In General, Christians believed there was a stark difference between appearances of Jesus and visions of him.
• Examples: Paul, Peter, the church.
• The church believed “appearances” stopped c. AD 30.
But no…
• Acts 12:9 says Peter confused reality for a vision. [Forthcoming]
• So? 2Cor 12:2 (“in body? I dunno”)= Paul can’t tell. [Forthcoming]
Paul took it for granted that he and his audience all knew that appearances of Jesus were special, and stopped long ago (ending with Paul).
• 1 Cor 15:8 (“last… he appeared to me also”)
• 1 Cor 15:8 (“untimely born”) = Paul shocked.
• Paul’s case assumes “appearances” stopped.
• Paul: “Few Christians w/ visions are apostles”.
• Paul wanted included in the witness-list.
• The church really felt appearances stopped.
So?
• Paul etc. arbitrarily decided to cut them off (to prevent more leaders from coming).1 [See response]2
Paul writes in 1 Cor 9:1 — “Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen [ἑὠρακα ] Jesus our Lord?” which—in the original Greek—implies its consequence persists.
This is relevant because it implies his conversion experience was unique and not repeated.1
Paul never includes his Damascus road experience when discussing them. This is relevant because it seems like there was plenty of opportunity for him to (e.g. 2 Cor 12:24)
While the church rejected that later people received an appearance from Jesus, the apostles (Peter etc.) acknowledged that Paul did receive one.1 This is relevant because the church did not acknowledge that all Christians received an appearance, and if the Jerusalem church differentiated these then likely Paul did as well.