Short answer
They were Jews who followed Jesus in the first centuries after him, and they kept the Law of Moses as he did. The best known, the Ebionites, believed Jesus was a man whom God (﷾) chose as His Messiah, not God himself. They rejected Paul for leaving the Law. The Nazarenes believed Jesus was born of a virgin and called him the Son of God. The Elkesaites followed a book they said an angel had revealed, and believed Christ had been born many times. The church that came to call Jesus God condemned all three as heretics, and they died out. Against the Nazarenes, its only charge was that they kept the Law. So the early followers of Jesus did not all believe he was God. Some of these early Jewish followers saw him much as the Qur'an does: a human messenger to the Children of Israel who confirmed the Law. Where they went wrong, the Qur'an corrects them.
Full explanation
Why they matter
Christians are often told that Jesus' followers have always believed he was God. These groups show that they did not all believe it. They were Jews. They followed Jesus. They kept the Law that he kept. The best known of them held that he was a man, chosen by God (﷾). The church that called Jesus God grew among non-Jews, came to outnumber these Jewish believers, and condemned them. So the belief that Jesus is God did not come down to us through the Jewish followers who kept his Law. It won in a church that had left them behind.
Irenaeus reports that Cerinthus taught that Jesus was born of Joseph and Mary like other men, and that the Christ came down on him at his baptism. He says the Ebionites held a similar view of the Lord, used only the Gospel of Matthew, rejected Paul as an apostate from the Law, and kept the Law and its customs.
Eusebius says the Ebionites regarded Jesus as a plain and common man, justified only because of his superior virtue. Another group of them accepted his virgin birth but still denied that he existed before his birth as God.
“If this be true, we fall into the heresy of Cerinthus and Ebion, who, though believing in Christ, were anathematized by the fathers for this one error, that they mixed up the ceremonies of the law with the gospel of Christ, and professed their faith in that which was new, without letting go what was old. ... The adherents to this sect are known commonly as Nazarenes; they believe in Christ the Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary; and they say that He who suffered under Pontius Pilate and rose again, is the same as the one in whom we believe. But while they desire to be both Jews and Christians, they are neither the one nor the other.”
“And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:”
Who they were
Irenaeus was a bishop of Lyons who wrote around 180. He says the Ebionites used only the Gospel of Matthew. He says they rejected Paul as an apostate from the Law, which means someone who had abandoned it. He also says they kept the Law and the Jewish way of life. Historians explain their name simply: it comes from the Hebrew for "the poor".
Irenaeus reports that Cerinthus taught that Jesus was born of Joseph and Mary like other men, and that the Christ came down on him at his baptism. He says the Ebionites held a similar view of the Lord, used only the Gospel of Matthew, rejected Paul as an apostate from the Law, and kept the Law and its customs.
Surveys the forms of Christianity that lost out to the church that became orthodox. Describes the Ebionites as Jewish followers of Jesus who kept the Law of Moses, rejected Paul, and held that Jesus was a full human being, a righteous man whom God chose and adopted as His son, not a divine being.
What they believed about Jesus
Eusebius, a church historian of the fourth century, describes two groups. The first held Jesus to be a plain and common man, justified only because of his superior virtue. The second accepted that he was born of a virgin. But they still denied that he existed as God before his birth. Neither group believed he was God. Bart Ehrman, a scholar of early Christianity, sums up their Jesus as a full human being. He was a righteous man whom God (﷾) chose and adopted as His son, not a divine being.
Eusebius says the Ebionites regarded Jesus as a plain and common man, justified only because of his superior virtue. Another group of them accepted his virgin birth but still denied that he existed before his birth as God.
Surveys the forms of Christianity that lost out to the church that became orthodox. Describes the Ebionites as Jewish followers of Jesus who kept the Law of Moses, rejected Paul, and held that Jesus was a full human being, a righteous man whom God chose and adopted as His son, not a divine being.
The Law of Moses
The Ebionites kept the Law because they believed Jesus kept it. In Matthew, Jesus says he came not to destroy the Law but to fulfil it. He says that not one jot or tittle will pass from it. A jot and a tittle are the smallest marks in the writing. In Acts, the elders in Jerusalem tell Paul that thousands of Jews believe, "and they are all zealous of the law". That means they are all eager to keep it.
“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”
“And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:”
Against Paul
Paul, a Christian missionary of the first century, taught that a man is not justified by the works of the Law. Justified means made right with God (﷾). He also wrote of men "from James" in Jerusalem, whose arrival led Peter to stop eating with Gentiles. Gentiles are people who are not Jews. The Ebionites called Paul an apostate from the Law. A split over the Law already shows in Paul's own letters. It foreshadows the later split between the Ebionites and the church that followed Paul.
“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”
“For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.”
Irenaeus reports that Cerinthus taught that Jesus was born of Joseph and Mary like other men, and that the Christ came down on him at his baptism. He says the Ebionites held a similar view of the Lord, used only the Gospel of Matthew, rejected Paul as an apostate from the Law, and kept the Law and its customs.
How they disappeared
The church that followed Paul and the Gospel of John grew among Gentiles and became the majority. It counted the Ebionites as heretics. They are known almost only from their opponents' descriptions. None of their own writings survives whole.
Irenaeus reports that Cerinthus taught that Jesus was born of Joseph and Mary like other men, and that the Christ came down on him at his baptism. He says the Ebionites held a similar view of the Lord, used only the Gospel of Matthew, rejected Paul as an apostate from the Law, and kept the Law and its customs.
Eusebius says the Ebionites regarded Jesus as a plain and common man, justified only because of his superior virtue. Another group of them accepted his virgin birth but still denied that he existed before his birth as God.
Surveys the forms of Christianity that lost out to the church that became orthodox. Describes the Ebionites as Jewish followers of Jesus who kept the Law of Moses, rejected Paul, and held that Jesus was a full human being, a righteous man whom God chose and adopted as His son, not a divine being.
The Nazarenes
Nazarene, after Jesus of Nazareth, was an early name for all his followers. In Acts, Paul is accused of being "a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes". Epiphanius, a bishop of Cyprus who wrote around 375, describes a group of Jewish believers who kept this name. They kept circumcision, the Sabbath and the rest of the Law. They read the Jewish Scriptures in Hebrew, and they had Matthew's Gospel in Hebrew. He says they declared that God (﷾) is one and that Jesus Christ is His Son. But he could not say whether they held Jesus to be only a man, or born of the virgin. He places them in Beroea in Syria, today's Aleppo, and east of the Jordan. He says they began among the disciples who left Jerusalem for the town of Pella before the Roman siege of the year 70. Jerome, a Bible scholar, wrote around 404 that they were found in synagogues throughout the East. He says they believed in Christ the Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary.
“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:”
Epiphanius describes the Nazoraeans (Nazarenes), Jewish believers in Christ. They use the Old Testament as well as the New, read the Law, the Prophets and the Writings in Hebrew, and declare that God is one and that Jesus Christ is His Son (29.7.2-4). They differ from Jews in believing in Christ, and from Christians only in still keeping the Law: circumcision, the Sabbath and the rest (29.7.5). He cannot say whether they regard Christ as a mere man or affirm his birth from Mary by the Holy Spirit (29.7.6). They live in Beroea near Coelesyria, in the Decapolis near Pella and at Cocabe in Bashanitis, and began among the disciples who settled in Pella after leaving Jerusalem before its siege (29.7.7-8). They have the Gospel of Matthew in full in Hebrew (29.9.4).
“I have also had the opportunity of having the volume described to me by the Nazarenes of Berœa, a city of Syria, who use it.”
“If this be true, we fall into the heresy of Cerinthus and Ebion, who, though believing in Christ, were anathematized by the fathers for this one error, that they mixed up the ceremonies of the law with the gospel of Christ, and professed their faith in that which was new, without letting go what was old. ... The adherents to this sect are known commonly as Nazarenes; they believe in Christ the Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary; and they say that He who suffered under Pontius Pilate and rose again, is the same as the one in whom we believe. But while they desire to be both Jews and Christians, they are neither the one nor the other.”
Condemned for keeping the Law
Epiphanius says the one thing that set the Nazarenes apart from other Christians was that they still kept the Law. Jerome says the church fathers condemned Ebion, the man they named as the Ebionites' founder. They condemned him "for this one error, that they mixed up the ceremonies of the law with the gospel of Christ". Of the Nazarenes he says that "while they desire to be both Jews and Christians, they are neither the one nor the other." So the church cast out Jewish believers for keeping the Law. That is the Law of which Jesus said not one jot or tittle, not the smallest letter or mark, would pass away.
Epiphanius describes the Nazoraeans (Nazarenes), Jewish believers in Christ. They use the Old Testament as well as the New, read the Law, the Prophets and the Writings in Hebrew, and declare that God is one and that Jesus Christ is His Son (29.7.2-4). They differ from Jews in believing in Christ, and from Christians only in still keeping the Law: circumcision, the Sabbath and the rest (29.7.5). He cannot say whether they regard Christ as a mere man or affirm his birth from Mary by the Holy Spirit (29.7.6). They live in Beroea near Coelesyria, in the Decapolis near Pella and at Cocabe in Bashanitis, and began among the disciples who settled in Pella after leaving Jerusalem before its siege (29.7.7-8). They have the Gospel of Matthew in full in Hebrew (29.9.4).
“If this be true, we fall into the heresy of Cerinthus and Ebion, who, though believing in Christ, were anathematized by the fathers for this one error, that they mixed up the ceremonies of the law with the gospel of Christ, and professed their faith in that which was new, without letting go what was old. ... The adherents to this sect are known commonly as Nazarenes; they believe in Christ the Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary; and they say that He who suffered under Pontius Pilate and rose again, is the same as the one in whom we believe. But while they desire to be both Jews and Christians, they are neither the one nor the other.”
“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”
The Elkesaites
Hippolytus, a church writer in Rome around 230, describes the Elkesaites. A man named Alcibiades, from Apamea in Syria, brought a book to Rome. He said a righteous man called Elchasai had received it. He said an angel had revealed it, and that the angel was the Son of God, with a female figure beside him called the Holy Spirit. The book announced a new forgiveness of sins in the third year of the emperor Trajan, about the year 100, through a second baptism. It told believers to be circumcised and to live by the Law. Hippolytus says they held that Christ was born a man like everyone else. They said he had been born many times before, and would be born again, his soul passing from body to body. Origen, a scholar of the third century quoted by Eusebius, says they rejected Paul altogether. And he says they claimed their book had fallen from heaven.
“And he asserts that Christ was born a man in the same way as common to all, and that Christ was not for the first time on earth when born of a virgin, but that both previously and that frequently again He had been born and would be born.”
“It rejects certain parts of every scripture. Again it uses portions of the Old Testament and the Gospel, but rejects the apostle altogether. ... They produce a certain book which they say fell from heaven.”
| Group | Kept the Law of Moses? | Who Jesus was, to them | Described by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ebionites | Yes | A man chosen by God (﷾); some accepted the virgin birth, but none held that he was divine | Irenaeus, about 180 |
| Nazarenes | Yes, with circumcision and the Sabbath | Born of the virgin, and called the Son of God | Epiphanius, about 375; Jerome, about 404 |
| Elkesaites | Yes, with circumcision | Born a man like everyone else, and born many times before | Hippolytus, about 230 |
The church that came to call Jesus God condemned all three as heretics, and they died out.
What the Qur'an says
The Qur'an calls Jesus no more than a messenger, like the messengers before him. It says he was sent to the Children of Israel, confirming the Law. It also says that Mary conceived him without any man touching her. So on the main question, who Jesus was, the Ebionites were close to the Qur'an. He was a human being, and a messenger to the Children of Israel. But some Ebionites denied the virgin birth, and there the Qur'an corrects them. The Nazarenes held the virgin birth, as the Qur'an does. But they called Jesus the Son of God, and the Qur'an says it is not fitting for Allah (﷾) to beget a son. And against the Elkesaites' Christ, born again and again, Jesus in the Qur'an speaks of one birth, one death and one raising to life.
“Christ the son of Mary was no more than a messenger; many were the messengers that passed away before him. His mother was a woman of truth. They had both to eat their (daily) food. See how Allah doth make His signs clear to them; yet see in what ways they are deluded away from the truth!”
“And remember, Jesus, the son of Mary, said: "O Children of Israel! I am the messenger of Allah (sent) to you, confirming the Law (which came) before me, and giving Glad Tidings of a Messenger to come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad." But when he came to them with Clear Signs, they said, "this is evident sorcery!"”
“She said: "O my Lord! How shall I have a son when no man hath touched me?" He said: "Even so: Allah createth what He willeth: When He hath decreed a plan, He but saith to it, 'Be,' and it is!”
“It is not befitting to (the majesty of) Allah that He should beget a son. Glory be to Him! when He determines a matter, He only says to it, "Be", and it is.”
“"So peace is on me the day I was born, the day that I die, and the day that I shall be raised up to life (again)"!”
Point by point
Irenaeus, Against Heresies 1.26
Irenaeus reports that Cerinthus taught that Jesus was born of Joseph and Mary like other men, and that the Christ came down on him at his baptism. He says the Ebionites held a similar view of the Lord, used only the Gospel of Matthew, rejected Paul as an apostate from the Law, and kept the Law and its customs.
Cited for
The Ebionites were a late, fringe sect, not the original followers of Jesus.
The response
Paul's own letters show Jewish believers in Jerusalem who held to the Law, around James, from the start. Acts says there were thousands of them, "all zealous of the law". The Ebionites kept the Law as those believers did. Whether they descend directly from that community is debated. But their way of following Jesus was not new.
Where it lands — Jewish followers of Jesus who kept the Law were there from the beginning. The Ebionites kept it as they did.
Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies, about 230 CE — book 9, chapters 13-15
“And he asserts that Christ was born a man in the same way as common to all, and that Christ was not for the first time on earth when born of a virgin, but that both previously and that frequently again He had been born and would be born.”
Cited for
Muhammad (ﷺ) took his picture of Jesus from Jewish-Christian groups like these.
The response
A copy carries over the beliefs of its source. The Qur'an parts ways with each group where it went wrong. It teaches the virgin birth, which some Ebionites denied. It rejects the title Son of God, which the Nazarenes used. And against the Elkesaites' Christ, born again and again, Jesus in the Qur'an speaks of one birth, one death and one raising to life.
Where it lands — The Qur'an corrects each of these groups. It does not copy any of them.
Perspectives
Mainstream Christian
The Ebionites were a sect that fell away from the apostles' faith, and the church fathers rightly condemned them.
John's Gospel says the Word was God and was made flesh.
Rebuttal
John does say the Word was God and became flesh. But those are the writer's own words, not words of Jesus. In the same Gospel, Jesus calls the Father "the only true God", and speaks of "my God". The Qur'an calls Jesus a Word from Allah (﷾), made by His command "Be", and only a messenger.
Paul's letters are the earliest Christian writings. He taught that a man is made right with God by faith, not by keeping the Law.
Rebuttal
Paul did teach this. But how old his letters are does not decide what Jesus taught. In Matthew, Jesus says not one jot or tittle will pass from the Law. And Acts says thousands of Jewish believers stayed "all zealous of the law". Paul's own letter also shows men "from James" holding to it.
The Nazarenes believed in the virgin birth and called Jesus the Son of God. So the early Jewish believers held the church's faith.
Rebuttal
The Qur'an also teaches the virgin birth. Epiphanius, who described the Nazarenes in detail, could not say whether they held Jesus to be more than a man. And the title Son of God does not make Jesus God: the Bible calls Israel God's son, and Adam "the son of God". The church still condemned the Nazarenes, for keeping the Law.
What historians record
The Ebionites and Nazarenes were Jewish followers of Jesus who kept the Law, and the Elkesaites kept it too. The Ebionites rejected Paul and held Jesus to be a human Messiah.
Irenaeus and Eusebius both record that the Ebionites saw Jesus as a man, kept the Law, and rejected Paul.
Epiphanius and Jerome record the Nazarenes, who kept the Law and read Matthew in Hebrew. Hippolytus and Origen record the Elkesaites, who kept the Law, rejected Paul, and followed the book of Elchasai.
Many historians see them as heirs of the Jewish followers of Jesus in Jerusalem. How direct that link is, is still disputed.
The Islamic perspective
Jesus was a human messenger, sent to the Children of Israel. And some of his early Jewish followers saw him that way.
The Qur'an calls Jesus no more than a messenger.
Jesus came to the Children of Israel confirming the Law.
The earliest preaching in Acts calls Jesus a man approved of God (﷾).