As I mentioned with the Ehrman/Goicoechea posts, one of the great problems the apostle Paul had was he was not reconciled to the other Christ factions. Paul appeals for unity and reports what he has heard about the quarrels:

“Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you but that you be knit together in the same mind and the same purpose. For it has been made clear to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. What I mean is that each of you says, ‘I belong to Paul,’ or ‘I belong to Apollos,’ or ‘I belong to Cephas,’ or ‘I belong to Christ.’ Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” (1 Cor 1:10–13)

He rebukes the Corinthians for their immaturity and directly references the same party spirit:

“And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people but rather as fleshly, as infants in Christ. … For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not fleshly and behaving according to human inclinations? For when one says, ‘I belong to Paul,’ and another, ‘I belong to Apollos,’ are you not all too human? What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. … For we are God’s coworkers…” (1 Cor 3:1–9)

The church belongs to Christ, not to any human leader. But interestingly the “Of Christ” faction in the first quote above doesn’t seem to be the more general “Jesus faith” Paul is advocating for. It is almost though we have those like Peter, Paul, and Apollos who teach variations of cross/resurrection salvation theology, whereas there were some who stuck to Jesus’ pre cross teaching of repentance and good works. The Q source, for instance, doesn’t have a saving cross and resurrection, whereas Paul taught if we could attain righteousness through works Christ died for nothing.

Paul continues about a faction he has particular irritation towards:

Paul uses the term “super-apostles” (sometimes rendered “superlative apostles”) in 2 Corinthians 11:5 and 12:11 (NRSVUE). This occurs in the “fool’s speech” section where he sarcastically defends his apostolic credentials against rival teachers in Corinth who were boasting and undermining him.

• 2 Corinthians 11:5: “I think that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles. Even if I am untrained in speech, I certainly am not with respect to knowledge…” (11:5–6) Later in the same chapter he unmasks them: “For such boasters are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. … Their end will match their deeds.” (11:13–15)
• 2 Corinthians 12:11 (repeating the point at the end of his defense): “Indeed you should have been the ones commending me, for I am not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing.”

In short, Paul acknowledges the “super-apostles” exist and claims he is every bit their equal (or better) in knowledge and gospel faithfulness—while simultaneously calling them false apostles and boasters who disguise themselves. His tone is ironic and defensive; he is not elevating them but exposing their superiority claims as empty. Their boasting may be that they were Jesus purists who knew Jesus in life and stuck to Jesus’s repentance and works teachings, a Jesus Paul never met. Paul said regarding the Super Apostles: “For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted. you put up with it readily enough (2Cor 11:4)”

Ehrman makes a compelling argument that the historical Jesus was an apocalyptic prophet who taught forgiveness and good works as the path to salvation (eg., the story of the rich young ruler), whereas after he died some followers thought they saw him alive after death and so inferred his death wasn’t random but a sacrifice. Jesus was thus recast as his death appeasing God’s wrath, meaning God was no longer a prodigal-forgiving parent but a heartless judge that needed a fine paid. For example, Jesus’ followers were armed and got violent at the arrest, so it’s unlikely his death was anticipated.

The message went from love of enemy as more important than self of the Q source to encourage reflection and transformation, to a sticks and stones sarcastic response to enemies that fortifies and purifies Paul’s virgin churches which would be presented to the returning Christ:

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be arrogant, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. 18 If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 Instead, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink, for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:14–21).

The historical Jesus is hard to see because our sources are mainly cross/resurrection propaganda, propaganda being what “gospel” meant in Augustus’s world. But we can still catch a glimpse of him in passages that go against the cross/resurrection salvation bias like Jesus’ claim that what you do to the destitute you do to me, and if you want blessed eternity then like the apostles who left everything behind you must sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor.

In the end, we get two different views of the cross, which are complementary. On the one hand, the cross was substitutionary atonement literally paying the sin fine (a la 4 Maccabees). On the other, the death was moral influence (a la penitential psalms and story of Jonah) where the wrongful death of God’s sinless beloved Jesus opens our eyes to the demonic influence on society, booting out the evil entity Sin and welcoming in the mind of Christ/Christ in you. We have 1 death as a fine paid, and on the other hand our repentance resulting in forgiveness because God’s wrath has been figuratively dealt with, as per Aristotle’s Rhetoric on figurative payment of slave repentance to master who the slave has wronged.