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Detailed response to CES Letter, First Vision
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[[../|Letter to a CES Director]] |
[[../Book of Abraham Concerns & Questions|Book of Abraham Concerns & Questions]] |
A FAIR Analysis of the online document Letter to a CES Director section "First Vision Concerns & Questions"
I am not worried that the Prophet Joseph Smith gave a number of versions of the first vision anymore than I am worried that there are four different writers of the gospels in the New Testament, each with his own perceptions, each telling the events to meet his own purpose for writing at the time. I am more concerned with the fact that God has revealed in this dispensation a great and marvelous and beautiful plan that motivates men and women to love their Creator and their Redeemer, to appreciate and serve one another, to walk in faith on the road that leads to immortality and eternal life.
—Gordon B. Hinckley, “God Hath Not Given Us the Spirit of Fear,” Ensign, Oct 1984, 2 off-site
- Response to section: "There are at least 4 different First Vision accounts by Joseph Smith"
- Response to section: "The dates / his ages are all over the place"
- Response to section: "The reason or motive for seeking divine help – bible reading and conviction of sins, a revival, a desire to know if God exists, wanting to know which church to join – are all over the place"
- Response to section: "Who appears to him – a spirit, an angel, two angels, Jesus, many angels, the Father and the Son – are all over the place."
- Response to section: "The historical record shows that there was no revival in Palmyra in 1820"
- Response to section: "Why did Joseph hold a Trinitarian view of the Godhead, as shown previously with the Book of Mormon, if he clearly saw that the Father and Son were separate embodied beings in the official First Vision?" [Work in Progress]
- Response to section: "There is absolutely no record of a First Vision prior to 1832"
- Response to section: "In the 1832 account, Joseph said that before praying he knew that there was no true or living faith or denomination upon the earth"
Response Section
"There are at least 4 different First Vision accounts by Joseph Smith"
"The dates / his ages are all over the place"
"The reason or motive for seeking divine help – bible reading and conviction of sins, a revival, a desire to know if God exists, wanting to know which church to join – are all over the place"
"Who appears to him – a spirit, an angel, two angels, Jesus, many angels, the Father and the Son – are all over the place."
"The historical record shows that there was no revival in Palmyra in 1820"
"Why did Joseph hold a Trinitarian view of the Godhead, as shown previously with the Book of Mormon, if he clearly saw that the Father and Son were separate embodied beings in the official First Vision?"
{{CESLetterItem |claim=The author asks, "Why did Joseph hold a Trinitarian view of the Godhead, as shown previously with the Book of Mormon, if he clearly saw that the Father and Son were separate embodied beings in the official First Vision?" |answer=
- Critics note that the earliest edition of the Book of Mormon referred to Jesus as "God," but in later editions some of these references were changed to "the Son of God." They claim Joseph was originally a solid Trinitarian (perhaps even a Modalist), and as he later began to teach that the Father and Son were two separate beings, he had to change the Book of Mormon to support his new doctrine.
- The second edition of the Book of Mormon was published in 1837 at Kirtland, Ohio. The typesetting and printing were done during the winter of 1836–37, with Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery taking an active part in the editing process. In this edition numerous corrections were made to the text of the 1830 (first) edition to bring it back to the reading in the original and printer's manuscripts. Joseph Smith also made a number of editorial changes to the text. Among the changes he made are these four in 1 Nephi 11 and 13:
| Original manuscript | Printer's manuscript | 1830 edition | 1837 edition | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Nephi 11:18 | behold the virgin which thou seest is the Mother of god after the manner of the flesh | behold the virgin |
Behold, the virgin which thou seest, is the mother of God, after the manner of the flesh. | Behold, the virgin whom thou seest, is the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh. |
| 1 Nephi 11:21 | & the angel said unto me behold the lam of god yea even the eternal father knowest thou the meaning of the tree which thy father saw | & the Angel said unto me behold the Lamb of God yea even the <God> Father knowest thou the meaning of the tree which thy father saw | And the angel said unto me, behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Eternal Father! Knowest thou the meaning of the tree which thy father saw? | And the angel said unto me, behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father! Knowest thou the meaning of the tree which thy father saw? |
| 1 Nephi 11:32 | & it came to pass that the angel spake unto me again saying look and i lookt & beheld the lam of god that he was taken By the People yea the ever lasting god was judgd of the world and i saw & bare record | & it came to pass that the Angel spake unto me again saying look & I looked & behold the Lamb of God that he was taken by the People yea the everlasting God was Judged of the world & I saw & bear record | And it came to pass the angel spake unto me again, saying, look! And I looked and beheld the Lamb of God, that he was taken by the people; yea, the Everlasting God, was judged of the world; and I saw and bear record. | And it came to pass the angel spake unto me again, saying, look! And I looked and beheld the Lamb of God, that he was taken by the people; yea, the Son of the Everlasting God, was judged of the world; and I saw and bear record. |
| 1 Nephi 13:40 | (Not extant.) | & the Angel spake unto me saying these last records which thou hast seen among the Gentiles shall establish the truth of the first |
And the angel spake unto me, saying: These last records which thou hast seen among the Gentiles, shall establish the truth of the first, which is of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, and shall make known the plain the precious things which have been taken away from them; and shall make known to all kindreds, tongues, and people, that the Lamb of God is the Eternal Father and the Saviour of the world; and that all men must come unto Him, or they cannot be saved; | And the angel spake unto me, saying: These last records which thou hast seen among the Gentiles, shall establish the truth of the first, which are of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, and shall make known the plain the precious things which have been taken away from them; and shall make known to all kindreds, tongues, and people, that the Lamb of God is the Son of the Eternal Father and the Saviour of the world; and that all men must come unto Him, or they cannot be saved; |
- (The
strikeoutsand <insertions> in the printer's manuscript are in Joseph's hand, and were added by him during the preparation of the 1837 edition.) - These changes are clarifications that the passages are speaking of Jesus, not God the Father. The terms "God," "Everlasting God," and "Eternal Father" are ambiguous since they could properly refer to either the Father or the Son. For example, "Eternal Father" refers to God the Father in Moroni 4:3, Moroni 5:2, and Moroni 10:4, but to God the Son in Mosiah 16:15 and Alma 11:38-39.
- The addition of "the Son of" to four passages in 1 Nephi does not change the Book of Mormon's teaching that Jesus Christ is the God of Old Testament Israel. This concept is taught in more than a dozen other passages whose readings remain unchanged from the original manuscripts. For example:
- "And the God of our fathers, who were led out of Egypt, out of bondage, and also were preserved in the wilderness by him, yea, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, yieldeth himself...as a man, into the hands of wicked men, to be lifted up...and to be crucified...and to be buried in a sepulchre...." (1 Nephi 19:10)
- "...he said unto them that Christ was the God, the Father of all things, and said that he should take upon him the image of man, and it should be the image after which man was created in the beginning; or in other words, he said that man was created after the image of God, and that God should come down among the children of men, and take upon him flesh and blood, and go forth upon the face of the earth." (Mosiah 7:27)
- "Teach them that redemption cometh through Christ the Lord, who is the very Eternal Father." (Mosiah 16:15)
- "Now Zeezrom saith again unto him: Is the Son of God the very Eternal Father? And Amulek said unto him: Yea, he is the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth, and all things which in them are; he is the beginning and the end, the first and the last." (Alma 11:38-39)
"There is absolutely no record of a First Vision prior to 1832"
"In the 1832 account, Joseph said that before praying he knew that there was no true or living faith or denomination upon the earth"
==Notes
- [note] Richard L. Bushman, Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism (Urbana and Chicago, Illinois: University of Illinois Press; Reprint edition, 1987), 53. ISBN 0252060121.