Comments about ‘'Joseph Smith's First Vision' thoughtfully explores 5 different accounts of the event’

@garybeac
The study you're looking for was included in Richard Bauckman's book, "Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony". It's a fascinating and enlightening read.

Unfortunately, the empirical data presented in that study also tends to cast doubt on Joseph Smith's First Vision accounts rather than exonerate them. No matter how you slice it they're "off the curve".

@JJL
Thanks for the "heads up" on Blackman's book. I found it on Amazon and it's now on my wish list.

We should probably also mention that there that are records of how the First Vision was recounted to Smith in various personal journals during his lifetime (I'm thinking that's why Blackman puts the number of accounts at 12 rather than 9 in his book) that tend to be de-emphasized as Joseph Smith wouldn't have had the chance to set the record straight in those cases since they weren't public. In the other cases he did if they were seriously in error.