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1
the Great Apostasy amp the background of
the Restoration of Christrsquos
True Christianity
2
There are over 12000 parts in a piano
10000 which are moving
There is approximately 18 tons of pressure being exerted by the combined stretched piano strings
The first note is A the last note of the keyboard is C
The Piano was invented in 1698 by
an Italian Bartolomeo Cristofori
3
The Apostasy
Which keys could we do away with
How is the gospel of Christ like a piano
4
5
Jesus during his earthly ministry organized His Church
with a particular organization Apostles Quorum of Twelve amp the
Seventy
6
I will build my church
Matthew 1618
7
Ephesians 219-21 Ephesians 411-14
19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners but fellowcitizens with the saints
and of the household of God
20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets Jesus Christ himself
being the chief corner stone
21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord
The Foundation
8
Ephesians 411-14 11 And he gave some apostles and some prophets and
some evangelists and some pastors and teachers
12 For the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man unto the
measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ
14 That we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight
of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive
9
For behold the time cometh
and is not far distant that with power the Lord
Omnipotent who reigneth who was and is from all
eternity to all eternity shall come down from heaven
among the children of men and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay
Mosiah 197
Surely the Lord God will do nothing but he revealeth the secret unto is servants the prophets
Amos 37
10
And so He called twelve disciples and ordained them His Apostles
and He also calls and sends out Seventy
And we as Latter-day Saints hold that lodged within that Quorum of Twelve
Christ has given His authority to administer the saving ordinances of Christrsquos Gospel
11
To establish order in His Church Jesus ordained 12 Apostles and gave them the power amp authority of
His Holy Priesthood (see Mark 314 Luke 91-2)
He appointed Peter as chief Apostle and gave him the priesthood keys
to seal blessings both on earth and in heaven
(see Matthew 1619)
60 And the high priest asked Jesus saying Answerest thou nothing what is it which these witness against thee
61 But He held his peace and answered nothing Again the high priest asked Him and said unto Him Art thou the Christ the Son of the Blessed62 And Jesus said I Am
Mark 1460-62
13
17 Points of the True ChurchFloyd Weston
The True Church of Christ must
bear the name of Jesus Christ (Eph 523) a foundation of Apostles and Prophets (Eph 219-20) same organization as Christs Church (Eph 411-14)
claim divine authority (Heb 44-10)no paid ministry (Matt 313-16)
baptize by immersion (Acts 2033-34 John 1011-13)
14
bestow the gift of the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands (Acts 814-17)
practice divine healing (Mark 314-15)
teach that God and Jesus are separate distinct individuals (John 1711 2017)
teach that God amp Jesus have bodies of flesh amp bone (Luke 2336-39 Acts 19-11 Heb 11-3)
officers must be called by God (Heb54 Ex 281 4013-16)
must claim revelation from God (Amos 37)a missionary church (Matt 2819-20)a restored church (Acts 319-20)
practice baptism for the dead (1Cor 1516amp29) By their fruits ye shall know them (Matt 720)
15
Greek Philosophies
The pure idealvs
the corruptible physical
Theological arguments and philosophical debates lead to
twisting interpretations of scripture and departures from original
doctrines
Scripture is mingled with the teachings of men
16
Persecutions of Christians
33-96 Apostles taught and were killed off
17
ldquoJames was killed in Jerusalem by Herod
Peter and Paul were both martyred in Rome
Tradition says that Philip went to the East
Much more than this we do not know
18
ldquoThey scattered they taught testified and established the Church And they died for
their beliefs and with their deaths came the dark centuries of apostasy
ldquoThe most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelvemdashthe priesthood keys For the
Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys
and confer them on othersrdquo(ldquoThe TwelverdquoEnsign May 2008 84
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
ldquoFalling awayrdquo is derived from the Greek term ldquoapostasiardquo meaning ldquodefection departure revolt to depart fromrdquo
19
WHAT BECAME
of the CHURCH that
CHRIST Organized
20
Persecutions by the Romans Christianity was an illegal religion Christians were uncompromising nonconformist
Christians were seen as disloyal traitors because they refused to worship the Emperors
Christians were to blame for natural disasters because they left they old gods
Enmity of the ldquonatural manrdquo against those who follow God amp live the Gospel
22
beginning in 67 AD with the Emperor Nero 10 Roman Emperors for nearly 300
years who bitterly persecuted the Church
the Romans Falsely charge Christians
TreasontraitorsAtheismSecretive Separate Cannibalism Witchcraft ampSorcery
Immorality Incest Haters of humanity
Intellectual contradictions
24
The Roman Persecutions are as follows
The First Persecution under Nero AD 67 The Second Persecution under Domitian 81
The Third Persecution under Trajan 108 The 4th Persecution under Marcus Aurelius Antoninus 162
The 5th Persecution Commencing with Severus 192 The 6th Persecution Under Maximus 235
The Seventh Persecution Under Decius 249 The Eighth Persecution Under Valerian 257 The Ninth Persecution Under Aurelian 274 The Tenth Persecution Under Diocletian 303
Emperors amp MartyrsNero (r51-68)
bull64 fire destroyed much of Rome
bullRumor spread that Nero ordered the fire to make room for his new city Neropolis
bullNero used Christians as scapegoat amp executed 100s
source Tacitus Annales 1544
26
Simon Peteraccording to tradition was crucified upside down
Apostle Paulaccording to tradition was
beheaded
Domitian (81-96)
bull Instigated the persecution that was the background to the book of Revelation
Seven Churches of Revelation
Trajan (98-117)
Pliny the Younger Governor of Bithynia (111-113)
wrote to Emperor Trajan ldquoWhat about the Christiansrdquo
Trajan to Pliny ldquoDonrsquot ask donrsquot tellrdquo
IgnatiusBishop of Antioch(c30-107)
According to tradition killed by lions in
the Roman Colisseum
Polycarp(c69-156)
Bishop of Smyrna burned at the stake
Justin Martyr (d 166)
bullDenounced by Cynic philosopher
Crescens who was Aureliusrsquo advisorbullWas beheaded
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
2
There are over 12000 parts in a piano
10000 which are moving
There is approximately 18 tons of pressure being exerted by the combined stretched piano strings
The first note is A the last note of the keyboard is C
The Piano was invented in 1698 by
an Italian Bartolomeo Cristofori
3
The Apostasy
Which keys could we do away with
How is the gospel of Christ like a piano
4
5
Jesus during his earthly ministry organized His Church
with a particular organization Apostles Quorum of Twelve amp the
Seventy
6
I will build my church
Matthew 1618
7
Ephesians 219-21 Ephesians 411-14
19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners but fellowcitizens with the saints
and of the household of God
20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets Jesus Christ himself
being the chief corner stone
21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord
The Foundation
8
Ephesians 411-14 11 And he gave some apostles and some prophets and
some evangelists and some pastors and teachers
12 For the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man unto the
measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ
14 That we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight
of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive
9
For behold the time cometh
and is not far distant that with power the Lord
Omnipotent who reigneth who was and is from all
eternity to all eternity shall come down from heaven
among the children of men and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay
Mosiah 197
Surely the Lord God will do nothing but he revealeth the secret unto is servants the prophets
Amos 37
10
And so He called twelve disciples and ordained them His Apostles
and He also calls and sends out Seventy
And we as Latter-day Saints hold that lodged within that Quorum of Twelve
Christ has given His authority to administer the saving ordinances of Christrsquos Gospel
11
To establish order in His Church Jesus ordained 12 Apostles and gave them the power amp authority of
His Holy Priesthood (see Mark 314 Luke 91-2)
He appointed Peter as chief Apostle and gave him the priesthood keys
to seal blessings both on earth and in heaven
(see Matthew 1619)
60 And the high priest asked Jesus saying Answerest thou nothing what is it which these witness against thee
61 But He held his peace and answered nothing Again the high priest asked Him and said unto Him Art thou the Christ the Son of the Blessed62 And Jesus said I Am
Mark 1460-62
13
17 Points of the True ChurchFloyd Weston
The True Church of Christ must
bear the name of Jesus Christ (Eph 523) a foundation of Apostles and Prophets (Eph 219-20) same organization as Christs Church (Eph 411-14)
claim divine authority (Heb 44-10)no paid ministry (Matt 313-16)
baptize by immersion (Acts 2033-34 John 1011-13)
14
bestow the gift of the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands (Acts 814-17)
practice divine healing (Mark 314-15)
teach that God and Jesus are separate distinct individuals (John 1711 2017)
teach that God amp Jesus have bodies of flesh amp bone (Luke 2336-39 Acts 19-11 Heb 11-3)
officers must be called by God (Heb54 Ex 281 4013-16)
must claim revelation from God (Amos 37)a missionary church (Matt 2819-20)a restored church (Acts 319-20)
practice baptism for the dead (1Cor 1516amp29) By their fruits ye shall know them (Matt 720)
15
Greek Philosophies
The pure idealvs
the corruptible physical
Theological arguments and philosophical debates lead to
twisting interpretations of scripture and departures from original
doctrines
Scripture is mingled with the teachings of men
16
Persecutions of Christians
33-96 Apostles taught and were killed off
17
ldquoJames was killed in Jerusalem by Herod
Peter and Paul were both martyred in Rome
Tradition says that Philip went to the East
Much more than this we do not know
18
ldquoThey scattered they taught testified and established the Church And they died for
their beliefs and with their deaths came the dark centuries of apostasy
ldquoThe most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelvemdashthe priesthood keys For the
Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys
and confer them on othersrdquo(ldquoThe TwelverdquoEnsign May 2008 84
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
ldquoFalling awayrdquo is derived from the Greek term ldquoapostasiardquo meaning ldquodefection departure revolt to depart fromrdquo
19
WHAT BECAME
of the CHURCH that
CHRIST Organized
20
Persecutions by the Romans Christianity was an illegal religion Christians were uncompromising nonconformist
Christians were seen as disloyal traitors because they refused to worship the Emperors
Christians were to blame for natural disasters because they left they old gods
Enmity of the ldquonatural manrdquo against those who follow God amp live the Gospel
22
beginning in 67 AD with the Emperor Nero 10 Roman Emperors for nearly 300
years who bitterly persecuted the Church
the Romans Falsely charge Christians
TreasontraitorsAtheismSecretive Separate Cannibalism Witchcraft ampSorcery
Immorality Incest Haters of humanity
Intellectual contradictions
24
The Roman Persecutions are as follows
The First Persecution under Nero AD 67 The Second Persecution under Domitian 81
The Third Persecution under Trajan 108 The 4th Persecution under Marcus Aurelius Antoninus 162
The 5th Persecution Commencing with Severus 192 The 6th Persecution Under Maximus 235
The Seventh Persecution Under Decius 249 The Eighth Persecution Under Valerian 257 The Ninth Persecution Under Aurelian 274 The Tenth Persecution Under Diocletian 303
Emperors amp MartyrsNero (r51-68)
bull64 fire destroyed much of Rome
bullRumor spread that Nero ordered the fire to make room for his new city Neropolis
bullNero used Christians as scapegoat amp executed 100s
source Tacitus Annales 1544
26
Simon Peteraccording to tradition was crucified upside down
Apostle Paulaccording to tradition was
beheaded
Domitian (81-96)
bull Instigated the persecution that was the background to the book of Revelation
Seven Churches of Revelation
Trajan (98-117)
Pliny the Younger Governor of Bithynia (111-113)
wrote to Emperor Trajan ldquoWhat about the Christiansrdquo
Trajan to Pliny ldquoDonrsquot ask donrsquot tellrdquo
IgnatiusBishop of Antioch(c30-107)
According to tradition killed by lions in
the Roman Colisseum
Polycarp(c69-156)
Bishop of Smyrna burned at the stake
Justin Martyr (d 166)
bullDenounced by Cynic philosopher
Crescens who was Aureliusrsquo advisorbullWas beheaded
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
3
The Apostasy
Which keys could we do away with
How is the gospel of Christ like a piano
4
5
Jesus during his earthly ministry organized His Church
with a particular organization Apostles Quorum of Twelve amp the
Seventy
6
I will build my church
Matthew 1618
7
Ephesians 219-21 Ephesians 411-14
19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners but fellowcitizens with the saints
and of the household of God
20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets Jesus Christ himself
being the chief corner stone
21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord
The Foundation
8
Ephesians 411-14 11 And he gave some apostles and some prophets and
some evangelists and some pastors and teachers
12 For the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man unto the
measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ
14 That we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight
of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive
9
For behold the time cometh
and is not far distant that with power the Lord
Omnipotent who reigneth who was and is from all
eternity to all eternity shall come down from heaven
among the children of men and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay
Mosiah 197
Surely the Lord God will do nothing but he revealeth the secret unto is servants the prophets
Amos 37
10
And so He called twelve disciples and ordained them His Apostles
and He also calls and sends out Seventy
And we as Latter-day Saints hold that lodged within that Quorum of Twelve
Christ has given His authority to administer the saving ordinances of Christrsquos Gospel
11
To establish order in His Church Jesus ordained 12 Apostles and gave them the power amp authority of
His Holy Priesthood (see Mark 314 Luke 91-2)
He appointed Peter as chief Apostle and gave him the priesthood keys
to seal blessings both on earth and in heaven
(see Matthew 1619)
60 And the high priest asked Jesus saying Answerest thou nothing what is it which these witness against thee
61 But He held his peace and answered nothing Again the high priest asked Him and said unto Him Art thou the Christ the Son of the Blessed62 And Jesus said I Am
Mark 1460-62
13
17 Points of the True ChurchFloyd Weston
The True Church of Christ must
bear the name of Jesus Christ (Eph 523) a foundation of Apostles and Prophets (Eph 219-20) same organization as Christs Church (Eph 411-14)
claim divine authority (Heb 44-10)no paid ministry (Matt 313-16)
baptize by immersion (Acts 2033-34 John 1011-13)
14
bestow the gift of the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands (Acts 814-17)
practice divine healing (Mark 314-15)
teach that God and Jesus are separate distinct individuals (John 1711 2017)
teach that God amp Jesus have bodies of flesh amp bone (Luke 2336-39 Acts 19-11 Heb 11-3)
officers must be called by God (Heb54 Ex 281 4013-16)
must claim revelation from God (Amos 37)a missionary church (Matt 2819-20)a restored church (Acts 319-20)
practice baptism for the dead (1Cor 1516amp29) By their fruits ye shall know them (Matt 720)
15
Greek Philosophies
The pure idealvs
the corruptible physical
Theological arguments and philosophical debates lead to
twisting interpretations of scripture and departures from original
doctrines
Scripture is mingled with the teachings of men
16
Persecutions of Christians
33-96 Apostles taught and were killed off
17
ldquoJames was killed in Jerusalem by Herod
Peter and Paul were both martyred in Rome
Tradition says that Philip went to the East
Much more than this we do not know
18
ldquoThey scattered they taught testified and established the Church And they died for
their beliefs and with their deaths came the dark centuries of apostasy
ldquoThe most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelvemdashthe priesthood keys For the
Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys
and confer them on othersrdquo(ldquoThe TwelverdquoEnsign May 2008 84
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
ldquoFalling awayrdquo is derived from the Greek term ldquoapostasiardquo meaning ldquodefection departure revolt to depart fromrdquo
19
WHAT BECAME
of the CHURCH that
CHRIST Organized
20
Persecutions by the Romans Christianity was an illegal religion Christians were uncompromising nonconformist
Christians were seen as disloyal traitors because they refused to worship the Emperors
Christians were to blame for natural disasters because they left they old gods
Enmity of the ldquonatural manrdquo against those who follow God amp live the Gospel
22
beginning in 67 AD with the Emperor Nero 10 Roman Emperors for nearly 300
years who bitterly persecuted the Church
the Romans Falsely charge Christians
TreasontraitorsAtheismSecretive Separate Cannibalism Witchcraft ampSorcery
Immorality Incest Haters of humanity
Intellectual contradictions
24
The Roman Persecutions are as follows
The First Persecution under Nero AD 67 The Second Persecution under Domitian 81
The Third Persecution under Trajan 108 The 4th Persecution under Marcus Aurelius Antoninus 162
The 5th Persecution Commencing with Severus 192 The 6th Persecution Under Maximus 235
The Seventh Persecution Under Decius 249 The Eighth Persecution Under Valerian 257 The Ninth Persecution Under Aurelian 274 The Tenth Persecution Under Diocletian 303
Emperors amp MartyrsNero (r51-68)
bull64 fire destroyed much of Rome
bullRumor spread that Nero ordered the fire to make room for his new city Neropolis
bullNero used Christians as scapegoat amp executed 100s
source Tacitus Annales 1544
26
Simon Peteraccording to tradition was crucified upside down
Apostle Paulaccording to tradition was
beheaded
Domitian (81-96)
bull Instigated the persecution that was the background to the book of Revelation
Seven Churches of Revelation
Trajan (98-117)
Pliny the Younger Governor of Bithynia (111-113)
wrote to Emperor Trajan ldquoWhat about the Christiansrdquo
Trajan to Pliny ldquoDonrsquot ask donrsquot tellrdquo
IgnatiusBishop of Antioch(c30-107)
According to tradition killed by lions in
the Roman Colisseum
Polycarp(c69-156)
Bishop of Smyrna burned at the stake
Justin Martyr (d 166)
bullDenounced by Cynic philosopher
Crescens who was Aureliusrsquo advisorbullWas beheaded
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
4
5
Jesus during his earthly ministry organized His Church
with a particular organization Apostles Quorum of Twelve amp the
Seventy
6
I will build my church
Matthew 1618
7
Ephesians 219-21 Ephesians 411-14
19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners but fellowcitizens with the saints
and of the household of God
20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets Jesus Christ himself
being the chief corner stone
21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord
The Foundation
8
Ephesians 411-14 11 And he gave some apostles and some prophets and
some evangelists and some pastors and teachers
12 For the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man unto the
measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ
14 That we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight
of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive
9
For behold the time cometh
and is not far distant that with power the Lord
Omnipotent who reigneth who was and is from all
eternity to all eternity shall come down from heaven
among the children of men and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay
Mosiah 197
Surely the Lord God will do nothing but he revealeth the secret unto is servants the prophets
Amos 37
10
And so He called twelve disciples and ordained them His Apostles
and He also calls and sends out Seventy
And we as Latter-day Saints hold that lodged within that Quorum of Twelve
Christ has given His authority to administer the saving ordinances of Christrsquos Gospel
11
To establish order in His Church Jesus ordained 12 Apostles and gave them the power amp authority of
His Holy Priesthood (see Mark 314 Luke 91-2)
He appointed Peter as chief Apostle and gave him the priesthood keys
to seal blessings both on earth and in heaven
(see Matthew 1619)
60 And the high priest asked Jesus saying Answerest thou nothing what is it which these witness against thee
61 But He held his peace and answered nothing Again the high priest asked Him and said unto Him Art thou the Christ the Son of the Blessed62 And Jesus said I Am
Mark 1460-62
13
17 Points of the True ChurchFloyd Weston
The True Church of Christ must
bear the name of Jesus Christ (Eph 523) a foundation of Apostles and Prophets (Eph 219-20) same organization as Christs Church (Eph 411-14)
claim divine authority (Heb 44-10)no paid ministry (Matt 313-16)
baptize by immersion (Acts 2033-34 John 1011-13)
14
bestow the gift of the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands (Acts 814-17)
practice divine healing (Mark 314-15)
teach that God and Jesus are separate distinct individuals (John 1711 2017)
teach that God amp Jesus have bodies of flesh amp bone (Luke 2336-39 Acts 19-11 Heb 11-3)
officers must be called by God (Heb54 Ex 281 4013-16)
must claim revelation from God (Amos 37)a missionary church (Matt 2819-20)a restored church (Acts 319-20)
practice baptism for the dead (1Cor 1516amp29) By their fruits ye shall know them (Matt 720)
15
Greek Philosophies
The pure idealvs
the corruptible physical
Theological arguments and philosophical debates lead to
twisting interpretations of scripture and departures from original
doctrines
Scripture is mingled with the teachings of men
16
Persecutions of Christians
33-96 Apostles taught and were killed off
17
ldquoJames was killed in Jerusalem by Herod
Peter and Paul were both martyred in Rome
Tradition says that Philip went to the East
Much more than this we do not know
18
ldquoThey scattered they taught testified and established the Church And they died for
their beliefs and with their deaths came the dark centuries of apostasy
ldquoThe most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelvemdashthe priesthood keys For the
Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys
and confer them on othersrdquo(ldquoThe TwelverdquoEnsign May 2008 84
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
ldquoFalling awayrdquo is derived from the Greek term ldquoapostasiardquo meaning ldquodefection departure revolt to depart fromrdquo
19
WHAT BECAME
of the CHURCH that
CHRIST Organized
20
Persecutions by the Romans Christianity was an illegal religion Christians were uncompromising nonconformist
Christians were seen as disloyal traitors because they refused to worship the Emperors
Christians were to blame for natural disasters because they left they old gods
Enmity of the ldquonatural manrdquo against those who follow God amp live the Gospel
22
beginning in 67 AD with the Emperor Nero 10 Roman Emperors for nearly 300
years who bitterly persecuted the Church
the Romans Falsely charge Christians
TreasontraitorsAtheismSecretive Separate Cannibalism Witchcraft ampSorcery
Immorality Incest Haters of humanity
Intellectual contradictions
24
The Roman Persecutions are as follows
The First Persecution under Nero AD 67 The Second Persecution under Domitian 81
The Third Persecution under Trajan 108 The 4th Persecution under Marcus Aurelius Antoninus 162
The 5th Persecution Commencing with Severus 192 The 6th Persecution Under Maximus 235
The Seventh Persecution Under Decius 249 The Eighth Persecution Under Valerian 257 The Ninth Persecution Under Aurelian 274 The Tenth Persecution Under Diocletian 303
Emperors amp MartyrsNero (r51-68)
bull64 fire destroyed much of Rome
bullRumor spread that Nero ordered the fire to make room for his new city Neropolis
bullNero used Christians as scapegoat amp executed 100s
source Tacitus Annales 1544
26
Simon Peteraccording to tradition was crucified upside down
Apostle Paulaccording to tradition was
beheaded
Domitian (81-96)
bull Instigated the persecution that was the background to the book of Revelation
Seven Churches of Revelation
Trajan (98-117)
Pliny the Younger Governor of Bithynia (111-113)
wrote to Emperor Trajan ldquoWhat about the Christiansrdquo
Trajan to Pliny ldquoDonrsquot ask donrsquot tellrdquo
IgnatiusBishop of Antioch(c30-107)
According to tradition killed by lions in
the Roman Colisseum
Polycarp(c69-156)
Bishop of Smyrna burned at the stake
Justin Martyr (d 166)
bullDenounced by Cynic philosopher
Crescens who was Aureliusrsquo advisorbullWas beheaded
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
5
Jesus during his earthly ministry organized His Church
with a particular organization Apostles Quorum of Twelve amp the
Seventy
6
I will build my church
Matthew 1618
7
Ephesians 219-21 Ephesians 411-14
19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners but fellowcitizens with the saints
and of the household of God
20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets Jesus Christ himself
being the chief corner stone
21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord
The Foundation
8
Ephesians 411-14 11 And he gave some apostles and some prophets and
some evangelists and some pastors and teachers
12 For the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man unto the
measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ
14 That we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight
of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive
9
For behold the time cometh
and is not far distant that with power the Lord
Omnipotent who reigneth who was and is from all
eternity to all eternity shall come down from heaven
among the children of men and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay
Mosiah 197
Surely the Lord God will do nothing but he revealeth the secret unto is servants the prophets
Amos 37
10
And so He called twelve disciples and ordained them His Apostles
and He also calls and sends out Seventy
And we as Latter-day Saints hold that lodged within that Quorum of Twelve
Christ has given His authority to administer the saving ordinances of Christrsquos Gospel
11
To establish order in His Church Jesus ordained 12 Apostles and gave them the power amp authority of
His Holy Priesthood (see Mark 314 Luke 91-2)
He appointed Peter as chief Apostle and gave him the priesthood keys
to seal blessings both on earth and in heaven
(see Matthew 1619)
60 And the high priest asked Jesus saying Answerest thou nothing what is it which these witness against thee
61 But He held his peace and answered nothing Again the high priest asked Him and said unto Him Art thou the Christ the Son of the Blessed62 And Jesus said I Am
Mark 1460-62
13
17 Points of the True ChurchFloyd Weston
The True Church of Christ must
bear the name of Jesus Christ (Eph 523) a foundation of Apostles and Prophets (Eph 219-20) same organization as Christs Church (Eph 411-14)
claim divine authority (Heb 44-10)no paid ministry (Matt 313-16)
baptize by immersion (Acts 2033-34 John 1011-13)
14
bestow the gift of the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands (Acts 814-17)
practice divine healing (Mark 314-15)
teach that God and Jesus are separate distinct individuals (John 1711 2017)
teach that God amp Jesus have bodies of flesh amp bone (Luke 2336-39 Acts 19-11 Heb 11-3)
officers must be called by God (Heb54 Ex 281 4013-16)
must claim revelation from God (Amos 37)a missionary church (Matt 2819-20)a restored church (Acts 319-20)
practice baptism for the dead (1Cor 1516amp29) By their fruits ye shall know them (Matt 720)
15
Greek Philosophies
The pure idealvs
the corruptible physical
Theological arguments and philosophical debates lead to
twisting interpretations of scripture and departures from original
doctrines
Scripture is mingled with the teachings of men
16
Persecutions of Christians
33-96 Apostles taught and were killed off
17
ldquoJames was killed in Jerusalem by Herod
Peter and Paul were both martyred in Rome
Tradition says that Philip went to the East
Much more than this we do not know
18
ldquoThey scattered they taught testified and established the Church And they died for
their beliefs and with their deaths came the dark centuries of apostasy
ldquoThe most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelvemdashthe priesthood keys For the
Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys
and confer them on othersrdquo(ldquoThe TwelverdquoEnsign May 2008 84
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
ldquoFalling awayrdquo is derived from the Greek term ldquoapostasiardquo meaning ldquodefection departure revolt to depart fromrdquo
19
WHAT BECAME
of the CHURCH that
CHRIST Organized
20
Persecutions by the Romans Christianity was an illegal religion Christians were uncompromising nonconformist
Christians were seen as disloyal traitors because they refused to worship the Emperors
Christians were to blame for natural disasters because they left they old gods
Enmity of the ldquonatural manrdquo against those who follow God amp live the Gospel
22
beginning in 67 AD with the Emperor Nero 10 Roman Emperors for nearly 300
years who bitterly persecuted the Church
the Romans Falsely charge Christians
TreasontraitorsAtheismSecretive Separate Cannibalism Witchcraft ampSorcery
Immorality Incest Haters of humanity
Intellectual contradictions
24
The Roman Persecutions are as follows
The First Persecution under Nero AD 67 The Second Persecution under Domitian 81
The Third Persecution under Trajan 108 The 4th Persecution under Marcus Aurelius Antoninus 162
The 5th Persecution Commencing with Severus 192 The 6th Persecution Under Maximus 235
The Seventh Persecution Under Decius 249 The Eighth Persecution Under Valerian 257 The Ninth Persecution Under Aurelian 274 The Tenth Persecution Under Diocletian 303
Emperors amp MartyrsNero (r51-68)
bull64 fire destroyed much of Rome
bullRumor spread that Nero ordered the fire to make room for his new city Neropolis
bullNero used Christians as scapegoat amp executed 100s
source Tacitus Annales 1544
26
Simon Peteraccording to tradition was crucified upside down
Apostle Paulaccording to tradition was
beheaded
Domitian (81-96)
bull Instigated the persecution that was the background to the book of Revelation
Seven Churches of Revelation
Trajan (98-117)
Pliny the Younger Governor of Bithynia (111-113)
wrote to Emperor Trajan ldquoWhat about the Christiansrdquo
Trajan to Pliny ldquoDonrsquot ask donrsquot tellrdquo
IgnatiusBishop of Antioch(c30-107)
According to tradition killed by lions in
the Roman Colisseum
Polycarp(c69-156)
Bishop of Smyrna burned at the stake
Justin Martyr (d 166)
bullDenounced by Cynic philosopher
Crescens who was Aureliusrsquo advisorbullWas beheaded
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
6
I will build my church
Matthew 1618
7
Ephesians 219-21 Ephesians 411-14
19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners but fellowcitizens with the saints
and of the household of God
20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets Jesus Christ himself
being the chief corner stone
21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord
The Foundation
8
Ephesians 411-14 11 And he gave some apostles and some prophets and
some evangelists and some pastors and teachers
12 For the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man unto the
measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ
14 That we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight
of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive
9
For behold the time cometh
and is not far distant that with power the Lord
Omnipotent who reigneth who was and is from all
eternity to all eternity shall come down from heaven
among the children of men and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay
Mosiah 197
Surely the Lord God will do nothing but he revealeth the secret unto is servants the prophets
Amos 37
10
And so He called twelve disciples and ordained them His Apostles
and He also calls and sends out Seventy
And we as Latter-day Saints hold that lodged within that Quorum of Twelve
Christ has given His authority to administer the saving ordinances of Christrsquos Gospel
11
To establish order in His Church Jesus ordained 12 Apostles and gave them the power amp authority of
His Holy Priesthood (see Mark 314 Luke 91-2)
He appointed Peter as chief Apostle and gave him the priesthood keys
to seal blessings both on earth and in heaven
(see Matthew 1619)
60 And the high priest asked Jesus saying Answerest thou nothing what is it which these witness against thee
61 But He held his peace and answered nothing Again the high priest asked Him and said unto Him Art thou the Christ the Son of the Blessed62 And Jesus said I Am
Mark 1460-62
13
17 Points of the True ChurchFloyd Weston
The True Church of Christ must
bear the name of Jesus Christ (Eph 523) a foundation of Apostles and Prophets (Eph 219-20) same organization as Christs Church (Eph 411-14)
claim divine authority (Heb 44-10)no paid ministry (Matt 313-16)
baptize by immersion (Acts 2033-34 John 1011-13)
14
bestow the gift of the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands (Acts 814-17)
practice divine healing (Mark 314-15)
teach that God and Jesus are separate distinct individuals (John 1711 2017)
teach that God amp Jesus have bodies of flesh amp bone (Luke 2336-39 Acts 19-11 Heb 11-3)
officers must be called by God (Heb54 Ex 281 4013-16)
must claim revelation from God (Amos 37)a missionary church (Matt 2819-20)a restored church (Acts 319-20)
practice baptism for the dead (1Cor 1516amp29) By their fruits ye shall know them (Matt 720)
15
Greek Philosophies
The pure idealvs
the corruptible physical
Theological arguments and philosophical debates lead to
twisting interpretations of scripture and departures from original
doctrines
Scripture is mingled with the teachings of men
16
Persecutions of Christians
33-96 Apostles taught and were killed off
17
ldquoJames was killed in Jerusalem by Herod
Peter and Paul were both martyred in Rome
Tradition says that Philip went to the East
Much more than this we do not know
18
ldquoThey scattered they taught testified and established the Church And they died for
their beliefs and with their deaths came the dark centuries of apostasy
ldquoThe most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelvemdashthe priesthood keys For the
Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys
and confer them on othersrdquo(ldquoThe TwelverdquoEnsign May 2008 84
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
ldquoFalling awayrdquo is derived from the Greek term ldquoapostasiardquo meaning ldquodefection departure revolt to depart fromrdquo
19
WHAT BECAME
of the CHURCH that
CHRIST Organized
20
Persecutions by the Romans Christianity was an illegal religion Christians were uncompromising nonconformist
Christians were seen as disloyal traitors because they refused to worship the Emperors
Christians were to blame for natural disasters because they left they old gods
Enmity of the ldquonatural manrdquo against those who follow God amp live the Gospel
22
beginning in 67 AD with the Emperor Nero 10 Roman Emperors for nearly 300
years who bitterly persecuted the Church
the Romans Falsely charge Christians
TreasontraitorsAtheismSecretive Separate Cannibalism Witchcraft ampSorcery
Immorality Incest Haters of humanity
Intellectual contradictions
24
The Roman Persecutions are as follows
The First Persecution under Nero AD 67 The Second Persecution under Domitian 81
The Third Persecution under Trajan 108 The 4th Persecution under Marcus Aurelius Antoninus 162
The 5th Persecution Commencing with Severus 192 The 6th Persecution Under Maximus 235
The Seventh Persecution Under Decius 249 The Eighth Persecution Under Valerian 257 The Ninth Persecution Under Aurelian 274 The Tenth Persecution Under Diocletian 303
Emperors amp MartyrsNero (r51-68)
bull64 fire destroyed much of Rome
bullRumor spread that Nero ordered the fire to make room for his new city Neropolis
bullNero used Christians as scapegoat amp executed 100s
source Tacitus Annales 1544
26
Simon Peteraccording to tradition was crucified upside down
Apostle Paulaccording to tradition was
beheaded
Domitian (81-96)
bull Instigated the persecution that was the background to the book of Revelation
Seven Churches of Revelation
Trajan (98-117)
Pliny the Younger Governor of Bithynia (111-113)
wrote to Emperor Trajan ldquoWhat about the Christiansrdquo
Trajan to Pliny ldquoDonrsquot ask donrsquot tellrdquo
IgnatiusBishop of Antioch(c30-107)
According to tradition killed by lions in
the Roman Colisseum
Polycarp(c69-156)
Bishop of Smyrna burned at the stake
Justin Martyr (d 166)
bullDenounced by Cynic philosopher
Crescens who was Aureliusrsquo advisorbullWas beheaded
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
7
Ephesians 219-21 Ephesians 411-14
19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners but fellowcitizens with the saints
and of the household of God
20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets Jesus Christ himself
being the chief corner stone
21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord
The Foundation
8
Ephesians 411-14 11 And he gave some apostles and some prophets and
some evangelists and some pastors and teachers
12 For the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man unto the
measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ
14 That we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight
of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive
9
For behold the time cometh
and is not far distant that with power the Lord
Omnipotent who reigneth who was and is from all
eternity to all eternity shall come down from heaven
among the children of men and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay
Mosiah 197
Surely the Lord God will do nothing but he revealeth the secret unto is servants the prophets
Amos 37
10
And so He called twelve disciples and ordained them His Apostles
and He also calls and sends out Seventy
And we as Latter-day Saints hold that lodged within that Quorum of Twelve
Christ has given His authority to administer the saving ordinances of Christrsquos Gospel
11
To establish order in His Church Jesus ordained 12 Apostles and gave them the power amp authority of
His Holy Priesthood (see Mark 314 Luke 91-2)
He appointed Peter as chief Apostle and gave him the priesthood keys
to seal blessings both on earth and in heaven
(see Matthew 1619)
60 And the high priest asked Jesus saying Answerest thou nothing what is it which these witness against thee
61 But He held his peace and answered nothing Again the high priest asked Him and said unto Him Art thou the Christ the Son of the Blessed62 And Jesus said I Am
Mark 1460-62
13
17 Points of the True ChurchFloyd Weston
The True Church of Christ must
bear the name of Jesus Christ (Eph 523) a foundation of Apostles and Prophets (Eph 219-20) same organization as Christs Church (Eph 411-14)
claim divine authority (Heb 44-10)no paid ministry (Matt 313-16)
baptize by immersion (Acts 2033-34 John 1011-13)
14
bestow the gift of the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands (Acts 814-17)
practice divine healing (Mark 314-15)
teach that God and Jesus are separate distinct individuals (John 1711 2017)
teach that God amp Jesus have bodies of flesh amp bone (Luke 2336-39 Acts 19-11 Heb 11-3)
officers must be called by God (Heb54 Ex 281 4013-16)
must claim revelation from God (Amos 37)a missionary church (Matt 2819-20)a restored church (Acts 319-20)
practice baptism for the dead (1Cor 1516amp29) By their fruits ye shall know them (Matt 720)
15
Greek Philosophies
The pure idealvs
the corruptible physical
Theological arguments and philosophical debates lead to
twisting interpretations of scripture and departures from original
doctrines
Scripture is mingled with the teachings of men
16
Persecutions of Christians
33-96 Apostles taught and were killed off
17
ldquoJames was killed in Jerusalem by Herod
Peter and Paul were both martyred in Rome
Tradition says that Philip went to the East
Much more than this we do not know
18
ldquoThey scattered they taught testified and established the Church And they died for
their beliefs and with their deaths came the dark centuries of apostasy
ldquoThe most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelvemdashthe priesthood keys For the
Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys
and confer them on othersrdquo(ldquoThe TwelverdquoEnsign May 2008 84
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
ldquoFalling awayrdquo is derived from the Greek term ldquoapostasiardquo meaning ldquodefection departure revolt to depart fromrdquo
19
WHAT BECAME
of the CHURCH that
CHRIST Organized
20
Persecutions by the Romans Christianity was an illegal religion Christians were uncompromising nonconformist
Christians were seen as disloyal traitors because they refused to worship the Emperors
Christians were to blame for natural disasters because they left they old gods
Enmity of the ldquonatural manrdquo against those who follow God amp live the Gospel
22
beginning in 67 AD with the Emperor Nero 10 Roman Emperors for nearly 300
years who bitterly persecuted the Church
the Romans Falsely charge Christians
TreasontraitorsAtheismSecretive Separate Cannibalism Witchcraft ampSorcery
Immorality Incest Haters of humanity
Intellectual contradictions
24
The Roman Persecutions are as follows
The First Persecution under Nero AD 67 The Second Persecution under Domitian 81
The Third Persecution under Trajan 108 The 4th Persecution under Marcus Aurelius Antoninus 162
The 5th Persecution Commencing with Severus 192 The 6th Persecution Under Maximus 235
The Seventh Persecution Under Decius 249 The Eighth Persecution Under Valerian 257 The Ninth Persecution Under Aurelian 274 The Tenth Persecution Under Diocletian 303
Emperors amp MartyrsNero (r51-68)
bull64 fire destroyed much of Rome
bullRumor spread that Nero ordered the fire to make room for his new city Neropolis
bullNero used Christians as scapegoat amp executed 100s
source Tacitus Annales 1544
26
Simon Peteraccording to tradition was crucified upside down
Apostle Paulaccording to tradition was
beheaded
Domitian (81-96)
bull Instigated the persecution that was the background to the book of Revelation
Seven Churches of Revelation
Trajan (98-117)
Pliny the Younger Governor of Bithynia (111-113)
wrote to Emperor Trajan ldquoWhat about the Christiansrdquo
Trajan to Pliny ldquoDonrsquot ask donrsquot tellrdquo
IgnatiusBishop of Antioch(c30-107)
According to tradition killed by lions in
the Roman Colisseum
Polycarp(c69-156)
Bishop of Smyrna burned at the stake
Justin Martyr (d 166)
bullDenounced by Cynic philosopher
Crescens who was Aureliusrsquo advisorbullWas beheaded
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
8
Ephesians 411-14 11 And he gave some apostles and some prophets and
some evangelists and some pastors and teachers
12 For the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man unto the
measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ
14 That we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight
of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive
9
For behold the time cometh
and is not far distant that with power the Lord
Omnipotent who reigneth who was and is from all
eternity to all eternity shall come down from heaven
among the children of men and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay
Mosiah 197
Surely the Lord God will do nothing but he revealeth the secret unto is servants the prophets
Amos 37
10
And so He called twelve disciples and ordained them His Apostles
and He also calls and sends out Seventy
And we as Latter-day Saints hold that lodged within that Quorum of Twelve
Christ has given His authority to administer the saving ordinances of Christrsquos Gospel
11
To establish order in His Church Jesus ordained 12 Apostles and gave them the power amp authority of
His Holy Priesthood (see Mark 314 Luke 91-2)
He appointed Peter as chief Apostle and gave him the priesthood keys
to seal blessings both on earth and in heaven
(see Matthew 1619)
60 And the high priest asked Jesus saying Answerest thou nothing what is it which these witness against thee
61 But He held his peace and answered nothing Again the high priest asked Him and said unto Him Art thou the Christ the Son of the Blessed62 And Jesus said I Am
Mark 1460-62
13
17 Points of the True ChurchFloyd Weston
The True Church of Christ must
bear the name of Jesus Christ (Eph 523) a foundation of Apostles and Prophets (Eph 219-20) same organization as Christs Church (Eph 411-14)
claim divine authority (Heb 44-10)no paid ministry (Matt 313-16)
baptize by immersion (Acts 2033-34 John 1011-13)
14
bestow the gift of the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands (Acts 814-17)
practice divine healing (Mark 314-15)
teach that God and Jesus are separate distinct individuals (John 1711 2017)
teach that God amp Jesus have bodies of flesh amp bone (Luke 2336-39 Acts 19-11 Heb 11-3)
officers must be called by God (Heb54 Ex 281 4013-16)
must claim revelation from God (Amos 37)a missionary church (Matt 2819-20)a restored church (Acts 319-20)
practice baptism for the dead (1Cor 1516amp29) By their fruits ye shall know them (Matt 720)
15
Greek Philosophies
The pure idealvs
the corruptible physical
Theological arguments and philosophical debates lead to
twisting interpretations of scripture and departures from original
doctrines
Scripture is mingled with the teachings of men
16
Persecutions of Christians
33-96 Apostles taught and were killed off
17
ldquoJames was killed in Jerusalem by Herod
Peter and Paul were both martyred in Rome
Tradition says that Philip went to the East
Much more than this we do not know
18
ldquoThey scattered they taught testified and established the Church And they died for
their beliefs and with their deaths came the dark centuries of apostasy
ldquoThe most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelvemdashthe priesthood keys For the
Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys
and confer them on othersrdquo(ldquoThe TwelverdquoEnsign May 2008 84
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
ldquoFalling awayrdquo is derived from the Greek term ldquoapostasiardquo meaning ldquodefection departure revolt to depart fromrdquo
19
WHAT BECAME
of the CHURCH that
CHRIST Organized
20
Persecutions by the Romans Christianity was an illegal religion Christians were uncompromising nonconformist
Christians were seen as disloyal traitors because they refused to worship the Emperors
Christians were to blame for natural disasters because they left they old gods
Enmity of the ldquonatural manrdquo against those who follow God amp live the Gospel
22
beginning in 67 AD with the Emperor Nero 10 Roman Emperors for nearly 300
years who bitterly persecuted the Church
the Romans Falsely charge Christians
TreasontraitorsAtheismSecretive Separate Cannibalism Witchcraft ampSorcery
Immorality Incest Haters of humanity
Intellectual contradictions
24
The Roman Persecutions are as follows
The First Persecution under Nero AD 67 The Second Persecution under Domitian 81
The Third Persecution under Trajan 108 The 4th Persecution under Marcus Aurelius Antoninus 162
The 5th Persecution Commencing with Severus 192 The 6th Persecution Under Maximus 235
The Seventh Persecution Under Decius 249 The Eighth Persecution Under Valerian 257 The Ninth Persecution Under Aurelian 274 The Tenth Persecution Under Diocletian 303
Emperors amp MartyrsNero (r51-68)
bull64 fire destroyed much of Rome
bullRumor spread that Nero ordered the fire to make room for his new city Neropolis
bullNero used Christians as scapegoat amp executed 100s
source Tacitus Annales 1544
26
Simon Peteraccording to tradition was crucified upside down
Apostle Paulaccording to tradition was
beheaded
Domitian (81-96)
bull Instigated the persecution that was the background to the book of Revelation
Seven Churches of Revelation
Trajan (98-117)
Pliny the Younger Governor of Bithynia (111-113)
wrote to Emperor Trajan ldquoWhat about the Christiansrdquo
Trajan to Pliny ldquoDonrsquot ask donrsquot tellrdquo
IgnatiusBishop of Antioch(c30-107)
According to tradition killed by lions in
the Roman Colisseum
Polycarp(c69-156)
Bishop of Smyrna burned at the stake
Justin Martyr (d 166)
bullDenounced by Cynic philosopher
Crescens who was Aureliusrsquo advisorbullWas beheaded
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
9
For behold the time cometh
and is not far distant that with power the Lord
Omnipotent who reigneth who was and is from all
eternity to all eternity shall come down from heaven
among the children of men and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay
Mosiah 197
Surely the Lord God will do nothing but he revealeth the secret unto is servants the prophets
Amos 37
10
And so He called twelve disciples and ordained them His Apostles
and He also calls and sends out Seventy
And we as Latter-day Saints hold that lodged within that Quorum of Twelve
Christ has given His authority to administer the saving ordinances of Christrsquos Gospel
11
To establish order in His Church Jesus ordained 12 Apostles and gave them the power amp authority of
His Holy Priesthood (see Mark 314 Luke 91-2)
He appointed Peter as chief Apostle and gave him the priesthood keys
to seal blessings both on earth and in heaven
(see Matthew 1619)
60 And the high priest asked Jesus saying Answerest thou nothing what is it which these witness against thee
61 But He held his peace and answered nothing Again the high priest asked Him and said unto Him Art thou the Christ the Son of the Blessed62 And Jesus said I Am
Mark 1460-62
13
17 Points of the True ChurchFloyd Weston
The True Church of Christ must
bear the name of Jesus Christ (Eph 523) a foundation of Apostles and Prophets (Eph 219-20) same organization as Christs Church (Eph 411-14)
claim divine authority (Heb 44-10)no paid ministry (Matt 313-16)
baptize by immersion (Acts 2033-34 John 1011-13)
14
bestow the gift of the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands (Acts 814-17)
practice divine healing (Mark 314-15)
teach that God and Jesus are separate distinct individuals (John 1711 2017)
teach that God amp Jesus have bodies of flesh amp bone (Luke 2336-39 Acts 19-11 Heb 11-3)
officers must be called by God (Heb54 Ex 281 4013-16)
must claim revelation from God (Amos 37)a missionary church (Matt 2819-20)a restored church (Acts 319-20)
practice baptism for the dead (1Cor 1516amp29) By their fruits ye shall know them (Matt 720)
15
Greek Philosophies
The pure idealvs
the corruptible physical
Theological arguments and philosophical debates lead to
twisting interpretations of scripture and departures from original
doctrines
Scripture is mingled with the teachings of men
16
Persecutions of Christians
33-96 Apostles taught and were killed off
17
ldquoJames was killed in Jerusalem by Herod
Peter and Paul were both martyred in Rome
Tradition says that Philip went to the East
Much more than this we do not know
18
ldquoThey scattered they taught testified and established the Church And they died for
their beliefs and with their deaths came the dark centuries of apostasy
ldquoThe most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelvemdashthe priesthood keys For the
Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys
and confer them on othersrdquo(ldquoThe TwelverdquoEnsign May 2008 84
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
ldquoFalling awayrdquo is derived from the Greek term ldquoapostasiardquo meaning ldquodefection departure revolt to depart fromrdquo
19
WHAT BECAME
of the CHURCH that
CHRIST Organized
20
Persecutions by the Romans Christianity was an illegal religion Christians were uncompromising nonconformist
Christians were seen as disloyal traitors because they refused to worship the Emperors
Christians were to blame for natural disasters because they left they old gods
Enmity of the ldquonatural manrdquo against those who follow God amp live the Gospel
22
beginning in 67 AD with the Emperor Nero 10 Roman Emperors for nearly 300
years who bitterly persecuted the Church
the Romans Falsely charge Christians
TreasontraitorsAtheismSecretive Separate Cannibalism Witchcraft ampSorcery
Immorality Incest Haters of humanity
Intellectual contradictions
24
The Roman Persecutions are as follows
The First Persecution under Nero AD 67 The Second Persecution under Domitian 81
The Third Persecution under Trajan 108 The 4th Persecution under Marcus Aurelius Antoninus 162
The 5th Persecution Commencing with Severus 192 The 6th Persecution Under Maximus 235
The Seventh Persecution Under Decius 249 The Eighth Persecution Under Valerian 257 The Ninth Persecution Under Aurelian 274 The Tenth Persecution Under Diocletian 303
Emperors amp MartyrsNero (r51-68)
bull64 fire destroyed much of Rome
bullRumor spread that Nero ordered the fire to make room for his new city Neropolis
bullNero used Christians as scapegoat amp executed 100s
source Tacitus Annales 1544
26
Simon Peteraccording to tradition was crucified upside down
Apostle Paulaccording to tradition was
beheaded
Domitian (81-96)
bull Instigated the persecution that was the background to the book of Revelation
Seven Churches of Revelation
Trajan (98-117)
Pliny the Younger Governor of Bithynia (111-113)
wrote to Emperor Trajan ldquoWhat about the Christiansrdquo
Trajan to Pliny ldquoDonrsquot ask donrsquot tellrdquo
IgnatiusBishop of Antioch(c30-107)
According to tradition killed by lions in
the Roman Colisseum
Polycarp(c69-156)
Bishop of Smyrna burned at the stake
Justin Martyr (d 166)
bullDenounced by Cynic philosopher
Crescens who was Aureliusrsquo advisorbullWas beheaded
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
10
And so He called twelve disciples and ordained them His Apostles
and He also calls and sends out Seventy
And we as Latter-day Saints hold that lodged within that Quorum of Twelve
Christ has given His authority to administer the saving ordinances of Christrsquos Gospel
11
To establish order in His Church Jesus ordained 12 Apostles and gave them the power amp authority of
His Holy Priesthood (see Mark 314 Luke 91-2)
He appointed Peter as chief Apostle and gave him the priesthood keys
to seal blessings both on earth and in heaven
(see Matthew 1619)
60 And the high priest asked Jesus saying Answerest thou nothing what is it which these witness against thee
61 But He held his peace and answered nothing Again the high priest asked Him and said unto Him Art thou the Christ the Son of the Blessed62 And Jesus said I Am
Mark 1460-62
13
17 Points of the True ChurchFloyd Weston
The True Church of Christ must
bear the name of Jesus Christ (Eph 523) a foundation of Apostles and Prophets (Eph 219-20) same organization as Christs Church (Eph 411-14)
claim divine authority (Heb 44-10)no paid ministry (Matt 313-16)
baptize by immersion (Acts 2033-34 John 1011-13)
14
bestow the gift of the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands (Acts 814-17)
practice divine healing (Mark 314-15)
teach that God and Jesus are separate distinct individuals (John 1711 2017)
teach that God amp Jesus have bodies of flesh amp bone (Luke 2336-39 Acts 19-11 Heb 11-3)
officers must be called by God (Heb54 Ex 281 4013-16)
must claim revelation from God (Amos 37)a missionary church (Matt 2819-20)a restored church (Acts 319-20)
practice baptism for the dead (1Cor 1516amp29) By their fruits ye shall know them (Matt 720)
15
Greek Philosophies
The pure idealvs
the corruptible physical
Theological arguments and philosophical debates lead to
twisting interpretations of scripture and departures from original
doctrines
Scripture is mingled with the teachings of men
16
Persecutions of Christians
33-96 Apostles taught and were killed off
17
ldquoJames was killed in Jerusalem by Herod
Peter and Paul were both martyred in Rome
Tradition says that Philip went to the East
Much more than this we do not know
18
ldquoThey scattered they taught testified and established the Church And they died for
their beliefs and with their deaths came the dark centuries of apostasy
ldquoThe most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelvemdashthe priesthood keys For the
Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys
and confer them on othersrdquo(ldquoThe TwelverdquoEnsign May 2008 84
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
ldquoFalling awayrdquo is derived from the Greek term ldquoapostasiardquo meaning ldquodefection departure revolt to depart fromrdquo
19
WHAT BECAME
of the CHURCH that
CHRIST Organized
20
Persecutions by the Romans Christianity was an illegal religion Christians were uncompromising nonconformist
Christians were seen as disloyal traitors because they refused to worship the Emperors
Christians were to blame for natural disasters because they left they old gods
Enmity of the ldquonatural manrdquo against those who follow God amp live the Gospel
22
beginning in 67 AD with the Emperor Nero 10 Roman Emperors for nearly 300
years who bitterly persecuted the Church
the Romans Falsely charge Christians
TreasontraitorsAtheismSecretive Separate Cannibalism Witchcraft ampSorcery
Immorality Incest Haters of humanity
Intellectual contradictions
24
The Roman Persecutions are as follows
The First Persecution under Nero AD 67 The Second Persecution under Domitian 81
The Third Persecution under Trajan 108 The 4th Persecution under Marcus Aurelius Antoninus 162
The 5th Persecution Commencing with Severus 192 The 6th Persecution Under Maximus 235
The Seventh Persecution Under Decius 249 The Eighth Persecution Under Valerian 257 The Ninth Persecution Under Aurelian 274 The Tenth Persecution Under Diocletian 303
Emperors amp MartyrsNero (r51-68)
bull64 fire destroyed much of Rome
bullRumor spread that Nero ordered the fire to make room for his new city Neropolis
bullNero used Christians as scapegoat amp executed 100s
source Tacitus Annales 1544
26
Simon Peteraccording to tradition was crucified upside down
Apostle Paulaccording to tradition was
beheaded
Domitian (81-96)
bull Instigated the persecution that was the background to the book of Revelation
Seven Churches of Revelation
Trajan (98-117)
Pliny the Younger Governor of Bithynia (111-113)
wrote to Emperor Trajan ldquoWhat about the Christiansrdquo
Trajan to Pliny ldquoDonrsquot ask donrsquot tellrdquo
IgnatiusBishop of Antioch(c30-107)
According to tradition killed by lions in
the Roman Colisseum
Polycarp(c69-156)
Bishop of Smyrna burned at the stake
Justin Martyr (d 166)
bullDenounced by Cynic philosopher
Crescens who was Aureliusrsquo advisorbullWas beheaded
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
11
To establish order in His Church Jesus ordained 12 Apostles and gave them the power amp authority of
His Holy Priesthood (see Mark 314 Luke 91-2)
He appointed Peter as chief Apostle and gave him the priesthood keys
to seal blessings both on earth and in heaven
(see Matthew 1619)
60 And the high priest asked Jesus saying Answerest thou nothing what is it which these witness against thee
61 But He held his peace and answered nothing Again the high priest asked Him and said unto Him Art thou the Christ the Son of the Blessed62 And Jesus said I Am
Mark 1460-62
13
17 Points of the True ChurchFloyd Weston
The True Church of Christ must
bear the name of Jesus Christ (Eph 523) a foundation of Apostles and Prophets (Eph 219-20) same organization as Christs Church (Eph 411-14)
claim divine authority (Heb 44-10)no paid ministry (Matt 313-16)
baptize by immersion (Acts 2033-34 John 1011-13)
14
bestow the gift of the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands (Acts 814-17)
practice divine healing (Mark 314-15)
teach that God and Jesus are separate distinct individuals (John 1711 2017)
teach that God amp Jesus have bodies of flesh amp bone (Luke 2336-39 Acts 19-11 Heb 11-3)
officers must be called by God (Heb54 Ex 281 4013-16)
must claim revelation from God (Amos 37)a missionary church (Matt 2819-20)a restored church (Acts 319-20)
practice baptism for the dead (1Cor 1516amp29) By their fruits ye shall know them (Matt 720)
15
Greek Philosophies
The pure idealvs
the corruptible physical
Theological arguments and philosophical debates lead to
twisting interpretations of scripture and departures from original
doctrines
Scripture is mingled with the teachings of men
16
Persecutions of Christians
33-96 Apostles taught and were killed off
17
ldquoJames was killed in Jerusalem by Herod
Peter and Paul were both martyred in Rome
Tradition says that Philip went to the East
Much more than this we do not know
18
ldquoThey scattered they taught testified and established the Church And they died for
their beliefs and with their deaths came the dark centuries of apostasy
ldquoThe most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelvemdashthe priesthood keys For the
Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys
and confer them on othersrdquo(ldquoThe TwelverdquoEnsign May 2008 84
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
ldquoFalling awayrdquo is derived from the Greek term ldquoapostasiardquo meaning ldquodefection departure revolt to depart fromrdquo
19
WHAT BECAME
of the CHURCH that
CHRIST Organized
20
Persecutions by the Romans Christianity was an illegal religion Christians were uncompromising nonconformist
Christians were seen as disloyal traitors because they refused to worship the Emperors
Christians were to blame for natural disasters because they left they old gods
Enmity of the ldquonatural manrdquo against those who follow God amp live the Gospel
22
beginning in 67 AD with the Emperor Nero 10 Roman Emperors for nearly 300
years who bitterly persecuted the Church
the Romans Falsely charge Christians
TreasontraitorsAtheismSecretive Separate Cannibalism Witchcraft ampSorcery
Immorality Incest Haters of humanity
Intellectual contradictions
24
The Roman Persecutions are as follows
The First Persecution under Nero AD 67 The Second Persecution under Domitian 81
The Third Persecution under Trajan 108 The 4th Persecution under Marcus Aurelius Antoninus 162
The 5th Persecution Commencing with Severus 192 The 6th Persecution Under Maximus 235
The Seventh Persecution Under Decius 249 The Eighth Persecution Under Valerian 257 The Ninth Persecution Under Aurelian 274 The Tenth Persecution Under Diocletian 303
Emperors amp MartyrsNero (r51-68)
bull64 fire destroyed much of Rome
bullRumor spread that Nero ordered the fire to make room for his new city Neropolis
bullNero used Christians as scapegoat amp executed 100s
source Tacitus Annales 1544
26
Simon Peteraccording to tradition was crucified upside down
Apostle Paulaccording to tradition was
beheaded
Domitian (81-96)
bull Instigated the persecution that was the background to the book of Revelation
Seven Churches of Revelation
Trajan (98-117)
Pliny the Younger Governor of Bithynia (111-113)
wrote to Emperor Trajan ldquoWhat about the Christiansrdquo
Trajan to Pliny ldquoDonrsquot ask donrsquot tellrdquo
IgnatiusBishop of Antioch(c30-107)
According to tradition killed by lions in
the Roman Colisseum
Polycarp(c69-156)
Bishop of Smyrna burned at the stake
Justin Martyr (d 166)
bullDenounced by Cynic philosopher
Crescens who was Aureliusrsquo advisorbullWas beheaded
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
60 And the high priest asked Jesus saying Answerest thou nothing what is it which these witness against thee
61 But He held his peace and answered nothing Again the high priest asked Him and said unto Him Art thou the Christ the Son of the Blessed62 And Jesus said I Am
Mark 1460-62
13
17 Points of the True ChurchFloyd Weston
The True Church of Christ must
bear the name of Jesus Christ (Eph 523) a foundation of Apostles and Prophets (Eph 219-20) same organization as Christs Church (Eph 411-14)
claim divine authority (Heb 44-10)no paid ministry (Matt 313-16)
baptize by immersion (Acts 2033-34 John 1011-13)
14
bestow the gift of the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands (Acts 814-17)
practice divine healing (Mark 314-15)
teach that God and Jesus are separate distinct individuals (John 1711 2017)
teach that God amp Jesus have bodies of flesh amp bone (Luke 2336-39 Acts 19-11 Heb 11-3)
officers must be called by God (Heb54 Ex 281 4013-16)
must claim revelation from God (Amos 37)a missionary church (Matt 2819-20)a restored church (Acts 319-20)
practice baptism for the dead (1Cor 1516amp29) By their fruits ye shall know them (Matt 720)
15
Greek Philosophies
The pure idealvs
the corruptible physical
Theological arguments and philosophical debates lead to
twisting interpretations of scripture and departures from original
doctrines
Scripture is mingled with the teachings of men
16
Persecutions of Christians
33-96 Apostles taught and were killed off
17
ldquoJames was killed in Jerusalem by Herod
Peter and Paul were both martyred in Rome
Tradition says that Philip went to the East
Much more than this we do not know
18
ldquoThey scattered they taught testified and established the Church And they died for
their beliefs and with their deaths came the dark centuries of apostasy
ldquoThe most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelvemdashthe priesthood keys For the
Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys
and confer them on othersrdquo(ldquoThe TwelverdquoEnsign May 2008 84
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
ldquoFalling awayrdquo is derived from the Greek term ldquoapostasiardquo meaning ldquodefection departure revolt to depart fromrdquo
19
WHAT BECAME
of the CHURCH that
CHRIST Organized
20
Persecutions by the Romans Christianity was an illegal religion Christians were uncompromising nonconformist
Christians were seen as disloyal traitors because they refused to worship the Emperors
Christians were to blame for natural disasters because they left they old gods
Enmity of the ldquonatural manrdquo against those who follow God amp live the Gospel
22
beginning in 67 AD with the Emperor Nero 10 Roman Emperors for nearly 300
years who bitterly persecuted the Church
the Romans Falsely charge Christians
TreasontraitorsAtheismSecretive Separate Cannibalism Witchcraft ampSorcery
Immorality Incest Haters of humanity
Intellectual contradictions
24
The Roman Persecutions are as follows
The First Persecution under Nero AD 67 The Second Persecution under Domitian 81
The Third Persecution under Trajan 108 The 4th Persecution under Marcus Aurelius Antoninus 162
The 5th Persecution Commencing with Severus 192 The 6th Persecution Under Maximus 235
The Seventh Persecution Under Decius 249 The Eighth Persecution Under Valerian 257 The Ninth Persecution Under Aurelian 274 The Tenth Persecution Under Diocletian 303
Emperors amp MartyrsNero (r51-68)
bull64 fire destroyed much of Rome
bullRumor spread that Nero ordered the fire to make room for his new city Neropolis
bullNero used Christians as scapegoat amp executed 100s
source Tacitus Annales 1544
26
Simon Peteraccording to tradition was crucified upside down
Apostle Paulaccording to tradition was
beheaded
Domitian (81-96)
bull Instigated the persecution that was the background to the book of Revelation
Seven Churches of Revelation
Trajan (98-117)
Pliny the Younger Governor of Bithynia (111-113)
wrote to Emperor Trajan ldquoWhat about the Christiansrdquo
Trajan to Pliny ldquoDonrsquot ask donrsquot tellrdquo
IgnatiusBishop of Antioch(c30-107)
According to tradition killed by lions in
the Roman Colisseum
Polycarp(c69-156)
Bishop of Smyrna burned at the stake
Justin Martyr (d 166)
bullDenounced by Cynic philosopher
Crescens who was Aureliusrsquo advisorbullWas beheaded
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
13
17 Points of the True ChurchFloyd Weston
The True Church of Christ must
bear the name of Jesus Christ (Eph 523) a foundation of Apostles and Prophets (Eph 219-20) same organization as Christs Church (Eph 411-14)
claim divine authority (Heb 44-10)no paid ministry (Matt 313-16)
baptize by immersion (Acts 2033-34 John 1011-13)
14
bestow the gift of the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands (Acts 814-17)
practice divine healing (Mark 314-15)
teach that God and Jesus are separate distinct individuals (John 1711 2017)
teach that God amp Jesus have bodies of flesh amp bone (Luke 2336-39 Acts 19-11 Heb 11-3)
officers must be called by God (Heb54 Ex 281 4013-16)
must claim revelation from God (Amos 37)a missionary church (Matt 2819-20)a restored church (Acts 319-20)
practice baptism for the dead (1Cor 1516amp29) By their fruits ye shall know them (Matt 720)
15
Greek Philosophies
The pure idealvs
the corruptible physical
Theological arguments and philosophical debates lead to
twisting interpretations of scripture and departures from original
doctrines
Scripture is mingled with the teachings of men
16
Persecutions of Christians
33-96 Apostles taught and were killed off
17
ldquoJames was killed in Jerusalem by Herod
Peter and Paul were both martyred in Rome
Tradition says that Philip went to the East
Much more than this we do not know
18
ldquoThey scattered they taught testified and established the Church And they died for
their beliefs and with their deaths came the dark centuries of apostasy
ldquoThe most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelvemdashthe priesthood keys For the
Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys
and confer them on othersrdquo(ldquoThe TwelverdquoEnsign May 2008 84
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
ldquoFalling awayrdquo is derived from the Greek term ldquoapostasiardquo meaning ldquodefection departure revolt to depart fromrdquo
19
WHAT BECAME
of the CHURCH that
CHRIST Organized
20
Persecutions by the Romans Christianity was an illegal religion Christians were uncompromising nonconformist
Christians were seen as disloyal traitors because they refused to worship the Emperors
Christians were to blame for natural disasters because they left they old gods
Enmity of the ldquonatural manrdquo against those who follow God amp live the Gospel
22
beginning in 67 AD with the Emperor Nero 10 Roman Emperors for nearly 300
years who bitterly persecuted the Church
the Romans Falsely charge Christians
TreasontraitorsAtheismSecretive Separate Cannibalism Witchcraft ampSorcery
Immorality Incest Haters of humanity
Intellectual contradictions
24
The Roman Persecutions are as follows
The First Persecution under Nero AD 67 The Second Persecution under Domitian 81
The Third Persecution under Trajan 108 The 4th Persecution under Marcus Aurelius Antoninus 162
The 5th Persecution Commencing with Severus 192 The 6th Persecution Under Maximus 235
The Seventh Persecution Under Decius 249 The Eighth Persecution Under Valerian 257 The Ninth Persecution Under Aurelian 274 The Tenth Persecution Under Diocletian 303
Emperors amp MartyrsNero (r51-68)
bull64 fire destroyed much of Rome
bullRumor spread that Nero ordered the fire to make room for his new city Neropolis
bullNero used Christians as scapegoat amp executed 100s
source Tacitus Annales 1544
26
Simon Peteraccording to tradition was crucified upside down
Apostle Paulaccording to tradition was
beheaded
Domitian (81-96)
bull Instigated the persecution that was the background to the book of Revelation
Seven Churches of Revelation
Trajan (98-117)
Pliny the Younger Governor of Bithynia (111-113)
wrote to Emperor Trajan ldquoWhat about the Christiansrdquo
Trajan to Pliny ldquoDonrsquot ask donrsquot tellrdquo
IgnatiusBishop of Antioch(c30-107)
According to tradition killed by lions in
the Roman Colisseum
Polycarp(c69-156)
Bishop of Smyrna burned at the stake
Justin Martyr (d 166)
bullDenounced by Cynic philosopher
Crescens who was Aureliusrsquo advisorbullWas beheaded
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
14
bestow the gift of the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands (Acts 814-17)
practice divine healing (Mark 314-15)
teach that God and Jesus are separate distinct individuals (John 1711 2017)
teach that God amp Jesus have bodies of flesh amp bone (Luke 2336-39 Acts 19-11 Heb 11-3)
officers must be called by God (Heb54 Ex 281 4013-16)
must claim revelation from God (Amos 37)a missionary church (Matt 2819-20)a restored church (Acts 319-20)
practice baptism for the dead (1Cor 1516amp29) By their fruits ye shall know them (Matt 720)
15
Greek Philosophies
The pure idealvs
the corruptible physical
Theological arguments and philosophical debates lead to
twisting interpretations of scripture and departures from original
doctrines
Scripture is mingled with the teachings of men
16
Persecutions of Christians
33-96 Apostles taught and were killed off
17
ldquoJames was killed in Jerusalem by Herod
Peter and Paul were both martyred in Rome
Tradition says that Philip went to the East
Much more than this we do not know
18
ldquoThey scattered they taught testified and established the Church And they died for
their beliefs and with their deaths came the dark centuries of apostasy
ldquoThe most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelvemdashthe priesthood keys For the
Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys
and confer them on othersrdquo(ldquoThe TwelverdquoEnsign May 2008 84
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
ldquoFalling awayrdquo is derived from the Greek term ldquoapostasiardquo meaning ldquodefection departure revolt to depart fromrdquo
19
WHAT BECAME
of the CHURCH that
CHRIST Organized
20
Persecutions by the Romans Christianity was an illegal religion Christians were uncompromising nonconformist
Christians were seen as disloyal traitors because they refused to worship the Emperors
Christians were to blame for natural disasters because they left they old gods
Enmity of the ldquonatural manrdquo against those who follow God amp live the Gospel
22
beginning in 67 AD with the Emperor Nero 10 Roman Emperors for nearly 300
years who bitterly persecuted the Church
the Romans Falsely charge Christians
TreasontraitorsAtheismSecretive Separate Cannibalism Witchcraft ampSorcery
Immorality Incest Haters of humanity
Intellectual contradictions
24
The Roman Persecutions are as follows
The First Persecution under Nero AD 67 The Second Persecution under Domitian 81
The Third Persecution under Trajan 108 The 4th Persecution under Marcus Aurelius Antoninus 162
The 5th Persecution Commencing with Severus 192 The 6th Persecution Under Maximus 235
The Seventh Persecution Under Decius 249 The Eighth Persecution Under Valerian 257 The Ninth Persecution Under Aurelian 274 The Tenth Persecution Under Diocletian 303
Emperors amp MartyrsNero (r51-68)
bull64 fire destroyed much of Rome
bullRumor spread that Nero ordered the fire to make room for his new city Neropolis
bullNero used Christians as scapegoat amp executed 100s
source Tacitus Annales 1544
26
Simon Peteraccording to tradition was crucified upside down
Apostle Paulaccording to tradition was
beheaded
Domitian (81-96)
bull Instigated the persecution that was the background to the book of Revelation
Seven Churches of Revelation
Trajan (98-117)
Pliny the Younger Governor of Bithynia (111-113)
wrote to Emperor Trajan ldquoWhat about the Christiansrdquo
Trajan to Pliny ldquoDonrsquot ask donrsquot tellrdquo
IgnatiusBishop of Antioch(c30-107)
According to tradition killed by lions in
the Roman Colisseum
Polycarp(c69-156)
Bishop of Smyrna burned at the stake
Justin Martyr (d 166)
bullDenounced by Cynic philosopher
Crescens who was Aureliusrsquo advisorbullWas beheaded
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
15
Greek Philosophies
The pure idealvs
the corruptible physical
Theological arguments and philosophical debates lead to
twisting interpretations of scripture and departures from original
doctrines
Scripture is mingled with the teachings of men
16
Persecutions of Christians
33-96 Apostles taught and were killed off
17
ldquoJames was killed in Jerusalem by Herod
Peter and Paul were both martyred in Rome
Tradition says that Philip went to the East
Much more than this we do not know
18
ldquoThey scattered they taught testified and established the Church And they died for
their beliefs and with their deaths came the dark centuries of apostasy
ldquoThe most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelvemdashthe priesthood keys For the
Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys
and confer them on othersrdquo(ldquoThe TwelverdquoEnsign May 2008 84
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
ldquoFalling awayrdquo is derived from the Greek term ldquoapostasiardquo meaning ldquodefection departure revolt to depart fromrdquo
19
WHAT BECAME
of the CHURCH that
CHRIST Organized
20
Persecutions by the Romans Christianity was an illegal religion Christians were uncompromising nonconformist
Christians were seen as disloyal traitors because they refused to worship the Emperors
Christians were to blame for natural disasters because they left they old gods
Enmity of the ldquonatural manrdquo against those who follow God amp live the Gospel
22
beginning in 67 AD with the Emperor Nero 10 Roman Emperors for nearly 300
years who bitterly persecuted the Church
the Romans Falsely charge Christians
TreasontraitorsAtheismSecretive Separate Cannibalism Witchcraft ampSorcery
Immorality Incest Haters of humanity
Intellectual contradictions
24
The Roman Persecutions are as follows
The First Persecution under Nero AD 67 The Second Persecution under Domitian 81
The Third Persecution under Trajan 108 The 4th Persecution under Marcus Aurelius Antoninus 162
The 5th Persecution Commencing with Severus 192 The 6th Persecution Under Maximus 235
The Seventh Persecution Under Decius 249 The Eighth Persecution Under Valerian 257 The Ninth Persecution Under Aurelian 274 The Tenth Persecution Under Diocletian 303
Emperors amp MartyrsNero (r51-68)
bull64 fire destroyed much of Rome
bullRumor spread that Nero ordered the fire to make room for his new city Neropolis
bullNero used Christians as scapegoat amp executed 100s
source Tacitus Annales 1544
26
Simon Peteraccording to tradition was crucified upside down
Apostle Paulaccording to tradition was
beheaded
Domitian (81-96)
bull Instigated the persecution that was the background to the book of Revelation
Seven Churches of Revelation
Trajan (98-117)
Pliny the Younger Governor of Bithynia (111-113)
wrote to Emperor Trajan ldquoWhat about the Christiansrdquo
Trajan to Pliny ldquoDonrsquot ask donrsquot tellrdquo
IgnatiusBishop of Antioch(c30-107)
According to tradition killed by lions in
the Roman Colisseum
Polycarp(c69-156)
Bishop of Smyrna burned at the stake
Justin Martyr (d 166)
bullDenounced by Cynic philosopher
Crescens who was Aureliusrsquo advisorbullWas beheaded
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
16
Persecutions of Christians
33-96 Apostles taught and were killed off
17
ldquoJames was killed in Jerusalem by Herod
Peter and Paul were both martyred in Rome
Tradition says that Philip went to the East
Much more than this we do not know
18
ldquoThey scattered they taught testified and established the Church And they died for
their beliefs and with their deaths came the dark centuries of apostasy
ldquoThe most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelvemdashthe priesthood keys For the
Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys
and confer them on othersrdquo(ldquoThe TwelverdquoEnsign May 2008 84
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
ldquoFalling awayrdquo is derived from the Greek term ldquoapostasiardquo meaning ldquodefection departure revolt to depart fromrdquo
19
WHAT BECAME
of the CHURCH that
CHRIST Organized
20
Persecutions by the Romans Christianity was an illegal religion Christians were uncompromising nonconformist
Christians were seen as disloyal traitors because they refused to worship the Emperors
Christians were to blame for natural disasters because they left they old gods
Enmity of the ldquonatural manrdquo against those who follow God amp live the Gospel
22
beginning in 67 AD with the Emperor Nero 10 Roman Emperors for nearly 300
years who bitterly persecuted the Church
the Romans Falsely charge Christians
TreasontraitorsAtheismSecretive Separate Cannibalism Witchcraft ampSorcery
Immorality Incest Haters of humanity
Intellectual contradictions
24
The Roman Persecutions are as follows
The First Persecution under Nero AD 67 The Second Persecution under Domitian 81
The Third Persecution under Trajan 108 The 4th Persecution under Marcus Aurelius Antoninus 162
The 5th Persecution Commencing with Severus 192 The 6th Persecution Under Maximus 235
The Seventh Persecution Under Decius 249 The Eighth Persecution Under Valerian 257 The Ninth Persecution Under Aurelian 274 The Tenth Persecution Under Diocletian 303
Emperors amp MartyrsNero (r51-68)
bull64 fire destroyed much of Rome
bullRumor spread that Nero ordered the fire to make room for his new city Neropolis
bullNero used Christians as scapegoat amp executed 100s
source Tacitus Annales 1544
26
Simon Peteraccording to tradition was crucified upside down
Apostle Paulaccording to tradition was
beheaded
Domitian (81-96)
bull Instigated the persecution that was the background to the book of Revelation
Seven Churches of Revelation
Trajan (98-117)
Pliny the Younger Governor of Bithynia (111-113)
wrote to Emperor Trajan ldquoWhat about the Christiansrdquo
Trajan to Pliny ldquoDonrsquot ask donrsquot tellrdquo
IgnatiusBishop of Antioch(c30-107)
According to tradition killed by lions in
the Roman Colisseum
Polycarp(c69-156)
Bishop of Smyrna burned at the stake
Justin Martyr (d 166)
bullDenounced by Cynic philosopher
Crescens who was Aureliusrsquo advisorbullWas beheaded
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
17
ldquoJames was killed in Jerusalem by Herod
Peter and Paul were both martyred in Rome
Tradition says that Philip went to the East
Much more than this we do not know
18
ldquoThey scattered they taught testified and established the Church And they died for
their beliefs and with their deaths came the dark centuries of apostasy
ldquoThe most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelvemdashthe priesthood keys For the
Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys
and confer them on othersrdquo(ldquoThe TwelverdquoEnsign May 2008 84
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
ldquoFalling awayrdquo is derived from the Greek term ldquoapostasiardquo meaning ldquodefection departure revolt to depart fromrdquo
19
WHAT BECAME
of the CHURCH that
CHRIST Organized
20
Persecutions by the Romans Christianity was an illegal religion Christians were uncompromising nonconformist
Christians were seen as disloyal traitors because they refused to worship the Emperors
Christians were to blame for natural disasters because they left they old gods
Enmity of the ldquonatural manrdquo against those who follow God amp live the Gospel
22
beginning in 67 AD with the Emperor Nero 10 Roman Emperors for nearly 300
years who bitterly persecuted the Church
the Romans Falsely charge Christians
TreasontraitorsAtheismSecretive Separate Cannibalism Witchcraft ampSorcery
Immorality Incest Haters of humanity
Intellectual contradictions
24
The Roman Persecutions are as follows
The First Persecution under Nero AD 67 The Second Persecution under Domitian 81
The Third Persecution under Trajan 108 The 4th Persecution under Marcus Aurelius Antoninus 162
The 5th Persecution Commencing with Severus 192 The 6th Persecution Under Maximus 235
The Seventh Persecution Under Decius 249 The Eighth Persecution Under Valerian 257 The Ninth Persecution Under Aurelian 274 The Tenth Persecution Under Diocletian 303
Emperors amp MartyrsNero (r51-68)
bull64 fire destroyed much of Rome
bullRumor spread that Nero ordered the fire to make room for his new city Neropolis
bullNero used Christians as scapegoat amp executed 100s
source Tacitus Annales 1544
26
Simon Peteraccording to tradition was crucified upside down
Apostle Paulaccording to tradition was
beheaded
Domitian (81-96)
bull Instigated the persecution that was the background to the book of Revelation
Seven Churches of Revelation
Trajan (98-117)
Pliny the Younger Governor of Bithynia (111-113)
wrote to Emperor Trajan ldquoWhat about the Christiansrdquo
Trajan to Pliny ldquoDonrsquot ask donrsquot tellrdquo
IgnatiusBishop of Antioch(c30-107)
According to tradition killed by lions in
the Roman Colisseum
Polycarp(c69-156)
Bishop of Smyrna burned at the stake
Justin Martyr (d 166)
bullDenounced by Cynic philosopher
Crescens who was Aureliusrsquo advisorbullWas beheaded
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
18
ldquoThey scattered they taught testified and established the Church And they died for
their beliefs and with their deaths came the dark centuries of apostasy
ldquoThe most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelvemdashthe priesthood keys For the
Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys
and confer them on othersrdquo(ldquoThe TwelverdquoEnsign May 2008 84
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
ldquoFalling awayrdquo is derived from the Greek term ldquoapostasiardquo meaning ldquodefection departure revolt to depart fromrdquo
19
WHAT BECAME
of the CHURCH that
CHRIST Organized
20
Persecutions by the Romans Christianity was an illegal religion Christians were uncompromising nonconformist
Christians were seen as disloyal traitors because they refused to worship the Emperors
Christians were to blame for natural disasters because they left they old gods
Enmity of the ldquonatural manrdquo against those who follow God amp live the Gospel
22
beginning in 67 AD with the Emperor Nero 10 Roman Emperors for nearly 300
years who bitterly persecuted the Church
the Romans Falsely charge Christians
TreasontraitorsAtheismSecretive Separate Cannibalism Witchcraft ampSorcery
Immorality Incest Haters of humanity
Intellectual contradictions
24
The Roman Persecutions are as follows
The First Persecution under Nero AD 67 The Second Persecution under Domitian 81
The Third Persecution under Trajan 108 The 4th Persecution under Marcus Aurelius Antoninus 162
The 5th Persecution Commencing with Severus 192 The 6th Persecution Under Maximus 235
The Seventh Persecution Under Decius 249 The Eighth Persecution Under Valerian 257 The Ninth Persecution Under Aurelian 274 The Tenth Persecution Under Diocletian 303
Emperors amp MartyrsNero (r51-68)
bull64 fire destroyed much of Rome
bullRumor spread that Nero ordered the fire to make room for his new city Neropolis
bullNero used Christians as scapegoat amp executed 100s
source Tacitus Annales 1544
26
Simon Peteraccording to tradition was crucified upside down
Apostle Paulaccording to tradition was
beheaded
Domitian (81-96)
bull Instigated the persecution that was the background to the book of Revelation
Seven Churches of Revelation
Trajan (98-117)
Pliny the Younger Governor of Bithynia (111-113)
wrote to Emperor Trajan ldquoWhat about the Christiansrdquo
Trajan to Pliny ldquoDonrsquot ask donrsquot tellrdquo
IgnatiusBishop of Antioch(c30-107)
According to tradition killed by lions in
the Roman Colisseum
Polycarp(c69-156)
Bishop of Smyrna burned at the stake
Justin Martyr (d 166)
bullDenounced by Cynic philosopher
Crescens who was Aureliusrsquo advisorbullWas beheaded
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
ldquoFalling awayrdquo is derived from the Greek term ldquoapostasiardquo meaning ldquodefection departure revolt to depart fromrdquo
19
WHAT BECAME
of the CHURCH that
CHRIST Organized
20
Persecutions by the Romans Christianity was an illegal religion Christians were uncompromising nonconformist
Christians were seen as disloyal traitors because they refused to worship the Emperors
Christians were to blame for natural disasters because they left they old gods
Enmity of the ldquonatural manrdquo against those who follow God amp live the Gospel
22
beginning in 67 AD with the Emperor Nero 10 Roman Emperors for nearly 300
years who bitterly persecuted the Church
the Romans Falsely charge Christians
TreasontraitorsAtheismSecretive Separate Cannibalism Witchcraft ampSorcery
Immorality Incest Haters of humanity
Intellectual contradictions
24
The Roman Persecutions are as follows
The First Persecution under Nero AD 67 The Second Persecution under Domitian 81
The Third Persecution under Trajan 108 The 4th Persecution under Marcus Aurelius Antoninus 162
The 5th Persecution Commencing with Severus 192 The 6th Persecution Under Maximus 235
The Seventh Persecution Under Decius 249 The Eighth Persecution Under Valerian 257 The Ninth Persecution Under Aurelian 274 The Tenth Persecution Under Diocletian 303
Emperors amp MartyrsNero (r51-68)
bull64 fire destroyed much of Rome
bullRumor spread that Nero ordered the fire to make room for his new city Neropolis
bullNero used Christians as scapegoat amp executed 100s
source Tacitus Annales 1544
26
Simon Peteraccording to tradition was crucified upside down
Apostle Paulaccording to tradition was
beheaded
Domitian (81-96)
bull Instigated the persecution that was the background to the book of Revelation
Seven Churches of Revelation
Trajan (98-117)
Pliny the Younger Governor of Bithynia (111-113)
wrote to Emperor Trajan ldquoWhat about the Christiansrdquo
Trajan to Pliny ldquoDonrsquot ask donrsquot tellrdquo
IgnatiusBishop of Antioch(c30-107)
According to tradition killed by lions in
the Roman Colisseum
Polycarp(c69-156)
Bishop of Smyrna burned at the stake
Justin Martyr (d 166)
bullDenounced by Cynic philosopher
Crescens who was Aureliusrsquo advisorbullWas beheaded
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
WHAT BECAME
of the CHURCH that
CHRIST Organized
20
Persecutions by the Romans Christianity was an illegal religion Christians were uncompromising nonconformist
Christians were seen as disloyal traitors because they refused to worship the Emperors
Christians were to blame for natural disasters because they left they old gods
Enmity of the ldquonatural manrdquo against those who follow God amp live the Gospel
22
beginning in 67 AD with the Emperor Nero 10 Roman Emperors for nearly 300
years who bitterly persecuted the Church
the Romans Falsely charge Christians
TreasontraitorsAtheismSecretive Separate Cannibalism Witchcraft ampSorcery
Immorality Incest Haters of humanity
Intellectual contradictions
24
The Roman Persecutions are as follows
The First Persecution under Nero AD 67 The Second Persecution under Domitian 81
The Third Persecution under Trajan 108 The 4th Persecution under Marcus Aurelius Antoninus 162
The 5th Persecution Commencing with Severus 192 The 6th Persecution Under Maximus 235
The Seventh Persecution Under Decius 249 The Eighth Persecution Under Valerian 257 The Ninth Persecution Under Aurelian 274 The Tenth Persecution Under Diocletian 303
Emperors amp MartyrsNero (r51-68)
bull64 fire destroyed much of Rome
bullRumor spread that Nero ordered the fire to make room for his new city Neropolis
bullNero used Christians as scapegoat amp executed 100s
source Tacitus Annales 1544
26
Simon Peteraccording to tradition was crucified upside down
Apostle Paulaccording to tradition was
beheaded
Domitian (81-96)
bull Instigated the persecution that was the background to the book of Revelation
Seven Churches of Revelation
Trajan (98-117)
Pliny the Younger Governor of Bithynia (111-113)
wrote to Emperor Trajan ldquoWhat about the Christiansrdquo
Trajan to Pliny ldquoDonrsquot ask donrsquot tellrdquo
IgnatiusBishop of Antioch(c30-107)
According to tradition killed by lions in
the Roman Colisseum
Polycarp(c69-156)
Bishop of Smyrna burned at the stake
Justin Martyr (d 166)
bullDenounced by Cynic philosopher
Crescens who was Aureliusrsquo advisorbullWas beheaded
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Persecutions by the Romans Christianity was an illegal religion Christians were uncompromising nonconformist
Christians were seen as disloyal traitors because they refused to worship the Emperors
Christians were to blame for natural disasters because they left they old gods
Enmity of the ldquonatural manrdquo against those who follow God amp live the Gospel
22
beginning in 67 AD with the Emperor Nero 10 Roman Emperors for nearly 300
years who bitterly persecuted the Church
the Romans Falsely charge Christians
TreasontraitorsAtheismSecretive Separate Cannibalism Witchcraft ampSorcery
Immorality Incest Haters of humanity
Intellectual contradictions
24
The Roman Persecutions are as follows
The First Persecution under Nero AD 67 The Second Persecution under Domitian 81
The Third Persecution under Trajan 108 The 4th Persecution under Marcus Aurelius Antoninus 162
The 5th Persecution Commencing with Severus 192 The 6th Persecution Under Maximus 235
The Seventh Persecution Under Decius 249 The Eighth Persecution Under Valerian 257 The Ninth Persecution Under Aurelian 274 The Tenth Persecution Under Diocletian 303
Emperors amp MartyrsNero (r51-68)
bull64 fire destroyed much of Rome
bullRumor spread that Nero ordered the fire to make room for his new city Neropolis
bullNero used Christians as scapegoat amp executed 100s
source Tacitus Annales 1544
26
Simon Peteraccording to tradition was crucified upside down
Apostle Paulaccording to tradition was
beheaded
Domitian (81-96)
bull Instigated the persecution that was the background to the book of Revelation
Seven Churches of Revelation
Trajan (98-117)
Pliny the Younger Governor of Bithynia (111-113)
wrote to Emperor Trajan ldquoWhat about the Christiansrdquo
Trajan to Pliny ldquoDonrsquot ask donrsquot tellrdquo
IgnatiusBishop of Antioch(c30-107)
According to tradition killed by lions in
the Roman Colisseum
Polycarp(c69-156)
Bishop of Smyrna burned at the stake
Justin Martyr (d 166)
bullDenounced by Cynic philosopher
Crescens who was Aureliusrsquo advisorbullWas beheaded
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
22
beginning in 67 AD with the Emperor Nero 10 Roman Emperors for nearly 300
years who bitterly persecuted the Church
the Romans Falsely charge Christians
TreasontraitorsAtheismSecretive Separate Cannibalism Witchcraft ampSorcery
Immorality Incest Haters of humanity
Intellectual contradictions
24
The Roman Persecutions are as follows
The First Persecution under Nero AD 67 The Second Persecution under Domitian 81
The Third Persecution under Trajan 108 The 4th Persecution under Marcus Aurelius Antoninus 162
The 5th Persecution Commencing with Severus 192 The 6th Persecution Under Maximus 235
The Seventh Persecution Under Decius 249 The Eighth Persecution Under Valerian 257 The Ninth Persecution Under Aurelian 274 The Tenth Persecution Under Diocletian 303
Emperors amp MartyrsNero (r51-68)
bull64 fire destroyed much of Rome
bullRumor spread that Nero ordered the fire to make room for his new city Neropolis
bullNero used Christians as scapegoat amp executed 100s
source Tacitus Annales 1544
26
Simon Peteraccording to tradition was crucified upside down
Apostle Paulaccording to tradition was
beheaded
Domitian (81-96)
bull Instigated the persecution that was the background to the book of Revelation
Seven Churches of Revelation
Trajan (98-117)
Pliny the Younger Governor of Bithynia (111-113)
wrote to Emperor Trajan ldquoWhat about the Christiansrdquo
Trajan to Pliny ldquoDonrsquot ask donrsquot tellrdquo
IgnatiusBishop of Antioch(c30-107)
According to tradition killed by lions in
the Roman Colisseum
Polycarp(c69-156)
Bishop of Smyrna burned at the stake
Justin Martyr (d 166)
bullDenounced by Cynic philosopher
Crescens who was Aureliusrsquo advisorbullWas beheaded
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
the Romans Falsely charge Christians
TreasontraitorsAtheismSecretive Separate Cannibalism Witchcraft ampSorcery
Immorality Incest Haters of humanity
Intellectual contradictions
24
The Roman Persecutions are as follows
The First Persecution under Nero AD 67 The Second Persecution under Domitian 81
The Third Persecution under Trajan 108 The 4th Persecution under Marcus Aurelius Antoninus 162
The 5th Persecution Commencing with Severus 192 The 6th Persecution Under Maximus 235
The Seventh Persecution Under Decius 249 The Eighth Persecution Under Valerian 257 The Ninth Persecution Under Aurelian 274 The Tenth Persecution Under Diocletian 303
Emperors amp MartyrsNero (r51-68)
bull64 fire destroyed much of Rome
bullRumor spread that Nero ordered the fire to make room for his new city Neropolis
bullNero used Christians as scapegoat amp executed 100s
source Tacitus Annales 1544
26
Simon Peteraccording to tradition was crucified upside down
Apostle Paulaccording to tradition was
beheaded
Domitian (81-96)
bull Instigated the persecution that was the background to the book of Revelation
Seven Churches of Revelation
Trajan (98-117)
Pliny the Younger Governor of Bithynia (111-113)
wrote to Emperor Trajan ldquoWhat about the Christiansrdquo
Trajan to Pliny ldquoDonrsquot ask donrsquot tellrdquo
IgnatiusBishop of Antioch(c30-107)
According to tradition killed by lions in
the Roman Colisseum
Polycarp(c69-156)
Bishop of Smyrna burned at the stake
Justin Martyr (d 166)
bullDenounced by Cynic philosopher
Crescens who was Aureliusrsquo advisorbullWas beheaded
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
24
The Roman Persecutions are as follows
The First Persecution under Nero AD 67 The Second Persecution under Domitian 81
The Third Persecution under Trajan 108 The 4th Persecution under Marcus Aurelius Antoninus 162
The 5th Persecution Commencing with Severus 192 The 6th Persecution Under Maximus 235
The Seventh Persecution Under Decius 249 The Eighth Persecution Under Valerian 257 The Ninth Persecution Under Aurelian 274 The Tenth Persecution Under Diocletian 303
Emperors amp MartyrsNero (r51-68)
bull64 fire destroyed much of Rome
bullRumor spread that Nero ordered the fire to make room for his new city Neropolis
bullNero used Christians as scapegoat amp executed 100s
source Tacitus Annales 1544
26
Simon Peteraccording to tradition was crucified upside down
Apostle Paulaccording to tradition was
beheaded
Domitian (81-96)
bull Instigated the persecution that was the background to the book of Revelation
Seven Churches of Revelation
Trajan (98-117)
Pliny the Younger Governor of Bithynia (111-113)
wrote to Emperor Trajan ldquoWhat about the Christiansrdquo
Trajan to Pliny ldquoDonrsquot ask donrsquot tellrdquo
IgnatiusBishop of Antioch(c30-107)
According to tradition killed by lions in
the Roman Colisseum
Polycarp(c69-156)
Bishop of Smyrna burned at the stake
Justin Martyr (d 166)
bullDenounced by Cynic philosopher
Crescens who was Aureliusrsquo advisorbullWas beheaded
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Emperors amp MartyrsNero (r51-68)
bull64 fire destroyed much of Rome
bullRumor spread that Nero ordered the fire to make room for his new city Neropolis
bullNero used Christians as scapegoat amp executed 100s
source Tacitus Annales 1544
26
Simon Peteraccording to tradition was crucified upside down
Apostle Paulaccording to tradition was
beheaded
Domitian (81-96)
bull Instigated the persecution that was the background to the book of Revelation
Seven Churches of Revelation
Trajan (98-117)
Pliny the Younger Governor of Bithynia (111-113)
wrote to Emperor Trajan ldquoWhat about the Christiansrdquo
Trajan to Pliny ldquoDonrsquot ask donrsquot tellrdquo
IgnatiusBishop of Antioch(c30-107)
According to tradition killed by lions in
the Roman Colisseum
Polycarp(c69-156)
Bishop of Smyrna burned at the stake
Justin Martyr (d 166)
bullDenounced by Cynic philosopher
Crescens who was Aureliusrsquo advisorbullWas beheaded
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
26
Simon Peteraccording to tradition was crucified upside down
Apostle Paulaccording to tradition was
beheaded
Domitian (81-96)
bull Instigated the persecution that was the background to the book of Revelation
Seven Churches of Revelation
Trajan (98-117)
Pliny the Younger Governor of Bithynia (111-113)
wrote to Emperor Trajan ldquoWhat about the Christiansrdquo
Trajan to Pliny ldquoDonrsquot ask donrsquot tellrdquo
IgnatiusBishop of Antioch(c30-107)
According to tradition killed by lions in
the Roman Colisseum
Polycarp(c69-156)
Bishop of Smyrna burned at the stake
Justin Martyr (d 166)
bullDenounced by Cynic philosopher
Crescens who was Aureliusrsquo advisorbullWas beheaded
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Simon Peteraccording to tradition was crucified upside down
Apostle Paulaccording to tradition was
beheaded
Domitian (81-96)
bull Instigated the persecution that was the background to the book of Revelation
Seven Churches of Revelation
Trajan (98-117)
Pliny the Younger Governor of Bithynia (111-113)
wrote to Emperor Trajan ldquoWhat about the Christiansrdquo
Trajan to Pliny ldquoDonrsquot ask donrsquot tellrdquo
IgnatiusBishop of Antioch(c30-107)
According to tradition killed by lions in
the Roman Colisseum
Polycarp(c69-156)
Bishop of Smyrna burned at the stake
Justin Martyr (d 166)
bullDenounced by Cynic philosopher
Crescens who was Aureliusrsquo advisorbullWas beheaded
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Apostle Paulaccording to tradition was
beheaded
Domitian (81-96)
bull Instigated the persecution that was the background to the book of Revelation
Seven Churches of Revelation
Trajan (98-117)
Pliny the Younger Governor of Bithynia (111-113)
wrote to Emperor Trajan ldquoWhat about the Christiansrdquo
Trajan to Pliny ldquoDonrsquot ask donrsquot tellrdquo
IgnatiusBishop of Antioch(c30-107)
According to tradition killed by lions in
the Roman Colisseum
Polycarp(c69-156)
Bishop of Smyrna burned at the stake
Justin Martyr (d 166)
bullDenounced by Cynic philosopher
Crescens who was Aureliusrsquo advisorbullWas beheaded
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Domitian (81-96)
bull Instigated the persecution that was the background to the book of Revelation
Seven Churches of Revelation
Trajan (98-117)
Pliny the Younger Governor of Bithynia (111-113)
wrote to Emperor Trajan ldquoWhat about the Christiansrdquo
Trajan to Pliny ldquoDonrsquot ask donrsquot tellrdquo
IgnatiusBishop of Antioch(c30-107)
According to tradition killed by lions in
the Roman Colisseum
Polycarp(c69-156)
Bishop of Smyrna burned at the stake
Justin Martyr (d 166)
bullDenounced by Cynic philosopher
Crescens who was Aureliusrsquo advisorbullWas beheaded
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Seven Churches of Revelation
Trajan (98-117)
Pliny the Younger Governor of Bithynia (111-113)
wrote to Emperor Trajan ldquoWhat about the Christiansrdquo
Trajan to Pliny ldquoDonrsquot ask donrsquot tellrdquo
IgnatiusBishop of Antioch(c30-107)
According to tradition killed by lions in
the Roman Colisseum
Polycarp(c69-156)
Bishop of Smyrna burned at the stake
Justin Martyr (d 166)
bullDenounced by Cynic philosopher
Crescens who was Aureliusrsquo advisorbullWas beheaded
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Trajan (98-117)
Pliny the Younger Governor of Bithynia (111-113)
wrote to Emperor Trajan ldquoWhat about the Christiansrdquo
Trajan to Pliny ldquoDonrsquot ask donrsquot tellrdquo
IgnatiusBishop of Antioch(c30-107)
According to tradition killed by lions in
the Roman Colisseum
Polycarp(c69-156)
Bishop of Smyrna burned at the stake
Justin Martyr (d 166)
bullDenounced by Cynic philosopher
Crescens who was Aureliusrsquo advisorbullWas beheaded
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Pliny the Younger Governor of Bithynia (111-113)
wrote to Emperor Trajan ldquoWhat about the Christiansrdquo
Trajan to Pliny ldquoDonrsquot ask donrsquot tellrdquo
IgnatiusBishop of Antioch(c30-107)
According to tradition killed by lions in
the Roman Colisseum
Polycarp(c69-156)
Bishop of Smyrna burned at the stake
Justin Martyr (d 166)
bullDenounced by Cynic philosopher
Crescens who was Aureliusrsquo advisorbullWas beheaded
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
IgnatiusBishop of Antioch(c30-107)
According to tradition killed by lions in
the Roman Colisseum
Polycarp(c69-156)
Bishop of Smyrna burned at the stake
Justin Martyr (d 166)
bullDenounced by Cynic philosopher
Crescens who was Aureliusrsquo advisorbullWas beheaded
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Polycarp(c69-156)
Bishop of Smyrna burned at the stake
Justin Martyr (d 166)
bullDenounced by Cynic philosopher
Crescens who was Aureliusrsquo advisorbullWas beheaded
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Justin Martyr (d 166)
bullDenounced by Cynic philosopher
Crescens who was Aureliusrsquo advisorbullWas beheaded
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Martyrs of Lyons (d 177)
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
37
ldquoRobinson author of the lsquoHistory of Baptismrsquo speaks as follows lsquoToward the latter end of the 2nd century most of the churches assumed a new form the first[original] simplicity disappeared and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves their children along with new converts both Jews amp Gentiles came forward amp modeled anew the causersquomdashEccl Researches Chap 6 p 51 1792rdquo (A History of the True Religion Dugger and Dodd ch 5 p 60)
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
38
Here is another classic quote from Jesse Lyman Hurlbut who refers to the period immediately following the time setting of the book of Acts as the ldquoAge of Shadowsrdquo He states ldquoof all periods in the history it is the one about which we know the leasthellipFor 50 yrs after St Paulrsquos life a curtain hangs over the church through which we strive vainly to look and when at last it rises about 120 AD with the writings of the earliest church fathers we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paulrdquo (The Story of the Christian Church p 33)
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Amphitheater in Lyons
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Septimius Severus (193-211)
Threat of barbarian invasionEconomic crises
Civil wars amp rebellionsIncreasing abandonment of
traditional customsreligionsEdict
forbade conversions to Christianity
persecutions aimed mainly at converts amp missionary
teachers
Problems for the Empire
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Deciusrsquo Persecutions (249-251)
Some became apostate Some obtained certificates
fraudulently Some were temporary apostates
who recanted Some endured imprisonment and
torture but did not die becoming known as ldquoconfessorsrdquo
Decian Results
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Origen Adamantius
(c185-251)
Tortured amp died a martyr but never canonized a saint because he
contradicted popular interpretations of the writings of
Paul Taught that there was a pre-
mortal existence of our Spirits or Souls
Taught that God and Jesus were separate amp distinct divine beings
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Aftermath of Decian Persecution Bitter Controversy over the ldquoQuestion of the Lapsedrdquo
bull After the persecution ended Christians who renounced Christ wished re-admittance into the Church
bull Should they be restored to the Churchbull What about different degrees of lapsation (eg some
had wholly renounced Christ others pretended by obtaining falsified certificates)
bull Who should have greater authority to decide the acceptance or rejection of these (bishops or confessors)
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (249-258)
bull Pagan rhetorician converted at 40 soon appointed bishop
bull Persecution broke out win months
bull Fled amp hid in order to continue guiding his flock from safety
bull Later accused of cowardice when he returned
bull Confessors claimed authority to forgive the lapsed but not Cyprian who fled
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Novatian Anti-pope (d 258)bull while a priest in Rome he opposed Cornelius the Bishop of Rome (251-3) who believed that the Church should freely welcome the lapsed back into the church
bullNovatian disagreed amp led the ldquostrict factionrdquo and became an open rival to the Catholic Bishop of Rome
bullNovatianists would not allow any who lapsed to return to the church
bullCyprian sided w Cornelius against Novatian
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Cyprian Synods 251-2 On the LapsedbullReadmitting the lapsed--Cyprian insisted ldquoOutside the Church there is no salvationrdquo He won the point but discipline would be enforced on a rigid basis
bullThe authority of the church --The bishop w a synod represents the consensus of the church hey then have dominion over mere splinter-group opinion such as the confessors
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Two Priorities of the early 3rd Century church
bullHarmony of the Church
bullForgiving Love
bullResult the Penitential System ndash
things to be done to obtain various
levels of forgiveness
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
48
Penitence
bull a new manner of reconciliation with GodrdquobullLists were made of various sins and the appropriate penances prescribed for them
bullserved as a type of manual for confessors
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Valerian (253-260)
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Valerianrsquos Persecution (258-9)Inside the ChurchbullThough rivals the controversy within Christianity became so heated the division so deep Cyprian amp Novatian are both martyred 258OutsidebullRomans so hunted and persecuted Christians that they began meeting in catacombs amp cemeteries
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Diocletian (284-305)
By 301 AD after the conclusion of conflicts with the Barbarian Germans and the Persian Sassanids the Roman
Empire was beset by multiple problems Diocletian needed a new enemy to
justify his tyrannical form of government At the same time the
Emperor declared the economy to be in crisis and implemented astronomical
taxation increases
The Great Persecution (303-311)
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Amongst the people there surfaced a growing unrest
The Emperor needed a new enemy to regain support Despite the fact that he
had largely ignored them for the past 15 years Diocletian turned his head in the
direction of the ChristiansAcross the empire Christians made up around 10 of the population having
doubled in the previous 50 years Three kings had been converted in the
Caucuses the kings of Armenia and Georgia and in north eastern Mesopotamia King Osroene
Diocletianrsquos Persecution
(303-311)
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
WESTMaximian (Emperor)
Constantius Chlorus (Caesar)
EASTDiocletian (Emperor)
Galerius (Caesar)
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Diocletian (284-305)
Galerius (305-311)
The Great Persecution (303-311)
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
55
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
The Great Persecution (303-311)bull Persecution was instigated by Galeriusbull Persecution increased in intensity
Started by evicting Christians from army Edict of 303 removed all Christians from civil positions
Ordered the destruction of churches and burning of Scriptures Those who surrendered Scriptures for destruction were called
ldquotraditorsrdquo Eventually Rome required all Christians to sacrifice to the
Roman gods and all church leaders were arrested
bull Most severe and widespread persecution under the Roman Empire
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Edict of Toleration (311)bull In 305 Galerius forced Diocletian to abdicatebull In 311 Galerius became ill Some convinced Galerius it was Godrsquos punishment for persecuting the Christians
bullEdict of Toleration 1) pardoned Christians allowed them to pursue their faith and to assemble together2) Forced sacrificed were abandoned Rome now required instead that Christians pray to their God for the Roman Emperor and the public good
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Results of Persecutionbull A testimony that spawned growthbull Apologetic writings establishment of early Christian
theology bull Purity of the church bull Superstitions relics of martyrs became revered as
fetishes sites of martyrdom attracted pilgrimages bull Division over question of the lapsed
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Constantine(306-324)
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Constantine Conquest of Western Empire (312)
bull War against Maxentiusbull Eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridgebull Claimed he saw a vision
Chi amp RhoIn hoc signes vinces
ndash ldquoIn this sign you will conquerrdquo
bull He painted the Chi-Rho on his soldiersrsquo shields
bull Maxentius was defeated amp drowned in river
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
61Council of Nicaea 325
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
62
Constantine presidesldquoinvitedrdquo 300 Christian leaders
debated doctrines voting some in others out
sought to create Christian amp Roman unity and
eliminate controversy ndash by force if necessary
Council of Nicaea 325
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
63
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was AaronHebrews 54
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
64
Trinity
An Incomprehensible GodWithout body parts or passions
Revelation ceases
Nicaean Doctrines
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Constantine(306-324)
There are those that mark Constantine as the
beginning of the Roman Catholic church
With Constantine we see the beginning of the
wedding and welding of (1) a professed Christian
religious system with (2) the Roman state its
politics values morality and its religion
and gods
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
66
In the words of one eminent historian ldquoChristianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it The Greek mind dying came to a transmigrated [new] life in the theology and liturgy of the churchrdquo
(Will Durant The Story of Civilization 3595)
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
ldquoAs the centuries passed the flame flickered and dimmed ordinances were changed or abandoned The line was broken and
the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the worldrdquo
(ldquoThe Cloven Tongues of Firerdquo Ensign May 2000 8)
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
68
When leadership vanished
what vanished
with them
Authority
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
69
The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve mdash the priesthood
keys For the Church to be His Church there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on othersrdquo
Boyd K Packer
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
70
Though parts incomplete amp altered remained The Savior Jesus Christrsquos True
Church in its purity and fullness was no longer to be found
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
71
counmiddottermiddotfeitˈkoun(t)ərˌfit
adjective1 made in exact imitation
of something valuable or important
with the intention to deceiveor defraud
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
72
separate chapter 13 from chapter 14
In ch 13 fundamentally you see the marks of the great and abominable church as those are manifest in the earthly realm And
the marks of the great and abominable church are materialism sensuality persecution of the Saints of God and so on Now do we
see any of those marks among Latter-day Saints One or two maybe Do we see any of those marks among persons of other faiths Of
course But the marks of the Church of God are also visible wherever we find human beings Allegiance to Godndashto deityndashas theyhellip as
much as God has revealed himself to them So every human organization has marks of the Church of God and marks of the
church of Satan upon it
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
2 Thessalonians 23
73
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Modern definition of ldquoApostasyrdquo
1 renunciation of a religious faith2 abandonment of a previous loyalty defection
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
74
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
75
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
but of hearing the words of the Lord
And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 811-12
WILL WORK FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son
2 John 19
77
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
2 Timothy 43-4
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter except ye receive it from us neither by spirit nor by word as that the day of Christ is at hand
Let no man deceive you by any means for there shall come a falling away first
2 Thessalonians 22-3
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of 3 years I ceased not to warn everyone night amp day with tears
Acts 2029-31
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision and it shall be dark unto you that ye shall not divine and the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day shall be dark over them Then shall the seers be ashamed and the diviners confounded yea they shall all cover their lips for there is no answer of God Micah 36-7
81
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
82
And they took Jesus and led him away And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha
John 1916-18
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
83
The Great Commission
Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father amp of the Son amp the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you amp lo I am with you always unto the end of the world Matthew 2818-20
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
84
separate Nephi 1 chapter 13 from chapter 14
If you then go to ch 14 - there are only 2 churches
not at the historical earthly level but at the spiritualcosmic level -
only two churches - The Church of God
and the counterfeit church of Satan and they are in conflict and have been ever since Satan decided to rebel against God and deceive
others into following him instead of God
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
85
John Wycliffthe herald of reform not for England alone but for all Christendom He was the progenitor of the Puritans (the Spirit of Prophecy vol 4 p 86)
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
86
John Wycliffe (1494 -1536)bull questioned the authority of the Catholic Church
bull had come to regard the scriptures as a more reliable guide to the truth about God
bull maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible prayer and revelation rather than on the teachings of popes amp clerics
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
87
William Tydalebull Translation of Bible to English
bullI defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spares my life ere many years
I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
88
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Martin Luther (1483-1546) launched the Protestant Reformation amp the Lutheran ChurchIn 1517 Martin Luther a Catholic priest nailed 95 criticisms of the church to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg Germany At that time the Catholic church was the only existing Christian church in Europe If you wanted to get to heaven it would have to be through papal authority Initially Luther wanted to reform the Catholic church but after the Diet [Council] of Worms Germany in 1521 he saw that he would have to separate from Catholicism89
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
90
The Puritans English Protestants in the 16th
amp17th centuries including but not limited to
English Calvinists
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
91
John Calvin (1509-1564)
and John Knox (1513-1572)
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
John Wesley (1703-1791) co-founder of the Methodist movement
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the emperor Constantine called himself a Christian From this time they almost totally ceased very few instances of the kind were found The cause of this was not (as has been vulgarly supposed) ldquobecause there was no more occasion for themrdquo because all the world was become Christians
92
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
93
Pilgrims is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in
present-day Plymouth Massachusetts They were Puritans who had first left England and settled in Holland before coming to the United States The First Pilgrims came to Plymouth in the early winter of 1620 The
Pilgrims story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and
culture of the United States
93
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
94
The Puritans wanted a pure faith but were not at first called Puritans Those who
stayed with the Church of England were called non-conformists and those who left the church were called separatists They
did not call themselves Puritans but rather ldquothe Godlyrdquo
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
95
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 58)
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
96
Puritans believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England was
tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
97
Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry and they could not in
conscience unite in her worship But the church being supported by the civil
authority would permit no dissent from her forms Attendance upon her service was
required by law and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were
prohibited under penalty of imprisonment exile and death (The
Great Controversy p 289)
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
98
James I vigorously enforced The Act Against Puritans (1593) making it illegal for separatists to hold their own services Anyone who did not attend the services of the Church of England for forty days and who attended private services ldquocontrary to the laws and statutes of the realm and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be committed to prison there to remain without bail until they shall confirm and yield themselves to same churchrdquo(Wikipedia John_Robinson_(pastor))
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
99
Many of the Puritans separatists left England and went to Holland and other
areas with more religious liberty
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
100
John RobinsonPastor of Puritans in Holland who were going to America Some decided that they could or would not go Pastor Robinson decided he would stay with the larger group which turned out to be the ones who stayed
Before the small group sailed he told them
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
101
ldquoBrethren we are now erelong to part asunder and the Lord knoweth whether I
shall live ever to see your faces more [he did not] But whether the Lord hath appointed it
or not I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than
I have followed Christ If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His be as ready to
receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy
wordrdquo
--Martyn vol 5 p 70 (The Great Controversy pp 291 292)
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
102
ldquoFor my part I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond what Luther saw and the Calvinists you see stick fast where they were left by that great man of God who yet
saw not all things This is a misery much to be lamented for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time yet they penetrated not into the whole
counsel of God but were they now living would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first receivedrdquo
--D Neal History of the Puritans vol 1 p 269 (The Great Controversy p 292)
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
103
Remember your church covenant in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the
Lord made or to be made known unto you Remember your promise and covenant with
God and with one another to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you
from His written word but withal take heed I beseech you what you receive for truth and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness and that full perfection of knowledge should break
forth at onceldquo--Martyn vol 5 pp 70 71 (The Great Controversy
p 292)
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
104
Roger WilliamsCame to America in
Boston on February 5 1631 to enjoy religious
freedom
Served as pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence
Rhode Island But resigned
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
105
Roger Williams
refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that ldquoThere is no regularly-constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seekingrdquo
bull (Picturesque America or the Land We Live In ed William Cullen Bryant New York D Appleton and Co 1872 vol 1 p 502)
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
106
Roger WilliamsWilliams also said
ldquoThe apostasyhellip hath so far corrupted all that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anewrdquo
(Underhill Edward ldquoStruggles and Triumphs of Religious Libertyrdquo
cited in William F Anderson ldquoApostasy or Succession Whichrdquopp 238-39)
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Roger Williams (1603-1683) advocate for religious freedom and founder of the first Baptist church in America
What would it take to leap the whole way into perfect and pure congruence with the ancient pattern It would take Williams reluctantly concluded more than mere mortals by themselves could ever achieve But how sixteen hundred yrs later could such a church be formed The doctrine of apostolic succession might seem to be the answer that the authority and commission of Christ had been transmitted generation by generation from his own time to the present But that would mean that a wholly false church could in its impurity faithfully preserve and rightly pass on a wholly pure power And that made no sense at all
(continued) 107
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Roger Williams (continued)
ldquolsquoAfter Constantine a true ministry no longer existed and none but God could now bring it backrsquo Williams did not come to this position easily nor did he find it easy to persuade others that recreating the true church of Christ was a vain pursuit ndash apart from direct divine interventionrdquo
Edwin S Gaustad Liberty of Conscience Roger Williams in America (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1991) 91-92
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Johann von Mosheim (1694-1755) German Lutheran church historian amp chancellor of Gottingen University
During [ the 7th ] century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass of superstitions and was unable to raise her head The earlier Christians had worshiped only God and His Son but those called Christians in this century worshiped the wood of a cross the images of holy men amp bones of dubious origin
Johann Lorenz Mosheim Mosheimrsquos Institutes of Ecclesiastical History Ancient and Modern Fifth Edition (London Willam Tegg 1867) 250
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Wesley
ldquohellip not a 20th part of it [the world] was then nominally Christians The real cause was ldquothe love of manyrdquoalmost of all Christians so calledldquowaxed coldrdquo The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens The Son of Man when he came to examinehis Church could hardly ldquofind faith upon the earthrdquo This was the real cause why extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again and had only a dead form left John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions
Vol 2 (New York J Emory amp B Waugh 1830) 266
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
John Wesley
What could God have done which He hath not done to convince you that the day is coming that the time is at hand when He will fulfill His glorious promises when He will arise and maintain His own cause and to set up His Kingdom over all the earth
John M Wesley Sermons on Several Occasions Vol 2 (New York B Waugh amp T Mason 1830) 98 111
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Almighty God of love
Set up the attracting sign
And summon whom thou dost approve
For messengers divine
From favored Abrahams seed
The new apostles choose
In isles and continents to spread The soul-reviving news
Charles Wesley112
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a majorforce in the ldquoAmerican Restorationrdquo movementHe tried to avoid denominational labels With his father and Barton Stone he startedwhat eventually came to called the Disciplesof Christ or Churches of ChristWe argue that all Christian sects are more or less apostatized from the institutions of the Savior that by all of the obligations of the Christian religion they that fear and love the Lord are bound to return to the ancient order of things in spirit and truth
Alexander Campbell The Christian Baptist Volume 5 (Bethany VA A Campbell 1827) 402
113
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
114
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
Galatians 16-7
115
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Alexander Campbell
The day of light so illustrious in its beginning became cloudy By the the 17th century that dark cloud was broken in fragments and though the heavens of gospel light are still obscured by many clouds ndash the sects of various names ndash the promise is that ldquoat even-time it shall be lightrdquo The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world
AS Hayden Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve Ohio (Cincinnati Chase amp Hall 1875) 37
116
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Alexander CampbellBesides do not the experience of all thereligious ndash the observation of the intelligent ndashthe practical result of all creeds reformationsand improvements ndash and the expectationsand longings of society warrant the conclusionthat either some new revelation or some newdevelopment of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectations ofall true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of this world We want the old gospel back and sustained by the ancient order of things and this alone by the blessing of the Divine Spirit is all that we do want or can expect to reform and save the world
Alexander Campbell The Christian System In Reference to the Union of Christians and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity (Pittsburg Forrester amp Campbell1839) 244-245
117
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
118
Thomas Jefferson though not Christian by the
definition current in his day nevertheless was a great student of Christianity He acknowledged the loss of Christrsquos original gospel
and said that he looked forward to ldquothe prospect of
a restoration of primitive Christianityrdquo
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
119
Dr Harry Emerson Fosdick prominent American Baptist clergyman amp author described the decadent condition of the Christian churches
of the first half of the 20th century in these words
ldquoA religious reformation is afoot and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of
Jesus as against the vast intricate largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached taught and lived and has substituted another kind of
religion altogether If Jesus should come back to now hear the mythologies built up around Him
see the creedalism denominationalism sacramentalism carried on in His name He would certainly say
lsquoIf this is Christianity I am not a Christianrdquo
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Isaiah 116 9 11-12
120
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee
Isaiah 601-2 121
Isaiah 601-2
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
122
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine amp doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock And the rain descended and the floods came amp the winds blew amp beat upon that house amp it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
Matthew 726-27
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
123
Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me
Revelation 320
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
124
William Tydalebull 1st Translation of Bible to English
I defy the Pope amp all his laws amp if God spares my life ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know
more of the Scriptures than thou dost
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
125
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
126
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
127
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
128
In 1820 in response to a prayer of a young man seeking to know which church was true Joseph Smith received a divine visitation from God the
Father and Jesus Christ who directed him to join none of the churches and promised that the truths
of the original church would be restored to the earth again As part of that process the Lord provided new scripture the Book of Mormon
which would serve both as another testament of Christ and a means of clarifying doctrines that had
become lost or corrupted In 1830 Joseph Smith formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
129
The Rock of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ
Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven Thou art Peter and upon this rock [revelation] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 1616-18
130
130
THE NEED TO RESTORE CHRISTrsquoS CHURCH
There was an urgent need to restore and not simply reform Christrsquos church in light of doctrinal error that had developed over the centuries
Any attempt to restore his church would include doctrines gifts of the Spirit holy ordinances and ministerial offices that adhere more closely to the pattern found in the New Testament
131
In our humble efforts to build brotherhood and to teach revealed truth we say to the people of the world what President George Albert Smith
so lovingly suggested ldquoWe have come not to take away from you the truth and virtue you possess We have come not to find fault with you nor to criticize you
We have not come here to berate you because of things you have not done but we have come here as
your brethren hellip and to say to you lsquoKeep all the good that you have and let us bring to you more
good in order that you may be happier and in order that you may be prepared to enter into the presence
of our Heavenly Fatherrdquo [Sharing the Gospel with Others compiled by Preston Nibley (Salt Lake City Deseret News Press 1948) 12-13]
Things the Catholic Church Has Done Very Well
Preserved the scriptures for all Christians Perpetuated a belief that the Bible is inspired by God Maintained certain essential doctrines of the Christian faith Preserved morality and excellence through schools Catholic charities provide outstanding support for the poor Strong family orientation Service to community and country Fearless advocate regarding social issues such as abortion
133
THE NEED TO RESTORE CHRISTrsquoS CHURCH
There was an urgent need to restore and not simply reform Christrsquos church in light of doctrinal error that had developed over the centuries
Any attempt to restore his church would include doctrines gifts of the Spirit holy ordinances and ministerial offices that adhere more closely to the pattern found in the New Testament
134
In our humble efforts to build brotherhood and to teach revealed truth we say to the people of the world what President George Albert Smith
so lovingly suggested ldquoWe have come not to take away from you the truth and virtue you possess We have come not to find fault with you nor to criticize you
We have not come here to berate you because of things you have not done but we have come here as
your brethren hellip and to say to you lsquoKeep all the good that you have and let us bring to you more
good in order that you may be happier and in order that you may be prepared to enter into the presence
of our Heavenly Fatherrdquo [Sharing the Gospel with Others compiled by Preston Nibley (Salt Lake City Deseret News Press 1948) 12-13]
Things the Catholic Church Has Done Very Well
Preserved the scriptures for all Christians Perpetuated a belief that the Bible is inspired by God Maintained certain essential doctrines of the Christian faith Preserved morality and excellence through schools Catholic charities provide outstanding support for the poor Strong family orientation Service to community and country Fearless advocate regarding social issues such as abortion
133
THE NEED TO RESTORE CHRISTrsquoS CHURCH
There was an urgent need to restore and not simply reform Christrsquos church in light of doctrinal error that had developed over the centuries
Any attempt to restore his church would include doctrines gifts of the Spirit holy ordinances and ministerial offices that adhere more closely to the pattern found in the New Testament
134
Things the Catholic Church Has Done Very Well
Preserved the scriptures for all Christians Perpetuated a belief that the Bible is inspired by God Maintained certain essential doctrines of the Christian faith Preserved morality and excellence through schools Catholic charities provide outstanding support for the poor Strong family orientation Service to community and country Fearless advocate regarding social issues such as abortion
133
THE NEED TO RESTORE CHRISTrsquoS CHURCH
There was an urgent need to restore and not simply reform Christrsquos church in light of doctrinal error that had developed over the centuries
Any attempt to restore his church would include doctrines gifts of the Spirit holy ordinances and ministerial offices that adhere more closely to the pattern found in the New Testament
134
THE NEED TO RESTORE CHRISTrsquoS CHURCH
There was an urgent need to restore and not simply reform Christrsquos church in light of doctrinal error that had developed over the centuries
Any attempt to restore his church would include doctrines gifts of the Spirit holy ordinances and ministerial offices that adhere more closely to the pattern found in the New Testament
134
