Jesus Sent Paul as an Apostle to the Gentiles

When we open the Holy Bible, we will find several texts that tell us that two or three witnesses are required to prove anything. Paul himself acknowledged this point, and therefore Paul says in his second letter to the Corinthians (13:1) the following:

[This is the third time I have come to you. “In the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.”]

So where are the two or three witnesses who testify that Jesus appeared to Paul to appoint him as an apostle to the Gentiles?!

When we open the four Gospels, we do not find any text that includes Christ appointing Paul as an apostle, even though Paul was an adult and was present during the same period of Christ’s presence on earth. So why did Jesus not go to Paul to appoint him as an apostle, just as Jesus appointed 70 apostles?

When you open the Book of Revelation or the Epistles of John, James, Jude, and Peter, you will not find any explicit text that includes the appointment of Paul as an apostle of Christ.

As for the text at the end of (the Second Epistle of Peter) , this text did not mention that Paul was an apostle, but rather mentioned that “Paul wisely wrote some things hard to understand, but others distorted them.”

Wisdom does not mean that someone is an apostle. The Bible mentions several people whom God blessed with wisdom, but they are not apostles, as stated in: (Exodus 35:10) , (Exodus 36:1-2) , (2 Samuel 13:3) , (1 Chronicles 28:21) , (Proverbs 13:20) , ( Proverbs 28:26) , (Luke 16:8) , (Colossians 4:5) , (1 Corinthians 1:4-7) , and other texts.

The Second Epistle of Peter is an anonymous letter and was not originally written by Peter. Therefore, this letter remained a subject of controversy among the early Church Fathers.

As for the Book of Acts (Chapter 9) , it spoke about Jesus appearing to Paul on the road to Damascus, but the problem lies in the fact that this book did not tell us the name of its author at all, rather the Christians are the ones who claimed that its author was (Luke)!!!

Even if we assume that Luke is the author of the Acts of the Apostles, this does not prove Paul’s apostleship, because Luke was not with Paul at that time at all, as Luke did not witness the incident of Jesus appearing to Paul on the road to Damascus, nor was Luke with Ananias when Ananias agreed to make Paul an apostle, and also Luke did not enter into Ananias’ dreams to confirm whether Jesus appeared to Ananias in the dream or not!!!

Rather, Luke heard all these false stories from Paul himself.

The first time Luke met Paul was in the region of Troas. Chapter 16 tells us that Luke met Paul on his second missionary journey in Troas, then they moved to Samothrace, then to Neapolis, then to Philippi.

So, Luke did not witness the incident of Jesus appearing to Paul, but rather he took it from Paul himself after he met him in Troas; that is, Luke heard this story from Paul approximately 17 years later.

It is worth noting that Luke took this false story from Paul himself after Luke became his disciple, but Luke did not witness the incident or hear it from any other witnesses.

What is even worse is that Luke is a historically unknown figure and no one knows exactly who he is.

As for those who claim that there were travelers who witnessed the incident with Paul when Jesus appeared to him, I respond and say:

How do we know that there were travelers with Paul in the first place? Paul is the one who told this story to Luke, but we do not know who these travelers who were with Paul were, nor do we even know their names, and we did not hear their testimony.

Anyone can invent a story and then pretend that people saw it, for example: “I can tell you that I lifted a mountain and people were witnesses to what I did.”

So where are these people who saw me lift the mountain, what are their names, and where is their testimony anyway?!

Then the book of Acts itself (Acts 9:7) tells us that these travelers did not see Jesus during the incident at all.

Indeed, the book of Acts 22:9 tells us that these travelers did not hear Jesus and did not know or understand the content of the words at all.

All that these alleged travelers saw was just light, and this is not evidence of Paul’s apostleship, because Satan himself can appear to people and deceive them disguised as light, as stated in (2 Corinthians 11:14).

Paul (Saul) is the one who invented the story of Jesus’ appearance to him and he is the one who told it to the others and to the apostles and disciples:

The Book of Acts, Chapter 9, states the following:

26When Saul (Paul) came to Jerusalem, he tried to stick to the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple.

27 Then Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. And Saul told them how he had seen the Lord on the road and that he had spoken to him, and how he had spoken boldly in Damascus in the name of Jesus.

That is, there is no reliable evidence that Jesus sent Paul. Rather, Paul himself told this story.

* As for those who cite the fact that Paul performed miracles as evidence of his apostleship, I respond to them and say:

Miracles are not evidence of Paul's apostleship, because Jesus himself told us that there will be impostors who will appear and claim to have revelation and perform miracles in order to mislead people. You can review (Matthew 24:24) and (Mark 13:22) for yourself . 



Then the writer of the Book of Acts was inventing imaginary miracles and attributing them to Paul, and I had proven that in a previous post, and I will put the link at the end of the article.



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As for those who cite the story of Paul casting out demons as evidence of Paul’s apostleship, I respond to them and say:

This is not evidence of Paul's apostleship; Jesus himself told us that there are many lost people who will perform miracles, cast out demons, and pretend to be followers of Jesus. You can review (Matthew 7:22, 23)



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As for those who prove Paul’s apostleship by his relationship with the Apostle Peter, the Apostle Barnabas, and others...

I respond to this statement and say:

This is not evidence of Paul’s apostleship; Paul himself quarreled with Peter and Barnabas, and Paul even separated from the apostle Barnabas after quarreling with him. 

Then, if we review  (Matthew 24:24) and (Mark 13:22)  , we will find that  Jesus himself tells us that the misguided person who claims revelation may also deceive the chosen ones. 

The word “chosen” in the Holy Bible refers to Christ, the angels, the apostles, and the rest of the saints and believers.

See: (1 Peter 2:4) , (1 Timothy 5:21) , (Acts 9:15)  , (Revelation 17:14) .



This means that Paul himself might be able to deceive Peter, Barnabas, and other chosen Christian apostles.



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As for those who cite Paul’s own letters as evidence that he was an apostle, I respond to them and say: 

This is not evidence of Paul’s apostleship, because a person’s testimony about himself is not acceptable,  and the witness must be someone other than yourself, because Jesus says in the Gospel of John (5:31, 32) the following:


If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.  He who bears witness of me is another.


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As for those who cite church traditions, their authenticity cannot be proven. Most of the church fathers are historically late, and there are no reliable, authentic chains of transmission connecting them to the Christian apostles. In fact, Saint Athanasius the Apostolic tells us that he does not possess any written works by his teachers.
Athanasius the Apostolic says in his book (Against the Pagans - Part One) the following:


[Since we do not currently have in our hands the writings of our teachers.]