Joseph Smith did not know if God existed in 1823

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Joseph Smith Early Smith history 1820 Revival Joined other churches? Unsure of God in 1823? Early understanding of God All wrong? Details added over time? Personages were angels? No ref in 1830s? Fabricated to bolster authority? Changed by 1838 apostasy? Without priesthood can't see God? 1832 Account No new dispensation? Different age? Different motivation? No persecution? No revival? Not forbidden to convert? Wicked destroyed? Only one Deity? In heaven or earth? Unconditional salvation? Struggle with Satan? Others' accounts George Q. Cannon Cowdery version of 1834-5? Orson Hyde Andrew Jensen Heber C. Kimball| Orson Pratt George A. Smith Lucy Mack Smith Orson Spencer John Taylor Brigham never spoke of 1st vision? Brigham claimed an angel? Seldom published pre-1877 (short)?•(long) LDS Father/Son pre-1838? Non-LDS pre-1843? D&C 121:28 Father: Spirit vs. Embodied Nephi or Moroni in 1823? Personages seen by Joseph
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Joseph Smith, Jr.

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Contents 1 Criticism 1.1 Source(s) of the Criticism 2 Response 3 Conclusion 4 Endnotes 5 Further reading 5.1 FAIR wiki articles 5.2 FAIR web site 5.3 External links 5.3.1 Primary sources 5.3.2 Articles about the First Vision 5.4 Printed material

Criticism

According to a historical document published in Kirtland, Ohio in 1835 the Prophet Joseph Smith did not know if God existed in the year 1823. This text, therefore, provides evidence that Joseph Smith simply made up the story about the First Vision happening in the year 1820.

Source(s) of the Criticism

Response

The text that critics are referring to was created by Oliver Cowdery and printed in the Church's official Kirtland, Ohio newspaper in February 1835. The relevant passage reads:

"This would bring the date down to the year 1823....[Joseph] continued to call upon the Lord in secret for a full manifestation of divine approbation, and for, to him, the all important information, if a Supreme being did exist, to have an assurance that he was accepted of [H]im." (Messenger and Advocate, vol. 1, no. 5, February 1835, 78; emphasis added).

There are three major problems with the interpretation of Oliver Cowdery's text that is insisted upon by critics.

(#1) - Oliver Cowdery himself was teaching at the first of November 1830 that Joseph Smith had - previous to that time - seen God "personally." (The Reflector, vol. 2, no. 13, 14 February 1831 [Palmyra, New York])

(#2) - Joseph Smith's 1832 history plainly states that his "Parents . . . spared no pains to instructing [him] in <the> [C]hristian religion" and at the time of his First Vision he himself believed "<it is a> fool <that> saith in his heart there is no God." (Dean Jessee, ed., Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, rev. ed. [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2002], ---). It can be demonstrated that Oliver Cowdery had possession of the Prophet's 1832 history while he was writing his own 1835 historical account and so Cowdery knew not only about Joseph's personal belief in a Supreme Being prior to the First Vision but also that he saw Deity during that event.

(#3) - A close look at Joseph Smith's description of the First Vision given on 9 November 1835 (just a few months after Cowdery's statement was published) demonstrates that Cowdery was modifying a set of ideas that he had obviously heard the Prophet relate in verbal form.

OLIVER COWDERY (February 1835): "the all important information, if a Supreme [B]eing did exist, to have an assurance....[H]is word remains steadfast"

JOSEPH SMITH (November 1835): "under a realising sense that [the Lord] had said (if the Bible be true)"

Notice that both sets of remarks speak of (1) a supreme Being/the Lord (2) the Lord's word/the Bible, (3) being steadfast/true, and (4) the parenthetical question of "if."

Since Oliver Cowdery knew Joseph Smith believed in God before the First Vision took place, and knew for a fact that God existed because of his First Vision experience, then it is unreasonable to interpret Cowdery's printed words to mean that 'Joseph Smith was not sure if there was a God in 1823.'

Most importantly, it cannot be forgotten that "1823" in Cowdery's article represents an incorrect editorial change by him which was reset to 1820 by the Prophet in subsequent historical texts (such as the 1838 recital and the Wentworth Letter).

Conclusion

Oliver Cowdery's February 1835 historical narrative should not be interpreted in the manner that critics of the Church insist upon. Their understanding of this issue is limited by their focus on the exploitation of perceived problems. An attempt to understand the nature and context of the document is much more enlightening and provides insight into an early period of the Church.

Endnotes

None

Further reading

FAIR wiki articles

First Vision wiki articles

• First Vision accounts (Summary and index page)
• Religious revivals in 1820
• Conflation of 1824-25 revival?
• Early Smith family history
• Contradiction about knowing all churches were wrong
• Joseph Smith did not know if God existed in 1823
• Joseph Smith joined other churches
• 1830 statement about seeing "God"
• First Vision fabricated to give "Godly authority"
• D&C 84 says God not seen without priesthood?
• No reference to First Vision in 1830s publications?
• 1838 account modified to offset leadership crisis?
• First Vision story became more detailed and colorful after 1832?
• The "Angels" of the 1835 account  ^{[needs work]}
• Controversy Concerning D&C 121:28
• The Father: A Spirit vs. Embodied
• Lack of contemporary Father and Son vision until 1838?
• No mention in non-LDS literature before 1843?
• Seldom mentioned in LDS publications before 1877
  • Longer version (timeline)

Claims about the 1832 First Vision account

• Only one Personage appears in the 1832 account
• 1832 account doesn't mention new dispensation
• 1832 account doesn't mention a revival
• 1832 account doesn't forbid joining a church
• 1832 account doesn't mention persecution
• Motivation in 1832 account is different
• Different age provided in the 1832 text
• Struggle with Satan not in the 1832 account
• 1832 says wicked will be destroyed but 1838 doesn't
• 1832 vision set in heaven or on earth?
• Eternal life regardless of church affiliation in 1832 text?

Claims about other members and the First Vision

• George Q. Cannon referred to "angels"
• Oliver Cowdery not aware of First Vision in 1834-35
• Orson Hyde referred to "angels"
• Andrew Jenson called personage an "angel"
• Heber C. Kimball denied the Father appeared
• Orson Pratt confused about "angel" or Father-Son
• Parley P. Pratt only said that "God" appeared
• George A. Smith said First Vision was an "angel"
• Lucy Mack Smith claimed "angel"?
• William Smith said First Vision was an "angel"?
• Orson Spencer said an "angel" was the first manifestation?
• John Taylor's understanding of the First Vision
• Wilford Woodruff spoke of an "angel"
• Brigham Young said the Lord didn't appear
• Brigham Young never mentioned the First Vision

Joseph Smith other visionary issues wiki articles

• Joseph Smith's early conception of God
• Moroni as an angel of Satan
• Did Nephi or Moroni appear in 1823?
• Personages who appeared to Joseph Smith
• Swedenborg and three degrees of glory

God wiki articles

• The Father: A Spirit vs. Embodied
• Corporeality of God
• Unchanging Nature of God
• Creatio ex nihilo
  • Creation in Colossians 1:16
• Downplaying the King Follett discourse?
• Elohim and Jehovah
• Foreknowledge of God
• God is a Spirit
• Godhead and the Trinity
• Heavenly Mother?
• Infinite regress of Gods?
• Kolob
• "No God beside me" - (includes Isaiah 43-46 issues)
• No man has seen God
• Polytheism - Are Mormons polytheists?
• Spirit bodies for humans and 1 Cor 15
• Theosis/deification of man

FAIR web site

First Vision FAIR links

• 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

• Craig Ray, "Joseph Smith's History Confirmed," (Mesa, Arizona: FAIR, August 2002) FAIR link

External links

First Vision on-line links

Primary sources

• Joseph Smith, Jr. A History of the Life of Joseph Smith (1832) (Contains the 1832 First Vision account)
• Joseph Smith, Jr. Joseph Smith Diary (1835–1836) (Contains the 1835 First Vision account on pages 22-23)

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

• 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

• 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

• 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