Did Paul Meet Jesus?

Did Paul Meet Jesus?

People love to try and discredit the apostle Paul, one of their favorite ways to claim this is by saying Paul never met Jesus.  So, is this true? Well, let us look into it: "And Saul(who is also named Paul, read Acts 13:9), yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest... And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man," (Acts 9:1-7 KJV). In this passage, Jesus spoke with Paul. 

We also read: "Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord," (Acts 9:1-2 NASB1995). Here, we see Paul asking rhetorical questions, one of which being "have I(Paul) not seen Jesus our Lord?" This is a rather clear showing that Paul has met Jesus before.

One thing to note as well is even if these passages did not exist, one could not claim Paul never spoke to Jesus. This would be an argument from silence as just because something was not mentioned does not mean it never happened.

Work Cited:

New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Serrano, Edgar. "Apostle Paul Mosaic." World History Encyclopedia. World History Encyclopedia, 02 Jul 2020. Web. 05 Oct 2022.