Besides spreading a gospel different from the one the apostles brought, Paul showed his arrogance by cursing anyone who did not believe the gospel he brought:
22εἴ τις οὐ φιλεῖ τὸν κύριον, ἤτω ἀνάθεμα. Μαράνα θά.
22If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.1
For that reason Paul pressed people to accept wholesale his claim to be an apostle, on the ground that his rank was no lower than that of the other apostles:
4εἰ μὲν γὰρ ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἄλλον Ἰησοῦν κηρύσσει ὃν οὐκ ἐκηρύξαμεν, ἢ πνεῦμα ἕτερον λαμβάνετε ὃ οὐκ ἐλάβετε, ἢ εὐαγγέλιον ἕτερον ὃ οὐκ ἐδέξασθε, καλῶς ἀνέχεσθε. 5λογίζομαι γὰρ μηδὲν ὑστερηκέναι τῶν ὑπερλίαν ἀποστόλων·
4For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. 5For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles.2
Barnabas and Paul
Throughout the spreading of the teaching of ʿĪsā ibn Maryam, Barnabas traveled widely with Paul, who now appeared in a new guise as the most faithful adherent of that teaching. Paul began to introduce himself as “servant of Christ Jesus” or “apostle of Christ Jesus,” as the openings of his letters show.3
The relationship between Barnabas and Paul is described in Acts:
1Ἦσαν δὲ ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ κατὰ τὴν οὖσαν ἐκκλησίαν προφῆται καὶ διδάσκαλοι ὅ τε Βαρναβᾶς καὶ Συμεὼν ὁ καλούμενος Νίγερ, καὶ Λούκιος ὁ Κυρηναῖος, Μαναήν τε Ἡρῴδου τοῦ τετραάρχου σύντροφος καὶ Σαῦλος. 2λειτουργούντων δὲ αὐτῶν τῷ κυρίῳ καὶ νηστευόντων εἶπεν τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον· Ἀφορίσατε δή μοι τὸν Βαρναβᾶν καὶ Σαῦλον εἰς τὸ ἔργον ὃ προσκέκλημαι αὐτούς.
1Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.4
In the list of the disciples, Luke names Barnabas first and places Saul (Paul) last.
Chosen to work together, the disciples set out to spread the teaching. Barnabas and Paul left with Mark to carry the teaching of ʿĪsā ibn Maryam into Greek territory, while James the son of Zebedee remained in Palestine as head of the followers of ʿĪsā ibn Maryam, together with Peter.
Acts also records that although they were sometimes stoned in various places,5 the work of the two preachers bore great fruit, and their reputation as messengers of God spread widely.
Not long after they had spread the mission of ʿĪsā ibn Maryam together, Barnabas began to distance himself from Paul, having recognized the underhand tactic by which Paul was trying to compromise the religion of ʿĪsā ibn Maryam with the beliefs of the Graeco-Roman world. How Paul went on to fit the teaching of ʿĪsā ibn Maryam to the beliefs of the Graeco-Roman world is the third count against him, set out in Adapting the message to the pagans.
