The Great Apostasy, Considered in the Light of Scriptural and Secular History. James E. Talmage

Church of Christ on the Western Hemisphere**.

      23. We have seen, on the evidence of the Jewish scriptures, how the Church was established and made strong in Asia and Europe in and immediately following the meridian of time. The scriptures cited are such as appeal to all earnest Christians; the authority is that of the New Testament. We have now to consider the establishment of the Church amongst those who constituted another division of the house of Israel—a people inhabiting what is now known as the American continent.

      24. For the benefit of those who are unfamiliar with the Nephite scriptures published to the world as the Book of Mormon, a brief historical summary is here presented.—(See Note 5, end of chapter.) In the year 600 B. C., in the reign of King Zedekiah, a small colony was led from Jerusalem by an inspired prophet named Lehi. These people were brought by divine assistance to the shores of the Arabian Sea, where they constructed a vessel in which they crossed the great waters to the western coast of South America. They landed 590 B. C. The people were soon divided into two parties, led respectively by Nephi and Laman, sons of Lehi; and these factions grew into the opposing nations known in history as Nephites and Lamanites. The former developed while the latter retrograded in the arts of civilization. Nephite prophets predicted the earthly advent of the Messiah, and foretold His ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection.

      25. The record states that the Messiah appeared in person among the Nephites on the western continent. This was subsequent to His ascension from the Mount of Olives. A foreshadowing of this great event was given by Christ in a declaration made while yet He lived on earth. Comparing Himself to the good shepherd who giveth his life for the sheep, He said: "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd."—(John 10:16; read verses 1-18 inclusive. Compare III Nephi 15:21.)

      26. According to the Nephite record, certain predicted signs of the Savior's death had come to pass. Destructive earthquakes and other dread convulsions of nature had taken place in the west, while the supreme tragedy was being enacted on Calvary. The people of the land Bountiful, comprising the northern portion of South America, were still marveling over the great convulsions that had terrified them a few weeks earlier, and on a certain occasion, were gathered together discussing the matter, when they heard a voice as from the heavens saying: "Behold my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name: hear ye him."—(III Nephi 11:7; read the entire chapter.) Looking up, they beheld a man descending. He was clothed in a white robe, and as He reached the earth He said: "Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world. * * * Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world."—(Verses 10:14.)

      27. Having thus declared Himself, Christ proceeded to instruct the people in the plan of the gospel as He had preached it, and in the constitution of the Church as He had established it in the east. He visited the Nephite people on subsequent occasions, taught them many of the precepts previously given to the Jews; emphasized the doctrine of baptism and other ordinances essential to salvation; instituted the sacrament in commemoration of His atoning death; chose and commissioned twelve apostles, on whom He conferred authority in the Church; explained the importance of designating the organization by its proper name—the Church of Christ; and announced the fulfilment of the law of Moses and the fact that it was thenceforth superseded by the gospel embodied within the Church as established by Himself. In plan of organization, in doctrine and precept, and in prescribed ordinances, the Church of Christ in the west was the counterpart of the Church in Palestine.

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      28. Thus in the meridian of time the Church of God was founded on both sides of the earth. In its pristine simplicity and beauty it exhibited the majesty of a divine institution. It is now our saddening duty to consider the decline of spiritual power within the Church, and the eventual apostasy of the Church itself.

      Footnote

      1. Conditions at the Beginning of the Christian Era. "At the birth of Christ this amazing federation of the world into one great monarchy had been finally achieved. Augustus, at Rome, was the sole power to which all nations looked. * * * No prince, no king, no potentate of any name could break the calm which such a universal dominion secured. * * * It was in such a unique era that Jesus Christ was born. The whole earth lay hushed in profound peace. All lands lay freely open to the message of mercy and love which He came to announce. Nor was the social and moral condition of the world at large, at the birth of Christ, less fitting for His advent than the political. The prize of universal power struggled for through sixty years of plots and desolating civil wars, had been won at last by Augustus. Sulla and Marius, Pompey and Caesar, had led their legions against each other, alike in Italy and the provinces, and had drenched the earth with blood. Augustus himself had reached the throne only after thirteen years of war, which involved regions wide apart. The world was exhausted by the prolonged agony of such a strife; it sighed for repose." (Cunningham Geikie, "The Life and Works of Christ," New York, 1894; vol. 1, p. 25.)

      "The Roman empire, at the birth of Christ, was less agitated by wars and turmoils than it had been for many years before. For though I cannot assent to the opinion of those who, following the account of Orosius, maintain that the temple of Janus was then shut, and that wars and discords absolutely ceased throughout the world, yet it is certain that the period in which our Savior descended upon earth may be justly styled the 'pacific age,' if we compare it with the preceding times. And indeed the tranquillity that then reigned was necessary to enable the ministers of Christ to execute with success their sublime commission to the human race." (Mosheim, "Ecclesiastical History," Cent. I, Part I; ch. 1:4).

      2. Paganism at the Beginning of the Christian Era. "Every nation then had its respective gods, over which presided one more excellent than the rest; yet in such a manner that this supreme deity was himself controlled by the rigid empire of the fates, or what the philosophers called 'external necessity.' The gods of the east were different from those of the Gauls, the Germans, and the other northern nations. The Grecian divinities differed widely from those of the Egyptians, who deified plants, animals, and a great variety of the productions both of nature and art. Each people also had their own particular manner of worshipping and appeasing their respective deities, entirely different from the sacred rites of other countries. * * * One thing, indeed, which at first sight appears very remarkable, is, that this variety of religions and of gods neither produced wars nor dissensions among the different nations, the Egyptians excepted. Nor is it perhaps necessary to except even them, since their wars undertaken for their gods cannot be looked upon with propriety as wholly of a religious nature. Each nation suffered its neighbors to follow their own method of worship, to adore their own gods, to enjoy their own rites and ceremonies, and discovered no sort of displeasure at their diversity of sentiments in religious matters. There is, however, little wonderful in this spirit of mutual toleration, when we consider that they all looked upon the world as one great empire, divided into various provinces, over every one of which a certain order of divinities presided; and that therefore none could behold with contempt the gods of other nations, or force strangers to pay homage to theirs. The Romans exercised this toleration, in the amplest manner. For, though they would not allow any changes to be made in the religions that were publicly professed in the empire, nor any new form of worship to be openly introduced, yet they granted to their citizens a full liberty of observing in private the sacred rites of other nations, and of honoring foreign deities (whose worship contained nothing inconsistent with the interests and laws of the republic) with feasts, temples, consecrated groves and such like testimonies of homage and respect." (Mosheim, "Eccl. Hist.," Cent. I, Part I; ch. 1:7-8.)

      3. Rapid Growth of the Church. Eusebius, who wrote in the early part of the fourth century, speaking of the first decade after the Savior's ascension, says:

      "Thus, then, under a celestial influence, and co-operation, the doctrine of the Savior, like the rays of the sun, quickly irradiated the whole world. Presently, in accordance with divine prophecy, the sound of His inspired evangelists and apostles had gone throughout all the earth, and their words to