Multiple accounts of the First Vision/Orson Hyde referred to "angels"

Criticism

Apostle Orson Hyde said in an 1854 General Conference sermon that Jesus Christ did not appear personally on the earth to inaugurate the work of the last days. He said, rather, that angels performed this task. These remarks show that high-ranking Church authorities were confused about the details of the First Vision story, thought that angels were involved instead of Deity, and did not settle on a cohesive account until long after Joseph Smith's death.

Source(s) of the criticism

• Christian Research and Counsel, “Documented History of Joseph Smith’s First Vision,” full-color pamphlet, 10 pages. [There is a notation within this pamphlet indicating that research and portions of text were garnered from Utah Lighthouse Ministry]

Response

The text that is utilized by critics to bolster their claim of ‘confusion among early Church leaders’ is found in the Journal of Discourses and reads as follows:

6 April 1854

“Someone may say, ‘If this work of the last days be true, why did not the Savior come Himself to communicate this intelligence to the world?’ Because to the angels was committed the power of reaping the earth, and it was committed to none else”^[1]

This weak attempt by critics to cast doubt on the reliability of the traditional account of the First Vision can be neutralized by doing two things:

1. showing that Elder Hyde knew about the traditional story of the First Vision prior to making his 1854 remarks and
2. demonstrating that his remarks have been taken out of their proper context to serve the purposes of anti-Mormons.

Prior Knowledge

15 June 1841

When Orson Hyde was in London, England on a mission he wrote to the Prophet Joseph Smith and informed him: “I have written a book to publish in the German language, setting forth our doctrine and principles in as clear and concise a manner as I possibly could. After giving the history of the rise of the Church, in something the manner that Br[other] O[rson] Pratt did, I have written a snug little article upon every point of doctrine believed by the Saints.”^[2] Elder Hyde is referring to Elder Pratt’s missionary tract - published in Scotland in 1840 - called An Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions, which contained the first known published, full-length description of the First Vision event. Elder Hyde’s pamphlet contained a recounting of the First Vision that was very similar to the one found in Elder Pratt’s pamphlet.

1842

Elder Hyde’s pamphlet was published in Frankfurt, Germany sometime in the year 1842. It was called Eine Stimme aus dem Schoose der Erde (A Cry from the Wilderness, A Voice from the Depths of the Earth). This was the first known foreign-language rendition of the First Vision story.

6 February 1851

Elder Lorenzo Snow wrote a letter to Elder Orson Hyde on 6 February 1851 from Geneva, Switzerland and informed him that his own missionary tract called “The Voice of Joseph” (written between 23 July 1850 and 6 September 1850) was circulating in both Italy and Switzerland.^[3]

From the above information it can be determined that before Orson Hyde made his 1854 remarks he was aware of at least three orthodox First Vision accounts produced by members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:

1. Orson Pratt’s missionary tract [published in 1840],
2. his own missionary tract [written in 1841], and
3. Lorenzo Snow’s missionary tract [written in 1850].

It is high unlikely that Elder Hyde did not possess an accurate understanding of the First Vision story before the year 1854.

Out of Context

The proper context of Elder Hyde’s remarks can be determined simply by examining his opening statement. There he makes it clear that because it was currently the season for sowing crops he wanted to discourse on some parable imagery found in the 13th chapter of the New Testament book of Matthew (verses 1–9, 36–43).

A summary of Elder Hyde’s comments shows that he did not intend to speak about the First Vision at all; he wanted to impress upon that Saints that the latter-day work of gathering (the figurative harvest imagery) was inaugurated by angels and they would also play a role in the figurative separation of the wheat and the tares.

Summary -

The time of seeding or sowing was in the days of the Savior. The general harvest of the world [i.e., the gathering] was not to be in the days of the Savior. “[T]he grand harvest is reserved until the last — until the winding up scene; for it is said, 'The harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels' [Matthew 13:39], by whose agency this reaping dispensation was committed to the children of men”

"Someone may say, 'If this work of the last days be true, why did not the Savior come Himself to communicate this intelligence to the world?' Because to the angels was committed the power of reaping the earth, and it was committed to none else. And after the mighty champions that hold the keys of this dispensation came and brought the intelligence that the time of the harvest was now — that the time of the end was drawing nigh, — when this proclamation was made, and the announcement saluted the ears of the children of men, what was to be done next? Behold, the gathering of the Saints begins."

“Not only was the work of gathering to take place by the angels to whom it was committed, but the work of separating the tares from the wheat was committed to the angels also.”

Elder Hyde specifically mentioned that the "angels" were the agency through which "this reaping dispensation was committed to the children of men" and that these heavenly beings held "the keys of this dispensation." With these words he may well have been referring to the episode recorded in section 110 of the Doctrine and Covenants where angels tell Joseph Smith - "the keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands" (v. 16). They also "committed the gospel of the dispensation of Abraham" to the Prophet (v. 12) and, furthermore, they "committed unto [him] the keys of the gathering" (v. 11) - [harvest imagery]. Elder Hyde said in his sermon that the angels brought the news that "the time of the end was drawing nigh" and, significantly, the last of the angels to appear in D&C 110 said, "the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors" (v. 16).

Conclusion

When Elder Orson Hyde was discoursing in General Conference on 6 April 1854 he was NOT speaking about the First Vision (a story he knew very well from previously published literature) - he was trying to teach the Latter-day Saints about "the grand harvest" which would take place during "the winding up scene" and the part that "angels" would have in it. The evidence suggests that Elder Hyde was utilizing section 110 of the Doctrine and Covenants as the basis for some of his remarks about angels, NOT about the events that took place within the Sacred Grove.

Endnotes

1. [note]  Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses 6:335. off-site wiki
2. [note]  Orson Hyde, Times and Seasons 2 no. 23 (1 October 1841), 551. off-site GospeLink
3. [note]  Eliza R. Snow, Biography and Family Record of Lorenzo Snow (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1884), 176.