Nazarene Jewish Christianity [Paperback]

Ray Pritz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2, 1992 | ISBN-10: 9652237981 | ISBN-13: 978-9652237989 | Edition: 3rd

Nazarene Jewish Christianity is a comprehensive study of the heirs of the earliest Jerusalem church, their history and doctrines, their relations with both synagogue and the growing Gentile church. The author analyzes all sources, Jewish, Christian, and pagan, which can throw light on the sect and its ultimate mysterious disappearance. He also deals with the Birkat haMinim and historicity of the flight to Pella.

Editorial Reviews

Review

NThis meticulous investigation was submitted, in its earlier garb, as a doctoral dissertation at The Hebrew University, and its author shows the mastery of the philological tools required from young scholars. The topic is well chosen, and the author rightly points out the discrepancy in modern research between the great interest devoted to the Ebionites and the extreme poverty of scholarship on the Nazarenes. His hope that the present book may fill an inadmissible hole in research, and hence permit progress toward the understanding of the Jewish-Christian phenomenon in the early centuries, is amply justified by the results. Here is a full-scale and trustworthy study which will be used by scholars in the field. The texts studied are reproduced and translated, and their analysis is careful and honest. --Gedaliahu G Stroumsa, The Jewish Quarterly Review, LXXXII, Nos 3-4, (January-April, 1992) 573-574

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Magnes Pr; 3rd edition (January 2, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9652237981
• ISBN-13: 978-9652237989
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #938,704 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Messianic Judaism in the Early Centuries, December 1, 1999

By 

Don Finto (Nashville, Tennessee) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nazarene Jewish Christianity: From the End of the New Testament Period Until Its Disappearance in the Fourth Century (Studia Post-Biblica) (Hardcover)

I know of no other book that traces as faithfully and as well documented as this book by Ray Pritz. He quotes the early church fathers, tracing Jewish believers who believed in Jesus until the third century. The Gentile Church did not know how to handle them because they remained Jewish. The Jewish Community did not know what to do with them because they believed that Jesus was their Messiah. They were caught in between, much as the Messianic Jewish synagogues of today.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Should be frontpage news, September 4, 2005

By 

R. Brown (Texas Hill Country) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Nazarene Jewish Christianity (Paperback)

Ray Pritz has done the whole religious world a great service in uncovering this needy topic. I know of no other work [despite hard effort to find] that so adequately covers the obscure topic of The Earliest Followers of Jesus, who were primarily from Jesus' own Jewish religion.

The loss of the history of these earliest Christians is a tragedy to Christianity of all time, and, I would argue, a great loss to the Jewish community as well. These resilient early followers of The Way were the most pressured, most persecuted, hated, and reviled of all believers, squeezed in the vise between the unbelieving Jews and the Hellenistic gentile fledgling Church. What they believed, how they lived, and their scant obscure legacy are treasures worth un-earthing for our modern time.

Its hard to fault this book: I loved the painstaking, granular sifting of evidence via several academic disciplines: a forensic quest rivaling the most detailed of investigative journalism. What did I not like?? ... The brevity. I was left wanting more.

This book belongs in the library of every serious school and student of Christian Church history.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Definitive Source of the Real Apostolic Church, October 22, 2008

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S. E. Moore (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Nazarene Jewish Christianity (Paperback)

This book is a gem which should never go out of print. It is the definitive book regarding the true heirs of the original followers of Jesus who started the faith in Jerusalem under James and the Apostles. Every college, university, and seminary which teaches the history of Christianity should use this book.

This very concise book is not an overview of Jewish Christianity but is focused solely on the Nazarenes, who the author proves to be the true heirs of Jesus, James, and the Apostles in Jerusalem. The author concentrates primarily on the earliest and most reliable sources who spent time in Palestine and had first-hand knowledge of the Nazarenes, namely Justin, Origen, Epiphanius, Jerome, and Hegesippus. Much of this source material is polemic in regard to the Nazarenes and therefore, is not a biased attempt to make the Nazarenes conform to orthodox gentile Christianity.

The research that went into this book debunks some far-fetched and sensational theories which have been conjured up by pseudo-scholars who are biased against the New Testament and whose sole agenda is to disprove Christianity.

The author demonstrates how Jewish Christianity was similar to gentile Christianity in developing schisms within its own ranks over a period of time after it was removed from its base in Jerusalem. The Ebionites, who disparaged Paul as well as the Temple and the sacrificial system were not the direct heirs of James' Jerusalem community. They did not come into existence prior to the end of the first century or the beginning of the second century. Some of the breakaway Jewish Christian sects of the second century developed gnostic tendencies later on. Gnosticism was never part of the original faith.

The author also demonstrates how there was never a pre-Christian Essene Nazarene sect. The Nazarenes had no connection whatsoever to certain groups known as the Nusairi or Nazoraioi other than similar sounding names. The Mandaeans of Mesopotamia were not descendants or heirs of any first Century Palestinian Jewish sect and their knowledge of John the Baptist was probably taken from the Gospels from which they created their own myths.

The earliest followers of Jesus probably referred to themselves as "The Way" and were referred to by others as Nazarenes or Iessaians. These terms do not refer to any pre-Christian sect but to Jesus' messianic status in regard to Isaiah 11:1, ie Netzer (branch) of Jesse.

The lack of polemic against them in the earliest Christian writings demonstrates that they were not considered a heresy by the earliest gentile Christians. The only criticism directed against them in later writings was the fact that they continued to adhere to the Mosaic Laws concerning circumcision, diet, and worshipping on the Sabbath. Their final rejection probably came about in the fifth century as a result of Augustine.

Their core doctrines and Christology were orthodox. They were trinitarians who believed Jesus was the Son of God and was born of a virgin. They accepted Paul's status as an apostle and supported his mission to the gentiles. They used a Hebrew version of Matthew which was probably not very different than the canonical Matthew. The author demonstrates from their interpretations of Isaiah that their main adversaries in the earliest stages were the Scribes and Pharisees. They rejected the oral law and refused to accept rabbinic authority which is what finally separated them from mainstream Judaism. They were subsequently cursed in the synagogues as heretics.

This book is somewhat laborious and will not appeal to people who want to be entertained or have their curiosity dazzled. But for those of us who are seeking honest answers to the origins of the Christian faith and feel like we have been searching for a diamond in a manure pile, this is the diamond.