Is This The Reason Why The Gospel Of The Nazarenes Was Not Included In The Bible?

The Gospel of the Nazarenes (or what we know of it from fragments and references in early Christian writings) does suggest a very different approach to dietary practices, and this could indeed be one reason why it was not included in the canonical Bible.

The Gospel of the Nazarenes and Vegetarianism.
The Gospel of the Nazarenes is associated with an early Jewish-Christian sect known as the Nazarenes, who followed Jesus but maintained many Jewish customs, including some ascetic practices. While the complete text of the Gospel of the Nazarenes has been lost, fragments and references suggest that this group, and possibly the gospel they followed, promoted vegetarianism and forbade the eating of meat, including during sacred rituals like Passover.

One notable example from the Gospel of the Nazarenes comes from early church fathers like Jerome and Epiphanius, who mention passages from this text. According to these writings, Jesus instructs his followers to avoid eating meat, suggesting that animals should not be killed for food. In one account, Jesus reportedly says: “I have come to end the sacrifices and feasts of blood, and if you do not cease offering and eating flesh and blood, the wrath of God will not cease from you.”

This contrasts starkly with the canonical Gospels, which do not contain such prohibitions against eating meat, and it might indeed have played a role in why the Gospel of the Nazarenes and other texts like it were excluded from the Bible.

The Influence of the Early Church and Dietary Practices.
One possible reason for the exclusion of this gospel from the Bible is that early church leaders, particularly those in Rome, were shaping a version of Christianity that would appeal to a broader audience. In Roman culture and much of the surrounding Greco-Roman world, eating meat was a common and socially accepted practice. Forbidding meat might have been seen as too restrictive or out of touch with the mainstream culture at the time.

Moreover, early Christianity had to balance its Jewish roots with its growing Gentile membership. While many early Jewish-Christians, including the Nazarenes and possibly the Essenes, may have practiced vegetarianism or followed stricter dietary laws, the church began to relax these practices for Gentile converts. The decision not to impose the Jewish dietary laws, including restrictions on meat, is evident in Acts 15, where the Jerusalem Council decides that Gentile converts should not be required to follow all the Jewish laws, including food laws.

Ethical and Theological Reasons for Exclusion.
The Gospel of the Nazarenes was not the only text excluded from the Bible, but its promotion of a vegetarian lifestyle and its possible critique of the temple sacrifice system may have made it particularly unappealing to those forming the Christian canon. Jesus’ message, according to this gospel, seemed to reject not only the eating of animals but also the sacrificial system that was central to Jewish temple worship. This would have been a radical departure from mainstream Jewish practices and could have been seen as too controversial for inclusion.

The Broader Context of Excluded Gospels.
The exclusion of texts like the Gospel of the Nazarenes reflects a broader pattern in the early church’s efforts to standardise Christian belief. Many early Christian communities followed a wide variety of gospels and teachings, some of which promoted different ethical or theological ideas. The Gnostic gospels, for instance, often offered more mystical interpretations of Jesus’ teachings, while texts like the Gospel of Thomas focused on sayings and wisdom.

The early church councils that decided the canon (such as the Council of Carthage in 397 AD) had to make difficult choices about which texts to include. They prioritised those gospels and letters that supported what was becoming the orthodox view of Jesus’ divinity, resurrection, and the broader Christian faith. Texts that did not fit into this emerging orthodoxy, or that promoted ethical ideas like vegetarianism, which were not seen as central to Christian belief, were often left out.

The Gospel of the Nazarenes and its teachings, particularly its rejection of eating animals, represent an alternative interpretation of Jesus’ message that didn’t align with the broader direction the early church was moving in. Its exclusion from the Bible likely reflects a combination of ethical, theological, and cultural reasons, as the church sought to create a unified and widely acceptable Christian canon.

In The Gospel of the Nazarenes (38:1-6), Jesus says: “They who partake of the benefits which are gotten by wronging one of the Creator’s creatures cannot be righteous; nor can they touch or teach holy things, or speak of the mysteries of the Kingdom whose hands are stained with blood, or whose mouths are defiled with flesh. The Lord gives the grains and the fruits of the earth for food; and for righteous man there is truly no other lawful substance for the body. Wherefore I say to all those who desire to be disciples, keep your hands from bloodshed and let no flesh meat enter your mouths; for the Lord is just and bountiful; who ordains that man shall live by the fruits and seeds of the earth alone. I am in all creatures and all creatures are in me. In all their joys, I rejoice. In all their afflictions, I am afflicted.”

Clergy who fail to condemn the mass murder of animals in slaughterhouses, the most evil and wicked places on this planet, are spiritual hypocrites because they promote iniquity.
In The Gospel of the Nazarenes (75:6-14), Jesus says: “Verily I say unto you, for this end I have come into the world; that I may put away all blood offerings and the eating of the flesh of the beasts and the birds that are slain by men. In the beginning the Creator gave to all the fruits of the trees and the seeds of the earth and the herbs for food. But those who loved themselves more than the Lord or their fellows, corrupted their ways and brought diseases into their bodies and filled the earth with lust and violence.”
Jesus also says (7:9-10): “Speak the truth, be just and merciful to one another and to all creatures, and walk humbly with your Creator.”

This divergence between different early Christian groups highlights the diversity of beliefs and practices that existed in the early centuries of Christianity, and how the process of forming the Bible was influenced by political, social, and doctrinal considerations.

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