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FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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+ | |L=Question: What are the criticisms related to Joseph Smith's accounts of the First Vision? | ||
+ | |H=Question: What are the criticisms related to Joseph Smith's accounts of the First Vision? | ||
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+ | |L1=Why did Joseph wait 12 years to record his First Vision? | ||
+ | |L2=Joseph Smith gave several accounts of the First Vision that include different details | ||
+ | |L3=Joseph tailored the story and details included of his vision based upon his audience | ||
+ | |L4=The Church has published information about the various First Vision accounts since at least 1970 | ||
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==Question: What are the criticisms related to Joseph Smith's accounts of the First Vision?== | ==Question: What are the criticisms related to Joseph Smith's accounts of the First Vision?== | ||
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President Dallin H. Oaks explained, "As a boy, Joseph Smith had not [kept a record]. His formal education was limited, paper was expensive and it was not customary for poor farm boys in the United States to keep journals. That is why we lack contemporaneous accounts of his earliest visions."[1]
Joseph adjusted and emphasized certain portions of his narrative of the First Vision to account for his audience, as well as to incorporate his evolving understanding of Church doctrine. This is not unusual:
We often edit or entirely rewrite our previous experiences—unknowingly and unconsciously—in light of what we now know or believe. The result can be a skewed rendering of a specific incident, or even of an extended period in our lives, that says more about how we feel now than what happened then. Thus, without knowing it, we can modify our own history.” [4]
The Church has published information about the various First Vision accounts since at least 1970. Critics of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints often seek to point out differences between the various accounts which Joseph Smith gave of his First Vision. In defense of their position that the Prophet changed his story over a six year period (1832 to 1838) they claim that the earliest followers of Joseph Smith either didn’t know about the First Vision, or seem to have been confused about it. The Church, however, has discussed the various accounts in a number of publications. Joseph Smith's various accounts of the First Vision were targeted at different audiences, and had different purposes. They, however, show a remarkable degree of harmony between them. There is no evidence that the early leaders of the LDS Church did not understand that the Prophet saw two Divine Personages during his inaugural theophany.
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