Paul claimed to have been appointed an apostle of Jesus in a revelation and also, that he continued to receive instructions directly from the Master even though they were sometimes contrary to what the disciples had heard from Jesus in person. Let us examine the basis of Paul’s claim. It should be remembered that Paul (who was previously called Saul) had been an implacable enemy of Christians before converting on his way to Damascus. That incident is related three times in The Acts of the Apostles, each time differently.

The first version goes like this:

3As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

5“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6“Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

7The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone.

(NIV Acts 9:3-7)

In this version the incident is related by the author of The Acts. Points worthing noting are: (a) The light which Paul saw shined about him. (b) It is not related that others saw the light, but they did hear the voice. (c) It was Paul who fell to the ground. (d) The voice of Jesus ordered him to enter the city and there he would be told what to do.

The second version of the story is reported in the same book, but the words are purported to be spoken by Paul before the tribune and a crowd of Jews. Here, he was answering charges of preaching against the law and defiling the Temple by bringing Greeks into it:

6“About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. 7I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’

8” ‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked.

” ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. 9My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me.

10“‘What shall I do, Lord?’ I asked.
“‘Get up,’ the Lord said, ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.’

(NIV Acts 22:6-10)

This version agrees with the first version in that: (a) The one who fell to the ground was Paul and not those with him. (b) Paul was told to enter the city and there he would receive further instructions. It differs with the first version in the statement that those who were with Paul saw the light but did not hear the voice.

The third version of this incident is also contained in Paul’s words as related in the same book, The Acts of the Apostles:

12“On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13About noon, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. 14We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, [Or 'Hebrew'] ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

15“Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’

” ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. 16‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. 17I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

(Acts 26:12-18)

Here we see a great divergence from the statements in Chapter 9 and Chapter 22 of the very same book: (a) According to this version, it is not Paul alone who saw the light, as related in the first version, but everyone, as related in the second. (b) Here Paul says that they all fell to the ground, which contradicts the two previous versions in which it was Paul alone who fell. (c) Instead of Paul’s being instructed by the voice to enter the city where he would be told what to do, this version gives the information about Paul’s mission immediately on the spot. Paul was to be sent, contrary to the Jesus’ teachings, as a special messenger to preach the gospel to non-Jews and to teach salvation by faith alone.

Why did Paul elucidate so much in the third version? No doubt because he was addressing King Agrippa. But one pauses to wonder what he would think of a witness who relates one story to the police, changes it slightly when facing the magistrate, and presents a completely different version when the case reaches the High Court. No one can describe Paul better than he himself:

19Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. 23I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

(1 Corinthians 9:19-23)

To win converts was the be-all and end-all of Paul’s mission. He said:

8But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: 9That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

(Romans 10:8-9)”

This passage comes from: ‘Paul : Apostle or Antichrist : A Look into the Origins of Christianity (William G Joquin)’.

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