Mormon Church

After Jesus Christ died, the church had a challenging time. Persecution was intense, and the apostles did all they could to keep the church operating and to spread the gospel message to as many people as possible. However, given the limitations of technology, and the limitations of a small group of people to do the work, progress was slow and persecution increased. All the apostles but John the Beloved were murdered.

Prior to His death, Jesus Christ had given His apostles all the authority necessary to operate the church when He was gone. This authority is known today as “keys.” They had the official priesthood handed down through the ages, and this gave them the proper authority. It is understood that Peter became the president of the Church after Jesus was resurrected and returned to His Father.

The apostles began to warn the people of a forthcoming apostasy. When Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, he explained to them that although they were eagerly awaiting the return of the Savior, it would not come yet, because there had to be a falling away first:

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 2:3).

Even before the death of the apostles, the apostasy had begun. Several letters sent by apostles to church members warned them to remove false doctrine from their teachings. Paul wrote to the Galatians:

6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:

7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.

12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. (Galatians 1)

Similar warnings were sent to Thessalonica, and Ephesus, and Paul warned the Hebrews, “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.” Timothy grieved that they had lost all the Christians in Asia to apostasy.

S. Kent Brown explains that one major division in the church was over the topic of the resurrection:

Much of the misunderstandings about the resurrection must be attributed to the notion of docetism, which came to be more and more influential during the second century. The term derives from the Greek verb dokeo, which means “to seem.” Docetics maintained that Jesus had only seemed to live among men, to suffer, and to die. In reality, they said, the heavenly Christ did not come into contact with the world of matter, for that would have defiled his divine nature.

Such a view of the Messiah denies that salvation comes as a result of Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection. In fact, the doctrine of salvation was subverted into the idea that Christ was a special messenger who brought to earth secret knowledge that would allow the elect to escape this corrupt world and to make their way back to the presence of the Father. This special knowledge was called gnosis, and those who held such a view of the Messiah were known as gnostics. (S. Kent Brown, “Whither the Early Church?,” Ensign, Oct 1988, 7)

When the apostles died, they took the keys to the kingdom with them. These keys, of course, are not literal, but it means the priesthood authority to lead God’s church was gone. Without that priesthood, there could not be a prophet. Prophets are the only method for the church to receive revelation from God.

Without a prophet, members of the church were unable to seek church-wide revelation concerning doctrine. Often questions arose and false practices began to wander into the church. Whereas, previously, the prophet and apostles could set things straight, there was no longer anyone qualified to do that. The differences of interpretation widened and soon, there were many different sects of Christianity, with differing beliefs.

There were periodic efforts to stem the flow of differences, including the council held at Nicaea. However, because the people who gathered there to create a unified creed didn’t have a prophet, they put the doctrine to a vote. They changed a few opinions, and essentially excommunicated those who didn’t cooperate.

Of course, truth can’t be found by voting, and so this really didn’t resolve the problem. While the majority of the churches-those invited to the meeting-chose a common belief, they still hadn’t learned the will of God on the subject. Divisions weren’t ended simply by declaring a creed, either. Over time, more and more denominations developed as people began to evaluate what their churches believed and started to develop even more opinions.

Over the centuries, we’ve seen many religious leaders, such as Martin Luther, who became concerned with how far Christianity had moved from the path set by the Savior. Although they didn’t have the keys to the kingdom, they made important contributions to the process of the restoration.

The restoration was necessary to fulfill the promises made by the Savior and His apostles that Christ would not come again until there had been a restoration of all things. This occurred in the 1800s, when Joseph Smith, then a fourteen-year-old boy, went into the woods to ask God which church to join. He was instructed not to join any, but to wait. In time, he was guided through the process of having the keys returned to the earth, and to the restoration of the fullness of the gospel.

All of this is necessary in order to prepare for the second coming. Each person on earth must have the opportunity to prepare for the second coming, just as the Jewish people had the opportunity to prepare for the first coming of Christ. The restoration allows us to do everything that is necessary for Christ’s return to earth and fulfills the promises of God.

Tags: apostasy, apostles, Jesus Christ, Mormons, New Testament, restoration

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 7th, 2009 at 9:47 am and is filed under Array. You can follow any responses to this entry through the /feed feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.