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Saul/Paul was a Pharisee/tent maker employed by the High Priest/Sanhedrin to find and arrest the followers of the teachings of Jesus. After his conversion he became the most influential advocate of Jesus' teachings to this day and founded several churches in Asia Minor. It has been said that Jesus was the most influential person to have ever walked on the earth. A strong argument can be made that Paul is the second most.
If they actually met physically, in person, face-to-face is debatable. There is the 'Road to Damascus' conversion episode where they spoke, but Saul/Paul's companions say that they saw no one at that time and Saul/Paul only saw a bright light, (Acts 9:4-7). The Biblical passage of 1 Cor. 15:8, indicates that Jesus appeared to Saul/Paul. What that means, we can't specifically say.
By the way, 'Saul' and 'Paul' are names for the same person and were used interchangeably throughout his life. Contrary to popular belief, his name was not changed at his conversion. Saul was his Jewish/Hebrew name and Paul was his Roman/Latin name. He was a Roman citizen, a most highly sought and prized commodity in those days. He inherited his Roman citizenship from his father. Most people in the conquered territories of the Roman Empire were not Roman citizens.
Last edited by volosong; 04-30-2014 at 11:55 AM..
Reason: typo
Paul is considered an 'apostle', just not one of the original 'chosen twelve'. 'Apostle' and 'disciple' are pretty interchangeable. The Greek root for 'apostle' is 'messenger' or 'envoy'. You can add 'missionary' to that. Often, 'disciples' are thought of as devotees to something, in this case, the teachings of Jesus.
Paul is considered an 'apostle', just not one of the original twelve.
More importantly, Paul was a great thinker and in many ways, the architect of Christianity. One cannot understand Christianity without dealing with Paul.
This said by someone who thinks that we need to spend less time with Paul and more time with Jesus.
Paul was charged by Christ to carry the Gospel to the Gentiles, while Peter carried the Gospel to the Jews. Paul wrote most of the books in the New Testament.
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