Part 3

In the third place, the organization and government of the primitive 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.