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First of all I'll print the official Mormon Church version of Joseph Smith's First Vision. Mormons state that Joseph Smith went to a grove and prayed to God. He wanted to know what church was the right one to join. It occurred in 1820 when Joseph was just shy of 15 years old.
" ...I retired to the woods to make the attempt. It was on the morning of a beautiful day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally."
"After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God.... I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me."
"When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said pointing to the other--- This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!"
"My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong)--and which I should join."
"I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: 'they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.'"
Source: The Pearl of Great Price. Joseph Smith Jun. 5th ed. Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1957.
Source: Joseph Smith -- History, Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Chapter 1:14-19.
In this version Joseph Smith clearly saw both the Father and the Son, at the same time, and his age is given as 14.
The following are two earlier accounts of the First Vision, written in 1832 and 1835.
1832 account of First Vision. This is the only known version of the First Vision written in Joseph Smith's own handwriting. It was also the first time it appeared in print, 12 years after the fact. (All spelling errors occurred in the original text).
"....the Lord heard my cry in the wilderness and while in [the] attitude of calling upon the Lord in the 16th year of my age a pillar of light above the brightness of the Sun at noon day come down from above and rested upon me and I was filld with the spirit of god and the Lord opened the heavens upon me and I saw the Lord and he spake unto me saying Joseph my son thy sins are forgiven thee. go thy way walk in my statutes and keep my commandments behold I am the Lord of glory I was crucifyed for the world that all those who believe on my name may have Eternal life behold the world lieth in sin at this time and none doeth good no not one they have turned asside from the gospel and keep not my commandments they draw near to me with their lips while their hearts are far from me and mine anger is kindling against the inhabitants of the earth to visit them according to this ungodliness and to bring to pass that which hath been spoken by the mouth of the prophets and Apostles behold and lo I come quickly as it witten of me in the cloud clothed in the glory of my Father and my soul was filled with love and for many days I could rejoice with great joy and the Lord was with me but could find none that would believe the hevenly vision."
Source: Wilson, William A., BYU Studies, Summer 1971.
In this 'first' First Vision the Lord talks about being 'crucifyed for the world', this would make him Jesus Christ. There's no mention of God the Father appearing as well, let alone God introducing Jesus to Joseph Smith. It was also stated that Joseph was 15 years old at the time. The text above states calling upon the Lord in the 16th year of my age. Considering that a person who is 15 is in reality their 16th year of life, this places Joseph Smith as being 15.
1835 account of the First Vision. this version was written by Warren A. Cowdery who acted as Joseph Smith's clerk. This appeared in Joseph Smith's diary for the date of Monday, Nov. 9th.
Joseph Smith was engaged in a discussion of religion with a Jewish minister called Joshua. Soon he started telling him about the vision he had received.
"....being thus perplexed in mind I retired to the silent grove and bowed down before the Lord, under a realising sense that he had said (if the bible be true) ask and you shall receive knock and it shall be opened seek and you shall find and again, if any man lack wisdom let him ask of God who giveth to all men liberally and upbradeth not; information was what I most desired at this time, in the place above stated or in other words I made a fruitless attempt to pray, my toung seemed to be swolen in my mouth, so that I could not utter, I heard a noise behind me like some person walking towards me. I strove again to pray, but could not the noise of walking seemed to draw nearer, I sprung upon my feet, and looked around, but saw no person or thing that was calculated to produce the noise of walking. I kneeled again my mouth was opened and my toung liberated, I called on the Lord in mighty prayer. A pillar of fire appeared above my head, it presently rested down upon me, and filled me with joy unspeakable, a personage appeared in the midst of this pillar of flame which was spread all around, and yet nothing consumed, another personage soon appeared like unto the first, he said unto me thy sins are forgiven thee, he testifyed unto me that Jesus Christ is the son of God; and I saw many angels in this vision i was about14 years old when I received this first communication...."
In this second version, Jesus appears first, followed by God who forgives Joseph and talks about Jesus. Note Joseph also saw 'many angels' in this version and states that his age was 14.
Joseph's own brother, William, stated that the First Vision contained angels, not God and Jesus.
In 1822 and 1823, the people in our neighborhood were very much stirred up with regard to religious matters by the preaching of a Mr. Lane,....Joseph, then about seventeen years of age,had become seriously inclined,....
"At length he determined to call upon the Lord.... He accordingly went out into the woods.... While engaged in prayer a light appeared in the heavens, and descended until it rested upon the trees where he was. It appeared like fire. But to his great astonishment, did not burn the trees. An angel then appeared to him and conversed with him upon many things. He told him that none of the sects were right;...."
Source: William Smith on Mormonism, Lamoni, Iowa, 1833, as quoted in A New Witness For Christ In America, Vol. 2, 414-415.
The conflicting versions were also troublesome for the leaders of the Mormon Church after Joseph Smith's death. Different versions were preached by the leaders before agreeing on which one was to become the 'official' version.
The Mormon Prophet Joseph Fielding Smith wrote "We have a wonderful illustration of how revelation comes through Christ presented to us in the Vision given to the Prophet Joseph Smith. The Father and the Son appeared unto him, but it was not the Father who answered his question! The Father introduced Joseph to his Son, and it was the Son who answered the important question and gave the instruction."
"Had Joseph Smith come home from the grove and declared 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, then we could have accepted the story as a fraud."
Source: McConkie, Bruce R., ed. Doctrines of Salvation: Sermons and Writings of Joseph Fielding Smith, Vol. 1. 28. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954-1955.
According to the 1835 version, this is exactly what happened.
The Mormon Church has known about all three versions for over 100 years and has worked very hard to kept the 'unofficial' ones hidden. When it became known, they practiced damage control.
Joseph Fielding Smith (10th prophet):
"If Joseph Smith was a deceiver, who wilfully attempted to mislead the people, then he should be exposed....Church stands or falls with Joseph Smith. Mormonism, as it is called, must stand or fall on the story of Joseph Smith.. He was either a prophet of God, divinely called, properly appointed and commissioned, or he was one of the biggest frauds this world has even seen. There is no middle ground."
Source: McConkie, Bruce R., ed. Doctrines of Salvation: Sermons and Writings of Joseph Fielding Smith, Vol. 1. 188. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954-1955.
In closing, I would like to offer an opinion. I believe that if Joseph Smith had indeed seen some kind of heavenly vision, he would have remembered it. I find it inconceivable that the details made such a superficial impact on him that he changed his story three times. Concerning the above quote, I vote for the latter.