Ebionism

Ebionism was one of the earliest of the heresies. It had its roots in the Judaising tendencies of some of the earliest Christians. In some ways the Ebionites resembled the sect known as Nazarenes but were more extreme in their legalism. The name of the Ebionites came from a Hebrew root "Ebion" which means "poor" or "oppressed" or "humble". Because Jesus taught about the poor, the ebionites considered their own poverty a seal of true discipleship.

The Ebionites were unhappy with much of Paul's writings but used mainly the teachings of James and Peter.

The Church had settled the question of whether Gentiles must submit to the whole of the Jewish law in order to become Christians - including the question of Circumcision - at the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15) and Paul had written strongly about the tendency to look for salvation through legal ceremonies in his Epistle to the Galatians.

However, the desire to gain salvation through works and mysteries is endemic in Man and Ebionism was one result of this tendency. Ebionism grew up in Palestine and its membership was mainly Jewish.

Some forms of Ebionism were reasonably orthodox in all but their tendency to strict legalism and the keeping of the whole of the Jewish law as a way of life. (In this they were possibly related to the Pharisee party of the Jews.)

Others, however, denied Jesus' virgin birth and his deity. They did not believe that his death brought salvation for that must be earned by righteous living. For them, the teaching of the deity of Christ was an assault on true monotheism.

Most Ebionites rejected Paul as an apostle and preferred the leadership and teaching of Peter whom they saw as the "Apostle to the Circumcision". They insisted on the keeping of the seventh day as the Sabbath.

The Ebionite movement appears to have died out by the fifth century.

I have received (9th April 99) an e-mail from Mark Lichtenstein which argues that

The Ebionites were the remnants of Jesus' family and were the original Christians that knew Jesus personally.
Their teachings were closer to Jesus' teaching than any of today's Christians.
They did not believe in the virgin birth because they knew Hebrew and did not have to rely on bad translations of the Torah.

Each of these statements can be contested but they, nevertheless, have to be taken into account.