I have found my faith!!!! (Jesus, rituals, reject, Moses)

[astarath]

I have been unable to claim a specific denomination of Christianity as my beliefs did not fit the stipulations of any denomination known to me. However after 3 long years at last I have found my denomination. I am an ebionite!!! It is a long lost denomination but their beliefs are exactly that of my faith I was hoping as it is an Abrahmaic faith it may receive mention somewhere on the forums but if not at least I have mentioned it here!!!

[Sunstone]

Wonderful! Tell us more about it!

[ayani]

excellent! i'll look into it and try to learn some more.

[astarath]

Essentially, you adhere to the tenets of the Law of Moses (Judaism), you believe that Christ was the Messiah and you believe in his teachings and his sacrifice. However we do not accept any of the Epistles of Paul as scipture, and we do not accept the teaching of the immaculate conception. Since the religion has not been followed in about 1900 years their book of faith has been all but eliminated from existence however, the early church fathers of Pauline Christianity (who denounce the work as heresy) claim that the text was the first version of the Gospel of Matthew. The key difference was the first two chapters of Matthew were not included. The Ebionites traditions and rituals were of Essene tradition, and they held John the Baptist, Jesus the Christ, and James the Just as the faith's founders. The early churches followers were persecuted from both the Roman's and fellow christian's. Their denouncing of the immaculate conception and their controversial adherence to the Law of Moses (defiance of Paul's teachings) lead to the near obliteration of the faith. The only remaining information we hold on this faith are the facts we have in regards to the traditions of Essene theology and the commetaries of early church fathers as to specific criteria that differed them from other Judeo-Christian groups of the day such as Gnostics, Sicarii, and Nazareans.

[ayani]

http://ebionite.org/history.htm

^^^ is this an accurate history of the faith, Astarath?

may i ask a question? which parts of the 'new testament' do you follow with regards to Yeshuah's teachings? do you look only to the four gospels?

[astarath]

Originally Posted by gracie

http://ebionite.org/history.htm

^^^ is this an accurate history of the faith, Astarath?

may i ask a question? which parts of the 'new testament' do you follow with regards to Yeshuah's teachings? do you look only to the four gospels?

No there are several innaccuracies in the belief system. Ebonites are essentially derived from the teaching of James. Christ was divine but not by immaculate conception rather through the baptism and receiving the word of god and reception of the spirit.

We do reject the epistles of Paul, and we do adhere to the canonized Gospels. However, we also adhere to several other books. Most Gnostic texts as well as the additional gospels of the other apostles. The main focus of the faith is on the teachings in the original version of Matthew, which as forementioned does not include the first 2 chapters.

[MysticSang'ha]

Congratulations! I'm sure it feels like such a relief to have finally felt like you've "come home."




Peace,
Mystic

[A4B4]

First, my sincere congratulations!

When I was looking, I began to consider myself a "neo-Ebionite". While I don't follow all of the Jewish laws, and I still consider myself largely Christian, something very remarkable which I am unable to pinpoint struck me about the Ebionites.

However, not to dampen your celebration, but have you looked into Unitarian Christianity? While I felt very close to the Ebionites ideologically, I ultimately leaned toward the Unitarian Christian belief, although now I find myself even less concerned about the Trinity than before--now both uncertain and tolerant either way.

I was likewise very excited to hear about the Gospel of the Ebionites. While I respect the four gospels--especially the three synoptic gospels--I still had trouble with some of them. The explanation of the Gospel of the Ebionites helped to clear that up--that our current canonical gospels are modified versions of originally inspired gospels. At least, this is the conclusion I reached--did you?

I also remember reading somewhere that some scholars belief that early Islam was derived from the Ebionites.

Anyways, enough of my rambling. But know that I would love to discuss religion with an Ebionite!

[NoahideHiker]

Originally Posted by astarath

Ebonites are essentially derived from the teaching of James.

Of all the books in the christian bible James was always my favorite. Very practical. Very balanced between faith and works. More life applicable than the rest IMHO.