Various Versions of the First Vision
Rick Branch Arlington, TX
Before the organization of the LDS Church, before the first printing of the Book of Mormon and even before Joseph Smith's first supposed meeting with the Angel Moroni, there was the First Vision - or was there?
So pivotal is this event in the history of the Mormon Church that the tenth prophet of the LDS Church, Joseph Felding Smith, would write, "Mormonism, as it is called, must stand or fall on the story of Joseph Smith.
"He was either a prophet of God, divinely called, properly appointed and commissioned or he was one of the biggest frauds this world has ever seen. There is no middle ground.
"If Joseph Smith was a deceiver, who willfully attempted to mislead the people, then he should be exposed; his claims should be refuted, and his doctrines shown to be false, for the doctrines of an imposter cannot be made to harmonize in all points with divine truth.
"If his claims and declarations were built upon fraud and deceit, there would appear many errors and contradictions, which would be easy to detect" (Doctrines of Salvation, Vol. 1, p.188). On this point, Joseph Fielding Smith is correct.
If the First Vision never happened, if Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism never saw the Father and the Son, then these delusions must be exposed and he must be proclaimed to all as one of the "biggest frauds this world has ever seen."
Official Version
Found in the pages of the Pearl of Great Price, one of Mormonism's scriptures, is the official version of the First Vision. It reads, in part:
"I was at this time in my fifteenth year. It was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. ... I kneeled down and began to offer up the desire of my heart to God...
"I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other one - This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!
"My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right - and which I should join.
"I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight..." (Joseph Smith History vss. 7, 14-19).
The important parts of the story to remember are Smith's age (15, having been born in December, 1805), the year being 1820 and the fact that he claims to have seen two personages, who are currently interpreted in Mormon writings as the God the Father and Jesus, the beloved Son. Were this the only version of the First Vision, it would be difficult to expose Joseph Smith as an imposter. However, this is not the only account of the First Vision.
1832 Account, Joseph Smith
During the year of 1832, Joseph Smith kept a diary. In it, Smith gives a somewhat different account of the First Vision. The spelling and punctuation are given as they appear in the original text.
He writes, "...I cried unto the Lord for mercy for there was none else to whom I could go and obtain mercy and the Lord heard my cry in the wilderness.... and while in the attitude of calling upon the Lord in the 16th year of my life a piller of light above the brightness of the sun at noon day come down from above and rested upon me and I was filled with the spirit of God and the Lord opened the heavens upon me and I saw the Lord and he spake unto me saying Joseph my Son they Sins are forgiven thee.
"go thy way walk in my statutes and keep my commandments behold I am the Lord of glory I was crucifyed for the world that all those who believe on my name may have Eternal life
"behold the world lieth in sin at this time and none doeth good no not one they have turned asside from the gospel and kept not my commandments..." (The Papers of Joseph Smith: Autobiographical and Historical Writings, Dean Jessee, editor, Vol. 1, p.6).
Notice in this version of the First Vision, Smith explains his age was 16, rather than 15. Thus, having been born in 1805, the First Vision would have taken place in 1821. Also, he completely failed to mention having seen two personages. Rather, he only saw the Lord who had been crucified (i.e., Jesus). In addition, his purpose for calling upon the Lord appears to be different. There is no mention of which church to join or not to join in this account.
To further complicate matters, this same book, which was published by Deseret Book Company, the official book publisher of the LDS Church, also cites several other versions of the First Vision.
1834 Account, Oliver Cowdery
In a periodical published by the LDS Church, Oliver Cowdery provided new converts to Mormonism with a synopsis of the events in Joseph Smith's life through 1834. Cowdery, one of the original Three Witnesses to the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, and whose name still appears in the front of every Book of Mormon today, wrote the following:
"You will recollect that I informed you, in my letter published in the first No, of the Message and Advocate, that this history would necessarily embrace the life and character of our esteemed friend and brother, J. Smith, Jr. ...
"I shall, therefore, pass over that, till I come to the 15th year of his life. It is necessary to premise this account by relating the situation of the public mind relative to religion, at this time..." (Messenger and Advocate, Vol. 1, December 1834, p.42).
Cowdery then proceeds to tell of the great religious revival that caused Smith to seek information from God in the Sacred Grove, as to which church to join (see Official Account). The problem with Cowdery's account is it contains a typographical error! An error that Cowdery himself explains in a later edition of the Messenger and Advocate.
"You will recall that I mentioned the time of a religious excitement, in Palmyra and vicinity to have been in the 15th year of our brother J. Smith's age -- that was an error in the type -- it should have been in the 17th" (Ibid, February 1835, p.78).
Thus, another possible age for Smith's supposed First Vision. This one disagrees with every other account, and yet was printed - as a correction - in the official LDS periodical of the day. This would mean the First Vision happened in 1822 or 1823.
1835 Account - Joseph Smith
By the year 1835, Smith was again keeping a diary. In it he gives another version of his First Vision. On November 9th, he retells his story.
"Being thus perplexed in mind I retired to the silent grove and there bowed down before the Lord...
"A pillar of fire appeared above my head; which presently rested down upon me, and filled me with unspeakable joy. A personage appeared in the midst of this pillar of flame, which was spread all around and yet nothing consumed.
"Another personage soon appeared like the first: he said unto me thy sins are forgiven thee. He testified also unto me that Jesus Christ is the son of God.
"I saw many angels in this vision. I was about 14 years old when I received this first communication" (The Papers of Joseph Smith: Autobiographical and Historical Writings, Vol. 1, pp. 125-127).
Rather than clarifying what happened, if anything really ever happened in that grove, the 1835 account only causes further confusion. Unlike the 1832 account which said Smith was 16 years old, the 1835 version explains he was only 14. This is the same as the later account which has become the Official Account.
However, unlike the Official Account and the 1832 account which said the Lord has appeared, the 1835 account has the personage who is doing the speaking testify that Jesus is the Son of God. Hence, that personage was obviously not Jesus Himself. Also, neither the Official Account nor the 1832 account mention any angels as does the 1835 version.
Account of W. W. Phelps
A few months prior to Smith's 1835 account he told his story during a public sermon. One early prominent Mormon leader, W.W. Phelps, wrote about this sermon in his diary.
Phelps wrote, "Joseph gave 'a brief relation of my experience while in my juvenile years, say from 6 years old up to the time I received my first visitation of Angels which was when I was about 14 years old...'" (Ibid, p. xxiii). The age is in harmony with both the Official Account and the 1835 account, but out of harmony with the 1832 version.
As in the 1835 account, Angels are mentioned here, but they are not mentioned in the Official Account or the 1832 account. Also, Phelps' account cannot be a reference to the appearance of the Angel Moroni. For, at least according to the Official Account, Moroni did not make his first appearance until three years after the First Vision. Hence, if the Official account is to be accepted, the First Vision happened in 1820 and it was 1823 before Smith met Moroni.
Thus, if Phelps is giving a reference to Moroni, then according to the Phelps account, the First Vision would have taken place when Smith was 11 or in the year 1816!
1840 Account of Oliver Cowdery and Don Carlos Smith
Remembering the above account (Oliver Cowdery's 1834 Account), this version becomes even more important than it may at first appear. Still within the life time of Joseph Smith and from sources no less authoritative than his own brother, Don Carlos Smith, and Witness for the trustworthiness of the Book of Mormon, Oliver Cowdery, comes this information.
Again, in the official periodical of the LDS Church, an account of the "Rise of the Church" is provided. It states, "You will recollect that I informed you, in my letter published in the first No. of the Messenger and Advocate, that this history would necessarily embrace the life and character of our esteemed friend and brother J. Smith, Jr. ...
"I shall, therefore, pass over that, till I come to the thirteenth year of his life" (Times and Seasons, 1 December 1940, p.1). Does this account sound familiar? It should. For with the exception of the age of Smith at the time of his First Vision it is an exact quote from the Messenger and Advocate for December 1834 (See Oliver Cowdery's 1834 Account, above.)
As with most other versions of the First Vision account, this one, too, simply clouds the problem. For if Smith was 13 rather than 15, 16, or 17 years old, that would mean the First Vision took place in 1818! Also, was not the correction made by Cowdery in his own 1834 account an accurate correction?
1855 Account - Brigham Young
Eleven years after the death of Joseph Smith, the second prophet of the Mormon Church, Brigham Young, seemed to be just as confused about who Smith saw that day in the Sacred Grove as were many other LDS leaders. In a sermon delivered on February 18th, in the Salt Lake City Tabernacle, Young explained the following:
"The Lord did not come with armies of heaven, in power and great glory, nor send His messengers panoplied with aught else than the truth of heaven, to communicate to the meek, the lowly, the youth of humble origin, and sincere enquirer after the knowledge of God.
"But He did send His angel to this same obscure person, Joseph Smith jun., who afterwards became a Prophet, Seer, and Revelator, and informed him that he should not join any of the religions sects of the day, for they were all wrong..." (Journal of Discourses, Vol.2, p 171).
Thus, according to Young, neither God the Father nor God the Son came to speak with Smith at the First Vision. Rather, the Lord sent one of His angels.
It is certain Young is speaking of the First Vision for he says the angel told Smith to join no church for they were all wrong. This is the very question the Official Account states Smith asked of the Father and the Son in the Sacred Grove.
1879 Account - John Taylor
John Taylor, who would become the third prophet of the LDS Church in October 1880, gave a sermon in Kaysville, Utah on March 2nd, 1879 discussing Smith's First Vision. Taylor, in agreement with Brigham Young, stated, "None of them was right, just as it was when the Prophet Joseph asked the angel which of the sects was right that he might join it.
"The answer was that none of them are right. What, none of them? No. We will not stop to argue the question; the angel merely told him to join none of them that none of them were right" (Ibid, Vol.20, p.167).
Again, there can be no doubt that Taylor, like Young, was speaking of the First Vision. For Taylor has the very answer given by Jesus, in the Official Account, coming from the mouth of an angel in this version.
Conclusion
What then is the only possible conclusion a rational person can draw from this myriad of conflicting evidence which cannot be made to harmonize in all points due to the many errors and contradictions?
In the words of Heber J. Grant, the seventh prophet of the LDS Church, "Either Joseph Smith did see God and did converse with him, and God himself did introduce Jesus Christ to the boy Joseph Smith, and Jesus did tell Joseph Smith that he would be the instrument in the hands of God of establishing again upon the earth the true gospel of Jesus Christ -- or Mormonism, so called, is a myth" (Discourses of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Alma Burton, p.18).
As Grant has said, either the First Vision is true or Mormonism is a myth!
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