• Why Jihad Watch?
  • About Robert Spencer and Staff Writers
  • FAQ
  • Books
  • Muhammad
  • Islam 101
  • Privacy

Jihad Watch

Exposing the role that Islamic jihad theology and ideology play in the modern global conflicts

Islam — A (Jewish-) Christian Sect? (Part 8)

Oct 13, 2011 4:08 am By Robert Spencer

Islam — A (Jewish-) Christian Sect? (Part 8)
A short history-of-dogma examination

By Peter Bruns
Translated by Anonymous
Translation edited by Ibn Warraq

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7

Mohammed and Jewish Christianity — Indication of a Problem

In the context of the Christian-Islamic dialogue, the Christian interlocutors like to extol the mistakes of the 3rd century as the pioneering Christological models of the 3rd century.[99]

Today, a return to the Jewish Christian Christology[100] long since overcome in the history of dogma is being demanded, without any accounting for its philosophical implications. Terminologically, there is a distinction between Jewish Christianity[101] in the broader sense, to whom all believers in Christ who stem from Judaism belong, and in the narrower sense those Jews of early Christianity who believed in Christ, who — in contrast to the unregulated pagan Christians, adhered to Circumcision, Sabbath and Law. And these are to be distinguished from the Judaization of later generations, which was absorbed by Gnostic-syncretic and other Christological heresies. The diversity of the phenomenon “Jewish Christianity” is shown, inter alia, by the various names by which the church fathers designated these groups. Since Irenaeus, haer. I, 26, 2, the designation “Ebionites” is used, which forced out other terms in the following centuries. In haer. XXIX, 56, 6, Epiphanius refers to the so-called “Nazarenes” and Hieronymus, vir. ill. 3, localizes this group in the area Aleppo/Beröa. Its pride-and-joy is possession of a Hebrew (Aramaic?) Matthew Gospel. It is not clear whether this is a literary archetype of the canonical Gospel, a variant of the so-called Nazarene Gospels, or simply a Syrian translation of Matthew, perhaps on the basis of the Diatessaron. Another group named itself for tits founder, Elkasai (from Greek Alexius?) and based its propagandistic activities on a book allegedly fallen from heaven. Ps-Klementinines, spread out in the Syrian area, represent another tradition strand of Jewish Christianity, whose basic document — the Kerygmata Petrou — offers an arbitrary collection of prophecies from Adam to Jesus. The geographical focus of all these groups is southeast Palestine with neighboring Roman Arabia down into Yemen, as well as the Syro-Mesopotamian region, that is, that area in which early Islam arose too: Arabia ferax haereseon.[102]

According to Harnack,[103] the majority of Jewish Christian sects are characterized: 1) by a strict monotheism, which excludes most divine hypostases; 2) by putting aside the idea of redemption; 3) by the conception of God’s realm in the literal sense of an earthly theocracy and, with that, a certain ethical indifference, which: 4) proves not to be exactly squeamish in the choice of means of propaganda and use of physical violence. For the liberal Protestant, Islam is “the transformation of Jewish religion, which itself had already been transformed by Gnostic Jewish Christianity on an Arabic base and by a great prophet.”[104] With seven bold theses, Harnack once arched the bridge from Elkesaitism[105] to Islam. If we now add the comments of the Syrian exegete Theodor bar Koni, who — toward the end of the 8th century — did not say one word about Islam, but is witness to the presence of Elkesaites in northwest Arabia,[106], then a historical-traditional connection cannot be precluded. As Hans Joachim Schoeps summarizes:

“Although the exact demonstration of the connection may not be realized, the indirect dependence of Mohammed on sectarian Jewish Christianity is beyond all doubt. And a paradox of truly universal historical magnitude, is the fact that Jewish Christianity disappeared, to be sure, into the Christian church, but was preserved in Islam and reaches into the present day with some of its driving impulses.”[107]

Peter Bruns is Professor at the Zentrum für Mittelalterstudien, Otto-Friedrich-Universität, Bamberg, Germany. This article appeared in German in Forum Katholische Theologie, 26 (2010) 1., pp. 1-23.
[99] BAUSCHKE, Jesus im Koran, 151. Not less symptomatic is the book on Jesus by the Protestant pastor Ulrich von Hasselbach, Der Mensch Jesus. Leitbild für das dritte Jahrtausend (Stuttgart 1987). The basic thesis of this book, on which Bauschke supports his arguments, is that Jesus was “permeated by God, but was not God.”
[100] BAUSCHKE, Jesus im Koran, 125.
[101] Still not superseded is Hans Joachim SCHOEPS, Theologie und Geschichte des Judenchristentums (Tübingen 1949); the source material was edited by Albertus F. J. KLIJN, Patristic Evidence for Jewish-Christian Sects (Leiden 1973).
[102] Cf. WELLHAUSEN, Reste, 232.
[103] Cf. HARNACK, Lehrbuch II, 534.
[104] Cf. HARNACK, Lehrbuch II, 537.
[105] Cf. HARNACK, Lehrbuch II, 535; Wilhelm BRANDT, Elchasai, Ein Religionsstifter und sein Werk (Leipzig 1912, repr. Amsterdam 1971); L. CIRILLO, Elchasai e gli Elchasaiti (Cosenza 1984); Gerard P. LUTTIKHUIZEN, The Revelation of Elchasai (Tübingen 1985). The latter does not say one word about the testimony of Theodor bar Kon(a)i.
[106] Cf. Mimra XI, 46 about the Sabians (Sampsians/Elkasaites) : “Ces Sampséens sont interprétés aussi [Elqasaites]: ils habitent en Arabie à côté de la Mer Rouge. C”est quelqu”un du nom d”[Elqasai], qui était un faux prophète, qui les égara. De la race de celui-là furent deux, Marthous et Marthana, qui étaient honorées et adorées par eux comme des déesses. Ils pensent en toute chose comme les Ébionites.” (CSCO 432, 229).
[107] SCHOEPS, Theologie, 342. — As for his discussion of Harnack’s views, of the Elkasaites and Ebionites and their connections to rising Islam cf. pp. 325-341.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Follow me on Facebook

Filed Under: Uncategorized


Learn more about RevenueStripe...

FacebookYoutubeTwitterLog in

Subscribe to the Jihad Watch Daily Digest

You will receive a daily mailing containing links to the stories posted at Jihad Watch in the last 24 hours.
Enter your email address to subscribe.

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!
If you are forwarding to a friend, please remove the unsubscribe buttons first, as they my accidentally click it.

Subscribe to all Jihad Watch posts

You will receive immediate notification.
Enter your email address to subscribe.
Note: This may be up to 15 emails a day.

Donate to JihadWatch
FrontPage Mag

Search Site

Translate

The Team

Robert Spencer in FrontPageMag
Robert Spencer in PJ Media

Articles at Jihad Watch by
Robert Spencer
Hugh Fitzgerald
Christine Douglass-Williams
Andrew Harrod
Jamie Glazov
Daniel Greenfield

Contact Us

Terror Attacks Since 9/11

Archives

  • 2020
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2019
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2018
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2017
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2016
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2015
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2014
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2013
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2012
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2011
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2010
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2009
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2008
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2007
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2006
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2005
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2004
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2003
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • March

All Categories

You Might Like

Learn more about RevenueStripe...

Recent Comments

  • Yogi on EU Parliament members call for firing of border agency director for preventing illegal migrants from entering Europe
  • Hoi Polloi on Why so many Muslims can’t wait for Biden to get inaugurated
  • Hoi Polloi on EU Parliament members call for firing of border agency director for preventing illegal migrants from entering Europe
  • jacksonl03 on India: Police make first arrest for ‘love jihad’ under new law
  • Yogi on Canadian Mental Health Association studies Muslim women’s mental health due to ‘discrimination’ and ‘hate crimes’

Popular Categories

dhimmitude Sharia Jihad in the U.S ISIS / Islamic State / ISIL Iran Free Speech

Robert Spencer FaceBook Page

Robert Spencer Twitter

Robert Spencer twitter

Robert Spencer YouTube Channel

Books by Robert Spencer

Jihad Watch® is a registered trademark of Robert Spencer in the United States and/or other countries - Site Developed and Managed by Free Speech Defense

Content copyright Jihad Watch, Jihad Watch claims no credit for any images posted on this site unless otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to their respective owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and you do not wish for it appear on this site, please E-mail with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed.

Our mailing address is: David Horowitz Freedom Center, P.O. Box 55089, Sherman Oaks, CA 91499-1964

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.