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  1. visionary

    The true branch...

    Rejection of the Nazaraeans by their fellow Jews was exacerbated by the revolt of the Jews against Rome in 135 CE. This revolt was led by Simon Ben Cosiba, who changed his name to Simon Bar Kochba ("Son of the Star') and declared himself the promised Messiah who would lead the Jews to...
  2. visionary

    The true branch...

    In the same century, Epiphanius describes them in more detail this way: But these sectarians... did not call themselves Christians--but "Nazarenes," . . . However they are simply complete Jews. They use not only the New Testament but the Old Testament as well, as the Jews do. . . They have...
  3. visionary

    The true branch...

    The Nazaraeans "gathered" especially to Syria, where they endured for some time with their own distinctive style that differed from that of Gentile Christianity elsewhere. Remember that in those days, the church was not unified the way we expect it to be in these days of mass communication and...
  4. visionary

    The true branch...

    What Samuel the Lesser composed was a prayer that effectively excluded the Nazarenes from worship within the synagogues. This is clearest in an early copy of his Birkat haMinim found at the Cairo Genizah reads: "For the renegades let there be no hope, and may the arrogant kingdom soon be rooted...
  5. visionary

    The true branch...

    Shortly after this event in which Ben Damah was forbidden to accept healing at the hands of Jewish Christians, probably during a general effort by the Romans to arrest Christians during the reign of Trajan, a rabbi named R. Eliezar was arrested on suspicion of being a Christian: "The case of R...
  6. visionary

    The true branch...

    The hostility of the rabbis towards Jewish Christianity during this period is also exemplified by two other events that likely occurred around 109 CE. The first is recounted in the Tosephta: "The case of R. El'azar ben Damah, whom a serpent bit. There came in Jacob, a man of Chephar Sama, to...
  7. visionary

    The true branch...

    During the period after James's death the revolt of 135 C.E., nascent Christianity in Palestine clearly viewed itself as a Jewish denomination that adhered to the Law of Moses. However, this was a period of increasing tension between the followers of Yeshua and other Jews. Abandoning Jerusalem...
  8. visionary

    The true branch...

    According to Hegessipus (as recounted by Eusebius), Simeon was killed about 106 C.E. during a time of persecution under the emperor Trajan (Ecclesiastical History 3:32). One intent of this persecution, which began with an order by Domitian, was to eliminate all Jews of the Davidic line, which...
  9. visionary

    The true branch...

    The election of Simeon had not been uncontested. Another candidate, Thebouthis, was also considered, but Simeon was selected specifically because he, unlike Thebouthis, was according to Eusebius (who is quoting Hegesippus) "another cousin of the Lord" (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 4:22...
  10. visionary

    The true branch...

    Because of Jewish persecution of the Nazoraeans and the political turmoil that culminated in the reconquest of Jerusalem in 70 C.E., no immediate successor was appointed in the Jerusalem church. This changed after the return to Jerusalem, where a Jewish church was reestablished and continued to...
  11. visionary

    The true branch...

    The Damascus Document of the Qumran sect provides a possible link between them and the Nazarenes who fled Jerusalem, since its authors describe themselves as "those who escaped to the north" and formed a "New Covenant in the Land of Damascus" which includes the territory from the city of...
  12. visionary

    The true branch...

    The Jerusalem church was largely scattered after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Luke had written that the Jerusalem Christians had fled Jerusalem before its fall because of a prophecy of Yeshua:"And when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then let...
  13. visionary

    The true branch...

    Josephus also records the death of James the Just this way: Festus was now dead, and Albinus was but upon the road; so he [the High Priest Ananus] assembled the sanhedrin of the judges, and brought before them the brother of Y'shua, who was called Messiah, whose name was James, and some...
  14. visionary

    The true branch...

    James the Just was very popular with the Jewish community in general. According to Eusebius, he was widely known in the Jewish community as "Rigteous and Oblias [meaning "bulwark of the people"]" Under his inflence the Nazarene movement grew until his death in 63 C.E, as Hegesippus goes on to...
  15. visionary

    The true branch...

    The last reference to the Jerusalem church in the Christian scriptures is the reference to Paul's visit there in 57 C.E. At this time, James was still the Bishop of the Hebrew congregation there. Not many years after this, Peter, Paul, and James were martyred. Little is known of the first two...
  16. visionary

    The true branch...

    The leadership role referred to here is explained as that of the first Bishop of the Jersualem church by Eusebius and other second century writers. The Gospel According to the Hebrews, in a story that may also be referred to in 1 Cor. 15:17, also affirms James the Just as the leader of the...
  17. visionary

    The true branch...

    According to the Gospel of Thomas, after the death of Jesus, leadership of his followers fell to his brother, James: The students said to Yeshua: "We know you will leave us. Who is going to be our leader then?" Yeshua said to them:"No matter where you reside, you are to go to James the...
  18. visionary

    The true branch...

    After Yeshua's death James became the leader of the Nazaraean movement (Acts12:17; 15:13-29; 21:18-26 & Gal. 1:19; Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 2:23). According to I Corinthians 15:7, James was one of those to whom Yeshua appeared after the resurrection. In I Chorinthians 15:7, it is...
  19. visionary

    The true branch...

    The Palestinian historian Hegesippus (ca 90-180 CE) is quoted by the fourth century Church Father Eusebius as describing James the Just this way: "But James, the brother of the Lord, who, as there were many of his name, was surnamed the Just by all, from the days of our Lord until now...
  20. visionary

    The true branch...

    Robert Eisenman, an independent scholar, notes that more may be at stake than just academic defensiveness. Eisenman notes that many of the names used by the Essenes to refer to themselves -- Zadokim (the Just), Ebionim (the Poor), Nazoreans (the Pure), Hasideans (Zealous for the law), etc. --...
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