*************§outh§tar said:
M*W: "Paul claims his own apostleship."
"Paul was not at all sheepish about calling himself an apostle. In fact, in nine out of thirteen of his books, he introduces himself as an apostle of Yeshua, and in every case he states in one way or another that his apostleship stands by divine sovereign decree."
"Other than the twelve apostles who spent three and a half years with Yeshua, no one other than Paul can be identified as having claimed for themselves the office of apostle of Yeshua. Barnabas was referred to as an apostle along with Paul by Luke in Acts 14:14, but there is no record of Barnabas claiming for himself the title of apostle."
"Here is the question. Should we believe the testimony of any person who makes grandiose claims about themselves when all we have for confirmation of their claim is little more than their word and maybe a statement or two from their best friend? If so, then we should likewise confirm the Jim Jones and David Koreshs that regularly pop up here and there. Unless there is obvious corroborative evidence to support such claims made today and in the past, all of them should be taken with a very large helping of salt. Unlike Paul, a true prophet or apostle does not have to go to such extraordinary lengths to convince the world they are who they say they are. Even Yeshua said that if he alone bore witness of himself, his witness was invalid. John 5:31 And of all the people who shouldn't need to have others testify on their behalf, Yeshua was that person. Yet he had Moses, the prophets, the Psalms, John the Baptist, the Fathers voice from heaven declaring to everyone "this is My beloved Son..." and hundreds of those who witnessed his resurrection just to name a few. Paul had none of these. Though in his conceit he considered himself to be God's gift to the Gentiles and tried to claim a prophecy given to Isaiah for himself as recorded in Acts 13:47 where he says:
"For so the Lord has commanded us: 'I have set you to be a light to the Gentiles that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth."
Paul's apostleship was unrecognized by others.
"Of the 22 times in the "new testament" where Paul is referred to as an apostle, only twice is he referred to as an apostle by someone other than himself. These two instances came from the same person. Not from Yeshua or any of the original apostles, but from Paul's close traveling companion and personal press secretary Luke. Both accounts are found in Luke's record of the Acts of the Apostles, (chapter 14:4,14). Here Paul is referred to along with Barnabas as an apostle. By this time in the record, Luke would have been very familiar with Paul calling himself an apostle and was no doubt in agreement with Paul's assessment of himself. By these statistics alone it is evident that Paul is by far his own biggest fan, and his side kick Luke was his number two fan, leaving no one else anywhere in the Bible going on record as recognizing his apostleship."
Paul, the greatest apostle (according to himself!).
"Paul's view of himself as an apostle didn't seem to stop at just the claim of being apostle. Instead, he tried to communicate to his followers how great an apostle he thought he was. He even had the nerve to challenge the very apostles whom Yeshua had called and spent over three years with. Among the many self-admiring quotes are these."
"For I consider that I am not at all inferior to the most eminent apostles". ...."As the truth of Christ is in me, no one shall stop me from this boasting in the regions of Achaia." 2Cor. 11:5,10 NKJV
"Sometimes, almost as though he knew he should be ashamed of such claims, he would tie his claim to a statement of unworthiness in the hope that the gullible would embrace him as the greatest of apostles because he was so humble."
"For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all..." 1Cor. 15:9,10 NKJV
"To the Galations, Paul makes no pretense about how he compares himself to Peter, James, and John:
"But from those who seemed to be something - whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; God shows personal favoritism to no man- for those who seemed to be something added nothing to me. But on the contrary, when they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me, ...and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship..." Gal. 2:6,7,9 NKJV
"A couple verses latter Paul takes a cheap shot at Peter and Barnabas. Without Peter or Barnabas anywhere in sight to defend themselves, Paul brags to the Galations about how he put Peter in his place before the entire church of Antioch."
"But when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. And the rest of the Jews played the hypocrite with him so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not straight forward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, "if you being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?" Gal. 2:11-14 NKJV
"Then Paul goes on to describe how hypocritical Peter was being for living a different gospel from the one that he (Paul) preached. It is interesting to note that earlier, (Gal. 1:8,9) Paul commanded the Galations to damn, (not once but twice!), anyone who preaches a different gospel than that which he had preached. According to him then, that would include damning Peter, if not James and John also! It is obvious to the reader of the first two chapters of Galations, that Paul is demanding that the Galation church follow no one but him, not even the original apostles back in Jerusalem."
"It should also be noted that Paul himself was being the real hypocrite when he condemned Peter for accommodating Gentiles when he was around Gentiles and acting like a Jew around Jews, because in 1Cor. 9:19-22 Paul said:
"For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without the law as without law....that I might win those who are without law; to the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some." NKJV
"So Paul even admits that he will say anything to convert people to his new religion!"
"And in chapter 10 verses 31-33 Paul also said:
"Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God, just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved. Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ." NKJV
"So here we have Paul claiming to be greater than any other apostle. He insulted Peter, James, and John by saying they only "seemed" to be pillars of the church and they were nothing to him. He bragged about how he told off Peter and he subtly curses the apostles by telling the Galations to consider accursed anyone who differs with him. All this, while in fact, he was being the greatest hypocrite of all! If anyone else had even begun to do and say the things Paul did, we would have recognized their incredible conceit and rejected them a long time ago."
http://www.essene.com/Church/WasPaulAnApostle.html