Late Appearance

Multiple sources support Joseph was sharing his vision with selected audiences prior to 1832.

Joseph recounted that after telling a preacher, his account was rejected, which may have greatly diminished his willingness to tell his story thereafter.

Joseph’s account acknowledges that he did not even tell his mother when she asked him about it. It is consistent with the position that he didn’t often speak about it.

As early as 1827, antagonists recall Joseph claiming to have conversed with God. Click here

D&C 20:5 (part of the Articles and Covenants of the Church presented by Joseph Smith for approval at a Church conference held in Fayette, New York on 9 June 1830) declares that Joseph had previously been forgiven of his sins as described in the earliest published reference of the First Vision story.

In 1879 Emma Smith recalled that Joseph was not particularly given to writing or even dictation in 1829: "Joseph Smith could neither write nor dictate a coherent and well-worded letter; let alone dictating a book like the Book of Mormon." (The Saints' Herald, vol. 26, pp. 289, 290 [1 Oct 1879].) That he did not write or declare formal statements about the First Vision is not surprising.

Newspapers would not have considered a visionary claim from a 14-year-old boy to have been newsworthy.

We have very few records dealing directly with Joseph Smith between 1820 and 1830. That the few in existence do not mention the First Vision is not surprising.

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Additional Resources:

"Accounts of the First Vision", LDS.org.

Milton V. Backman, "Joseph Smith's Recitals of the First Vision," Ensign, January 1985.

Dr. James B. Allen, "Eight Contemporary Accounts of Joseph Smith's First Vision - What Do We Learn from Them?", Improvement Era, April 1970, 4-13.

FAIRMORMON: Joseph Smith’s First Vision

 “First Vision Accounts” from LDS.org

“A Seeker’s Guide to the Historical Accounts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision” by Steven C. Harper

“Primary Accounts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision” from JosephSmithPapers.org

“Four Accounts and Three Critiques of Joseph Smith’s First Vision” (2011 FAIR Conference) by Steven Harper

The First Vision: This Is My Beloved Son. Hear Him! Essay

“Joseph Smith’s Visions: His Style and his Record” (2013 FAIR Conference) by Ron Barney

“The First Vision” by Michael Ash

“The Original Context of the First Vision Narrative: 1820s or 1830s” (2013 FAIR Conference) by Don Bradley

“Ask the Apologist: Did Early LDS Leaders Misunderstand the First Vision?”

“Verification of the 1838 Account of the First Vision,” by Milton V. Backman Jr.

“The First Vision: Re-Visioning Historical Experience,” Adele Brannon McCollum,

Early Church History: First Vision

“First Visions: The Opening Events of the Mosaic, Nephite, and Final Dispensations,” by Douglas N. Marsh

“A Harmony of First Vision Accounts,” by Michael Baldwin

“Suspicion or Trust: Reading the Accounts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision,” by Steven C. Harper,

“The First Vision and Religious Tolerance,” by Joseph Fielding McConkie

“The Cowdery Conundrum: Oliver’s Aborted Attempt to Describe Joseph Smith’s First Vision in 1834 and 1835” by Roger Nicholson

“Evaluating Three Arguments Against Joseph Smith’s First Vision” by Steven C. Harper

“Variants in the Stories of the First Vision of Joseph Smith and the Apostle Paul” by John A. Tvedtnes

 Mormon FAIR-Cast 215: The First Vision

“Joseph Smith’s First Vision — A Guide to Historical Accounts” Fair Mormon Podcast

Firsthand Accounts of the First Vision

Reported Accounts of the First Vision

First Vision Accounts: Joseph Smith History, circa Summer 1832

First Vision Accounts: Joseph Smith, Journal, 9–11 November 1835

First Vision Accounts: Joseph Smith History, 1838–1856

First Vision Accounts: Joseph Smith, “Church History,” 1 March 1842 (Wentworth Letter)

First Vision Accounts: Joseph Smith, “Latter Day Saints,” 1844

Four Accounts and Three Critiques of Joseph Smith’s First Vision

 First Vision 1 Joseph’s Different Accounts

First Vision 2 Differences Between the Accounts

First Vision 3 But If He Was a Prophet

First Vision 4 He Saw Angels

First Vision 5 Confusion About the Year

First Vision 6 Why Are So Many LDS Unaware

First Vision 7 No Religious Revivals Around 1820

First Vision 8 Conclusions

The First Vision of Joseph Smith

The First Vision movie

BYU-TV Documentary on the First Vision Accounts Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V

Books:

Harper, Steven C. Joseph Smith’s First Vision: A Seeker’s Guide to the Historical Accounts. Salt Lake City: Deseret, 2012.

Harper, Steven C. “Suspicion or Trust: Reading the Accounts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision.” In No Weapon Shall Prosper: New Light on Sensitive Issues. Edited by Robert L. Millet. Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2011.

Dean C. Jessee, Mark Ashurst-McGee, and Richard L. Jensen, eds., Journals, Volume 1: 1832–1839. Volume 1 of the Journals series of The Joseph Smith Papers. Edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian's Press, 2012).

Dean C. Jessee, Personal Writings of Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2002).

John W. Welch, Opening the Heavens: Accounts of Divine Manifestations, 1820–1844 (Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2011).

Karen Lynn Davidson, David J. Whittaker, Richard L. Jensen, and Mark Ashurst-McGee, eds., Histories, Volume 1: Joseph Smith Histories 1832–1844. Vol. 1 of the Histories series of The Joseph Smith Papers. Edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2012).

“Primary Accounts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision of Deity,” The Joseph Smith Papers, http://josephsmithpapers.org/site/accounts-of-the-first-vision.

Samuel Alonzo Dodge and Steven C. Harper, eds., Exploring the First Vision (Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2012).