Ebion ( Greek: Ἐβίων) was the presumed eponymous founder of an early Christian group known as the Ebionites. [1] The existent historical evidence indicates that the name "Ebionite" is derived from a Hebrew word, "ebion" (אביון) meaning "poor" [2] [3] and thus not from someone's name. Ebion is generally seen today as a purely literary figure, whose reputed existence in antiquity was used to explain where the Ebionites got their inspiration. However, once he had been accepted as real, a small tradition developed around him that lasted in early learned Christian circles for a few centuries.
Tertullian is the first writer noted for mentioning Ebion, which he does a number of times, mainly related to the notion that Jesus was a man and not divine. As an example, Tertullian writes, if Jesus "were wholly the Son of a man, He should fail to be also the Son of God, and have nothing more than 'a Solomon' or 'a Jonas,'--as Ebion thought we ought to believe concerning Him." [4] In a text called "Against All Heresies", an anonymous work once attributed to Tertullian, [5] Ebion is referred to as the successor to Cerinthus. This places Ebion in the early 2nd century and as part of a particular heretical tradition. By the time Epiphanius wrote his text on heresies, "The Panarion", nearly a century after Tertullian, Ebion had received a birthplace, a hamlet called Cochabe in the district of Bashan, was thought to have travelled through Asia, and even come to Rome. [6]
Jerome believed that Ebion lived at the time of John the Apostle [7] and had been refuted by John for not believing Jesus existed before Mary. [8] He thought that Ebion translated the Old Testament himself [9] and refers to Ebion's baptism. [10]
Ebion ( Greek: Ἐβίων) was the presumed eponymous founder of an early Christian group known as the Ebionites. [1] The existent historical evidence indicates that the name "Ebionite" is derived from a Hebrew word, "ebion" (אביון) meaning "poor" [2] [3] and thus not from someone's name. Ebion is generally seen today as a purely literary figure, whose reputed existence in antiquity was used to explain where the Ebionites got their inspiration. However, once he had been accepted as real, a small tradition developed around him that lasted in early learned Christian circles for a few centuries.
Tertullian is the first writer noted for mentioning Ebion, which he does a number of times, mainly related to the notion that Jesus was a man and not divine. As an example, Tertullian writes, if Jesus "were wholly the Son of a man, He should fail to be also the Son of God, and have nothing more than 'a Solomon' or 'a Jonas,'--as Ebion thought we ought to believe concerning Him." [4] In a text called "Against All Heresies", an anonymous work once attributed to Tertullian, [5] Ebion is referred to as the successor to Cerinthus. This places Ebion in the early 2nd century and as part of a particular heretical tradition. By the time Epiphanius wrote his text on heresies, "The Panarion", nearly a century after Tertullian, Ebion had received a birthplace, a hamlet called Cochabe in the district of Bashan, was thought to have travelled through Asia, and even come to Rome. [6]
Jerome believed that Ebion lived at the time of John the Apostle [7] and had been refuted by John for not believing Jesus existed before Mary. [8] He thought that Ebion translated the Old Testament himself [9] and refers to Ebion's baptism. [10]