First Vision: Memory and Mormon Origins

by Steven C. Harper

This is the biography of a contested memory, how it was born, grew, changed the world, and was changed by it. It's the story of the story of how the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began. Joseph Smith, the church's founder, remembered that his first audible prayer, uttered in spring of 1820 when he was about fourteen, was answered with a vision of heavenly beings. Appearing to the boy in the woods near his parents' home in western New York State, they told Smith that he was forgiven and warned him that Christianity had gone astray.

Smith created a rich and controversial historical record by narrating and documenting this event repeatedly. In First Vision, Steven C. Harper shows how Latter-day Saints (beginning with Joseph Smith) and others have remembered this experience and rendered it meaningful. When and why and how did Joseph Smith's first vision, as saints know the event, become their seminal story? What challenges did it face along the way? What changes did it undergo as a result? Can it possibly hold its privileged position against the tides of doubt and disbelief, memory studies, and source criticism-all in the information age? Steven C. Harper tells the story of how Latter-day Saints forgot and then remembered accounts of Smith's experience and how Smith's 1838 account was redacted and canonized. He explores the dissonance many saints experienced after discovering multiple accounts of Smith's experience. He describes how, for many, the dissonance has been resolved by a reshaped collective memory.

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction, History, Lds, Church

288 pages, Hardcover

First published August 12, 2019

Reviews

[Christopher Angulo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is such a gem. The first 20 or so pages, I felt that not much was being added to the already existent discussion surrounding the First Vision. It's after Joseph Smith's accounts that the book really shines! The collective memory angle, as well as history behind the respective statements on the First Vision were both super refreshing. I had my doubts about this book, but it proved me wrong.

[Drew Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best summary of how both individual and collective memories are selected, repeated, related, and consolidated as it relates the what is now known as the First Vision. Harper unpacks the various versions of the first vision accounts providing context regarding differences.

[Curtis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best, most thorough review of the First Vision through the lenses of history and memory.

This book is a fantastic, comprehensive review of Joseph Smith’s first vision through history. It is not just an examination of all the historical accounts of the vision. The most valuable contributions this book makes are an examination of how the vision has been viewed and remembered through the last nearly 200 years by those both within and outside the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

[Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

A faith-based cultural history of the event members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints call the First Vision. Harper really shines here, non-controversially looking at all the historical debates, and ultimately allowing the reader to decide for themselves how to feel about the vision. I loved being able to find out the backstories of some of the anti-vision material and why the Church responded in the way they did. An enlightening read.

[David Barney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the perspective it gave regarding Joseph Smith’s First Vision. Because many people have been told about the many different versions and aspects of the First Vision, the thoughts in this book helps the reader to understand that many of the concerns have been discussed in previous years. This is not a new dilemma.

[Guyzen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had Brother Harper for two classes of the Doctrine and Covenants at BYU. His passion and study of the restoration of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was always on display and this recent work exemplifies that same earnestness. I’m glad this book came out this year when the current Church President is urging members to learn more about the 1st vision as it’s the 200 year anniversary of its occurrence.
Much of the early part of the book focuses on how memory is formed and consolidated over time. It really lends to understanding the vision contextually as the book continues. A lot is dedicated to the actual vision and the many different corresponding accounts both first and second hand. The last section of the book walks through the major apologists and events of the last century that brought more focus to what actually happened on that spring morning in 1820.
I found this book wonderfully insightful and inspiring. There’s a lot to unpack and it brings to light many perspectives and doesn’t shy away from the hard questions and criticism that many have leveled at the vision and Joseph the Prophet. Ultimately it provides an approach and resources that believers and questioners alike can approach the vision and study a trove of information to help better understand it.

[Carl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the best books in the field of LDS studies use Latter-day Saints as the case study through which we can study other fields. I'm thinking of "Danish, but not Lutheran" (which I have not read) which studies what it meant to be Danish, using LDS converts as a test case, and "Religion Without Color" by Reeve (which I have read), which uses Latter-day Saints as the test case for the ongoing negotiation of what "race" meant in American history.

This book does that, using the Latter-day Saint reception history of Joseph Smith's "first vision" as the test case for how memory, individual and collective, is formed, modified, discarded, and retained. There is so much more going on with the vision and the history of how people have remembered and used it than the oversimplified "it's all true or it's all false" or "any, even slight, contradictions in detail means he was making it all up." To be clear, I believe that the vision happened, but I allow Smith (and his followers in the decades and centuries since the event), human fallibility in recording and re-presenting the memory to pass it on to others. This book is a shining example of using Latter-day Saints as a test case for a specific field of study, and aside from that I think also contributes to the more narrow field of Latter-day Saint studies. Highly recommended.

[Karen DeVictoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book a very accessible and thorough source that documents and explains not only the various accounts of Smith’s First Vision, but also the process of memory and it’s effect on those various accounts. Harper opens with his thesis, “Memories like Smith’s vision accounts (as well as the memories of his followers and critics) are not accurate or distorted. They are both. And they are both objective and subjective”. There has traditionally been a lot of emphasis placed on the veracity of the first vision in Mormon theology because it is our origin story. However disputing wether or which of the accounts is most authentic and accurate is, as Harper argues, “a false dilemma”. It is important to tie our awareness of the differences in each account to the historical place and setting of each account because the context of each account affects how Smith’s memory of the experience is shaped and related. It is satisfying to see that the discussion around the first vision is becoming less a matter of rote repetition of the canonized account and more a discussion that acknowledges the entire history. I found Harper’s approach to studying the first vision very refreshing and educational.

[David Eldredge · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book just wasn’t a page turner for me. I didn’t find the story of how we ended up with the canonized version interesting at all- basically george q cannon thought it was the best one. The most interesting parts were quotes from other people.

However I’ve never thought of memories as being coded at times other than the initial experience though and that will take some digesting to understand. I also didn’t know it wasn’t well known by the saints for so long and wasn’t used in missionary work for a really long time.

Overall I would just tell someone Interested in the subject to read all the accounts, then the gospel essay on the first vision, Richard bushmans talk on it and maybe elder cook in 2018.

[Aubrey Chaves · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so incredibly interesting. I was familiar with the multiple first vision accounts but had no idea that it really wasn't until the 1880s that it was widely known. It was not the hook that converted in droves that I assumed it had always been. I loved learning about memory and the way history will always be understood through a subjective lens. It was fascinating to see how the first vision became what it needed be in each time and place and recognize what it said about the people who were selecting pieces of and repeating the story and how for that reason, no matter what happened in the grove around 1820, the first vision will always be true and untrue.

[Donna Kurszewski]

Because I don't read fluently online, I ordered a 'hard copy' the 3rd week in May. Given current conditions I'm still waiting for delivery to the North Dakota outback. According to USPS tracking, "First Vision: ......" is soon to be available in my PO Box - perhaps with the 25 chicks I ordered from Stromberg Hatchery!

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intellectually Stimulating; Spiritually Satisfying & Uplifting

Enjoyed the insights this well written, extensively researched book provides sincere seekers of further light and truth.

Highly recommended to leaders & lay members as well as those interested in learning more about the origins of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well-written history of the story of Joseph Smith’s first vision, including how it became part of the Church’s origin story and of the collective memory of its members. I’ve read quite a bit about this topic (and taught it many times) but I learned a good deal about the history as well as about how memory works.

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating look a memory science and how it applies to Joseph Smith’s first vision. I especially loved learning about the context of the first and second hand accounts. Highly recommend for anyone interested in this topic.

[Cody Calderwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a dense read through the first 150 pages or so. But Harper does a great job of bringing it all together and really making it pertinent for today. Amazing book.

[Eloise · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned a great deal from this book and will probably read it again. Much food for thought.

[Jason Burt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book and I learned a lot about the history of what we now know as Joseph Smith's First Vision! I am becoming a fan of the research and writings of Steven Harper!

[Kristy W · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned so much about the First Vision—the value of the differing accounts, how it became part of LDS collective consciousness, how it got the name, how the church moved towards greater transparency. So interesting and engrossing.

[Jeff Crosby]

Well documented. Byproduct of the Joseph Smith papers.

[Kenneth Lund · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to anyone interested in a fresh and comprehensive approach to the First Vision, a pivotal event in the narrative of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I enjoyed detailed research on not only the various "First Vision" accounts themselves, but on third-party reactions to and interpretation of the First Vision over the past two centuries. This book is not just the story of the event itself, but the "story of the story," discussing in great detail how the First Vision narrative has evolved and different aspects emphasized throughout the history of the Church. The application of principles of contested and collective memory is an interesting and largely useful angle in correlating the various first- and third-person accounts of the First Vision and understanding how the First Vision became an integral element of the story of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

[Andreas Leit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book! Highly recommended it! Brilliant work