Evaluate the following historical source.

Dean Jessee explains:

In 1893, he [Charles Walker, a faithful Latter-day Saint] attended a testimony meeting one Sunday at which one of the local elders, John Alger, said that when he was a small [teenage] boy he heard Joseph Smith “relate his vision of seeing the Father and the Son, That God touched his eyes with his finger and said, ‘Joseph this is my beloved Son hear him.’ As soon as the Lord had touched his eyes with his finger he immediately saw the Savior.” At the close of the meeting Walker and others questioned the speaker. [Charles Walker recorded this in his journal that day]: He told us at the bottom of the meeting house steps that he was in the House of Father Smith in Kirtland when Joseph made this declaration, and that Joseph while speaking of it put his finger to his right eye, suiting the action with the words so as to illustrate and at the same time impress the occurrence on the minds of those unto whom He was speaking.

(Dean C. Jessee, “The Earliest Documented Accounts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision (Links to an external site.),” in Exploring the First Vision, ed. Samuel Alonzo Dodge and Steven C. Harper [Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, 2012], 1–40. See also Charles Walker, diary, February 2, 1893, published as A. Karl Larsen and Katharine Miles Larsen, eds., Diary of Charles Lowell Walker [Logan, UT: Utah State University Press, 1980], 755–56.)

How reliable is the source in regards to it being a PRIMARY SOURCE? 

Evaluate the following historical source.

Dean Jessee explains:

In 1893, he [Charles Walker, a faithful Latter-day Saint] attended a testimony meeting one Sunday at which one of the local elders, John Alger, said that when he was a small [teenage] boy he heard Joseph Smith “relate his vision of seeing the Father and the Son, That God touched his eyes with his finger and said, ‘Joseph this is my beloved Son hear him.’ As soon as the Lord had touched his eyes with his finger he immediately saw the Savior.” At the close of the meeting Walker and others questioned the speaker. [Charles Walker recorded this in his journal that day]: He told us at the bottom of the meeting house steps that he was in the House of Father Smith in Kirtland when Joseph made this declaration, and that Joseph while speaking of it put his finger to his right eye, suiting the action with the words so as to illustrate and at the same time impress the occurrence on the minds of those unto whom He was speaking.

(Dean C. Jessee, “The Earliest Documented Accounts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision (Links to an external site.),” in Exploring the First Vision, ed. Samuel Alonzo Dodge and Steven C. Harper [Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, 2012], 1–40. See also Charles Walker, diary, February 2, 1893, published as A. Karl Larsen and Katharine Miles Larsen, eds., Diary of Charles Lowell Walker [Logan, UT: Utah State University Press, 1980], 755–56.)

How reliable is this source in regards to it being a CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNT

Evaluate the following historical source.

Dean Jessee explains:

In 1893, he [Charles Walker, a faithful Latter-day Saint] attended a testimony meeting one Sunday at which one of the local elders, John Alger, said that when he was a small [teenage] boy he heard Joseph Smith “relate his vision of seeing the Father and the Son, That God touched his eyes with his finger and said, ‘Joseph this is my beloved Son hear him.’ As soon as the Lord had touched his eyes with his finger he immediately saw the Savior.” At the close of the meeting Walker and others questioned the speaker. [Charles Walker recorded this in his journal that day]: He told us at the bottom of the meeting house steps that he was in the House of Father Smith in Kirtland when Joseph made this declaration, and that Joseph while speaking of it put his finger to his right eye, suiting the action with the words so as to illustrate and at the same time impress the occurrence on the minds of those unto whom He was speaking.

(Dean C. Jessee, “The Earliest Documented Accounts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision (Links to an external site.),” in Exploring the First Vision, ed. Samuel Alonzo Dodge and Steven C. Harper [Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, 2012], 1–40. See also Charles Walker, diary, February 2, 1893, published as A. Karl Larsen and Katharine Miles Larsen, eds., Diary of Charles Lowell Walker [Logan, UT: Utah State University Press, 1980], 755–56.)

How reliable is this source in regards to it being an OBJECTIVE PERSPECTIVE

Evaluate the following historical source.

Dean Jessee explains:

In 1893, he [Charles Walker, a faithful Latter-day Saint] attended a testimony meeting one Sunday at which one of the local elders, John Alger, said that when he was a small [teenage] boy he heard Joseph Smith “relate his vision of seeing the Father and the Son, That God touched his eyes with his finger and said, ‘Joseph this is my beloved Son hear him.’ As soon as the Lord had touched his eyes with his finger he immediately saw the Savior.” At the close of the meeting Walker and others questioned the speaker. [Charles Walker recorded this in his journal that day]: He told us at the bottom of the meeting house steps that he was in the House of Father Smith in Kirtland when Joseph made this declaration, and that Joseph while speaking of it put his finger to his right eye, suiting the action with the words so as to illustrate and at the same time impress the occurrence on the minds of those unto whom He was speaking.

(Dean C. Jessee, “The Earliest Documented Accounts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision (Links to an external site.),” in Exploring the First Vision, ed. Samuel Alonzo Dodge and Steven C. Harper [Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, 2012], 1–40. See also Charles Walker, diary, February 2, 1893, published as A. Karl Larsen and Katharine Miles Larsen, eds., Diary of Charles Lowell Walker [Logan, UT: Utah State University Press, 1980], 755–56.)

How reliable is this source in regards to it being CONSISTENT WITH OTHER SOURCES?

Evaluate the following historical source.

Dean Jessee explains:

In 1893, he [Charles Walker, a faithful Latter-day Saint] attended a testimony meeting one Sunday at which one of the local elders, John Alger, said that when he was a small [teenage] boy he heard Joseph Smith “relate his vision of seeing the Father and the Son, That God touched his eyes with his finger and said, ‘Joseph this is my beloved Son hear him.’ As soon as the Lord had touched his eyes with his finger he immediately saw the Savior.” At the close of the meeting Walker and others questioned the speaker. [Charles Walker recorded this in his journal that day]: He told us at the bottom of the meeting house steps that he was in the House of Father Smith in Kirtland when Joseph made this declaration, and that Joseph while speaking of it put his finger to his right eye, suiting the action with the words so as to illustrate and at the same time impress the occurrence on the minds of those unto whom He was speaking.

(Dean C. Jessee, “The Earliest Documented Accounts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision (Links to an external site.),” in Exploring the First Vision, ed. Samuel Alonzo Dodge and Steven C. Harper [Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, 2012], 1–40. See also Charles Walker, diary, February 2, 1893, published as A. Karl Larsen and Katharine Miles Larsen, eds., Diary of Charles Lowell Walker [Logan, UT: Utah State University Press, 1980], 755–56.)

How reliable is this source in regards to it having SUPPORTING EVIDENCE?