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I Saw a Pillar of Light: Sacred Saving Truths From Joseph Smith's First Vision
As we often hear, Joseph Smith's First Vision is foundational to the restored gospel: no Vision, no Restoration. It all starts there. If a major encounter between a fourteen-year-old boy and the Gods of the universe did not occur, then all that we teach and practice, all the good we strive to do in the name of Christian service, is vain and superficial—in the long run, it would have no saving significance for the children of God.
What receives much less attention, however, is what we learn from Joseph's encounter with God the Eternal Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. When we begin to explore the theological concepts discovered, the lessons derived, and the principles learned from the Vision, we move into the realm of doctrine—and doctrine has the power to save. As President Boyd K. Packer taught so powerfully, "True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior. The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior" (Ensign, Nov. 1986). Sincere pondering and our own personal, prayerful encounter with the doctrines of the First Vision will change us, bringing about the kind of deep conversion the apostles and prophets encourage us to seek.
What receives much less attention, however, is what we learn from Joseph's encounter with God the Eternal Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. When we begin to explore the theological concepts discovered, the lessons derived, and the principles learned from the Vision, we move into the realm of doctrine—and doctrine has the power to save. As President Boyd K. Packer taught so powerfully, "True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior. The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior" (Ensign, Nov. 1986). Sincere pondering and our own personal, prayerful encounter with the doctrines of the First Vision will change us, bringing about the kind of deep conversion the apostles and prophets encourage us to seek.
176 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2020
8 people are currently reading
75 people want to read
About the author
Robert L. Millet
141 books70 followersRobert L. Millet, professor of ancient scripture and former dean of Religious Education at Brigham Young University, holds a master s degree in psychology from BYU and a Ph.D. in religious studies from Florida State University. He is a popular speaker and prolific writer whose other books include Lost and Found: Reflections on the Prodigal Son; Grace Works; and More Holiness Give Me. He and his wife, Shauna, have six children and live in Provo, Utah.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 27, 2020
The First Vision is bedrock theology in the church, but perhaps we may have become so close to it that it has become "everyday" and we have forgotten the significance and magnitude of what took place. This book is about the vision. What did young Joseph learn and what do we learn? Remember true doctrine understood changes attitudes and behavior. What doctrinal truths do we discover as we look deeply into the different accounts of the First Vision? How does that doctrine affect the way we understand and approach our Heavenly Father and how we accept the atoning work of His Son? What does brother Joseph's singular encounter in the grove teach us about seeking for and obtaining divine guidance and personal revelation? How can such doctrine effect our view of life in this world as well as the life that we yearn to enjoy in the world to come?
"The Holy Ghost is central to the Restoration", Elder Robert D. Hales reminds us. "The power or spiritual impact the scriptural passage had on Joseph was the influence of the Holy Ghost. As a result Joseph went into a grove of trees, knelt down and asked God. The First Vision is truly momentous and magnificent, but the path to that in person visitation of the Father and the Son began with a prompting from the Holy Ghost."
In Orson Hyde's 1842 account it says, "The adversary made several strenuous efforts to cool Joseph's ardent soul. He filled his mind with doubts and brought to mind all manner of inappropriate images to prevent him from obtaining the object of his endeavors." Orson Hyde goes on to explain three specific satanic efforts. The first is that Satan sought to cool his ardent soul. That is, the Devil attempted to quench the faith and trust in James' promise. Second, according to Elder Hyde, Satan filled the boys mind with doubt. Third Joseph was tempted to harbor inappropriate images, perhaps immoral images, which if not quickly dismissed would cause one to lose the spirit."
Marion D. Hanks, after singing the song Joseph Smith's First Prayer, remarked, that the song starts out with a lovely morning and then his soul went on to feelings of deep despair. At the high times, the high moments, we are yet aware that whether we like it or not, or whether we are ready or not, they (Satan's minions) are going to be making the effort. There are powers that assail us. And when they do they fill our hearts with deep despair. Do you remember the lines following, "deep despair?" "But undaunted still he trusted in his Heavenly Father's care." It didn't say that because we are nice people we would be immune to the powers that assail. The promise for us and for him is confirmed in his account that because he continued to trust, even when his soul was filled with deep despair, something happened. And the something was a brilliant light which descended and dispersed the darkness that had gathered around him."
The times when the Father and the Son have appeared together to mortal man or woman are extremely rare. The very act of the Father introducing the Son is a lesson. That his house is a house of order. President Joseph Fielding Smith said that, "had Joseph Smith returned home and said that the Father and the Son appeared to him and that the Father spoke to him and answered his question, while the son stood silently by, we could have identified the story as a fraud. Joseph Smith was too young and inexperienced to know this at the time but he made no mistake and his story was in line with divine truth, that Christ is the mediator between God and man."
One other matter, in the 1835 account we read the following, "He, Christ said unto me thy sins are forgiven. He testified that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I saw many angels in this vision." No other account mentions angels, but should such a thing surprise us? It would not be out of the ordinary that angels/heavenly messengers should be in attendance to witness the greatest event in the history of the world since the Resurrection of Jesus Christ."
Do we appreciated that there is power in the word, that a revolution called the Restoration is underway? Because of what took place in a grove of trees in 1820 nothing will ever be the same. Joseph Fielding McConkie said this, "Had Joseph Smith sought answers in the Bible instead of on his knees in a quiet grove we would still be waiting for the Restoration of the gospel promised in the bible. Similarly, in missionary work, as long as we attempt to show people the path of salvation as stemming from the Bible we become nothing more than another of the squabbling secs of Christendom. The well trained missionary will answer investigators questions by finding the simplest and most direct route to the sacred grove.
"The Holy Ghost is central to the Restoration", Elder Robert D. Hales reminds us. "The power or spiritual impact the scriptural passage had on Joseph was the influence of the Holy Ghost. As a result Joseph went into a grove of trees, knelt down and asked God. The First Vision is truly momentous and magnificent, but the path to that in person visitation of the Father and the Son began with a prompting from the Holy Ghost."
In Orson Hyde's 1842 account it says, "The adversary made several strenuous efforts to cool Joseph's ardent soul. He filled his mind with doubts and brought to mind all manner of inappropriate images to prevent him from obtaining the object of his endeavors." Orson Hyde goes on to explain three specific satanic efforts. The first is that Satan sought to cool his ardent soul. That is, the Devil attempted to quench the faith and trust in James' promise. Second, according to Elder Hyde, Satan filled the boys mind with doubt. Third Joseph was tempted to harbor inappropriate images, perhaps immoral images, which if not quickly dismissed would cause one to lose the spirit."
Marion D. Hanks, after singing the song Joseph Smith's First Prayer, remarked, that the song starts out with a lovely morning and then his soul went on to feelings of deep despair. At the high times, the high moments, we are yet aware that whether we like it or not, or whether we are ready or not, they (Satan's minions) are going to be making the effort. There are powers that assail us. And when they do they fill our hearts with deep despair. Do you remember the lines following, "deep despair?" "But undaunted still he trusted in his Heavenly Father's care." It didn't say that because we are nice people we would be immune to the powers that assail. The promise for us and for him is confirmed in his account that because he continued to trust, even when his soul was filled with deep despair, something happened. And the something was a brilliant light which descended and dispersed the darkness that had gathered around him."
The times when the Father and the Son have appeared together to mortal man or woman are extremely rare. The very act of the Father introducing the Son is a lesson. That his house is a house of order. President Joseph Fielding Smith said that, "had Joseph Smith returned home and said that the Father and the Son appeared to him and that the Father spoke to him and answered his question, while the son stood silently by, we could have identified the story as a fraud. Joseph Smith was too young and inexperienced to know this at the time but he made no mistake and his story was in line with divine truth, that Christ is the mediator between God and man."
One other matter, in the 1835 account we read the following, "He, Christ said unto me thy sins are forgiven. He testified that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I saw many angels in this vision." No other account mentions angels, but should such a thing surprise us? It would not be out of the ordinary that angels/heavenly messengers should be in attendance to witness the greatest event in the history of the world since the Resurrection of Jesus Christ."
Do we appreciated that there is power in the word, that a revolution called the Restoration is underway? Because of what took place in a grove of trees in 1820 nothing will ever be the same. Joseph Fielding McConkie said this, "Had Joseph Smith sought answers in the Bible instead of on his knees in a quiet grove we would still be waiting for the Restoration of the gospel promised in the bible. Similarly, in missionary work, as long as we attempt to show people the path of salvation as stemming from the Bible we become nothing more than another of the squabbling secs of Christendom. The well trained missionary will answer investigators questions by finding the simplest and most direct route to the sacred grove.
July 30, 2020
Excellent book that discusses the important and profound lessons and principles we learn from Joseph Smith’s vision of God the Father and Jesus Christ. I am always impressed with the in-depth knowledge Robert Millet possesses, his clear and logical reasoning, and I greatly appreciate his firm and unwavering conviction about the things he believes in.
February 8, 2024
My daughter was at a bookstore and the author, Brother Millet was doing a book signing. She called me immediately as we all love and respect him and feel he has great perspectives on eternal matters.
My mom always is sure to go to his classes at Education Week at BYU.
The store apparently had him seated, surrounded by stacks of his various titles, and my daughter said to me over the phone, “which book should I get, which book should I get and have him sign it for you!” And I said you choose. And I’m so glad that she got this wonderful little volume.
This is the authors inscription to me.
‘To Danny- May your testimony of Joseph Smith and the Restoration always be solid and unshakable.
-Robert L. Millet, May 2023.’
I like the way the book is structured. The scholarship, references and resources that are combined here, together with the author’s great writing style makes for a satisfying read. Of course I recommend it to you all. As well at the end of the book is an appendix of all the contemporaneous accounts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision, which is nice to have all in one place.
My mom always is sure to go to his classes at Education Week at BYU.
The store apparently had him seated, surrounded by stacks of his various titles, and my daughter said to me over the phone, “which book should I get, which book should I get and have him sign it for you!” And I said you choose. And I’m so glad that she got this wonderful little volume.
This is the authors inscription to me.
‘To Danny- May your testimony of Joseph Smith and the Restoration always be solid and unshakable.
-Robert L. Millet, May 2023.’
I like the way the book is structured. The scholarship, references and resources that are combined here, together with the author’s great writing style makes for a satisfying read. Of course I recommend it to you all. As well at the end of the book is an appendix of all the contemporaneous accounts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision, which is nice to have all in one place.
October 1, 2023
This book is really good! I’ve never NOT had a testimony of Pres. Joseph Smith and the First Vision. But, also combined with Pres. Ballard’s Conference talk today, I think there has been room for a while now for me to add to the strength and the why of that part of my testimony. And this book helped to do just that.
Heavily armed with evidence and background, even historically, speaking of the spiritual awakening that Heavenly Father was preparing many people with in the 1800s, this book helps you to understand both personally (with Bro. Millet’s own spiritual experiences) and in the big picture why the First Vision is a bedrock of our religion. How many huge doctrinal questions have been answered since that time because it happened, that a lot of us probably take for granted? How would any of us know that revelation continues today, that it never stopped (because God doesn’t change, and He loves us just as much as He loved the ancient Saints), and that personal revelation exists?
The opposition received, both directly from Satan and from others in the world, is realistic, happens to any believer similarly, and comes about so vehemently because it’s true. Opposers feel attacked by truth. So—whether it’s fair and Christlike or not—they too attack.
We don’t think we’re the only Christians or that we’re better Christians. We just see things a little differently than other sects. We can understand how writing about a sacred experience can change a little merely because of time and perspective, not a change in the event. And, in fact, not being constantly recited and deliberate perhaps actually proves MORE that it wasn’t all fabricated. We can see how God choosing an unassuming, relatively pure and untouched and humble, young boy follows His usual pattern and actually tailors the situation to be more likely to turn out.
We can ALL seek and ask instead of doubting and then panicking. We can find His still-active-today, personal reassurance that we have known this all along.
God is not the author of confusion. If we want to know His one true way, He has ways of telling those who are willing to know.
(I’m also not sure I’d ever learned the origin of The Pearl of Great Price, so I appreciated that as well!)
Thank you, Bro. Millet, for this little gem of a work. I hope that your testimony will reach many others out there, because it certainly reached me.
Heavily armed with evidence and background, even historically, speaking of the spiritual awakening that Heavenly Father was preparing many people with in the 1800s, this book helps you to understand both personally (with Bro. Millet’s own spiritual experiences) and in the big picture why the First Vision is a bedrock of our religion. How many huge doctrinal questions have been answered since that time because it happened, that a lot of us probably take for granted? How would any of us know that revelation continues today, that it never stopped (because God doesn’t change, and He loves us just as much as He loved the ancient Saints), and that personal revelation exists?
The opposition received, both directly from Satan and from others in the world, is realistic, happens to any believer similarly, and comes about so vehemently because it’s true. Opposers feel attacked by truth. So—whether it’s fair and Christlike or not—they too attack.
We don’t think we’re the only Christians or that we’re better Christians. We just see things a little differently than other sects. We can understand how writing about a sacred experience can change a little merely because of time and perspective, not a change in the event. And, in fact, not being constantly recited and deliberate perhaps actually proves MORE that it wasn’t all fabricated. We can see how God choosing an unassuming, relatively pure and untouched and humble, young boy follows His usual pattern and actually tailors the situation to be more likely to turn out.
We can ALL seek and ask instead of doubting and then panicking. We can find His still-active-today, personal reassurance that we have known this all along.
God is not the author of confusion. If we want to know His one true way, He has ways of telling those who are willing to know.
(I’m also not sure I’d ever learned the origin of The Pearl of Great Price, so I appreciated that as well!)
Thank you, Bro. Millet, for this little gem of a work. I hope that your testimony will reach many others out there, because it certainly reached me.
November 16, 2020
This is a beautiful book that taught me things about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ that I didn’t know I didn’t know! Robert Millet has long been a favorite of mine, a very deep religious scholar, but also someone who can explain things clearly, and use his experiences and those of others to great advantage to illustrate his points. This book made me all the more grateful for revealed truth, and for the atonement of Jesus Christ. I love Him! I am so grateful for what He did for us all. And I honor Joseph Smith for his key role in the restoration. It was not easy, but he did it. What a beautiful story.
October 10, 2020
Brother Miller explains the gospel in a way that I easily understand. This book teaches not only about the first vision itself but about what led up to it. The history that was going on at the time and the things that happened before it to prepare the way. I especially loved the thought that during all questioning about the gospel we should get to the first vision as quickly as possible, it’s is the backbone of our religion and the only thing that really sets us apart from other Christian religions.
August 26, 2023
This is short on pages but long on shaking its readers out of a sense of complacence and reacquainting them with the crucial importance of the information gained from Joseph Smith's first vision. It looks at eight of the nine accounts of Smith's experience and distills from those concepts and teachings too long taken for granted by most who are aware of Smith's experience. This is highly readable and worth the hour or so you'll spend with it.
August 23, 2020
Robert L Millet researches and shares insights on Joseph Smith's First Vision. Because of the First Vision, we can know that we too can and will, receive answers to our prayers. We are known by our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. He knows us by name. I loved the quotes and scriptures he included in the book. I love the personal stories he shared.
September 18, 2020
I enjoy Brother Millet’s writing style. He lays things out there very well. This is another great one. It is a great reminder of the role that the First Vision plays in our faith in Jesus Christ. He dives into each of the accounts of Joseph Smith’s vision and gives us insight on how to act regarding this remarkable experience. He also provides some good historical context and insight.
November 24, 2020
Wonderful reminder of what was restored through the prophet Joseph Smith, AND that as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we appreciate all that Joseph Smith did, but we do NOT worship him. We worship Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Joseph Smith’s role and responsibility was to testify of Them.
January 16, 2021
Excellent breakdown of the things we know because of Joseph Smith's First Vision and why we know it and why it had to happen the way it did to have the gospel restored on the earth again. Robert Millet is a terrific author and theologian and makes things easier to understand.
March 7, 2021
The author goes through and goes step by step from when it all began to what Joseph Smith Jr learned that day in the Sacred Grove. Very powerful and moving and a good reminder that Joseph Smith wasn’t in this to bring fame and fortune to himself, but to bring souls back to our Father in Heaven.
September 2, 2020
I really enjoyed this book. Clarified many things I had been curious about! Was very inspiring!
September 6, 2020
Loved this look into the truths from Joseph's First Vision!
September 20, 2020
I absolutely love this book! And I will be reading it again and again.
December 17, 2020
This book was so informative and gave be a broader view and understanding of the First Vision.
May 6, 2021
Another great read from Robert Millet.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews