Editing First Vision (section)

===Perspectives within the Community of Christ===
The [[Community of Christ]] generally refers to the First Vision as the "grove experience" and takes a flexible view about its historicity,<ref>According to its website, the church "does not legislate or mandate positions on issues of history. We place confidence in sound historical methodology as it relates to our church story. We believe that historians and other researchers should be free to come to whatever conclusions they feel are appropriate after careful consideration of documents and artifacts to which they have access. We benefit greatly from the significant contributions of the historical discipline." {{citation |url=http://www.cofchrist.org/ourfaith/faq.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070203202848/http://www.cofchrist.org/ourfaith/faq.asp |archive-date=2007-02-03 |url-status=dead |title=Frequently Asked Questions |website=Community of Christ}}</ref> emphasizing "the healing presence of God and the forgiving mercy of Christ" felt by Joseph Smith.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.cofchrist.org/history/default.asp |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20131021174727/http://www.cofchrist.org/history/default.asp |archive-date=2013-10-21 |title=Community of Christ History |website=Community of Christ}}</ref>  The modern church is [[Trinity#One God in three persons|Trinitarian]], and in contrast to the LDS Church, does not use the First Vision as evidence for the Godhead being three separate beings.<ref>Paul Edwards, ''Our Legacy of Faith: a brief history of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS)'' (Herald Publishing House, 1991)</ref><ref>"Basic Beliefs." Community of Christ, www.cofchrist.org/basic-beliefs.</ref>

[[William Smith (Latter Day Saints)|William Smith]], a younger brother of Smith, and a key figure in the early Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS Church, renamed the [[Community of Christ]] in 2001), gave several accounts of the First Vision, although in 1883 he stated that a "more elaborate and accurate description of his vision" was to be found in Smith's own history.<ref>William Smith, "On Mormonism," in {{harvnb|Vogel|1996|p=496}}.</ref>

The RLDS Church did not emphasize the First Vision during the 19th century.<ref>{{Harvnb|Howard|1980|p=24}}.</ref> In the early-20th century, there was a revival of interest, and during most of the century, the First Vision was viewed as an essential element of the [[Restoration (Latter Day Saints)|Restoration]]. In many cases, it was taught as the foundation and even the embodiment of the Restoration.<ref>{{Harvnb|Howard|1980|p=25}}.</ref> The vision was also interpreted as a justification for the exclusive authority of the RLDS Church as the [[Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)|Church of Christ]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Howard|1980|pp=25–26}}.</ref>

In the mid- to late-20th century, writers within the RLDS Church emphasized the First Vision as an illustration of the centrality of [[Jesus]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Howard|1980|p=27}}.</ref> The church began taking a broader view of the vision, and used it as an example of how God evolves the church over time through revelation and restoration.<ref>{{Harvnb|Howard|1980|pp=27–28}}.</ref> There was less emphasis on the [[Great Apostasy]] and a growing belief that the First Vision itself was not necessarily identical with Smith's later reconstructions and interpretations of the vision, what one RLDS Church Historian has called "genuine historical sophistication."<ref>{{Harvnb|Howard|1980|p=28}}.</ref> In 1980, this Church Historian noted that he had "systematically brought to the attention" of hundreds of church members "the substantive differences in half a dozen accounts of the First Vision" and expressed his satisfaction that RLDS scholars, "deeply moved and augmented by the presence of the wondrously diverse and conflicting accounts of the First Vision," could "begin the exciting work of developing a mythology of Latter Day Saint beginnings."<ref>{{Harvnb|Howard|1980|pp=28–29}}.</ref>