EVIDENCE OF THE GREAT APOSTASY

Michael T. Griffith

1998

@All Rights Reserved

POINT:

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (or Mormon Church) proclaims that it is the Lord's true church restored to the earth. Obviously, in order for the Lord's church to have been restored, it would have had to fall away first. Such a falling away did in fact occur. As the prophets had foretold, the Savior's ancient church and gospel were eventually taken from the earth because of wickedness and apostasy. The authority to act in the name of God was withdrawn from among men. By no later than the fifth century A.D., the Lord's true church no longer existed on the earth. This falling away had been predicted in the scriptures.

SELECTED BIBLE PASSAGES:

Matthew 21:43: Jesus said, "Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof."

"Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit" (NAB).

Acts 20:29-30: "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."

2 Thessalonians 2:1-3: "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day [the second coming] shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition."

2 Timothy 4:2-4: "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 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 Peter 2:1-2: "But there were false prophets also among the people [of ancient Israel], even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of."

Revelation 13:7: "And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to OVERCOME them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations."

1 Corinthians 1:11: Contentions among the saints.

1 Corinthians 3:3: Envying, strife, and divisions among the saints.

Galatians 1:6-9: Paul tells the Galatians, "I marvel that ye are so soon removed unto another gospel."

Galatians 3:1: Paul wonders why the Galatians won't "obey the truth."

1 Timothy 1:6: Some have already turned to "vain jangling."

2 Timothy 1:15: Paul laments the fact that "all they which are in Asia be turned away from me."

1 John 2:18: ". . . even now there are many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time."

1 John 4:1: ". . . many false prophets are gone out into the world."

DISCUSSION:

The historical record provides abundant evidence that the Savior's true church ceased to exist after the fifth century A.D.15 Apostles and prophets were no longer found in the church. Several of the early church's most important doctrines--such as the pre-mortal existence, man's deification, baptism for the dead, the necessity of baptism by immersion, and the importance of good works in our salvation--were abandoned. The correct understanding of the Godhead as being composed of three separate deities was replaced by the unscriptural three-in-one belief. Scriptures were lost, and those that remained were subjected to uninspired editing.

As the apostasy worsened, traditional Christendom split into two opposing factions, the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Corruption was widespread among the clergy, particularly in Europe, where sins were pardoned for money. Personal reading of the scriptures was not encouraged; at times it was even discouraged. "Heathen" peoples were converted at sword point. "Holy Wars" were fought in the name of God and religion, resulting in thousands of deaths and immeasurable suffering. Finally, things got so bad that some Christians revolted and started the Protestant Reformation. But the Reformation, though well intentioned, was not a restoration, and before long the Protestant movement split up into dozens of conflicting churches.

It is interesting to note that many leading figures of the Reformation and of later Protestantism recognized that true Christianity had been lost from the earth (Talmage 1976:201-202; Scharffs 294-296). Says John Olin,

Of all the scriptural predictions of the church's eventual apostasy, perhaps the most pointed and unmistakable is 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3. The Greek word for "falling away" in verse 3 is APOSTASIA, which is the same word used by the Savior in Matthew 5:31 for "bill of divorce." It is also the same word used in Joshua 22:22 in the Greek Old Testament to describe a hypothetical rebellion of all Israel against God. Some anti-Mormon critics challenge this fact. They claim it is not "exactly" the same word because it isn't spelled precisely the same as the word for "divorce" in Matthew 5:31. However, the slight variation in spelling is due only to a difference in gender. In Greek a noun can have a masculine and a feminine form. The Greek word for "falling away" in 2 Thess. 2:3 is merely the feminine form of the same word used for "bill of divorce" in Matthew 5:31.

The New Revised Standard Version's translation of 2 Thessalonians 2:3 changes "the falling away" to "the rebellion." The NAB reads "the apostasy."

Among those who deny there was an apostasy, no other verse is cited more frequently than Matthew 16:18, where Christ says to Peter:

How does this verse apply to the apostasy? Does it mean the falling away was not complete? If so, then what about the New Testament prophecies of an impending apostasy (or "divorce")? What about the massive historical evidence that an apostasy did in fact take place?

Although Matthew 16:18 is seen by many as an assurance that the Savior's earthly church would never fall away, this verse, when read in its early Christian context, offers no such guarantee. Rather, Jesus was saying that the gates to the spirit prison would not prevent the church from proclaiming the gospel there.

In early Christian theology the expression "the gates of hell" referred to the entrance to the spirit world (Russell 119-121; Achtemeier 1985:365; B. McConkie 1965:388-389; Nibley 1987:107-109, 115-121). In fact, the ancient Christians often referred to the Savior's mission to the spirit prison as his "descent into hell" (see, for example, Roberts and Donaldson 5:221-222; Quasten 1:116, 243-345; 3:113).

Further insight into Matthew 16:18 can be gained by considering the logical implications of the reference to "the gates of hell." "Gates" are stationary; they simply swing in and/or out. Prison gates are built to keep prisoners in and to keep would-be rescuers out. A favorite image of the early church in the third century was that of Jesus breaking the bolts and smashing down the doors of hell. The gates to the spirit world have never posed a threat to the existence of the earthly church; they are in an entirely different realm. How, then, can Christ's statement about them be interpreted as a guarantee that the earthly church would never fall away?

Some critics maintain that the Mormon doctrine of a complete apostasy is inconsistent because John the Revelator and the Three Nephites remained on the earth. To those who understand LDS teaching on the subject, this objection is almost silly. For all practical purposes there was a complete falling away since John and the Three Nephites were not called to administer or set in order the affairs of the church on the earth. They do not even minister publicly; they keep their identities and activities hidden from mortal man.

Their duties lie far outside the normal purview of mortal priesthood responsibilities.

Theoretically, these four immortal priesthood holders could have been used to maintain the Lord's earthly church. However, they were not so utilized; that was not their calling.

As far as mankind was concerned, the gospel and priesthood were withdrawn from the earth. The priesthood was no longer available to church members to direct and set in order the earthly kingdom of God. So as far as mortal man was concerned, there was a complete falling away. Therefore, to appeal to the existence of John and the Three Nephites as evidence against a complete apostasy is illogical and pointless.

Faced with scriptural proofs of an impending apostasy, some anti-LDS critics will bend half way and say that there was a "partial" apostasy, but not a complete one. However, the ancient world knew nothing of a "partial" divorce, and Joshua 22:22 does not speak of a potential rebellion of "some" of Israel, but of "Israel" period.

Some anti-Mormon writers cite Ephesians 3:20-21 as evidence that there was no apostasy. The passage reads as follows:

Evangelical anti-Mormon James White sees this passage as strong evidence against the apostasy:

Taking White's strictly literal interpretation of Paul's words to its logical conclusion, one would have to believe that the church has always existed, or else the Father, using White's reasoning, could not be glorified in it "throughout all generations." Surely White and his fellow evangelical critics would not accept such a suggestion. Furthermore, to carry

White's exegesis further, one would also have to believe that the church as Paul knew it was to continue into eternity, a proposition which is clearly rejected elsewhere in the New Testament.

White's interpretation assumes that verse 21 applies exclusively to the earthly church. But is this necessarily the case? It is just as plausible, if not more so, to suggest that Paul was referring to the members of the church, or to the church in the spirit world, and not to the earthly branch of the church. Viewed in this manner, the verse does not constitute a promise of the earthly church's survival. Moreover, this understanding of the verse does not contradict the abundant historical evidence that the New Testament church did not survive.

Additionally, there is some question as to the wording of verse 21. The NIV reading quoted above is viewed by most scholars as the "preferred variant reading." However, a number of New Testament manuscripts omit the "and" between "the church" and "Christ," suggesting the reading "in the church through Christ" (Barth 375). The Vulgate inserts a comma after "the church," which, says Markus Barth, "perhaps intends to indicate that temporal praise is given to God 'in the church,' while eternal praise is offered 'in Christ'" (375).

Finally, it is doubtful that Paul intended his words in verse 21 to be taken as a statement about the church's future on the earth. He was closing the third chapter of Ephesians by offering praise to God; he was not providing a doctrinal statement about the future of the earthly church. Elsewhere in his epistles Paul did specifically address the earthly church's fate, and he made it clear that it was not going to survive.

The church of Jesus Christ ceased to exist on the earth after revelation and priesthood authority were withdrawn from among men. But in the spirit world the Lord's church continued to move forward. The gates of hell did not prevail against it. The gospel was preached in the spirit prison and many captives were set free, i.e., they were converted to the truth.

SUGGESTED READING:

1. Richard Lloyd Anderson, UNDERSTANDING PAUL (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company, 1983), pp. 367-378.

2. James L. Barker, APOSTASY FROM THE DIVINE CHURCH (Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft, Inc., 1984, reprint of 1960 edition).

3. Kent P. Jackson, "'Watch and Remember': The New Testament and the Great Apostasy," in John M. Lundquist and Stephen Ricks, editors, BY STUDY AND ALSO BY FAITH, volume 1 (Provo, Utah: Deseret Book Company and the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1990), pp. 81-117.

4. Hugh Nibley, WHEN THE LIGHTS WENT OUT: THREE STUDIES ON THE ANCIENT APOSTASY (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company, 1976).

5. James E. Talmage, THE ARTICLES OF FAITH, Forty-Second Edition (Salt Lake City, Utah: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1976), pp. 199-204.

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