F.A.R.M.S. website November 20, 2006 (FARMS in black, DYD in blue)

Why do Joseph Smith's various accounts of the first vision differ so much?

There are fewer differences between the various accounts of Joseph Smith's first vision than between the five different accounts of the apostle Paul's first vision and his trip to Damascus (Acts 9:1-30; 22:5-21; 26:12-20; Galatians 1:11-24; and 2 Corinthians 11:32-33) or in the various accounts of Christ's resurrection found in the four gospels. (For example, did the men with Paul hear the voice but see no man, as in Acts 9:7, or did they see the light but not hear the voice, as in Acts 22:9?) Indeed, there are no blatant contradictions between Joseph Smith's accounts--only different emphasis--as would be expected when someone recounts an event from his life at different times and in different circumstances.

Thus, for example, the fact that Joseph says in one account that he saw "the Lord" and in another that he saw "two personages" is not contradictory, only a matter of emphasis. And there is no real contradiction between Joseph Smith believing, when he went to pray in the grove, that he should join none of the churches, and the Lord confirming that thought by revelation. After all, he went into the woods to get an answer. If his mind was already made up and he merely needed confirmation, then it fits the pattern in D&C 9:8, where the Lord told Oliver Cowdery, "you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right." The point of the "official" version of Joseph Smith's story is that he received a revelation on the issue. But even that version does not preclude the idea that he had already determined the answer and needed confirmation.

OH THE BLATANT DISHONESTY!  We are SO GLAD you are reading this so you can see how intellectually dishonest FARMS/MIRS is!  Let's start by addressing their assault against the Biblical accounts and then see how they match up to Joseph's Smith's accounts of the First Vision.

Paul's encounter with Jesus

First, the implication here is that there are numerous accounts and variants in the biblical record of Jesus appearing to Paul on the road to Damascus.  MIRS lists 5 "different accounts" from the Bible:

Acts 9:1-30:  (Actually the account of Paul's vision is only verses 3-7)  Acts 9:3-7 ³ As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. ⁴ He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" ⁵ "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. ⁶ "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." ⁷ The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone.

Acts 22:5-21 (Again, the Paul's vision is found only in  few verses, 6-9) Acts 22:6-9 ⁶ And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. ⁷ And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? ⁸ And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. ⁹ And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.

Acts 26:12-20 (The account is in verses 12 - 18): Acts 26:12-18 ¹² Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, ¹³ At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. ¹⁴ And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. ¹⁵ And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. ¹⁶ But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; ¹⁷ Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, ¹⁸ To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

Galatians 1:11-24 Does not give an account of the details of Paul's vision at all.

2 Corinthians 11:32-33 Does not give an account of the details of Paul's vision at all.  2 Corinthians 11:32-33 ³² In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me: ³³ And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands.

Ok, so once again we see that MIRS is "padding the numbers" a bit.  There are not five "different accounts" of Paul's experience with Jesus on the road to Damascus.  There are, in fact, only three accounts of the event in the Bible and they are all consistent with one another. 

MIRS points to the KJV rendition of the Acts 9 and Acts 22 accounts where the KJV says in the Acts 9 account that the men "heard the sound" and the Acts 22 where it says they "heard not the voice" as their issue with these accounts (highlighted in red above).  In English, the statements certainly seem contradictory.  In Greek, they are not.  The word translated heard in Acts 22:9 is akousan which can be translated "understand...what has been said" (Strongs 191).  So the men with Paul heard the voice (Acts 9:7) but the did not understand what what said.

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Christ's Resurrection accounts in the four Gospels

There absolutely are differences in the Gospel accounts of the Resurrection of Jesus.  Four authors relying on their own sources including specific aspects to meet their own purposes should come up with accounts that are not identical.  If they hadn't, critics of the Bible would be complaining about apparent collusion between the authors.

With that said, there are two main distinctions between the Gospel accounts of Jesus' Resurrection and the First Vision of Joseph Smith:

1.  The Gospel accounts of the Resurrection are from a variety of sources so they do tend to vary in their emphasis and points of recollection.  There is only ONE source for the First Vision - Joseph Smith.  So we should not see many (if any at all) discrepancies.

2.  There are no contradictions within the Gospel accounts.  There are several contradictions in the accounts of the First Vision however (outlined in detail with source material in Solving the Mormon Puzzle book) that include:

• When the event occurred:  The official version says 1820.  However, other sources, Mormon and historical say 1821, 1823, 1824 and 1827.
• Who came:  People like Brigham Young, George Smith, Wilford Woodruff and John Taylor said that the Lord did not come, but rather sent His angel.
• Consistency: Joseph's own early accounts differ from one another.  These are written by his own hand!
• Doctrinal Contradictions:   D&C 84:21-22 says that NO MAN can see the face of God and live without having the priesthood.  However, Joseph did not receive the priesthood until 9 years after the event.

If you would like an in-depth analysis of this and other problems with Mormon doctrine, please here for our Solving the Mormon Puzzle program.