Ebionite

The Ebionites were an early Jewish Christian movement described by several church Fathers as a sect that maintained adherence to Mosaic Law while acknowledging Jesus as the Messiah. The name is traditionally linked to the Hebrew term evyôn or a related form, often interpreted as "the poor," though the exact origin of the label is debated.

Beliefs and practice: Ebionites held that Jesus was a human being, born of Mary and Joseph, who was anointed as the Messiah but was not divine. They emphasized moral and ritual observance of the Mosaic Law, including circumcision and dietary laws, and regarded salvation as obedience to the Law in keeping with prophetic expectation. They rejected Paul’s teachings, especially the view that Gentile converts could join the faith without observing the Law. Their Christology is often described as adoptionist or dynamic divine elevation at baptism, rather than a pre-existent, uncreated Son of God.

Scriptures and sources: No complete Ebionite gospel survives. They are commonly associated with Hebrew or Aramaic versions of Matthew and with other circulating Matthew-derived texts such as the Gospel of the Hebrews and the Gospel of the Nazarenes. Our understanding of Ebionites comes mainly from patristic sources, notably Irenaeus, Hippolytus, and Epiphanius, who portray them as distinct from Gentile Christianity and as a rival to Pauline Christianity.

Relation to other groups: The Ebionites are sometimes treated together with or as a subset of the Nazarenes, a broader label applied to Jewish Christian groups. They largely disappear from the historical record by late antiquity, their beliefs gradually absorbed into other Christian or Jewish-Christian currents, and they are often cited in discussions of early Jewish-Christian diversity.