Keywords

Joseph Smith’s First Vision, General Conference, Restoration

Document Type

Article

Abstract

When President Gordon B. Hinckley declared in the October 2002 general conference that the strength of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints “rests on the validity” of Joseph Smith’s First Vision, most people in the congregation likely felt that he was only affirming a basic tenet of the Restoration—but this unique theophany was not always so prominent. Not until the mid-1960s did scholars and historians affiliated with the Church begin a more thorough exploration of the historical emergence of Joseph Smith’s 1820 theophany, now known as the First Vision, and its subsequent elevation in the spiritual consciousness and didactic usage of leaders and members of the Church. This has led some to consider how increasing exposure to and familiarity with this foundational theophany shaped, and continues to shape, the development of Latter-day Saint doctrine and beliefs from the 1840s onward.