Paul claims to be an apostle because he received his gospel from Jesus, which transformed Paul from a persecutor to a proclaimer of Jesus. This conversion is part of the reason why the people are converting themselves, as noted in Galatians 1:23-24. Additionally Paul met with Peter, James, and John in Jerusalem, after touring Syria and Cilicia, to speak with them about the Gospel he was preaching. Paul preaches of a Christianity that doesn’t depend upon an individual following the Law but instead through the faith in Jesus (Gel 2:15-16). He attacks the works of the Law by asking the Galatians if they received the Holy Spirit through faith of what they heard or by following the Law (Gal 3:2). In Paul’s view one simply needs to believe in Jesus for them to be saved and not by following the Law. Simply by circumcising oneself forces that person to have to follow all of the Law and that can deter them off the path of salvation through Christ.
In the Gospel According to the Ebionites Jesus is portrayed as a created being made by the Father whose death on the cross fulfilled the Mosaic law so that sacrifices were no longer necessary to appease God. These views come from interpretations of the sources that make up the cononical gospels. For example to explain why there are three different interpretations of what the voice from heaven says in the canonical gospels the Gospel According to the Ebionites has all three different sayings spoken at different times. Additionally the Ebionites took the passage of Jesus refusing to eat the Paschal lamb to mean that he was a vegetarian when the proto-orthodox thinking was the opposite. Ebionites followed a vegetarian life-style, as shown in their change of John’s diet from locust and honey to pancakes and honey, but also asserting that Jesus was the being that came down to abolish sacrifices and therefore the need for meat. The proto-orthodox group may have saw this being a problem because of the Ebionites strict vegetarian diet would deter many possible followers, especially Romans. The Ebionites view of Jesus being a created being from God underplays his humanity and over exemplifies his Godlike attributes that the proto-orthodox wouldn’t agree with.
In the letter from Peter to James it defends Jewish Christianity by maintaining that one must follow the Law because God had commanded his followers to uphold it. The author in this piece attacks the teachings of an enemy, presumably Paul, by claiming the enemy is teaching a false doctrine that rejects the Law. The author goes further to claim that some have twisted his words to make it sound that Peter preaches against the Law. The author attacks the notion that Peter and his enemy may have been in agreement at one point or that Peter approved of the enemy’s doctrine, which may be an attack on Paul’s claim that Peter approved of his message to the Gentiles. Within the pseudo-Clementine Homily the dialogue between Peter and Simon, a guise for Paul, that has them battling over the right teachings and succession of the teachings of Jesus. Simon claims that an apparition from God is more trustworthy than a human, who is corruptible in thinking and understanding, that saw and heard the teachings from Jesus. Peter quickly denounces this notion from Simon, claiming an apparition can be from a demon or evil spirit. Peter goes into detail of impious men in Scripture have had apparitions and dreams, like Simon or Paul, which calls to question the person who received an apparition can be considered pious. The Pseudo-Clementine Homily attacks Pauline Christianity by asserting through the apostle Peter that a person who wasn’t with Jesus during his lifetime doesn’t have the right or authority to teach or command the followers of Jesus.