Multiple Accounts of the First Vision

Seeking answers to our questions can draw us closer to Jesus Christ if we apply sound principles. Learning to assess the quality of our sources of information is one of those principles.

See the topic “Consult Reliable Sources” for more tips on evaluating information.

Overview

Joseph Smith testified that God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him in a grove of trees near his parents’ home when he was about 14 years old. This theophany came to be known as the First Vision. Joseph and others recorded several accounts of the First Vision during the Prophet’s lifetime.

Joseph published two accounts of the First Vision. The most well-known was canonized and can be found in the Pearl of Great Price. Two unpublished accounts, recorded in Joseph Smith’s earliest autobiography and in his journal, were generally unknown until they were published by the Church in the 1960s.

The various accounts tell a consistent story, though naturally they differ in emphasis and detail. Some have mistakenly argued that any variation between the descriptions of the First Vision is evidence of fabrication. On the contrary, historians expect that when an individual retells an experience in multiple settings to different audiences over many years, each account will emphasize different aspects of the experience and contain unique details.

The major differences in Joseph Smith’s First Vision accounts are found in the earliest, which was written in 1832. It varies from the other accounts on a few points:

In the 1832 account, one of Joseph’s scribes inserted the phrase “in the 16th year of my age.” The other accounts report he was 14 years old. This was most likely the result of a scribal mistake.
In the earliest account, Joseph prayed seeking forgiveness for his sins. In the later accounts, he wanted to know which church to join. These two questions were probably very closely related in Joseph’s mind, and both reflected his desire to be saved.
The first account states, “The Lord opened the heavens upon me and I saw the Lord and he spake unto me.” In the scriptural account, Joseph explained that the Father introduced the Son, who then proceeded to converse with Joseph. Although the 1832 account does not include this detail, all the accounts emphasize the central role of Jesus Christ in the vision. He is the one who answered Joseph’s questions.

Joseph’s multiple accounts of the First Vision enable us to learn more about this remarkable event than we could if it were less well documented. Latter-day Saints who read them can gain an appreciation for the Prophet’s sincere testimony that God answered his prayer with a remarkable vision.

Related gospel study guides:

“First Vision”
“Joseph Smith”
“Revelation”

Exploring Your Questions

Why are there differences between Joseph Smith’s First Vision accounts?

Joseph Smith left four accounts of the First Vision. In addition to these accounts, five of his contemporaries wrote accounts after hearing Joseph speak of his experience. The multiple accounts with their different emphases and details give us a more complete picture of this miraculous experience.

People often emphasize different aspects of an experience depending on their audience or their reasons for sharing. Joseph’s accounts are excellent examples of this phenomenon. While they vary in emphasis and detail, they tell a consistent story. A scriptural example of this can be found in the multiple accounts of Paul’s conversion in the New Testament.

The First Vision accounts were produced under varying circumstances: writing a private history, recounting his experience to a visitor in his home, dictating his life story for an official history, or responding to an inquiry from a reporter. In each case, Joseph seems to have drawn on memories he felt were most relevant for the audience. The variations between the accounts are the kind historians and scholars who study memory expect to find in documents produced in such different contexts.

The differences between the accounts also show how Joseph’s understanding and perspective expanded with time, experience, and further revelation. When Joseph dictated his first account in 1832, it was still early in his ministry. The account is largely personal and focuses on the vision’s meaning for Joseph. When he later dictated the account now found in the Pearl of Great Price, he reflected on the vision’s meaning not only to him but to the Church and the world.

How many heavenly beings did Joseph Smith see in the First Vision?

Three of Joseph’s four accounts clearly describe two “personages”: God the Father and Jesus Christ. In one account, he mentioned that he also saw angels. Joseph’s earliest account is less detailed. Written in 1832, the account describes “the Lord” opening the heavens and then Joseph seeing “the Lord.”

There are several ways to think about this account. Joseph Smith may have said “the Lord” to refer to both God the Father and the Son, similar to the way some in Joseph’s day referred to Them. Or he may have simply focused on Jesus Christ, the divine Personage who forgave him of his sins and delivered the message of the vision.

Did Joseph Smith pray for forgiveness or to know which church to join?

Joseph’s earliest account of the First Vision, written when he was a young man, states that he prayed seeking forgiveness for his sins. His later accounts, written after many years serving as the leader of a growing church, emphasized his quest about which church to join. In reality, these two questions were closely related for Joseph. Both reflect his desire to be saved.

Why do Joseph Smith’s First Vision accounts differ in how he described his age?

Joseph Smith composed his earliest First Vision account in his own handwriting in 1832. Sometime after Joseph finished writing, a scribe added Joseph’s age between the lines, indicating that he was in his “sixteenth year” (or age 15) at the time of the vision. We don’t know whether the scribe consulted with Joseph about this addition. In each of his subsequent accounts, Joseph said that he was 14 years old.

Joseph’s accounts were all written more than a decade after the vision occurred. Even if he did direct his scribe to write that he was 15 years old, it appears that after more careful reflection he concluded that he was 14 years old at the time of the vision. Historians expect to find discrepancies such as these when people recount their lives from memory. In any event, the fact that the vision happened is far more important than the precise date of its occurrence.

Is there historical evidence of religious excitement near Palmyra, New York, in 1820?

Yes. In his 1838 history, Joseph Smith said that his First Vision occurred in the spring of 1820. Joseph had been considering the questions that led him to pray for some time before the vision. In his 1832 account, Joseph wrote that he started pondering “the all-important concerns for the welfare of my immortal soul” when he was 12 years old, or around 1818. Historical records are clear that a general enthusiasm for religion was sweeping the United States at this time, especially western New York, where Joseph lived.

Sometimes this enthusiasm took the form of revival meetings, such as the one held by Methodists just outside of Palmyra in 1818. Local Methodists also assembled the following year in Vienna (now Phelps), New York, 15 miles from the Smith family farm. The journals of a traveling Methodist preacher speak of religious excitement in Joseph’s area in 1819 and 1820. They report that Reverend George Lane, a revivalist minister, was in that region in both years speaking “on Gods method in bringing about Reformations.” There was a three-day Methodist camp meeting in Palmyra in the late spring of 1820, and extensive revivals occurred several years later in 1824. Though Joseph did not specifically mention revivals, they are unmistakable evidence of the “unusual excitement” he described.

Why did Joseph wait so long to write an account of the First Vision?

Joseph Smith did not create any autobiographical records during the first 24 years of his life. He grew up in a family that was literate, but he received little formal education. We know he found it difficult to express himself in writing.

Shortly after the Church was organized, the Lord commanded Joseph to keep a history. It is significant that soon after Joseph received this commandment, one of the first things he recorded was an account of the First Vision.

Why did some early Church members not mention the First Vision in their accounts of the Restoration?

Early Church members sometimes narrated the Restoration without referencing the First Vision. For example, Joseph Smith’s mother, Lucy, and his brother William both left accounts that began with the angel Moroni’s visit in 1823 and did not reference the appearance of the Father and the Son. Similarly, Oliver Cowdery’s earliest published account of the Restoration begins with Moroni’s appearance.

Joseph himself did not emphasize or speak frequently about the vision in public for many years. One of his accounts suggests that at first he even hesitated to share details with his family, perhaps out of reluctance to share a uniquely sacred experience. On the other hand, Joseph frequently testified of the visitation of Moroni and the translation of the Book of Mormon. These events came to be seen by many early Church members as the primary evidence of Joseph’s divine calling. The accounts given by these Church members don’t undermine Joseph’s eyewitness testimony, but they reflect the early Latter-day Saints’ excitement about and testimony of the Book of Mormon.

Are there similarities between Joseph Smith’s 1832 First Vision account and the conversion stories of other Christians in his day?

Joseph Smith’s First Vision was a transcendent moment in human history. While other people in his day wrote of spiritual visions, their accounts all remained stories of personal conversion. Joseph’s incomparable experience marked the beginning of a series of miracles that led to the Restoration of the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The 1832 account of the First Vision shares some language also found in the conversion narratives of other Christians in his day. It is no surprise that Joseph would use language familiar to him to describe the vision. In a similar fashion, Church members today bear their testimonies using phrases they learned from others. But while the language we use to share our testimonies often follows a pattern, our individual spiritual experiences are unique and personal.

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Gospel Topics Essay: “First Vision Accounts”