who
did Joseph really see in the First Vision? Joseph’s own first account of the
1820 First Vision says he simply saw the crucified Lord, a single personage.
This account was written in Joseph’s own hand in the summer of 1832. This
initial theology is also evident in the Book of Mormon (LDS 2 Nephi 31:21;
CofChrist II Nephi 13:31; LDS Mosiah 15:1-4; CofChrist Mosiah 8:28-32). Did
Joseph continue to reflect theologically on the profound experience of the 1820
First Vision? Yes, his reflections are clear in later accounts, including the
1838 account of two personages, canonized by The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints in the Book of Moses. So I would suggest that seeing two
personages is a later reflection, not an initial understanding. (Andrew Bolton,
“Jesus Christ,” in Restorations: Scholars in Dialogue from Community of
Christ and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ed. Andrew
Bolton and Casey Paul Griffiths [Provo, Utah: BYU Religious Studies Center;
Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2022], 25)
although
it is clear to me that Joseph had an experience in the grove, the specifics of
that experience are not so clear. (Lachlan Mackay, “The First Vision and
Continuing Revelation,” in ibid., 134)
.
. . in the 1950s, Community of Christ began to tentatively engage in missionary
outreach in Asia, and leaders became increasingly convinced that a message on
Joseph Smith and the restoration of the one true Christian church would not
serve the church well in cultures that were not traditionally Christian. In a
greatly oversimplified version of what happened next, church leaders took a
step back, reexamined the faith’s core principles, and reformulated the message.
In the following decades, the church shifted its focus to center more on Jesus
and less on Joseph Smith. This process also resulted in reconnecting the First
Vision with its earliest meaning—the story of Joseph’s conversion rather than
the foundational event for Joseph’s call to restore the church. (MacKay, ibid.,
135)
I
am concerned that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ continued
emphasis on the 1838 account of the First Vision is setting up members for a
faith crisis, because I can’t forget my discussion with angry or distraught
historic site visitors and friends who are members of the Church of Jesus
Christ. Information about earlier accounts of the vision with significantly
different details is simply too widely available to ignore, and attempting to
do so leads to the sense among some believers that their church leaders have
deceived them. The Gospel Topics essay “First Vision Accounts” would be an
important corrective, but it is not easily found online by those who are not
already aware of its existence. (MacKay, ibid., 146-47)
