View source for Mormonism and Wikipedia/First Vision/Story of the vision

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|title=[[../]]
|wikipedialink=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Vision
|uplink=[[../|First Vision]]
|section=Story of the vision
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==Story of the vision {{WikipediaUpdate|9/17/2011}}==

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Joseph Smith wrote or dictated several versions of his vision story, and told the story to others who later published what they remember hearing. Taken together, these accounts set forth the following details:

Smith said that when he was about twelve (c. 1817-18), he became interested in religion and distressed about his sins.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|pp=1–2}}.
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{WikipediaCorrect}}
*Joseph Smith's 1832 account of the First Vision relates this experience.
*{{Detail|Primary sources/Joseph Smith, Jr./First Vision accounts/1832}}

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
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He studied the Bible and attended church, but the accounts differ as to whether he determined on his own that there was no existing religion built upon the true teachings of [[Jesus]]
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=2}}.
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{WikipediaNPOV}}The wiki editor is using two of Joseph's First Vision accounts (1832 and 1838) to illustrate what they believe is a contradiction. 
*{{WikipediaOR}}The wiki editor is performing original research based completely upon primary sources.
*From Joseph's 1832 account:
<blockquote>
from the age of twelve years to fifteen I pondered many things in my heart concerning the sittuation of the world of mankind the contentions and divi[si]ons the wicke[d]ness and abominations and the darkness which pervaded the <del>of the</del> minds of mankind my mind become excedingly distressed for I become convicted of my sins and by searching the scriptures I found that <del>mand</del> <ins>mankind</ins> did not come unto the Lord but that they had apostatised from the true and liveing faith and there was no society or denomination that built upon the gospel of Jesus Christ as recorded in the new testament...
</blockquote> 

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
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|claim=
or whether the idea that all churches were false had not "entered his heart" until he experienced the vision.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838|p=3}}. 
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{WikipediaNPOV}}The wiki editor is using two of Joseph's First Vision accounts (1832 and 1838) to illustrate what they believe is a contradiction. 
*{{WikipediaOR}}The wiki editor is performing original research based completely upon primary sources. 
*Joseph Smith-History 1:18
<blockquote>
I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong)—and which I should join.
</blockquote>
*The phrase "entered his heart" is quoted as if it were taken from the cited source, but it is a paraphrase of "it had never entered into my heart."

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
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|claim=
During this period of religious concern, he determined to turn to God in prayer. An early account says the purpose of this prayer was to ask God for mercy for his sins
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=2}}.
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{WikipediaNPOV}}Joseph's 1835 account also mentions forgiveness of sins. The Wikipedia article makes it appear as if this element appeared ''only'' in the 1832 account.
*From Joseph Smith's 1835 account:
<blockquote>
a personage appeard in the midst of this pillar of flame which was spread all around, and yet nothing consumed, another personage soon appeard like unto the first, ''he said unto me thy sins are forgiven thee'', he testified unto me that Jesus Christ is the Son of God; {{ea}}
</blockquote>
*{{Detail|Primary sources/Joseph Smith, Jr./First Vision accounts/1835}}

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=
while later accounts emphasize his desire to know which church he should join.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Waite|1843}}; {{Harvtxt|Neibaur|1844|loc=May 24, 1844}}. 
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{WikipediaNPOV}}Technically, the statement is correct, but Joseph's 1835 account is again ignored, apparently because it contains references ''both'' to forgiveness of sins and searching for which church was correct. Including the 1835 account would destroy the wiki editors' assertion that the 1832 account and later accounts had mutually exclusive elements.
*From Joseph Smith's 1835 account:
<blockquote>
''I knew not who was right or who was wrong and I considered it of the first importance that I should be right'', in matters that involve eternal consequ[e]nces; being thus perplexed in mind I retired to the silent grove and bow[e]d down before the Lord, under a realising sense that he had said (if the bible be true) ask and you shall receive knock and it shall be opened seek and you shall find and again, if any man lack wisdom let him ask of God who giveth to all men libarally and upbradeth not; information was what I most desired at this time, and with a fixed determination to obtain it, {{ea}}
</blockquote>

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
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Therefore, as his mother had done years before when concerned about an important religious question,
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=54}}; {{Harv|Bushman|2005|p=26}}.
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{WikipediaCorrect}}

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=
Smith said he went one spring morning to a secluded grove near his home to pray.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=728}}. 
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{WikipediaCorrect}}

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=
He said he went to a stump in a clearing where he had left his axe the day before
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Waite|1843}}.
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{WikipediaCorrect}}

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
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|claim=
and began to offer his first audible prayer.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=727}}.
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{WikipediaCorrect}}

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
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He said his prayer was interrupted by a "being from the unseen world" more powerful than any he had previously encountered.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvnb|Smith|1842c|p=748}}; {{Harvnb|Pratt|1840|p=5}}. 
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{WikipediaOR}}The implication is that Joseph had "previously encountered" beings from the "unseen world." The statement that Joseph had "previously encountered" is not supported by any of the cited sources.
*Joseph's diary entry 9 November 1835 (Monday):
<blockquote>
I called upon the Lord for the first time, in the place above stated or in other words I made a fruitless attempt to p[r]ay, my toung seemed to be swolen in my mouth, so that I could not utter, I heard a noise behind me like some person walking towards me, I strove again to pray, but could not, the noise of walking seemed to draw nearer, I sprung up on my feet, and and looked around, but saw no person or thing that was calculated to produce the noise of walking, I kneeled again my mouth was opened and my toung liberated, and I called on the Lord in mighty prayer, a pillar of fire appeared above my head...
<br>
&mdash;[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Diary_of_Joseph_Smith%2C_Jr._(1835-1836) Diary of Joseph Smith, Jr. (1835-1836)]
</blockquote>
*From Orson Pratt's 1840 account (one of the cited sources):
<blockquote>
At first he was severely tempted by the powers of darkness which endeavored to overcome him, but he continued to seek for deliverance until darkness gave way from his mind, and he was enabled to pray in fervency of the spirit and in faith. 
<br>
&mdash;[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Interesting_Account_of_Several_Remarkable_Visions/First_Vision A Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions and of the Late Discovery of Ancient American Records]
</blockquote>
*From Joseph Smith-History 1:16:
<blockquote>
But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction—not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual ''being from the unseen world,'' {{ea}} 
</blockquote>
*Joseph's 1838 account refers to "the power of some actual being from the unseen world," but does not use the term "evil spirit." 
*{{Detail|First Vision/Accounts/1835}}


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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=
Smith said the spirit caused his tongue to swell in his mouth so that he could not speak,
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvnb|Smith|1835|p=23}}. {{Harvnb|Smith|1842c|p=748}}. 
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{WikipediaCITE}}None of the cited sources mention a "spirit." The closest they come is "being from the unseen world."
*From the 1835 account,
<blockquote>
I made a fruitless attempt to p[r]ay, my toung seemed to be swolen in my mouth, so that I could not utter, I heard a noise behind me like some person walking towards me, I strove again to pray, but could not, the noise of walking seemed to draw nearer, I sprung up on my feet, and and looked around, but saw no person or thing that was calculated to produce the noise of walking, I kneeled again my mouth was opened and my toung liberated, and I called on the Lord in mighty prayer,
</blockquote>
*From Joseph Smith-History 1:16,
<blockquote>
to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being
</blockquote>


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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=
One account said he heard a noise behind him like someone walking towards him
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvnb|Smith|1835|p=23}}.
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{WikipediaCorrect}}
*From the 1835 account, "I heard a noise behind me like some person walking towards me."

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
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|claim=
and then, when he tried to pray again, the noise grew louder, causing him to spring to his feet and look around, but he saw no one.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvnb|Smith|1835|p=23}}.
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{WikipediaCorrect}} 
*From the 1835 account, "I sprung up on my feet, and and looked around, but saw no person or thing that was calculated to produce the noise of walking."

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=
In some of the accounts, he described being covered with a thick darkness and thinking that he would be destroyed.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvnb|Smith|1842c|p=748}}. 
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{WikipediaCorrect}}

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=
At his darkest moment, he knelt a third time to pray
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvnb|Smith|1835|p=23}}. 
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{WikipediaCorrect}}

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=
and, as he summoned all his power to pray, he felt ready to sink into oblivion.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvnb|Smith|1842c|p=748}}
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{WikipediaCorrect}}

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=
At that moment, he said his tongue was loosed and he saw a vision.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvnb|Smith|1835|p=23}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1842c|p=748}}
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{WikipediaCorrect}}


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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=
Smith said he saw a pillar of light brighter than the noonday sun that slowly descended on him,
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvnb|Smith|1832|p=3}};{{Harvnb|Smith|1842c|p=748}}.
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{WikipediaCorrect}}
*In the 1832 account, Joseph originally wrote the word "fire," then crossed it out and replaced it with the word "light." From the 1832 account:
<blockquote>
At about the age of twelve years my mind become seriously imprest with regard to the all importent concerns <del>of</del> for the wellfare of my immortal Soul which led me to searching the scriptures...the Lord heard my cry in the wilderness and while in <ins>the</ins> attitude of calling upon the Lord <ins>in the 16th year of my age</ins> a piller of <del>fire</del> light above the brightness of the sun at noon day come down from above and rested upon me...
<br>
&mdash;[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/History_of_the_Life_of_Joseph_Smith History of the Life of Joseph Smith (1832)]
</blockquote> 


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{{IndexClaimItemShort
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growing in brightness as it descended and lighting the entire area for some distance.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvnb|Pratt|1840|p=5}}.
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{WikipediaCorrect}}
*See Pratt, [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Interesting_Account_of_Several_Remarkable_Visions/First_Vision A Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions and of the Late Discovery of Ancient American Records].

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=
As the light reached the tree tops, Smith feared the trees might catch fire.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvnb|Pratt|1840|p=5}}; {{Harvnb|1835|p=24}}. 
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{WikipediaCorrect}}
*From Joseph's 1835 diary entry (primary source):
<blockquote>
...a personage appeard in the midst of this '''pillar of flame which was spread all around, and yet nothing consumed''', another personage soon appeard like unto the first, he said unto me thy sins are forgiven thee, he testified unto me that Jesus Christ is the Son of God; and I saw many angels in this vision I was about 14 years old when I received this first communication...
<br>
&mdash;[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Diary_of_Joseph_Smith%2C_Jr._(1835-1836) Diary of Joseph Smith, Jr. (1835-1836)]
</blockquote>
*From Orson Pratt's 1840 pamphlet (secondary source):
<blockquote>
He continued praying while the light appeared to be gradually descending towards him; and as it drew nearer, it increased in brightness and magnitude, so that by the time it reached the tops of the trees the whole wilderness, for some distance around, was illuminated in a most glorious and brilliant manner. '''He expected to have seen the leaves and boughs of the trees consumed as soon as the light came in contact with them, but perceiving that it did not produce that effect, he was encouraged with the hopes of being able to endure its presence.'''
<br>
&mdash;*[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Interesting_Account_of_Several_Remarkable_Visions/First_Vision A Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions]
</blockquote>
*[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Interesting_Account_of_Several_Remarkable_Visions/First_Vision A Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions]

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
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But when it reached the ground and enveloped him, it produced a "peculiar sensation."
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvnb|Pratt|1840|p=5}}
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{WikipediaCorrect}}

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=
"[H]is mind was caught away from the natural objects with which he was surrounded; and he was enwrapped in a heavenly vision."
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvnb|Pratt|1840|p=5}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1842a|p=706}}.
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{WikipediaCorrect}}

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=
While experiencing the vision, he said he saw one or more "personages," described differently in Smith's accounts. In one, Smith said he "saw the Lord."
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}.
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{WikipediaCorrect}}
*{{Detail|First Vision/Accounts/1832|First Vision/Accounts/1835|First Vision/Accounts/1838}}


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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=
In diary entries, he said he saw a "visitation of Angels"
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvnb|Smith|1835|p=37}}.
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{WikipediaCorrect}}
*Joseph's 9 November 1835 diary entry states,
<blockquote>
a pillar of fire appeared above my head, it presently rested down upon me head, and filled me with Joy unspeakable, ''a personage appeard in the midst of this pillar of flame which was spread all around, and yet nothing consumed, another personage soon appeard like unto the first'', he said unto me thy sins are forgiven thee, he testified unto me that Jesus Christ is the Son of God; and ''I saw many angels in this vision''... {{ea}}
</blockquote>
*The second entry, recorded only five days later on 14 November 1835, mentions "angels,"
<blockquote>
I received the first visitation of Angels which was when I was about 14. years old...
</blockquote>
*{{Detail|First Vision/Accounts/1835|First Vision/Accounts/1835/Mentions "Angels"}}

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=
or a "vision of angels" that included "a personage," and then "another personage" who testified that "Jesus Christ is the Son of God," as well as "many angels".
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvnb|Smith|1835|p=24}}.
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{WikipediaCorrect}}

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=
In later accounts, Smith consistently said that he had seen two personages who appeared one after the other.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvnb|Neibaur|1844|loc=May 24, 1844}}; {{Harvnb|Waite|1843}}.
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{WikipediaCorrect}}


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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=
These personages "exactly resembled each other in their features or likeness."
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvnb|Pratt|1840|p=5}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1842a|p=707}}.
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{WikipediaCorrect}}

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=
The first personage had "light complexion, blue eyes, a piece of white cloth drawn over his shoulders, his right arm bare."
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvnb|Neibaur|1844|loc=May 24, 1844}}
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}


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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=
In later accounts, one of the personages called Smith by name "and said, (pointing to the other), 'This is my beloved Son, hear him.'"
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvnb|Smith|1842c|p=748}}. 
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{WikipediaCorrect}}

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=
Although Smith left their identity unexplicit, most Latter Day Saints infer that these personages were [[God the Father]] and [[Jesus]].
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvnb|Taylor|1879|p=161}}. Taylor, who stated he had heard the story from Smith himself, said the personages were "the Lord" and "his Son Jesus."
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
{{CheckSource}}


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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=
In two accounts, Smith said that the Lord told him his sins were forgiven, that he should obey the commandments, that the world was corrupt, and that the [[Second Coming]] was approaching.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvnb|1832|p=3}}. 
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{WikipediaCorrect}}
*From Joseph's 1835 diary entry:
<blockquote>
a personage appeard in the midst of this pillar of flame which was spread all around, and yet nothing consumed, another personage soon appeard like unto the first, '''he said unto me thy sins are forgiven thee''', he testified unto me that Jesus Christ is the Son of God; and I saw many angels in this vision I was about 14 years old when I received this first communication... {{ea}}
<br>
&mdash;[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Diary_of_Joseph_Smith%2C_Jr._(1835-1836) Diary of Joseph Smith, Jr. (1835-1836)]
</blockquote>

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=
Later accounts say that when the personages appeared, Smith asked them "O Lord, what church shall I join?"
|authorsources=<br>
#Waite 1843
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
{{CheckSource}}


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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=
or "Must I join the Methodist Church?"
|authorsources=<br>
#Neibaur 1844
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
{{CheckSource}}


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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=
In answer, he was told that "all religious denominations were believing in incorrect doctrines, and that none of them was acknowledged of God as his church and kingdom."
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvnb|Smith|1842a|p=707}}; {{Harvnb|Pratt|1840|p=5}}.
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{WikipediaCorrect}}

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=
All churches and their professors were "corrupt",
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvnb|Waite|1843}} {{Harvnb|Smith|1842c|p=748}}. 
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=
and "all their creeds were an abomination in his sight."
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvnb|Smith|1842c|p=748}} 
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{WikipediaCorrect}}


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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=
Smith was told not to join any of the churches, but that the "fulness of the gospel" would be known to him at a later time.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvnb|Smith|1842a|p=707}}; {{Harvnb|Pratt|1840|p=5}}. One account also said that "many other things did [the personage] say unto me which I cannot write at this time." {{Harvnb|Smith|1842c|p=748}}.
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{WikipediaCorrect}}

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=
After the vision withdrew, Smith said he "came to myself" and found himself sprawled on his back.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvnb|Waite|1843}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1842c|p=748}}.
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{WikipediaCorrect}}


{{Endnotes sources}}