Was Paul delusional and hear voices?

[polonius]

Paul Galatians chapter 1, 12 " I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

Is any reader also having "revelations" like Paul did about 500 people seeing the risen Christ which even the Gospel writers don't report ( Paul didn't join the group until about three years later).

[Checkpoint]

[Replying to post 1 by polonius]

Paul was not delusional.

He heard the voice of Christ, and was transformed into a different person, from being a zealous persecutor to being a sold-out follower.

[polonius]

Checkpoint says,

Paul was not delusional.

He heard the voice of Christ, and was transformed into a different person, from being a zealous persecutor to being a sold-out follower.

RESPONSE: Let's look at what Paul said. Although he was in the East at the time he tells us that 500 people in Jerusalem saw the risen Christ. Yet none of them, the Romans among them, or the hundreds more they would have told left anything in writings. And the Romans among then didn't tell Pilate. THe Evangelists never mention the incident.

And note that Paul doesn't claim that they or the several apostles "saw" Jesus. Jesus "appeared" to them and him as in a vision.

My friend Ralph , when he forgets to take his medication, tells me the same sort of thing. Should I believe him?

[polonius]

Luke, not Paul, wrote Acts of the Apostles.

There is the famous story of Paul falling off his horse (donkey?) and having a vision. In fact, there are three slightly different versions of this story in Acts.

On the other hand, none of Paul's epistles says anything about it. These, of course, were written before Acts, so evidently Paul's conversion story hadn't been invented yet.

[Checkpoint]

[Replying to post 4 by polonius]

Paul's conversion story hadn't been invented yet.

Your full-stop is one word too late.

[Checkpoint]

[Replying to post 3 by polonius]

Checkpoint says,

Paul was not delusional.

He heard the voice of Christ, and was transformed into a different person, from being a zealous persecutor to being a sold-out follower.

You wrote

RESPONSE: Let's look at what Paul said.

Yes, but let's look also at his life both before and after he heard the voice telling him, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting"; Acts 9:5; 22:8; 26:15.

[polonius]

[Replying to post 3 by polonius]

Checkpoint says,

Paul was not delusional.

He heard the voice of Christ, and was transformed into a different person, from being a zealous persecutor to being a sold-out follower.

You wrote

RESPONSE: Let's look at what Paul said.

Yes, but let's look also at his life both before and after he heard the voice telling him, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting"; Acts 9:5; 22:8; 26:15.

RESPONSE: That was written about 30 years after Paul's death by a non-witness to the story who wrote to make converts. How reliable do you consider this story?

[Elijah John]

[Replying to post 1 by polonius]

Paul was not delusional.

He heard the voice of Christ, and was transformed into a different person, from being a zealous persecutor to being a sold-out follower.

How do you know this? Anyone can claim revelation, and in some cases it may actually be true. But once the person in question tells it to another, it becomes hearsay.

Why do you believe this particular hearsay?

[tam]

Peace to you both!

[Replying to post 8 by Elijah John]

The following is from Paul, writing to the Galatians (1:11-14, and 21-23), and so it is not hearsay:

I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from [Jesus] Christ.

For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.


and

Then I went to Syria and Cilicia. I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.�


It also corroborates what Luke reported from/about Paul, in Acts.


Peace again to you!

[Checkpoint]

[Replying to post 3 by polonius]

Checkpoint says,

Paul was not delusional.

He heard the voice of Christ, and was transformed into a different person, from being a zealous persecutor to being a sold-out follower.

You wrote

RESPONSE: Let's look at what Paul said.

Yes, but let's look also at his life both before and after he heard the voice telling him, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting"; Acts 9:5; 22:8; 26:15.

RESPONSE: That was written about 30 years after Paul's death by a non-witness to the story who wrote to make converts. How reliable do you consider this story?

Fully reliable.

Unlike the stories we are told by skeptics.