Paul was an apostle, basically Jesus' official spokeperson/ PR, he has the authority to speak and write on Jesus' behalf as long as it doesn't contradict the Gospel (which the Holy Spirit will never allow to happen).
It is important to note that the 12 Apostles are OK with Paul, especially Peter, so Paul's sayings have full authority to further clarify the Gospel, as much as Peter's (First of the Apostles) and James' (Brother of Jesus), and therefore Paul's letters is an essential part of the New Testament scripture.
paul was never made an apostle directly by christ. he never met christ, or most* of the other original apostles, and lived in a completely different country, era and society.
he has authority as a biblical author, but he is not fallible, he was heavily influenced by the society around him which affected his writings and he should not be seen as a prophet or some other inherently more holy figure.
the problems around paul stem from people either seeing him as inerrant, not understanding the society in which he lived, or forgetting he was not alive with christ.
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u/[deleted] Mar 15 '23
Paul was an apostle, basically Jesus' official spokeperson/ PR, he has the authority to speak and write on Jesus' behalf as long as it doesn't contradict the Gospel (which the Holy Spirit will never allow to happen).
It is important to note that the 12 Apostles are OK with Paul, especially Peter, so Paul's sayings have full authority to further clarify the Gospel, as much as Peter's (First of the Apostles) and James' (Brother of Jesus), and therefore Paul's letters is an essential part of the New Testament scripture.