Paul was called to be an apostle by Jesus on the road to Damascus (Galatians 1:12; 1 Corinthians 9:1; Acts 9:1–7).1 Since Jesus Christ always acts according to the will of the Father (see Galatians 1:4; John 6:38), it is perfectly consistent to say that Paul’s call to be an apostle also came from the Father. His apostleship was then confirmed by the churches he established (see 1 Corinthians 9:2) and the signs he performed (2 Corinthians 12:12).2 In essence, the apostolate of Paul rests on the same base as that of the Jerusalem apostles (a direct call by Jesus Christ) and thus it stands and falls also with theirs.3
1 Paul, apôtre, non de la part des hommes, ni par un homme, mais par Jésus-Christ et Dieu le Père, qui l'a ressuscité des morts,