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Question: Did Joseph Smith decide that all churches were wrong before he received the First Vision?: Difference between revisions
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[[en:Question: Did Joseph Smith decide that all churches were wrong before he received the First Vision?]] | [[en:Question: Did Joseph Smith decide that all churches were wrong before he received the First Vision?]] | ||
[[es:Pregunta: ¿José Smith decidir que todas las iglesias estaban equivocadas antes de recibir la Primera Visión?]] | [[es:Pregunta: ¿José Smith decidir que todas las iglesias estaban equivocadas antes de recibir la Primera Visión?]] | ||
[[pt:Pergunta: Como Joseph Smith poderia chegar à conclusão de que todas as igrejas estavam erradas em seu próprio país?]] | |||
Revision as of 15:41, 13 August 2015
Question: Did Joseph Smith decide that all churches were wrong before he received the First Vision?
Criticisms of Joseph's 1832 account compared to his 1835 account of the First Vision
In his 1832 history, Joseph Smith said:
I found [by searching the scriptures] that mankind did not come unto the Lord but that they had apostatized from the true and living faith and there was no society or denomination that built upon the gospel of Jesus Christ as recorded in the New Testament.
But in 1835 he said, “I knew not who [of the denominations] was right or who was wrong.”
- It this a contradiction and is this evidence that the First Vision story evolved over time?
- One critic of the Church states, "In the 1832 account, Joseph said that before praying he knew that there was no true or living faith or denomination upon the earth as built by Jesus Christ in the New Testament. His primary purpose in going to prayer was to seek forgiveness of his sins. . . .In the official 1838 account, Joseph said his “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”…”(for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong)”"
If you had come to the conclusion that mankind has apostatized from the true faith, and you suddenly found Jesus standing in front of you, wouldn't you ask Him if any of those churches was the correct one?
If you had come to the conclusion that mankind has apostatized from the true faith, and you suddenly found Jesus standing in front of you, wouldn't you ask Him if any of those churches was the correct one? Or would you simply tell Him, "never mind, I already figured it out for myself?"
Besides, where is the inconsistency? How many churches did Joseph have immediate knowledge of? Three or four? Joseph determined that the churches with which he had direct experience did not adhere to the scriptures and that therefore mankind "had apostatized from the true and living faith." During his vision, he then asked the Lord which church was right, because it had not occurred to him that the Lord's church didn't exist anywhere on the face of the earth. It had never entered into his heart that all churches were wrong.
Joseph's motivation in his 1832 account, in addition to seeking forgiveness of his sins, was also to determine whether God's church was upon the earth
There is no contradiction in the two texts presented in the above argument, only a short-sighted understanding of some isolated sources. The answer to this apparent contradiction lies in a detailed examination of relevant texts.
Notes