Might you be confusing Nazarenes (Epiphanius calls them "Nazoraeans") with his "Nasaraeans"? Epiphanius describes a Jewish sect called Nasaraeans antedating Christ which didn't eat meat, didn't offer sacrifices and regarded parts of the OT as forgeries:I have serious reservations with following the timeline from any church father, especially Epiphanius. Not only is he writing in the 4th century, far removed from the scene of the crime, and he is not above making stuff up (like the Nazarenes antedating Christ).
Nasaraeans, meaning 'rebels,' who forbid the eating of any meat and do not partake of living things at all...
Part 18. Epiphanius Against the Nasaraeans
1:1 Next I shall undertake the describe the sect after the Hemerobaptists, called the sect of the Nasaraeans... This sect practices Judaism in all respects and have scarcely any beliefs beyond the ones that I have mentioned.
1:2 It too had been given circumcision, and it kept the same Sabbath and observed the same festivals, and certainly did not inculcate fate or astrology.
1:3 ... it would not accept the Pentateuch itself. It acknowledged Moses and believed that he had received legislation—not this legislation though, they said, but some other.28
1:4 And so, though they were Jews who kept all the Jewish observances, they would not offer sacrifice or eat meat; in their eyes it was unlawful to eat meat or make sacrifices with it. They claimed that these books are forgeries and that none of these customs were instituted by the fathers.
Part 18. Epiphanius Against the Nasaraeans
1:1 Next I shall undertake the describe the sect after the Hemerobaptists, called the sect of the Nasaraeans... This sect practices Judaism in all respects and have scarcely any beliefs beyond the ones that I have mentioned.
1:2 It too had been given circumcision, and it kept the same Sabbath and observed the same festivals, and certainly did not inculcate fate or astrology.
1:3 ... it would not accept the Pentateuch itself. It acknowledged Moses and believed that he had received legislation—not this legislation though, they said, but some other.28
1:4 And so, though they were Jews who kept all the Jewish observances, they would not offer sacrifice or eat meat; in their eyes it was unlawful to eat meat or make sacrifices with it. They claimed that these books are forgeries and that none of these customs were instituted by the fathers.
What is of interest is that there existed Jewish groups that were against sacrifices, even before the destruction of the Second Temple. While Epiphanius might indeed have been making things up, I don't see why he would on this occasion. Ebionites also were known to be against the eating of meat (their John the Baptist and James brother of the Lord were vegetarians apparently!) and against sacrifices.
Statistics: Posted by GakuseiDon — Thu Mar 21, 2024 12:39 pm