View source for Question: Why did Joseph Smith state the he was visited by two personages and then just five days later say that he was visited by angels?

{{Main Page}}
<onlyinclude>
==Question: Why did Joseph Smith state the he was visited by two personages and then just five days later say that he was visited by angels?==
===Joseph's diary was simply summarizing the First Vision as the "first visitation of Angels"===

Joseph had described his vision in detail in his journal just five days earlier (9 November 1835) when he described his visit with "Joshua the Jewish Minister." When he described his visit with Erastus Holmes, he simply referred to it as the "first visitation of Angels." In Joseph's 9 November 1835 entry, in addition to seeing two personages, Joseph also mentioned that he had seen "many angels" in the vision.

Critics attempt to use this to show inconsistency in Joseph's accounts of the First Vision. For example, a critical graphic indicates that the 1835 "Erastus Holmes" account describes a ''different'' vision. The graphic implies that he didn't mention every other element of the vision, and that this makes it inconsistent. However, Joseph was simply offering a one-line summary of the event that he had described only five days earlier in his journal.

[[File:Mormoninfographic.erastus.holmes.summary-1.jpg|800px|thumb|center]]
</onlyinclude>
{{endnotes sources}}
[[Category:Letter to a CES Director]]
[[Category:MormonThink]]

[[es:Pregunta: ¿Por qué declarar José Smith el que recibió la visita de dos personajes y luego sólo cinco días después dicen que fue visitado por los ángeles?]]
[[pt:Pergunta: Por que Joseph Smith dizer a ele foi visitado por dois personagens e, em seguida, apenas cinco dias depois dizer que ele foi visitado por anjos?]]
[[Category:Questions]]