•  
  •  
 

BYU Studies Quarterly

BYU Studies Quarterly

Keywords

BYU Studies, restoration, first vision

Abstract

I am grateful for the opportunity to be here with you. As was mentioned, I am the Church Historian and Recorder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In our Church, that position is an ecclesiastical calling. While I oversee the Church History Department—which is filled with trained historians, librarians, archivists, and other professionals— my own training is as a lawyer, and prior to being called to full-time church service as a General Authority, I practiced law for several years. My service as a General Authority has included being in the presidency of the Church’s Africa West Area and in different capacities at Church headquarters, including in the department that supervises the production of curriculum and other programs for our Church members. In this presentation, I will draw on those experiences, and others, to reflect on Joseph Smith’s 1820 vision of God the Father and Jesus Christ, commonly known as the First Vision. I am not an academic by training, but I hope that I can share some things in this academic setting that will help you understand what we view to be the theological implications of the First Vision and how we share the First Vision with others.

Download

Share

COinS