Short answer
No. Paul, a Christian missionary of the first century, never met Jesus during his life on earth. He was not one of the twelve disciples. When they chose a man to replace Judas, they asked for someone who had been with them from John's baptism until Jesus was taken up. Paul fails that test. He says he was called in a vision on the road to Damascus. The Book of Acts tells it in ways that do not agree. In one telling the men with him hear the voice. In another they do not. In one they stand. In another they fall. Acts says he moved about freely in Jerusalem with the men it calls apostles. Paul swears he saw only Peter and James. Islam holds to what Jesus taught, and honours the disciples who answered his call.
Full explanation
Why Christians call Paul an apostle
Christians use the word apostle for a man sent out by Jesus with his message. Paul opens Galatians by calling himself an apostle made not by men but by Jesus Christ and God the Father. He asks the Corinthians whether he has not seen Jesus Christ the Lord. He says the signs of an apostle were done among them. Acts tells of his calling on the Damascus road, and it calls him an apostle too. Christians accept these claims.
“Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)”
“Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord?”
“Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.”
“Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out,”
The test the disciples set
After Judas left, the eleven disciples chose a man to take his place. Peter set the condition. The man must have been with them the whole time Jesus went in and out among them, from John's baptism until he was taken up. Peter said such a man would be "a witness with us of his resurrection". Paul was with them for none of that time. He never met Jesus during his ministry. Yet thirteen of the New Testament's twenty-seven books bear his name.
“Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.”
Did the men with Paul hear the voice?
Acts tells the story of Paul's call three times, in chapters 9, 22 and 26. In chapter 9 the men with Paul stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. In chapter 22 Paul says they saw the light but did not hear the voice. The Greek word for hearing is the same in both verses. The NIV, a modern English Bible, translates the second as "did not understand", and Christians defend this from the Greek grammar. But Luke, the traditional author of Acts, uses the same word in both its forms for Paul's own hearing in 9:4 and 22:7. Paul plainly understood that voice.
“And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.”
“And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.”
The NIV renders the verse to say that Paul's companions saw the light but did not understand the voice of the one speaking to him, where the KJV has that they heard not the voice.
“And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?”
“And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?”
Did the men with Paul stand or fall?
Acts 9 says the men travelling with Paul stood speechless while the voice spoke. In Acts 26 Paul tells King Agrippa that it was when they had all fallen to the earth that he heard the voice. Both verses describe the same moment, the moment the voice was speaking. One has the men on their feet. The other has them on the ground.
“And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.”
“At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.”
Acts against Paul's sworn word
Acts says that when Paul came to Jerusalem, Barnabas, a Christian leader of the first century, brought him to "the apostles". Acts says he went in and out with them at Jerusalem. He spoke boldly in the name of Jesus and argued with the Greek-speaking Jews. Paul's own letter says something else. He says he did not go up to Jerusalem to "them which were apostles before me" but went into Arabia. Only after three years did he go to see Peter, and he stayed fifteen days. Of the others he says: "other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord’s brother." He adds an oath: "before God, I lie not." Then he went to Syria and Cilicia, and the churches of Judea did not know him by sight. Christians reply that "the apostles" in Acts may mean just Peter and James. But Acts has him moving freely among them at Jerusalem. Paul swears he saw only Peter and James. Either Acts is wrong, or Paul's oath is.
“And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. And he was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem. And he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus, and disputed against the Grecians: but they went about to slay him.”
“Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days. But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord’s brother. Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not. Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia; And was unknown by face unto the churches of Judea which were in Christ:”
| Question | One account | The other account |
|---|---|---|
| Did the men with Paul hear the voice? | Yes. They heard a voice but saw no one (Acts 9:7). | No. They saw the light, but “heard not the voice” (Acts 22:9). |
| Were the men standing or on the ground when the voice spoke? | They “stood speechless” (Acts 9:7). | They had “all fallen to the earth” (Acts 26:14). |
| Whom did Paul see in Jerusalem? | Acts: Barnabas brought him to the apostles, and he went in and out with them (Acts 9:26-29). | Paul: after three years he saw only Peter, for fifteen days, and James. He adds, “before God, I lie not” (Galatians 1:18-20). |
Acts tells the story of Paul's call three times, and the accounts do not agree.
Where Paul says his message came from
Paul says the message he preached was not received from any man, nor taught to him, but came by revelation. Yet Paul claims to be sent by Jesus. By his own account he did not learn his message from Jesus in his lifetime, or from the men who had walked with him. The Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) never claimed to be sent by Jesus. He said his message came from God (﷾), and the Qur'an asks to be tested (4:82). Islam honours the disciples who said to Jesus that they were helpers of Allah (﷾) and Muslims.
“But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
“Do they not consider the Qur'an (with care)? Had it been from other Than Allah, they would surely have found therein Much discrepancy.”
“When Jesus found Unbelief on their part He said: "Who will be My helpers to (the work of) Allah?" Said the disciples: "We are Allah's helpers: We believe in Allah, and do thou bear witness that we are Muslims.”
Verse by verse
Galatians 1:1 — Epistle to the Galatians, chapter 1, verse 1
“Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)”
Cited for
Paul did not need the Acts 1 test, because the risen Christ appointed him directly.
The response
Then his call has to be judged by the accounts of it. And the Bible cannot tell that call one way. The men heard the voice, and they did not. They stood, and they had fallen.
Where it lands — A call told in conflicting ways cannot settle that Paul was sent by Jesus.
1 Corinthians 9:1 — First Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 9, verse 1
“Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord?”
Cited for
Paul had seen the Lord, which is what made the other apostles apostles.
The response
The twelve saw Jesus through his whole ministry, which is why Peter's test required it. Acts has Paul call what he saw a heavenly vision, seen after Jesus was gone.
Where it lands — Seeing a vision is not the same as having been with Jesus, which is what the disciples' test required.
Acts 22:9 — Acts of the Apostles, chapter 22, verse 9
“And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.”
Cited for
Luke uses a different grammatical case in the two verses. In 9:7 the men heard a sound. In 22:9 they did not understand the words. The NIV translates it that way.
The response
Luke uses the same verb with both cases for Paul's own hearing of the same voice, which he fully understood. One case is in 9:4, the other in 22:7. So the grammar cannot carry the difference the explanation needs. The KJV translators rendered 22:9 as it stands: "they heard not the voice".
Where it lands — The case-ending argument fails on Luke's own usage, and the contradiction remains.
Acts 9:7 — Acts of the Apostles, chapter 9, verse 7
“And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.”
Cited for
The men fell to the ground at the light and then got up. So in Acts 9 they are standing, and in Acts 26 they had fallen earlier.
The response
Both verses fix the same moment. Acts 9:7 says they stood speechless while hearing the voice. Acts 26:14 says it was when they were all fallen to the earth that Paul heard the voice. In one account the voice speaks over men standing. In the other it speaks over men lying on the ground.
Where it lands — Each verse ties the men's posture to the moment the voice spoke, so the two cannot be spread over different moments.
2 Peter 3:15-16 — Second Epistle of Peter, chapter 3, verses 15-16
“And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.”
Cited for
Peter himself calls Paul a beloved brother and ranks his letters with scripture. Paul also says the leaders of the Jerusalem church gave him the right hand of fellowship.
The response
2 Peter was itself one of the disputed books in the early church, as Eusebius, a church historian of the fourth century, records. Even taken as it stands, it calls Paul a brother, not an apostle. It also admits that his letters have things "hard to be understood". Galatians 2:9 itself says the handshake divided the work: Paul and Barnabas to the Gentiles, the others to the Jews. It did not make Paul one of the twelve.
Where it lands — A disputed letter, and a handshake that divided the work, cannot settle that Jesus' disciples counted Paul as one of themselves.
Perspectives
Mainstream Christian
Christians hold that the risen Christ called Paul directly on the Damascus road. He is an apostle by that call, not by the rule used to replace Judas, and the signs he worked confirm it.
Paul says he was made an apostle not by men but by Jesus Christ and God the Father.
Rebuttal
Paul does say this about himself. But the disciples chose a man to be a witness with them. Peter asked for one who had been with Jesus from the start, and Paul does not meet that test. And Acts tells the story of his call in ways that do not agree.
Paul says he had seen the Lord and that the signs of an apostle were done among the Corinthians.
Rebuttal
The twelve were with Jesus through his whole ministry, which is why Peter's test required it. What Paul describes is a heavenly vision, seen after Jesus was gone. As for signs, the test was about being with Jesus, not about working signs.
The Islamic perspective
Islam does not count Paul as a man sent by Jesus. He never met Jesus, fails the test the disciples set, and the Bible cannot tell the story of his call the same way twice. By his own account, his message did not come from the men who walked with Jesus.
By the test the disciples set in Acts 1, Paul could not have been counted among the men Jesus sent.
Acts 9:7 says the men with Paul heard the voice, and Acts 22:9 says they did not. Both use the same Greek verb.
Acts 9:7 has the men with Paul standing while the voice spoke. Acts 26:14 has them all fallen to the earth when he heard it.
Acts has Paul going in and out with the men it calls apostles at Jerusalem, preaching boldly there. Paul swears he saw only Peter and James, and that the churches of Judea did not know him by sight.
Paul claims to be sent by Jesus. Yet he says his gospel came to him by revelation, not from any man, so it did not come from Jesus' own disciples.