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Tuesday, January 08, 2019

Ebionite (Nasoraean, Jewish or Hebrew Christian) Scriptures and Vegetarian Gospels



Link BACK to the MAIN PAGE of the E-Library: https://SantMatRadhasoami.Blogspot.com/2019/01/sant-mat-radhasoami-books-main-page-e.html
Ebionite (Hebrew Christian) Scriptures



The Hebrew Christian-Nasoraean-Ebionite-Clementine-James the Just Page: The Original Christianity (Christianity Before Paul), A Collection of Ebionite Scriptures and Vegetarian Gospels of the Jesus Movement Affiliated with James the Just or Teacher of Righteousness, Also Other Early Jewish/Hebrew Christian Sources, Thr John the Baptist Group, Aramaic Mandaean Texts, etc…

I do agree with the scholar Robert Eisenman that finding the historic James the Just (brother and spiritual successor of Jesus) is the most logical way to locate a historic Jesus. This Nasoraean/James the Just/Ebionite page is a project to gather together what remains of their scriptures so this original group — Christianity before Paul — awkwardly marginalized by Paul and later Roman versions of Christianity — can be more easily accessed. I do include the Gospel of Thomas on the list because of GoT Saying #12, which states that James the Just, Jesus’s brother, is his spiritual successor. Plus, saying two of the Gospel of Thomas is also found in the Gospel of the Hebrews. Mostly what has survived of Ebionite writings comes to us in the form of the Clementine literature, which is quite amazing material.


The Research of Prof. James Tabor 

on the Original Jesus Movement and James the Just: 

How James [Yaaqov] Beloved Brother of Jesus 

Was Written out of Early Christianity:

Read for free online, The Lost Religion of Jesus: Simple Living and Nonviolence in Early Christianity, by Akers, Keith: 


Read for free online, The Vegetarianism of Jesus Christ, by Charles Paul Vaclavik:



 A Relationship Between the Gospel of Thomas 

 and the Gospel of the Hebrews

“It seems that, in constructing his ‘harmony’ [Diatessaron], he [Tatian] used not just the ‘canonical’ Gospels, but also a ‘fifth source’, whose material sometimes agreed with readings proper to texts like the Gospel to the Hebrews or the Gospel of Thomas. It has been proposed to identify this source with that Aramaic tradition of Palestinian origin, independent of the Greek Gospels, that had first conveyed a knowledge of Jesus to the peoples of Syria, pivoting, to begin with, on the region’s Jewish communities. Certainly, West Aramaic expressions or, more generally, elements left a deep mark not just and perhaps not so much on the Peshitta as on the more general exegetical and ‘spiritual’ meditation of the Churches of Syria, as many recent studies have demonstrated (cf. e.g. S. Brock, The Lost Old Syriac…).”

— Paolo Bettiolo, Syriac Literature, page 426: https://archive.org/details/SyriacLiterature




Ebionite Scriptures — Original Disciples,
Hebrew Christians


The Jerusalem Group — 
James the Just, 
Collections of the Sayings of Yeshua



Sayings of Wisdom -- 4 Versions of the COPTIC
Gospel of Thomas (Sayings of Jesus):


(1) The Coptic Gospel of Thomas Followed by (down the page) the Oxyrhynchus Greek Gospel of Thomas:

(2): http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/gosthom-meyer.html (This version of the Gospel of Thomas translated by Marvin Meyer has a slightly more Aramaic-Syriac flavor to it.)





The sayings attributed to Jesus but uniquely associated with the Gospel of Thomas tradition also were also quoted far and wide in other early Christian writings. An impressive book documenting the transmission of these “Thomasonian” parallel sayings of Jesus is: Extracanonical Sayings of Jesus, by William D. Stroker, Published by Scholars Press, Atlanta (1989) ISBN 10: 1555400558, ISBN 13: 9781555400552




Summarizing the Spiritual Message of the Gospel of Thomas in the Context of Syriac Mysticism, by James Bean: https://medium.com/@SantMat/summarizing-the-spiritual-message-of-the-gospel-of-thomas-by-james-bean-90862170ac8a


Professor Steven Davies has written some valuable observations about the "Primordial Light" mysticism of the Gospel of Thomas:


Gospel of Thomas COMMENTARY: 


Gospel of Thomas Resource Center: 



The GREEK Gospel of Thomas -- The Gospel of 

Thomas Fragments from Oxyrhynchus: 

The Greek Oxyrhynchus Gospel of Thomas was published in 1897 in the book, Sayings of Our Lord from Early Greek Papyrus, by BERNARD GRENFELL and ARTHUR HUNT: https://archive.org/details/sayingsourlordf00huntgoog

Bentley Layton's Translation (Scroll Down Past the Coptic Thomas Translation to get to the Greek Oxyrhynchus Fragments):



Veg Saying of Jesus from Islam: Christ said, “Flesh eating flesh? How offensive an act!” - The Muslim Jesus: Sayings and Stories in Islamic Literature, by Tarif Khalidi: 

The saying above reminds me of The Gospel of Thomas, Saying 112: Soul should be independent of flesh: Jesus said, “Woe to the flesh that depends upon a soul. Woe to the soul that depends upon flesh.” (The Gnostic Scriptures, Bentley Layton, David Brakke)

The Gospel of Q Collection

The Q Gospel According to Dr. James Tabor:

Q: The Lost Sayings Source Burton Mack's translation:

The Sayings Gospel Q -- International Q Project: 

The Sayings Gospel Q -- Text according to Funk/Miller:

Sayings of Wisdom -- Sayings Gospel Q:


Jesus in Q: The Sabbath and Theology of the Bible and Extracanonical Texts: 



Collections of Sayings of Jesus, 


Gospel Fragments, 


Gospel of the Hebrews, 


Hebrew Matthew,


Gospel of the Nazoraeans,


Gospel of the Ebionites, 


Gospel of Peter,


Syriac-Aramaic Matthew, 


Syriac-Aramaic Mark, 


Syriac-Aramaic Luke, 


and Syriac-Aramaic John
Gospel of the Savior:
https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0944344682/peterkirby


Gospel of Peter: 


“Some apocryphal gospels testify to the reverence Jewish followers of Jesus (like the Ebionites) had for James. The Gospel of the Hebrews fragment 21 confirms the account of Paul in 1 Corinthians regarding the risen Jesus’ appearance to James*, and this is mentioned also by the Gospel of Thomas (one of the works included in the Nag Hammadi library), saying 12, which relates that the disciples asked Jesus, ‘We are aware that you will depart from us. Who will be our leader?’ Jesus said to them, ‘No matter where you come [from] it is to James the Just that you shall go, for whose sake heaven and earth have come to exist.’” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_the_Just

*Note: The Apostle Paul didn’t seem to be very acquainted with the contents of Gospels. Not much from Jesus or Gospels are to be found quoted in his letters. For Paul to be familiar with the story recorded in the Gospel of the Hebrews about the Resurrected Christ appearing to James, this indicates that some form of the Gospel of the Hebrews (Ebionites or Nazoraeans) must have been one of the earliest Gospels, somewhat older than — or contemporary with — Paul’s Letters. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians dates back to around 53–57 AD. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Epistle_to_the_Corinthians






Surviving Quotes from the Jewish-Christian Gospels: Gospel of the Ebionites, Gospel of the Hebrews, and Gospel of the Nazoraeans: http://www.textexcavation.com/jewishgospels.html



Hebrew Gospel of Matthew (Shem Tov’s Hebrew Matthew), George Howard: 

Hard Copy:

About:


Evangelion da-Mepharreshe Matthew, Mark, John, and Luke

There's a very old Syriac-Aramaic manuscript of the Four Gospels that even predates the Syriac Peshitta called Evangelion da-Mepharreshe. It contains some “textual variants”, differs from the Greek gospel manuscripts, and the now standardized, conformist approach used by most New Testament translators. There are two surviving editions of Evangelion da-Mepharreshe, the Curetonian Version of the Four Gospels as well as the Sinai Palimpsest, also known as The Old Syriac Gospels. Evangelion da-Mepharreshe represents a translation and “one of the earliest witnesses”* of an even older collection of gospel manuscripts that no longer exist but once were “in circulation between the second and the fifth centuries”*.: 

*Note: Page xviii, “Peshitta New Testament, The Antioch Bible English Translation”, Gorgias Press, discussion from the Preface about the history of the early Syriac-Aramaic manuscripts of the gospels.



The Diatessaron (What Survives of Tatian’s Gospel Harmony): http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/diatessaron.html

New Testament Apocrypha:
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/apocrypha.html

 Testament of our Lord in Galilee (The Epistula Apostolorum: Letter of the Apostles):
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/apostolorum.html

 The Testament of Our Lord, Translated into English from the Syriac:
https://archive.org/details/cu31924029296170/page/n8/mode/2up

Islamic Traditions of Sayings of Jesus


The Muslim Jesus -- This work presents in English translation the largest collection ever assembled of the sayings and stories of Jesus in Arabic Islamic literature: The Muslim Jesus: Sayings and Stories in Islamic Literature, by Tarif Khalidi.


Also See, Al Ghazali's "Sayings of Jesus", taken from his "Revival of the Religious Sciences: https://imgur.com/a/Y681p5l   (excerpted from, The Pre-Nicene New Testament: Fifty-four Formative Texts, by Robert M. Price)

Also See, The Unknown Sayings of Jesus, by Marvin Meyer.
The Pre-Nicene New Testament: Fifty-four 

Formative Texts, by Robert Price: 






The Vegetarianism of the Jesus Movement, Nasoraeans and Ebionites: The above quoted passage is from the Clementine Homilies Book Eight as mentioned by James Tabor: https://youtu.be/Um82vqqS3XE?t=983




Acts and Teachings of the Ebionites: 

The Vast Treasure-Trove 

of the Clementine Literature


Epistle (Letter) of Peter to James:
http://compassionatespirit.com/Books/Homilies/Epistle-Peter-to-James.htm


 Epistle (Letter) of Clement to James:
http://compassionatespirit.com/Books/Homilies/Epistle-Clement-to-James.htm

 Also See: 
https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/080800.htm

Kerygmata Petrou 

 (Preachings of Peter Reconstructed):
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/kerygmatapetrou.html
The Ascents of James: 

 History and Theology of 

 a Jewish-Christian Community: 
https://issuu.com/santmat/docs/the_ascents_of_james


The Clementine Homilies and 

The Clementine Recognitions 

(Ebionite Book of Acts)

Acts and Teachings of the Ebionites: The Recognitions of Clement, from the Greek and Latin Manuscripts: 
http://compassionatespirit.com/Books/Recognitions/Recognitions-TOC.htm

Acts and Teachings of the Ebionites: The Clementine Homilies, from the Greek and Latin Manuscripts:

Acts and Teachings of the Ebionites: The SYRIAC-ARAMAIC Manuscripts of the Recognitions and Homilies: 
https://www.academia.edu/9843447/The_Syriac_Clementine_Recognitions_and_Homilies_The_First_Complete_Translation_of_the_Text

The Eight Books of Clement:
https://torahofyeshuah.blogspot.com/2015/08/8-books-of-clement.html

The Clementine Books at the Sacred Texts Website:
https://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/ecf/008/index.htm

 Acts and Teachings of the Ebionites: The Recognitions of Clement:
https://archive.org/details/AnteNiceneChristianLibraryVol031867/page/n7

Acts and Teachings of the Ebionites: The Clementine Homilies:
https://archive.org/details/clementinehomili00clem/page/n7

 Acts and Teachings of the Ebionites: Helpful Table of Contents for the Clementine Literature and Other Writings: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf08.toc.html

Acts and Teachings of the Ebionites: Clementine Homilies: http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/clementinehomilies.html


Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume VIII — The Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, THE CLEMENTIA (Clementine Literature), Apocrypha, Decretals, Memoirs of Edessa and Syriac Documents, Remains of the First Ages: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf08.pdf http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf08.txt



The Didache, pronounced “DID-dah-kay”, meaning: "The Lord's Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations", is not quite a Jewish-Christian text in its present form but represents a First Century document authored by a community aware of the Jewish-Christians, adjacent to them, and is respectful of them. Chapters one through six is the earliest section and the closest to Jewish Christianity. Includes a reference to vegetarianism as part of "The Yoke of the Lord", the ethical code of the disciples of Jesus being perfected in their faith. This scripture seems to be intended for newly converted gentile Christians.  Several translations are here. The Roberts-Donaldson English translation is the best: http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/didache.html



Letter of Jude (New Testament):


Letter of the Apostle James (New Testament):


The Apocryphon of James (Nag Hammadi):


The First Apocalypse of James (Nag Hammadi):


The Second Apocalypse of James (Nag Hammadi):


Thomas the Contender (Spiritual Athlete): 
http://gnosis.org/naghamm/bookt.html


 Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles (from the Syriac), translated by William Wright (including the Hymn of the Peal and the Complete Acts of Thomas): 
https://archive.org/details/apocryphalactsa02wriggoog/page/n172



Psalms/ODES/Hymns of the New Testament Age

Odes @ Gnosis.org:
http://gnosis.org/library/odes.htm
Psalms/ODES of the New Testament Age: The First Hymn-Book — Hymns — Poetry — The Book of the Odes:
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/odes.html

Psalms/ODES of the New Testament Age: The First Hymn-Book — Hymns — Poetry — The Book of the Odes, Alphonse Mingana Translation:
https://archive.org/details/odespsalmsofsolo02harruoft/page/n5/mode/2up

Odes of Solomon:



 Philo of Alexandria on the Therapeutae: http://www.thenazareneway.com/therapeutae.html
Philo of Alexandria on the Essenes:
 http://cojs.org/philo-_every_good_man_is_free_xii-_75-87-_description_of_the_essenes


Dead Sea Scrolls - Dead Sea Scriptures in English


James the Just in the Habakkuk Pesher, Robert Eisenman:

The Midrash Pesher of Habakkuk, Scholar's Press: 

The Dead Sea Scrolls and the first Christians, Robert Eisenman:


The Dead Sea Scrolls in English, Géza Vermes, 

The Dead Sea Scriptures, T.H. Gaster: 


The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered, Robert Eisenman: 


The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English, Penguin Classics: 


The Dead Sea Scrolls Translated: 

The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible: 


The Dead Sea Scrolls in English, Online Translation: https://archive.org/stream/pdfy-Uy_BZ_QGsaLiJ4Zs/The%20Dead%20Sea%20Scrolls%20%5BComplete%20English%20Translation%5D#page/n2/mode/1up

Dead Sea Scroll Translations @ Gnosis.org:
http://gnosis.org/library/scroll.htm

Nasoraeans: John the Baptist Group & Mandaeans


Sayings of Yuhana (John The Baptist) - Mandaean Nasoraean, Ginza Rabba (Great Treasure): 

Hidden Sayings of John the Baptist: 

The Original John the Baptist Group, the Mandaeans (also known as Nazarenes, Nasuraiia or Nasoraeans) — Mandaean Aramaic Scriptures Online — Gnosis Library: http://www.gnosis.org/library/mand.htm


MANDAEAN: CANONICAL PRAYER-BOOK OF THE MANDAEANS: https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.530195

Canonical Prayer-Book of the Mandaeans:



Ginza Rabba - Mark Lidzbarski Translation from German Into English: 


Ginza Rabba & the Qolasta @ Wikisource:


The Mandaean Book of John the Baptist: http://rogueleaf.com/book-of-john/category/john-the-baptist


Scroll of Miryai-Noorah (Mary Magdalene), Drashe d-Malke 34 & 35:





Revisiting the Mandaeans and the New Testament: http://www.bibleinterp.com/articles/2013/08/mcg378026.shtml

Mandaean Scriptures:

Mandaean Scriptures:

About the Mandaeans: 

Mandaean Glossary of Terms: 


 Syriac-Aramaic Saints and Mystics

 “The Syriac Fathers on Prayer and the Spiritual Life”, and other books translated by Sebastian Brock. “The Syriac Fathers…” is from Cistercian Publications — an excellent anthology of Syriac mystics and saints, a kind of Syriac “Philokalia” or “Nag Hammadi”-like collection of important texts. Also see the link at the bottom of the page to, the "Gnostic Gospels, Contemplative or Mystical Christianity, Syriac Mystics", etc... Section of the E-Library. There is a Syriac Section down the page there just below the School of Saint Thomas Section.)

The Stranger of Galilee, by Russell Perkins:




The Vegetarianism -- Veganism 

of the Hebrew Christians


Was Jesus a vegan? Blog by Keith Akers: 

Vegetarian Diet: Article: Uncovering A Vegetarian Jesus at the Beginning of Christianity: “Now beware in yourselves that your hearts do not become heavy with the eating of flesh and with the intoxication of wine and with the anxiety of the world, and that day come up upon you suddenly; for as a snare it will come upon all them that dwell on the surface of the earth.” (Jesus, Luke 21:34, from a Syriac-Aramaic manuscript of the New Testament): https://medium.com/sant-mat-meditation-and-spirituality/9279741be7c4

Vegetarian Diet: Article: Evidence That Jesus and The Original Aramaic Christians Were Vegetarians: “James was a vegetarian….” (Robert Eisenman, James the Brother of Jesus) “James, the brother of the Lord, lived on seeds and plants and touched neither meat nor wine.” (Epistulae ad Faustum XXII, 3) “John never ate meat.” (Church historian Hegesippus according to Eusebius, History of the Church II 2:3) “The Apostle Matthew partook of seeds, and nuts, hard-shelled fruits, and vegetables, without flesh.” (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 2, Chapter 1) Peter said, “I live on olives and bread, to which I rarely only add vegetables.” (Clementine Homilies 12,6; also see, Recognitions 7,6) @ Medium: https://medium.com/sant-mat-meditation-and-spirituality/b8784ac42506

Vegetarian Diet: Article: Evidence That Jesus and The Original Aramaic Christians Were Vegetarians @ Blogspot:
https://santmatradhasoami.blogspot.com/2019/04/evidence-that-jesus-and-original.html

Vegetarian Diet: Article: Evidence That Jesus and The Original Aramaic Christians Were Vegetarians @ The Internet Archive: 
https://archive.org/details/JesusAndTheOriginalAramaicChristiansWereVegetarians/mode/2up

DOWNLOAD: https://ia803007.us.archive.org/19/items/JesusAndTheOriginalAramaicChristiansWereVegetarians/Evidence%20That%20Jesus%20and%20The%20Original%20Aramaic%20Christians%20Were%20Vegetarians%2C%20By%20James%20Bean.pdf


A Vegetarian Jesus and Apostles at the Beginning of Christianity, and, The Gospels of the Ebionites:


Was Jesus A Vegetarian? [Yes.]: 


John the Baptist's Vegetarian Diet -- An Exploration of Early Christian Writings and Scholarly Texts:


Aeon Byte Gnostic Radio Interview With Robert Eisenman on how finding the historic James the Just is the most logical approach to locating a historic Jesus: http://youtu.be/0oR-M1sSxrw

Vegetarianism and Gnosticism — Aeon Byte Gnostic Radio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kJh66vIJz0&ab_channel=AeonByteGnosticRadio


The Ebionites: http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Ebionites

Books by Robert Eisenman @ Amazon: “James the Brother of Jesus: The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls”; also, “Dead Sea Scrolls & The First Christians”; and, “James the Just in the Habakkuk Pesher” — http://www.amazon.com/Robert-Eisenman/e/B000APV2U2



The Ascension of Isaiah

As with the Books on Enoch, the Ascension of Isaiah was a very important extra-canonical book used by the Jesus Movement. 

Medieval Cathar Version: 



Other Items of Research and Interest

The Canon of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Ethiopic Bible, Has 81 books in it, Including the Ethiopic Book of Clement (Qälëmentos):
https://www.ethiopianorthodox.org/english/canonical/books.html

The Ethiopic Book of Clement (Qälëmentos) is discussed here: https://www.academia.edu/32686260/The_Ethiopic_Book_of_Clement_the_case_of_a_recent_Ethiopian_edition_and_a_few_additional_remarks

 Some Early Judaeo-Christian Documents in the John Rylands Library; Syriac Texts, ed. with translations, by Alphonse Mingana. He translated some Clement writings and discusses the Clementine literature in this book:
https://archive.org/details/someearlyjudaeoc00ming/page/n1/mode/2up

Woodbrooke Studies, Volume I; Christian Documents in Syriac, Arabic, and Garshuni, by Alphonse Mingana:
https://archive.org/details/woodbrookestudie01theouoft/mode/2up


Torah of Yeshuah Collection: Syriac Bible, Ethiopian, Clementines, Apocrypha, Dead Sea Scroll Material, etc...
https://torahofyeshuah.blogspot.com/2015/08/nazarene-canon_6.html

Sacred Texts Site:
https://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/index.htm



ALSO SEE: Gnostic Gospels, Contemplative or Mystical Christianity, Syriac Mystics, Mandaean, Manichaean, Apocrypha, Nag Hammadi Library, Pistis Sophia, Jesus Sutras, Lost Books of the Bible and Spirituality of the West -- Sant Mat Radhasoami Books, The E Library: Gnostic or Western Mysticism Section: https://SantMatRadhasoami.Blogspot.com/2019/01/gnostic-gospels-contemplative-or.html






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