The first vision is common knowledge amongst all church members and anti-Mormons as well. Lurkers, it is important to note that the car salesman is extending his usual pitch. What he WON'T tell you is that the link is to only ONE of NINE different and contradictory accounts of the so-called "first vision" THAT SMITH HIMSELF originated. I would encourage those interested in reading about these other accounts - as well as viewing copies of the origionals to go to this link.
Additional discussion regarding these visions can be read at this link.
Mormon Grant Palmer in his book " An Insider's View of Mormon Origins" makes this observation about the real history around Smith's 'first vision' stories -
"After a mass exodus of high-ranking church leaders including several apostles, all three special witnesses of the BOM and three of the eight witnesses to the BOM, Joseph took to reestablishing his authority. He made many changes to the church including changing the name of the church. He began by attacking those who were circulating unsavory "reports" regarding "the rise and progress of the Church", then told a revised and more impressive version of his epiphany.
He announced that his initial calling had not come from an angel in 1823, as he had said for over a decade, but from God the Father and Jesus Christ in 1820. The earlier date established his mission independent of the troubling questions and former witnesses associated with the Book of Mormon. Like the priesthood restoration recitals, the first vision version of April 1838 added significant material that bolstered his authority during a time of crisis."
Is this material what the car salesman directs you to? No, he wants to sell you the car. Good consumer research such as I've provided gives you information that he doesn't want you to read. Find out the truth for yourself.
Don't let the car salesman snooker you.
Lurkers, it is important to note that the car salesman is extending his usual pitch. What he WON’T tell you is that the link is to only ONE of NINE different and contradictory accounts of the so-called “first vision” THAT SMITH HIMSELF originated.
Old and tired non-issue addressed a thousand times.
Undecided readers,
If you peruse the Free Republic religion forums you will notice a pattern. There’s an anti-Mormon group of people here that spends a great deal of their time attacking the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They post regurgitated propaganda on an almost daily basis.
They have a misguided obsession. You can witness many different tactics employed that you might find quite interesting. The straw man argument is a big favorite and is frequently preceded by cherry-picking quotes or other material. After the “quotation” the attacker will misrepresent what has been said or what was meant and then attack their own interpretation.
Another favorite is posting scripture or statements which on their own really present no dilemma. They make something out of nothing while never bringing up a single objection that hasn’t been addressed a hundred times before.
Sometimes they cruise the headlines of the day seeking any story that might be twisted into making the Church look bad. Anything will do, just watch the progression of posts following it and see what I mean.
After reading their posts, I invite you to seek the truth about whatever “issue” they seem to be “revealing” or “exposing”. I promise that if you do so with honest intent, the “ahah” moments you will have will be many and frequent. You will start to recognize the tactics employed to cleverly twist and attack and will likely chuckle the more you see. In actuality, there’s nothing new here. It’s all been addressed many times before.
Here’s a few links to get your started from a different viewpoint. I have found that the vast majority of the “issues” brought up can be found and addressed at http://www.fairlds.org/ but here’s more:
http://scriptures.lds.org/
http://www.lds.org
http://www.fairlds.org/
http://www.mormonapologetics.org/
http://www.mormonwiki.com/Main_Page
http://www.lightplanet.com/response/index.html
http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDS_Intro.shtml
http://www.answeringantimormons.com/index.htm
http://promormon.blogspot.com/
Now you will likely notice the “you never address our points” posts pop up as usual. All after providing the answers just as you have here. Will you wear blinders too? Seek truth. Find out for yourself.