Gospel of the Ebionites is the conventional name given to an apocryphal gospel believed to have been used by a Jewish Christian sect known as the Ebionites. All that is known of the gospel consists of seven brief quotations found in a heresiology known as the Panarion, written by Epiphanius of Salamis (pictured); he believed it to be a truncated and modified version of the Gospel of Matthew. The quotations were used as part of a polemic to point out inconsistencies in the beliefs and practices of the Ebionites relative to Nicene orthodoxy. The text is a gospel harmony of the Synoptic Gospels, composed in Greek with various changes reflecting the writer's theology. It is believed to have been composed some time during the middle of the 2nd century. Distinctive features include the absence of the virgin birth and genealogy of Jesus, an Adoptionist Christology in which Jesus is chosen to be God's Son at the time of his Baptism, Jesus' appointed task of abolishing the Jewish sacrifices, and an advocacy of vegetarianism. Although the gospel was said to be used by "Ebionites" during the time of the early church, the identity of the group or groups that used it remains a matter of conjecture.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_the_Ebionites

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

756:

Emperor Xuanzong fled the Tang capital Chang'an as An Lushan's forces advance toward the city during the An Lushan Rebellion. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Xuanzong_of_Tang

1769:

Spanish soldier Gaspar de Portolá led the first European land expedition to present-day California. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portol%C3%A1_expedition

1933:

With the enactment of the Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring, the Nazi Party began its eugenics program. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_for_the_Prevention_of_Hereditarily_Diseased_Offspring

1965:

The NASA spacecraft Mariner 4 flew past Mars, collecting the first close-up pictures of another planet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariner_4

2003:

In an effort to discredit U.S. Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, who had written an article critical of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Washington Post columnist Robert Novak revealed that Wilson's wife Valerie Plame was a CIA "operative". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plame_affair

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

hapless: Very unlucky; ill-fated. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hapless

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

No art passes our conscience in the way film does, and goes directly to our feelings, deep down into the dark rooms of our souls.   --Ingmar Bergman https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ingmar_Bergman