I'm not sure I understand what you mean when you say "the earliest visions of Jesus were 'spiritual visions"? Are you claiming that there were later visions that were personable? Because that's not at all the account in the gospels and Acts. In their account the personable appearances of Jesus occur following the resurrection (i.e. post Resurrection and pre-Ascension), and the 'visions' are possibly what Paul has, though Paul actually says he receives things through 'revelation' rather than vision, so he in fact never actually claims to have had a vision of Jesus. It's perfectly possible that the disciples and others legitimately felt that they saw Jesus appear to them post-death (group hysteria is what it's called, and there are solid examples of similar incidents known to be cause through this phenomena).
Your use of the word 'embellishment' is wrong. Mythology grows organically, and I don't see Mark embellishing on things at all. His writing style is short and to the point. There are so many direct parallels between the Sermon on the Mount (in particular) and the Epistle of James that if the writer were to be embellish rather than relying on an account of the Sermon (probably a written account, but may have been oral) wouldn't be possible.
Your use of the word 'embellishment' is wrong. Mythology grows organically, and I don't see Mark embellishing on things at all. His writing style is short and to the point. There are so many direct parallels between the Sermon on the Mount (in particular) and the Epistle of James that if the writer were to be embellish rather than relying on an account of the Sermon (probably a written account, but may have been oral) wouldn't be possible.
For Religion & Health see:[/b][/size] Williams & Sternthal. (2007). Spirituality, religion and health: Evidence and research directions. Med. J. Aust., 186(10), S47-S50. -LINK
The WIN/Gallup End of Year Survey 2013 found the US was perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace by a huge margin, with 24% of respondents fearful of the US followed by: 8% for Pakistan, and 6% for China. This was followed by 5% each for: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea. -LINK
"That's disgusting. There were clean athletes out there that have had their whole careers ruined by people like Lance Armstrong who just bended thoughts to fit their circumstances. He didn't look up cheating because he wanted to stop, he wanted to justify what he was doing and to keep that continuing on." - Nicole Cooke
The WIN/Gallup End of Year Survey 2013 found the US was perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace by a huge margin, with 24% of respondents fearful of the US followed by: 8% for Pakistan, and 6% for China. This was followed by 5% each for: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea. -LINK
"That's disgusting. There were clean athletes out there that have had their whole careers ruined by people like Lance Armstrong who just bended thoughts to fit their circumstances. He didn't look up cheating because he wanted to stop, he wanted to justify what he was doing and to keep that continuing on." - Nicole Cooke