Apocryphal Gospels
In several passages of the Christian Bible (e.g. Mark 16:1), Mary Magdalene is reported to be amongst the first women to see the risen Jesus. The early Christian Gospel of Mary Magdalene, describes Mary as having a divine vision
- "(Mary) said, ‘I saw the Lord in a vision and I said to him, ‘Lord, I saw you today in a vision.’ He answered and said to me: “Blessed are you, that you did not waver at the sight of me. For where the mind is, there is the treasure.’ I said to him, ‘So now, Lord, does a person who sees a vision see it
the soul :through the spirit?'"
However, its dating to the mid-2nd century makes it questionable as a resource for what the first Christian believers considered their encounters. The Gospel of Peter, while also dated to the 2nd century, may contain the Cross Gospel. Providing an early visionary account of the resurrection
- "35. But in the night in which the Lord's day dawned...there was a loud voice in heaven; 36. and they saw that the heavens were opened and that two males who had much radiance had come down from there... 37. the sepulcher opened, and both the young men entered. 38. And so those soldiers, having seen, awakened the centurion and the elders... 39. And while they were relating what they had seen, again they see three males who have come out from they sepulcher, with the two supporting the other one, and a cross following them, 40. and the head of the two reaching unto heaven, but that of the one being led out by a hand by them going beyond the heavens. 41. And they were hearing a voice from the heavens saying, 'Have you made proclamation to the fallen-asleep?' 42. And an obeisance was heard from the cross, 'Yes.'":
Read more about this topic: Vision Hypothesis