DAVID INGRAM
Not long ago, a Muslim reached out to me after seeing a comment I made opposing Islamic teachings. He approached me in a spirit of dawah, which is the Islamic practice of inviting others to learn about and accept Islam. Dawah is considered an important duty for many Muslims. I am not saying they could convince me to abandon our Lord. I’m being real here. Their belief is that sharing Islam’s message is a form of care for others. Yes, he was polite. He asked about my beliefs, and invited me to talk about his faith with respect and openness. I was, and still am, skeptical about him being up front with me, but perhaps I’m wrong? I spoke with him as honesty and respectful as I could, but did not backdown down from what I know to be true.
Over the course of our conversation, he raised several arguments meant to cast doubt on the reliability of the apostle Paul, and by extension, a large portion of the New Testament. I want to work through these points one at a time, starting with his very first argument. I’ll limit myself to that point only, and address others in the future.
He claimed Paul never met Jesus in person during Jesus’s earthly life. And since Paul had no direct, in-person relationship with Jesus while he walked the earth, he argued that Paul has no real connection to Jesus’s true teachings and should not be trusted as a source of Christian doctrine.
It’s a fair question to raise, and it deserves a real answer rather than a dismissal. I suggest Christians should learn to do this. When those opposed to our faith bring up questions, it is either an opportunity to show someone where they are in error, or a way to find areas of scripture we need to study up on. I say this because spreading the Gospel isn’t about winning argument. It is about spreading the message of Jesus. Saying, “I don’t know” isn’t the same as losing an argument. It is a way of finding holes in our Biblical knowledge. But, let’s not get off the path here. Back to his point. What’s the answer to his challenge?
It’s true that Paul did not walk with Jesus during his earthly ministry the way Peter, James, and John did. Paul says this himself. But the New Testament also records that Paul encountered the risen Jesus directly, on the road to Damascus. This wasn’t a rumor or a secondhand story Paul invented. It’s described in Acts and referenced by Paul in his own letters, including 1 Corinthians 9:1, where he asks, “Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?”
This matters because Christianity has never claimed that only people who knew Jesus before his death and resurrection could speak with authority about him. In fact, the resurrection is the center of the Christian message. Paul met the resurrected Christ, and he says this encounter transformed him from a persecutor of the church into one of its most committed messengers. If the resurrection happened the way the Gospels describe it, then meeting Jesus after he rose is not a lesser encounter. It may be the most important one!
There’s also the matter of consistency. Paul’s letters were not accepted into Scripture on a whim. The early church recognized them as trustworthy because they lined up with what the apostles who did walk with Jesus were already teaching. Peter himself refers to Paul’s letters as Scripture in 2 Peter 3:15 to 16. That agreement matters.
So the argument that Paul has no link to Jesus’s true teachings does not hold up when we look at what Paul claimed and how the rest of the early church responded to him. A personal encounter with the risen Jesus, confirmed by the very apostles who walked with him in life.
This is just the first point the man raised. He had questions about Paul’s past, the details of his conversion story, and alleged claims about deception. I intend to address each of these in future articles. I hope my writings show respect and honesty. I believe truth can stand up to scrutiny. In fact, truth shines brightest when placed against a lie. I also want to make clear that I am not watering down his arguments. To do so would be to fight a straw man. God’s word stands on its own.
