~~  The First Vision - All Nine Versions  ~~

David O. McKay, the ninth Prophet and President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons), declared that "the appearing of the Father and the Son to Joseph Smith is the foundation of the Church." (Gospel Ideals, pg. 85)

On this premise, that the LDS Church is built on the foundation of Joseph Smith's First Vision, we present this information for consideration in the form of a quilt display:

Block #1 depicts the 1831-32 version of this vision. It is the earliest known account and is in Joseph Smith's own handwriting. It was first made public by a Mormon doctoral student Paul Cheesman, in 1965 and was published that same year by Jerald and Sandra Tanner as "Joseph Smith's Strange Account of the First Vision."

This account had been in the hands of Mormon leaders, but had been suppressed for over 130 years. Perhaps the reason it was hidden away in the LDS vaults is because this account by Joseph Smith differs so greatly from the "official version" in The Pearl of Great Price, which Mormons accept as scripture.

In this 1831-32 version, Smith said he was 16 years old and already knew all the churches were wrong from reading the Bible. According to this story, Joseph was seeking forgiveness, and it was Jesus alone who appeared to him and granted him pardon. This is very similar to the visions that many other individuals of that period claimed to have had, in which Jesus appeared and gave them assurance of forgiveness.

The Mormons first published this account in Brigham Young University (BYU) Studies, Spring 1969, pages 280-281. (Also Dean Jessee, The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, pp. 3-6.)

Block #2 portrays the 1835 version of the first vision that was obtained from Joseph Smith by Oliver Cowdery, and published in the Mormon paper the Messenger & Advocate (Feb. 1835, pp. 78-79).

In this telling of the story several discrepancies with Joseph's later version appear. Here Joseph Smith claimed he was 17 years old, and the revival, which he later placed as happening in 1820, is reported as occurring in 1823. At that date Joseph is described as wondering whether a Supreme Being existed and whether his sins could be forgiven, and it was not Jesus who appeared to him but just "a messenger from God," who forgave Smith's sins.

This account was recopied, unchanged, into Joseph Smith's Manuscript History, and subsequently into Joseph's publication, Times and Seasons.

Block #3 represents an account from Joseph Smith's 1835 Diary, dictated by him to his scribe Warren Parish. This version, which was first published in Dialogue, (VI, No. 1, pg. 87), gives Joseph Smith's age as about 14. Here is the first mention of an evil power which came upon Joseph. Smith related that his tongue seemed swollen and at first he could not pray.

Also in this narrative, Smith stated there were two beings but did not identify them as the Father and the Son, and he claimed to have seen "many angels." (Dean Jessee, The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, pp. 74-76, cf. pg. 84 - age 14 "first visitation of angels")

Block #4 illustrates the information from an 1837 account by Orson Pratt which is recorded in William Appleby's diary, typed transcript pages 30-31. One glaring discrepancy between this version and the official one is the date of the revival, which is given as 1822, rather than 1820. Joseph is in his 17th year, and it was not the Father and the Son who appeared to Smith, but beings who "declared themselves to be angels." These angels forgave Joseph's sins.

Block #5 symbolizes the 1838 account, which was first printed in Times and Seasons (as "History of Joseph Smith," beginning March 15), April 1, 1842, pages 748-749. This is now accepted as the "official" account and is found in all current editions of The Pearl of Great Price, which is one of the four Mormon Standard Works.

In this description, Smith's age is 14, there was an evil power present, and the revival date is given as 1820. (Historical records disprove this dating of the revival, and establish that it did not occur until 1824.) This is the first recorded claim that the Father and the Son both appeared to Smith. None of the early Mormons had ever heard of this visitation, and this account makes God's word null and void because the Bible states emphatically that God is Spirit and that no man has seen Him.

Here Smith recalls that he often wondered which church to join or if they were all wrong. But after he is told they were all wrong and not to join any of them, he mentions that it had never entered his mind that they were all wrong. Yet in spite of the prohibition against joining any existing denomination, Joseph nevertheless took steps, both in Palmyra and in Harmony, Pa., to join the Methodist Church.

Block # 6 records an 1841 interview concerning the First Vision given by Joseph's brother, William Smith, to James Murdock. No evil power is mentioned, Joseph's age was 17 years, and in this narration one "glorious angel appeared," not the Father and the Son. (Hartford, Conn., Observer, reprinted in F. Kirkham's A New Witness for Christ)

Block #7 presents another Nauvoo period account from a letter by Joseph Smith to John Wentworth. No evil power is referred to, and Joseph's age is not given. Two personages, who are not identified, are spoken about. This account was published in Times and Seasons, March 1, 1842, pages 706-707.

Block #8 represents an 1843 interview with Joseph Smith by a reporter from the Pittsburg Gazette which was reprinted in the New York Observer, Sept. 23, 1843. In this interview version, Joseph was 14 years old. No evil power was reported, unlike the official version. Smith claims again that he was visited by dual personages, and one identifies the other as his Beloved Son. (Partially published in Dialogue, Autumn 1966 1 No. 3, pg.43)

Block #9 shows the 1844 Niebaur Journal account of Joseph Smith's telling his First Vision story, written under the date of May 24, 1844. In this version Joseph states that he was seeking to know which was the right Church. Smith's age is not given, and, as in the official account, he says that an evil power was present. But, unlike the official story, this time Smith speaks of the appearing of one "blue eyed person and another then came to his side." Again one personage identified the other as his Beloved Son. Smith is specifically told that the Methodists are not God's people. (Partially published in Dialogue, Autumn 1966 1 No. 3, pg. 43)

On the four corners of the quilt is a representation of the golden plates from which the Book of Mormon was allegedly translated. The characters bordering each of the nine blocks are likenesses of graphic symbols that Joseph Smith claimed were etched on the golden plates and were in the "reformed Egyptian" language.

What conclusion can be reached after reviewing these puzzling accounts of the First Vision? The fluctuation and inconsistency of Joseph's age when the vision occurred, the disagreement over the number of personages, the variations of who appeared, the variously divergent messages they brought, and the question of whether an evil power was or was not present, are bewildering.

The additional questions of why one account was suppressed by the LDS Church for over 130 years, why the discrepancy between known historical dates and the various years to which the revival was assigned, and why there are no traces of a "reformed Egyptian" language, add further to the confusion.

Sometimes in recalling a factual event, one remembers more details each time one tells it. But these particulars will add more to the story -- they will not be alterations or deviations. A monumental occurrence such as Joseph Smith's First Vision, if true, should remain essentially unchanged whenever he tells it, but instead Joseph's story changes significantly.

Jesus Christ warned us that if one builds his house on sand, when the winds and floods come, it will surely crumble. The foundation of the LDS Church, which President McKay says is Joseph's First Vision, is indeed very shaky. But Jesus gave us the good news that if one builds his house on a rock, it will withstand all the storms that would ever come. Jesus said he would build His Church on a rock and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. The Bible tells us Christ is our rock, our only sure foundation.

Our prayer, and purpose of this quilt, is to show that there is something wrong with the foundation of Mormonism, so as to point you to the one right and true foundation -- Jesus Christ of the Bible!

-- Colleen Ralson

Just a quick note here from Helping Mormons Reach Perfection. As I was reading this wonderful tract by Colleen Ralson I began to think of an illustration I have heard before. If there was a car accident at an intersection and four different people came forward as witnesses to tell you what happened, you would expect most of their stories to be identical, varying a little depending on the angle of their point of view. But when someone says the car was yellow that ran the red light and another says it was green, but the other two witnesses both agree it was blue, you begin to wonder which of these stories are true and if these two individuals were even at the scene of the accident.

Well the same thing is true with Joseph Smith's First Vision. If he really had this monumental experience it would seem each time he told the story he would always tell it the same. But when you get so many differences of the same story, you may begin to wonder was he really there? Did it really happen the way he said it did? Did it happen at all?

Another point that needs to be made in these different accounts is that it wasn't always a pillar of light that shown over Joseph head. In some accounts it was a pillar of fire and he mentions how it did not consume anything.

Speaking of the anti-Christ in Revelation 13:13, John relates this to us:
And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 

Finally, why did it take 18 years for the current accepted version to appear? And why did it not appear in any LDS official publications until March and April 1842 (22 years after the vision) in the Times and Seasons, pg. 126?

This is the film that was shown to me at my last missionary discussion on reel to reel movie projector abt. 1983, Only to find out 15 years later that there is 9 different versions of this, and this version was not the first documented version.

The following chart (Originally by John Farkas of Berean Christian Ministries) outlines nine different versions of the First Vision, but please note that they are not necessarily in the same order, nor are they necessarily the same events as documented in the above publication by Colleen Ralson.