Joseph Smith - 4 versions of the First Vision

If one of my devils suffered from occasional honesty attacks and I were to have an open conversation with him, I think this is what he would tell me:

The easiest way to destroy the Saints’ commitment to keep their covenants is by discrediting Joseph Smith. If I manage to convince my client that the Prophet of the Restoration was a liar and impostor, he will stop taking his faith and religion seriously. It’s as simple as that. This is why I focus my attacks on Joseph’s most important claims: The Book of Mormon, the First Vision, etc.

I will deal with the Book on another occasion. Let’s now talk about the infamous (in my circles) spring morning in the grove. Recently I designed a new scheme. As I often go about doing it: I present my clients with a true fact and tempt them to draw wrong conclusions. I tell them that there are 4 versions of the First Vision. “Yes! 4 different accounts! And guess what? They are not identical! Can you imagine? Every time Joseph shared his experience, he didn’t relate it word for word like a memorized text. How about that?!”

Some are bothered by it. But there are also those who respond: “Let me do my own investigation.” So I scream: “Don’t read the accounts yourself! Trust me!.” But they ignore me, they go to josephsmithpapers.org and learn that yes, Joseph was not a robot – instead of playing a recording every time he related the event, he did what all humans do – emphasized different parts based on the audience or the point he was making during the conversation. In some instances Joseph only related a fragment of his conversation with Jesus, in others he mentions the presence of angels, etc. but the versions don’t actually contradict each other. Sometime they notice that in the account written by his hand he claims he was 16, instead of 14 when he spoke with the Godhead. I do my best to blow the obvious mistake out of proportions, but most of them refuse to lose their trust in Joseph Smith because he wrote something that looks like “6” more than “4”.

My goals are: taking advantage of my client’s not fully developed testimony of the restored gospel, if he has got one – make him forget it and discourage him from thinking critically. In the case of the 4 versions, if he starts using his imagination, he will realize that just because Joseph didn’t tell the whole story every time, it doesn’t mean his accounts contradict each other. It would be like dragging a suspect through a long process of interrogation, asking him repeatedly to tell what he did the fatal morning, begging him to admit to something he hasn’t done and since his story keeps being consistent, conclude he must be guilty, because in one of his versions he forgot to include some detail: didn’t mention a name of one of the people present, the make of the car he drove or what the weather was like the day the crime was committed. Every court would reject such a silly argument.

If my client rejects my arguments and refuses to accept the image of Joseph Smith - the liar, I don’t give up easily. I start sculpturing another image - the wicked and immoral Joseph. I will tell you all about it during my next confession.

Yours truly,

devil