Mormon founder Joseph Smith's other church memberships

[J_C]

this first vision discrepancy is something that would cause me to wonder. I had spoken to my mormon friend about this and she is/was under the impression that there is only the one version, the official one taught by the LSD.

according to what i have read several years went by before Josehp told anyone about this in any detail. it apparently is a fact that the early converts between 1830 and 1840 or so knew nothing aobut it, never heard of it. yet it has been said i believe by the late pres Hinkely that it is the foundation of the LSD religion.

and after all those years of silence when he did start speaking about it there were several versions which had many variances, if i were a momron finding this out i would have a serious question or two.

 

[J_C]

after all it seems unlikely that a person could see “god” personified and yet not consider it important to remember the details so that any descriptions would be consistent with one another…

when St. John had got vision on Patmos he doesn’t seem to have had nay trouble remembering all the details in utter brilliance, and recording them once for all so they could be transmitted to posterity, without a need for later editors to go in and change things to make them more palatable.

 

[xmormon]

I hate to break your bubble but the ensign has published articles about the first vision accounts. Nothing is secret.

library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1996.htm/ensign%20april%201996.htm/joseph%20smiths%20testimony%20of%20the%20first%20vision.htm?fn=document-frame.htm&f=templates&2.0

library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1986.htm/ensign%20january%201986.htm/confirming%20witnesses%20of%20the%20first%20vision.htm?fn=document-frame.htm&f=templates&2.0

library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1985.htm/ensign%20january%201985%20.htm/joseph%20smiths%20recitals%20of%20the%20first%20vision.htm?fn=document-frame.htm&f=templates&2.0

And here is where the different audiences come into play from the FAIRwiki:

en.fairmormon.org/First_Vision_accounts

Hmmm did any one here say the different accounts were secret? On the contrary it has been shown that they are well known. Would you expect the church to remain silent on this issue when so much is known about it? And when so many have left the church because of these changes and the many other critical changes to so-called scripture. The point is Joseph often changed his story based on who he was with and what he thought that person was likely to fall for. If he thought they would not believe he actually saw God the Father then he said he saw Jesus. If he thought they would not believe he saw Jesus then he told them it was just an angel. (that’s right there is the version where he neither sees Father or Son but sees just an angel in the First vision… What is truly amazing is this is the only version his most loyal early followers fell for. Brigham Young said when Mormonism began, “The Lord did not come… - but He did send His angel to this same obscure person, Joseph Smith … and informed him that he should not join any of the religious sects of the day, for they were all wrong…” (J. of D., Vol. II, p. 171). Wilford Woodruff, the fourth LDS prophet, also said that Mormonism “commenced by an angel of God flying through the midst of heaven and visiting a young man named Joseph Smith, in the year 1827.” He said that Smith was confused by sectarian claims, so he read James 1:5 and then prayed and asked God which church to join. He then said, “The Lord heard his prayer and sent his angel to him, who informed him that all the sects were wrong, and that the God of heaven was about to establish His work upon the earth” (J. of D., Vol XIII, p. 324).

If the Lord Himself gave that message to Smith in 1820, why did an angel give it to him in 1827? The following references in the J. of D. also conflict with the official "first vision" story: 2:196-197; 6:29, 355; 10:127; 12:333-334; 13:65-66, 77-78, 294; 18:239; 20:167; 14:261-262. The J. of D. contains "the discourses of the First Presidency and Twelve Apostles of this (LDS) Church. To the Saints their words are as the words of God" (Ibid., Vol. 4, Preface). "The Journal of Discourses deservedly ranks as one of the standard works of the Church" (Ibid., Vol. 8, Preface). Mormons cannot reject the messages of earlier LDS apostles and prophets without affecting the validity of their current prophet and apostles. Mormons often quote Amos 3:7 to teach that we need prophets today. It says, "Surely the Lord God will do nothing but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." But, LDS Prophets Brigham Young and Wilford Woodruff told the first vision story incorrectly, if the official version is correct. If LDS leaders told the first vision story wrong, could they also be wrong about other LDS doctrines? Mormons claim their apostles and prophets clarify God's message, but instead they have taught contradictory things about the first vision. Is God the author of confusion? (I Cor. 14:33.)

Tiber diving team of 2004 (we go deeper to penetrate the darkness with the light)