, and hymns and chants and observances and Synagogues, and the food and drink of the Hebrews; in one word, I renounce everything Jewish, every law, rite and custom and if afterwards I shall wish to deny and return to Jewish superstition, or shall be found eating with the Jews, or feasting with them, or secretly conversing and condemning the Christian religion instead of openly confuting them and condemning their vain faith, then let the trembling of Gehazi cleave to me, as well as the legal punishments to which I acknowledge myself liable. And may I be anathema in the world to come, and may my soul be set down with Satan and the devils."

"Nazarenes" are referenced past the fourth century AD as well. Jacobus de Voragine (1230–1298) described James as a "Nazarene" in The Golden Legend, vol 7. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) quotes Augustine of Hippo who was given an apocryphal book called Hieremias by a "Hebrew of the Nazarene Sect" in Catena Aurea - Gospel of Matthew, chapter 27. So this terminology seems to have remained at least through the 13th century in European discussions.

Nazarene Beliefs

The beliefs of the Nazarene sect or sects are described through various church fathers and heresiologists.

in Jesus as Messiah:

in the Virgin Birth:

in Jesus as the Son of God:

Adhering to circumcision and the Law of Moses:

Use of Old Testament and New Testament:

Use of Hebrew and Aramaic New Testament source texts:

Epiphanius confused Philo of Alexandria's description of the Therapeutae with "Jessaens," (Iessaioi), according, incorrectly, to Epiphanius a Christian group.

Modern "Nazarene" churches

Nazarene churches

Most churches using the name "Nazarene" use it in relation to Jesus, and not in connection to the 4th Century sect described by Epiphanius.

The Swiss ''Nazarener'' Baptist movement, the ancestor of the Apostolic Christian Church in America, many branches of which also use the term "Nazarene" or "Nazarean" in their name.

The Church of the Nazarene, a mainstream Christian (Protestant) denomination that was born out of the Holiness Movement of the early 20th Century. The Church of the Nazarene took their name in order to associate itself with the humbleness of Jesus' town of origin, as they seek to reach the "humble" in society.

The Syrian Malabar Nasrani and Knanaya "Nazarenes", a Christian group claiming ethnic Jewish descent in Kerala, India.

See also

Ebionites

Judeo-Christian

References

External links

Catena Aurea - Gospel of Matthew Ch. 27

Catholic Encyclopedia: Nazarene

Epiphanius of Salamis' Panarion

Eusebius of Caesarea's Ecclesiastical History 4.22

Jerome's Lives of Illustrius Men Ch. 3

Jewish Encyclopedia: Nazarenes

Letter 75 Jerome to Augustine

NetzariPedia: The Term Nazarene Pt1

The Golden Legend, Volume 7

Category:Judeo-Christian topics Category:Judaism-related controversies Category:Christianity-related controversies Category:Schisms in Christianity Category:New Testament history Category:Ancient Christian denominations Category:1st-century Christianity Category:Early Jewish Christian sects Category:Former Christian denominations

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