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Many of the church fathers refer to a group called Ebionites (Gk ’Εβιωναῖοι; Lat. ebionaei, ebionitae, hebionitae). The designation appears to have first been used of a sectarian movement by Irenaeus of Lyon ( Haer. 1.26.2) circa 180 CE, as part of a refutation of heresies starting from Simon Magus and culminating with Valentinus. Irenaeus, and several church fathers following him, describe the Ebionites as Christians who observe Jewish customs and, for the most part, reject the virgin birth of Jesus (Christ, Jesus, 01: Survey), holding him only as a human being.One of the problems wi…

The Gospel of the Ebionites is a modern title given by scholars and refers to a gospel used by the Ebionites (Ebionites/Ebionitism). The gospel has been preserved only in seven fragments in Panarion, written circa 374–377 CE by Epiphanius of Salamis ( Pan. 30.13–14; 30.16.5; 30.22.3–5). Epiphanius quotes the gospel when introducing his readers to a group of Jewish Christians he called Ebionites. Epiphanius got his basic data on Ebionites from earlier church fathers, but both the fact that he had a copy of the gospel, and his detailed pr…