Review
Title: “I Saw The Lord” Joseph’s First Vision Combined from Nine Accounts
Author: Kerry Muhlestein
Publisher: Deseret Book
Genre: Religious Non-Fiction, History/Biography
Year Published: 2020
Number of Pages: 87
Binding: Paperback
ISBN-13: 978-1-62972-755-4
Price: $10.99
Reviewed by Sherry Ann Miller for the Association for Mormon Letters
“I Saw The Lord” Joseph’s First Vision Combined from Nine Accounts gives an excellent account of the First Vision, when God, the Father, and Jesus Christ, the Son, appeared to the fourteen year-old boy, Joseph Smith, in a grove of trees near his home in the New York countryside. Weaving together this historic event, Kerry Muhlestein gives us a vivid retelling that is both truthful and touching.
The nine accounts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision, as referenced in the subtitle, are given in appendices A (as summaries) and B (the actual verbatim accounts). These accounts include firsthand accounts by Joseph Smith, Junior; and second hand accounts by others, as follows:
- 1832 Joseph Smith Account
- 1835 Joseph Smith Account
- 1838 Joseph Smith Account
- 1842 Joseph Smith Account
- 1840 Orson Pratt Account
- 1842 Orson Hyde German Account (translated into English)
- 1843 Levi Richards Account
- 1843 Interview
- 1844 Alexander Neibaur Account
One might wonder why so many accounts of the First Vision are given; nine, specifically, in this book. Let me respond to those musings first: as a writer and history buff, I know from personal experience that it takes many attempts to put down on paper an accurate account of the events surrounding a particular and singularly dramatic occurrence before the writer is ever completely satisfied that everything that can be revealed has been shared in such a way as to do it justice. In our modern world, this is accomplished much faster with the use of technology, yet it still requires a number of rewrites and numerous edits to make the event read as perfectly as possible. Anyone who writes books of any length knows this to be the case. With exception of The Book of Mormon, any book one reads does not arrive in front of its reader fully formed without first having gone through a rigorous amount of editing long before it is ever sent to a publisher. In Joseph’s day, recording anything handwritten required parchment, quill, ink and blotter; lots of all four. Add to that the amount of time between 1820 and the first attempt to record the event in 1832, it is little wonder that each retelling would bring to mind different memories or feelings experienced regarding the event.
I am certain there are many other accounts now in numerous families’ circulations as recorded by early pioneers who began their sojourn in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints early in the nineteenth century, my own ancestors included.
“I Saw The Lord” contains only four chapters, but they are titled perfectly: Seeking; Asking; Finding; and, Learning. Kerry Muhlestein was certainly inspired while organizing his subject matter and categorizing it into concise readiness for any reader, scholar or otherwise. It is a small volume, indeed. But, oh! What it contains is divine! Each chapter discusses, using the nine accounts for harmony, how Joseph Smith sought, asked, found and learned the answer to his questions regarding religion, more especially the question, which one of all the many sects he should join back in the Spring of 1820.
Joseph’s prayer and its astonishing answer satisfied more than just his own questions. It sent millions of people on a similar journey, seeking our own answers to prayer, real answers. And, receiving those answers in diverse and astounding ways.
When Joseph simply could not find answers to his questions from preachers of his day, he found his heart impressed by James 1:5, which reads: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”
Joseph had learned, as recorded on page 34 and 35 of “I Saw The Lord,” that he must not fear, for God would answer the young teen’s questions in ways the lad never dreamed possible. Joseph was “immediately filled with a sense of peace and joy that he had never known before, even joy unspeakable.”
I enjoyed “I Saw The Lord” immensely. It is well-written, organized and concise. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a better understanding of what actually happened in the Sacred Grove. Indeed, since finding a grove of my own, reading about Joseph’s First Vision always refreshes my own knowledge of Heavenly Father and His Son, even Jesus Christ.
Reviewers are meant to find amongst the books we review anything that might also assist the writers and/or compilers of the same. To that end, I searched my notes carefully and found very little. Finally, after more diligent scrutiny, I decided the author had presented no actual justification for this assumption on page 12:
‘While most people were probably sincere and had truly felt a spiritual sensation that caused them to be full of a love of God and a zeal for serving Him, we can safely assume that some people saw others around them having these experiences and, not wanting their family or neighbors to think there was something wrong with them, they pretended to “get religion.“ It may have been a small portion, but undoubtedly some people manifested a religious experience they had not felt just so others would not look down on them.’
Since that type of behavior would be more likely to occur in the 21st century, I wondered if dishonesty would be commonplace enough in 1820 to justify using it at all. I always try not to assume, especially about people whom I know absolutely nothing. It might have been better for the author to keep this assumption to himself, or at least found a way to justify using it.
This piddling observation aside, I absolutely and whole-heartedly recommend “I Saw The Lord” to anyone. It renders such a full and rich experience completely and truthfully in its entirety in such a way as to satiate any inquiring mind or searching soul.