Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Use of sources/Lucy and the angel

1. REDIRECTTemplate:Test3

"This is My Beloved Son"

A FAIR Analysis of: Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods A work by author: Richard Abanes

Seeing the Plates

Lucy described an angel instead of God in the First Vision?

The Claim

One Nation under Gods, page 27 (hardback and paperback)

The book claims that Lucy Mack Smith, Joseph's mother, said that the "First Vision" was of the angel in 1823 (i.e. Moroni), and that the two visions were originally described as "a single 1823 event."

The References

Endnote 24, page 493 (hardback); page 491 (paperback)

• Lucy Mack Smith, "Preliminary Manuscript" of Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet, and His Progenitors for many Generations, cited in Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, vol. 1, 289-291.

The Problem

The author makes reference to “the various ‘second’ vision versions [Moroni] that have been infused with elements from Smith’s ‘first’ vision. Such accounts effectively eradicate the 1820 encounter with God and Jesus in the woods, thus making Smith’s 1823 meeting with Moroni his actual ‘first’ vision. These ‘blended’ stories directly contradict today’s LDS-authorized history that presents the 1820 vision in the woods (First Vision) and the 1823 nocturnal appearance by Moroni (Second Vision) as separate events” (ONUG 27 (HB)). The evidence he presents for this assertion includes:

1) Lucy Mack Smith, the Prophet’s mother, wrote a letter to her brother Solomon on January 6, 1831. The assertion is made:

“Many of the accounts produced during Smith’s earliest years as a Mormon leader included interviews with some of his closest/newest converts, yet none of these individuals mentioned anything about their leader having an encounter with two personages in a secluded grove. [by way of response to this claim see -- http://en.fairmormon.org/No_reference_to_First_Vision_in_1830s_publications%3F] A prime example of such an account comes from Joseph’s mother, Lucy Mack Smith. In a January 6, 1831 letter to her older brother—Solomon Mack, Jr.—Lucy explains that Joseph’s first vision connected to the Book of Mormon and the formation of the Mormon church was that of a ‘holy Angel.’ No mention is made of God the Father and Jesus Christ appearing to Joseph.” [ONUG 490 (HB), 488 (PB), note 78]

2) In another place ONUG claims that “Lucy wrote that Joseph’s first vision was that of ‘an holy Angel whose countenance was as lightning….’” [ONUG, 492, note 24]. Lucy's letter is then quoted:

“ . . . . an holy Angel whose countenance was as lightning and whose garments were white above all whiteness and gave unto him commandments which inspired him from on high. And gave unto him by the means of which was before prepared that he should translate this book, and by reading this our eyes are opened that we can see the situation in which the world now stands that the eyes of the whole world are blinded, that the churches have all become corrupted, yea every church upon the face of the earth; that the Gospel of Christ is nowhere preached, this is the situation which the world is now in, and you can judge”^[1]

Prior to this quotation Lucy had given a rather detailed account of the contents of the Book of Mormon, and then asked “perhaps you will enquire how this revelation come forth. It has been hid up in the earth fourteen hundred years . . . . Joseph after repenting of his sins and humbling himself before God was visited by an holy Angel . . .” [continuing as above].

Lucy’s entire letter is strictly about the Book of Mormon. She does not refer to it anywhere as Joseph’s ‘first vision’ -- a phrase which certainly has a specific connotation for Latter-day Saints. In a subsequent book, Becoming Gods, the author of ONUG has a chart (covering pages 32-33) entitled “Table 1.1 — Several of the earliest versions of Smith’s First Vision”. Lucy’s letter is the first one in the column titled “FIRST VISION VERSION.” It is not to be found on the two tables covering the First Vision in ONUG, but it is discussed in the text and in the footnotes. Clearly, Lucy’s letter is only about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon; it was not intended to be about the First Vision. See: http://en.fairmormon.org/Prophet%27s_mother_said_First_Vision_was_of_an_%22angel%22

==

Answer

==

The fact that ‘this manuscript’ or ‘that record’ ignores the vision of the Father and the Son does not mean that there was no such vision. Likewise, when the Book of Mormon vision is the only one given, it is not correct to refer to it as the first vision; it is simply the first of Joseph’s visions which that particular writer chose to write about. It may be the only one that a particular writer knew about, but that does not allow one to conclude that there was no vision prior to that one.

== Notes ==

1. [note]  The quotation from Lucy Smith is also found in Becoming Gods, chart page 32-3, and some commentary on page 34, where it is claimed that ‘no corruption of the church’ is mentioned; yet the quotation above contradicts such a statement. Although the author indicates that the letter was “unpublished until 1906” [Becoming Gods, 32], he does not indicate where, or by whom. First published by Ben E. Rich, President of the Southern States Mission, the letter has been long available to interested students of LDS history. See Elders Journal 4 (1 November 1906): 60-62 [Southern States Mission, Chattanooga, Tenn.]. It was later published in Rich, Scrap Book of Mormon Literature, 2 volumes (Chicago: Henry C. Etten and Co., no date [Vogel suggests 1913]): 543-5; also by Francis Kirkham, A New Witness for Christ in America. The Book of Mormon, 2 Volumes, (Salt Lake City, Utah: Brigham Young University 1942; 1960), 1:66.

Further reading

Template code	Inserts this reference	Click to edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: 8: The Mormon Proposition}}	To learn more box:responses to: 8: The Mormon Proposition	edit
{{To learn more box:''Under the Banner of Heaven''}}	To learn more about responses to: Under the Banner of Heaven	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Robert Price}}	To learn more about responses to: Robert Price	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Ankerberg and Weldon}}	To learn more about responses to: Ankerberg and Weldon	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Ashamed of Joseph}}	To learn more about responses to: Ashamed of Joseph	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Beckwith and Moser}}	To learn more about responses to: Beckwith and Moser	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Beckwith and Parrish}}	To learn more about responses to: Beckwith and Parrish	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Benjamin Park}}	To learn more about responses to: Benjamin Park	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Bible versus Joseph Smith}}	To learn more about responses to: Bible versus Joseph Smith	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Bible versus Book of Mormon}}	To learn more about responses to: Bible versus Book of Mormon	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: ''Big Love''}}	To learn more about responses to: Big Love	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Brett Metcalfe}}	To learn more about responses to: Brett Metcalfe	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Bill Maher}}	To learn more about responses to: Bill Maher	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Bruce H. Porter}}	To learn more about responses to: Bruce H. Porter	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Carol Wang Shutter}}	To learn more about responses to: Carol Wang Shutter	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: CES Letter}}	To learn more about responses to: CES Letter	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Charles Larson}}	To learn more about responses to: Charles Larson	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Christopher Nemelka}}	To learn more about responses to: Christopher Nemelka	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Colby Townshed}}	To learn more about responses to: Colby Townshed	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Contender Ministries}}	To learn more about responses to: Contender Ministries	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Crane and Crane}}	To learn more about responses to: Crane and Crane	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: D. Michael Quinn}}	To learn more about responses to: D. Michael Quinn	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Dan Vogel}}	To learn more about responses to: Dan Vogel	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: David John Buerger}}	To learn more about responses to: David John Buerger	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: David Persuitte}}	To learn more about responses to: David Persuitte	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Denver Snuffer}}	To learn more about responses to: Denver Snuffer	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Dick Bauer}}	To learn more about responses to: Dick Bauer	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Duwayne R Anderson}}	To learn more about responses to: Duwayne R Anderson	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Earl Wunderli}}	To learn more about responses to: Earl Wunderli	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Ed Decker}}	To learn more about responses to: Ed Decker	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Erikson and Giesler}}	To learn more about responses to: Erikson and Giesler	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Ernest Taves}}	To learn more about responses to: Ernest Taves	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Fawn Brodie}}	To learn more about responses to: Fawn Brodie	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: George D Smith}}	To learn more about responses to: George D Smith	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Grant Palmer}}	To learn more about responses to: Grant Palmer	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Hank Hanegraaff}}	To learn more about responses to: Hank Hanegraaff	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Hurlbut-Howe}}	To learn more about responses to: Hurlbut-Howe	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: James Brooke}}	To learn more about responses to: James Brooke	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: James Spencer}}	To learn more about responses to: James Spencer	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: James White}}	To learn more about responses to: James White	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Jerald and Sandra Tanner}}	To learn more about responses to: Jerald and Sandra Tanner	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Jesus Christ-Joseph Smith or Search for the Truth DVD}}	To learn more about responses to: Jesus Christ-Joseph Smith or Search for the Truth DVD	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: John Dehlin}}	To learn more about responses to: John Dehlin	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Jonathan Neville}}	To learn more about responses to: Jonathan Neville	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Kurt Van Gorden}}	To learn more about responses to: Kurt Van Gorden	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Laura King Newell and Valeen Tippetts Avery}}	To learn more about responses to: Laura King Newell and Valeen Tippetts Avery	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Loftes Tryk aka Lofte Payne}}	To learn more about responses to: Loftes Tryk aka Lofte Payne	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Luke WIlson}}	To learn more about responses to: Luke WIlson	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Marquardt and Walters}}	To learn more about responses to: Marquardt and Walters	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Martha Beck}}	To learn more about responses to: Martha Beck	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Mcgregor Ministries}}	To learn more about responses to: Mcgregor Ministries	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: McKeever and Johnson}}	To learn more about responses to: McKeever and Johnson	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: New Approaches}}	To learn more about responses to: New Approaches to the Book of Mormon	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Richard Abanes}}	To learn more about responses to: Richard Abanes	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Richard Van Wagoner}}	To learn more about responses to: Richard Van Wagoner	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Richard and Joan Ostling}}	To learn more about responses to: Richard and Joan Ostling	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Rick Grunger}}	To learn more about responses to: Rick Grunger	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Robert Ritner}}	To learn more about responses to: Robert Ritner	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Rod Meldrum}}	To learn more about responses to: Rod Meldrum	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Roger I Anderson}}	To learn more about responses to: Roger I Anderson	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Ronald V. Huggins}}	To learn more about responses to: Ronald V. Huggins	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Sally Denton}}	To learn more about responses to: Sally Denton	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Simon Southerton}}	To learn more about responses to: Simon Southerton	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Thomas Murphy}}	To learn more about responses to: Thomas Murphy	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Todd Compton}}	To learn more about responses to: Todd Compton	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Vernal Holley}}	To learn more about responses to: Vernal Holley	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Walter Martin}}	To learn more about responses to: Walter Martin	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Wesley Walters}}	To learn more about responses to: Wesley Walters	edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Will Bagley}}	To learn more about responses to: Will Bagley	edit