Zebedee Coltrin - Vision of God the Father in Consuming Fire

Following the appearance of Jesus Christ to the members of the School of the Prophets, another personage appeared. Zebedee Coltrin testified of this vision: 'Another person came through; he was surrounded as with a flame of fire. He (Brother Coltrin) experienced a sensation that it might destroy the tabernacle as it was of consuming fire of great brightness. The Prophet Joseph said this was the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. I saw Him.' Coltrin described seeing the Father in perfect human form: 'I saw his hands, his legs, his feet, his eyes, nose, mouth, head and body in the shape and form of a perfect man. He sat in a chair as a man would sit in a chair, but this appearance was so grand and overwhelming that it seemed I should melt down in his presence, and the sensation was so powerful that it thrilled through my whole system and I felt it in the marrow of my bones.' After this vision, Joseph Smith declared: 'Brethren, now you are prepared to be the apostles of Jesus Christ, for you have seen both the Father and the Son and know that they exist and that they are two separate personages.' This was one of the greatest miracles of the Restoration—the personal appearance of God the Father to righteous members of the Church.