Have you ever wondered why:
The Apostle Paul never met Jesus in real life though he lived in and was a contemporary in Jerusalem
Never is mentioned in the Gospels as the Pharisee of the Pharisees
Never debated Jesus in Jerusalem like the Pharisees are said to have done
Never tells a story of encountering or challenging him
Never relates talking with any disciple of Jesus in Jerusalem
Never quotes Jesus in his Epistles when it would be to his advantage to do so
Is claimed (by Luke in Acts) to have encountered only the risen Jesus on the Damascus road
...but of himself , in Galatians, claims he was called from the womb
...and like Dave Pack, Gerald Flurry and Bob Thiel, ordained himself to his title of choice.
???
Or maybe?
"All my Christian life people have told me Paul never met Jesus during his ministry. I have somehow instinctively never quite believed it. Why you ask? The main reason is psychological. Paul was driven by such hatred to persecute christians it seems hard to believe he hadn’t met the object of his fury. I suspect Paul had met Jesus, indeed I wonder whether many of Luke’s Pharisee encounters were actually told to him by Paul.
It seems bizarre to me that Paul who was a bright young pharisee (who also seems to have been a member of the Sanhedrin) would not have sought out Jesus to debate with him. Paul seems likely to have been in Jerusalem at the time as he would presumably have been trained as a pharisee. According to this quote seems to have lived in Jerusalem since being a youth having presumably been born in Tarsus.
Acts 26:4-5,9-10 “My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. 5 They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee……
I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them.”'
Adrian Warnock
However, the facts are:
Paul went from a newby baptised Christian with blood on his hands to Apostle skipping any and all steps in between
Galatians 1:11-24
I. Paul was different from the other apostles (Note: First Hint of trouble)
A. He wasn’t with Jesus when he was on earth (Second Hint)
B. He was not among the original twelve apostles - Luke 6:12-16 (Third)
C. He started out as a zealous persecutor of the church
D. How is it that Paul claimed to be an apostle?
II. Paul did claim apostleship
A. He was called to be an apostle - Romans 1:1
B. He was an apostle to the Gentiles - Romans 11:13
C. He was an apostle of Jesus by God’s will - I Corinthians 1:1; II Corinthians 1:1;
Ephesians 1:1; Colossians 1:1; II Timothy 1:1
D. He was an apostle by God the Father and by Jesus Christ - Galatians 1:1
E. He was an apostle by God’s command - I Timothy 1:1
F. He was appointed an apostle - I Timothy 2:7; II Timothy 1:11
G. He was an apostle according to the faith - Titus 1:1
H. Notice that Paul didn’t just claim to be an apostle, he claimed that it was by God’s
will and God’s command.
1. No man made him an apostle, and that includes himself
2. And he said it was according to the faith
(Note: How convenient)
Anyway...food for thought and the oft used justification for men like Herbert Armstrong, Dave Pack, Gerald Flurry and Bob Thiel snatching titles for themselves, passed on to them by no one, in the quest for credibility in speaking for all things God, which they don't.
If no one will ordain you, just declare it so, no questions asked.
