Jewish-Christian Adoptionists (Andrew, Tim, Maggie, Emily)

Jewish-Christian adoptionists believed that Jesus was a mortal man, who was so righteous that God adopted him upon baptism.  Jesus was believed to be the perfect and final sacrifice, which is why the Ebionites in particular rejected animal sacrifice and ate a vegetarian diet.  The Jewish-Christians practiced Jewish tradition and followed Jewish law because they saw that Jesus was a Jew, and if they believed he was chosen because he followed Jewish law perfectly, they should emulate him. Therefore they practiced the same religion as Jesus: Judaism. They accepted the gospel of Matthew, except for the first couple chapters that implied a virgin birth, but maintained the idea that Jesus was fulfilling Jewish prophecy that is entailed in the genealogy in Matthew’s first chapter. They also altered texts by changing John the Baptist’s diet to fit their vegetarian practices, and translated the text in Aramaic to more closely imitate Jesus’ practices.