Looking Deeper into JosephSmiths First Vision: Imagery, Cognitive Neuroscience, and the Construction of Memory

by Robert A. Rees

Overview

Critics of Joseph Smith assert that he invented or imagined the First Vision and then deliberately altered the details in his subsequent first-person accounts of the event (also reflected in accounts recorded or related by others) to mislead his followers. That the details of the narrative changed so dramatically between the first version (1832) and the last authorized version (1842) is considered prima facie evidence that Joseph was deliberately inventing and embellishing his narrative to make it more credible. The only thing, say critics, that could possibly explain such divergent, and in some cases, radically different versions of the same event is either incredible forgetfulness or deliberate falsification. This paper, based on close textual analysis and the findings of contemporary scientific research on memory acquisition and retention -- particularly memories of dramatic and powerful events -- offers an alternative explanation, one that preserves the credibility and integrity of the prophet.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940157569594
Publisher:	Interpreter Foundation
Publication date:	04/21/2017
Series:	Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture , #25
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	14
File size:	136 KB

About the Author

Robert A. Rees (born November 17, 1935) is an educator, scholar, and poet. He teaches and is the Director of Mormon Studies at Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. He has also taught at UCLA, UC Santa Cruz, and UC Berkeley and was a Fulbright Professor of American Studies in Lithuania (1995-96). Rees has published widely on Mormon and Religious Studies as well as on art, literature, politics, culture, and LGBT issues. He is the editor of Proving Contraries: A Collection of Writings In Honor of Eugene England (2005) and Why I Stay: The Challenges of Discipleship for Contemporary Mormons (2011) and (with Eugene England) The Reader’s Book of Mormon (2008). He is the co-author of Supportive Families, Healthy Children: Helping Latter-day Saint Families with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Children (2012) and the soon to be published Love One Another: A Guide for LDS Families & Congregations When Someone Separates from the Faith. His collection of poetry, Works of Grace, is scheduled for publication in 2017. Rees has served as a bishop, stake high councilor, institute teacher, and member of the Baltic States Mission Presidency. He is the co-founder and current vice-president of the Liahona Children’s Foundation, which addresses malnutrition among Latter-day Saint children in the developing world.