View source for Question: What references to the First Vision exist in published documents from the 1830s?

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==Question: What references to the First Vision exist in published documents from the 1830s?==
{{POGPCentralJSH|title=Why Was Joseph Smith Initially Reluctant to Tell Others About the First Vision?|url=https://www.pearlofgreatpricecentral.org/why-was-joseph-smith-initially-reluctant-to-tell-others-about-the-first-vision/|number=12}}
===There are several significant references to the First Vision in published documents from the 1830s===
====1827====
* A skeptical account from Rev. John A. Clark mixed nine First Vision story elements together with the story of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and said that he learned them all in the Fall of 1827 from Martin Harris (John A. Clark, ''Gleanings by the Way'' [Philadelphia: W. J. and J. K. Simmon, 1842],---).

* A hostile account from someone who knew Joseph in 1827 reported:

::I, Joseph Capron, became acquainted with Joseph Smith, Sen. in the year of our Lord, 1827. They have, since then, been really a peculiar people&mdash;fond of the foolish and the marvelous&mdash;at one time addicted to vice and the grossest immoralities&mdash;at another time making the highest pretensions to piety and holy intercourse with Almighty God. The family of Smiths held Joseph Jr. in high estimation on account of some supernatural power, which he was supposed to possess.<ref>Joseph Capron affidavit, 8 November 1833; in {{CriticalWork:Howe:Mormonism Unvailed|pages=258-259}}</ref>

:Capron obviously disliked and distrusted the Smiths, but he makes it clear that there were claims of holy intercourse (i.e., "communication" with)<ref>{{Book:Webster:Dictionary:1828|word=intercourse}} defines the term as simply "[1] Communication....[2] Silent communication or exchange."</ref> "Almighty God."

====1829 -1830====
*The Book of Mormon gave the first elements of the First Vision when published in 1830 (and translated in 1829). In 2 Nephi 27:24-27 we read:
<blockquote>
24 And again it shall come to pass that the Lord shall say unto him that shall read the words that shall be delivered him:

25 Forasmuch as this people <b>draw near unto me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their hearts far from me, and their fear towards me is taught by the precepts of men—

26 Therefore, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, yea, a marvelous work and a wonder, for the wisdom of their wise and learned shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent shall be hid</b>.</blockquote>

This scripture from Isaiah is exactly the scripture that Joseph either quotes or paraphrases in the 1832 and 1838 Account of the First Vision. Critics may dismiss this saying that it is simply a part of Joseph's fraudulent composition of the Book of Mormon but the verse still throws a huge wrench in their theories about there being no early mentions of the First Vision.

====1831====
*LDS missionaries were teaching that Joseph Smith "had seen God frequently and personally" and received a commission from Him to teach true religion (''The Reflector'', vol. 2, no. 13, 14 February 1831).<ref>Regarding the reference in the ''Palmyra Reflector'', Richard Abanes, in his anti-Mormon work ''Becoming Gods'', boldly declares in the main body of his text on page 34 that "[n]ot a single piece of published literature" mentions the First Vision, yet in an endnote at the back of the book on page 338 acknowledges this newspaper account. He attempts to dismiss this by claiming that the reference is "vague," yet acknowledges that "as early as 1831 Smith ''might'' have been starting to privately tell select persons that he had at some point seen God."</ref>

====1832====
*LDS missionaries were teaching with regard to Joseph Smith: "Having repented of his sins, but not attached himself to any party of Christians, owing to the numerous divisions among them, and being in doubt what his duty was, he had recourse [to] prayer" (''The Fredonia Censor'', vol. 11, no. 50, 7 March 1832). 
* In October 1832, another Protestant minister wrote to a friend about the Latter-day Saints in his area: "They profess to hold frequent converse with angels; some go, if we may believe what they say, as far as the third heaven, and converse with the Lord Jesus face to face."<ref>Rev. B. Pixley, ''Christian Watchman'', Independence Mo., October 12, 1832; in ''Among the Mormons.  Historic Accounts by Contemporary Observers'', Edited by William Mulder and A. Russell Mortensen (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1958): 74.  This article by Pixley was reprinted in ''Independent Messenger'' (Boston, Mass.) of November 29, 1832; also in ''Missouri Intelligencer'' (Columbia, Mo.), and the ''American Eagle'' (Westfield, New York).  Cited also in Hyrum Andrus, ''Joseph Smith, The Man and The Seer'' (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1960), 68, note 46.  It is not clear what Rev. Pixley was referring to by the comment about the third heaven, though it may refer to the Vision of the Three Degrees of Glory [{{s||D&C|76||}}], which had been received February 1832, and published in July in the ''Evening and Morning Star'', in Kirtland, Ohio.  Verse 20 indicates that “we beheld the glory of the Son, on the right hand of the Father….”</ref>

====1833====
* A few months later, in March of 1833, the Reverend Richmond Taggart wrote a letter to a ministerial friend, regarding the activities of Joseph Smith himself in Ohio: "The following Curious occurrance occurred last week in Newburg [Ohio] about 6 miles from this Place [Cleveland]. Joe Smith the great Mormonosity was there and held forth, and among other things he told them he had seen Jesus Christ and the Apostles and conversed with them, and that he could perform Miracles."<ref>Richmond Taggart to the Reverend Jonathan Goings, 2 March 1833, 2, Jonathon Goings Papers, American Baptist Historical Society, Rochester, New York, quoted in Hurlbut. {{Book:Vogel:EMD|vol=1|pages=205}} See also {{Book:Prince:Power From On High|pages=8}}</ref>  Here is a clear reference to Joseph Smith stating he had seen Jesus Christ.  Joseph’s ‘conversations’ with the Apostles could be a reference to having seen, spoken to, and been ordained to the Priesthood by the early Apostles Peter, James, and John.  Having received that Priesthood Joseph Smith was now qualified to perform healings, and other ‘miracles’.
* A Missouri newspaper contains an article on a mass meeting of Latter-day Saints in July 1833, and refers to the Saints’ “pretended revelations from heaven… their personal intercourse with God and his angels… converse with God and his angels….”<ref>''Missouri Intelligencer'' (August 10, 1833); quoted in {{Book:Widtsoe:Evidences and Reconciliations|pages=337}}</ref>
* Philastus Hurlbut, following his excommunication from the Church in 1833, went east to Palmyra.  He there interviewed many who claimed to have known Joseph Smith before the organization of the Church.  Among those interviewed were some who left statements which give us more information on what the Prophet had been claiming at that early period.  On November 3, 1833, Barton Stafford testified that Joseph had “professed to be inspired of the Lord to translate the Book of Mormon.”  Stafford claimed to have known them “until 1831 when they left this neighborhood.”  Five days later, on November 8, Joseph Capron testified that Joseph had made “the highest pretensions to piety and holy intercourse with Almighty God.”<ref>{{Book:Vogel:EMD|vol=2|pages=22, 24}}  Original in {{CriticalWork:Howe:Mormonism Unvailed|pages=251&ndash 252, and 258&ndash;260, respectively}}</ref>  In 1884 and 1885 Arthur B. Deming collected affidavits in the Painesville, Ohio area, regarding the early Saints, and their recollection of Joseph Smith.  Cornelius R. Stafford had been born in Manchester, NY, in 1813.  He testified that Joseph Smith “claimed to receive revelations from the Lord.”<ref>{{Book:Vogel:EMD|vol=2|pages=107}}  Original in {{CriticalWork:Deming:Naked Truths About Mormonism|date=January 1888|pages=3}}</ref>
====1834====
*Oliver Cowdery published the beginning elements of the First Vision story as part of a history of the Church ({{MAfairwiki|vol=1|num=3|date=December 1834|start=43}})

====1835====

*William W. Phelps published a reference to the First Vision in October 1835 in the Church's newspaper ({{MAfairwiki|vol=2|num=1|date=October 1835|start=208}})

====1836====
*The First Vision reference by William W. Phelps was republished as part of hymn #26 in the Saints' first hymnal&mdash;March 1836 (see ''Encyclopedia of Mormonism,'' 1176).

When the published 1830s fragments of the First Vision story are compared to the as-yet-unpublished 1838 recital, it becomes apparent that the Prophet's account of things stayed steady during this time frame and was probably known among a wider cross-section of the contemporary LDS population than has been previously acknowledged.

:1834 - "the 15th year of his life" [Cowdery]
:1838 - "I was at this time in my fifteenth year"

:1834 - "There was a great awakening, or excitement raised on the subject of religion" [Cowdery]
:1838 - "there was in the place where we lived an unusual excitement on the subject of religion"

:1834 - "our brother's mind became awakened" [Cowdery] 
:1838 - "my mind was called up to serious reflection" 

:1834 - "his mother, one sister, and two of his natural brothers, were persuaded to unite with the Presbyterians" [Cowdery]
:1838 - "My Fathers family were proselyted to the Presbyterian faith"

:1834 - "his spirit was not at rest day nor night" [Cowdery]
:1838 - "great uneasiness . . . extreme difficulties . . . my anxieties"

:1832 - "not attached himself to any party of Christians, owing to the numerous divisions among them" [Missionaries]
:1838 - "I kept myself aloof from all these parties"; "no small stir and division"

:1834 - "he was told they were right, and all others were wrong" [Cowdery]
:1838 - "who was right and who was wrong"

:1834 - "a general struggle was made by the leading characters of the different sects" [Cowdery]
:1838 - "priest contending against priest"

:1834 - "Large additions were made to the Methodist, Presbyterian, and Baptist churches" [Cowdery]
:1838 - "multitudes united themselves to the different religious parties"

:1835 - "the world in darkness lay" [Phelps]
:1838 - "I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkness"

:1835 - "he sought the better way" [Phelps]
:1838 - "I was one day reading the Epistle of James"

:1832 - "being in doubt what his duty was" [Missionaries]
:1838 - "I often said to myself, what is to be done?"

:1832 - "he had recourse [to] prayer" [Missionaries]
:1838 - "I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God"

:1831 - "he had seen God . . . personally" [Missionaries]
:1838 - "I saw two personages . . . One of them spake unto me calling me by name and said (pointing to the other) 'This is my beloved Son, Hear him'"

Here then are several early testimonies from friendly ''and'' non-LDS sources, confirming that Joseph Smith and/or the missionaries were talking about Joseph conversing with Jesus Christ, angels, Apostles (Peter, James and John?), and “Almighty God.”  Evidently the early Saints were doing a lot more talking about these things than the critics want their readers to know about.
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[[Category:Becoming Gods]]
[[Category:Letter to a CES Director]]
[[Category:The Changing World of Mormonism]]
[[fi:Kysymys: Ei viitteitä ensimmäiseen näkyyn 1830 luvun julkaisuissa?]]
[[de:Frage: Gibt es keine Referenzen über die Erste Vision in den Veröffentlichungen der 1830er?]]
[[es:Pregunta: ¿Qué referencias a la Primera Visión existen en los documentos publicados desde la década de 1830?]]
[[pt:Pergunta: Que referências para a Primeira Visão existem em documentos publicados a partir da década de 1830?]]
[[Category:Questions]]