Parley P. Pratt only said that "God" appeared

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General critcisms:

1832 Account:

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Other criticisms:

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Contents

Criticism

Elder Parley P. Pratt said that only one personage ("God") appeared in "open vision" to Joseph Smith and "called" him to His work. This is evidence that there was confusion about the details of the First Vision story even among high Church authorities shortly after the Prophet's death.

Source(s) of the criticism

Response

The statement that the critics refer to was written by Elder Parley P. Pratt in New York state on 1 January 1845 and published as a proclamation to the Latter-day Saints who resided in the eastern states of the U.S. The relevant part of this document says,

“The people did not choose that great modern apostle and prophet, Joseph Smith, but God chose him in the usual way that He has chosen others before him, viz., by open vision, and by His own voice from the heavens. He it was that called him..."[1]

Critics attempt to impose a narrow interpretation upon these words but their tactic is all in vain. Elder Pratt provides evidence that he, along with many others, heard the First Vision story from the Prophet himself during a public gathering. On 27 November 1836 Parley wrote from Kirtland, Ohio to Church members located in Canada and informed them:

“One week before word was publicly given that Br. J. Smith Jr. would give a relation of the coming forth of the records and also of the rise of the Church and of his experience. Accordingly a vast concourse assembled at an early hour. Every seat was crowded and 4 or 5 hundred people stood up in the aisles. Br. S[mith] gave the history of these things relating many particulars of the manner of his first visions etc. The Spirit and power of God was upon him in bearing testimony insomuch that many if not most of the congregation were in tears – as for myself I can say that all the reasonings in uncertainty and all the conclusions drawn from the writings of others . . . however great in themselves dwindle into insignificance when compared with the living testimony when your eyes see and your ears hear from the living oracles of God”.[2]

As the following short timeline demonstrates, if Elder Pratt didn't already know the First Vision story by 1836 he had ample opportunity to learn about it through the publishing efforts of members of his Church administrative quorum (the Twelve Apostles), several of whom printed the account on two different continents - including his own brother Orson. Notice in the information below that Parley printed his 1845 proclamation in New York and that is where some of the published First Vision accounts were being distributed.

1840

Orson Pratt, An Intersting Account of Several Remarkable Visions (Edinburgh, Scotland: Ballantyne and Hughes, 1840).

1841

First American printing of Orson Pratt, An Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions, rev. ed. (New York: Joseph W. Harrison, 1841).

1841

Second American printing of Orson Pratt, An Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions (New York: Joseph W. Harrison, 1841).

1841

Orson Pratt' pamphlet An Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions is advertised for sale in Nauvoo, Ilinois and it is said in the advertisement: “This . . . work will be found to contain information of great importance, as it will save the traveling elders the labor of constantly relating, over and over again, those things in which every new enquirer is so deeply interested, and upon which he is so very anxious to obtain correct information” (Times and Seasons, vol. 2, no. 19, 2 August 1841, 502). [Notice the implication that missionaries are using the First Vision story as a teaching tool in 1841. There is documentary evidence that missionaries were telling this story much earlier]

1841

The same advertisement and note are repeated for Orson Pratt's An Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions (Times and Seasons, vol. 2, no. 21, 1 September 1841, 534).

1841

Orson Pratt’s pamphlet is listed for sale as “Remarkable Visions” in the Millennial Star, vol. 2, no. 6, October 1841, 96–97.

1842

Third American printing of Orson Pratt, An Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions (New York: Joseph W. Harrison, 1842).

1842

Orson Hyde, A Cry in the Wilderness (Frankfurt, Germany: Orson Hyde, 1842).

1842

The Wentworth Letter First Vision account is published (Times and Seasons, vol. 3, no. 9, 1 March 1842, 706–707).

1842

Joseph Smith publishes the official History of the Church First Vision account: Part 1 (Times and Seasons, vol. 3, no. 11, 1 April 1842, 748–49); Part 2 (Times and Seasons, vol. 3, no. 12, 15 April 1842, 753).

1842

The official History of the Church recital is reprinted (Millennial Star, vol. 3, no. 2, June 1842, 22–23) [“From the ‘Times and Seasons’”]

1844

John E. Page and Lucien R. Foster, Correspondence Between Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and Col. John Wentworth, Editor of “The Chicago Democrat,” and Member of Congress from Illinois (New York City: Joseph W. Harrison, 1844), 3-6. [Wentworth Letter]

Conclusion

If Elder Parley P. Pratt's 1845 proclamation to the eastern U.S. Saints does not happen to contain enough First Vision story elements to satify the unrealistic demands of modern critics it does not mean that he was unaware of the orthodox version of the event. It simply means that he chose not to include specific details that were otherwise available - to the public in general and to Church members in particular.

Endnotes

  1. [back] {{{author}}}, "{{{article}}}," Millennial Star 5/10 (March 1845): 150.
  2. [back] Parley P. Pratt to the Elders and Brethren of the Church of Latter-day Saints in Canada, 27 November 1836, MS, LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Further reading

FAIR wiki articles

First Vision wiki articles
Claims about the 1832 First Vision account
Claims about other members and the First Vision
Joseph Smith other visionary issues wiki articles
God wiki articles

Video

Revised or Unaltered?: Joseph Smith's Foundational Stories, Matthew Brown, 2006 FAIR Conference

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

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
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