DeConick A.D

111
PAUL AND GNOSTIC DOGMA
John the Baptist, Apollos taught a baptism for the cleansing of sin only,
knowing nothing about baptism for the reception of the Holy Spirit (Acts
18:24–19:7). This form of spiritless baptism also is known and criticized by
the authors of the New Testament Gospels, so it must have been prominent
in nascent Christian circles outside their purview (Mark 1:8; Matthew
3:11; Luke 3:16).
While in the synagogue in Ephesus, Apollos runs into a Christian missionary
couple, Priscilla and Aquila from Rome. They listen to his impressive
speech, but afterward they take him aside and instruct him on their
point of view, because they don’t agree with everything he has to say
(Acts 18:26). After this, he goes on his way to Corinth, where his message
fosters animosity and division in the Corinthian community, which
had been established originally by Paul under a different set of principles
(Acts 18:27–19:1; 1 Corinthians 1:11–17, 3:5–9). It must have been a very
confusing time for converts who weren’t sure whose Christian message
they should follow.
Paul’s version of Christianity was only one of many, and by and large it
was reactionary. He was reacting to an earlier influential church, formed
after Jesus’ execution in Jerusalem, under the leadership of James, Jesus’
brother. So, to understand Paul and the revolutionary Gnostic spirit he instilled
in his own churches, we must first understand to whom and to what
Paul was reacting. In this case, he was reacting to James, Jesus’ brother,
and his faithfulness to the Jewish way of life. James did not identify himself
as a Christian but as a Jew devoted to his brother Jesus as the Messiah.
Jews Devoted to Jesus
Although nascent Christianity was marked by freelance, self-appointed
missionaries, it also is true that, very early on, the disciples of Jesus, under
the leadership of Jesus’ brother James, got organized and formed their
own movement in Jerusalem. The early literature has left us with abundant
evidence about what these people were doing and thinking. Their
movement was called the Wayfarers (literally “people of the way”). It was
a Jewish movement devoted to living according to the Jewish law or Torah,
as interpreted by Jesus. It boasted authority based on the fact that its
founding members had been Jesus’ family and disciples, people who knew