Patriarchal gripe wrote:Simply asking a person of faith to square the God of the First Vision with the God of the Last Vision.
The God of the First Vision is a loving Heavenly Father who condescended to stoop near to earth to answer the sincere prayer of a 14 year old farm boy regarding how he should worship.
The God of the Last Vision is the God who sent an angel with a sword drawn and prepared to destroy that same farm boy if, determined by the agency or free will choice of another person, that farm boy was unsuccessful in marrying that other person.
Both accounts are historically verifiable by walking into any Deseret Book store. Give appropriate references for these stories (Bushman, etc) and ask the believer to reconcile that God, his view of agency, and the exaltation of family members upon the woman's choice.
In the last year or so I have asked perhaps 30 faithful active members who Richard Bushman is or if they have heard of RSR. Less than 10 had. (I actually think it is less than 5.)