Orson Spencer said an "angel" was the first manifestation?

Criticism

Orson Spencer wrote a letter in Nauvoo, Illinois in 1842 to a non-LDS clergyman that said Joseph Smith's "first" spiritual manifestation was of an angel - not the Father and the Son.

Source(s) of the criticism

• Jerald Tanner and Sandra Tanner, The Case Against Mormonism, (Salt Lake City: Modern Microfilm Co., 1967), 98.

Response

Orson Spencer's letter - which was written on 17 November 1842 - was first published in the Nauvoo Times and Seasons newspaper on 2 January 1843 (Times and Seasons, vol. 4, no. 4, 2 January 1843, 56-57) and then reprinted in the British Millennial Star newspaper in June 1843 (Millennial Star, vol. 4, no. 2, June 1843, ----).

As demonstrated by the following references, shortly before Orson Spencer penned his letter, the First Vision story had been made available three separate times, in printed form, to the citizens of Nauvoo. In each instance the First Vision was clearly described as having occurred before Joseph Smith's encounter with the angel.

• Orson Pratt's pamphlet called An Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions was advertised for sale in Nauvoo. It was advertised in the Times and Seasons that “[t]his . . . 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; emphasis added).

• The same advertisement and note were repeated for An Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions in the two subsequent editions of the Times and Seasons.(Times ad Seasons, vol. 2, no. 20, 16 August 1841, 518);(Times and Seasons, vol. 2, no. 21, 1 September 1841, 534).

• The Wentworth Letter was published (Times and Seasons, vol. 3, no. 9, 1 March 1842, 706–707).

• Part 1 of the 1838 recital was published (Times and Seasons, vol. 3, no. 10, 15 March 1842, 727–28).

• Part 2 of the 1838 recital was published (Times and Seasons, vol. 3, no. 11, 1 April 1842, 748–49).

• Parts 1 and 2 of the 1838 recital - “From the ‘Times and Seasons’” - were reprinted in England in June 1842 (Millennial Star, vol. 3, no. 2, June 1842, 21–23).

With this information publicly, and readily, available it seems highly unlikely that Orson Spencer was claiming that Joseph Smith's meeting with the angel was his first encounter with a divine being. It should be noted that in the 7th letter that Orson Spencer wrote to the non-LDS clergyman—on 28 August 1847—he spoke again about Joseph Smith seeing the angel but indicated that he (Orson Spencer) was familiar with some written source on the subject. This fact narrows the possibility that Spencer was claiming that the angel was the "first" spiritual manifestation enjoyed by the Prophet. Indeed, a closer look at Spencer's 1842 statement makes this suggestion even more unlikely. It says,

"Joseph Smith, when the great designs of heaven were first made known to him, was not far from the age of seventeen."

Orson Spencer may simply be referring in this quote to what the angel told Joseph Smith about "the great designs of heaven." The angel said,

"the covenant which God made with ancient Israel was at hand to be fulfilled, that the preparatory work for the second coming of the Messiah was speedily to commence; that the time was at hand for the gospel, in all its fulness to be preached in power, unto all nations that a people might be prepared for the millennial reign. I was informed [by the angel] that I was chosen to be an instrument in the hands of God to bring about some of His purposes in this glorious dispensation." (Wentworth Letter).

Conclusion

The general populace of Nauvoo had the orthodox story of Joseph Smith's early spiritual experiences readily available to them. It is not reasonable to try to pass off a claim that is clearly contradicted by public, contemporaneous, and authoritative documents.

Endnotes

None