Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)
All Commentaries on Galatians 1:1 Go To Galatians 1
Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
Paul, an apostle, not of men. That Isaiah , because the other Apostles were sent by Christ while still mortal, Paul by Christ when wholly deified, and therefore in every way immortal. So says S. Augustine. But the simpler explanation is to take not of men to mean, not of mere men, but of Christ, man and God.
There is a fourfold mission, says S. Jerome. Some are sent by God alone, as Paul; some by God through man"s instrumentality, as Joshua was through Moses; some by man alone, as those who are promoted by their friends to be abbot, dean, or bishop; some by themselves, as heretics. The preposition "of" (ab) therefore, used here, denotes the principal cause, while "by" (per) denotes the instrumental; for the meaning is that he was not called by Prayer of Manasseh , nor by God by means of Prayer of Manasseh , but immediately by God Himself.
