Barnabas and the EarlyChristians 67Paul travelled West with Peter. Without the sincerity and restrain
ing influence of Barnabas, he must have met with little opposition
to his new doctrines and adapted ways of conduct and behaviour.
In Romans15: 20-21, he says, referring to Isaiah 52:15:
Yea, so have l strived to preach the Gospel, not where
Christ was named, lest l should build upon another
man's foundation: butas it iswritten:'To whomhe was
not spoken of, they shall see: And they that have not
heard shall understand.'IfPaul had been spreading the original teaching of Jesus, then 'an
other man's foundation' would have been the same as his. They
would both have been involved in building the same structure.
The people who were hearing about Jesus, or rather Christ, for the
first time from Paul's lips, had no means of comparing his account
with that of the Apostles who still held to [esus's teaching. Paul's
version was the only one to which they had access.
Paul was helped a great deal in spreading his message by a
learned Jew from Alexandria called Appolos. He was very success
ful in spreading the ideas of Paul among people. Paul, it was said,
planted and Appolos watered. Ultimately, evenAppolos could not
accept aU the innovations of Paul, and, like Barnabas, parted com
pany with him.
Paul deviated further and further from the original teaching
which Iesus had embodied, and laid more and more emphasis on
the figure of Christ whom he claimed had appeared to him in his
visions. His defence against those who accused him of changing
the guidance which jesus had brought was that what he was preach
ing had its origin in a direct revelation which he had received from
Christ. This, in effect, gave Paul Divine Authority. It was by virtue
of this 'authority' he claimed, that the blessings of the Gospel were
not limited to the [ews, but to all who believed. Furthermore, he
asserted that the requirements of the Law of Moses were not only
unnecessary, but also contrary to what had been directly revealed
to him from God. In fact, he said, they were a curse.
As a result, Paul incurred not only the wrath of the followers of
Jesus, but also that of the Jews, sinee he was now contradicting
both of their Prophets. Itis clear why he chose to spread his teach
ing among people who hated the Iews and who had not heard the
truth about Jesus.