Recovering Jewish-Christian Sects and Gospels (Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae)

 chapter two

:); God is the creator of all things (:); and belief in one God and his

child (πας) Jesus Christ (:,; :,). To this point we do not have

anything that would differentiate the Nazarene church from the primitive

church.^68

Pritz finds here substantial evidence for his thesis, according to which
the Nazarenes were successors of the early Jerusalem community and
that their doctrine was “orthodox” from the very beginning. However,
this line of thought is problematic in two respects. First, from a historical
point of view, it is clear that Acts presents Luke’s interpretation of the
life and doctrines of the early Jerusalem community. Therefore, if there
is a perfect match betweenPan. .. and Acts, it is questionable how
much this reveals about the Nazarenes’ relation to the early Jerusalem
community. It only accords with Luke’s picture of the early Jerusalem
community. Second, as was shown above, at least some connections
betweenPanarion and Acts can be traced back to Epiphanius’ use of
Acts as a source inPanarion, which raises the question if that is also
the case inPan. ...
Because thebelief in resurrectiondoes not play any role in other parts
of Epiphanius’ discussion of the Nazarenes, it is somewhat surprising
to find it listed among the Nazarene doctrines. This reference becomes
understandable in the light of Epiphanius’ use of Acts since the resurrec-
tion is one of the main points of contention between Paul and his Jewish
accusers in Acts.^69 For the sake of his own rhetoric, Paul—who is accused
of being the leader of the Nazarene heresy—“confesses” the main points
of the “Nazarene doctrine” in Acts :–:

However, I admit that I worship the God of our fathers as a follower of the

Way, which they call a heresy (α+ρεσις). I believe everything that agrees

with the law and that is written in the prophets, and I have the same hope

in God as these men, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous

and the wicked. (trans. NIV).

A few verses later, Paul’s defense culminates in his recalling of the earlier
events in Jerusalem:

Or these who are here should state what crime they found in me when

I stood before the Sanhedrin—unless it was this one thing I shouted as I

stood in their presence: “It is concerningthe resurrection of the deadthat I

am on trial before you today.” (Acts :–; trans. NIV).

(^68) Pritz , . Similarly, de Boer , .
(^69) Cf. Schmidtke , –.