Zealot - The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth

for a set period of time, either
     asan act of piety or in return for the fulfillment of a wish, such as a healthy child
     or a safe journey (James himself may have been a Nazirite, as the description of those
     who take the vow perfectly matches the descriptions of him in the ancient chronicles).
     Considering Paul’s views on the Law of Moses and the Temple of Jerusalem, his forced
     participation in such a ritual would have been hugely embarrassing for him. The entire
     purpose of the rite was to demonstrate to the Jerusalem assembly that he no longer
     believed what he had been preaching for nearly a decade. There is no other way to
     read Paul’s participation in the Nazirite vow except as a solemn renunciation of his
     ministry and a public declaration of James’s authority over him—all the more reason
     to doubt Luke’s depiction of Paul as simply going along with the ritual without comment
     or complaint.
    Interestingly, Luke’s may not be the only account of this pivotal moment. An eerily
     similar story is recounted in the compilation of writings known collectively as the
Pseudo-Clementines
. Although compiled sometime around 300 C.E . (nearly a century before the New Testament was officially canonized), the
Pseudo-Clementines
contain within them two separate sets of traditions that can be dated much earlier.
     The first is known as the
Homilies
, and comprises two epistles: one by the apostle Peter, the other by Peter’s successor
     in Rome, Clement. The second set of traditions is called the
Recognitions
, which is itself founded upon an older document titled
Ascent of James
that most scholars date to the middle of the second century C.E ., perhaps two or three decades after the gospel of John was written.
    The
Recognitions
contains an incredible story about a violent altercation that James the brother of
     Jesus has with someone simply called “the enemy.” In the text, James and the enemy
     are engaged in a shouting match inside the Temple when, all of a sudden, the enemy
     attacks James in a fit of rage and throws him down the Temple stairs. James is badly
     hurt by the fall but his supportersquickly come to his rescue and carry him to safety. Remarkably, the enemy who attacked
     James is later identified as none other than Saul of Tarsus (
Recognitions
1:70–71).
    As with the Lukan version, the story of the altercation between James and Paul in
     the
Recognitions
has its flaws. The fact that Paul is referred to as Saul in the text suggests that
     the author believes the event took place before Paul’s conversion (though the
Recognitions
never actually refers to that conversion). Yet regardless of the historicity of the
     story itself, Paul’s identity as “the enemy” of the church is repeatedly affirmed,
     not only in the
Recognitions
, but also in the other texts of the
Pseudo-Clementines
. In the
Epistle of Peter
, for example, the chief apostle complains that “some from among the gentiles have
     rejected my lawful preaching, attaching themselves to certain lawless and trifling
     preaching of the man who is my enemy” (Epistle of Peter 2:3). Elsewhere, Peter flatly
     identifies this “false prophet” who teaches “the dissolution of the law” as Paul,
     cautioning his followers to “believe no teacher, unless he brings from Jerusalem the
     testimonial of James the Lord’s brother, or whosoever may come after him” (
Recognitions
4:34–35).
    What the
Pseudo-Clementine
documents indicate, and the New Testament clearly confirms, is that James, Peter,
     John, and the rest of the apostles viewed Paul with wariness and suspicion, if not
     open derision, which is why they went to such lengths to counteract Paul’s teachings,
     censuring him for his words, warning others not to follow him, even sending their
     own missionaries to his congregations. No wonder Paul was so keen to flee to Rome
     after the incident at the Temple in 57 C.E . He was surely not eager to be judged by the emperor for his alleged crimes, as Luke
     seems to suggest. Paul went to Rome because he hoped he could escape James’s authority.
     But as he discovered when he arrived in the Imperial City and saw Peter already established
     there, one could not so easily escape the reach of James and Jerusalem.
    While Paul spent the last years of his life in Rome, frustrated by the lack of enthusiasm
     he received for his message (perhaps becausethe Jews were heeding Peter’s call to “believe no teacher, unless he