Mormons consider Joseph Smith’s first vision one of the most significant events in religious history; it is by far the most controversial of his visions. Many Mormons maintain that the accounts of the vision are historically accurate, while critics assert that different accounts are inconsistent and historically inaccurate. This session will summarize the various accounts and give an overview of the evidence for and against the historicity of various parts of the vision, including a summary of eight criteria for assessing historical authenticity. After hearing this summary of evidence, the session audience will vote on the historicity of each major section of the vision. The session will conclude with a tabulation of the voting results by the audience.

Mark Thomas, John-Charles Duffy, Dan Vogel