The First Vision…is the pivotal thing of our story. Every claim that we make concerning divine authority, every truth that we offer concerning the validity of this work, all finds its root in the First Vision of the boy prophet.… This was the great curtain-raiser on the dispensation of the fullness of times…. [It also] becomes the hinge pin on which this whole cause turns. If the First Vision is true, if it actually happened, then the Book of Mormon is true. Then we have the priesthood. Then we have the Church organization and all of the other keys and blessings of authority which we say we have. If the First Vision did not occur, then we are involved in a great sham. It is just that simple…. That is the great keystone of our faith and our testimony (Hinckley 226-227).
Walter Rane’s First Vision Painting
Gordon B. Hinckley—fifteenth prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints made the statements above as he was testifying of the First Vision. To the Latter-day Saints, the First Vision is, as Joseph F. Smith said, “the greatest event that has ever occurred in the world, since the resurrection of the Son of God from the tomb and his ascension on high” (Smith 495). What was this vision and why is it such an important event in the Latter-day Saints? Allow me to explain.
The Vision
During the first half of the nineteenth century there was an intense religious movement known as the Second Great Awakening that took place in America. This movement was a enthusiastic effort to restore righteousness and religious zeal in America, characterized by circuit-riding preachers, fiery-tongued evangelists, new grass-roots religious movements, and fervent emotionalism. As this movement worked its course in the six decades leading up to the Civil War, sporadic spiritual revivals erupted throughout the United States, causing an increase in active Christian church membership. The ecclesiastical storm center of this movement was western New York—an area that was in an almost constant state of revivalism. Revivals were so habitual in this region that historians have labeled it the “Burned-over District.”
One household from the Burned-over District that would be deeply affected by the effects of the Second Great Awakening was the Smith family of Manchester, New York. Sometime after moving to the area in the winter of 1816-1817, the Smiths began to attend the revival meetings that took place. During this time, various faiths such as the Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians vied for converts to their particular interpretation of Christianity. It was in the midst of this “unusual excitement on the subject of religion” that their third son, Joseph, began to seriously think about his faith (JS-H 1:5).
A revival meeting in the Second Great Awakening
This Joseph—writing of this time of his life at a later date—stated that, “At about the age of twelve years my mind became seriously imprest with regard to the all importent concerns for the wellfare of my immortal Soul” (Jessee 3), and “began to reflect upon the importance of being prepared for a future state” (Teachings 438). His mind was “called up to serious reflection and great uneasiness” as he pondered the problem of salvation. He went to the meetings of the different religions in the area as often as he could to investigate their beliefs, but could not bring himself to join with any them (JS-H 1:8). The problem—according to him—was that, “Looking at the different systems taught the children of men, I knew not who was right or who was wrong, but considered it of the first importance to me that I should be right, in matters of so much moment, matter involving eternal consequences” (Jessee 6).
Perplexed, young Joseph turned to the Bible in an attempt to find answers. Of this experience he wrote, “Thus applying myself to them [the scriptures] and my intimate acquaintance with those of differant denominations led me to marvel excedingly for I discovered that they did not adorn… their profession by a holy walk and Godly conversation agreeable to what I found contained in that Sacred depository.” Particularly troubling to him was the fact that, “when the converts began to file off, some to one party and some to another, it was seen that the seemingly good feelings of both the priests and the converts were more pretended than real; for a scene of great confusion and bad feeling ensued—priest contending against priest, and convert against convert; so that all their good feelings one for another, if they ever had any, were entirely lost in a strife of words and a contest about opinions” (JS-H 1:6). Further, he recalled that, “I found that there was a great clash in religious sentiment; if I went to one society they referred me to one plan, and another to another; each one pointing to his own particular creed as the summum bonum of perfection.” To his mind, this could not be correct: “considering that all could not be right, and that God could not be the author of so much confusion I determined to investigate the subject more fully, believing that if God had a church it would not be split up into factions, and that if he taught one society to worship one way, and administer in one set of ordinances, he would not teach another principles which were diametrically opposed” (Teachings 438).
Joseph Smith studied the Bible to find an answer to his questions. Image courtesy LDS.org
Even still, he came close to settling upon one religion. He wrote, “In the process of time my mind became somewhat partial to the Methodist sect, and I felt some desire to be united with them” (JS-H 1:8). One neighbor recalled that Joseph caught “a spark of Methodism in the camp meeting, away down in the woods, on the Vienna road”—quite possibly at the Genessee Conference of July 1819, where over 100 Methodist ministers gathered for business and preaching for a whole month—and became a “very passable exhorter in evening meetings” (Anderson 4-5). Another neighbor reminisced that, “At one time he joined the probationary class of the Methodist Church in Palmyra, and made some active demonstrations of engagedness” but went on to say that Joseph’s “assumed convictions were insufficiently grounded or abiding to carry him along to the saving point of conversion, and he soon withdrew from the class” (Anderson 7). According to what Joseph told a friend in 1844, he “wanted to get religion too, wanted to feel and shout like the rest but could feel nothing” (cited in Allen 12).
All this, he says,
Was a grief to my soul[.] Thus from the age of twelve years to fifteen I pondered many things in my heart concerning the sittuation of the world of mankind… [and] my mind became exceedingly distressed for I became convicted of my Sins and by Searching the Scriptures I found that mankind did not come unto the Lord but that they had apostatised from the true and liveing faith and there was no society or denomination that built upon the Gospel of Jesus Christ as recorded in the new testament and I felt to mourn for my own Sins and for the Sins of the world (Jessee 3).
He continued,
While I was laboring under the extreme difficulties caused by the contests of these parties of religionists, I was one day reading the Epistle of James, first chapter and fifth verse, which reads: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him (JS-H 1:11).
This was, as his associate Orson Pratt would say, “cheering information to him; tidings that gave him great joy. It was like a light shining forth in a dark place, to guide him to the path in which he should walk” (Pratt). He “reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God” he did (JS-H 1:12), and felt that, “Information was what I most desired at this time” (Jessee 6). Ultimately, he “came to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs, that is ask of God. I at length came to the determination to ‘ask of God’” (JS-H 1:13).
With this resolution in mind, Joseph went to the woods near his father’s home, noting that, “It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt” (JS-H 1:14). He had at least three serious questions on his mind as knelt to pray: 1) he was concerned for his own salvation and sought forgiveness of sins; 2) he was concerned for the welfare of mankind in general; and 3) he wanted to know which, if any of the churches were right and which he should join.
The Sacred Grove–the most likely location of Joseph’s prayer and vision. Image courtesy LDS.org
At first, he made “a fruitless attempt to pray”, for his tongue “seemed to be swoolen in [his] mouth, so that [he] could not utter” (Jessee 6) and he felt as though he had been “seized upon by some power which entirely overcame” him (JS-H 1:15). Unwanted and distracting thoughts ran through his mind—doubts and “inappropriate images to prevent him from obtaining the object of his endeavors” (Hyde). He even heard sounds like someone walking towards him that caused him to spring upon his feet to look around, but he saw nothing “that was calculated to produce the noise of walking” (Jessee 6).
During this struggle, “thick darkness” or a “dark cloud” (Hyde) seemed to gather around him and he felt that he was “doomed to sudden destruction” and must abandon himself “to the power of some actual being from the unseen world.” He exerted all of his powers to call upon God for deliverance “out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon” him, and it was at that dark moment that he saw a pillar of light or fire—shining with a brilliance above the brightness of the sun—appear exactly over his head. With its appearance, he found himself delivered from the enemy that had bound him (JS-H 1:1-17).
This pillar of light descended gradually, coming from a “considerable distance.” While it descended, Joseph continued to pray, and, as Orson Pratt wrote,
As it drew nearer, it increased in brightness and magnitude, so that, by the time that it reached the tops of the trees, the whole wilderness, for some distance around was illuminated in a most glorious and brilliant manner. He expected to have seen the leaves and boughs of the trees consumed, as soon as the light came in contact with them; but perceiving that it did not produce that effect, he was encouraged with the hope of being able to endure its presence (Pratt).
When the fiery pillar finally reached the ground, Joseph recalled that it, “rested down upon me, and filled me with unspeakable joy” (Jessee 6). “My mind,” he wrote, “was taken away from the objects with which I was surrounded, and I was enwrapped in a heavenly vision” (Teachings 438).
In this vision, one personage initially appeared, and, “after a while a other person came to the side of the first” (Allen 12). These two personages “exactly resembled each other in features and likeness, surrounded with a brilliant light which eclipsed the sun at noon day” (Teachings 438). The first personage called Joseph by name and introduced the second personage, stating that “This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!” (JS-H 1:17).
This second personage then spoke to the youth, saying, “Joseph [my son] thy 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” (Jessee 4). This answered one of his major concerns—that of his own salvation and forgiveness of sins—but he still wanted to know which church to join and was concerned about the welfare of mankind in general. “Therefore,” he later wrote, “No sooner… 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” (JS-H 1:18). Alexander Neibaur recalled that Joseph asked a more specific question: “Must I join the Methodist Church[?]” (Allen 12). That question was answered by the personage who said, “No, they are not my People, have gone astray” (Allen 12), and the answer to the general question according to Joseph was that, “I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong” (JS-H 1:19).
The Lord went on to explain that, “all religious denominations were believing in incorrect doctrines, and that none of them was acknowledged of God as His Church and kingdom” (Teachings 438) and that “the world lieth in sin and at this time and none doeth good no not one they have turned asside from the Gospel and keep not <my> commandments” (Jessee 4). He also said that, “all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: ‘they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof’” (JS-H 1:19). As for how the Lord felt about this condition, he stated, “mine anger is kindling against the inhabitants of the earth to visit them acording to this ungodliness and to bring to pass that which [hath] been spoken by the mouth of the prophets and Apostles” and that, “behold and lo I come quickly as it written of me in the cloud<clothed> in the glory of my Father” (Jessee 4). Joseph received a second admonition to “join with any of them [the churches of the day]” (JS-H 1:20). He did, however, receive a promise that, “the fullness of the Gospel should at some future time be made known unto me” (Teachings 438) and was told “many other things” which he was unable to write (JS-H 1:20).
When the vision closed and he came to, he found himself lying on his back (JS-H 1:20), and “felt uncomen feeble” (Allen 12). He made his way home, and when his mother asked what was the matter, he brushed off her concern, saying “Never mind, all is well—I am well enough off” but added, “I have learned for myself that Presbyterianism is not true” (JS-H 1:20). We do not know how much he shared about the experience at first, though by one account, we are told that he withdrew from the Methodist class, stating that “all sectarianism was fallacious, all the churches on a false foundation” (Anderson 7).[1] He also discussed the vision with at least one Methodist minister—a common thing to do for someone who was recently “reborn” so as to test the validity of their conversion—and was shocked by the response: “He treated my communication not only lightly, but with great contempt, saying it was all of the devil, that there were no such things as visions or revelations in these days; that all such things had ceased with the apostles and that there would never be any more of them” (JS-H 1:21). Joseph may have told a few others, but, “soon found, however, that my telling the story had excited a great deal of prejudice against me among the professors of religion” (JS-H 1:22). Even so, he continued to uphold that, “it was nevertheless a fact that I had beheld a vision… I had actually seen a light, and in the midst of that light I saw two Personages, and they did in reality speak to me… and I could not deny it” (JS-H 1:24-25).
Significance
Why, then, was this experience so significant? The answer lies in the life of Joseph Smith. Starting from this experience as well as several visits from angels that would follow in future years, Joseph began to proclaim that he was a prophet and apostle of God, much like the Biblical servants of the Lord such as Noah, Moses, Peter, and Paul had been. He spent his life establishing and guiding the Mormon community. According to one topical reference book that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints published a few years ago, Joseph’s accomplishments included “bringing forth the Book of Mormon, restoring the priesthood, revealing precious gospel truths, organizing the true Church of Jesus Christ, and establishing temple work” (True 89).
The book went on to state that, “For your testimony of the restored gospel to be complete it must include a testimony of Joseph Smith’s divine mission. The truthfulness of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints rests on the truthfulness of the First Vision and the other revelations the Lord gave to the Prophet Joseph” (True 90). This becomes important when one considers what the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints claims to be–the only Church acknowledged by God as His Church and Kingdom on the earth today. In the First Vision, the Lord had told Joseph that there was no church that He acknowledged because they believed in incorrect doctrines and denied the power of godliness. Joseph was to be called to the ministry as a means of rectifying the situation. As one later revelation said: “Wherefore, I the Lord, knowing the calamity which should come upon the inhabitants of the earth, called upon my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and spake unto him from heaven, and gave him commandments” (D&C 1:17). The life work summarized above were the efforts made to rectify the situation and the organization that Joseph started carries on in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today, which claims to be—as the same revelation states—“the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth, with which I, the Lord, am well pleased” (D&C 1:30).
The First Vision is significant as the starting point of Joseph Smith’s prophetic career.
Image courtesy LDS.org
The First Vision’s role in this claim is that it served as Joseph Smith’s initial prophetic calling and authorization. It outlined the situation that his life was to be spent trying to fix. It was, as Gordon B. Hinckley said, “the great curtain-raiser on the dispensation of the fullness of times.” If what Joseph said happened in the First Vision is true, then all that came after has a good foundation. If it is false, then the Church is—at least in part—a sham. That is why President Hinckley also called the First Vision experience “the great keystone of our faith and our testimony.”
Obviously, then, most writing that has been done about the First Vision has been done in a highly-charged and—at times—polemic atmosphere. Mormon authors and scholars have their belief system in jeopardy and write to defend the event. Non-Mormons and ex-Mormons strike against the vision to support their own worldview. In a sense, Mormons should at least understand (though not necessarily agree) when a member of another faith attacks the First Vision, since the message of that event is an assault on their way of life and belief system as well. As for ex-Mormons, the position of the First Vision is very much like Elder Jeffrey R. Holland’s assessment of the Book of Mormon, that, “if he or she leaves this Church, it must be done by crawling over or under or around the Book of Mormon to make that exit” (Holland). For example, Fawn M. Brodie—author of No Man Knows My History—spoke privately to Dale Morgan, her closest adviser, of her need to assert her independence from her former faith. She called it a “compulsion to liberate myself wholly from Mormonism” (Harper 22). Her book—which still stands among the most effective attacks on the First Vision and the life of Joseph Smith—was the result of that compulsion.
Ex-Mormons such as Fawn Brodie and the Tanners have written about the First Vision as part of their attempts to invalidate their former faith.
This atmosphere has—at times—resulted in intellectual lockjaw for both sides of the argument. Yet, overall the discussion has resulted in a deeper understanding of the event. Ultimately it is impossible to say for certain with empirical evidence that the vision happened, since Joseph was the only person this side of the veil that was present for the event. At best, we may only say that it seems either likely or unlikely that he was telling the truth of what happened in that Grove. We can, however, look at what we do know of the events to try and piece together what led Joseph to pray, what he claimed happened, and how that claim has affected his followers over the years.
In his writing, Joseph left us four or five accounts his vision and there are five accounts left to us by contemporaries that heard the Prophet relate the story in person. These accounts have only gradually been discovered and new questions have appeared with each discovery. The most widely-known Joseph Smith account of the First Vision was the 1838 “official” account printed in the Pearl of Great Price, but there are also the 1832 account written as part of an early attempt at recording Church history, two 1835 journal entries that records Joseph telling the First Vision to visitors, and a brief summary of the event found in the 1842 Wentworth letter. In addition, there are accounts found in missionary tracts by Orson Pratt and Orson Hyde, a newspaper editorial by David Nye White, a journal entry about public sermon in Nauvoo by Levi Richards and another journal entry by Alexander Neibaur recording a private discussion with Joseph in 1844. Each of these accounts has unique details and sometimes there is a bit of dissonance—especially at first glance—between the accounts. There is also, however, a fair amount of unanimity of details as well between all ten retellings.
The discrepancies between the accounts, however, have left room for attempts to invalidate the experience as a whole or to at least escape the burden of the vision’s message. Specific examples of this will be given and responded to throughout this series. Another interesting side effect of the emphasis placed on the First Vision by the Church and the existence of multiple accounts is that it can cause some faithful Latter-day Saints to become uncomfortable in their beliefs. Some people have expressed disenchantment with the Church upon finding out that there are multiple accounts, concerned that they haven’t heard of them before. About such people, historian Dean C. Jessee has said, “I think they’d be okay if they were a little more inclined to read” (Harper and Topp). The fact of the matter is that the Church has published many of the accounts at various times and through various means and that it allows other groups to publish the accounts as well. Emphasis is placed upon the official, canonized account found in the Pearl of Great Price, of course, but that doesn’t mean that the other accounts haven’t been made available. For example, in a BYU Studies volume published in 1969, the entire issue was dedicated to research about the setting and accounts of the First Vision, with the 1832 and 1835 accounts published therein. Several articles have appeared in the official Church periodicals—The Improvement Era and the Ensign—over the years that discuss and quote from the various accounts, and in recent times, the accounts have been published an placed online by the Joseph Smith Papers project. Also, in the Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith book that served as the curriculum manual for the Relief Society and Melchizedek Priesthood organizations in the Church for 2007-2008, two accounts were published in full with a third one published in part. More recently, as part of what I’m assuming is the Answers to Gospel Questions set that the Church has been threatening to do something with for years, a page has been added to LDS.org that addresses the various accounts of the First Vision. Other examples may be cited, but the point is that the Church has made them accessible to anyone who cares to look.
The Joseph Smith Papers–one of many places the First Vision accounts have been published.
With that availability in mind, why is it important for Mormons to study these accounts? James B. Allen answered that question in an Improvement Era article written in 1970. He stated that,
We believe that Joseph Smith was telling the truth each time he related his experience, and that the scribes recorded his ideas as accurately as possible. Thus, a study of the combined accounts presents some fascinating new insights into the experience and personal development of the young prophet. Not only do we discover more details about what may have happened both before and after he entered the Sacred Grove, but we also gain valuable insight into how these events affected him personally and helped him in his spiritual growth (8).
The purpose—then—of these posts is to present every known account of the First Vision and a survey of the scholarly work and discussion surrounding them. Each account written by Joseph Smith will be shown, the unique aspects and controversial moments examined for each, and at least one subject of scholarly debate will be presented for each account. Contemporary and later accounts will also be presented as a part of this series with some discussion of their significance as well. The hope is that a deeper appreciation and understanding of the First Vision will be gained through these posts, since it is the great curtain-raiser of this dispensation.
Statue of the First Vision found in the LDS Conference Center in SLC, UT.
Works Cited
Allen, James B. “Eight Contemporary Accounts of Joseph Smiths First Vision—What Do We Learn from Them?” Improvement Era (April 1970), pp. 4-13.
Anderson, Richard Lloyd. “Circumstantial Confirmation of the First Vision through Reminiscences.” BYU Studies 9, no. 3 (1969).
Harper, Steven C. “Evaluating Three Arguments Against Joseph Smith’s First Vision.” Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture, vol. 2 (2012) 17-33.
Hinckley, Gordon B. Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1997.
Holland, Jeffrey R. “Safety for the Soul.” Conference Report October 2009. Web. 1 June 2013.
Howard, Richard P. “Joseph Smith’s First Vision: The RLDS Tradition.” Journal of Mormon History Vol. 7 (1980) 23-29.
Hyde, Orson. A Cry in the Wilderness, A Voice From the Dust of the Earth, trans. Justus Ernst. Frankfurt: 1842.
Jessee, Dean C. “The Early Accounts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision.” BYU Studies Vol. 9, no. 3 (1969).
Pratt, Orson. Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions, and of the Late Discovery of Ancient American Records. Edinburgh: Ballantyne and Hughes, 1940, pp. 3-6.
Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith. Salt Lake City: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2007.
True to the Faith. Salt Lake City: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2004.
Smith, Joseph F. Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1939.
[1] This account—written in a negative tone also added that Joseph said “the Bible [was] a fable.” The author spoke of the Smiths as “unqualified atheists,” and may have added the last bit to emphasize that point (Anderson 9).
Prophets, Seers, and Revelators 