The Notzrim, also Nasaraioi/Nasoraean (Gk:Νασαραίοι), from Hebrew Extinct as a regularly spoken language by the 4th century CE, but survived as a liturgical and literary language; revived in the 1880s נֹצְרִים or נוצרים "sentry" or "watchmen"[1] (those who "keep safe" the original teachings), are a sect that began around the time of Jeremiah Jeremiah was one of the prophets of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). His writings are put together in the Book of Jeremiah and traditionally, authorship of the Book of Lamentations is ascribed to him. God appointed Jeremiah to confront Judah and Jerusalem for the worship of idols and other violations of the covenant described in Deuteronomy but flourished as a Gnostic Gnosticism refers to diverse, syncretistic religious movements in antiquity consisting of various belief systems generally united in the teaching that the material cosmos was created by an imperfect god, the demiurge with some of the supreme God's pneuma; this being is frequently identified with the Abrahamic God, (as opposed to the Gospel movement during the reign of the Hasmonean The Hasmoneans were the ruling dynasty of the Hasmonean Kingdom of Israel (140–37 BC), an independent religious Jewish state in the Land of Israel. The Hasmonean dynasty was established under the leadership of Simon Maccabaeus, two decades after his brother Judas the Maccabee ("Hammer") defeated the Seleucid army during the Maccabean queen Alexandra Helene Salome Salome Alexandra or Alexandra of Jerusalem , (Hebrew: שְׁלוֹמְצִיּוֹן אלכסנדרה‎, Shelomtzion or ShlomTzion) was the only Jewish regnant queen, with the exception of her own husband's mother whom he had prevented from ruling as his dying father had wished, and of the much earlier usurper Athaliah. The wife of Aristobulus I, among Hellenized Hellenization is a term used to describe the spread of ancient Greek culture, and, to a lesser extent, language. It is mainly used to describe the spread of Hellenistic civilization during the Hellenistic period following the campaigns of Alexander the Great of Macedon. The result of Hellenization was that elements of Greek origin combined in supporters of Rome Rome (English pronunciation: /ˈroʊm/; Italian: Roma listen , pronounced [ˈroːma]; Latin: Rōma) is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality (central area), with over 2.7 million residents in 1,285.3 km2 (496.3 sq mi). While the population of the urban area was estimated by Eurostat to have been 3.46 in Judea Judea or Judæa is the name given to the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel (Hebrew: ארץ ישראל‎ Eretz Yisrael) during the period of Classical Antiquity, from roughly the 8th century BCE (Assyrian rule) to the 2nd century CE, when Roman Judea was renamed to Syria Palaestina following Bar Kokhba's revolt.[2] Pliny the Elder indicates[3] that Nasaraioi lived not far from Apamea, in Syria in a city called Bambyx, Hierapolis or Mabog. Dubourg dates Pliny's source between 30 and 20 BCE and, accounting for the lapse of time required for the installation in Syria of a sect born in Palestine, suggests the presence of a Nasoraean current around 50 BCE.[4]

They are sometimes identified as the group called "Nazorei" by Filaster,[5] and were certainly one of the earliest key Gnostic sects. Many of the original Nasoraeans became Christians and, thus, in Modern Israeli Hebrew, the term Notzrim has come to simply mean Christians. Since the Greek word Christos is the translation of Messiah or "anointed," the Hebrew word for Christians could have been Meshikhiyim (Messianics), but ever since Talmudic days, the term Notzrim was used to deny that Jesus could have been the Messiah[citation needed].

Contents

History

It appears that the Νασαραίοι were originally composed at least partly of Jews The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation. Converts to Judaism, whose status as Jews within the Jewish ethnos (viz., Israeli-Samaritans) beginning long before the Christian Era Anno Domini and Before Christ (abbreviated as BC or B.C.) are designations used to label years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The calendar era to which they refer is based on the traditionally reckoned year of the conception or birth of Jesus, with AD denoting years after the start of this epoch, and BC denoting years before the start of, whose anti-Torah teachings Antinomianism , is a belief originating in Christian theology that faith alone, not obedience to religious law, is necessary for salvation. The concept is related to the foundational Protestant belief of Sola Fide, or justification through faith alone; however, antinomianism represents an extreme of this idea, wherein adherence to the Mosaic Law [6] may have had some gnostic leanings. The sect was apparently centered in the areas of Coele-Syria Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic: الجمهورية العربية السورية‎), is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest, Galilee Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee (Hebrew: גליל עליון‎ Galil Elyon), Lower Galilee (Hebrew: גליל תחתון‎ Galil Takhton), and Western Galilee (Hebrew: גליל מערבי‎ Galil Maaravi), and Samaria Samaria, or the Shomron is a term used for a mountainous region roughly corresponding to the northwestern part of Eretz Yisrael (essentially corresponding to the long-defunct state of Northern Israel).[7]

The early Church Father The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were early and influential theologians, eminent Christian teachers and great bishops. Their scholarly works were used as a precedent for centuries to come. The term was used of writers and teachers of the Church, not necessarily saints. A rough classification of these patristic Epiphanius Epiphanius was bishop of Salami and metropolitan of Cyprus at the end of the 4th century. He is considered a Church Father. He gained the reputation of a strong defender of orthodoxy. He is best known for composing a very large compendium of the heresies up to his own time, full of quotations that are often the only surviving fragments of writes: "there were Nasoraeans amongst the Jews before the time of Christ."[8] They were said to have rejected temple sacrifice and the Torah The term Torah , also known as the Pentateuch (Greek: penta [five] and teuchos [tool, vessel, book]), refers to the Five Books of Moses—the entirety of Judaism's founding legal and ethical religious texts. A "Sefer Torah" (סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה, "book of Torah") or Torah scroll is a copy of the Torah written on parchment, but adhered to other Jewish practice. They are described as being vegetarian.[9] Epiphanius says it was unlawful for them to eat meat or make sacrifices. According to him they were Jews only by nationality who lived in Gilead In the Bible "Gilead" means hill of testimony or mound of witness, , a mountainous region east of the Jordan River, situated in the Kingdom of Jordan. It is also referred to by the Aramaic name Yegar-Sahadutha, which carries the same meaning as the Hebrew (Genesis 31:47). From its mountainous character it is called "the mount of, Basham, and the Transjordan. They revered Moses Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible, a religious leader, lawgiver, and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed. Also called Moshe Rabbenu in Hebrew (Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּנוּ‎, Lit. "Moses our Teacher/Rabbi"), is the most important prophet in Judaism, and is also considered an important but, unlike the pro-Torah Nazoraeans, believed he had received different laws from those accredited to him.

Following the teachings of the Prophets above the Priestly rituals[clarification needed], they are considered Minim The Greek term for heresy, αἵρεσις, originally denoted "division," "sect," "religious" or "philosophical party," is applied by Josephus to the three Jewish sects—Sadducees, Pharisees, and Essenes (comp. Acts v. 17, xxvi. 5, and, with reference to the Christian sect, the αἵρεσις of the (heretics Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion. The founder or leader of a heretical movement is called a) by the Pharisee-derived Rabbinic Judaism Rabbinic Judaism or Rabbinism has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the sixth century CE, after the codification of the Talmud. Rabbinic Judaism gained predominance within the Jewish diaspora between the second to sixth centuries CE, with the development of the oral law and the Talmud to control the interpretation of Jewish scripture and in the Mishnah The Mishnah or Mishna (Hebrew: משנה, "repetition", from the verb shanah שנה, or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah" and the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c. 220 CE by Judah haNasi. They were members of a non-priestly congregation that counted Jeremiah Jeremiah was one of the prophets of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). His writings are put together in the Book of Jeremiah and traditionally, authorship of the Book of Lamentations is ascribed to him. God appointed Jeremiah to confront Judah and Jerusalem for the worship of idols and other violations of the covenant described in Deuteronomy as an early leader five centuries before[clarification needed]. Key teachings are that sacrifices were created by the priesthood to feed the Priests, and are not in accord with God's Law[clarification needed]. E. S. Drower surmises that the Nasoraean "hatred for Jews" originated during a period in which they were in close contact with orthodox Jewry, and when the latter was able to exercise authority over them.[10]

The famous Notzrim of the pre-Christian era (in existence during the reign of Alexander Jannaeus) included a rebellious student mentioned in the Baraitas as "Yeshu Yeshu is a name that appears in a few anecdotes in the Tosefta and the Babylonian Talmud, and later as the name of the central character of the Toledot Yeshu narratives. The accounts in the Tosefta and Talmud take place in different historical periods (see below). A tradition first seen in the writings of Celsus regarded at least one of the Ha-Notzri". Some fringe scholars identify this individual as the Christian Jesus of Nazareth Jesus of Nazareth , also known as Jesus Christ or simply Jesus, is the central figure of Christianity, which views him as the Messiah foretold in the Old Testament, with most Christian denominations believing him to be the Son of God and God incarnate who was raised from the dead. Islam and the Baha'i Faith consider Jesus a prophet and also the,[11][12] although the identification has been contested, as Yeshu ha-Notzri is depicted as living circa 100 BCE.[13]

The Notzri movement was particularly popular with the Samaritan Jews. While the Pharisees The Pharisees were at various times a political party, a social movement, and a school of thought among Jews during the Second Temple period under the Hasmonean dynasty (140–37 BC) in the wake of the Maccabean Revolt were waiting for a messiah Messiah (Hebrew: משיח‎; mashiah, moshiah, mashiach, or moshiach, is a term used in the Hebrew Bible to describe priests and kings, who were traditionally anointed with holy anointing oil as described in Exodus 30:22-25. For example, Cyrus the Great, the king of Persia, though not a Hebrew, is referred to as "God's anointed" ( who would be a descendant of David David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible. He is depicted as a righteous king, although not without fault, as well as an acclaimed warrior, musician and poet, traditionally credited for composing many of the psalms contained in the Book of Psalms, the Samaritan messiah would restore the northern Kingdom of Israel The Kingdom of Israel ) was one of the successor states to the older United Monarchy (also often called the 'Kingdom of Israel'). It existed roughly from the 930s BC until about the 720s BC, when the kingdom was conquered by the Assyrian Empire. The major cities of the kingdom were Shechem, Tirzah, and Shomron (Samaria). The Samaritans emphasized their partial descent from the tribes of Ephraim The Tribe of Ephraim was one of the biblical Tribes of Israel; together with the Tribe of Manasseh, Ephraim also formed the House of Joseph. At its height, the territory it occupied was at the center of Canaan, west of the Jordan, south of the territory of Manasseh, and north of the Tribe of Benjamin; the region which was later named Samaria (as and Manasseh According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Manasseh "who makes to forget") was one of the Tribes of Israel. Together with the Tribe of Ephraim, Manasseh also formed the House of Joseph and thereby from the Joseph Joseph or Yosef , was the eleventh son of Jacob and first son of Rachel in the book of Genesis. He is also known as Zaphnath-Paaneah of the Torah The term Torah , also known as the Pentateuch (Greek: penta [five] and teuchos [tool, vessel, book]), refers to the Five Books of Moses—the entirety of Judaism's founding legal and ethical religious texts. A "Sefer Torah" (סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה, "book of Torah") or Torah scroll is a copy of the Torah written on parchment. They considered themselves the B'nei Yoseph (i.e. "sons of Joseph").

The Mandaeans Mandaeism or Mandaeanism is a monotheistic religion with a strongly dualistic worldview. Its adherents, the Mandaeans (also sometimes referred to as Sabians in Arabic), revere Adam, Abel, Seth, Enosh, Noah, Shem, Aram and especially John the Baptist, who consider themselves successors of the pre-Christian Notzrim, claim John the Baptist John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River. John was an historical figure who followed the example of previous Hebrew prophets, living austerely, challenging sinful rulers, calling for repentance, and promising God's justice. John is regarded as a prophet in as a member (and onetime leader) of their sect; the River Jordan The Jordan River or River Jordan (British English) (Arabic: نهر الأردن‎ nahr al-urdun, Hebrew: נהר הירדן nehar hayarden) is a river in Southwest Asia which flows into the Dead Sea. It is considered to be one of the world's most sacred rivers. It is 251 kilometers (156 miles) long is a central feature of their doctrine of baptism In Christianity, baptism is the ritual act, with the use of water, by which a person is admitted to membership of the Church. The New Testament reports that Jesus himself was baptized.[14] The term Mandaii itself may be the Aramaic/Mandaean equivalent of the Greek gnosis ("knowledge"). Besides the Mandaeans, they have frequently been connected with groups known as Naaseni, Naasenians, Naassenes.

According to a Mandaean manuscript, the Haran Gawaita, John the Baptist is baptized, initiated, and educated by the patron of the Nasirutha ("secret knowledge") Anus or Anus-’uthra, the hierophant of the sect.[15] This research was conducted by the Oxford scholar, and specialist on the Nasoraeans, Dr. E. S. Drower, who concedes, however, that John’s name may have been inserted at a later date (it appears as Yahia, which is Arabic, not Aramaic).[16] Drower also asserts that the Church Fathers Hippolytus and Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea, c. 263–339 AD, called Eusebius Pamphili, became the Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine about the year 314. Eusebius, historian, exegete and polemicist is one of the more renowned Church Fathers. He was a scholar of the Biblical canon. He wrote Demonstrations of the Gospel, Preparations for the Gospel, and On Discrepancies describe Simon Magus Simon Magus , also known as Simon the Sorcerer and Simon of Gitta, was a Samaritan proto-Gnostic and traditional founder of the Simonians in the first century A.D. His only Biblical reference is in Acts 8:9-24 and prominently in several apocryphal and heresiological accounts of early Christian writers, some of whom regarded him as the source of, the Samaritan sorcerer of biblical fame (Acts 8:9ff), as a Nasoraean and a disciple of John the Baptist.[17] The author of the pseudo-Clementine Homilies (Bk. II, xxiii-xxiv), also describes Simon Magus as a disciple of John the Baptist and a Nasoraean. The Homilies also state that the immediate successor to John was another Samaritan named Dositheus, elected as leader because Simon happened to be in Egypt Egypt (pronounced /ˈiːdʒɪpt/ ; Arabic: مصر‎ Miṣr, pronounced [misˤɾ] ( listen); Arabic: مِصْر Miṣr [ˈmisˤɾ]; Egyptian Arabic: مَصْر Maṣr [ˈmɑsˤɾ]; Coptic: Ⲭⲏⲙⲓ, kīmi; Egyptian: 𓆎𓅓𓏏𓊖 Kemet), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula at the time of the martyrdom of the Baptist. Homily (Bk II, xxiv) recounts that when Simon returned from Egypt, the two quarreled: Simon’s authority was proved by miracles; thus Dositheus ceded his position as head of the sect The word sect comes from the Latin noun secta , meaning "(beaten) path", and figuratively a (prescribed) way, mode, or manner, and hence metonymously a discipline or school of thought as defined by a set of methods and doctrines. The present gamut of meanings of sect has been influenced by confusion with the homonymous (but and became Simon’s pupil.[18]

As a result of efforts to bring the sect back into the folds of Judaism Judaism is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people. Judaism, originating in the Hebrew Bible and explored in later texts such as the Talmud, is considered by Jews to be the expression of the covenantal relationship God developed with the Children of Israel. According to traditional Rabbinic Judaism, God revealed they also disparaged the Christian A Christian (pronounced /ˈkrɪstʃən/ ) is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, who Christians believe is the Messiah (the Christ in Greek-derived terminology) prophesied in the Hebrew Bible, and the son of God. Most Christians believe in the doctrine of books as fiction, regarding Jesus as the literary invention (mšiha kdaba "false prophet") of Paul of Tarsus Paul of Tarsus, also called Saint Paul, Paul the Apostle, or the Apostle Paul, (Ancient Greek: Σαούλ , Σαῦλος (Saulos), and Παῦλος (Paulos); Latin: Paulus or Paullus; Hebrew: שאול התרסי‎ Šaʾul HaTarsi (Saul of Tarsus) (c. 5 - c. 67), was a Jew who called himself the "Apostle to the Gentiles". According to,[citation needed] but eventually they emerged towards the end of the 1st century as the Mandaeans though others actually managed to shape the anti-Torah development of Pauline Christianities The relationship between Paul of Tarsus and Judaism continues to be the subject of much scholarly research, as it is thought that Paul played an important role in the relationship between Christianity and Judaism as a whole like Marcionism.[19]

In Hebrew Extinct as a regularly spoken language by the 4th century CE, but survived as a liturgical and literary language; revived in the 1880s, the word "Notzrim" (נוצרים) refers to all Christians A Christian (pronounced /ˈkrɪstʃən/ ) is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, who Christians believe is the Messiah (the Christ in Greek-derived terminology) prophesied in the Hebrew Bible, and the son of God. Most Christians believe in the doctrine of, evidently a survival of the time when the Notzrim in the strict sense were the Christians with whom Jews were in most contact.

Popular usage

Despite being historically anachronistic and quite derogatory as a result of its contextual nuances, many orthodox Jews are increasingly using the term to refer to general Christians[citation needed]. However a more accurate usage is emerging in reference to various sects of messianic Jews CPM · CMJ * CTOMC . SBMF · IAMCS · IFMJ · FFOZ · MBI · MIA · MJAA · OLM · UMJC · UTOM who have chosen to identify a Jewish heretic Yeshu ha-Notzri Yeshu is a name that appears in a few anecdotes in the Tosefta and the Babylonian Talmud, and later as the name of the central character of the Toledot Yeshu narratives. The accounts in the Tosefta and Talmud take place in different historical periods (see below). A tradition first seen in the writings of Celsus regarded at least one of the as the historical personage behind Jesus as "the Nazarene." Such "Messianic Jews" usually welcome the appaleage as despite the historical usage they have chosen to consider the term to be an original Hebrew term for Christians.

See also

References

  1. ^ Jay P. Green, Sr. (editor), Interlinear Bible, p. 609.
  2. ^ Goldstein, M. Jesus in the Jewish Tradition, Macmillan 1950 (pp. 148-154 Toledot Y.S.W.)
  3. ^ Pliny the Elder, Natural Histories Book V, recopying reports drafted by Marcus Agrippa on the orders of Emperor Octavian Augustus Caesar.
  4. ^ B. Dubourg, L'Invention de Jesus, op. cit., II, p. 157.
  5. ^ Filaster (ca. 397 A.D.) was a bishop who wrote the "Book of Diverse Heresies" (lived about the time of Epiphanius).
  6. ^ Chase, Frederic H. Jr. (translator) "Saint John of Damascus: Writings" Volume 37 of The Fathers of the Church: A New Translation. Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 1958 ch 19 on Heresies. First short run reprint 1999.
  7. ^ Encyclopedia Britannica, Nazarene article, Wm. Benton Publ., London, vol. 16, 1961 edition.
  8. ^ Epiphanius, Adversus Haereses, xxix, 6.
  9. ^ Bashan and Galaatides (Panarion 18; 20, 3; 29, 6, 1; 19, 5)
  10. ^ Drower, p. xv
  11. ^ Mead, G. R. S. (1903), "Did Jesus Live 100 B.C.--An Enquiry into the Talmud Jesus Stories," Kila, MT: Kessinger Publishing Company
  12. ^ Herford, R. Travers (1906), “Christianity in the Talmud and Midrash,” Princeton Theological Review, 4:412-414.
  13. ^ Hayyim ben Yehoshua. "Refuting Missionaries". http://mama.indstate.edu/users/nizrael/jesusrefutation.html. Retrieved 2008-04-12.
  14. ^ Drower, Introduction, p. xiv
  15. ^ Drower, p. 37
  16. ^ Drower, p. 101
  17. ^ Drower, p. 89
  18. ^ The Clementine Homilies, The Ante-Nicene Fathers, p. 233
  19. ^ Ajae (2000). "The Pre-Christian Nasoraeans". Mandaean World. http://www.geocities.com/mandaeans/nasoraean5.html. Retrieved 2008-04-12.

Further reading

Categories: Gnosticism | Early Jewish Christian sects | Early Gnostic Christian sects | Judeo-Christian topics | Mysticism

 

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hu, 28 Aug 2008 19:58:02 GM

this week i was reading in jeremiah 15 where it says therefore, thus says the lord, if you return, then i will restore you - before me you will stand; and if you extract the precious from the worthless, you will become my spokesman. ...

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