Peter, an attempt to answer some of your questions with my limited knowlege:

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The source for his "acceptance by the other apostles" is Galatians 2:7-9, written by Paul. What's the source for their "endorsement of his writings"?


2 Peter 3:14-16

"So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless,
blameless and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our
dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his
letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which
ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction."

Peter not only endorses Paul, but also forsees that people will have trouble accepting his letters. Ironic.

Also, Luke describes Paul's ministry (and indirectly endoreses it by not condemning it) in the book of Acts.

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Is any of it "historical" as opposed to "scriptural"?


Several of the early church fathers, some of them contemporaries of the apostles, acknowlege Paul:

Clement of Alexandria, The Epistle of S. Clement to the Corinthians, Chapter 5 (AD 94,95)
"Let us set before our eyes the good Apostles. ...By reason of jealousy and strife Paul by his example pointed out the prize of patient endurance. After that he had been seven times in bonds, had been driven into exile, had been stoned, had preached in the East and West, we won the noble renown which was the reward of his faith, having taught righteousness unto the whole world and having reached the farthest bounds of the West; and when he had borne his testimony before the rulers, so he departed from the world and went unto the holy place, having been found a notable pattern of patient endurance."

Ignatius of Antioch, To the Romans, Chapter 4 (August 23, 97 AD)
"I do not enjoin you as Peter and Paul did. They were Apostles, I am a convict; they were free, but I am a slave to this very hour."

Polycarp, Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians, Chapter 3
"For neither am I, nor is any other like unto me, able to follow the wisdom of the blessed and glorious Paul, who when he came among you taught face to face with the men of that day the word which concerneth truly carefully and surely; who also, when he was absent, wrote a letter unto you, into the which if ye look diligently, ye shall be able to be builded up unto the faith given to you, which is the mother of us all, while hope followeth after and love goeth before--love toward God and Christ and toward our neighbor. For if any man be occupied with these, he hath fulfilled the commandment of righteousness; for he that hath love is far from all sin."

Irenaeus (140-202 AD) cites Paul in his work "Against Heresies."

I acknowlege that there are disputes about these ancient writings. You may well find an argument that Polycarp's letter is a forgery, or that the reference to St. Paul is a forgery. However, one must examine both sides of these arguments. Entire books have been written on the matter, which I will not reproduce here. Although initially some of the Jewish Christians did reject Paul (which is understandable since he had been hunting them down and killing or imprisoning them), by the time of the Council of Jerusalem, at which both Peter and James the brother of Christ were present, all of these issues seemed to be resolved.

I agree with Jeff though, in that regardless of the amount of evidence that is produced, the choice to reject Christ will likely remain the same for readers of this discussion. Because of the nature of all historical writings of that age, enough doubt could be cast to reject just about any of them if one wished. There simply isn't a volume of corroborating evidence available. In the end, to be a Christ-follower requires a certain amount of faith. That said, I'll probably not post any further on the issue.

Also, to Bitt: I do apologize for being abrasive in my earlier post with the whole "pet argument" thing.
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~ John