What are the beliefs of the Nazarene faith?

Answer 1

The Nazarenes were members of an early Gnostic Christian sect, who followed Jewish laws and abstained from certain 'unclean' foods, wine, and any contact with the dead (necromancy). They accepted the virgin birth and divinity of Jesus.

According to Acts 24:5, the spokesman for the high priest called Paul a ringleader of sect of the Nazarenes. This is not impossible, because several of the early Gnostic Christian sects looked to Paul for inspiration, but it is usually read as a reference to Christians in general.

The Nazarenes were mentioned by several of the early Church Fathers, but not later than the fourth century CE.

Answer 2

Answer

The Nazarenes, and associated names, such as Nazorean, Nazorite, and others, comprised a sect named after the town of Nazareth. These people abstained from certain 'unclean' foods, wine, and any contact with the dead.

Similar sects, termed Nazarite, were variously either Jewish or Christian and followed the respective codes and laws. The Jewish Gnostic sects of this sort were chiefly located in Syria while the Christian Nazarenes were in various locations. They are not heard of after the fifth or sixth century. However, the Mandaeans, who were also called Nazoreans in early times, continued in small numbers in southern Iraq.

Correction of the above follows...

Nazoreans were not named after the town of Nazareth (The Greek of the New Testament bares this out - "Jesus THE Nazorean...NOT Jesus OF Nazareth"), which Saul of Tarsus' later "Christians" construed and confounded.

Nazareth means "Guard Tower"...Nazareth, made famous by Constantine's mother, was not a town, but a small insignificant farming settlement...most probably one of numerous nazareths all over the Middle East at the time of Jesus, and of nothing more than those peasants who congregated around the landlords Guard Tower for whom they worked and owed their subsistence too.

Saul of Tarsus, makes it clear that he was being confused for a member of a sect, called Nazoreans, and whom were only aware of John the Baptists form of Mikvah (Baptism).

Nazorean stems from the word NOT associated with Nazarite (English confounds the Hebrew words phonetically).

Nazorean, the word used to signify Jesus and the movement from which he came, and still used by Jews in Israel for Christians generally today is Notzri (Notzrim plural) a word that means Guard (Guardians) or Watchman (Watchmen) or Watcher or as has been translated in modern times Sentinel.

The famous mysterious prophecy, that no one knows what is being referenced to in Matt 2:23, may in fact be Jer. 6:17; & 31:6.

There is no similarity in meaning to the other words, often used in word play by ancient Jewish-Christians, Nazorean (Notzri, i.e. Guard, Watchmen), Nazirite (Nazar, i.e. consecrated), and Nezer (Netzer, i.e branch).

Also, the Mandaeans never collectively called themselves Nazoreans, this term was a title reserved exclusively for a singular Arch-Clerical leader, or Highest Priest, of their entire community (of which they have no one for at least 100 years), and although is it clear there is some parity in structure between the early Jewish community of Jesus in Jerusalem, it is not known whether those similarities that do go back to the pre-Jewish war period, was before or after Jesus, as they themselves do not claim to originate in Palestine or Judaism, but are of Egyptian origin, probably Samaritan origin.

One can only theorize as to the actual day to day practices of the Nazoreans, just as one can only theorize what the actual day to day practices of the Essenes were, even though in the later we are in a better shape to come to a conclusion because of the certain numbers of the Dead Sea Scrolls of their authorship.

One can be assured that almost all Jews, and off-shoots of the Jews (except of course those who became completely Hellenized to get ahead in the Roman World, ex. such as Julius Tiberius Alexander) were strict adherents of the Jewish Law...but even that is subject to questions such as, "what version" and "in what manner."

If the Clementia are actual "Ebionite" (Jewish Christians) writings stemming pre-Jewish Wars as Robert Eisenman posits...then they may have looked at the Old Testament as a collection of books that had to be properly interpreted by a legitimate prophet...and that prophet would selectively cherry pick from for his followers to justify practices peculiar to that cult...in much the same way Muslims would do from Jewish and Christian tradition 700 to 800 years later to fill the pages of their Koran, to defend and justify their own peculiarities.

If your purpose is purely academic, then you know...no one will ever really know, and a best guess is all that is likely...and whether you accept one theory over another is based purely on your personal bias.

If you purpose is religious, study the Jewish prophets to conclude what moral necessities are required for your salvation...accordingly, God does not judge us by our religion, but by what our heart harbors, and the way in which we treat others.

Religions and holy books are not what saves us...but righteousness of thought, speech and deed.

Answer 3

Nazarene is a denomination of Christianity. All denominations are similar in that they all believe in God, Jesus, Heaven, the Bible, etc.

"The Church of the Nazarene is the largest denomination in the classical Wesleyan-Holiness tradition. The doctrine that distinguishes the Church of the Nazarene and other Wesleyan denominations from most other Christian denominations is that of entire sanctification. Nazarenes believe that God calls Christians to a life of holy living that is marked by an act of God, cleansing the heart from original sin and filling the individual with love for God and humankind. This experience is marked by entire consecration of the believer to do God's will and is followed by a life of seeking to serve God through service to others. Like salvation, entire sanctification is an act of God's grace, not of works. Our pursuant service to God is an act of love whereby we show our appreciation for the grace that has been extended to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ."