Editing Gnosticism (section)

===Paul and Gnosticism===
[[Tertullian]] calls [[Paul the Apostle|Paul]] "the apostle of the heretics",{{sfn|Dunn|2016|p=107}} because Paul's writings were attractive to Gnostics, and interpreted in a Gnostic way, while Jewish Christians found him to stray from the Jewish roots of Christianity.{{sfn|Dunn|2016|pp=107–108}} In [[I Corinthians]] ({{bibleverse|1|Corinthians|8:10|NKJV}}), Paul refers to some church members as "having knowledge" ({{langx|el|τὸν ἔχοντα γνῶσιν}}, ''ton echonta gnosin''). [[James Dunn (theologian)|James Dunn]] writes that in some cases, Paul affirmed views that were closer to Gnosticism than to proto-orthodox Christianity.{{sfn|Dunn|2016|p=108}}

According to [[Clement of Alexandria]], the disciples of Valentinus said that Valentinus was a student of a certain [[Theudas (teacher of Valentinus)|Theudas]], who was a student of Paul,{{sfn|Dunn|2016|p=108}} and Elaine Pagels notes that Paul's epistles were interpreted by Valentinus in a Gnostic way, and Paul could be considered a [[Proto-Gnosticism|proto-gnostic]] and a proto-[[Catholic]].{{sfn|Pagels|1975}} Many Nag Hammadi texts, including, for example, the ''Prayer of Paul'' and the Coptic ''Apocalypse of Paul'', consider Paul to be "the great apostle".{{sfn|Dunn|2016|p=108}} The fact that he claimed to have received his gospel directly by revelation from God appealed to the Gnostics, who claimed ''gnosis'' from the risen Christ.{{sfn|Dunn|2016|p=109}} The [[Naassenes]], [[Cainite]]s, and [[Valentinianism|Valentinians]] referred to Paul's epistles.{{sfn|Dunn|2016|pp=109–110}} [[The Jesus Mysteries|Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy]] have expanded upon this idea of Paul as a Gnostic teacher;<ref>Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy, ''[[The Jesus Mysteries]],'' 1999</ref> although their premise that Jesus was invented by early Christians based on an alleged Greco-Roman mystery cult has been dismissed by scholars.<ref>[[Bart D. Ehrman|Ehrman, Bart D.]] (2012). [[Did Jesus Exist? (Ehrman)|'' Did Jesus Exist?: The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth'']]. New York: HarperCollins. pp. 25–30. {{ISBN|978-0-06-220644-2}}</ref>{{refn|group=note|The existence of Jesus is explored in other Wikipedia articles, such as: [[Christ myth theory]], [[Historicity of Jesus]], [[Sources for the historicity of Jesus]], [[Historical Jesus]], [[Quest for the historical Jesus]]}} However, his revelation was different from the Gnostic revelations.{{sfn|Dunn|2016|p=111}}