The First Vision of Joseph Smith, Jr.: 200 Years On

“The First Vision of Joseph Smith, Jr: 200 Years On”, is a two-day conference to be held at The Huntington Library in San Marino, California, on Friday 24 and Saturday 25 January, 2020. Professor Flake will deliver a paper entitled “The Form and the Power of Godliness as Joseph Smith’s First and Abiding Concern.”

Rooted in the context of The Huntington’s significant collection of Mormon material, this conference commemorates the 200^th anniversary of Joseph Smith’s First Vision; analyses the various accounts of his theophany; and assesses what it has come to mean both to millions of adherents of the Latter-day Saint faith and to the larger religious community. The program will position Smith’s claim to visions and revelations within the larger context of American religious history; explore its historicity and theological ramifications; and more generally illuminate what remains, even at two centuries distance, a contested moment in American history.

Invited Speakers Include:

Bennett, Richard E. (BYU)
Blodgett, Peter J. (Huntington Library, Curator of American Western History)
Bushman, Richard L. (Emeritus, Columbia University)
Cope, Rachel (BYU)
Curtis, LeGrand E., Jr (LDS Church Historian)
Flake, Kathleen (U. of Virginia)
Harper, Steven C. (BYU)
Holland, David F. (Harvard)
Marsden, George M. (Emeritus, Notre Dame)
Mouw, Richard J. (President Emeritus, Fuller Theological Seminary) Taves, Ann (UC Santa Barbara)
Wigger, John H. (U. of Missouri)