church became corrupted. In the church of Christ there had been
apostles, prophets, evangelists, seventies, elders, bishops, priests,
teachers, and deacons.[E] These officers were maintained as long as
the apostles lived; there are many references to them during the
first century of the Christian era. Soon thereafter, however, many
of these officers were dropped as unnecessary. Today, there is not a
denomination descended from the old Catholic church that maintains in
its organization all the officers provided by the great Master; nor
does the Catholic church itself do so. And with the church organization
corrupted, it follows that the church government must be incomplete and
inadequate.
[Footnote E: Eph. 4:11 ff; I Cor. 12:12-29.]
In the fourth place, it was not very long after the passing of the
apostles, before the outward ordinances of the church became changed
to suit the convenience of men. Baptism had been administered by
immersion, as the word indicates.[F] The custom arose, however, merely
to sprinkle the applicant for baptism; or, at most, to pour a little
water on him. Furthermore, while the ordinance was meant only for
adults, or for young people that had reached years of accountability,
it was applied, after the time of Christ, to babes, who could neither
know nor confess Him. The sacrament of the Lord's supper, too, was
burdened with ceremony, and changed materially.[G] The ordinance of
administration to the sick was dismissed as useless.[H] In fact, there
remains in the churches today hardly an ordinance that has not been
changed to suit the whims of men.
[Footnote F: Matt. 3:13-17.]
[Footnote G: Luke 22; Matt. 26; I Cor. 11:23-26.]
[Footnote H: Jas. 5:14, 15.]
In the fifth place, the church ritual became perverted under the
administration of those who professed to follow after Jesus and His
apostles. Nothing could be simpler or purer than the church service
instituted by the Savior. After the third century, the simplicity was
gone forever. To gain the good will and the favor of the pagans, many
of their customs and ceremonies were adopted by the Christian church.
So far was this done that the Christian worship of today is sometimes
more nearly akin to the pagan worship of old, than it is to the simple
worship of the Church of Christ.
In the sixth place, the spiritual gifts--so common in the days of the
apostles--became wholly lost to the later Christian church. Prophecy,
healing, speaking in tongues, and other marvelous blessings, are
enumerated by the Apostle Paul. He makes clear the fact that these
gifts _will_ be manifest whenever the authorized church operates.
Unfortunately, belief in the spiritual gifts is rare in the modern
Christian church.
Finally, the body of church doctrine became corrupted in the third,
fourth, and fifth centuries. To consider all the changes in church
doctrine would require more space than can be allowed in this brief
summary. Suffice it to say that besides the changes in doctrine already
named, there was departure from the truth in many essential ways;
as, for example, the introduction of the doctrine that infants if
unsprinkled would be eternally damned; that condemnation for sin meant
eternal condemnation, without hope of relief, worlds without end; that
there may be two standards of morality in this life, and so forth. In
short, though it may appear to be a bold and a very general statement,
it seems to be true that only a few doctrines concerning the salvation
of man, from the time of his advent into this world to the time of the
great judgment, remain today as they were taught by Jesus.
From these seven points, then--the corruption of the doctrine of God
and the Godhead; the rejection of the doctrine of Divine Authority;
the distortion of the doctrine of church organization and church
government; the changing of the outward ordinances; the perversion
of the simple church ritual; the loss of spiritual gifts; and the
corruption of the body of church doctrines,--from these seven points,
it is indisputably evident that the great apostasy from the primitive
Christian church is an accomplished fact. Although there followed in
the middle ages a period of reformation--or revolution--yet there
was effected no return to the primitive faith. There came no new
revelation, and therefore there could come no authorized church. The
churches of the Protestants were merely broken off from the mother
Catholic church, which they themselves believed to be apostate.
Each new religious teacher as he arose placed his own personal
interpretation upon the word of God. Thus there came to be many creeds;
and since these creeds differed materially in essential points,
contention and strife became inevitably common among the sects.
Such was the condition of the world in the spring of 1820. Although,
for the purposes of a revival meeting, the ministers of the Protestant
churches might unite for a time in a general effort to waken the people
to spiritual life, yet there lay beneath the surface feelings of
antagonism and bitterness the one toward the other. The seven marks of
the apostasy make them alien to Christ.[I]
[Footnote I: For a full consideration of the apostasy and the so-called
reformation, see B. H. Roberts' "Outlines of Ecclesiastical History,"
and J. E. Talmage's "The Great Apostasy."]
IV.
THE RESTORATION PREDICTED.
The great universal apostasy we have thus briefly described was
foretold by many of the ancient prophets. In both the New and the Old
Testament may be found pertinent references to a general falling-away;
for the prophets of old--specially chosen men who spoke as they were
moved by the Holy Ghost--foresaw clearly that even the simple words of
Jesus would become corrupted, though the fact of His ministry might be
accepted.
And just as the prophets of old foresaw the falling away, so, too, they
foresaw and predicted the glorious restoration. The blissful condition
to be desired at the time of the restoration was described by the Lord
to Jeremiah. The Lord God would make a new covenant with His people.
It was to be a time when the law of the Lord should be put in the
"inward parts" of the people, and they should "teach no more every man
his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord"; for
they should all know Him, from the least of them to the greatest of
them.[A] How far we are in the modern religious world from realizing
the condition here described, it is needless to say. The promised new
covenant has certainly not been generally accepted. The time remains
yet to come when creeds shall cease contending one with another,
saying, "Know the Lord." The time is not yet to come, however, when the
new covenant shall be introduced. It is here.
[Footnote A: Jer. 31:31-34.]
King Nebuchadnezzar had one night a wonderful dream. He saw standing
before him a great image of excellent brightness, but terrible form.
The head of the image was of gold; the breast and the arms were of
silver; the belly and the thighs were of brass; the legs were of iron;
and the feet were part of iron and part of clay. As the image stood
before the dreamsight of the king, there appeared a stone cut without
hands, which smote the feet of the image and broke it to pieces. The
clay, the iron, the brass, the silver, the gold, of which the image was
made became like chaff and were scattered in the winds of heaven; but
the little stone became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
To the Hebrew prophet Daniel was given the interpretation of
Nebuchadnezzar's dream. The four parts made of gold, and silver, and
brass, and iron, represented, he said, four great world kingdoms that
should arise. In fact, the first of them--that represented by the
head of gold--was Nebuchadnezzar's own, the kingdom of Babylon. After
it should arise another inferior to it--the kingdom of the Medes and
Persians--typified by the breast and arms of silver. There should come
in succession two others--the kingdom of Alexander, a kingdom of brass
to bear rule over the whole earth; and the empire of Rome, an empire of
iron, strong, to break in pieces and subdue all things. Finally, after
the fall of these four world empires, the earth should be divided into
many kingdoms, some strong and some weak, as the feet and toes of the
image were part of iron and part of potter's clay. Then, in the days of
these kingdoms, said the prophet Daniel, "shall the God of heaven set
up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not
be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all
these kingdoms and it shall stand forever."[B]
[Footnote B: Dan. 2:31-45.]
Plainly, the stone cut without hands stands for the Church of Christ,
the Kingdom of God. In the day of the petty governments that sprang
from the ruins of Rome, the stone should appear. At some time after
the fall of Rome, the kingdom of God should be established. But that
day and time are modern day and time; and modern time is now. In our
day, then, according to the vision of King Nebuchadnezzar, interpreted
by the prophet Daniel, the God of heaven should establish His kingdom
among men. Here is a clear prediction of the restoration of the Church
of God.
Again, in the book of the prophet Malachi, occur passages that point
unmistakably to a time of restoration. The Lord promises to send a
messenger, before He shall come suddenly to His temple. Then only
the righteous shall stand, for He shall be like a refiner's fire,
and like fuller's soap.[C] Again, before the great and dreadful day
of the Lord--when all the proud and all that do wickedly shall burn
as stubble--the Lord promises to send Elijah, to "turn the heart of
the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their
fathers," that the earth may not be smitten with a curse.[D] These,
too, are clear predictions of a restoration, setting forth some things
to be accomplished. And it is evidently then--for it has not been
before--that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established
in the top of the mountains, and the nations shall come to it to learn
of the ways of the Lord.[E]
[Footnote C: Mal. 3:1-3.]
[Footnote D: Mal. 4:1-6.]
[Footnote E: Micah 4:1-2.]
Now, it may be objected that these prophecies were all fulfilled in the
ministry of the Lord Jesus. The objection is, however, untenable. The
conditions described in the predictions did not exist at the time of
Christ. In the first place, that was not the great and terrible day of
the Lord, when the proud and the wicked should burn as stubble. Next,
the Lord did not then come suddenly to His temple; nor did He sit as
a refiner and purifier of silver. Furthermore, at the time of Christ,
Rome was still in her glory. The feet and toes of Nebuchadnezzar's
image had not yet grown forth. It was too soon for the stone to roll
forth from the mountain. Then again, it was predicted by Daniel
that the kingdom of Christ which he saw established should never be
destroyed nor given to another people. Jesus Himself, however, said
to the people of His day, because of their unbelief, "The kingdom of
God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the
fruits thereof."[F] If, therefore, the kingdom of God typified by the
stone were established in the days of Jesus, then either Daniel or
Jesus must fall as a false prophet. Since, however, both were holy
men of God--and one a God Himself--it must be that Daniel's prophecy
remained yet to be fulfilled. Examine the scriptures from any point
of view, the conclusion remains the same: Although Jesus established
His Church while upon the earth, yet it was not the establishment that
should never be changed nor be given to other people. In the economy
of God, there remained yet another period when His kingdom should be
established for the last time, when the righteous should gain the
victory over sin, and when the God of Glory should finally come as King
of kings to rule over His own.
[Footnote F: Matt. 21:42, 43.]
That other period was seen in splendid vision by the beloved disciple
of Jesus. John was on the Isle of Patmos. It was long after the Lord
had been crucified. The falling-away had already begun. In terrible
vision, John had been shown how the Church should be persecuted by its
enemies, and how, finally, it should flee into the wilderness to be
seen no more for a long period by man. Then, after the apostasy had
been fully accomplished, and the world had been prepared, should come
the restoration. Six mighty angels had John seen, each with his special
mission to perform. Then there appeared the seventh. Of him John writes:
"And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the
everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to
every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud
voice. Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of his judgment is
come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the
fountains of waters."[G]
[Footnote G: Rev. 12, 13, 14 chapters.]
Naturally, if there had been no apostasy, there would have been no
need of another angel flying in the midst of heaven to restore the
gospel,--neither to a community, nor to every nation, and kindred,
and tongue, and people. Naturally, too, since this condition was seen
in vision by John while on the Isle of Patmos, it could not have been
fulfilled in the ministry of the Savior. It belonged to a future time,
to a time subsequent to that of John. It confirms the prediction of
Daniel, that the kingdom of God should be established at some time
after the fall of Rome. And it reveals the manner of the restoration:
there should come an angel flying, having the everlasting gospel to
preach to them that dwell upon the earth.
In conclusion, it may be observed that the restoration was, according
to the prophets, to be a restoration in very deed--a restitution of all
things. In the sermon delivered on Solomon's porch, Peter predicted
"the time of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by
the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began."[H] Peter
understood that there must be a period of restoration before the end
of the world--before, indeed, Jesus the Christ could come again.
Undoubtedly, it was the same thing Jesus had in mind, when He said,
"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for
a witness unto all nations: and then shall the end come."[I]
[Footnote H: Acts 3:21.]
[Footnote I: Matt. 24:14.]
The restoration was, then, a part of the general plan, as well as
the apostasy. It must of necessity follow after the apostasy. Not
only the great falling-away, but the splendid restoration also, was
clearly foreseen and predicted by the ancient prophets. The time of
the restoration was to be the time of the kings that should follow the
fourth great world-empire--that is, it was to be modern time. And the
act of the restoration was to come through no human means, but should
be like a stone cut out of the mountain without hands. It was to be
brought about by the ministry of angels.
V.
AN ANGEL FLYING.
Three and a half years passed silently by after Joseph Smith received
the vision of the Father and the Son. During that time there was no
further communication from heaven. That he had received one vision,
Joseph stoutly and fearlessly maintained. Neither persuasion nor
persecution could break the testimony he had borne, nor dispel the
knowledge he had divinely gained. The vision he had seen was real; the
knowledge he had gained was real. He could not deny it. For three and
a half years after this vision, however, he was apparently shut out
from the presence of God. The young seer was left to himself. It was a
period of silence.
Two things are notable in the conduct of Joseph's life during these
years. First, he manifested the same self-control and absence of
emotion or excitement, that he possessed when he went into the
wood to pray. Had he been a victim of the "potent influence of the
psychological 'crowd'"[A] he would undoubtedly have suffered from the
religious disease and fanaticism common to revival movements. The
excitement of the revival would have remained with him--as it did with
everyone else--for an extended period of time. With the conviction
of the glorious vision of the Father and the Son upon his mind, the
boy would undoubtedly have felt still further emotional excitement,
and would have been led to see further visions after the first one.
Moreover, had he become subject to any derangement of mind, or diseased
condition like epilepsy, as has been claimed by some of his defamers,
he would have become even more liable to visionary manifestations.
It was not so, however. His health was perfect; his self-control,
complete. For three and a half years the heavens were shut above him.
For three and a half years the God of heaven spoke no further word to
him. For three and a half years he was left alone to ponder what he had
seen, and to bear persecution unaided for testifying to truth. Always
he was calm, unruffled, unaffected by religious passion or frenzy.
[Footnote A: The term "psychological crowd" is used in this chapter and
elsewhere in the sense in which it is used by Prof. Davenport in the
quotation in the first chapter of this book.]
Next, Joseph Smith manifested no desire, even though he had seen
and talked with God Himself, to arrogate to himself any authority
whatsoever. Many others in the history of the world claim to have
seen visions. Mohammed, when forty years of age, saw in vision--he
says--the angel Gabriel, and was commanded to preach a new religion.
The authority to do so, he assumed at once. Joan of Arc, in response to
the alleged heavenly voice which spoke to her, hurried to the side of
the dauphin of France. Emmanuel Swedenborg, after years of scientific
activity, began suddenly to herald a new church, and to interpret the
word of God in a score of theological works--for, he claimed, the Lord
had appeared to him in vision. With Joseph Smith, however, it was
different. While he maintained stoutly, against the ridicule of friends
even, that he had beheld a vision of the Father and the Son, he did not
presume therefore to promulgate a new doctrine, or to establish a new
church. He continued in the routine of his daily labor. He meditated
what the Lord had said to him. He had been told that the sectarian
churches of the world were wrong. He might have proceeded to establish
a church that should be right. But Joseph had not yet received a full
commission. He did not presume to do what undoubtedly he would have
done had he been merely a victim of the "psychological crowd." For
three and a half years, he waited for further instructions from the God
of heaven.
On the evening of the twenty-first of September, 1823, Joseph Smith
approached the Lord God again in secret prayer. This time it was in
his private chamber. Fearing that he had offended God, that he had not
walked so circumspectly as he should have done in the light of the
revelation he had received, the youth, now in his eighteenth year,
besought the Almighty for forgiveness of sin, and for a manifestation
that he might know his standing before God. In his own account of what
happened there, Joseph says,
"While I was thus in the act of calling upon God I discovered a light
appearing in my room, which continued to increase until the room was
brighter than at noon-day, when immediately a personage appeared
at my bedside, standing in the air, for his feet did not touch the
floor. He had on a loose robe of most exquisite whiteness. It was a
whiteness beyond anything earthly I had ever seen; nor do I believe
that any earthly thing could be made to appear so exceedingly white and
brilliant. His hands were naked, and his arms also, a little above the
wrist; so also were his feet naked, as were his legs, a little above
the ankles. His head and neck were also bare. I could discover that he
had no other clothing on but this robe, as it was open, so that I could
see into his bosom. Not only was his robe exceedingly white, but his
whole person was glorious beyond description, and his countenance truly
like lightning. The room was exceedingly light, but not so very bright
as immediately around his person.
"When I first looked upon him, I was afraid; but the fear soon left me.
He called me by name, and said unto me that he was a messenger sent
from the presence of God to me, and that his name was Moroni, that God
had a work for me to do, and that my name should be had for good and
for evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should
be both good and evil spoken of among all people. He said there was
a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the
former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from whence they
sprang. He also said that the fulness of the everlasting Gospel was
contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants;
also, that there were two stones in silver bows--and these stones,
fastened to a breastplate, constituted what is called the Urim and
Thummim--deposited with the plates; and the possession and use of these
stones were what constituted 'Seers' in ancient or former times; and
that God had prepared them for the purpose of translating the book."[A]
[Footnote A: "History of the Church," Vol. I, pp. 11, 12.]
There followed then further instructions based upon the Holy
Scriptures. The angel read and explained portions of the third and
fourth chapters of Malachi. The third chapter predicts the sending of a
messenger to prepare the way of the Lord when He shall come suddenly to
His temple. The coming will be attended with much glory; and the Lord
Himself shall purify Israel, and purge it of iniquity. The time of the
fulfillment of this prophecy, said the angel, was at hand.
The fourth chapter of Malachi, is particularly interesting as quoted by
the angel. The first verse he rendered thus:
"For behold the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the
proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall burn as stubble, for they
that come shall burn them, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave
them neither root nor branch."
The fifth and sixth verses, he read thus:
"Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah
the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the
Lord. And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises
made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to the
fathers; if it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at
his coming."
These predictions, too, said the angel, were about to be fulfilled.
Moroni then quoted the eleventh chapter of Isaiah. It predicts a day
of peace and righteousness, when an ensign shall be set up for the
Gentiles, and when the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to
gather His scattered people. This time was at hand, and was about to be
fulfilled.
Next the angel read from the sermon of Peter on Solomon's Porch:
"For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your
God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye
hear in all things, whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall
come to pass that every soul which will not hear that prophet shall be
destroyed from among the people."[B]
[Footnote B: Acts 3:22, 23.]
This prophecy, also, was about to have a complete fulfillment.
Finally, among many other scriptures, the angel quoted from the great
prophecy of Joel. Before the great and terrible day of the Lord,
according to this wonderful prediction, the old men shall dream dreams,
and the young men shall see visions, and wonders shall appear in the
heaven and the earth. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the
moon into blood; but whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be delivered.[C] This same prophecy was referred to by Peter on
the day of Pentecost, and was possibly in part accomplished then. But
the prediction refers unmistakably to the last days--before the great
and terrible day of the Lord. Now is the day of Joel's great prophecy,
and now, said the angel Moroni, it is about to be fulfilled.
[Footnote C: Joel 2:28-32.]