ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that, even in the face of persecution from a common enemy, the cultic process created splits and divisions within the Christian community that threatened the very existence of the nascent church. By the end of the first century, the forces of moderation and consolidation reached a new level reflected dramatically in the first letter of Clement to the Corinthians. In Corinth, the divisive social forces that emerged as aspects of the cultic process centered around issues of social stratification. In both Corinth and the Johannine community, the religious grouping contained significant gnostic elements that reflect the basic characteristics of a gnostic cult with its connotation of gnosis and a higher understanding that set the group off from other orientations. These sectarian dynamics reflect the workings of the cultic process as respective ideological groupings that struggled to establish and maintain their respective claims.
