Joseph Smith—History 1:1–26

Joseph Smith—History 1:1–26

Historical Context:

After receiving a command from the Lord that “there shall be a record kept among you” (Doctrine and Covenants 21:1), Joseph Smith engaged in several significant historical projects throughout his life to record the story of the Restoration. This record, which would become the official history of the Church, was started in April 1838, shortly after the Prophet and his family arrived in Far West, Missouri. In writing his history, Joseph was assisted by his counselor Sidney Rigdon and George W. Robinson, who served as scribe. The original draft of the history no longer exists, but the work started in Far West was later incorporated into the six-volume “History of Joseph Smith” published years after the Prophet’s martyrdom.

The 1838 account is remarkable in the clarity and simplicity of its writing. Arthur Henry King, a professor of English literature and a convert to the Church, recorded the impact of the style of writing in this reflection on the 1838 history: “When I was first brought to read Joseph Smith’s story, I was deeply impressed. I wasn’t inclined to be impressed. As a stylistician, I have spent my life being disinclined to be impressed. So when I read his story, I thought to myself, this is an extraordinary thing. This is an astonishingly matter-of-fact and cool account. This man is not trying to persuade me of anything. He doesn’t feel the need to. He is stating what happened to him, and he is stating it, not enthusiastically, but in quite a matter-of-fact way. He is not trying to make me cry or feel ecstatic. That struck me, and that began to build my testimony, for I could see that this man was telling the truth.”1

Joseph Smith—History was canonized on October 10, 1880, when the Pearl of Great Price was sustained by the membership of the Church as one of its standard works. Though there are multiple accounts of the First Vision recorded by Joseph Smith and his contemporaries, the account found in Joseph Smith—History is considered the most complete and the official report of the appearance of the Father and the Son to Joseph Smith.

See Historical Introduction, “History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834],” p. 1, The Joseph Smith Papers, josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1838-1856-volume-a-1-23-december-1805-30-august-1834/1.

Verse by Verse Commentary:

1 Owing to the many reports which have been put in circulation by evil-disposed and designing persons, in relation to the rise and progress of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, all of which have been designed by the authors thereof to militate against its character as a Church and its progress in the world—I have been induced to write this history, to disabuse the public mind, and put all inquirers after truth in possession of the facts, as they have transpired, in relation both to myself and the Church, so far as I have such facts in my possession.

2 In this history I shall present the various events in relation to this Church, in truth and righteousness, as they have transpired, or as they at present exist, being now [1838] the eighth year since the organization of the said Church.

The timing of this writing was significant. Fleeing with his family, Joseph left Kirtland, Ohio, the headquarters of the Church since 1830, in the midst of the one of the worst apostasies in the early history of the Church. Contention over the failure of the Kirtland Safety Society caused serious contention among the Saints, even leading to attempts to replace Joseph as Church president. After his arrival in Far West, Joseph also endured the excommunication or disaffection of several of his longtime partners in the work, including Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, Martin Harris, and several members of the Quorum of the Twelve and members of higher councils in the Church. During this time, the Prophet likely felt the need to emphasize the divine nature of his calling.

This history was also written in the midst of serious persecutions to the Church in Missouri. Joseph, in writing the history reaches out to genuine Christians by framing the Restoration narrative as the search of a Christian to find the truth. Joseph’s telling here is calculated to show much common ground with other Christians, to show that our Church exists because Joseph took the Bible seriously. To emphasize this the history also uses the official name of the Church, centered around the name of Jesus Christ, and given by revelation on April 26, 1838, and now in the scriptural canon as section 115 of the Doctrine and Covenants.

Joseph had already recorded the story of the appearance of the Father and the Son two times. The first account was written in the summer of 1832 in an unpublished history. The second was through a conversation with Robert Matthews, a fraudulent preacher claiming to be a Jewish minister. The 1838 history, however, appears to be the first time Joseph Smith recorded the story of the First Vision for the general public. There are indications from these earlier writings that Joseph initially saw the vision as a private experience and was reluctant to share it with others. The 1838 account emphasizes the public implications of the vision, with the Prophet centering the experience around his search to find the true church of Jesus Christ.

3 I was born in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and five, on the twenty-third day of December, in the town of Sharon, Windsor county, State of Vermont. … My father, Joseph Smith, Sen., left the State of Vermont, and moved to Palmyra, Ontario (now Wayne) county, in the State of New York, when I was in my tenth year, or thereabouts. In about four years after my father’s arrival in Palmyra, he moved with his family into Manchester in the same county of Ontario—

4 His family consisting of eleven souls, namely, my father, Joseph Smith; my mother, Lucy Smith (whose name, previous to her marriage, was Mack, daughter of Solomon Mack); my brothers, Alvin (who died November 19th, 1823, in the 26th year of his age), Hyrum, myself, Samuel Harrison, William, Don Carlos; and my sisters, Sophronia, Catherine, and Lucy.

While Joseph Smith, Jr., is properly credited as the founding prophet of this dispensation, it is also worthwhile to reflect on the remarkable family he was born into and the importance of their support to the Prophet in his mission. Each member of the Smith family supported the message of the Restoration and assisted in the coming forth of the work in the latter days.

The Prophet’s parents, for instance, remained steadfast supporters of the work until the end of their lives. Joseph Smith, Sr., served as one of the eight witnesses of the Book of Mormon and was baptized on April 6, 1830, the day the Church was officially organized. He later served as the first presiding patriarch of the Church, an assistant president of the Church, and an assistant counselor in the First Presidency. He died in September 1840 in Nauvoo, shortly after giving the Prophet a final blessing. Lucy Mack Smith was also a fierce defender of her son’s legacy. She was also baptized on the day the Church was organized, becoming one of the most dynamic female leaders in the early Church. She led a group of approximately 80 Saints from New York to Kirtland, Ohio, after the command was given to gather “to the Ohio” (Doctrine and Covenants 37). She followed the Saints from Kirtland to Missouri, eventually settling in Nauvoo. After the death of her husband and five of her six sons, she completed, with the assistance of Martha Coray, a remarkable history of the early Restoration. Later published as The History of Joseph Smith by His Mother, Lucy’s history is still one of the most valuable accounts of the early period of the Restoration.

Alvin Smith passed away in 1823 before Joseph was able to obtain the gold plates, but he was a strong supporter of Joseph’s prophetic calling. On his deathbed he encouraged Joseph to do all he could to obtain the record. Hyrum Smith’s role in the Restoration is well known. He served as one of the eight witnesses of the Book of Mormon, was one of the six original organizers of the Church, and later took his father’s place as the presiding patriarch of the Church. Hyrum was also appointed to take Oliver Cowdery’s place in the First Presidency after the latter apostatized in 1838, and he was commanded to “act in concert” with Joseph, essentially becoming the copresident of the Church (Doctrine and Covenants 124:95). He fell a martyr in Carthage Jail alongside the Prophet.

Samuel Harrison Smith was among the first baptized in this dispensation, receiving the ordinance shortly after the restoration of the Aaronic priesthood in May 1829. He was also one of the eight witnesses and one of the six organizers of the Church. He served in numerous leadership positions in the Church and followed the Saints from Ohio to Missouri and finally to Nauvoo, Illinois, dying only a month after his two brothers died in Carthage Jail.

Don Carlos Smith, the youngest son in the family, was baptized in June 1830 and remained faithful to his testimony of the Restoration throughout his lifetime. He served as a missionary in New York, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. He suffered through the persecutions in Missouri and was forced to relocated with his family to Illinois. He died in Nauvoo in 1841.

William Smith is the most controversial of the Prophet’s siblings. He was baptized in June 1830, the same day as Don Carlos. He served a mission in Pennsylvania and later was a member of Zion’s Camp during the expedition to assist the Missouri Saints in 1834. He was called as a member of the original Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in this dispensation in 1835. In May 1839 he was disfellowshipped, but he was restored to his place in the Twelve a few weeks later. In Nauvoo he served as a member of the city council and as the editor of the Wasp, a local newspaper. After the death of Joseph, Hyrum, and Samuel in the summer of 1844, William was ordained as patriarch of the Church. He later turned against Brigham Young and the Twelve and was excommunicated in the fall of 1845. In the years following he affiliated with several splinter movements of the Restoration, eventually joining the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1878. The only Smith son to die in old age, William passed away in 1893.

Less is known of the Smith sisters, Sophronia, Katherine, and Lucy. Sophronia married Calvin W. Stoddard in 1827 and was baptized into the Church around 1830. She followed the Saints to Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. After the exodus of the Saints, Sophronia remained behind in Illinois. She was received into the Reorganized Church in April 1873, based on her original baptism.

Katherine Smith was baptized the same day as her brothers William and Don Carlos in June 1830. She married Wilkins Salisbury in 1831 after moving to Kirtland, Ohio. She later endured the persecutions of Missouri and settled in Hancock County, Illinois, where she remained until her death in 1900. She was received in the Reorganized Church based on her original baptism in 1873.

Lucy Smith, the youngest member of the Smith family, was born in 1821, the year after her brother’s vision of the Father and the Son. She accompanied her parents as they migrated from New York to Ohio to Missouri. She married Arthur Milkin in 1840 in Nauvoo. After the Saints left Nauvoo, she remained behind in Illinois. She was received into the Reorganized Church based on her original baptism in 1873, and she died near Colchester, Illinois, in 1882.

See josephsmithpapers.org/reference/people?filter=m.

5 Some time in the second year after our removal to Manchester, there was in the place where we lived an unusual excitement on the subject of religion. It commenced with the Methodists, but soon became general among all the sects in that region of country. Indeed, the whole district of country seemed affected by it, and great multitudes united themselves to the different religious parties, which created no small stir and division amongst the people, some crying, “Lo, here!” and others, “Lo, there!” Some were contending for the Methodist faith, some for the Presbyterian, and some for the Baptist.

6 For, notwithstanding the great love which the converts to these different faiths expressed at the time of their conversion, and the great zeal manifested by the respective clergy, who were active in getting up and promoting this extraordinary scene of religious feeling, in order to have everybody converted, as they were pleased to call it, let them join what sect they pleased; yet when the converts began to file off, some to one party and some to another, it was seen that the seemingly good feelings of both the priests and the converts were more pretended than real; for a scene of great confusion and bad feeling ensued—priest contending against priest, and convert against convert; so that all their good feelings one for another, if they ever had any, were entirely lost in a strife of words and a contest about opinions.

The area where the Smith family lived in western New York was later known as the “burned over district.” Itinerant preachers held revivals throughout the area, and it is likely that Joseph Smith attended some of these meetings. The Smiths were a religious family but held no strong leanings toward any particular religious group prior to their time in Palmyra. If there was a Smith family religion it was probably Universalism, which Richard Bushman has described as more of a “religious overlay” on the family than an affiliation.

Asael Smith, the Prophet’s grandfather, along with his sons Jesse and Joseph Sr., organized a Universalist society in Tunbridge, Vermont. Jesse later became a strict Calvinist, and Joseph Sr. left the society as well, though he appears to have maintained a philosophical tie to Universalism throughout his life. Universalism, simply summarized, is the belief that God will eventually save all of His children.

Though the Smiths were not part of any Universalist organizations during the Prophet’s formative years, the doctrine may have formed a rough outline for Joseph’s religious thinking. There were many aspects of Universalist beliefs that may have helped prepare the Prophet and his family for the times they faced ahead.

Universalism emphasizes the loving nature of God’s personality more than most of the religions of the day did. The doctrine of universal salvation brought its followers to see God as a loving father figure, not an arbitrary sovereign or an angry God bent on the punishment of humankind. Hosea Ballou, a popular Universalist teacher, summarized his concept of God in homely language: “Your child has fallen into the mire, and its body and its garments are defiled. You cleanse it, and array it in clean robes. The query is, Do you love your child because you have washed it? Or, Did you wash it because you loved it?” Because of this religious overlay, it is likely that when Joseph approached God in prayer, he visualized deity as a loving father and not as a stern overseer bent on punishment.

See Casey Paul Griffiths, “Universalism and the Revelations of Joseph Smith,” rsc.byu.edu/doctrine-covenants-revelations-context/universalism-revelations-joseph-smith#_edn22.

7 I was at this time in my fifteenth year. My father’s family was proselyted to the Presbyterian faith, and four of them joined that church, namely, my mother, Lucy; my brothers Hyrum and Samuel Harrison; and my sister Sophronia.

8 During this time of great excitement my mind was called up to serious reflection and great uneasiness; but though my feelings were deep and often poignant, still I kept myself aloof from all these parties, though I attended their several meetings as often as occasion would permit. In process of time my mind became somewhat partial to the Methodist sect, and I felt some desire to be united with them; but so great were the confusion and strife among the different denominations, that it was impossible for a person young as I was, and so unacquainted with men and things, to come to any certain conclusion who was right and who was wrong.

9 My mind at times was greatly excited, the cry and tumult were so great and incessant. The Presbyterians were most decided against the Baptists and Methodists, and used all the powers of both reason and sophistry to prove their errors, or, at least, to make the people think they were in error. On the other hand, the Baptists and Methodists in their turn were equally zealous in endeavoring to establish their own tenets and disprove all others.

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 right, which is it, and how shall I know it?

Joseph describes his encounters with the leaders and converts of various denominations here, describing the meetings of the Baptists and the Methodists and the proselytization of several of his own family members to the Methodists. While Joseph mentions these events happening in his “fifteenth year,” in his 1832 history he writes, “From the age of twelve years to fifteen I pondered many things in my heart concerning the world of mankind, the contentions and divisions, the wickedness and abominations, and the darkness which pervaded the minds of mankind.”2

Instead of only attending a few meetings, Joseph searched for several years to find a religion he felt he could join. In another history, Joseph wrote, “I began to reflect on the importance of being prepared for a future state, and upon enquiring the plan of salvation I found that there was a great clash in religious sentiment.”3 Speaking to Alexander Neibaur in May 1844, Joseph said “his mother and brother and sister got religion, and he wanted to get religion too [and] wanted to feel and shout like the rest but could feel nothing.”4

The account of the vision written in 1840 by Orson Pratt, who we assume received his knowledge firsthand from the Prophet, adds, “It, also, occurred to his mind, that God was not the author of but one doctrine, and therefore could not acknowledge but one denomination as his church; and that such denomination must be a people, who believe, and teach, that one doctrine, (whatever it may be,) and build upon the same. He then reflected upon the immense number of doctrines, now, in the world, which had given rise to many hundreds of different denominations.”5 

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 James, first chapter and fifth verse, which reads: If any of you lack wisdom, 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 scripture 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 wisdom 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 understood 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 darkness 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 give liberally, and not upbraid, I might venture.

While the 1838 account moves immediately to Joseph reading James 1:5, the Prophet’s 1832 history records a more intensive search through the scriptures and several realizations before Joseph came to the conclusion to ask God. Joseph wrote, “I became exceedingly distressed, for I became convicted of my sins.” He added, “I felt to mourn for my own sins and for the sins of the world.” He came to the conclusion “by searching the scriptures . . . that mankind did not come unto the Lord but that they had apostatized from the true and living faith, and there was no society or denomination that was built upon the gospel of Jesus Christ as recorded in the New Testament.”6

At the same time, Joseph’s study of the Bible led him to record, “I learned in the scriptures that God was the same yesterday, today, and forever, that he was no respecter of persons, for he was God.” He reflected on the beauty and wonder of God’s creations surrounding him, writing, “When I considered upon these things . . . my heart exclaimed, ‘All, all these things bear testimony and bespeak an omnipotent and omnipresent power, a being who maketh laws and decreeth and bindeth all things in their bounds, who filleth eternity, and who was and is and will be from all eternity to eternity.’”7 The importance of the scriptures as a catalyst in leading the Prophet to revelation remained a prominent pattern throughout the rest of his life.

14 So, in accordance with this, my determination to ask of God, I retired to the woods 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.

In an 1843 interview with David Nye White, a reporter from the Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette, Joseph added some detail on the location of the First Vision, stating, “I immediately went out into the woods where my father had a clearing, and went to the stump where I had stuck my axe when I quit work, and I kneeled down, and prayed, saying ‘O Lord, what Church shall I join?’”8 It was in this place Joseph had his first encounter with a supernatural force, not the Father and the Son, but a dark power intended to deter him from his search for the truth.

Joseph describes this attack as a physical force but also with aspects of a mental invasion. He first mentioned the adversary’s attack in a conversation recorded in 1835 with Robert Matthews, a fraudulent preacher and felon traveling under the name of “Joshua the Jewish minister.” The Prophet told Matthews that as he began his prayer, “I heard a noise behind me like some person walking towards me, I strove again to pray but could not, the noise of walking seemed to draw nearer, I sprung up on my feet.”9 In an 1842 account written by Apostle Orson Hyde, he added, “The adversary then made several strenuous efforts to cool his ardent soul. He filled his mind with doubts and brought to mind all manner of inappropriate images to prevent him from obtaining the object of his endeavors.”10

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 despair 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 light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.

Joseph overcame this demonic attack through a renewed attempt to pray and through the power of God. In the 1835 account, he said, “I kneeled again. My mouth was opened and my tongue liberated, and I called on the Lord in mighty prayer.”11 Orson Hyde records that “the overflowing mercy of God came to buoy him up and gave new impetus to his failing strength. However, the dark cloud soon parted and light and peace filled his frightened heart. Once again he called upon the Lord with faith and fervency of spirit.”12

A consistent element in all of Joseph’s accounts of the event is the appearance of a bright light, which he describes variably as a “pillar of light” or a “pillar of flame.”13 The 1840 account by Orson Pratt provides the most detailed observations of this phenomenon. “He, at length, saw a very bright and glorious light in the heavens above; which, at first, seemed to be at a considerable distance. He continued praying, while the light appeared to be gradually descending towards him; and, as it drew nearer, it increased in brightness, and magnitude, so that, by the time that it reached the tops of the trees, the whole wilderness, for some distance around, was illuminated in a most glorious and brilliant manner.”14

Orson Pratt also characterizes the light as having an almost physical dimension to it. “He expected to have seen the leaves and boughs of the trees consumed, as soon as the light came in contact with them,” Pratt writes. “But, perceiving that it did not produce that effect, [Joseph] was encouraged with the hopes of being able to endure its presence. It continued descending, slowly, until it rested upon the earth, and he was enveloped in the midst of it.”15 The Prophet’s 1835 account reports that the light “presently rested down upon me, and filled me with joy unspeakable,”16 while Orson Pratt adds, “When it first came upon him, it produced a peculiar sensation throughout his whole system; and, immediately, his mind was caught away from the natural objects with which he was surrounded; and he was enwrapped in a heavenly vision.”17 Joseph’s 1832 account notes, “I was filled with the Spirit of God.”18 

17 It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing 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!

In the 1835 account of the vision, Joseph describes the Father appearing first, writing, “A personage appeared in the midst of this pillar of flame, which was spread all around, and yet nothing consumed.”19 In the 1844 account recorded by Alexander Neibaur, Joseph describes the Father as having a “light complexion blue eyes a piece of white cloth drawn over his shoulders his right arm bare.” He also records that “after a while a[nother] person came to the side of the first.”20 In his 1842 history Joseph also describes the beings as “two glorious personages who exactly resembled each other in features, and likeness, surrounded with a brilliant light which eclipsed the sun at noon-day.”21

In one late account of the First Vision, recorded in 1893, John Alger related an experience he had when he was a child where Joseph Smith said in a church meeting “that God touched his eyes with his finger and said, ‘Joseph this is my beloved Son, hear him.’ As soon as the Lord had touched his eyes with his finger he immediately saw the Savior.” According to Alger, after the meeting a few members of the audience asked the Prophet about the account. Alger later described “that Joseph while speaking of it put his finger to his right eye, suiting the action with the words so as to illustrate and at the same time impress the occurrence on the minds of those unto whom he was speaking.”22 This account, which is admittedly third hand, is nevertheless an interesting testimony of the physical nature of the Father and the Son.

In the earliest accounts of the vision, the Prophet mentions the personal detail that the first words spoken by Jesus Christ provided forgiveness for his sins. In the 1832 account he records that the Savior “spake unto me saying Joseph, my son​, thy sins are forgiven thee. Go thy way​, walk in my statutes and keep my commandments. Behold I am the Lord of glory I was crucified for the world that all those who believe on my name may have Eternal life.”23 Orson Hyde writes, “They told him his prayers had been answered and that the Lord had decided to grant him a special blessing.”24

18 My object in going to inquire 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 wrong; 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 commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.”

How did the Savior answer Joseph’s question? The most complete encapsulation of the Savior’s words is found in the 1832 account, where He tells Joseph, “Behold​, the world lieth in sin at this time, and none doeth good, no, not one. They have turned aside from the gospel and keep not my​ 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 according to their ungodliness and to bring to pass that which hath​ been spoken by the mouth of the prophets and apostles. Behold and lo, I come quickly as it is written of me in the cloud, clothed ​in the glory of my Father.”25

Orson Pratt summarized the answer, writing “that all the religious denominations were believing in incorrect doctrines; and, consequently, that none of them was acknowledged of God, as his church and kingdom. And he was expressly commanded, to go not after them; and he received a promise that the true doctrine—the fulness of the gospel, should, at some future time, be made known unto him.”26 In his 1842 history Joseph records, “They told me that all religious denominations were believing in incorrect doctrines, and that none of them was acknowledged of God as his church and kingdom. And I was expressly commanded to ‘go not after them,’ at the same time receiving a promise that the fulness of the gospel should at some future time be made known unto me.”27

In 1843 Levi Richards records perhaps the most simple and powerful summary of the message of the Father and the Son to the young Prophet, recording, “He received for an answer that none of them were right, that they were all wrong, and that the everlasting covenant was broken.”28 Joseph’s recollection of this detail near the end of his life is likely linked to the Prophet’s final work to restore to restore the covenants and ordinances which would make mankind heirs of the kingdom of God, though the restoration of the everlasting covenant is a consistent theme throughout all of the revelations of the early Restoration (see Doctrine and Covenants 1:22, 22:1, 39:11, 66:2, 101:39, 132:4).

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 lying 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 opposition and persecution that arose against me, almost in my infancy?

What is recorded in Joseph Smith—History is only a glimpse into the experience of the young prophet in the grove. In the 1835 account Joseph also added, “And I saw many angels in this vision,” suggesting other messengers in addition to the Father and the Son.29 After the vision was over, several accounts mention that the encounter left the Prophet weak and exhausted. The Prophet told David Nye White that “when I came to myself I was sprawling on my back, and it was sometime before my strength returned.”30 The Prophet told Alexander Neibaur, “I endeavored to arise but felt uncommonly feeble.”31 Orson Hyde’s account recorded that “peace and calm filled his mind.”32

Joseph’s physical exhaustion after the experience is consistent with the experience of other Prophets who have entered God’s presence. Earlier prophets, including Daniel (see Daniel 10:8–9), Lehi (see 1 Nephi 1:7), and Moses, experienced a similar exhaustion after their encounters with the divine. Moses recorded “that it was for the space of many hours before [he] did again receive his strength like unto man; and he said unto himself: Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed” (Moses 1:10). This process, called “transfiguration” in the book of Moses (see Moses 1:11), is best explained by the Lord when He simply taught, “For no man has seen God at any time in the flesh, except quickened by the Spirit of God” (Doctrine and Covenants 67:11).

Only the 1838 account of the vision records Joseph’s conversation with his mother after he returned from the grove. The vision had a profound effect on the young man. In his 1832 history Joseph writes, “My soul was filled with love and for many days I could rejoice with great joy and the Lord was with me.”33 However, the vision was the beginning of Joseph’s journey, not the end. He was still a young man and subject to the foibles of youth.

21 Some few days after I had this vision, I happened to be in company with one of the Methodist preachers, who was very active in the before mentioned religious excitement; and, conversing with him on the subject of religion, I took occasion to give him an account of the vision which I had had. I was greatly surprised at his behavior; he treated my communication not only lightly, but with great contempt, saying it was all of the devil, that there were no such things as visions or revelations in these days; that all such things had ceased with the apostles, and that there would never be any more of them.

22 I soon found, however, that my telling the story had excited a great deal of prejudice against me among professors of religion, and was the cause of great persecution, which continued to increase; and though I was an obscure boy, only between fourteen and fifteen years of age, and my circumstances in life such as to make a boy of no consequence in the world, yet men of high standing would take notice sufficient to excite the public mind against me, and create a bitter persecution; and this was common among all the sects—all united to persecute me.

Joseph does not mention the name of the Methodist preacher who condemned the vision, and he gives the most thorough account of this negative reception of the vision in the 1838 history. Levi Richards records Joseph saying, “Earth and hell had opposed him and tried to destroy him—but they had not done it and they never would.”34 Similarly, Joseph told David Nye White, “When I went home and told the people that I had a revelation, and that all the churches were corrupt, they persecuted me, and they have persecuted me ever since. They thought to put me down, but they haven’t succeeded, and they can’t do it.”35

Unfortunately, persecution for the truth became a regular fixture of Joseph’s life, though he learned to cope with and then flourish in the midst of it. “Deep water is what I am wont to swim in. It all has become a second nature to me,” he wrote to the Saints in 1842. “I feel, like Paul, to glory in tribulation; for to this day has the God of my fathers delivered me out of them all, and will deliver me henceforth” (Doctrine and Covenants 127:2).

Joseph saw suffering as a way of becoming like the Savior. He told the Saints on another occasion, “Marvel not, then, if you are persecuted; but remember the words of the Savior: ‘The servant is not above his Lord; if they have persecuted me, they will persecute you also;’ and that all the afflictions through which the Saints have to pass, are the fulfillment of the words of the Prophets which have spoken since the world began.”36

25 So it was with me. I had actually seen a light, and in the midst of that light I saw two Personages, and they did in reality speak to me; and though I was hated and persecuted for saying that I had seen a vision, yet it was true; and while they were persecuting me, reviling me, and speaking all manner of evil against me falsely for so saying, I was led to say in my heart: Why persecute me for telling the truth? I have actually seen a vision; and who am I that I can withstand God, or why does the world think to make me deny what I have actually seen? For I had seen a vision; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it, neither dared I do it; at least I knew that by so doing I would offend God, and come under condemnation.

26 I had now got my mind satisfied so far as the sectarian world was concerned—that it was not my duty to join with any of them, but to continue as I was until further directed. I had found the testimony of James to be true—that a man who lacked wisdom might ask of God, and obtain, and not be upbraided.

Just as the First Vision became a defining moment in the life of the young Prophet, today the vision has become the defining story of the origin of the Lord’s Church in the latter days. Speaking of the First Vision, President Russell M. Nelson said, “That theophany initiated the Restoration of the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ and ushered in the dispensation of the fulness of times.”37 As time progresses, the simple story of Joseph seeking God through scripture and prayer, encountering opposition in his search, and eventually succeeding as God endowed him with power to overcome has become a universal story shared by all believers in the Restoration.

The First Vision is also vital to our doctrinal understanding of God. Following the Savior’s statement that “their creeds were an abomination in his sight,” Latter-day Saints used the experiences and revelations of the young Prophet to restore anew a correct understanding of the character, attributes, and perfections of God. President Gordon B. Hinckley taught, “We do not accept the Athanasian Creed. We do not accept the Nicene Creed, nor any other creed based on tradition and the conclusions of men.”

President Hinckley continued, “We do accept, as the basis of our doctrine, the statement of the Prophet Joseph Smith that when he prayed for wisdom in the woods, ‘the light rested upon me [and] I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing 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!’ (JS—H 1:17). Two beings of substance were before him. He saw them. They were in form like men, only much more glorious in their appearance. He spoke to them. They spoke to him. They were not amorphous spirits. Each was a distinct personality. They were beings of flesh and bone whose nature was reaffirmed in later revelations which came to the Prophet.”

Putting the importance of the First Vision into very direct terms, President Hinckley also taught, “Our entire case as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints rests on the validity of this glorious First Vision. It was the parting of the curtain to open this, the dispensation of the fulness of times. Nothing on which we base our doctrine, nothing we teach, nothing we live by is of greater importance than this initial declaration. I submit that if Joseph Smith talked with God the Father and His Beloved Son, then all else of which he spoke is true. This is the hinge on which turns the gate that leads to the path of salvation and eternal life.”38

Prophets and apostles continue to assert the importance of the First Vision in the theology and history of the Latter-day Saints. In a proclamation issued during the April 2020 general conference, the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles jointly declared, “Two hundred years ago, on a beautiful spring morning in 1820, young Joseph Smith, seeking to know which church to join, went into the woods to pray near his home in upstate New York, USA. He had questions regarding the salvation of his soul and trusted that God would direct him. In humility, we declare that in answer to his prayer, God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph and inaugurated the ‘restitution of all things’ (Acts 3:21) as foretold in the Bible. In this vision, he learned that following the death of the original Apostles, Christ’s New Testament Church was lost from the earth. Joseph would be instrumental in its return.”39

The story of the First Vision will only continue to grow in importance as we approach the Second Coming of the Savior.

• 1. “Joseph Smith as a Writer,” in Arm the Children: Faith’s Response to a Violent World (1998), 288-293
• 2. Joseph Smith History, circa Summer 1832, 1, in Joseph Smith Papers, H1:12
• 3. “Church History,” Times and Seasons, March 1, 1842, 3:706
• 4. Alexander Neibaur journal, May 24, 1844, 23, Church History Library, Salt Lake City
• 5. Appendix, A[n] Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions (1840), 4
• 6. Joseph Smith History, circa Summer 1832, 2, in Joseph Smith Papers, H1:12
• 7. Joseph Smith History, circa Summer 1832, 2–3, in Joseph Smith Papers, H1:12
• 8. Aug. 21, 1843, in David Nye White, “The Prairies, Nauvoo, Joe Smith, the Temple, the Mormons, &c.,” Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette, Sept. 15, 1843, 3, available at josephsmithpapers.org
• 9. Joseph Smith, “Journal, 1835-1836,” 23.
• 10. Ein Ruf aus der Wüste, English translation, 1.
• 11. Joseph Smith, “Journal, 1835–1836,” 23.
• 12. Ein Ruf aus der Wüste,English translation, 1.
• 13. Joseph Smith, “Journal, 1835–1836,” 23.
• 14. A[n] Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions, 5.
• 15. Pratt, An Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions, 1840, 5.
• 16. Joseph Smith, “Journal, 1835–1836,” 24.
• 17. Pratt, An Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions,1840, 5.
• 18. Joseph Smith History, circa Summer 1832, 3, in Joseph Smith Papers, H1:12.
• 19. Joseph Smith, “Journal, 1835–1836,” 24.
• 20. Alexander Neibaur journal, May 24, 1844, 23.
• 21. “Church History,” Times and Seasons, March 1, 1842, 3:707
• 22. A. Karl Larson and Katharine Miles Larson, eds., Diary of Charles Lowell Walker, vol. 2, (Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press, 1980), 755–756.
• 23. Joseph Smith History, circa Summer 1832, 3.
• 24. Ein Ruf aus der Wüste, English translation, 1.
• 25. Joseph Smith History, circa Summer 1832, 3.
• 26. Pratt, An Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions, 1840, 5.
• 27. “Church History,” Times and Seasons, March 1, 1842, 707.
• 28. Levi Richards papers, vol. 18, June 11, 1843, Church History Library, Salt Lake City.
• 29. Joseph Smith, “Journal 1834–35,” 24.
• 30. Aug. 21, 1843, in David Nye White, “The Prairies, Nauvoo, Joe Smith, the Temple, the Mormons, &c.,”3.
• 31. Alexander Neibaur journal, May 24, 1844, 24.
• 32. Ein Ruf aus der Wüste, 1.
• 33. Joseph Smith History, circa Summer 1832, 3, in Joseph Smith Papers, H1:12.
• 34. Levi Richards papers, vol. 18, June 11, 1843.
• 35. Aug. 21, 1843, in David Nye White, “The Prairies, Nauvoo, Joe Smith, the Temple, the Mormons, &c.,” 3.
• 36. “Extract from the Private Journal of Joseph Smith Jr.,” Times and Seasons, July 1839, 8.
• 37. “Hear Him,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2020, 90.
• 38. “What Are People Asking About Us?” Ensign, Nov. 1998.
• 39. “The Restoration of the Fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: A Bicentennial Proclamation to the World,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2020, 91–92.