tiro3

Interesting discussions.
Regarding Paul… I also am not convinced that he was the twelfth apostle.  But I do think he carried the same HS given authority as I believe every HS gifted apostle did also.  It does seem that there was a difference between those who were apostles chosen by God as was every named apostle, and those messengers sent by the church, which would still be called apostolos in Greek.  And it would also seem that there was a special giftedness imparted by having known Christ in the flesh.

I think the twelve were specifically chosen FIRST as representative of the twelve tribes.  Secondarily, they were part of those God chose to lay the foundations for the new body of believers.  While it is interesting that Paul played such a large part according to the written records we have, we do not know fully the extent of the involvement of everyone.

Just pondering here.  🙂