Nazarene Jewish Christianity: From The End Of The New Testament Period Until Its Disappearance In The Fourth Century (studia Post-biblica)

+STUDIA POST-BIBLICA INSTITUTA A P.A.H. DE BOER ADIUVANTIBUS L.R.A. VAN ROMPAY ET N AZARENE JEWISH CHRISTIANITY From the End of the New Testament Period Until Its Disappearance in the Fourth Century J. SMIT SIBINGA EDIDIT J .e.H. LEBRAM VOLUMEN TRICESIMUM SEPTIMUM by - Ray A. Pritz LEIDEN JERUSALEM-LEIDEN E.J. BRILL THE MAGNES PRESS, THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY '1988 EJ. BRILL CONTENTS 7 Preface Inlrodllcliol1 Chapter Olle Chapler Two 9 - The Name of the Sect - Christian Sources before Epiphanius Chapter Three - Epiphanius 29 Chapler FOllr 48 Chapter Five - Jerome - Patristic Evidence after Jerome - The Gospel According to the Hebrews Chapter Six Chapter Seven - Jewish Sources Summary and Conc//lsiolls Appendixes I - Epiphanius, panariol1 29 11 - Geography - The Historicity of the Pella Tradition III List oI Abbreviations Bibliography Indices Scripture References ISBN 90 04 08108 9 © Copyright 1988 by The Magnes Press The Hebrt!w University, Jerusalem A /I rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or translated in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, microfiche or any other means without wn'tten permission from the pub/isher. Printed in Israel S.S.G. 'Crispin Press, Jerusalem 11 19 71 83 95 108 111 113 120 122 128 130 137 138 Jewish Sources 140 Christian Sources 142 Modern Authors 147 Subjects 150 PREFACE This book arose out of a fascination with that elusive enigma called lewish Christianity. I first encountered it under other names as a moqern phenomenon. Many of its adherents would claim a continuity of community over the centuries in various places and forms. While this may prove to be a less-than-tenable position, it is clear that scattered across the pages of relations between ludaism and Christianity are numerous lews who, for a wide spectrum of reasons. have attached themselves to the Christian faith. These too range widely, from the self-hating Donins and Pfefferkorns of the later middle ages to the Edersheims and Chwolsons of more recent times, men proud of their Jewish heritage and whose scholarly contributions left no small mark on the search for Christian origins. A comprehensive study of both phenomena is still desirable. The subject ofthis book was suggested to me over Christmas dinner by Randall Buth. While I was surprised to find that no comprehensive monograph had been done on the Nazarenes, the present study is only a small step in that direction. I would like to thank Prof. David Rokeah ofthe Hebrew University for his faithful advice and assistance both during and after the completion ofthis work. I am also grateful to Dr. Wesley Brown for putting at my disposal both the equipment and a quiet place to use it while I was preparing the final manuscripts. And finally, none of the work would have been accomplished without the generous financial assistance ofthe Memorial Foundation for Jewish Studies and the Warburg Foundation. lerusalem, 1987 Introduction In the course of the last century there has grown an ever-increasing inter