False Doctrines and Universal Apostasty

False Doctrines And Universal Apostasy

Apostasy from the Truth

A second great truth was revealed in the visitation of the Father and the Son to the Prophet Joseph Smith through the announcement made by the Savior of the world in answer to Joseph Smith's question as to which of the churches he should join. He was told he should

join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that . . . "they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof." (Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith 2:19.)

This pronouncement brought to Joseph Smith the information he so much desired, for, more than anything else, he wanted to know which of all the churches he should join, and it was to obtain this information that he went to the Lord in prayer.


Erroneous Teachings of Christian Churches

One erroneous teaching of many Christian churches is: By faith alone we are saved. This false doctrine would relieve man from the responsibility of his acts other than to confess a belief in God, and would teach man that no matter how great the sin, a confession would bring him complete forgiveness and salvation. What the world needs is more preaching of the necessity of abstaining from sin and of living useful and righteous lives, and less preaching of forgiveness of sin. This would then be a different world. The truth is that men must repent of their sins and forsake them before they can expect forgiveness. Even when our sins are forgiven, God cannot reward us for the good we have not done.

The prophet Mormon, who lived upon the American continent about A.D. 400, foretold the coming of the plates from which the Book of Mormon should be translated and described the condition of the churches that should then be found among the people:

Yea, it shall come in a day when the power of God shall be denied, and churches become defiled and be lifted up in the pride of their hearts; yea, even in a day when the leaders of churches and teachers shall rise in the pride of their hearts, even to the envying of them who belong to their churches.

Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be churches built up that shall say: Come unto me, and for your money you shall be forgiven of your sins. (Mormon 8:28, 32.)


Doctrine of Predestination

Again, there is the erroneous doctrine of predestination, which teaches that without any act on our part, some are predestined to eternal life and some to eternal damnation, and that no matter in which class we find ourselves, there is nothing we can do about it. A complete analysis of this doctrine forces one to the conclusion that if it is true that all our acts, whether good or evil, were predetermined before our birth, God would be responsible for all sin and iniquity in the world.

In his effort to destroy truth, Satan could hardly have hoped to deceive men more effectively and completely than to take from them, through the teaching of such doctrines, a consciousness of their responsibilities.


One Heaven and One Hell

There is also the false teaching of one heaven and one hell, with the thought that all who reach heaven will share alike, and the same will be true of those who are assigned to hell.

The truth, as restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith, emphasizes the fact that every man will receive according to his works; that there is a glory like the glory of the sun, another like that of the moon, and still another like that of the stars, and that the glory to which one shall be assigned will be determined by the things he does and the kind of life he lives.


God Cannot Be a God of Confusion

Sane thinking leads one to the conclusion that God cannot be the author of confusion; that two contradictory organizations could not originate with him, for God cannot be divided against himself. According to Paul:

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists: and some, pastors and teachers;

For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

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:

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. (Ephesians 4:11-14.)

When Joseph Smith commenced his search for truth, it soon became apparent that the Christian churches had not "come in the unity of the faith." Paul indicated they were "carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men." Hence the statement of the Savior to Joseph Smith that all their creeds were wrong.

In reading the scriptures, men would discover truths that were not to be found in the existing churches. They would gather a group together and then organize a church without any direct call or ordination from God. Hence, the Christian sects multiplied until they numbered hundreds. Such leaders would emphasize one certain principle and then organize a church around that principle: for instance, spiritual gifts, apostles, or worship on the seventh day.

The mission of the true church, under divine inspiration and leadership, should bring together into one church all the truths that are to be found in all other Christian churches, as well as those that have been overlooked or ignored, and to eliminate all error and man-made doctrines. This was what the Lord did in restoring his church to the earth through the instrumentality of the Prophet Joseph Smith.


Contemporary Opinions Affirming the Apostasy

The idea that the churches had gone astray and lost their vitality and authority is in agreement with the judgment of some of our greatest thinkers and with prophecies of the Holy Scriptures, as the following references will indicate.

In a work prepared by seventy-three noted theologians and Bible students, we read:

. . . we must not expect to see the Church of Holy Scripture actually existing in its perfection on the earth. It is not to be found, thus perfect, either in the collected fragments of Christendom, or still less in any one of these fragments. . . . (Dr. William Smith, Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1896.)

These seventy-three learned men, in effect, confirm the statement of Jesus to Joseph Smith—that all their creeds were wrong.

Roger Williams, pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence, Rhode Island, refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that there was

no regularly-constituted church on earth, nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance; nor could there be until, new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church, for whose coming, he is seeking. (Picturesque America, or the Land We Live In, ed. William Cullen Bryant, New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1872, vol. 1, p. 502.)

Had he been privileged to live to know the Prophet Joseph Smith and hear his message, he would have found that which he was seeking.

Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick, prominent American Baptist clergyman and author, described the decadent condition of the Christian churches of the first half of the twentieth century in these words:

A 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 to-day 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 earth now, hear the mythologies built up around him, see the creedalism, denominationalism, sacramentalism, carried on in his name, he would certainly say, "If this is Christianity, I am not a Christian." (Liahona: The Elder's Journal, April 20, 1926, p. 424.)

These and similar statements of ministers from various nations would certainly seem to corroborate the statement of the Savior to Joseph Smith and should motivate thinking seekers after truth to want to hear the remainder of the Prophet's story.


Bible Predictions Foretelling the Great Apostasy

Now let us consider the scriptural predictions that the time and conditions we have considered would come.

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. (2 Timothy 3:1-5. Italics added.)

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 shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4. Italics added.)

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 4:3-4.)

From the above it is evident that the apostle Paul was privileged to see our time and describe in advance the very conditions the Savior referred to in his denunciation of the churches to Joseph Smith, and as admitted by prominent ministers of the day. He indicated that these conditions were to exist "in the last days," that men would have "itching ears," and thus gather to themselves teachers after their own hearts and "turn away their ears from the truth." He stated further that men cannot look for the second promised advent of the Christ unless there be a "falling away first," so that all we have said is but an announcement that the events predicted have come to pass.

When the apostle John was banished upon the Isle of Patmos, he saw the power that would be given to Satan: "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." (Revelation 13:7.)

From this, it is evident that all kindreds, tongues, and nations should succumb to this evil power, which we understand more fully when we read that John saw the bringing back of the gospel to the earth to be preached to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. (See Revelation 14:6-7.)

To understand this scripture properly, it should be remembered that the followers of Christ were called saints. (See Ephesians 2:19; 2 Corinthians 8:4; 1 Corinthians 14:33.)

Knowing how universal this departure from the truth should be enables one to understand some of the prophecies of the ancient prophets as recorded in the Old Testament:

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, 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 8:11-12.)

In light of the words of Jesus, "Seek, and ye shall find" (Matthew 7:7), there can be but one explanation why men would not be able to find the word of the Lord, even though they would seek "from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east." The answer is, as Amos indicated, that the Lord would send a "famine in the land," a famine for hearing the word of the Lord.

The prophet Micah saw the day when there would be "no answer of God" and described the apostate condition of Israel:

Thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.

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.

The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among us? none evil can come upon us. (Micah 3:5-7, 11.)

Isaiah had a similar vision of what was to happen to Israel:

Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.

And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.

The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word.

The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.

The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances, broken the everlasting covenant.

Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left. (Isaiah 24:1-6.)

Isaiah understood the displeasure of the Lord that would rest upon the inhabitants of the earth for having "transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant"; and in the light of the destructive powers of the atom and other recent scientific developments of this nature, it is not difficult to understand that the predicted destruction could result in there being "few men left" upon the earth.

Paul also shared with the prophets a full understanding of the Lord's displeasure with those who should assume to change the truths of his gospel: "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." (Galatians 1:8.)

When Joseph Smith asked which church he should join, the Savior explained the condition of the Christian world, repeating the statement found in Isaiah 29:13, and then said that this condition was to be followed by "a marvellous work and a wonder" among the children of men:

Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:

Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. (Isaiah 29:13-14.)

Since the departure from the true gospel of Christ was to be universal, as the prophets foretold, and since such universal apostasy was confirmed in the statement of Jesus to Joseph Smith, it would follow that a restoration would be necessary. Such a restoration is the message of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.



(Legrand Richards, A Marvelous Work and a Wonder [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1950], 32.)