PAUL, THE APOSTLE
Muslims tend to regard Paul as the person who corrupted Christianity
and usually reject the epistles of Paul as authoritative scripture.
Many Muslims have charged that Paul's original name was Saul (of
Tarsus), and that he changed his name to Paul after his conversion,
and that he had never met Jesus. Though that name change theory is
relatively popular, it isn't probably what happened. Saul was a Jew
AND a Roman citizen, and thus would have two names. Saul was his
Hebrew name and Paulus was his Latin name. The first reports about him
in the Bible are when he is in Israel and neighboring countries and
there he certainly uses his Hebrew name. Later on in his missionary
travels in Asia minor and Europe, he uses his Latin name, which is
perfectly in harmony with his status and the places he visited.
Moreover, since Paulus means "the little one", he might have
seen it to be
more appropriate and humble as he became a Christian instead of a
name after King Saul.
And he did meet Jesus. He saw him in a vision on his way to
Damascus. He might not have met Jesus while Jesus walked on this earth,
but he met him after his resurrection, where he saw and heard Jesus in
this incident.
Interestingly, the Muslim at-Tabari said, "Among the apostles and
those disciples around them, whom Jesus sent out, there were Peter and
his companion Paul." (A history of the Christian Church,
Thalabii. Qisas al-Anbiyaa, pp. 389-90. Tabarii. Taarikh
al-umam wa-l-muluuk II/II, 1560).
This is how Paul saw himself:
For what
I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ
died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried,
that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that,
he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same
time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of
all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. For I am
the least of the apostles and do not even deserve 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 to me was not without effect.
No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of
God that was with me. Whether, then, it was I or they, this is
what we preach, and this is what you believed.
(1 Corinthians 15:3-11)
Recommended Reading:
The Apostles of Christ:
Messengers of God or Mere Disciples?
An on-going
argument: How "non-Jesus" was Paul, really?
The Historical Case for Paul's Apostleship
What about Paul? (overview page
linking to various articles on the person and ministry of Paul)
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