On this episode, we cover the evolution of the first vision accounts spurred by an 1841 interview with Joseph’s brother, Reverend William Smith. From the 1829 revelation included as D&C 20 today, to the mid-1830s, to the John Whitmer history in 1838, to the History of the Church printed in the Times & Season in 1842, Joseph story looks less like an actual occurrence and more like a the coming-of-age story to a mythological figure. Was it God and Jesus who appeared, was it the angel Nephi, did the Sacred Grove even happen? These questions and more pose serious challenges to the claims of divine provenance of the young prophet. After that we have on Justin Clark from the Reason Revolution podcast to talk about the rise of the freethought movement in 19th and 20th-century America.
Links:
1832 First Vision Account http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-circa-summer-1832/1#full-transcript
1835/6 First Vision Account http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/journal-1835-1836/24
1841/2 First Vision Account http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-circa-june-1839-circa-1841-draft-2/2
Several Remarkable Visions Orson Pratt http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/appendix-orson-pratt-an-interesting-account-of-several-remarkable-visions-1840/3#full-transcript
MormonThink First Vision Essay http://www.mormonthink.com/firstvisionweb.htm
MormonThink Nephi or Moroni Essay http://www.mormonthink.com/nephiweb.htm
LDS First Vision Essay https://www.lds.org/topics/first-vision-accounts?lang=eng
John Whitmer History Introduction http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/john-whitmer-history-1831-circa-1847/1#historical-intro
1841 William Smith Interview p.410 https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015004820760;view=1up;seq=425
Interviews:
Reason Revolution with Justin Clark http://reasonrevolution.org/episode-36-the-interview-bryce-blankenagel/
We Talk About Dead People Sidney Rigdon https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/aaron-carter/we-talk-about-dead-people
Show Links:
Website http://nakedmormonismpodcast.com Twitter @NakedMormonism Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Naked-Mormonism/370003839816311 Patreon http://patreon.com/nakedmormonism Music by Jason Comeau http://aloststateofmind.com/ Show Artwork http://weirdmormonshit.com/ Legal Counsel http://patorrez.com/