LDS Inoculation - Good or Bad?

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Originally Posted by Adam

1. The First Vision was a personal experience for Joseph and not the foundation for the Church. It wasn't even widely known about by members of the Church in Joseph's day. ... If we are going to have a lesson on the First Vision and ignore the personal nature of the visit and pretend it was a core part of the Restoration then that lesson will be a "sanitized" version of the story--meaning not intended to be fully understood.

Originally Posted by Adam

• Think about how Joseph Smith provides an example for us as we seek answers to our questions. As you study his account of the First Vision, what do you learn about reading the scriptures? about pondering? about prayer?

My answer: Very little. That young kids can read a verse out of the bible and go pray and God will appear to them? This story is a one-off, an Alma the Younger conversion story. It ain't going to happen to me or my kids. It is of very limited applicability. And it has nothing to do with the restoration of the Chruch.

Originally Posted by Adam

Just because the Joseph theophany has become the centerpiece of the first discussion (due to its theatrical effect), doesn't mean it is core doctrine.

From JS manual, Chapter 2, "God the Eternal Father":

Joseph’s faithful prayer for mercy and wisdom was answered with the First Vision. That vision gave the young Prophet far greater knowledge about God than any of the churches of his day possessed, knowledge that had been lost to the world for centuries. In the First Vision, Joseph learned for himself that the Father and the Son are individual beings, that Their power is greater than the power of evil, and that man is indeed fashioned in God’s image—truths that are essential in understanding our actual relationship to our Father in Heaven.