Originally posted by seanD
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Are you perhaps committed to the later gospel depictions instead of reading Paul on his own? Paul's letters, were in fact written, before any of the gospel stories
and don't contain any of the amazing physical details found in them.
1. Paul equates the appearances with the same verb for "appeared" ὤφθη (Greek – ōphthē) which was commonly used throughout the Septuagint to describe spiritual visionary appearances. There are other Greek words Paul could have used for "physically seeing" such as θεάομαι (theaomai) or θεωρέω (theoreo) but he does not do that in the passage. The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (vol. V, p. 358) points out that in this type of context the word is a technical term for being “in the presence of revelation as such, without reference to the nature of its perception.” In other words, the “seeing” may not refer to actual sensory or mental perception. “The dominant thought is that the appearances are revelations, an encounter with the risen Lord who reveals himself…they experienced his presence.”
2. He includes his appearance in the same list as the others while giving no distinction between them.
3. Paul's vision is used in order to claim apostleship in 1 Cor 9:1, arguing that he saw the exact same thing the other apostles did. The passage implies that "seeing" Jesus is a requirement for being an apostle. But Paul only "sees" Jesus in a vision implying that the other apostles must have "seen" Jesus in a similar way. Basically, he's saying "I saw Jesus just like you guys did! Can I join the apostles now?!"
4. Throughout the entire Pauline corpus he only says that the Risen Jesus was experienced in "visions" and "revelations" so we have no reason to think that the disciples experienced Jesus in a way more physical than that.
Is there a reason you feel Paul would have been specific if we assume the appearances were in fact different?
and never anything more physical than that? Paul does not say "Jesus appeared to me in a vision only whereas the appearances to the others involved touching a physically
revived corpse that later flew to heaven" - that distinction is never made.
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