![FairMormon Logo](https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2021_fair_logo_primary.png)
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.
(format) |
(→Response: mod) |
||
Line 6: | Line 6: | ||
==Response== | ==Response== | ||
− | ===Variations between different accounts of the First Vision=== | + | ===Joseph's accounts of the First Vision=== |
− | {{main|/Accounts|l1= | + | ====Variations between different accounts of the First Vision==== |
+ | {{main|/Accounts|l1=Joseph's accounts of the First Vision}} | ||
− | = | + | ====Comparison of Joseph's First Vision to Paul's vision==== |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | ===Comparison of Joseph's First Vision to Paul's vision=== | ||
{{main|First_Vision/Do Greek scholars solve the discrepancies in Paul's vision accounts|l1=Do Greek scholars solve the discrepancies in Paul's vision accounts?}} | {{main|First_Vision/Do Greek scholars solve the discrepancies in Paul's vision accounts|l1=Do Greek scholars solve the discrepancies in Paul's vision accounts?}} | ||
Line 31: | Line 23: | ||
:This, too, parallels Paul’s experience. His most detailed account of the vision on the road to Damascus is the last of several recorded. (See Acts 26:9–20.) And this is the only known instance in which he related the detail about the glorified Savior prophesying Paul’s work among the Gentiles. (See Acts 26:16–18.) Why would Paul include this previously unmentioned detail only on that occasion? Probably because he was speaking to a ''Gentile'' audience, rather than to a group of Jewish Christians. Both Paul and Joseph Smith had reasons for delaying full details of their visions until the proper time and place.{{ref|And1}} | :This, too, parallels Paul’s experience. His most detailed account of the vision on the road to Damascus is the last of several recorded. (See Acts 26:9–20.) And this is the only known instance in which he related the detail about the glorified Savior prophesying Paul’s work among the Gentiles. (See Acts 26:16–18.) Why would Paul include this previously unmentioned detail only on that occasion? Probably because he was speaking to a ''Gentile'' audience, rather than to a group of Jewish Christians. Both Paul and Joseph Smith had reasons for delaying full details of their visions until the proper time and place.{{ref|And1}} | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===Events leading up to the First Vision=== | ||
+ | ====What constituted the "unusual excitement" that ultimately resulted in Joseph's vision?==== | ||
+ | {{main|/Methodist camp meetings|l1=Methodist camp meetings}} | ||
+ | |||
+ | ====Was the Smith family in the proper area at the proper time for Joseph's 1820 vision?==== | ||
+ | {{main|Early Smith family history}} | ||
+ | |||
+ | ====Was Joseph Smith mistaken about religious revivals in his area in 1820?==== | ||
+ | {{main|Religious revivals in 1820}} | ||
+ | |||
+ | ====Did Joseph Smith conflate his 1820 narrative with an 1824-25 revival?==== | ||
+ | {{main|Conflation_of_1824-25_revival?}} | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===Events occurring after the First Vision=== | ||
+ | ===Did Lucy Mack Smith join the Presbyterians in 1823, three years after Joseph said she did?=== | ||
+ | {{main|/Lucy Mack Smith and the Presbyterians|l1=Lucy Mack Smith and the Presbyterians}} | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===Did Joseph join other churches after 1820, in direct contradiction to his instruction during the First Vision?=== | ||
+ | {{main|/Joseph Smith joined other churches|l1=Joseph joined other churches}} | ||
+ | |||
+ | ====Did Joseph Smith contradict himself about knowing which churches were wrong?===={{main|Contradiction_about_knowing_all_churches_were_wrong}} | ||
===Additional First Vision issues=== | ===Additional First Vision issues=== | ||
Line 36: | Line 50: | ||
The linked articles below are designed to help readers to see some of the weaknesses that are found in arguments that are made against Joseph Smith's First Vision accounts. Some of these arguments are currently being advocated in anti-Mormon literature that is handed out near the Sacred Grove in Palmyra, New York. | The linked articles below are designed to help readers to see some of the weaknesses that are found in arguments that are made against Joseph Smith's First Vision accounts. Some of these arguments are currently being advocated in anti-Mormon literature that is handed out near the Sacred Grove in Palmyra, New York. | ||
− | + | ||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
* Was Joseph unsure about God's existence in 1823? {{wikilink|url=Joseph_Smith_did_not_know_if_God_existed_in_1823}} | * Was Joseph unsure about God's existence in 1823? {{wikilink|url=Joseph_Smith_did_not_know_if_God_existed_in_1823}} | ||
* Did Joseph Smith join other churches after the First Vision, despite his later claim that he was told not to? {{wikilink|url=Joseph Smith joined other churches}} | * Did Joseph Smith join other churches after the First Vision, despite his later claim that he was told not to? {{wikilink|url=Joseph Smith joined other churches}} |
Joseph Smith's claim that he saw the Father and the Son in 1820 has produced a wide variety of criticism. This set of articles addresses the various critical claims related to the First Vision.
Paul the apostle gave more than one account of his vision of the resurrected Lord while on the road to Damascus. Like Joseph Smith's account of the First Vision, Paul's accounts differ in some details but agree in the overall message. Richard Lloyd Anderson made the following comparisons.
The linked articles below are designed to help readers to see some of the weaknesses that are found in arguments that are made against Joseph Smith's First Vision accounts. Some of these arguments are currently being advocated in anti-Mormon literature that is handed out near the Sacred Grove in Palmyra, New York.
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.
We are a volunteer organization. We invite you to give back.
Donate Now