The founding claims
The First Vision
Four accounts. The earliest, in his own handwriting, describes one being.
The point in one sentence
Joseph Smith told the First Vision story at least four different ways, and the earliest version, written in his own hand, describes one divine being rather than two.
The four accounts, side by side
Most members are taught only the 1838 version, which is the one canonized in the Pearl of Great Price.
| 1832 (his own hand) | 1835 | 1838 (canonical) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beings seen | One. "I saw the Lord" | A personage, then another, plus "many angels" | Two Personages |
| Why he prayed | For forgiveness of his sins | Concern about which church | Which church is right |
| Churches | Already concluded they had apostatized before praying | Not emphasized | Learning they are wrong is the message of the vision |
| Opposition | None mentioned | Not emphasized | Seized by a dark power before the vision |
Sources: Joseph Smith Papers; Church Gospel Topics Essay, "First Vision Accounts"
The exhibits
History, circa summer 1832, in Joseph Smith’s own handwriting
1832, the earliest account
What it establishes: The earliest account, in Joseph’s own hand, describes one divine being, "the Lord," not two personages.
The manuscript, Joseph Smith PapersThe same 1832 manuscript, on his age
1832
What it establishes: The earliest account places the vision in his sixteenth year. The canonical account places it in his fifteenth. Both cannot be right.
Same manuscriptHistory, circa June 1839, Draft 2, canonized today as Joseph Smith—History
1838–1839, the canonical account
What it establishes: The version taught to members and printed in the Pearl of Great Price. It is also the first account to state plainly that two Personages appeared.
The canonical draft, Joseph Smith PapersThe Church of Jesus Christ, Gospel Topics essay, "First Vision Accounts"
Published 2013
What it establishes: The Church concedes there are multiple accounts and that they differ. The essay grants that three of the four clearly describe two personages, which quietly concedes the fourth, the earliest, does not.
The essayThe Church’s own First Vision Accounts FAQ, on the 1832 manuscript
Church-published
What it establishes: The earliest, one-personage account was physically removed from its volume and was not made available to researchers until the early 1960s. State only what the Church documents: removed, then restored. It does not say hidden.
The FAQOrson Pratt, "An Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions" (Edinburgh)
1840
What it establishes: For its first decade the Church was founded, preached, and gathered converts with no published First Vision story at all.
The pamphlet, Joseph Smith PapersWhen they say
"Different emphasis, not contradiction. Like the four gospel writers." The analogy works for tone and detail. It does not work here. One personage versus two is a claim about what happened. And placing his verdict on the churches before the vision rather than as its message changes the sequence of the founding event.
"He grew more comfortable telling it over time." That explains adding scenery. It does not explain adding a second divine person. The 1832 account was written closest to the event, in his own hand.
"There was no revival in Palmyra in 1820." BYU's Milton Backman found a Palmyra newspaper reference to an 1820 camp meeting, and Joseph's phrase "the whole district of country" does not require the revival to be in Palmyra village. BYU Religious Studies Center Concede this preemptively instead.
Why this should make you question
The First Vision is the founding event of the Restoration and the basis of the doctrine that the Father and the Son are separate embodied beings. If the earliest account in Joseph's own handwriting describes one being, the theology appears to have developed between 1832 and 1838. Ask whether you were ever taught there were four accounts, and if not, why not.