I agree and if Paul was being conceited in calling himself an Apostle - multiple times, in every epistle - then he would not be the one chosen by Christ. I think Peter and the others "jumped the gun" in their hurry to name another Apostle. Nowhere do we have the Lord telling them to cast lots to decide. I think Jesus chose who he wanted in that position and, later on, Peter and the others accepted it.
Well here the Vatican website calls Paul an Apostle....either spoken by the Pope Himself or someone important...this was in his speach outside a building named for Paul.
...”You are the chosen instrument of God, St Paul, APOSTLE, the preacher of truth in all the world”. And in the brief Reading, taken from the opening address of the Letter to the Romans, Paul introduces himself as “apostle by God’s call, set apart for the service of the Gospel” (cf. Rom 1:1). The figure of Paul his person and his ministry, the whole of his life and his hard work for the Kingdom of God is entirely dedicated to the service of the Gospel. In these texts one notices a sense of movement where the protagonist is not man, but God, the breath of the Holy Spirit, that impels the Apostle on the highways of the world to bring the Good News to everyone: the promises of the Prophets are fulfilled in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, who died for our sins and was raised for our justification. Saul is no longer, instead there is Paul, indeed there is Christ who lives in him” .
Well here the Vatican website calls Paul an Apostle....either spoken by the Pope Himself or someone important...this was in his speach outside a building named for Paul.
...”You are the chosen instrument of God, St Paul, APOSTLE, the preacher of truth in all the world”. And in the brief Reading, taken from the opening address of the Letter to the Romans, Paul introduces himself as “apostle by God’s call, set apart for the service of the Gospel” (cf. Rom 1:1). The figure of Paul his person and his ministry, the whole of his life and his hard work for the Kingdom of God is entirely dedicated to the service of the Gospel. In these texts one notices a sense of movement where the protagonist is not man, but God, the breath of the Holy Spirit, that impels the Apostle on the highways of the world to bring the Good News to everyone: the promises of the Prophets are fulfilled in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, who died for our sins and was raised for our justification. Saul is no longer, instead there is Paul, indeed there is Christ who lives in him” .