The Forgotten History of Apostle Paul and the Ebionites

In the infancy of Christianity, followers of Jesus were Jewish. They were known as the Ebionites. Many of these Ebionites (before the death of Christ) were also known to the Jewish community as the Nazarenes. After the death of Jesus, it was an Ebionite man and biological brother to Jesus Christ, James that continued on with Christ messages. Some believe the Gospel of Hebrew was written by James, who is also referred as, James the Just. However, no one is entirely for sure if he did or did not write the Gospel, and indeed, many scholars think that the Hebrew Gospel was actually written by the Apostle Paul.

The Ebionites believed that in order to be a Christian, you first had to be Jewish. They were strict about wanting a Judeo-Christian co-existence in their fellowship. As the head of Christ's church in Jerusalem, James was very much in favor of this idea, and even at one point challenges the Apostle Paul on this issue as told to us in Acts. In one of his declarations, James tells the Gentile men they have to be circumcised- in order to be a part of Jesus' following. St. Paul of course rejected this idea, and it was right then at that moment, when Christ's followers became divided amongst themselves. Paul's rebuttal to this ideology was that he felt Christ's message was for everyone, even the Gentiles whether they were circumcised or not. Therefore, since Israel was a Jewish nation, the other apostles of Christ thought it best to let James control Judea's worshipers, and to let Paul go East to preach to the Gentiles. As for the Jewish citizens residing in Judea, the only differences between one Hebrew person from the next Hebrew, was the belief in Jesus to be the son of God. Those who leaned towards the view points of the traditional Sanhedrin, were known to be Zionists.

Zionists believed the prophetic vision of Isaiah wholeheartedly, and truly believed that the Messiah would appear here on earth, by directly coming from heaven in a chariot of fire, with one purpose, and that purpose was to smite all wicked sinners, right were they stood. However, many of the Zionists did considered Christ to be a prophet of God. He accompanied a host of revered prophets such as that of; Melchizedek, Daniel, Enoch, and Ezekiel.

When the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, (around Khirbet Qumran in 1947-1956) religious scholars were forced to rethink the humble beginnings of Christianity. They were forced to re-evaluate the core of the fellowship to it's earliest known origin, and try to access the situation from the place in which they became so divided. For a thousand years, the original positioning of most biblical scholars, was that the original break between the two sects, came much later than it actually had. It really wasn't until the scrolls were uncovered, did we found out that the truth of the matter. Which was that the divide between being Jewish or not, came swift from the very beginning in Christianity. One might even go so far as to realize that the break up between Christians, was literally a power struggle between two stubborn minded men, St. Paul and St. James.

What many Christians today don't realize is that many of the early Christian symbols, were Jewish in origin. Take the symbol of the fish; known to modern-day Christians, as a symbol of Christianity, was actually first used by the Ebionites. It was their sign they used to mark cave locations, letting other Ebionites know where the safe places of worship were located. It symbolized a call to worship, and it guarded against intruders such as the Roman guard, or Sanhedrin guards.

James the blood brother of Christ, who was a very proud and pragmatic man. He was consider a warrior to some, and to the Romans he was a dangerous idealist and potential terrorist. He most definitely was not a pacifist like Christ, and rather, James was proud to take up arms, in order to fight in his brother's name. This might come as a surprise to some, however James' Jewish ancestry holds the answer key. He believed in common known waring conception known to all Jewish men, ‘an eye for eye and a tooth for tooth’. He honored his religion faithfully, and often he fought back against the Roman dictatorship in the name of justice, just for the spite of it. He was no different than any other Hebrew in that day, in that James felt persecuted and enslaved by Roman rule. Because of these characteristics James was a wanted man, and the Romans wanted nothing more than for James to be dead. At one point in his life, James actually had a bounty on his head. With the discovery of some new archaeological findings, they have suggested that it was James, and a party Ebionite followers- who Saul the Tarus was tracking down that day on the road to Damascus, when he was blinded by the light of God, and he changed his name from Saul to Paul.

Here's an interesting line in the Gospel of Thomas:

In the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus' disciples ask, “We know you’ll leave us. Who’ll then rule over us?”

Jesus then answers them; “Where ever you arrive, go to James who is righteous because of whom, even heaven and earth came into existence; and, now tell me- to whom do I resemble?”

Of course that answer would be he resembled James, his brother... Makes you wonder doesn't it. It is possibly because of this one controversial sentence, that was the main cause for the Gospel of Thomas to have not been included in the Holy Writ at the Council of Nicea. Now I'm left to wonder, do you think Christians really should be sharing a dual role in Judaism? I am of the thinking that answer is yes. From what I have read and learned by studying a wide variety of ancient text, the truth of the matter is..., Christ was Jewish, and in that he wanted the Jewish ways and teachings to very much be a part of everyday Christian living. With that said, it is never to late to make changes in your life that reflect a more pious Jewish lifestyle.

First of all, let us get this straight Paul never personally met Jesus. He didn't know him, like the others did. Moreover, Paul never spoke to Jesus Christ personally like James had. No, Christ spoke to Paul through visions and angels. Before that day in the road, Paul was a bounty hunter for the Romans. His job was collecting, and finding Christ followers to bring before the Roman Pontiff for persecution. He made his living this way. It is highly likely, that many of Paul's capturers were sold back to the Romans, and later died in the Roman games at the Colosseum.

• Pauline epistles, some thirteen or fourteen letters in the New Testament of the Christian Bible traditionally are believed to have been by Paul directly. You can find them in order on Wikipedia.com.

But the Pauline Doctrine is the bases of Western Religious Tradition. It is the core of the Roman Catholic Faith. In Paul's writings he is very detailed on matters of the church. It is from these pieces of parchment, which even St. Peter and St. John narrated over and over to their followers, while they too help spread the word of Christ. His letters, thus his doctrine- help form and establish the cornerstones of our religious faith.

There are many types, beliefs, and levels of Christianity. Approximately 97% of the world’s Christians believe and follow the Pauline Doctrine. Moreover, over seventy-five percent of Christians lack the basic knowledge stated here in this article. That is a disgrace, but whose at fault? As a lover of Jesus Christ, and once ousted Sunday school teacher for teaching my students that Luke was a Greek physician, I personally believe that there are many details to Christianity that should not be ignored. However, through the centuries Christians are still denied exploration into our beautiful religious history. The result has no left us ignorant to the truths of our past. What are they afraid we are going to find?

Don't ever be afraid to free your mind, and explore our amazing history! Make it fun and exciting.