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In what sense does Paul claim to be an apostle?

1. Paul claims to be an apostle in the sense that he is one among a select group of persons called out and appointed to establish the gospel. As an apostle he was – to use his own metaphor – -- a planter. He sowed the seed of the gospel, which others could help tend, though only God could give the growth. Or, again, Paul thinks of this apostolic role as a parental role – -- whence his references to his readers as his "children" and to himself as their "father" or even as their mother (Gal 4:19).

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3. But this understanding of what it means to be an apostle is entirely compatible with acknowledging that an apostle is not the originator of tradition, but a bearer of it -- that the gospel one preaches and teaches as an apostle has been handed down to and received by one through a process exactly like that involved in one's own preaching and teaching of it to others (1 Cor 15:3 ff.).

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