Paul: was he a false apostle?

Paul a SHYSTER?
                   (like some say)

A Defense of Paul

Other than Jesus Himself,  I don't think any other man has been more maligned in his ministry to both Jews and gentiles than the man named Paul. 

Although he wrote the majority of the New Testament and was responsible for countless numbers of Christian converts for the last 2,000 years, I have heard him referred to as a "male chaivinist", anti-female, a liar, and a false apostle. 
One Prophecy Club 

sponsored "prophet" was saying "ya gotta watch that Paul" alluding Paul was in error and that the Catholic Church was somehow mistakenly responsible for including Paul's writings as scripture. That "prophet" is no longer in the public eye.

 Many Messianic Christian Jewish brethren stumble at Paul's epistles. Even the vast majority of Christian ministers and pastors  bear no resemblance to the ministry, faith, and walk of Paul. 
 

Were Paul's writings scripture and believable?

From a website critical of Paul:

 "James, the leader of "myriads" of Messianic Jews, never does come to Paul's rescue when everyone would naturally think he certainly would have if it all were just a simple misunderstanding of Paul's teaching." 

The writer also stated: "Now we need to look at some more of Paul's errors in doctrine... especially those that suggest that one is not expected to live by God's Law.

 His use of Scripture to prove his doctrine is lackluster at best... if not outright dishonest.
Paul has told lies, and he is in all probability the false apostle that Yahshua commended the Ephesians for rejecting.
1. "His apostleship was unrecognized by others.", 

      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 Yahshua 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, Yahshua 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."  

2. "Of the 22 times in the Bible 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 Yahshua, 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 as an apostle along with Barnabas. By this time in the story, Luke would have been very accustomed to Paul calling himself an apostle, and he would no doubt have been 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.
 This  leaves no one else anywhere in the Bible going on record as recognizing his apostleship!

?HUH?

Is it any surprise those who would put Christians back under the OT Law would attempt to marginalize and cast doubt  on the apostle Paul, even LYING about him?

The truth is anyone who attempts to keep the OT law cannot and the Elders of the church in Acts 15,  including JAMES,  all said so! 

Acts 15:10  Now therefore why make ye trial of God, that ye should put a yoke upon the neck
                    of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
              11 But we believe that we shall be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus,
                   in like manner as they.

And AGAIN The words of James himself in James 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all agree with Paul's doctrine in Galatians perfectly:
                         Galatians 5:3 for I testify again to every man that is circumcised,
                         that he is a debtor to do the whole law..  

Why was this even brought up at the Council of elders in Jerusalem in Acts 15?
 it was because:
     :5 "But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees who believed,
    saying, It is needful to circumcise them, and to charge them to keep the law of Moses.
     :6  And the apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider of this matter.

This chapter is crystal clear to the setting forth our NEW COVENANT and whether or not we are to try and keep the Law of Moses.
The conclusion of the council was :
     15:28 for it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you
                no greater burden than these necessary:
          29  that ye abstain from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from things
                strangled, and from fornication; from which if ye keep yourselves, it shall be well with
                you. Fare ye well.

What could be plainer or said more clearly than :
 'For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things."
To say otherwise is in direct denial of what "The  Holy Spirit, the apostles, and the elders of the Spirit-filled church in Jerusalem were led of God to say and do specifically in answer to keeping the Law of Moses!

Because Paul was so used by God to bring forth much of our New Testament writing,  he was upon numerous threats of death, violently opposed by those who kept the law that was fulfilled in Christ, and his detractors still are blinded by their error. 

Paul's ministry and name are mentioned 129 times in the Book of Acts, written by Luke, who was eyewitness and an apostle. 
If we can establish apart from Paul's own epistles the truth about his ministry, approval by God, and the truth of the gospel Paul preached,  DOWN comes the paper shack of false accusations by Paul's detractors.  

No wonder we were warned in  Titus 1:10 For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision:

Without relying on Paul's words at all in this section, we present a multitude of witnesses to the veracity of Paul's ministry:

1. Luke:  A witness who wrote the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts.
If you reject Paul, you must also reject Lukes gospel and Acts.  If Luke did not speak the truth about James and Peter in Acts, then you must throw out what James and Peter were quoted as saying, PLUS many other of the elders and churches, PLUS what Luke reported as to what Jesus said in Acts.... 
What a mess these folks make for themselves in their unbelief!

 In Acts we read of those that affirmed Paul:

2.  Jesus is a witness in Acts 9:15
    "But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he (Paul) is a chosen vessel unto me,
      to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel: "

3. Anannias a witness in Acts 9:17 :
    Ananias departed, and entered into the house; and laying his hands on him said,
    Brother Saul,  the  Lord,  even Jesus, who appeared unto thee in the way which thou
    camest, hath sent me, that thou mayest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy
    Spirit.

4. Barnabbas in Acts 12:
    for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith: and much people was
    added unto  the Lord. 25 And he went forth to Tarsus to seek for Saul;

5. The Church at Antioch which includes the Holy Spirit, prophets, and teachers:
    Acts 13:1 Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers,
    Barnabas, and Symeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen the
    foster-brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 And as they ministered to the Lord, and
    fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I
    have called them.

6. The WHOLE church at Jerusalem,
    Acts 15:  4 And when they were come to Jerusalem, they (Paul and Barnabbas)
    were received of the church and the apostles and the elders, and they rehearsed all
    things that God had done with them.

        a. Peter: And when there had been much questioning, Peter rose up, and said unto
            them,   Brethren, ye know that a good while ago God made choice among you, that by
            my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.

        b.  The apostles including JAMES in Acts 15: 13 And after they had held their peace
            James answered, saying, Brethren, hearken unto me:
            22 Then it seemed good to the apostles
            and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men out of their company, and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas

        c. The whole church at Jerusalem:  re-read the above verse.

7. Churches that Paul confirmed:
    Acts 15:41 And he went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches.  MANY other churches were confirmed: Derbe and to Lystra, Phrygia and Galatia,  Philippi, Thyatira, Corinth,  

The Church at Ephesus that believed Paul:
     Acts 19-2-6, and the Holy Spirit who confirmed what Paul said to them.

8. God Himself (Yahweh) in Acts 19: 11
    And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:

9. An evil spirit in the unbelieving Jews of Ephesus:
    Acts  14  And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, a chief priest, who did this.
              15 And the evil spirit answered and said unto them, Jesus I know, and Paul I know,
                   but who are ye?

10. The pagans of Ephesus in Acts 19: 34      But when they perceived that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried  out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.

11. The elders of Ephesus and the Holy Spirit  in  Acts 20:
                     17 and from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called to him the elders of the
                          church.
                    21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks repentance toward God, and faith toward
                         our  Lord Jesus Christ.
                    22  And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem,
                          not knowing the things that shall befall me there:
                    23 save that the Holy Spirit testifieth unto me in every city afflictions await me.

12.  James and the church at Jerusalem upon Paul's return from his missionary work:
       Acts 21:17 And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us
       (Luke, an eyewitness) gladly.
       18  And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present.
       19 And when he had saluted them, he rehearsed one by one the things which God had
             wrought among the Gentiles through his ministry.
       20 And they, when they heard it, glorified God

13. The Lord Himself in Acts 22: 21
      And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee forth far hence unto the Gentiles. 

14. An angel sent from the Lord: Acts 27: 23 

      For there stood by me this night an angel of the God whose I am, whom also I serve,
      24 saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must stand before Caesar: and lo, God hath granted thee       
         all them that sail with thee

15. The apostle Peter  in his second letter, acknowledging what Paul wrote is scripture:
      2Peter 3: 15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as
      our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote unto you;
     16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things;
      wherein are some things hard to be understood, which the ignorant and unstedfast wrest,
      as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.


16. Agabus, a prophet, Luke, an apostle,  and the HOLY SPIRIT bear witness of Paul:
... a CERTAIN PROPHET, named Agabus.

   11 And coming to us, and taking Paul`s girdle, he bound his own feet and hands, and said,

         THUS SAITH THE HOLY SPIRIT,
         So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man (PAUL) that owneth this girdle,
          and shall  deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.
         

17. The apostle John DID name some folks to beware of:        3Jn:9 I wrote somewhat unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have
       the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.
             10 Therefore, if I come, I will bring to remembrance his works which he doeth,
                 prating against us with wicked words: and not content therewith,
                neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and them that would he forbid
               and casts them out of the church.

If Paul was such as rascal and to be avoided, why is there no direct warning of him like there is of other "wolves" such as "Diotrophes", "Demas", "Simon the Sorcerer" and others by the other scripture writers Peter, James, Luke, or John?

We note from the above witnesses numbering in at least the hundreds in favor of Paul, the believing Jews icluding Luke, John, Barnabbas, Anannias, James, the elders and other apostles including Peter, and the entire Jewish church in Jerusalem,  and if that were not enough human witness, we still have Jesus Christ Himself and the Holy Spirit bearing witness.

There remains one more, all-important witness, namely the Bible itself!
"The SUM of thy word is TRUTH", and a curse is pronounced upon those who would add to or TAKE AWAY from the Words of scripture.  The anti-Paul crowd would love to tear his epistles and even the book of Acts out of the Bible because they don't want to believe "Christ IS the END of the law for righteousness to all that believe" -rom 10:4  Is there any proof available that what Luke wrote in Acts is God-breathed?

Is there any proof that what Paul wrote might actually be the Word of God, besides what Peter testified to in 2Peter 3?  

We present the validity of our New Testament thanks to the scientific proof discovered by Dr. Ivan Panin. 

(we quote from articles found here:)

The result of Dr. Panin's lifetime effort was the "NUMERIC GREEK NEW TESTAMENT" and a "NUMERIC ENGLISH NEW TESTAMENT" 

What is the so-called "heptadic" structure that Dr. Panin discovered?
Simply stated it is this: genuine Scripture, both Hebrew and Greek. where the numbers equivalent with the letters are added up properly. at some point: word, sentence, paragraph, or chapter, will always be divisible by the number seven!  
 This mathematical phenomena occurs and reoccurs only in Holy Scripture and thus rules out all that is spurious. 

For instance, the "Apocrypha", the fourteen books written during the 400 year "inter-testament" period between Malachi of the Old Testament and Matthew of the New, have no numerics whatsoever and are thereby revealed as being merely of man. 

Numerous Greek classical writings have also been checked with no evidence of Bible numerics found.Dr. Panin determined that Scripture and only Scripture has this numeric "signature of Divinity" within it.

Who hated Paul?,

His enemies bear consistent negative witness and a clear pattern emerges as to their identity:

The unconverted, unbelieving law keepers of Corinth:
     Acts 13: 43 Now when the synagogue broke up, many of the Jews and of the devout
                          proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas; who, speaking to them, urged them to
                          continue in the grace of God
                  44  And the next sabbath almost the whole city was gathered together to hear the
                        word of God
                  45  But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with jealousy,
                        and contradicted the things which were spoken by Paul, and blasphemed.
                  46 And Paul and Barnabas spake out boldly, and said, It was necessary that
                       the word of God
                       should first be spoken to you.  Seeing ye thrust it from you, and judge
                       yourselves unworthy of eternal life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.
                   50 But the Jews urged on the devout women of honorable estate, and the chief me          
                         of the city, and stirred up a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and cast
                         them out of their borders

The  unbelieving Jews and Gentiles of Iconium:  Acts 14:
     1. And it came to pass in Iconium that they entered together into the synagogue of the Jews,
        and so spake that a great multitude both of Jews and of Greeks believed.
     2 But the Jews that were disobedient stirred up the souls of the Gentiles,
        and made them evil affected against the brethren.
     5 And when there was made an onset both of the Gentiles and of the Jews with their rulers,
        to treat them shamefully and to stone them,

The unbelieving Jews at Thessalonica: Acts 17:
     5 But the Jews, being moved with jealousy, took unto them certain vile fellows of the rabble,
        and gathering a crowd, set the city on an uproar;

The unbelieving Jews of Corinth  Acts 17:
    18  But the Jews, being moved with jealousy, took unto them certain vile fellows...
          and gathering a crowd, set the city on an uproar; and assaulting the house of Jason,
          they sought to bring them forth to the people.
           the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and
          brought him before the judgment-seat,
    13 saying, This man persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law.

The unbelieving Jews at Jerusalm in Acts 20:
    30  And all the city was moved, and the people ran together; and they laid hold on Paul, and dragged him out of the temple: and straightway the doors were shut.
    31 And as they were seeking to kill him.

Acts 22: 30
        But on the morrow, desiring to know the certainty wherefore he was accused of the Jews,
        ... and commanded the chief priests and all the council to come together,
        and brought Paul down and set him before them.
        14 And they came to the chief priests and the elders, and said, We have bound ourselves  
             under a great curse, to taste nothing until we have killed Paul.

The unbelieving Jews at Rome, Acts 28: 
       17 And it came to pass, that after three days he called together those that were the
            chief of the Jews:
            and when they were come together, he said unto them, I, brethren, though I had done
            nothing against the people, or the customs of our fathers, yet was delivered prisoner from
            Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans:
       27 For this people`s heart is waxed gross, And their ears are dull of hearing,
            And their eyes they have closed; Lest, haply they should perceive with their eyes,
            And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And should turn again,
            And I should heal them.
       28 Be it known therefore unto you, that this salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles:
             they will also hear.

The "wicked" and ignorant in 2Peter 3:
       15  And account that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote unto you;
        16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; wherein are some things hard to be understood, which the ignorant and unstedfast wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
        17 Ye therefore, beloved, knowing these things beforehand, beware lest, being carried away with the error of the wicked, ye fall from your own stedfastness.

The unbelieving Judaizers have one thing in common and they are consistent: Jesus told them  "ye are of your father the devil, and his works do you do also".  The SAME spirit in the pharisaical law keepers who wanted to murder Jesus also manifested the same works of their father the devil in trying to murder Paul time after time.  

 Titus 1:10    For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision, and  Acts 11:2 And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him,:

They still do the same thing. Clearly, this is why:

2 Corinthians 3:14   But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.

 2 Corinthians 3:15  But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.

-Now we see why the hatred of Paul by those who would put you in bondage to Old Testament Law....,  and in doing so, they are fulfilling exactly the very words that Paul wrote about them.

As I have continued to read the Bible making note of Paul and his selfless ministry to God's people, it became evident that Paul had died out to himself, and was manifesting the nature, character, and authority of Christ in "his mortal flesh" that we all should aspire to follow. 

I look forward to meeting Bro. Paul in heaven.