I read that the Ebionites rejected the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. How should we respond to this?
Question:
I read that: “The Ebionites believed the entire collection of later prophetic books (Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc.) was a human invention added to the Hebrew canon during the Babylonian exile, rather than the pure word of God. The Ebionites accepted certain verses from prophets because they believed that divine truth was still buried within corrupted texts. If a verse spoke of mercy, justice, and protection of the poor, they embraced it. They treated the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah like a field of debris after a storm: they rejected the building as a whole, but carefully salvaged the “gold” (verses that aligned with their theology) while leaving the rest behind.” What should be the Christian’s perspective?
Answer:
The Ebionites were a relatively small and obscure sect of the early church. We know very little about them, as none of their writings have survived, and all we know about them, or at least virtually all we know about them comes from the orthodox believers who mentioned them. The common thread we have on this group is that they held to the Law of Moses—that they were one of the Judaizing sects of Christianity, and that the majority rejected the deity of Christ, arguing that he was a great moral teacher, but not divine.
As for what you found in your research, I am quite skeptical. Did the one who wrote this supply evidence for their claim? In my research, I find no evidence to support the claim you saw published. My suggestion is that you not accept as true what you found unless the one who wrote it can provide evidence, and I believe they will not be able to. It might be true, and I am open to it, but, like I said, I am skeptical.
On the other hand, it is possible that some group—but not the Ebionites–had this teaching about Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. So let me give a brief response to this idea, even though I believe it is likely the one claiming the Ebionites believed this is wrong. My response is that a lot of people believe a lot of things. This view is certainly not a mainstream one. To claim this is to reject Judaism, almost as a whole, as even nearly all of the most radical Jewish sects accept the canonicity of these prophets. My response to this is that those who believe this do so for philisophical, rather than evidential reasons, and they are wrong. There is more than enough evidence to include Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel in the list of inspired writings. It is not our role to read the Scriptures and to decide to choose the parts we like and to reject the parts we do not like. If parts of Isaiah are inspired, then, logically, the whole book of Isaiah is inspired. It would be very confusing for God to include a mixture of truth and fiction in the books he provides for us to learn about him. Let us reject this idea, whether it comes from the Ebionites (I am skeptical), or from someone else.
John Oakes
