Joseph Smith's First Vision/Fabricated to give "Godly authority"

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Criticism

Joseph Smith decided after he released the Book of Mormon to the public that he needed 'authority from God' to justify his claims as a religious minister. He fabricated the First Vision story in order to provide himself with a more prestigious line of authority than that of the "angel" who revealed the golden plates.

Source(s) of the criticism

• Mormon Apologetics and Discussion Board (January 2007).

Response

This theory does not stand up to close scrutiny. There are numerous contemporary and reminiscent documents which indicate that before Joseph Smith recorded his 1832 history (September-November 1832) he was claiming - both implicitly and explicitly - to have authority from God to carry out his ministry.

Notice in the citations below that when the angel who revealed the plates is mentioned he is identified as God's messenger. Thus, Joseph Smith's interaction is not simply with a nondescript angel; the angel is an authorized representative of Diety.

November 1826

Joseph Smith "told us of God’s manifestations to him, of the discovery and receiving of the plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated"^[1] (Newel Knight).

Spring 1827

Joseph Smith specifically identifies the otherworldly messenger with whom he has been dealing as the angel of the Lord ^[2]

Fall 1827

Martin Harris states that it was an angel of God who visited Joseph Smith and revealed the golden plates to him and he also said that Joseph had been chosen by the Lord.^[3]

April 1828

Palmyra townspeople state that "an angel of God" appeared to Joseph Smith.^[4]

1828

Joseph Smith said that he received a revelation from God to tell him where the plates were concealed.^[5]

1828

Joseph Smith told his wife’s uncle that he had been commanded by God to translate the plates.^[6]

1828

Joseph Smith states that he is a prophet sent by God to gather Israel.^[7]

1828

Joseph Smith declares that his ability to translate the plates is a gift from God.^[8]

1829

Joseph Smith wrote to members of his father’s family and told them that an angel of the Lord had revealed the gold book to him.^[9]

1829

Believers in Joseph Smith’s mission teach others that he has been visited by a messenger from "the Almighty".^[10]

1829

In the published statement of the Three Witnesses in the Book of Mormon (written ca. June 1829) it is said that it was "an angel of God" who showed them the golden plates.

April 1830

Joseph Smith confirms in an official Church document that he had been "called of God" and "God ministered unto him by an holy angel" when the Book of Mormon plates were revealed.^[11]

1830

Joseph Smith states that he has been entrusted by God.^[12]

1830

According to "the most credible reports" that a non-Mormon minister had heard "the angel indicated to [Joseph Smith] that the Lord [had] destined him" to carry out a certain work.^[13]

November 1830

Joseph Smith had seen God "personally" and received a commission from God to preach the gospel.^[14]

August 1831

Before the Book of Mormon translation was completed "the Lord" told Joseph Smith that it must be published.^[15]

September 1831

The "chief Elders" in Kirtland, Ohio - including Joseph Smith - state that the Prophet had "held communion with an angel from God" with regard to the golden plates.^[16]

November 1831

The Lord declares in the Doctrine and Covenants that He "called" Joseph Smith to be His servant (DC 1꞉17).

Conclusion

There is no doubt that before Joseph Smith produced his 1832 history of the Restoration he was telling other people that he had a directive from God to carry out a certain work and that he had received instruction directly from one of God's authorized representatives. Joseph Smith had no need to produce some type of authority claim by 'fabricating' the First Vision event in 1832. The line of Divine authority had already been long established.

Endnotes

1. [note]  Newel Knight ^{[citation needed]}
2. [note]  Lucy Mack Smith, Autobiography, Chapter 21.
3. [note]  Rev. John A. Clark ^{[citation needed]}
4. [note]  David Whitmer^{[citation needed]}
5. [note]  Henry Harris^{[citation needed]}
6. [note]  Nathaniel Lewis^{[citation needed]}
7. [note]  Hezekiah McKune^{[citation needed]}
8. [note]  Alva Hale^{[citation needed]}
9. [note]  Jesse Smith^{[citation needed]}
10. [note]  Palmyra Freeman (1829), ^{[citation needed]}
11. [note]  ?, "?," Evening and Morning Star 1 no. 1 (June 1832), 1. off-siteGospeLink
12. [note]  The Fredonia Censor, 10/10 (2 June 1830): page? ^{[citation needed]}
13. [note]  Letter, Rev. Diedrich Willers to L. Mayer and D. York, 18 June 1830.
14. [note]  The Reflector [Palmyra, New York] 2/13 (14 February 1831), page ?
15. [note]  The Sun (18 August 1831): page?
16. [note]  Nancy Towle, Vicissitudes Illustrated, 2d ed., (Portsmouth: John Caldwell, 1833), 150–151; first edition printed in 1832.