Words of a Prophet on The First Vision

“I thank my Father in Heaven for the testimony I have of the reality of the First Vision. I have stood among the trees where Joseph knelt as a boy, and heard the whisperings of the Spirit that it happened as he said it happened. I have read the words of critics, who from 1820 until now have tried to destroy the validity of that account. They have made much of the fact that there were several versions and that the account as we now have it was not written until 1838. So what? I find security for my faith in the simplicity of his narrative, in its lack of argument, in its straightforward reasonableness, and in the fact that he sealed his testimony with his life’s blood. Could there have been a stronger endorsement?

Is it strange that James, writing anciently, would invite all who lacked wisdom to ask of God in faith? (See James 1:5.) Is it strange that such prayer would receive an answer? I thank the Lord for the faith to believe that the answer to that prayer came with a glorious manifestation of the Eternal Father and His Beloved Son, to part the curtain after centuries of darkness and open a new and promised and final dispensation of the gospel. Did it happen? I have no doubt of it. Was it not time, as a great age of enlightenment began to dawn upon the world, that these, the Father and the Son, should reveal themselves to show their form and power and living reality, and thus declare, once and for all, the true nature of Deity?”
[Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, November 1993, 51]

“The first vision of the Prophet Joseph Smith is bedrock theology to the Church. The adversary knows this and has attacked Joseph Smith’s credibility from the day he announced the visitation of the Father and the Son. You should always bear testimony to the truth of the First Vision. Joseph Smith did see the Father and the Son. They conversed with him as he said they did. Any leader who, without reservation, cannot declare his testimony that God and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith can never be a true leader, a true shepherd. If we do not accept this truth — if we have not received a witness about this great revelation — we cannot inspire faith in those whom we lead.”
[Ezra Taft Benson, Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson (1988), 101]

“Joseph Smith’s first vision restored knowledge of God. Of all the great events of the century, none compared with the first vision of Joseph Smith.”
[Spencer W. Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball (1982), 428]

“The appearing of the Father and the Son to Joseph Smith is the foundation of this Church. Therein lies the secret of its strength and vitality. This is true, and I bear witness to it. That one revelation answers all the queries of science regarding God and his divine personality. Don’t you see what that means? What God is, is answered. His relation to his children is clear. His interest in humanity through authority delegated to man is apparent. The future of the work is assured. These and other glorious truths are clarified by that glorious first vision.”
[David O. McKay, Gospel Ideals (1957), 85]

“This vision was the most important event that had taken place in all world history from the day of Christ’s ministry to the glorious hour when it occurred.”
[Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine , 285]

Reading James 1:5 was a turning point in young Joseph’s life. “It was like a light shining forth in a dark place, to guide him to the path in which he should walk” (Dean C. Jessee, The Papers of Joseph Smith [1989], 1:390). As he knelt down he began to pour out his heart to God, but his tongue was bound so that he could not speak (JS-H 1:15). But this plowboy prophet would not be deterred, so the evil one used his ultimate weapon: an all-out attack. Most of us cannot relate to this type of attack, but Jesus Christ (Matt. 4:5-10), Moses (Moses 1:19-22), and others could because they also had had similar experiences. In Joseph Smith’s case, Lucifer was determined to physically destroy him. Here we learn a great principle on how to overcome Satan’s wiles and temptation: Look to God in prayer and he will deliver us from the enemy which binds us (JS-H 1:16). Truly, “[i]n the First Vision, light released the boy Joseph from oppressive darkness” (Ted E. Brewerton, Ensign, November 1991, 11; or Conference Report, Oct. 1991, 12).

Once the darkness had dispersed, Joseph saw the Father and the Son, “whose brightness and glory defy all description” (JS-H 1:17). Our Heavenly Father introduced our Lord and Savior with the affectionate title, “My Beloved Son” and admonished Joseph to “hear” Him. The Prophet was informed that his sins were forgiven (D&C 20:5). He was also informed that he should not join any of the churches on the earth for “they were all wrong.” When the vision ended Joseph experienced what many before him had experienced — he had no strength. (See Moses [Moses 1:9-11]; Daniel [Daniel 10:8]; Peter [Acts 10:10-11]; Paul [Acts 9:4; 22:17-18]; Lehi [1 Ne. 1:7]; Nephi [1 Ne. 17:47; 19:20]; Alma [Mosiah 27:19]; Lamoni [Alma 18:42; 19:6]; and Ammon [Alma 19:14; 27:17].)

President Gordon B. Hinckley has given us a clear view of the place of the First Vision in the restoration of the Gospel.

“This transcendent experience opened the marvelous work of restoration. It lifted the curtain on the long-promised dispensation of the fullness of times.

For more than a century and a half, enemies, critics, and some would-be scholars have worn out their lives trying to disprove the validity of that vision. Of course they cannot understand it. The things of God are understood by the Spirit of God. There had been nothing of comparable magnitude since the Son of God walked the earth in mortality. Without it as a foundation stone for our faith and organization, we have nothing. With it, we have everything.” [Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, November 1984, 52]