St. Paul Defends Himself

“Paul, an apostle not from human beings nor through a human being but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead . . .” (Gal. 1:1).

Paul is referring to himself as an apostle. Some dissension arose in the early Church because Paul was not among those who followed Jesus during his public ministry, and therefore some attacked Paul’s authority to preach and govern. Paul begins his letter to the Galatians by pointing out that he is in fact an apostle chosen by Jesus himself and not by others in the Church (Phil. 2:25, 1 Tim. 1:18, 1 Tim 4:14).