 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.The Naassenes, Cainites, and Valentinians referred to Paul's epistles.Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy have expanded upon this idea of Paul as a gnostic teacher; although their premise that Jesus was invented by early Christians based on an alleged Greco-Roman mystery cult has been dismissed by scholars.