In his description of the Nazarenes in Panarion 29 Ephiphanius writes “They use not only the New Testament but the Old Testament as well, as the Jews do” so we can be sure that the ancient Nazarenes used both the books that the Christians call the “Old Testament”, known to Jews as the Tanak. and the books which Christians call the “New Testament” and which we call the “Ketuvim Netzarim” (Writings of the Nazarenes). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There can be little doubt that as Nazraenes we should accept and embrace the thirty nine books accepted by both Rabbinic Jews and Protestant Christians as the Tanak\/Old Testament. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are, however, a group of books known as Deutrocanonical books of the “Apocrypha” which early Christians accepted as canonical, but which modern Rabbinic Jews and Protestants do not. These are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1Esdras
2Esdras
Tobit
Judith
Wisdom of Solomon
Wisdom of Ben Sira
Book of Baruch
Letter of Jeremiah
1Maccabees
2Maccabees
3Maccabees
4Maccabees<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the exception of 2Esdras chapters 1-2 and 15-16 (which were late Christian additions appearing only in the Latin), these books are all of Jewish origin, and were used by the earliest Christians. How would these Jewish books come into the hands of the earliest Gentile Christians? This could only have happened if they had previously been upheld as authoritative by the ancient Nazarene Jews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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