. A religion, newly established by Joseph Smith, who claimed to have had a revelation from angel. In 1835 the Doctrine and Covenants was printed at Kirtland, Ohio, and its preface declared that it contained “the leading items of religion which we have professed to believe.” Included in the book were the “Lectures on Faith,” a series of seven lectures which had been prepared for the School of the Prophets in Kirtland in 1834–35. The character of God—whether He was a personal being, whether His center was nowhere, and His circumference everywhere, were matters of speculation. Through it all, however, there seems to be no deviation from Joseph Smith’s apparent intent in telling the story in the first place: to demonstrate that he had had a visitation from Deity and that he was told that the religions of his day were wrong. If this statement is accurate, it means that Joseph Smith was telling the important story in 1831. [19] For a transcribed copy of the handwritten manuscript, see Cheesman, “An Analysis of the Accounts,” appendix A. When Joseph Smith finally wrote, or dictated, the “Manuscript History” in 1838, he told of his great uneasiness in the midst of the religious confusion of 1820 and his quest to determine which of the churches was right. He encountered a passage in the Bible instructing any who lacked wisdom to "ask of God" (James 1:5). (Harold T. Kilbourn, Joseph Smith Seeks Wisdom from the Bible, © 1975 Intellectual Reserve, Inc.), In the year 1838, Joseph Smith began writing his formal History of the Church. . These letters were written with the approval of Joseph Smith, but they contained no mention of any vision prior to those connected with the Book of Mormon. rev. In this account he told of a force of darkness which tried to stop him from proceeding, then the appearance in a pillar of light of two personages. [12] Compare with Roberts’s edition, History of the Church, 2:304. Note that Mr. Cheesman interpreted the handwriting in the original manuscript as saying that this event took place in the sixteenth year of Joseph’s age. In about 1833, however, Joseph Smith apparently made a preliminary attempt to write the story, but this account was never published. Introductory material to the Book of Mormon, as well as publicity about it, told of Joseph Smith’s obtaining the gold plates and of angelic visitations, but nothing was printed that remotely suggested earlier visitations. It continued descending, slowly, until it rested upon the earth, and he was enveloped in the midst of it. It is a blessing to have these records. It contains an account of the early experiences of the Mormon prophet and includes the story of the First Vision. Suffice it to say that by the turn of the century, the device was regularly used. When was it first published? While not specifically named in the story, the two personages have been identified by Latter-day Saints as God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ; Joseph Smith indicated that the one said of the other, “This is My Beloved Son. Since then, both Mormon and non-Mormon writers have made reference to it when dealing with the history of the Church. No one had seen any one who had seen an angel. Additionally, his contemporaries recorded their memories of what they heard Joseph say about the vision; five such accounts are known. Writing on May 24, 1844, Neibaur said that Joseph Smith had told him that day of his early quest for religion. No mention was made, however, of the idea that Joseph Smith had beheld Deity. It seems apparent that if Joseph Smith told the story to friends and neighbors in 1820, he stopped telling it widely by 1830. Being thus perplexed in mind I retired to the silent grove and there bowed down before the Lord, under a realising sense (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 of God [sic], who giveth to all men liberally & upbraideth not. . Smith wrote the Book of Mormon in 1830. The fact that none of the available contemporary writings about Joseph Smith in the 1830s, none of the publications of the Church in that decade, and no contemporary journal or correspondence yet discovered mentions the story of the First Vision is convincing evidence that at best it received only limited circulation in those early days. On April 6, 1830, Joseph Smith, a 24 year old farmer in western New York, gathered a few friends together to form the "only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth." Had he not blocked Lucas, Joseph Smith and the other prisoners would most assuredly have lost their lives. Morgan's ancestors were Joseph Smith's neighbors in Nauvoo, Ill., where Mormons congregated after their expulsion from Missouri. In 1834, E. D. Howe published Mormonism Unvailed [sic], which contained considerable damaging material against Joseph Smith, including letters of the Mormon apostate Ezra Booth, but again no mention of the First Vision. In what other respects has the Mormon mind been modified since the 1830s? There is little, if any, evidence, however, that by the early 1830s Joseph Smith was telling the story in public. Since the document is bound with the “Manuscript History,” it is unusual that someone had not found it earlier and recognized its significance. Neither Mormon nor non-Mormon publications made reference to it, and it is evident that the general membership of the Church knew little, if anything, about it. These were the days before Inauguration Day fell on January 20, and the term of the outgoing president, James K. Polk, ended at noon on Sunday, March 4, 1849, at which time his successor, Zachary Taylor, was to be sworn into office. Hear Him!”. Is it a wonder that men were confused? He was told not to join any of the churches. Other vigilantes attacked Mormon farms around Nauvoo in an attempt to expel them. But in the ensuing forty years of his life . Joseph Smith’s First Vision Invite the young women to silently read and ponder Joseph Smith’s First Vision and his testimony in Joseph Smith—History 1:11–19, 24–25 Pin It John Corrill tells of his first contact with the Mormons through Parley P. Pratt, Oliver Cowdery, Peter Whitmer, and Ziba Peterson. By the 1850s, the story of the vision had become an important part of Church literature. However, the pious Taylor refused to take the oath on the Sabbath, so he and his vice president were not sworn i… Present-day Mormons use it to demonstrate such things as the factual existence of Satan, the doctrine that God can hear and answer prayers, and especially the concept of God and Christ as distinct and separate physical beings. The story was accepted as scripture by the Mormons in 1880. The famous “Wentworth Letter,” which contained a much less detailed account of the vision, appeared March 1, 1842, in the same periodical. Because it was a sacred and privileged communication; it was never published to the world and never should be. William, however, did not record the story of the First Vision. [15] T. Edgar Lyon, Introduction to the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price (Salt Lake City: LDS Department of Education, 1955), 209; James R. Clark, The Story of the Pearl of Great Price (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1955), 186–221. The history commenced with the now famous account of what has been termed the “First Vision,” in which he told of the appearance to him, in 1820, of two heavenly personages. The Joseph Smith Translation is Joseph's supposedly inspired revision of the King James Bible. Portrait of Joseph Smith, September 1842. Credit: Courtesy Community of Christ Library-Archives, Licensed to Joseph Smith Papers Project. Joseph Smith was not the first person to claim divine revelation. By the 1880s, if not earlier, it was being used in sermons as support for the Mormon doctrine of God, although Joseph Smith himself never used the story for that purpose. . Like … Precisely when these revival periods occur… Joseph Smith’s account was published in 1842. Smith was killed there, and soon after that, Brigham Young led the saints to Utah. Non-Mormon accounts of the rise of the Church written in the 1830s made no mention of the story of the vision. The only way to keep it from changing is to write it only once and then insist that it be read exactly that way each time it is to be repeated. In Neibaur’s words, Joseph Smith “went into the woods to pray, kneels himself down . 3 (Autumn 1966): 29–45. And in the next breath we say, “I know that Joseph Smith, Junior, was chosen, appointed, anointed, and called as God’s prophet for this age in order to reveal Christ and to reveal salvation.” We bear witness of Christ, and we bear witness of Joseph Smith. A more difficult question to answer concerns the various utilitarian functions of the story. After centuries of darkness, the Lord opened the heavens to reveal His word and restore His Church through His chosen prophet. What new ideas have become part of the Mormon tradition since the exodus from Nauvoo, or even in the twentieth century; what old ideas have been submerged, if not forgotten; and what ideas have remained constant through the years? It contained no mention of the First Vision. It is interesting to note that, in demonstrating the doctrine that the Godhead consists of two separate personages, no mention was made of Joseph Smith having seen them, nor was any reference made to the First Vision in any part of the publication. Apparently, the early teachers of the Church relied upon scriptural evidence alone to demonstrate the Mormon doctrine of God, and not until well into the Utah period did they begin to use Joseph Smith’s story to illustrate it. In connection with the story of the vision, then, it is important to ask certain questions: When was it first told? As far as missionary work is concerned, it is evident that here too the story of the First Vision had little, if any, importance in the 1830s. These were the famous missionaries to the “Lamanites” of 1830. In this account, Joseph emphasized the difficulty he had in uttering his first prayer, and the “noise of walking” seems to suggest the evil opposition which became an essential element in the official version of the story. [8]. When it first came upon him, it produced a peculiar sensation throughout his whole system; and, immediately, his mind was caught away, from the natural objects with which he was surrounded; and he was enwrapped in a heavenly vision and saw two glorious personages. The question for historical consideration, then, is when and how the story of Joseph Smith assumed its present importance, not only as a test of faith for the Mormons but also as a tool for illustrating and supporting other Church doctrines. James B. Allen, "The Significance of Joseph Smith's 'First Vision' in Mormon Thought," in Exploring the First Vision, ed. When reading the statement in context, however, it will be immediately noted that Snow did not say that he heard Joseph tell the actual story—only that he heard him testify that he had conversed with the Son and heard the voice of the Father. [20] For a copy of the Pratt story, see Cheesman, “An Analysis of the Accounts,” appendix C. [21] Orson Pratt, An Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions, and of the Late Discovery of Ancient American Records (Edinburgh: Ballantyne and Hughes, 1840), 5. In short, the writing of Mormon history has only begun. Joseph Smith taught that “all the spirits that God ever sent into this world are susceptible of enlargement.” 27 In the Doctrine and Covenants, he said that the Spirit gives light to everyone who is born and that it enlightens everyone who hearkens to its voice. [14]. Brigham Young University The manuscript has apparently lain in the LDS Church Historian’s Office for many years, yet few, if any, who saw it realized its profound historical significance. The best missionary tool in that day was apparently the Book of Mormon, and most early converts came into the Church as a result either of reading the book or of hearing the “testimony” of others who declared their personal knowledge of its authenticity. The idea that the “fullness of the gospel” should be given to him in the future was recorded here, in agreement with Orson Pratt’s account. Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, was subjected to approximately thirty criminal actions during his life. saw a fire toward heaven come nearer and nearer; saw a personage in the fire; light complexion, blue eyes, a piece of white cloth drawn over his shoulders, his right arm bear [sic]; after a while another person came to the side of the first.” [23] A fourth reference to this idea is seen in the diary of Charles L. Walker on February 2, 1893. . What is needed, simply, is the sympathetic historian who can approach his tradition with scholarship as well as faith and who will make fresh appraisal of the development of the Mormon mind. Lorenzo Snow heard Joseph Smith for the first time when he was seventeen years old. Never before did I feel such power as was manifested on these occasions. In this respect, at least, Mormon thought of the 1830s was different from Mormon thought of later years. . It has been demonstrated that an understanding of the story of Joseph Smith’s vision dawned only gradually upon the membership of the Church during his lifetime, and that new and important uses were made of the story after his death. As Smith’s followers moved westward again and again in response both to his revelations and to conflict with neighbors, they played an important role in expanding the frontiers of the United States—particularly after Joseph Smith’s death, when thousands migrated west of the Rocky Mountains. On Dec. 23, 1805, Joseph Smith was born in Vermont; in 1816 his family migrated to western New York. According to his account, while praying Joseph was visited by two "personages" who identified themselves as God the Father and Jesus Christ. Finally, in order to read the document, one must turn the book upside down, which suggests that the manuscript certainly was not intended to be part of the finished history. As the story of Joseph Smith’s vision was told and retold, both by him and other persons, there were naturally some variations in detail. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. One of the most significant documents of that period yet discovered was brought to light in 1965 by Paul R. Cheesman, a graduate student at Brigham Young University. The Untold Story of the Death of Joseph Smith The events leading to the death of Mormon founder Joseph Smith are much like the events surrounding his life—full of contradiction. In 1838, however, Joseph Smith decided to write the story for publication, and within a few years it had begun to achieve wide circulation within the Church. But it is difficult to verify this date according to other accounts of the same events. As a result, he said, he received immediate criticism in the community. Early one morning in the spring of 1820, Joseph went to a secluded woods to ask God which church he should join. The Prophet Joseph Smith wrote or dictated four known accounts of his First Vision. From all this, it would appear that the general Church membership did not receive information about the First Vision until the 1840s and that the story certainly did not hold the prominent place in Mormon thought that it does today. Nor do the pages of the Latter-day Saints Messenger and Advocate, printed in Kirtland, Ohio, from October 1834 to September 1836. As far as Mormon literature is concerned, there was apparently no reference to Joseph Smith’s First Vision in any published material in the 1830s. The Mormons faced much persecution from the people and were eventually forced to move west. He was not the first person to form a religious cult centered around his personal claims. Joseph Smith’s mother, Lucy, dated the Palmyra revivals after Alvin’s death in 1823—during the time she began seeking comfort in the religious community. Evidence indicates, however, that they were rare in these early days and that only gradually did this use of the story find place in the traditions of the Church. In 1835 he was willing to tell the story to a visitor. It seems apparent that after Joseph Smith decided to write the story in 1838, the way was clear for its use as a missionary tool. Brother Neibaur seems never once to have referred to the wonderful things the Prophet told him—it was quite by accident that the writer discovered them in his journal. In this story, only one personage was mentioned, and this was obviously the Son, for he spoke of having been crucified. Joseph Smith came of age during the Second Great Awakening. If not, when did it begin to take on its present significance in the writings and teachings of the Church? Brother Joseph, as I said, startled the world. [17]. 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