Nazarene (sect)


The Nazarenes were an early Jewish Christian sect in first-century Judaism. The first use of the term is found in the Acts of the Apostles 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. At that time, the term simply designated followers of Jesus of Nazareth, as the Hebrew term , and the Arabic term نَصْرَانِي, still do.
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. They are described by Epiphanius of Salamis and are mentioned later by Jerome and Augustine of Hippo. The writers made a distinction between the Nazarenes of their time and the "Nazarenes" mentioned in Acts 24:5.

As a title

The English term Nazarene is commonly used to translate two related Greek words that appear in the New Testament: Nazōraios and Nazarēnos . 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."
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.
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, where Jesus asks who will become his supporters for the sake of God; the Hawariyun 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 نَصَارَىٰ naṣārā.
Tertullian 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. The use relating to a specific "sect" of Christians does not occur until Epiphanius. 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 in the Syrian Aramaic Peshitta, from Nasrat for Nazareth.

Nazarenes (4th century)

According to Epiphanius in his Panarion, the 4th-century Nazarenes were originally Jewish converts of the Apostles who fled Jerusalem because of Jesus' prophecy of its coming siege. They fled to Pella, Peraea, and eventually spread outwards to Beroea and Basanitis, where they permanently settled.
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. 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 described James as a "Nazarene" in The Golden Legend, vol 7. Thomas Aquinas quotes Augustine of Hippo, who was given an apocryphal book called Hieremias 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.
, from the Revisionist School of Islamic Studies, hypothesized that this sect survived into the seventh century, when they attempted to precipitate the return of Jesus, as the Messiah of the Apocalypse, by translating their scripture and lectionaries into Arabic, recruiting the local Arab Christians, capturing Jerusalem, rebuilding the Temple, and re-initiating its sacrifices. When Jesus did not return, he concluded that the situation eventually spun out of control, resulting in the development of the Quran and Islam.

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" 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've 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 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

Those few who are initiated into the secrets of the Mandaean religion are called Naṣuraiia or Nasoraeans/Nasaraeans meaning guardians or possessors of secret rites and knowledge. According to the Haran Gawaita, Nasoraean Mandaeans fled Jerusalem before its fall in 70 CE due to persecution. The word Naṣuraiia may come from the root n-ṣ-r meaning "to keep", since although they reject the Mosaic Law, they consider themselves to be keepers of Gnosis. Epiphanius mentions a group called Nasaraeans, distinguished from the "Nazoraioi". According to Joseph Lightfoot, Epiphanius also makes a distinction between the Ossaeans and the Nasaraeans, the two main groups within the Essenes:
The Nasaraeans may be the same as the Mandaeans of today. Epiphanius writes that they existed before Christ. That is questioned by some, but others accept the pre-Christian origin of this group.
Van Bladel suggests that the Mandaeans and Nasoraeans were historically separate groups, with the Nasoraeans being a Judeo-Christian priestly baptismal sect from central Mesopotamia that found followers from the indigenous Mandaeans of southern Mesopotamia. According to van Bladel's hypothesis, the original Mandaean laypeople had their Mesopotamian temples decimated due to temple pillaging during the Sasanian period and switched to the Nasoraean priests' religion in order to compensate for the loss of their former religion. However, this hypothesis has been criticized by Predrag Bukovec and other scholars. Bogdan Burtea has also proposed that the Nasoraeans and Mandaeans may have historically been separate groups.
In the Ginza Rabba, the term Nasoraean is used to refer to righteous Mandaeans, i.e., Mandaean priests. As Nasoraeans, Mandaeans believe that they constitute the true congregation of bnia nhura meaning 'Sons of Light'.