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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]PS I also think it is telling that OP has constructed a very solid argument citing Biblical text itself and that the people arguing with her (or him) cannot so much as cite a book that opposes her stance.[/quote]

We have opposed it, several times in this thread. All of the following points have began made on this thread:
- apostle =\= prophet speaking for God
- spreading the gospels =\= developing advice for new parishes on things that were not in the gospels
- we have 
- "Grace and peace from God" are said in every church across the country every Sunday. They never mean the speaker is a mouthpiece for God.[/quote]

Nobody has ever addressed any of these points. You keep repeating that the quotes sum up to "speaking for God" but these points are why we (and many theologians, apparently) don't believe he thought he was speaking for God on more than the gospels themselves.

So could you please try to address these, so we can stop going back and forth?[/quote]
But I HAVE addressed them, repeatedly. I'll do it again now.

1. The Apostles were a select few people commissioned by Christ to spread his message through the earth. The qualifications are discussed in Acts 1 and included having known Christ. This is not a loose term Biblically. The Apostles also were given authority to perform miracles to authenticate their Christ-given ministry, which can be found in numerous places but start at Matthew 10:1-4 and Acts 3. You can also easily do an on-line search to see a fuller presentation of this than I have time to present here.
2. You are correct that spreading the Gospel (which I try to do myself) does not equal developing new "advice" for parishes. But for one, please go back and re-read the verses in my OP. Paul does not claim to be giving advice but "commands from the LORD." The fact that he says this should be obvious, and it makes your argument more difficult. Two, Paul never claimed that he was ONLY sharing the Gospel in a discipleship sense the same way any modern evangelical would do. Again, he claimed to be speaking for Christ. He did BOTH.
3. I'm not sure what you meant to say by writing, "We have."
4. This was only one, almost tangential point, that I made. The fuller text is much more explicit, but I think it is interesting that Paul began every letter, "Peace and grace FROM the God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." I read that as the same as if I went to see a set my siblings out of town and said, "Hi FROM Mom and Dad." I'm speaking for them when I say that. Again, though, I'm not hanging the weight of my argument on that; I just think it's interesting and one more bit of evidence of what Paul was claiming to be.

I'm not sure what you think an "apostle" is, but in the Bible, it is a specific office given to a very few people at the beginning of the church to authenticate the message of Christ and bring it to the world. Try reading also John 16:6-19, where Christ prays for them before the crucifixion. Many of Paul's letters spend time defending his apostolic authority from those who denied it (much as is being done here) because people then were attacking his apostleship, because it was understood then to be a very solemn and important position and because Paul was telling them things they didn't want to hear. The books of 1 and 2 Corinthians are especially important to understanding this position. It was important to Paul that the churches understood that he was an apostle, because they knew that meant he was speaking for Christ.

I don't mean to be insulting, but your position does not hold up under Biblical analysis. Again, if you don't believe the Bible, I get that. But the Bible supports what I am writing here.[/quote]

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