06-25-2008, 12:17 PM
Albion, many of the ideas in your post are common, but based on very poor scholarship. For instance, the idea that the Nazarenes didn't eat meat is based on phony etymology, where some people have said that the Nazaroi and Nazareni of Epiphanius are both the same group. This cannot be supported, realistically. The idea that the Nazarenes and Ebionites are the same is also far-fetched, and a summary reading of Epiphanius, Jerome, and/or Eusebius dismisses it very quickly.
The idea that the Nazarenes objected to Paul is also not really valid. The Ebionites certainly were, but we have no reason to believe that the Nazarenes were.
I highly reccomend to you a book called "Nazarene Jewish Christianity" by Ray Pritz. It is generally considered the most complete and most accurate scholarly work on Nazarene history. I agree with most of what Pritz has to say. There are a few things on which I think he was wrong, but he is mostly correct. He makes a very strong case for his position, aswell.
If you don't want to do that, please send me your email address and I'll send you a research paper I did on this subject.
The idea that the Nazarenes objected to Paul is also not really valid. The Ebionites certainly were, but we have no reason to believe that the Nazarenes were.
I highly reccomend to you a book called "Nazarene Jewish Christianity" by Ray Pritz. It is generally considered the most complete and most accurate scholarly work on Nazarene history. I agree with most of what Pritz has to say. There are a few things on which I think he was wrong, but he is mostly correct. He makes a very strong case for his position, aswell.
If you don't want to do that, please send me your email address and I'll send you a research paper I did on this subject.