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According to official church history, what did Joseph see in the Sacred Grove First Vision? Two people, God the Father and Jesus Christ. Both of them spoke to him and told him no church on the earth was true.
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- The Short Answer
- The Long Answer
- History of The Accounts
- Comparison of The Accounts
- A Closer Look at The Differences
- Conclusion
There are more similarities than differences between the four accounts of the First Vision. The main elements of the vision are still consistent throughout and the differences are minimal. Historians say that when stories are told over time and to different people in different circumstances, then there are bound to be some differences between them....
Multiple Accounts
Joseph Smith either wrote or dictated four accounts of the First Vision, two of which were not published until the 1960s by Church historians. Though Orson Hyde, Orson Pratt, and others of Joseph’s contemporaries also recorded many second-hand accounts of the vision, this article focuses on Joseph’s four accounts.
1832 Account
The 1832 accountis the only one actually written by Joseph Smith’s hand when he recorded it in his unpublished autobiography. This account focuses on Joseph’s guilt from his sins, the difficulty of finding a church like the one in the bible, and the joy he felt when Christ forgave him.
1835 Account
Joseph’s scribe, Warren Parish, transcribed the 1835 accountin Joseph’s journal as Joseph recounted the experience to Robert Matthews in Kirtland, Ohio. This account covers Joseph’s search for a true church, the darkness that oppressed him in prayer, the vision, his forgiveness from sins, and the appearance of many angels.
1838 Account
Joseph dictated the 1838 account for its publication in the Times and Seasons, a newspaper that the Church printed when established in Nauvoo, Illinois. Members of the Church are most familiar with this First Vision account since it later became part of the Pearl of Great Price as Joseph Smith—History. It focuses on the vision as the beginning of the restoration of the Church because no correct church existed on the earth.
Religious Fervor
Similarities The 1838 and 1842 accounts put a strong emphasis on the religious excitement in areas of New York, also known as the Burned-over District. In the 1838 account, Joseph describes this contention of churches as that of “great confusion and bad feeling . . . a contest about opinions.” Many members of his family joined the Presbyterians while Joseph explored multiple churches, feeling partial to the Methodists. Differences The 1832 and 1835 accounts do not explicitly state there was a...
“The Welfare of my Immortal Soul”
Similarities Another instigator that sent Joseph seeking answers in the scriptures dealt with his concern for his soul. In the 1832 account, he says that at 12 years old he became impressed with “the all-important concerns for the welfare of my immortal Soul” and later expresses distress over his sins and the evils of the world. This account also mentions that when Joseph went to the grove to pray, he “cried unto the Lord for mercy.” In the 1835 account, when writing of his confusion over the...
Searching the Scriptures
Similarities All four accounts mention Joseph searching the scriptures for answers to his questions. In the 1832 account, he notices how the churches of his day weren’t like the one in the New Testament. He also says that he searched the scriptures because he knew they were the word of God and that God created and ruled over all things being “the same yesterday, today, and forever.” In the 1835 account, Joseph quotes the scriptures that inspired him to pray. Of course, he cites parts of James...
Embellishments
An issue concerning the differences in the accounts deals with the idea that Joseph embellished the story over time to make it seem more dramatic. These embellishments could include the additional details such as Satan’s presence, angels, and the message that there is no true church. Where embellishments are concerned, I have only one question. Why would Joseph embellish an experience such as God and Christ appearing to him in a vision? Something like that does not need any embellishments. Hi...
Contradictions
Are some of the differences between the accounts direct contradictions? And if so, do these contradictions prove that Joseph fabricated the first vision? Some say that the combination of the accounts gives us one harmonious story (eldenwatson.net) while some see contradictions that do exist, but they should not make us doubt the truth of the vision as a whole (Hill’s article). An example of one of these contradictions would be in the 1832 account when Joseph says he did not believe a true chu...
Should We Be Worried About the Differences?
The available evidence suggests that the First Vision occurred as a historical event. And that the most likely reasons for the differences between the accounts are not that the story is made up. The same, basic elements of the vision that matter don’t change between the accounts and the differences are so minimal that they hardly suggest an invented tale. Why may there be differences in the accounts? ChurchofJesusChrist.org says that “historians expect that when an individual retells an exper...
How the Differences Support the First Vision
Could it be that the differences in the accounts actually support that the vision actually occurred? Differences are natural in any story told over time and in different circumstances. If the vision had the exact same details each time it was recounted, that would be unnatural. It would seem that the differences actually support the truthfulness of the First Vision rather than undermine it. They show how honest and human Joseph was. Richard Bushman supports the idea that the differences help...
Other Thoughts on the Accounts
Others have expressed the feeling of sincerity and truth with Joseph’s writing. When British scholar Arthur Henry King (who would later become a member of the Church) first read the 1838 account that is now Joseph Smith—History. He felt impressed with Joseph’s honesty, saying: President Gordon B. Hinckley writes in “God Hath Not Given Us the Spirit of Fear,”that: As you can see after this examination of the evidence, there is much that supports the reality of the first vision. Joseph asked fo...
How is the validity of the Church linked to Joseph Smith’s First Vision? Why is it important to have a testimony that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ?
Each account of the First Vision by Joseph Smith and his contemporaries has its own history and context that influenced how the event was recalled, communicated, and recorded. These accounts are discussed below.
People also ask
What is the first vision?
Is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints based on the first vision?
What is the church obliquely referring to the vision of 1820?
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When was the First Vision written?
What do the different accounts of the first vision tell?
The First Vision (also called the grove experience by members of the Community of Christ) refers to a theophany which Latter Day Saints believe Joseph Smith experienced in the early 1820s, in a wooded area in Manchester, New York, called the Sacred Grove.
