Ebionite

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Ebionite \E"bi*o*nite\, n. [Heb. ebyon[imac]m poor people.]
     (Eccl. Hist.)
     One of a sect of heretics, in the first centuries of the
     church, whose doctrine was a mixture of Judaism and
     Christianity. They denied the divinity of Christ, regarding
     him as an inspired messenger, and rejected much of the New


     Testament.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  Ebionite
       adj : of or relating to the Ebionites or their religion
       n : a member of a group of Jews who (during the early history of
           the Christian Church) accepted Jesus as the Messiah; they
           accepted the Gospel According to Matthew but rejected St.
           Paul and continued to follow Jewish law and celebrate
           Jewish holidays; they were later declared heretic by the
           Church of Rome [syn: {Nazarene}]