I really wish someone would explain to me why St-Paul is given such importance?

Question

Do we believe every guy that falls off a horse and says God spoke to him? And does being told "Why do you persecute my people" give you a mandate to start dictating church doctrine? what if Jesus just wanted him to, you know, stop persecuting christians, and get a real job? I'm pretty sure that there is no record of Jesus ever speaking to him again.

Shouldn't believers be revering the works ascribed to the original apostles instead of some latecomer?

Answer 1

The original apostles called Paul "The Spouter of Lies". When he came to Jerusalem they tried to kill him, and would have succeeded if he hadn't told them that he was a Roman citizen (and therefore protected by Roman law, unlike a common Jew).

In other words, whatever the original message of Christianity was, Paul perverted it, and what Paul said is what we are stuck with today because no other authority is allowed.

This means that modern Christianity is nothing but a pack of lies.

Answer 2

I can answer this very easily- God did not choose to just use the first 12 disciples- He can use anyone, including me- and by the way, as a believer, I believe that Jesus still speaks to His children today.God used Paul as the missionary to preach to the gentiles- otherwise I would not be a believer today- because the original 12 spoke to the jews. Paul even said about himself- "he is the least of the apostles"- however God used him, and I am thankful that in the year 2007 there are people that he still uses.

Answer 3

St. Paul was a very important part of the Biblical history. He is credited for writing many books of the Bible and was the first missionary. God not only wanted Paul to stop persecuting Christians, but to become a great man of God. He had a great insight as to how Christians should live and act and was a very important Christian preacher.

Answer 4

When you read the new testament, you will see that the gospels were all written by other apostles. Paul had no part in the living of them or the writing of them.

Even though he had no part in any of them, Pauls writings are in agreement with the teachings of Jesus Christ.

When they are not in alignment, such as the marriage issues, Paul states that it is his opinion and not that of God.

Paul was a very educated man, he knew the old testament by memory and could quote it word for word, He knew what he was talking about.

The other apostles were tax collector, fishermen, not educated in the scriptures, nor privy to the scrolls to read them. They wrote about their time with Jesus Christ and they wrote in beautifully.

Pauls job was a bit more complicated. It was his job, it seems, to show how the old testament proved that Jesus Christ was the promised redeemer. Paul knew the old scriptures, he was educated, and he took great care to show how the old testament proved that Jesus Christ was the expected redeemer.

Paul never asked anyone to revere him, in fact, he stated that he was not to be revered, nor worshipped, only God was to be worshipped, of whom Jesus Christ was both man and God.

So, yes, God gave Paul a real job. Showing us how the old testament fortold of the coming of Jesus Christ, verbatem, right down to how he would be put to death.

Answer 5

Paul was proof that there is power in the name of Jesus. He is so great that it took one question to change the man that was setting out to kill all believers and followers of the Gospel. Paul didn't just fall of the horse and change his ways within minutes and start preaching right away. He spent years in the desert praying and being tested by God. He was also sent back to his hometown of Tarsus to live with the people that he was trying to persecute. He went through his own trials and tribulations through his life. He seen the hands of God moving and he testified about it. He preached about being saved and about the goodness of God that he had discovered. It shows that no matter who you are , what you have done, or where you came from you still have the hand of God reaching out to you offering you salvation and grace. It goes to show that anyone can be changed the by the hands of God and late is better than never. There may not be any record of Jesus speaking to Paul but that doesn't mean that God didn't communicate with him. The new testament is the testomonies of the disciples and it not a complete day by day account of every detail of every day. You are given information for a better life and for the miracles of Jesus to establish your faith. Paul was a latecomer but sometimes it takes someone like Paul to be able to make a difference and to be a witness to show the power of God. Paul wrote over half of the new testament. God moves in mysterious ways and He makes changes where we least expect it to happen. If you remember or read the Bible, the other twelve disciples were not saved or following the Gospel when they were called into following Jesus. All of us fall short of the glory of God, it is by his grace that we are saved and changed to be able to testify. Like Paul. I see him as proof of God's love and power to change and to make a difference.

Answer 6

Paul was accepted by the original apostles as being a fellow apostle.

Peter went so far as calling the writings of Paul "scripture" (i.e.: the inspired words of God).

If you don't consider Paul to be an apostle, then you are arguing with Peter himself -- THE original apostle.


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"Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction."

~2 Peter 3:15,16 (NIV)

Answer 7

hmmmm.... well i dont think it was JUST his accident and claims that gave him importance/creedence - it was his TREMENDOUS evangelization & sufferings that he experienced after the vision that led to him being so important. Besides, one never knows how much the news of Paul may have prompted those Apostles that you talk about to do more. In fact, it is believed that Paul's writings were the first, and that the Gospels came later. So you see, Paul having written letters may have been the impetus for the Gospels.

Peace+

Answer 8

i do no longer also have a passport! do no longer care the two. I easily have been in another country as quickly as, to Portugal. That became into in the days once you ought to get visas for ecu commute. i won't be able to deny that I enjoyed it very lots even though it wasn't precisely a existence changing journey. i'm rubbish at vacationing besides. i merely won't be able to attend to get abode lower back. Inexplicably nevertheless the only genuine ambition I easily have ever held is to possess a cellular abode, hit the line and not come back! it is yet another element, the money element. As a new child my relatives never had the funds to even evaluate foreign places commute *performs 2nd play around to the Umpire's violin* I often have been given a week away with my somewhat stuffy grandparents who never did no longer enable me comprehend how bloody grateful I ought to be to get there. I nevertheless could no longer justify spending grands on a 2 week jaunt. i could be weeping approximately all the extreme-high quality stuff i ought to have offered.

Answer 9

Paul was an apostle called by Jesus. As with the other apostles, he wrote about his mission to spread the good news.

It's little wonder that satan desires to criticize the writings of Paul, since his books make up much of the new testament.

Answer 10

This website gives a lot of explanation on St Paul.

http://www.lumengentleman.com/content_print.asp?id=58