chapter four
lived first in Alexandria and then in Palestine, he naturally belonged to
the Palestinian-Alexandrian faction in this controversy. We even have
Origen’s own testimony that such was the case. In hisCommentary on
Matthew(Comm. ser. Matt. ), Origen notes it is an Ebionite heresy
to celebrate Easter/Passover the Jewish way. Origen’s comment makes it
clear that his main target is not Jews or Ebionites but other “Christians”
who are in danger of falling prey to the Ebionite heresy if they do some
investigating and start to celebrate Easter/Passover the way Jews do (see
above Chapter ..).
If the above reconstruction of the setting of Jesus’ appearance to James
theJusthasbeenontherighttrack,wouldthatnotsuggestthatthe
passage was not really from theGospel of the Hebrews?Shouldwenot
expect the Hebrews rather to side with the Quartodeciman practice
instead of transmitting the tradition about James the Just who seems to
legitimize the non-Quartodeciman position?
If the passage was composed in the heat of the Easter dispute, which I
find very likely, then it cannot represent the oldest stratum of theGospel
of the Hebrewsbecause the first references to this gospel are by Papias
and Hegesippus, from the beginning of the second century.^55 However,
theoretically—even if it was later added to theGospel of the Hebrews—it
may well have been in the version that was quoted by the Alexandrian
writers, Origen and Clement, at the beginning of the third century.^56
Should we perhaps assume that the circles who used theGospel of the
Hebrewsin Alexandria sided with other local Christians and followed the
non-Quartodeciman timing of Easter? It may well have been so, and it is
also possible that the version of theGospel of the Hebrewsthat remained
in use in those Asian communities where Papias first found it, did not
include this passage. In my view, this is the most likely scenario; if the
passage really was in theGospel of the Hebrews, it must have been a later
addition.
In any case, it should be noted that this particular passage fits better
with the character of theGospel of the Hebrewsas it is reconstructed
in this book than with the gnostisizingGospel of the Hebrewsof the
GH. Even though the strong reminiscences of synoptic tradition in this
passage would cohere better with my hypothesis, I am well aware of the
speculative nature of the attribution. I have included the passage in my
reconstruction of theGospel of the Hebrewsbut with hesitation. We may
(^55) Quoted in Eusebius,Hist. eccl. .. and ... See above Chapter ...
(^56) For the date of the first Alexandrian references, see Klijn , –.