Joseph Smith being tarred, feathered, and a bottle of poison chipping his tooth, Hyrum, Ohio, 1832
THE FIRST VISION~Differing Accounts
Anti-Mormon Claim: There are nine different accounts of the First Vision of Joseph Smith, and they all contradict each other. This shows that Joseph Smith changed his story of the first vision many times, and thus proves he was a liar and the first vision was invented.
MORMON ANSWER
There are nine different accounts of the First Vision, but Joseph Smith only gave two accounts. The 7 other accounts are second-hand or third-hand accounts from other individuals.
The two accounts by Joseph Smith himself are below. Notice that in the 1832 account there is no mention of God the Father, but there is in the 1839 account. Is this proof that Joseph Smith changed the story? Perhaps. But it could also be proof that Joseph Smith was very fearful of persecution in 1832, and left out mention of God the Father appearing as a man in order to avoid further attempts on his life.
In the early 21st century, in America, there is freedom of religion, and a "live and let live" mentality. NOT SO in America of the 1830s! A man could be killed for "blasphemy"; not by the law of the land, but by angry mobs. A woman could still be hanged for being a witch (i.e. making and selling love potions or casting spells), and a man could be tarred and feathered, or perhaps killed, by an angry mob for "blasphemy" (lying about God).
The two accounts are essentially the same, but Joseph Smith makes no mention of God the Father in 1832.
1832 Account 1838 Account "I was born in the town of Charon in the of Vermont North America on the twenty third day of December AD 1805 of goodly Parents who spared no pains to instructing me in christian religion at the age of about ten years my Father Joseph Smith Siegnior moved to Palmyra Ontario County in the State of New York and being in indigent circumstances were obliged to labour hard for the support of a large Family having nine chilidren 7 and as it require=d the exertions of all that were able to render any assistance for the support of the Family therefore we were deprived of the bennifit of an education suffice it to say I was mearly instruc=tid in reading and writing and the ground of Arithmatic which constuted my whole lite=rary acquirements. At about the age of twelve years my mind become seriously imprest with regard to the all importent concerns for the well=fare of my immortal Soul which led me to search=ing the scriptures believeing as I was taught, that they contained the word of God thus applying myself to them and my intimate acquaintance with those of different denominations led me to marvel excedingly for I discovered that adorn> instead of adorning their profession by a holy walk and God=ly conversation agreeable to what I found contain=ed in that sacred depository this was a grief to my Soul thus from the age of twelve years to fifteen I pondered many things in my heart concerning the sittuation of the world of mankind the contentions and divi[si]ons the wicke[d]ness and abominations and the darkness which pervaded the of the minds of mankind my mind become excedingly distressed for I become convicted of my sins and by searching the scriptures I found that mand did not come unto the Lord but that they had apostatised from the true and liveing faith and there was no society or denomination that built upon the gospel of Jesus Christ as recorded in the new testament and I felt to mourn for my own sins and for the sins of the world for I learned in the scriptures that God was the same yesterday to day and forever that he was no respecter to persons for he was God for I looked upon the sun the glorious luminary of the earth and also the moon rolling in their magesty through the heavens and also the stars shining in their courses and the earth also upon whic=h I stood and the beast of the field and the fowls of heaven and the fish of the waters and also man walking forth upon the face of the earth in magesty and in the strength of beauty whose power and intiligence in governing the things which are so exceding great and marvilous even in the likeness of him who created him and when I considered upon these things my heart exclai=med well hath the wise man said the fool saith in his heart there is no God my heart exclaimed all all these bear testimony and bespeak an omnipotant and omnipreasant power a being who makith Laws and decreeeth and bindeth all things in their bounds who filleth Eternity who was and is and will be from all Eternity to Eternity and when I considered all these things and that being seeketh such to worship him as wors=hip him in spirit and in truth therefore I cried unto the Lord for mercy for there was none else to whom I could go and to obtain mercy and the Lord heard my cry in the wilderne=ss and while in attitude of calling upon the Lord a piller of fire light above the brightness of the sun at noon day come down from above and rested upon me and I was filled with the spirit of god and the opened the heavens upon me and I saw the Lord and he spake unto me saying Joseph thy sins are forgiven thee. go thy walk in my statutes and keep my commandments behold I am the Lord of glory I was crucifyed for the world that all those who believe on my name may have Eternal life the world lieth in sin and at this time and none doeth good no not one they have turned asside from the gospel and keep not commandments they draw near to me with their lips while their hearts are far from me and mine anger is kindling against the inhabitants of the earth to visit them acording to th[e]ir ungodliness and to bring to pass that which been spoken by the mouth of the prophe=ts and Ap[o]stles behold and lo I come quickly as it [is] wr=itten of me in the cloud in the glory of my Father and my soul was filled with love and for many days I could rejoice with great Joy and the Lord was with me but [I] could find none that would believe the hevnly vision[.]" (From The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith edited by Dean C. Jesse, 2nd edition, 2002. Beginning on page 4.)
10 In the midst of this war of words and tumult of opinions, I often said to myself: What is to be done? Who of all these parties are right; or, are they all wrong together? If any one of them be aright, which is it, and how shall I know it?
11 While I was laboring under the extreme difficulties caused by the contests of these parties of religionists, I was one day reading the Epistle of aJames, first chapter and fifth verse, which reads: If any of you lack bwisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
12 Never did any passage of ascripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed bwisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know; for the teachers of religion of the different sects cunderstood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible.
13 At length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in adarkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs, that is, ask of God. I at length came to the determination to “ask of God,” concluding that if he gave wisdom to them that lacked wisdom, and would bgive liberally, and not upbraid, I might venture.
14 So, in accordance with this, my determination to ask of God, I retired to the awoods to make the attempt. It was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally.
15 After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction.
16 But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into bdespair and abandon myself to destruction—not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being—just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of clight exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
17 It no sooner appeared than I found myself adelivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I bsaw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, estanding above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!
18 My object in going to ainquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong)—and which I should join.
19 I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all awrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: “they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the fcommandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.”
20 He again forbade me to join with any of them; and many other things did he say unto me, which I cannot write at this time. When I came to myself again, I found myself alying on my back, looking up into heaven. When the light had departed, I had no strength; but soon recovering in some degree, I went home. And as I leaned up to the fireplace, mother inquired what the matter was. I replied, “Never mind, all is well—I am well enough off.” I then said to my mother, “I have learned for myself that Presbyterianism is not true.” It seems as though the adversary was aware, at a very early period of my life, that I was destined to prove a disturber and an annoyer of his kingdom; else why should the powers of darkness combine against me? Why the dopposition and persecution that arose against me, almost in my infancy? (Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith - History 1:10-20)
Why?
Anti-Mormons say it is because Joseph Smith invented the story in 1832, then added God the Father appearing as an exalted man, perfectly resembling Jesus, because Joseph's theology had evolved by that time to believe that God the Father was an exalted man.
Mormons say it was because Joseph Smith was persecuted for years for telling his First Vision and for seeing angels. He was derided, called a liar, a fraud, a charlatan, and even threatened and tarred and feathered, and even had a poisoning attempt. Americans in the 1820s and 1830s were not tolerant of what they considered to be "blasphemy"! A person could get killed for "lying about God", and that is what many thought Joseph Smith was doing. He was probably affraid to mention God the Father in his 1832 account, because all Christians at that time would have considered it to be "blasphemy" to think God the Father had a human form as did Jesus.
Martin Harris, Joseph Smith's neighbor and financier of the first edition of The Book of Mormon, wrote of what happened when he first talked to Palmyra Village residents about the Gold Plates in 1829:
"The next day after the talk with my brother, I went to the village, and there I was asked what I thought of the Gold Bible? I replied, The Scripture says, He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is foolishness unto him. I do not wish to make myself a fool. I don't know anything about it. Then said I, what is it about Joe's Gold Bible? They then went on to say, that they put whiskey into the old man's cider and got him half drunk, and he told them all about it. They then repeated his account, which I found afterwards to agree substantially with the account given by Joseph. Then said I to them, how do you know that he has not got such gold plates? They replied, "Damn him! angels appear to men in this enlightened age! Damn him, he ought to be tarred and feathered for telling such a damned lie!" Then I said, suppose he has told a lie, as old Tom Jefferson said, it did [not] matter to him whether a man believed in one god or twenty. It did not rob his pocket, nor break his shins. What is it to us if he has told a lie? He has it to answer for [it] if he has lied. If you should tar and feather all the liars, you would soon be out of funds to purchase the material." (Interview of Martin Harris, 1859)
It was soon after his tar and feathering, where a bottle of poison was broken on his teeth, chipping one front tooth and causing his voice to "whistle" from that day on, that he wrote his 1832 account of the First Vision. Perhaps he was motivated NOT to mention God the Father appearing as a man in his vision.
Peter too was afraid of being called a "blashemer" and that is why, after Jesus was arrested, a crowd gathered around and asked Peter if he was not one of Jesus' followers, and Peter said, "I don't know him".
Paul too, was afraid of persecution, and, when brought before the Sanhedrin on the charge of being a Christian (a crime punishable by death). Paul could have said, "Yes, I am a Christian, do with me what you will!" but that is NOT what happened. Here is what happened:
"But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question." (Acts 6:28)This brilliant piece of sophistry got Paul out of being stoned to death. But the facts where:
1. Paul had not been a Pharisee for years. He was a Christian, and that is why he was arrested and brought to the Sanhedrin for judgment.
2. Paul knew if he said he was a Pharisee, and that he was being judged for believing in the resurrection (both bold lies on his part), the Pharisees would defend him and let him go, and that exactly happened.
Perhaps this is why Joseph Smith left out God the Father appearing as an exalted man (the "twin" of Jesus) in the 1832 account of the First Vision; written soon after his tarring and feathering (and attempted poisoning).
Joseph Smith was called "an Apostle of Jesus Christ". And sometimes he acted as Peter or Paul would have in the same situation.
By 1839 Joseph Smith had thousands of followers, and even a team of armed bodyguards. He was less afraid of persecution by then, and felt more free to reveal that God the Father was an Exalted Man, just as Jesus was.
Darrick Evenson
Mormon Answers to Anti-Mormon Questions
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