From FAIRMormon
Criticism
One discrepancy between the 1832 First Vision account and the official 1838 recital is that it portrays Jesus Christ as prophesying that He will return to earth quickly to destroy wicked mortals. The 1838 story makes no mention of the impending doom of this planet's depraved inhabitants.
Source(s) of the criticism
- Mormon Apologetics and Discussion Board (Janaury 2007).
Response
This criticism loses its negative effect when it is weighed in the balance against the content of the relevant historical documents. In the 1832 account the Lord says:
- "mine anger is kindling against the inhabitants of the earth to visit them acording to th[e]ir ungodliness and to bring to pass that which <hath> been spoken by the mouth of the prophets and Ap[o]stles behold and lo I come quickly as it [is] written of me in the cloud <clothed> in the glory of my Father".
There is, indeed, no reference to this specific prophecy in the First Vision portion of the 1838 document. However, Joseph Smith clearly states in that very narrative that Jesus Christ told him "many other things" during the First Vision that he decided not to write down at that time! Thus, an argument from silence (on the part of the critics) is utterly unconvincing. A close look at the remainder of the 1838 historical text reveals that the angel Moroni did, in fact, speak to Joseph Smith about prophecies of the Savior's return and the destruction of the wicked. The Prophet reports:
- "[The angel] first quoted part of the third chapter of Malachi and he quoted also the fourth or last chapter of the same prophecy though with a little variation from the way it reads in our Bibles. Instead of quoting the first verse as reads in our books he quoted it thus, 'For behold the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud <yea> and all that do wickedly shall burn as stubble, for <they> that cometh shall burn them saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.' And again he quoted the fifth verse thus, 'Behold I will reveal unto you the Priesthood by the hand of Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.' . . . . He also quoted the second chapter of Joel from the twenty eighth to the last verse. He also said that this was not yet fulfilled but was soon to be."
The 1832 and 1838 histories present the very same prophecy of the destruction of the wicked at the time of the Lord's Second Coming. The 1832 account portrays the Lord speaking it personally; the 1838 account portrays an angel relaying the words of the Lord as recorded in prophetic, biblical texts. Either way, the message is the same.
Conclusion
The claim that there is a discrepancy between the 1832 and 1838 First Vision accounts on the point of the Second Coming and destruction of the wicked appears to be a desperate attempt at sowing discord. It is a charge without much substance. The Prophet's own statement about the omission of certain items can be legitimately utilized to account for several differences in the two documents.
Endnotes
None
Further reading
FAIR wiki articles
| | First Vision wiki articles
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- Claims about the 1832 First Vision account
- Claims about other members and the First Vision
| | Joseph Smith other visionary issues wiki articles
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FAIR web site
- FAIR Topical Guide: The First Vision FAIR link
- D. Charles Pyle and Cooper Johnson, "Did early LDS leaders really misunderstand the First Vision?" FAIR link
- Craig Ray, "Joseph Smith's History Confirmed," (Mesa, Arizona: FAIR, August 2002) FAIR link (Key source)
| | Joseph Smith other visionary issues FAIR links
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- Craig Ray, "Joseph Smith's History Confirmed," (Mesa, Arizona: FAIR, August 2002) FAIR link
External links
| | First Vision on-line links
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Primary sources
Articles about the First Vision
- Richard L. Anderson, "Circumstantial Confirmation of the First Vision through Reminiscences," Brigham Young University Studies 9:3 (1969): 1–27. PDF link
- Milton V. Backman Jr., "Awakenings in the Burned-over District: New Light on the Historical Setting of the First Vision," Brigham Young University Studies 9:3 (1969): 301. PDF link
- Milton V. Backman, Jr., "Confirming Witnesses of the First Vision," Ensign (January 1986): 32. off-site
- Milton V. Backman, "First Vision," Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 4 vols., edited by Daniel H. Ludlow, (New York, Macmillan Publishing, 1992), 2:515–516. ISBN 002904040X. off-site off-site off-site
- Milton V. Backman, Jr., "Joseph Smith's Recitals of the First Vision," Ensign (January 1985): 8. off-site
- Richard L. Bushman, "The First Vision Story Revived," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 4:1 (Spring 1969): 82–93. off-site
- Eugene England, "Orson Scott Card: The Book of Mormon as History and Science Fiction (Review of Homecoming, vols. 1-5; A Storyteller in Zion: Essays and Speeches; by Orson Scott Card)," FARMS Review of Books 6/2 (1994): 59–78. off-site PDF link
- Dean C. Jesse, "Early Accounts of Joseph Smith (1831–1839)," Brigham Young University Studies 9:3 (1969): 275–294. PDF link
- Dean C. Jesse, The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, revised edition, (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book, 2002), 9–20. ISBN 1573457876. off-site (Key source)
- Elden Watson, "Joseph Smith's First Vision—A Harmony";—complete text of all Joseph Smith's accounts on-line off-site (Key source)
- Elden Watson, "Joseph Smith's First Vision (introduction)" off-site
| | Joseph Smith other visionary issues on-line links
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- Dean C. Jesse, "Early Accounts of Joseph Smith (1831–1839)," Brigham Young University Studies 9:3 (1969): 275–294. PDF link
- David L. Paulsen, "The Doctrine of Divine Embodiment: Resotration, Judeo-Christian, and Philosophical Perspectives," Brigham Young University Studies 35:4 (1995–96): 6–94. PDF link (Key source)
Printed material
| | First Vision printed works
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- James B. Allen, "The Emergence of a Fundamental: The Expanding Role of Joseph Smith’s First Vision in Mormon Thought," Journal of Mormon History 7 (1980): 437–461.
- James B. Allen, "Eight Contemporary Accounts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision–What Do We Learn From Them?," Improvement Era (April 1970): 4–13. GospeLink
- Richard L. Bushman, Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism (Urbana and Chicago, Illinois: University of Illinois Press; Reprint edition, 1987), 56–. ISBN 0252060121.
- Richard L. Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling (New York: Knopf, 2005), 30–56. ISBN 1400042704
- James B. Allen and John W. Welch, "The Apperance of the Father and the Son to Joseph Smith in 1820," in Opening the Heavens: Accounts of Divine Manifestations 1820–1844 (Documents in Latter-day Saint History), edited by John W. Welch with Erick B. Carlson, (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press / Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company, 2005), 35–75. ISBN 0842526072. See also BYU Studies version: PDF link
- Milton V. Backman, Joseph Smith’s First Vision: The first vision in its historical context (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1971).
- Milton V. Backman Jr., Joseph Smith’s First Vision: Confirming Evidences and Contemporary Accounts, 2nd ed. (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1980).
- Dean C. Jesse, "The Earliest Documented Accounts of Joseph Smith's First Vision," in Opening the Heavens: Accounts of Divine Manifestations 1820–1844 (Documents in Latter-day Saint History), edited by John W. Welch with Erick B. Carlson, (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press / Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company, 2005), 1–33. ISBN 0842526072. (Key source) See also BYU Studies version: PDF link
- Dean C. Jesse, The Early Accounts of Joseph Smith's First Vision (Mormon Miscellaneous reprint series) (Mormon Miscellaneous, 1984).
- Dean C. Jessee (editor), The Papers of Joseph Smith: Autobiographical and Historical Writings (Vol. 1 of 2) (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company, 1989), 6–7, 127, 272–73, 429–30, 444, and 448–49.. ISBN 0875791999
- Dean C. Jesse, The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, revised edition, (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book, 2002), 5–6, 75–76, 199–200, 213. ISBN 0877479747. Rev. ed. off-site
- Hugh W. Nibley, Tinkling Cymbals and Sounding Brass: The Art of Telling Tales About Joseph Smith and Brigham Young (Vol. 11 of the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley), edited by David J. Whittaker, (Salt Lake City, Utah : Deseret Book Company ; Provo, Utah : Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1991), 55–101. ISBN 0875795161. GospeLink
| | Joseph Smith other visionary issues printed works
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- Hugh W. Nibley, Tinkling Cymbals and Sounding Brass: The Art of Telling Tales About Joseph Smith and Brigham Young (Vol. 11 of the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley), edited by David J. Whittaker, (Salt Lake City, Utah : Deseret Book Company ; Provo, Utah : Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1991), 1. ISBN 0875795161. GospeLink
