![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.
This article is a draft. FairMormon editors are currently editing it. We welcome your suggestions on improving the content.
Apostle George A. Smith said on two separate occasions that Joseph Smith's First Vision was of an "angel" - not of the Father and the Son.
Christian Research and Counsel, “Documented History of Joseph Smith’s First Vision,” full-color pamphlet, 10 pages. [There is a notation within this pamphlet indicating that research and portions of text were garnered from Utah Lighthouse Ministry]
Historic documents appear to verify the claim that on two different occasions Elder George A. Smith spoke of an angel appearing during Joseph Smith's First Vision. But this does not mean that Elder Smith was not aware of the Father and the Son appearing to the Prophet at the time that he made his anomalous remarks. The following timeline demonstrates that Elder Smith was well aware of the official version of events. His out-of-place comments need to be evaluated from that perspective.
7 April 1854
15 August 1855
(See Deseret News, vol. 5, no. 23, 15 August 1855, 1).
15 November 1864
(Journal of Discourses, 11:2).
15 November 1868
(Journal of Discourses, 12:334).
20 June 1869
(Journal of Discourses, 13:77–78).
20 November 1870
(Journal of Discourses, 13:293).
The pattern that can be seen in the above timeline is that Elder George A. Smith was accurate in First Vision details when he had a text to read from, was partially accurate when he was talking extemporaneously, and then corrected himself after his erroneous remarks had been delivered.
The argument that Elder George A. Smith was simply not aware of a Father-and-Son First Vision account when he made his "angel" statements is utterly unconvincing since it can be shown from a documentary standpoint that he did indeed have prior knowledge of such a thing. An argument of ignorance is also untenable in light of the fact that Elder Smith's colleagues in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles had published orthodox recitals of the First Vision on eight different occasions long BEFORE he made his verbal missteps at the pulpit: (Orson Pratt - 1840, 1850, 1851); (Orson Hyde - 1842); (John Taylor - 1850); (Lorenzo Snow - 1850); (Franklin D. Richards - 1851, 1852).
None
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