What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labour of each. For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building. (1Corinthians 3:6-9)

Apollos was a Jew, originally from Alexandria, who was a disciple of John the Baptist before being introduced to the teachings of Jesus. He came of age about twenty years after the death of both John the Baptist and Jesus. In Acts of the Apostles he is described as an "eloquent man and mighty in the scriptures." (Acts 18:24)

Apollos first encountered the story of Jesus at Ephesus through the teaching-team of Aquila and Priscilla. He went on to become an important influence on the gathering at Corinth and, presumably, elsewhere. Martin Luther believed Apollos to be the true author of the Epistle to the Hebrews. Saint Jerome writes that after the divisions at Corinth were finally healed Apollos became the local bishop.

Given his background Apollos may have offered a more sophisticated approach to faith than Paul or others. During this period Alexandria was the intellectual capital of Greek culture and the Jewish community in Alexandria had been much influenced by this context. But Paul is clearly reaching out to the followers of Apollos. The problem is not with what Apollos has taught, but what is sometimes being done with the teaching.