The Ebionites formed in rural
Palestine, in the first century
AD, and were divided into two distinct groups, according to
Origen.
The sect's first and more dominant group, the Judaic Ebionites revered Mosaic law and held that Jesus Christ was a prophet of miracles, and that St. Paul was an apostate (a heretic priest).
The second, less dominant group, the Gnostic Ebionites believed Jesus Christ to be an invisible spiritual force. This group gave Jesus the title "Prophet of the Truth".
The word ebionite derives from old Hebrew for poor.
research sources include Everything2, encyclopedia.com & encarta.com