Multiple Versions of the First Vision

A week ago I had a conversation with an agnostic, an atheist, and a Buddhist about religion.  One of them brought up the fact that there are multiple versions of the first vision as evidence that Mormonism has changed over time.  I didn't know that there were multiple versions of the first vision, and even if there were I would have assumed that they said essentially the same thing.  They don't.  But regardless of that, I didn't answer as well as I could have, and now I wish I had the chance to talk to them again.  Maybe they will read this blog.  Maybe not.  But this is how I wish I would have responded now that I have done my research, read the different accounts, and prayed, and prayed, and prayed.  

First I consulted Google about the different accounts and I found: https://www.lds.org/topics/first-vision-accounts?lang=eng.  The main differences between the two different accounts is that in the first, which Joseph wrote in a private place never intending it to be published, Joseph only mentions seeing the Lord.  Notice the use of the singular.  In the second, Joseph records that he saw two personages.  

The article gives various possibilities for the differences inbetween the two accounts.  Joseph could have merely been emphasizing the part of his vision when Jesus, the Lord, talked to him.  Or he could have also referred to both individuals as the Lord.  

There are other, more consistent ways of seeing the evidence. A basic harmony in the narrative across time must be acknowledged at the outset: three of the four accounts clearly state that two personages appeared to Joseph Smith in the First Vision. The outlier is Joseph Smith’s 1832 account, which can be read to refer to one or two personages. If read to refer to one heavenly being, it would likely be to the personage who forgave his sins. According to later accounts, the first divine personage told Joseph Smith to “hear” the second, Jesus Christ, who then delivered the main message, which included the message of forgiveness.10 Joseph Smith’s 1832 account, then, may have concentrated on Jesus Christ, the bearer of forgiveness. 

Another way of reading the 1832 account is that Joseph Smith referred to two beings, both of whom he called “Lord.” The embellishment argument hinges on the assumption that the 1832 account describes the appearance of only one divine being. But the 1832 account does not say that only one being appeared. Note that the two references to “Lord” are separated in time: first “the Lord” opens the heavens; then Joseph Smith sees “the Lord.” This reading of the account is consistent with Joseph’s 1835 account, which has one personage appearing first, followed by another soon afterwards. The 1832 account, then, can reasonably be read to mean that Joseph Smith saw one being who then revealed another and that he referred to both of them as “the Lord”: “the Lord opened the heavens upon me and I saw the Lord.”11

In order to read the different accounts and explain the differences between them, you must first choose one of two axioms.  Either Joseph Smith told the truth in all the accounts, in which case he was a prophet of God, or Joseph Smith lied in one or more accounts, and then it is reasonable to assume that he wasn't a prophet of God.

Using just the various accounts of the first vision, it is impossible to tell which axiom is true.  Both can be explained using simple logic and it comes down to an interpretation of what Joseph Smith meant when he wrote it.  Anyone who know me, and knows how much I struggle with literature classes, will understand that this is a question I try to avoid as much as possible.  I don't know what the author meant when he/she wrote something.  It is impossible to say.  All you have is the words on the paper, and they can mean whatever you would like them to mean.  You can not say for certain what the author meant when he/she wrote something.  The only way to know for certain what the author meant is to ask him/her and be reasonably assured that the author is telling the truth when he/she responds.  Unfortunately Joseph Smith is dead, so we can't ask him what he meant.  (Imagine how great that would be, if when reading a particular difficult text, like Isaiah or Shakespeare, instead of just grasping at straws trying to understand the meaning, you could just call the author up on the phone and ask them.  I think that would solve every student's problems in literature classes instantly.)

So just looking at the accounts of the first vision, there is no way to know what is true.  Either Joseph Smith lied or he told the truth.  Either he was a prophet or he wasn't.  Choose your axiom, and you can defend it either way.  This corresponds with an agnostic view towards the world.  You can't know, so stop trying to know because you will just keep getting into circular arguments.

Fortunately, we have more resources available then just the original sources of the first vision and the various commentaries on it.  Joseph Smith translated (or made up, depending on the axiom you choose) a work of ancient scripture, the Book of Mormon.  This is the only book on the face of the earth with a promise of its kind in it.  The book promises that if you will read the book, ponder its message, and ask God, then you will come to know the truth of it.

We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true. Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost.

Suppose that Joseph Smith told the truth. (As anyone who has taken mathematical analysis has practiced, it is possible to consider that something is true, without actually accepting it as truth, and then seeing where it leads.)   Then there is a reasonable explanation between the differences of the accounts.  Then Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and the promise made in the Book of Mormon is a promise from God.  Then you can pray to know the truth, and God will answer you.

This is as far as my proof can go.  Unlike mathematical proofs, I can not demonstrate it for you, and stop my argument with a QED.  Only God can prove it to you.  You have to read the book yourself, and then ponder in your heart it's message.  Then you must ask God, in faith, and you will come to know for yourself that it is true.

If Joseph told the truth, then he wasn't the only witness to the events surrounding the first vision, and although we can't ask Joseph what he meant by the differences in the accounts, we can ask God if they are true.  This is a much better practice of obtaining truth then by trying to understand what the author meant when he wrote it.

I have asked God if it is true, and He has answered me.  But before I get to my witness, I want to share the testimony of Elder Holland, a special witness of Christ.

Click here to open the video

Later in this same talk, Elder Holland says, "In this I stand with my own great-grandfather, who said simply enough, “No wicked man could write such a book as this; and no good man would write it, unless it were true and he were commanded of God to do so."

I know that the Book of Mormon is true.  I know because I have prayed and asked God if it is true.  And every time I get the same results.  In a way, more powerful than words, I know that it is true.  The Holy Ghost testifies to me of its truthfulness.  In fact, as I am writing these words, again I am receiving a witness from God that it is true.  

I don't know how to reconcile the differences between the different accounts of the first vision, but I know that the Book of Mormon is true, thus I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and he didn't lie.  He did see God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ.  And the church that he established is the Kingdom of God on Earth once more. 

If you want to know of it the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, if you want to know if Joseph Smith told the truth, or if you want to know if the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Kingdom of God, then all you have to do is ask.  Start by supposing that it is true (remember that you can suppose something is true, before you have established it as fact -- mathematicians do it all the time), then read the book, and in faith, ask God.  You will get a witness from the Holy Ghost.

(Note that it is super important to start by supposing the Book of Mormon is true, because then the promise in the Book of Mormon is from God, and it is a real promise.  If you start by supposing the Book of Mormon is false, then the promise in the book was made up by a liar, and you can't do anything about it, and it won't lead you to any more conclusions.)

To Know God (Para conocer a Dios)

So a major theme of this semester for me is knowledge, and how some types of knowledge are different from others (specifically, science and religion).

I was catching up on the Bible Videos, when 1 Corinthians 13:12 really struck me.  Paul says "now I know in part; but then shall I know even as I am known." In Spanish there are two different words for knowing: saber and conocer.  

Saber is to know a fact, to know how to do something, to know something thoroughly, whereas conocer is to know a person or to be familiar with something (see this online spanish lesson for further grammatical instruction).

As I have been thinking about knowledge this semester, I have mainly been thinking about saber, or factual knowledge.  But when Paul is talking about it as he is known, the "I am known" part seems to imply conocer.  Just to check I looked it up in Spanish, and every time Paul uses a form of the verb "to know," Paul uses the word conocer. 

And then I remembered John 17:3, "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent," and I wondered what type of knowledge eternal life, or knowing God, is, and so I looked that up in Spanish as well, and it is also conocer.  

For me saber is the cold, hard facts, while conocer is more intimate and personal.  Saber is the experiments and data; saber is what can be taught in a classroom.  But conocer is personal experiences, and more importantly personal relations.  Learning about God, and the gospel isn't enough.  The facts aren't good enough for eternal life.  Eternal life will come by personally knowing and developing a close relation with God.

It appears that I have been looking at knowledge incompletely.  I would now say that for the most part Scientific Knowledge is the things that can be known (saber) and that religion is the things that can be known (conocer).

What do y'all think?

Una tema mayor de este semestre para me es el conocimiento, y como son algunos tipos de conocimiento diferente de otros (especificamente, la ciencia y la religión).

Estaba mirando los Videos Biblias, cuando dí cuenta de 1 Corintios 13:12 (lo siento, solamente está en Inglés).  Pablo dice, “Ahora conozco en parte; pero entonces conoceré como fui conocido.”

En Inglés, solamente hay una palabra para saber y conocer, y estaba pensando del conocimiento (y tal vez la sabiduría) en inglés, que son el mismo.  Pero con está escritura, pensaba que la diferencia entre saber y conocer es muy importante.

Y despues, pensaba de Juan 17:3, “Y ésta es la vida eterna: que te conozcan a ti, el único Dios verdadero, y a Jesucristo, a quien has enviado.”

De acuerdo con estás dos escrituras, parece que lo más importante para la vida eterna es conocer o sea desarollar una relación personal con Dios.

Entonces, parece que estaba pensando de sabiduría incompletemente.  Creo que el Conocimiento de la Ciencia es lo que uno puede saber y religión es lo que uno puede conocer.

¿Qué piensen ústedes?

Christmas Wish List

Here is my wish list for my Christmas.  I will add to it as I think of things.

• large microwaveable liquid measuring cup
• bell for my bicycle
• ipad 2 screen protector
• Harry Potter 6 in Spanish
• red hair accessories
• red earrings (studs and long earrings too)
• TA shirt: http://www.phdcomics.com/store/mojostore.php?_=view&ProductID=22480, size Women's XL
• candles
• Toothless Piggy Bank

Romance de Matemáticas

Uno, dos, tres, once y doce

Más equis, i griega y zeta.

Funciones, patrones, límites,

Algoritmos, y teoremas.

Para mí numeros son

De un mundo de orden y reglas.

Pero son hermosos y

Bellos, parte de una cuenta,

Una axioma de mi vida,

El problema y la respuesta.

One, two, three, eleven and twelve
Add x, y and z.
Functions, patterns, limits,
Algorithms, and theorems.
For me numbers are
Of a world of order and rules.
But they are handsome and 
Beautiful, part of a count,
A axiom for my life,
The problem and the answer.

(There is a lot lost in the translation, like rhyming)

Science versus Religion

I am taking three entry level science classes this semester, and we are talking a lot about some of the fundamentals of science.  What is science?  What is observation?  What is a theory? etc.

The class that has gone into this the most is my weather class.  On the first day of class the professor gave a pop quiz.  (We didn't turn it in, however, we did discuss the answers as a class).

1. What are atoms?
2. How is hair color passed on from parent to child?
3. What causes earthquakes?
4. What causes the ocean tides?
5. What causes the seasons?
6. Does the Earth orbit the Sun?
7. Which is bigger:  Earth or Jupiter?
8. What causes polio?
9. Does God exist?

After the pop quiz, we discussed a lot about how we know what we know and what are the fundamental differences between the first 8 questions and the last question.

The next class period, our professor defined science as a description of nature based on observation (measurements).  It continues to define itself as we practice it.  It is rarely revolutionary, predictive and falsifiable (testable with an observation.)

I have been thinking about this a lot.  For me I view my scientific knowledge and my religious knowledge as the same thing:  Knowledge based on observation and experimentation.  

I know God exists because I have preformed the experiment of the Book of Mormon several times and I have always gotten the same answers.  I have read the Book of Mormon (research), especially Moroni 10:3-5, which outlines the experiment, and I have prayed (experiment), meeting the conditions that Mormon puts forth, and I have felt the Spirit confirming to my soul that the Book of Mormon is true, and therefore that God exists, and so forth(results).  And I have had many personal encounters with the spirit, in which I have felt God's love for me (observation)

I know that the Earth orbits the Sun, because I have seen the sun rise day after day (observation), I have been taught and understand the physics of gravity (research), and I have performed many experiments with gravity, such as dropping a rock to see if it will fall.  Likewise, I have also gotten the same results every time--the rock falls.

However I also understand that there is a fundamental difference between science and religion.  I have been trying to figure out what it is since the start of this semester, and today while I was sitting in Fast and Testimony meeting at church, the spirit illuminated my understanding, and I have an answer to what is the fundamental difference between science and religion: measurements. 

Just how do you measure God's love for you?  What scale would you even use?  How do you measure the Spirit?  Where is the quantifiable way to measure any of this?  As of right now, I don't believe there exists any way to measure the things of God.

In science, we use thermometers, scales, rulers, etc to give numbers and measurement to our observations.  This makes the experiments repeatable, such that any person in any lab in any place can compare their results with the results of any other person.  It is quantifiable and measurable.  

Now that I have identified the fundamental difference between science and religion: measurements, I believe that it is even more important to understand their similarities.  They both teach truth, they both have knowledge, and they both answer fundamental questions of understanding (such as where do we come from?)  I think I have learned as much about the Creation this week in my three science classes this week, as I did yesterday when I went to the temple.

My favorite video: We Lived With God on this subject talks about how science and religion are like have two eyes.  Each eye sees something slightly different, and with both of them, there is depth and perspective.  

"Derramaré Sobre Vosotros Bendición"

Siempre sabía que Dios guarda sus promesas, pero este primavera y verano, he tenido la oportunidad para tener evidencia muy real de esté.

Cuando regresé de mi misión, tuve la decisión para trabajar y ganar suficiente dinero para ir a la universidad en el otoño y estudiar.  Por fin, sabía lo que querría estudiar (las ciencias fisicas) y sabía que todo sería perfecto.  Por que era ex-misionera y por cuenta de mi servicio, pensé, tendría muchas bendiciones.

Pero, la vida no es perfecta, y mis planes no pasaron en la manera que pensaba.  6 semanas despues de regresar a mi casa a la fin de mi misión, no tuve trabajo.  He tenido muchas entrevistas, pero no tenía ningún trabajo.  Muchas veces en mis entrevistas, el jefe dije algo sobre la importancia de trabajar los fines de semana.

Y yo, sabiendo los mandamientos de Dios, siempre, dijo que no trabajará los domingos.  Sabado, sí, pero no en los domingos.  

 Seis días trabajarás y harás toda tu obra, mas el séptimo día es reposo para Jehová tu Dios; no harás en él obra alguna, tú, ni tu hijo, ni tu hija, ni tu siervo, ni tu criada, ni tu bestia, ni el extranjero que está dentro de tus puertas. (Éxodo 20: 9-10)

Y, siempre despues de esté la entrvista llegarán de ser muy mala.  Sabías si estaba disponible de trabajar los domingos, no tendré dificultad de obtener un trabajo.

Pero, confié en Mi Dios y en sus promesas.  Una tema muy común en el Libro de Mormón es que si guardemos los mandamientos, prosperamos en la tierra.

Y él ha dicho: Si guardáis mis mandamientos, prosperaréis en la tierra; pero si no guardáis mis mandamientos, seréis desechados de mi presencia. (1 Nefi 1:20)

Entonces, estaba un poco preocupada sobre dinero y el colegio, pero no bastante.  Y continuaba buscando trabajo, confiando en el Señor.

Tuve otra entrevista con Kneaders, una restaurante y panadería que no está abierta los domingos, y gané un trabajo.  No era lo que esperaba, pero era un trabajo y necesitaba dinero.

 Mi jefe dijo que despues de 2 semanas, tendría un aumento.  Pero despues de 2 meses, no tenia un aumento, y solo trabajaba 25 a 30 horas para cada semana (mas o menos).  Calculaba que con esté trabajo, tendría suficiente dinero para pagar mi renta pero no tendría suficiente dinero para pagar por mi comida.

Pero todavía confiaba en Mi Dios, y sabía que Él guaraba sus promesas.

Despues de 3 meses, empezaba buscar otro trabajo.  Tuve solo una entrevista con Discover y pensaba que sería como todas las otras entrevistas y cuando ellos sabían que no trabajaré los domingos, sería el fin de la entrevista.  Pero, aun que ellos están abierto los domingos, no era necesario que yo trabajo los domingos.

Era milagro, y gané el trabajo con Discover. :D

Y he tenido muchas horas para trabajar y estoy ganando mas dinero cada hora.  Y tengo sufiente dinero para comer este semestre y mas que este también.

Sé que Dios es un Dios de milagros y que guarda sus mandamientos.  Para mi en esta ocasión, aun que no sabía por muchas meses como, Dios proveó la manera que prodria ganar sufiente dinero para ir a la universidad.

Stories That Bind Us Together

As we approach Pioneer Day (June 24^th, a Utah State Holiday where we celebrate the Mormon Pioneers, for all my friends who live outside of Utah), we remember the pioneers, we watch videos, see pictures and tell stories of the Pioneers crossing the plains.

These stories inspire us.  I love to hear stories about the early pioneers and all of the miracles they had while crossing the plains.  I love to read about how they overcome hardships.  I love the courage and the bravery.  They had a strength that I desire in myself.  They were great examples for me.

But I often forget that the stories didn’t end when they entered the Salt Lake Valley.  In fact, that was really only a beginning.  They went on to build a great city, and then build more great cities, and temples.  They farmed, they built, they worshipped, they loved and they lived.

Their story lives on in me.  I don’t mean that I have a pioneer spirit, and that I continue to be a pioneer like them.  In fact, I don’t think that I would have made a great pioneer.  I am a city girl through and through.  I don’t really like hiking (expect on the rare occasion), and I camp very little.  I really don’t have Pioneer/wilderness survival/trek across the plains skills.

But the city that I love, my city, is the city that they built.  I am a direct descendant from Pioneers.  My Mom’s ancestors came across the plains in covered wagons, and my Dad and his family came across in a Volkswagen.  :D My Dad loves this joke, and I have heard him tell it thousands of times.  My work and my legacy and my life are part of what they started.

The stories don’t end. They had children, who grew up and had children.  But it is all the same story.

My story didn’t begin when I graduated high school, nor when I was baptized.  It didn’t begin when I learned to walk and talk.  I didn’t begin when I was born.  It didn’t begin when my parents met.  But where did my story begin?

William Shakespeare described our stories in one of his poems:

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts.

So it is all just one big story.  The end of one chapter just leads to the next chapter.  My exits and entrances are different than the other actors in the play, but it is all the same play.

In movies, books and stories, we are accustomed to endings and beginnings.  After all you have to enter and exit the theater sometime, or you would never do anything else.  Books have to begin somewhere, and they have to end, or we would run out of paper.  We live in a finite world, and it is hard for us to understand something, even a story, that has no ending or beginning.  Yet that the very story in which we find ourselves.

Elder Boyd K Packer talked about the story that we are in, and also compared it to a play like Shakespeare.

“In mortality, we are like actors who enter a theater just as the curtain goes up on the second act. We have missed act 1. The production has many plots and subplots that interweave, making it difficult to figure out who relates to whom and what relates to what, who are the heroes and who are the villains. It is further complicated because we are not just spectators; we are members of the cast, on stage, in the middle of it all!” (The Play and the Plan [CES fireside for young adults, May 7, 1995], 1–2).

So the story that we are in is really just act 2 of some bigger play.  Act 2 has a definite beginning.  It began with the Creation of the Earth (See Genesis chapter 1).  We know that it will end at final judgment. 

The stories of our ancestors aren’t just good stories to tell.  They are my story.  They are your story.  My story is theirs.  We all have the same story.  I think that is why we, as a people, are so drawn to these stories of Pioneers, because it is really just our own story.

“And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” (Malachi 4:6).  These stories bind us together.  They link us in ways that I don’t fully comprehend.

Share your story today at familysearch.org in the Memories tab of one of your ancestors.

The stories of our ancestors will bind us together as we turn our hearts to our fathers.