or NAZARÆANS, a name originally given to Christians in
general, on account of Jesus Christ’s being of the city of Nazareth; but
was, in the second century, restrained to certain judaizing Christians,
who blended Christianity and Judaism together. They held that Christ was
born of a virgin, and was also in a certain manner united to the divine
nature. They refused to abandon the ceremonies prescribed by the law of
Moses; but were far from attempting to impose the observance of these
ceremonies upon Gentile Christians. They rejected those additions that
were made to the Mosaic institutions by the Pharisees and doctors of the
law, and admitted the Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament. The
fathers frequently mention the Gospel of the Nazarenes, which differs
nothing from that of St. Matthew, but was afterward corrupted by the
Ebionites. These Nazarenes preserved this first Gospel in its primitive
purity. Some of them were still in being in the time of St. Jerome, who
does not reproach them with any errors.
general, on account of Jesus Christ’s being of the city of Nazareth; but
was, in the second century, restrained to certain judaizing Christians,
who blended Christianity and Judaism together. They held that Christ was
born of a virgin, and was also in a certain manner united to the divine
nature. They refused to abandon the ceremonies prescribed by the law of
Moses; but were far from attempting to impose the observance of these
ceremonies upon Gentile Christians. They rejected those additions that
were made to the Mosaic institutions by the Pharisees and doctors of the
law, and admitted the Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament. The
fathers frequently mention the Gospel of the Nazarenes, which differs
nothing from that of St. Matthew, but was afterward corrupted by the
Ebionites. These Nazarenes preserved this first Gospel in its primitive
purity. Some of them were still in being in the time of St. Jerome, who
does not reproach them with any errors.