The Objective Reality of the First Vision Is Questioned

Abstract

In the early twentieth century, intellectuals became interested in Joseph Smith’s first vision for the first time. A few scholars offered naturalistic explanations. Academic interest in Joseph Smith’s visions added an alternative unbelieving interpretation to overt hostility or total disregard. It also added a new risk to that believers in the historical appearance of divine, embodied beings could find more dangerous than persecution. Pluralism and pragmatism, as defined by William James, could undermine the exceptionalism saints found in Smith’s vision. For these and other reasons, faculty and students at fledgling Brigham Young University wrestled with the historicity of Joseph Smith’s first vision. Harvard PhD and later Mormon apostle John A. Widtsoe experienced this upheaval and arrived at an orthodox belief.