It is necessary to boast; nothing is to be gained by it, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I know a person in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows. 3 And I know that such a person—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows— 4 was caught up into Paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat. 5 On behalf of such a one I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. 6 But if I wish to boast, I will not be a fool, for I will be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think better of me than what is seen in me or heard from me, 7 even considering the exceptional character of the revelations. –Saul/Paul of Tarsus
I don’t know about you, but if I were a prosecutor or defense attorney, I would not put Saul/Paul of Tarsus on the witness stand. Anyone who infers that he may or may not have taken an intergalactic space voyage to a “third heaven”, where he overheard secret alien communications, is not dealing with a full deck! Normal people do not claim to receive visions and revelations from spirits/dead people. Paul was obviously suffering from mental illness (the “thorn” in his flesh??).
And what is up with Saul/Paul’s repeated denials of being a liar? I have found that someone who feels the need to repeatedly deny being a liar…is usually a liar!
Lastly, what’s up with the name change? Yea, maybe Saul was his Jewish name and Paul was his Roman citizen name, but make up your mind, for Pete’s sake. I hate it when someone I have called “Bob” all my life suddenly insists I start calling him Robert. Sounds like someone’s got issues to me.
Come on, folks. You wouldn’t accept the testimony of a guy named Saul/Paul today who claimed God appeared to him on a dark desert highway and appointed him as his personal “apostle” to humanity, so why believe a similar nutjob from the first century??
No rational person should believe that Paul of Tarsus saw the dead but resurrected Jesus. He was mentally ill. The Resurrection is a myth.
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End of post.
Escaping Christian Fundamentalism 
Since I became interested in Christianity the character Paul has fascinated me.
He is unknown in any sort of contemporary fashion outside of the bible and would likely have been forgotten to history altogether if it were not for Marcion.
It would not come as a surprise if it turned out that he was nothing but a literary construct.
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It’s unfortunate that, just like many of the heretics, we don’t have the actual writings of those who opposed Paul. It sure would be nice to have writings and responses of the Galatians or Corinthians whom Paul hated.
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LOL. Now THIS one is a piece of work. It argues not only from utter silence, but denies the polar opposite. THAT is one way of defining irrationality. This impresses only blind fools who choose willful blindness to their pre-conceived bias.
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This is why we were given the Revelation of Jesus Christ, who did not leave us hanging, but exposed Paul as a Liar in the letters to the Churches. The first church, Ephesus, is where we are to find those that SAY they are Apostles but are not, liars. And where did Paul spread his great lie pertaining to the Holy Spirit? You guessed it, Ephesus. Christians can go no further until they find Paul a liar, completing the works of the first church. You might find the following Article of interest: https://thebibledecoded.com/2021/01/27/paul-the-liar/
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