The 1832 Account of the First Vision - Criticism 3

There are a number of things missing from the 1832 account of the First Vision that are found in the 1838 account. One of the missing items is that there is no mention of a new dispensation of the gospel. The basic criticism is that, like a fisherman's tale of the fish that got away, the Joseph's story gets bigger and bigger as time goes on.

The vital question here is not whether the two versions are identical; we've already conceded that that are not. We have already discussed how perfectly natural it is for a story to be told differently each time it is recounted. Implied in those differences it is expected that some details will be missing, while others added. What matters is whether it is the truth or not.

No New Dispensation

In Joseph Smith's 1832 account he states that before the First Vision took place he was of the opinion that “mankind . . . had apostatized from the true and living faith, and there was no society or denomination that built upon the gospel of Jesus Christ as recorded in the New Testament.” When the Prophet saw the Savior during the First Vision experience Jesus verified what Joseph previously had believed. There are at least a dozen written recollections of people remembering Joseph speak of a new dispensation.

Did Joseph mention a new dispensation in the 1832 account? No. Is the 1832 account about a new dispensation consistent with other contemporary records? Yes. The only rational conclusion is that he simply omitted that detail in the written account, although he made that point on at least a dozen other occasions. The charge that his "story evolved over time" is false relative to this detail.