I've been reading about the Ebionites lately.
From Wiki:
Ebionites, . . . is a patristic term referring to a Jewish Christian movement that existed during the early centuries of the Christian Era. They regarded Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah while rejecting his divinity and insisted on the necessity of following Jewish law and rites. They used only one of the Jewish–Christian gospels, revered James the brother of Jesus (James the Just), and rejected Paul the Apostle as an apostate from the Law. Their name suggests that they placed a special value on voluntary poverty. Ebionim was one of the terms used by the sect at Qumran that sought to separate themselves from the corruption of the Temple.
This is a really ancient group and their 'take' on Christianity is amazing if you think about it for a minute. How did they get so far 'off' of what was to become mainline Christianism so early in the game ?
It's really mysterious, no? One might expect to see that much 'drift' in dogma after a couple millennia perhaps (thinkg of Mormonism now) but Apostle Paul was pretty early in the game and the Ebionites were right there point out his heresy. Hell, even now, if there were any contemporary Ebionites, they could point to the Gospel of Matthew and say "See? It's right there, Paul is making shit up and CONTRADICTING Jesus from the git go !!"
So, where I'm headed with this, look at the discrepancy from current mainstream belief to what the Ebionites were asserting, and then it raises all kinds of questions about other dogma we have now, like the sexual repression stuff, particularly in regards to the gay stuff and Jesus being conspicuously silent on the topic.
It's tough to condemn the Ebionites, I might be changing my view as to the One True Faith being the Ebionism instead of the Congregation of Jehovah's Presbytery of Zion
. . .
From Wiki:
Ebionites, . . . is a patristic term referring to a Jewish Christian movement that existed during the early centuries of the Christian Era. They regarded Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah while rejecting his divinity and insisted on the necessity of following Jewish law and rites. They used only one of the Jewish–Christian gospels, revered James the brother of Jesus (James the Just), and rejected Paul the Apostle as an apostate from the Law. Their name suggests that they placed a special value on voluntary poverty. Ebionim was one of the terms used by the sect at Qumran that sought to separate themselves from the corruption of the Temple.
This is a really ancient group and their 'take' on Christianity is amazing if you think about it for a minute. How did they get so far 'off' of what was to become mainline Christianism so early in the game ?
It's really mysterious, no? One might expect to see that much 'drift' in dogma after a couple millennia perhaps (thinkg of Mormonism now) but Apostle Paul was pretty early in the game and the Ebionites were right there point out his heresy. Hell, even now, if there were any contemporary Ebionites, they could point to the Gospel of Matthew and say "See? It's right there, Paul is making shit up and CONTRADICTING Jesus from the git go !!"
So, where I'm headed with this, look at the discrepancy from current mainstream belief to what the Ebionites were asserting, and then it raises all kinds of questions about other dogma we have now, like the sexual repression stuff, particularly in regards to the gay stuff and Jesus being conspicuously silent on the topic.
It's tough to condemn the Ebionites, I might be changing my view as to the One True Faith being the Ebionism instead of the Congregation of Jehovah's Presbytery of Zion
. . .
The granting of a pardon is an imputation of guilt, and the acceptance a confession of it.
