Joseph Smith's First Vision: A Guide to the Historical Accounts

“I had seen a vision; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it.”

Many have considered, examined, and questioned Joseph Smith’s account of God and Christ appearing to him in a grove of trees in upstate New York. As the only tangible evidence of the miraculous event, Joseph’s recorded statements on the First Vision are important today for both believers and critics: the truth of these records attests to Joseph’s prophetic calling, the reality of the Restoration, and the assurance that God continues to speak to us today.

In this volume, Church historian Steven C. Harper provides all known accounts of the First Vision written during Joseph Smith’s lifetime and places them within the historical context of his family, community, culture. Using historical and analytical methodology, the author helps us better understand what he declares may be the “best document theophany—vision of God—in history.”

Joseph Smith’s First Vision: A Guide to the Historical Accounts is enhanced by images of accounts of the vision and of individuals and places associated with it. Most important, this faithful work offers a fresh look at important records with neither a doubting nor a defensive bias. It is a book that will inform, uplift, and inspire those who seek to know the truth.

Stephen C. Harper is a historian for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After serving a mission to Canada and graduating from BYU, he earned a Ph.D. in early American History from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and taught for two years at BYU-Hawaii before teaching a decade at BYU. He has written award-winning articles on Church history topics and is the author of several books. He and his wife, Jennifer Sebring Harper, are the parents of five children.