The Nazarenes (or Nazoreans; ). refers to either an early Jewish Christian sect in first-century Judaism or more likely a 2nd century sect or a Syrian sect from the 4th century, all of which believed in the divinity of Jesus and his virgin birth. The first use of the term is found in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 24, ) of the New Testament, where Paul the Apostle is accused of being a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes ("") before the Roman procurator Antonius Felix at Caesarea Maritima by Tertullus.Acts 24:5 "For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes." At that time, the term simply designated followers of Jesus of Nazareth, as the Hebrew term (),נוצרי (Wiktionary), in singular and the Arabic term (),نصراني (singular). Wiktionary. still do.
They considered as their holy scriptures: the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, which included the Gospel of Matthew in Hebrew or Aramaic. The Nazoreans believed that Jesus was the Christ, born of a virgin, suffered and resurrected again under Pontius Pilate, believed in the resurrection of the dead, and accepted Paul's mission to the gentiles.
As time passed, the term came to refer to a sect of Jewish Christians who continued to observe the Torah, in contrast to gentiles who eschewed Torah observance.David C. Sim The Gospel of Matthew and Christian Judaism 1998 p182 "The Nazarenes are first mentioned by Epiphanius who records that they upheld the Torah, including the practice of circumcision and sabbath observance (Panarion 29:5.4; 7:2, 5; 8:1–7), read the Hebrew scriptures in the original Hebrew" They are mentioned and described by Epiphanius of Salamis and are mentioned later by Jerome and Augustine of Hippo.Petri Luomanen "Nazarenes" in A companion to second-century Christian "heretics" pp279Memoirs of Dr. Joseph Priestley – Page 670 The term Ebionites occurs in Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen, and Eusebius but none makes any mention of Nazarenes. They must have been even more considerable in the time of these writers, The writers made a distinction between the Nazarenes of their time and the "Nazarenes" mentioned in Acts 24:5.Edward Hare The principal doctrines of Christianity defended 1837 p318 "The Nazarenes of ecclesiastical history adhered to the law of their fathers; whereas when Tertullus accused Paul as "a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes," he accused him as one who despised the law, and " had gone about to the temple," Acts xxiv, 5, 6. "
Nazarenes as a Title
The English term Nazarene is commonly used to translate two related Greek words that appear in the New Testament: Nazōraios () ("Nazorean") and Nazarēnos () ("Nazarene"). The term Nazōraios may have a religious significance instead of denoting a place of origin, while Nazarēnos is an adjectival form of the phrase apo Nazaret "from Nazareth."Frank Ely Gaebelein, James Dixon Douglas The Expositor's Bible commentary: with the New International Version 1984 "Matthew certainly used Nazōraios as an adjectival form of apo Nazaret ("from Nazareth" or "Nazarene"), even though the more acceptable adjective is Nazarēnos (cf. Bonnard, Brown, Albright and Mann, Soares Prabhu)."
Because of this, the phrases traditionally rendered as "Jesus of Nazareth" can also be translated as "Jesus the Nazarene" or "Jesus the Nazorean." In the New Testament, the form Nazōraios or Nazaraios is more common than Nazarēnos (meaning "from Nazareth").
In Arabic, however, Nasrani (), the name given to Christians in the Quran can be interpreted as coming from the root verb n-ṣ-r, meaning victory, or support. The meaning is defined in Surah al Imran, verse 52 where Jesus asks who will become his supporters (Ansar-i) for the sake of God; the Hawariyun (Apostles) answer that they will become the Ansar. The same root also refers to the Ansar, those that sheltered Muhammad in Medina.
Nazarene sect of (1st century)
The Greek epithet Nazōraios is applied to Jesus 14 times in the New Testament, and is used once in Acts to refer to the sect of Christians of which Paul was a leader. It is traditionally translated as "a man from Nazareth"; the plural Nazōraioi would mean "men from Nazareth". The title is first applied to the Christians by Tertullus (), though Herod Agrippa II () uses the term "Christians" which had first been used at Antioch (). The name used by Tertullus survives into Mishnaic and modern Hebrew as notzrim (), a standard Hebrew term for "Christian". The name also exists in the Quran and modern Arabic as naṣārā (plural of naṣrānī "Christian").
Tertullian (c. 160 – c. 220, ) records that the Jews called Christians "Nazarenes" from Jesus being a man of Nazareth, though he also makes the connection with Nazarites in .. Jerome too records that, in the synagogues, the word "Nazarenes" was used to describe Christians. Eusebius, around 311 CE, records that the name "Nazarenes" had formerly been used of Christians..Epiphanius Panarion 29 The use relating to a specific "sect" of Christians does not occur until Epiphanius (310/20–403). According to Arnold 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..
Nazarenes (4th century)
According to Epiphanius in his Panarion, the 4th-century Nazoreans (Ναζωραῖοι) were originally Jewish converts of the ApostlesPanarion 29.5.6 who fled Jerusalem because of Jesus' prophecy of its coming siege. They fled to Pella, Peraea (northeast of Jerusalem), and eventually spread outwards to Beroea (Aleppo) and Basanitis, where they permanently settled (Panarion 29.3.3).See: Jonathan Bourgel, "The Jewish Christians’ Move from Jerusalem as a pragmatic choice", in: Dan Jaffé (ed), Studies in Rabbinic Judaism and Early Christianity, Leyden: Brill, 2010, pp. 107–38.
The Nazarenes were similar to the Ebionites, in that they considered themselves Jews, maintained an adherence to the Law of Moses. Unlike the Ebionites, they accepted the Virgin Birth. They seemed to consider Jesus as a prophet, but other attestations from the church fathers might suggest that they also hold on the divinity of Jesus.
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. 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 is the chief authority of their history. It is believed that Gregorius of Bergamo, about 1250 CE, also wrote concerning the Nazarenes as the Pasagians.
Gospel of the Nazarenes
The Gospel of the Nazarenes is the title given to fragments of one of the lost Jewish-Christian Gospels 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 75, to Augustine, he said:
Jerome saw 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.Filaster (ca. 397 CE) was a bishop who wrote the "Book of Diverse Heresies" (lived about the time of Epiphanius). . His criticism of the Nazarenes is noticeably more direct and critical than that of Epiphanius.
The following creed is from a church at Constantinople at the same period, and condemns practices of the Nazarenes:
"Nazarenes" are referenced past the fourth century CE as well. Jacobus de Voragine (1230–98) described James as a "Nazarene" in The Golden Legend, vol 7. Thomas Aquinas (1225–74) quotes Augustine of Hippo, who was given an apocryphal book called Hieremias (Jeremiah in Latin) 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:
Adhering to circumcision and the Law of Moses:
Use of Old Testament and New Testament:
Use of Hebrew and Aramaic New Testament source texts:
Nazranis of India The Saint Thomas Christians of Kerala, known locally as Nasranis or Nazarenes, have long been associated with Jewish and Hebrew origins. This nomenclature was historically used to describe early Jewish Christians, suggesting that the Nasrani community have roots in Jewish communities of the Near East. Apostle Thomas, during his missionary endeavours, preached to dispersed Israelite communities in India, aligning with patterns observed in other apostle's missions. Dr. Ray A Pritz, in his thesis Nazarene Jewish Christianity mentions that "Christian" (followers of Christ) was originally used by the non-Christians to designate believers among the Gentiles while the Nazarenes was already used in Israel to describe Jewish adherents to the new Messianic sect. Further supporting this hypothesis are cultural and linguistic parallels between the Nasranis and Jewish communities in Kerala, such as shared traditions and place names with Hebrew connotations. Also the fact that they enjoyed elite and commercial rights by the Chera king could have been possible since they share with the Jews having received the royal charter engraved on copper plates from Cheraman Perumal would be only possible if they were ethnically Jews because lower caste converts didn't have this privilege. They had the rights to sit before kings, ride horses, elephants, chariots and wear headgear just like the Brahmins.They were also given lordship over seventeen underprivileged castes. They also practiced and until today practice strict endogamy among themselves; also, conversions are discouraged in the non-Catholic traditional Syrian Christian denominations. Even catholic Nazranis do not let converts or non-Nazarenes to participate or involve in their practices and customs and are given separate dioceses/parishes. Until the arrival of the Portuguese they had strict dietary customs, and observed Jewish holidays such as Passover and Yom Kippur.Till today pesaha is observed and unleavened bread similar to a matzah is prepared in every Syrian Christian household on Maundy Thursday. In fact Y-DNA genetic signatures have been reported which indicate clear Cohen (Aaronic) ancestry, Levite ancestry and Judahite ancestry. The Brahmin origin of these Christians are merely namesake which was the term used to denote priests in the Indian languages then is another claim. It is also a fact that the Apostle Thomas came in search for the Jews in India first to preach the gospel.
Nasoraean Mandaeans