Nazarene Christianity
Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2020 5:18 pm
While I've viewed the gospels of Mark and Matthew as being products of or associated with Nazarene Jewish Christianity for some time, I've only lately come to see Luke and Acts in this light as well. And since I also view the letters of James, 1 Peter, Jude and 1, 2 and 3 John as being genuine and products of Nazarene Jewish Christianity, and since Paul and the rest of the NT were accepted by Nazarene Jewish Christians, I don't know what else to conclude but that Nazarene Jewish Christianity is the original form of Christianity.
Jesus is pro-Torah observance for Jews and called a Nazarene in Mark, Matthew and Luke, as are his followers in Acts. And while Paul did not view himself as being "under the law," he was at least willing to pretend to be (as per 1 Cor. 9:20) and is presented as being that way in Acts.
This situation makes me wonder why these writings appealed to other forms of Christianity. I can only speculate that it is due (in part) to these being more or less the earliest and only Christian writings available for them to use. And as for how these other forms of Christianity came to be, I suppose it is due (in part) to the influence of Nazarene Christians (including Paul) among Gentiles, which respectively fostered those who were inclined to be Torah observant (like the Cerinthians) and those who were not (like the orthodox and Marcionites).
And as far as Gentile outreach goes, the position of Nazarene leaders appears to have been that while Torah observance was not required, it was also not discouraged (as per Acts 15:19-21 and Didache 6, i.e., they can do it if they want to), and Paul's position appears to have been the opposite, that Torah observance was not required and was discouraged. And while Nazarene leaders appear to have had an issue with Paul's position regarding the necessity of Jewish Torah observance, his willingness to at least pretend to observe the Torah and his outreach to Gentiles seems to have put him in a favorable enough light to not entirely reject him (as per Jerome).
And as for how other forms of Christianity used NT writings, the orthodox and some gnostics appear to have ignored or explained away their pro-Torah observance stance (like they and Paul did with the OT), and the Marcionites appear to have excised it (and rejected the OT along with it).
Jesus is pro-Torah observance for Jews and called a Nazarene in Mark, Matthew and Luke, as are his followers in Acts. And while Paul did not view himself as being "under the law," he was at least willing to pretend to be (as per 1 Cor. 9:20) and is presented as being that way in Acts.
This situation makes me wonder why these writings appealed to other forms of Christianity. I can only speculate that it is due (in part) to these being more or less the earliest and only Christian writings available for them to use. And as for how these other forms of Christianity came to be, I suppose it is due (in part) to the influence of Nazarene Christians (including Paul) among Gentiles, which respectively fostered those who were inclined to be Torah observant (like the Cerinthians) and those who were not (like the orthodox and Marcionites).
And as far as Gentile outreach goes, the position of Nazarene leaders appears to have been that while Torah observance was not required, it was also not discouraged (as per Acts 15:19-21 and Didache 6, i.e., they can do it if they want to), and Paul's position appears to have been the opposite, that Torah observance was not required and was discouraged. And while Nazarene leaders appear to have had an issue with Paul's position regarding the necessity of Jewish Torah observance, his willingness to at least pretend to observe the Torah and his outreach to Gentiles seems to have put him in a favorable enough light to not entirely reject him (as per Jerome).
And as for how other forms of Christianity used NT writings, the orthodox and some gnostics appear to have ignored or explained away their pro-Torah observance stance (like they and Paul did with the OT), and the Marcionites appear to have excised it (and rejected the OT along with it).