First Vision Accounts: Understanding the Different Versions and Why They Differ

LDS Perspective

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recognizes nine contemporary accounts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision: four recorded by the Prophet himself (or his scribes) and five recorded by contemporaries who heard him speak. The four firsthand accounts consist of an 1832 handwritten autobiography, an 1835 journal entry recounting the vision to a visitor named Robert Matthews, the 1838 account that became Joseph Smith—History in the Pearl of Great Price, and an 1842 account written for the Wentworth Letter. These accounts were created between 1832 and 1844, with the 1838 account being canonized and thus becoming the most widely known version. The accounts differ in emphasis and detail according to their audience and purpose. The 1832 account, the only one written in Joseph’s own hand,

Historical Perspective

Historical documentation reveals that Joseph Smith produced multiple, contradictory accounts of his First Vision between 1832 and 1844, with significant variations regarding the date, the number and identity of heavenly beings, and the circumstances prompting the event. The earliest written account, composed in 1832 in Smith's own hand, states that at age 14 or 15 he saw "one" personage—identified only as Jesus Christ—who informed him that "none doeth good" and forgave his sins, with no mention of God the Father or any religious revival motivating the prayer. This stands in stark contrast to the 1838 account (canonized in the Pearl of Great Price as Joseph Smith—History), which dates the vision to 1820, describes two distinct personages identified as God the Father and Jesus Christ, and cl