“Why are there similarities between Joseph Smith’s 1832 account of the First Vision and accounts of visions recorded by other Christians in his day?,” First Vision Accounts (2022)
“Why are there similarities between Joseph Smith’s 1832 account of the First Vision and accounts of visions recorded by other Christians in his day?,” First Vision Accounts
Why are there similarities between Joseph Smith’s 1832 account of the First Vision and accounts of visions recorded by other Christians in his day?
Joseph Smith lived in a time and place in which accounts of spiritual visions were regularly shared in religious meetings and in print. It’s possible that in writing about his experience, Joseph Smith was influenced by the way others described their experiences. A present-day analogy might be the way that Church members bear their testimonies in testimony meetings. We often share our testimonies using phrases and patterns used by others. While the sharing of testimony often follows a formula, the substance of each is personal.
Similarly, Joseph’s accounts, especially his 1832 account, follow patterns found in the conversion narratives of other Christians in his day. But while the similarities between Joseph’s accounts and others are the kind of thing we might expect, there is a significant difference between Joseph’s experience and those of other Christians. The many other narratives were and remained stories of personal conversion. Joseph’s incomparable vision was the beginning of a series of miracles and visions that led to the Restoration of the fulness of the gospel.