chapter two
as the original reading derived from Irenaeus. Thus, Irenaeus’ Greek
Against Heresiesoriginally stated that the Ebionitesdid not believe in the
virgin birthandseparated Christ and Jesus.
The exact date of the Latin translation is unknown but it is usually
considered very early (and literal). It is important to note that once the
Latin translation was made—or the negative was added to the Greek
manuscript which the translator used—a possibility for two contradict-
ing interpretations about the Ebionites’ Christology was also created. ()
On the one hand, those who read Latin (or the corrupt Greek version)
would conclude that the Ebionites did not agree with the Cerinthians
and Carpocratians and somust have accepted the virgin birth.()Onthe
other hand, those who read Hippolytus or Irenaeus’ uncorrupted Greek
would conclude that theydid not accept the virgin birth.InOrigenand
Eusebius, we will find precisely these two options in the religious profile
of the Ebionites.
Nevertheless, according to Irenaeus’ original version, the Christology
of the Ebionites wassimilarto that of Cerinthus and Carpocrates. What
does this mean in practice? It is clear that Irenaeus’ Ebionites hardly
shared all the Cerinthian views about Christ. The Cerinthian Christology,
as described by Irenaeus, included the views that Jesus was born in the
same way as all other men, that he was more versed in righteousness,
and he received Christ from above at his baptism. In Irenaeus’ opinion,
Cerinthians also claimed that after receiving Christ, Jesus started to
proclaim the unknown God and that Christ remained impassive because
he flew away from Jesus before his crucifixion. The mere fact that the
Ebionites were monotheists makes it improbable that the Christ of the
Ebionites would have proclaimed the “unknown God.”
The idea of Christ ascending from above also resembles the role of
Christ in Gnostic cosmogonies that Irenaeus described in the beginning
of hisAgainst Heresies. Irenaeus may have exaggerated the Gnostic out-
look of Cerinthus’ doctrine and described him as believing in the demi-
urge.^1 Nevertheless,it is probable that Cerinthus’ teaching included spec-
ulations about a pre-existent Christ who entered Jesus at baptism and
for this very reason, he was easily connected to Gnosticism. Most likely,
Irenaeus’ Ebionites already shared these ideas because in later sources
these kinds of speculations are explicitly connected to the Ebionites (see
Epiphanius below).
(^1) For this, see Myllykoski .