Author: dgarrett

My Forever Friend

Doug and Shirley (February 2022)

Hello, my Forever friend. It’s just lonely me, again. 
You’re on my mind it seems, and in my dreams. 
Your face still lingers, slips through my fingers,
I try to make it stay. Heaven’s just too far away. 

The paths we walked, arms interlocked, hands grasped.
We’d joke, you knew before I spoke, what I would ask.
Your voice, your touch, I miss them, oh, so much.
There is no sound when you are not around.

Once in a crowd, I called out loud, nothing mattered. 
People stared, they were scared, so they scattered. 
I didn’t care. I saw you there, why could they not? 
It meant so much, the sweet tranquility you brought.

You were called to leave. I was left to grieve, 
The honour’s mine, do not pine, just let it be. 
Grief, noblest show of love, show I unto thee. 
I’ll wait for you, you for me, My Forever Friend. 

Douglas Garrett

Chapter 1: Introduction

Behold Thy God, Oh Jerusalem: Judah’s Journey from Exile to Redemption

In the days following the death of King Solomon (around 920 B.C.), Israel’s golden era ended and its people divided into two groups: The Northern Kingdom, also called Israel or the Kingdom of Ephraim (because that was the dominant tribe of those residing within its borders), and the Southern Kingdom, known as Judah.

In 722 B.C. the Northern Kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians and the Ten Tribes of Israel (of which Ephraim was one) were scattered during this conquest and have remained, for the most part, lost to our knowledge.

From 722 B.C., while the Southern Kingdom remained independent, the remnants of Levi and most of Benjamin fled south as refugees and assimilated with the Tribe of Judah. When the Kingdom of Judah eventually fell in 587 B.C. these minor tribes were either killed or taken captives along with the others into Babylon.

The Old Testament picks up the stories of the survivors of the Kingdom of Judah, starting in Lamentations 1:1. “How doth the city sit solitary that was full of people! How is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary!”

Psalm 137
1By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
2 We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
3 For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
4 How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?
5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
6 If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.
7 Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Raise it, raise it, even to the foundation thereof.
8 O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.
9 Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.

In the classic opera Nabucco, composed by Giuseppe Verdi, the words of the chorus of the Hebrew slaves captures the lament as follows (translated from the original):

Fly, though on wings of gold. Go settle upon the slopes and the hills,
Where soft and mild the sweet airs of our native soil smelt soft and mild.
Greet the banks of the River Jordon and Zion’s toppled towers
Oh my country, so lovely and beautiful and lost.
Oh, remembrance so dear and unhappy.
Golden harp of the prophetic seers,
Why dost thou hang so silently upon the willows?
Rekindle the memories of our hearts and speak to us of times gone by.
Remembering the fate of Jerusalem, play us a sad lament
Or may the Lord inspire you with a harmony of voices
To fortify us to endure our suffering.

Little did theIsraelites know how the Lord had already prepared for their return, using the good graces of King Cyrus of Persia, who would take over the Babylonian Empire.

In Isaiah Chapter 45: 1 & 4, the Lord speaks of Cyrus who has not even come to power yet.
Thus saith the Lord to his anointed Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden to subdue nations before him and I will loose the Loins of Kings to open before him the two leaved gates and the gates shall not be shut.
 For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.

Cyrus was surprised, flattered and moved to assist the captives from Jerusalem. He financed a contingent of righteous Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple (See Ezra 1: 1-5). His successor, Darius was made aware of Cyrus’ decree and sent further assistance to the faltering project. The Jews remained there, and the temple walls and interior were rebuilt despite the coming of the Greeks under Alexander the Great, the Maccabean revolt when they lost their bid to retain their religion and after they became part of the Roman Empire. They remained in Jerusalem and Palestine until after the birth and the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ, about 70 AD.

At this time a sect of Jews known as Zealots rebelled against Roman rule. This was the final impetus for Roman to stamp out the remainder of the Jews, resulting in the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem, the siege at Masada and the scattering of Judah once again.

The Jews remained a scattered and homeless people for about 2000 years or until they were granted the right to return to their homeland in 1947 by the United Nations.

Since her ancient scattering throughout all the nations of the earth and her present regathering, we have been witnessing the miracle that is Israel. It would be an incomplete story of the hand of God restoring his ancient Church from apostasy in the latter days if we did not also tell the story of what his other hand has been doing for his chosen people, the Jews.

Here are some of the many ancient prophecies regarding his redeeming love that show He will not and has not forsaken the covenant He made with Israel on Mount Zion: 

Deuteronomy 4: 27-31 (Bible: Old Testament)

27 And the Lord shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the Lord shall lead you.
28 And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice;
31 (For the Lord thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.

Isaiah 11: 11-12 (Bible: Old Testament)

11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

Ezekiel 34: 11-16 (Bible: Old Testament)

11 For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.
12 As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
13 And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.
14 I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.
15 I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God.
16 I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.

2 Nephi 29: 13-14 (Book of Mormon)

13 And it shall come to pass that the Jews shall have the words of the Nephites, and the Nephites shall have the words of the Jews; and the Nephites and the Jews shall have the words of the lost tribes of Israel; and the lost tribes of Israel shall have the words of the Nephites and the Jews.
14 And it shall come to pass that my people, which are of the house of Israel, shall be gathered home unto the lands of their possessions; and my word also shall be gathered in one. And I will show unto them that fight against my word and against my people, who are of the house of Israel, that I am God, and that I covenanted with Abraham that I would remember his seed forever.

Articles of Faith (Joseph Smith)

10 We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.

All of these prophecies are being fulfilled, even as you read them upon these pages. 

Chapter 2: The Fall

Behold Thy God, Oh Jerusalem: Judah’s Journey from Exile to Redemption

When Christ ascended into Heaven from the Mount of Olives (Acts 1:9), there was a plethora of Jewish sects left behind besides Jewish Christians. All belonged to Israel and all thought of themselves as “the covenant people”. Here are just some of them:

Hellenistic Jews: Academics and scholars, they were heavily influenced by the Greek thinkers and philosophers of Alexandria. 

Samaritans: Mixed tribal decedents of those who had escaped as refugees from the Assyrian conquest of Israel in 721 B.C. They were not accepted by Judah as pure-blooded Israelites.

Galilean Rabbis: Most religious of the Jews, later consolidated the teachings of the rabbis into one set of uniform rules, the Mishnah.

Pharisees: Middle class businessmen by trade. Agreed with Sadducee to the execution of Christ.

Sadducee: Aristocrats and members of the ruling class, from whom the members of the Sanhedrin were chosen.

Nazarene: Title given because of a person’s birthplace. Christ was labelled a Nazarene.

Nazarite: A consecrated man who took a vow to abstain from wine, from cutting his hair and from contact with any dead. Samson and Samuel were Nazarites.

Publicans: Tax collectors for Rome. They were despised by everyone.

Scribes: More than transcribing clerks, they were officially recognized as teachers, scholars, editors and interpreters of the scriptures. Many were also authors, writers and journalists.

Zealots: Ruffians, wild, prone to violence and unreasonable thinking. Saw force as the only means of throwing off Roman dominance. Became a political movement.

Jerusalem Jews: Isolated in the mountains, they were more concerned with the Temple and were influenced by the Temple Priests.

Priests: Responsible for the daily operations of the Temple. Most were corrupt and had made themselves rich through their Priesthood Positions. Hated by the majority of Jews. 

Judean Jews: Influenced by Greek paganism. Apostate and unwilling to change. 

Essenes: A community of devout Jews who had retreated into the desert near Qumran to remain pure from the corrupt influences of their fellow Jews living in the cities. Here they planned to purify themselves while they awaited the arrival of the Messiah and the end of times. Unfortunately, they were caught up in the wars of extermination by the Romans but not before they had sealed up their records and buried them in caves near the Dead Sea. They were annihilated but their scrolls remained hidden in caves until discovered in 1947.

Jewish Christians: Those Jews who accepted Christ as their Messiah.

Gnostic Christians: Those that believed they had secret knowledge that allowed them access to Heaven. Beliefs regarding God the Father, Christ, Holy Ghost and Satan were very different and inconsistent with Jewish or mainstream understanding of roles of the Godhead, the Messiah or Satan.

When we see the melting pot into which the new Christian movement was attempting to establish itself, we have some idea of the problems Paul later faced. Most of the epistles written by Paul, which are included in the New Testament, were written to correct errors that were creeping into the practices of those who claimed to be believers in Christ.  

The first Christians were all Jews. Christianity was not a new religion as far as those first converts were concerned. It was in fact the extension and fulfillment of the Jewish religion’s hopes and aspirations. It was the culmination of almost 600 years of prayers since the fall of Jerusalem. They had hope that their Messiah would deliver them from their oppressors. But their short-sightedness had blinded them. Their problems did not start with Assyria, Babylon, Greece or Rome. It roots went back to the days of Samuel, when the Israelites, as a nation, had demanded to have a “…king to judge us like all the nations”, rather than have God rule over them.

1 Samuel 8: 4-5, 7
4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,
5 And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.
7 And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

Could they not see that they already had the Lord as their King and that he had preserved them through battle after bloody battle? Samuel warned what would happen should they chose worldly kings instead, but they were deaf and blind to reason.

1 Samuel 8: 10-18
10 And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the people that asked of him a king.
11 And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.
12 And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots.
13 And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.
14 And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants.
15 And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants.
16 And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work.
17 He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants.
18 And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day.

As predicted, horrible results were heaped on their heads. Even now they are still reaping the whirlwinds of the foolish decision they had sown.

Also misunderstood was what oppressor their Messiah would deliver them from. The enemy their Messiah would confront was not their outward oppressors. Instead, his efforts would be directed at the war that rages within us and his offer of deliverance would be to all – not just the Jews.

And what battle was that? The one between good and evil. Then, as now, obedience to God is the only way to freedom. We can only rise above worldly kings, or thoughts, or temptations when we have the Lord as our king.Without the Lord, peace is not sustainable.

Unfortunately, the lessons from the past were not learned by Israel. In spite of all the evidence, the Jews of Christ’s day made the same wrong choice again. They chose The Law of Moses over the Law of the Gospel, they chose the sayings of the Rabbis over the saying of their Messiah, and they chose to stay in darkness of the past rather than to move into the light of the future. 

It is difficult to understand how they had turned away from God in the first instance, but after having tasted the bitter results for so long, it is almost inconceivable how they could reject him again! What a lesson for all of us to recognize that unimaginable consequences often come from what we perceive as inconsequential decisions. The Jews’ relationship with God had just undergone a tectonic shift that would last until Christ’s second coming. Is this what Christ was referring to when he said:

Mark 10: 31
But many that are first shall be last; and the last first.

To this day, the restored gospel has not been preached to the Jews. The new State of Israel was formed in 1948 and since then many have begun to gather back to their ancestral homeland. Yet, as a people they have not recognized Jesus as their Messiah. Perhaps that will not happen until the Saviour returns the second time.

The gospel of Jesus had been brought to his covenant people, the House of Israel, starting with Judah. But they (the first covenanted) refused him. Now it was to go instead through Paul, to the rest of the House of Israel, and those considered the last, the Gentiles. 

D&C 45: 51-52
And then shall the Jews look upon me and say: What are these wounds in thine hands and in thy feet? Then shall they know that I am the Lord; for I will say unto them: These wounds are the wounds with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. I am he who was lifted up. I am Jesus that was crucified. I am the Son of God.

We can see how Christ’s rejection by the very people he came to save could pose a problem. How might that effect the status of these descendants of Abraham and their pervious covenant to support and obey God? 

Here are some other questions to consider:

1/ What happens to the Jews now?
2/ Has the original covenant between God and Judah been repealed, severed or annulled? 
3/ If Judah is to be last, who among the Christian gentiles is to be first?
4/ Where is Israel today? Does she recognize the rights and accept the responsibilities associated with the Abrahamic covenant?
5/ What is the Christian Church’s status with God now so far as the covenant is concerned? 

To fully appreciate the answers to these questions, we must first understand what the covenant was, when it was first introduced and what it has since become in these last days. To do that we must go all the way back to the time of the Garden of Eden and the beginning of human history. 

The part we need to look at specifically is when Adam and Eve were driven out of the garden because of their disobedience. The pair find themselves in an extremely hostile world. They have to learn how to protect themselves from heat and cold by making clothing from animal skins. Food must be grown or killed and prepared. Shelter must be found or built. They have to expend great amounts of energy and learn new skills just to survive. But they are obedient to all God’s other commandments even though they are no longer able to talk with him. After many days, meaning a long while, and having had their faith tested, they are visited by an angel who instructs them regarding their future relationship with God. The law of sacrifice is introduced in similitude of the sacrifice of the Saviour would make for them. The commandment to repent is given. Almost immediately following their willingness to repent, God himself begins to speak directly to Adam.

Moses 6: 51-52 
And he called upon our father Adam by his own voice, saying: I am God; I made the world, and men before they were in the flesh.
And he also said unto him: If thou wilt turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, and believe, and repent of all thy transgressions, and be baptized, even in water, in the name of mine Only Begotten Son … ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost…

Baptism is an ordinance involving a covenant. According to the account given by Moses:
Moses 5: 59
And thus all things were confirmed unto Adam, by an holy ordinance, and the Gospel preached, and a decree sent forth, that it should be in the world, until the end thereof…

Here we have the first indication of a covenant between man and God. This information was made known unto everyone, but we know that not everyone was willing to enter into the covenant with God. We hear of successive Priesthood leader making great attempts to teach people the gospel, the most successful being Enoch. According to Moses, Enoch heard a voice from Heaven saying:

Moses 6: 27-30
…Enoch, my son, prophesy unto this people, and say unto them—Repent, for thus saith the Lord: I am angry with this people, and my fierce anger is kindled against them… ever since the day that I created them, have they gone astray… and have not kept the commandments, which I gave unto their father, Adam. Wherefore, they have foresworn themselves, and, by their oaths, they have brought upon themselves death; and a hell I have prepared for them, if they repent not… And this is a decree, which I have sent forth in the beginning of the world, from my own mouth…

From this we learn that God considered the oath (covenant) to still be in effect during Enoch’s lifetime. It appears the people who had foresworn themselves had not been living their covenant. Enoch then called the inhabitants of the land to repent and to recommit to God by baptism. Eventually the whole City of Enoch become righteous and was removed from the Earth. 

Still, there were many who did not repent or renew their covenant. Enoch was permitted to see what would happen to these people. He saw the great flood. Enoch also beheld the future of the whole Earth, including the days of Christ, and witnessed the Messiah lifted upon the cross. Despite the sorrow caused by this great wickedness, God promised to carry on the covenant by send righteous leaders. Thus, the covenant would remain intact for those obedient followers who chose to uphold it.

God explained, “This is my work and my glory — to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” (Moses 1: 39)

Adam and Eve understood:“Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good from evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient.” (Moses 5: 10-11)

With the catastrophic end of the first period of the world by flood, a new beginning emerges for Noah’s children. It isn’t long before that individual who is to relight the covenant torch appears on the world stage. From the ninth descendant of Shem, Son of Noah, Abram is born.

Because of his faithfulness and willingness to sacrifice even his birthright son, Abram is called by God to start a new line of covenant priesthood holders willing to bring the Gospel and salvation to God’s sons and daughters. It is through this lineage, that Jacob is born. Each party who is brought into the covenant is given a new name. The new name given to Abram was Abraham. (It is to this Abraham, the Jews trace their lineage, uniqueness and authority.)

Genesis 17: 7
And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.

The promised blessings of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel) can be listed under three headings:

Accordingly, the covenant was passed on from Abraham to his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob. When the covenant was renewed through Jacob, the new name given to him was Israel.

1/Priesthood
This is the authority to grant the blessings of the covenant to others, such as the priesthood, temple ordinances and celestial marriage.

2/Posterity
The blessing of children, or eternal increase. The strength of the tribe was in its members. Without children you had nothing permanent. Without righteous children, your legacy was chaos. 

3/ Promised Lands 
A land of Inheritance, given from God, upon which they may live their religion and raise their families in peace and comfort.

The names of Abraham and Israel have become synonymous with the covenant and the covenant people. Yet, as an aging Jacob prepared to die, disputes arose as to which of his twelve sons (known as the 12 Tribes of Israel) would inherit the priesthood and covenant.

Normally the firstborn son would be the heir to the birthright. To him would go the responsibility of caring for the family after the patriarch’s passing. This inheritance was not just about receiving more of the father’s wealth. It was also the responsibility to provide for everyone’s survival and economic wellbeing. This included the spiritual and physical care for his father’s widow, all other single women and dependants who could not maintain themselves in the tribe. And of course, this son would also have his own wife and children to support. To compensate him for this extra economic burden, he would be given an extra portion of inheritance. For instance, in the case of a family of 12 sons, the estate would be divided into 13 portions. The eldest son would receive 2 portions and all others 1 each. The son who received this double portion would be held accountable for using the second portion wisely and equitably. In the event the eldest son could not be trusted or would not agree to the terms of the birthright responsibilities, another son could be named in his place. This was often the case and many problems resulted because of jealousy and competition between sons who had the potential to be heirs. Such was the situation in the family of Israel. 

Because unrighteousness disqualified the usual heirs, Joseph inherited the birthright blessing over of his brothers. In turn the birthright was passed onto Joseph’s sons (Israel’s grandsons) Ephraim and Manasseh. (To read more about the specific blessings of the remaining brothers of the house of Israel see Genesis 48 and 49.) 

This “birthright” arrangement worked well within the Kingdom of Israel for many centuries, until the death of King Solomon. Although noted for his wisdom in governing, Solomon failed miserably in his family affairs. His sons were pampered and there was obvious favouritism. Rehoboam, the son expected to replace Solomon, enjoyed a lifestyle that needed a substantial income to sustain. When he succeeded to his father’s throne, the ten tribes located in the northern part of the country feared higher taxes, so they rebelled and separated. That left only two tribes remaining in Judah, or the Southern Kingdom. The divide weakened both groups immediately. Eventually, the Northern Kingdom was conquered and absorbed into Assyria. The Southern Kingdom remained viable for a couple additional hundred years before being destroyed by Babylon. That extra time was enough to proclaim Judah, by default, as the birthright heir of the House of Israel.

Judah remained in captivity to Babylon for seventy years. Then King Cyrus allowed them to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the remains of Solomon’s temple. Cyrus’ gracious permission returned the promises of the covenant to the children of Israel.

1/ They were in possession of and living in the land promised to them by the Lord.

2/ They had regained the temple and the priesthood to administrate the ordinances performed within it. 

3/ They had plenty of posterity. Although the ten tribes had been lost, and what few refugees remaining from the Assyrian invasion (such as the Samaritans) were disqualified as pure Israelite because of inter-marrying with indigenous tribes, there was a distinct group of descendants from Judah. And they now had exclusive claim to the blessings of the covenant of Abraham.

That was the situation when Christ was born. Every Jew believed to the core, that they were the chosen people, the “Children of Abraham”. But not everyone agreed with each other about what they individually believed. Factions had formed within their religious community: Pharisees, Sadducees and other groups contended with one another. Even Christ denounced them for their corruption, apostate priesthood and obvious hypocrisy.

After the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, unsettling questions began to form in the troubled minds of both Jews and Christians. Was there still a birthright blessing? Who would God choose as the legitimate heir to the covenant? Must that person be a descendant of Abraham? During the first century after Christ’s departure the answers would continue to elude at the same time as Judah was destroyed as a nation and its people were disburses throughout the world. 

Events affecting Palestine and the Jews

1st Century A.D.

6 A.D. Provence of Roman Judea created.

33 A.D. Trial and Crucifixion of Jesus Christ carried out by Romans by insistence of Jewish Leaders: Annas , Caiaphas and the Chief Priests.

30 -70 A.D. Helena of Adiabene, vassal kingdom of Mesopotamia, coverts to Judaism. Significant numbers of her followers also join and supply support for Jewish Roman wars.

30 –70 A.D. Differences between Jews who accept or those who reject Christ causes a schism during Second Temple era.

66-70 A.D. First Jewish Wars / The Great Revolt between the Jews and Romans results in destruction of Second Temple and the fall of Jerusalem.

73 -74 A.D. Final wrap up of the Roman and Jewish wars. Fall of Masada.

70-200 A.D. Christianity formally splits from its Jewish roots, establishes its own texts and ideology to become its own religion. 

2nd Century A.D.

115-117 A.D. Kitos War, revolt against Trajan involving communities of Cypress, Cyrene (Libya), Egypt, Mesopotamia (Syria and Iraq), against Emperor Hadrian. Hundreds of thousands of Jews were killed. Jewish rebels are defeated and totally exterminated in Cypress and Cyrene.

131 A.D. Emperor Hadrian renames Jerusalem “Aelia Capitolina” and the province of Judea “Syria Palaestina”. Most of the Jewish population (about 580,000) is annihilated.

138 A.D. Emperor Hadrian dies. Jewish persecution is eased, and Jews allowed to visit Jerusalem on Tusha B’av. The Jewish centre moves to Galilee. And thus ends the Kingdom of Judah.

Chapter 3: The Great Diaspora 

Behold Thy God, Oh Jerusalem: Judah’s Journey from Exile to Redemption

The dispersal of Jews from their promised land was the result of two different circumstances.
1/ Failed armed resistance to the Roman occupation.
2/ Voluntary relocation for economic reasons.

The last armed resistance of the Jews against the Romans (known as the Bar-Kochba Revolt) took place in 132 A.D. The rebels were put down and wiped out. The Jewish population was reduced by 50%, most having been killed, deported as slaves or escaped into Egypt and Galilee. The countryside was laid to waste, towns flattened or abandoned. Of the 75 known towns none were left with a single soul to walk their empty streets. The Romans erased the name of Judah from its usage on maps and replaced it with the name “Aelia Capitolina”. In Jerusalem, all that was left standing was the retaining wall of the temple. Everything else was seeded with salt to prevent vegetation from growing. The intellectual and religious life of the community was gone. Any study of Jewish history or culture was punishable by death. 

Fortunately, new, more lenient governments followed Hadrian’s rule and, over time,  most anti-Jewish laws were repealed. A revival of Jewish spiritual life was begun and flourished. Many of the exiles returned. 

Learning was the essence by which the Jews survived, and spiritual strength became the priority of generations to come. The centre of their activities shifted from Jerusalem to Galilee. The old institutes were replaced with an imbued loyalty to the past glories of Israel, the memory of the temple and to their core survival.

The Romans, in an attempt to pacify the country, collaborated with the Rabbis in their peaceful ambitions. Soon the cities began to transform into centres of study attracting teachers and students from all lands. The loss of the temple, as can be imagined, caused a major traumatic shifting of worship and focus. Rabbis introduced a custom of marking all events as they related to the day of the destruction of the temple. All Jews continued to pay tithing. Pilgrims to the temple were encouraged. Prayer became a substitute for service, and rituals were adopted to link the Synagogue to the temple. Migration from Palestine had reached such a level as to be a serious threat to the survival of the community. The Rabbis encouraged people to remain as a symbolic sign of their faith. Most of the people spoke Greek or Aramaic but Hebrew was revived to become the National language. Speaking Hebrew was put on the same spiritual level as residence in the Holy Land.

This centralizing of educators also made possible the forming a consolidation and codification of the Oral Laws. Alongside the Torah (or Written Law), Oral Laws had been handed down for centuries by memory to many generations in an accumulation of chaotic mass writings. They had no order whatsoever. A work began, which lasted over half a century and resulted in what was called the “Mishnah”, a great literary and legal document drawn from 13 collections of case histories from 150 scholars. After passing Biblical justification, the traditions were supplemented, scrutinized and rearranged into subject divisions. The whole was arranged into six orders, Seeds, Feasts, Women, Damages, Hallowed affairs, Cleanliness and Sacred things. Each of the divisions were further divided into Tractates, Chapters, and Clauses.

These factors led to a more cohesive and united community of Jewishness, its culture and its self confidence. The Romans had left them alone with no interference or religious persecution for just sufficient time for this restoration to firmly set before conditions once more began to change. 

With the decline of the economic and social fabric of the Empire, coupled with the constant rise of taxation, the Jews began to realize they could not flourish as a segregated society. This was further exacerbated by the adoption of Christianity as the Religion of the Roman Empire. This expanded the Christian Church Fathers throughout the Empire. Now, there was no room for both the Jewish Patriarch in Palestine and the Christian Bishop in Jerusalem. Jewish communities had already expanded into Babylon, Syria, Persia and Armenia and as the situation deteriorated, the pressure mounted for the Palestinian Jews to migrate to those centres. The effect was that the influence of the Palestinian Rabbis declined while the influence of the Rabbis in Babylon grew in importance. 

For some time, the two schools in Palestine and Babylon worked together on the Mishnah, but then a disharmony began to grow. The teachers came to the conclusion that the Mishnah as it was then constituted, did not include all the Laws or legal materials. Most certainly not the additional laws that had been implemented since the work had begun. They also felt that many of the explanations referred exclusively to the Palestinian traditions and too little consideration had been given to the Babylonian traditions. The Palestinian scholars continued to become enfeebled by the widespread adoption of Christianity, so the rift widened. Babylonian and Palestinian academics eventually chose their own ways. The additional legal entries and codified additions were combined with the original Mishnah thus forming the Talmud. But, as the two groups worked separately, it resulted in the creation of two Talmuds, the Palestinian Talmud and the Babylonian Talmud.

The Palestinian Talmud also known as the Jerusalem Talmud was not finished until the middle of the fourth century because of very extremely adverse political conditions. It has some serious short comings. It was incomplete and lacked continuity. Its greatest contribution was to the history and as a source of information of Jewry in Palestine.

The Babylonian Talmud also has short comings. While it reflects 10 centuries of customs and history of Jewry in Palestine as well as Babylonia, it includes a plethora of fables, sagas, legends, tales, poems, allegories, ethical reflections and historical reflections. The Bible is its starting point, but somewhere in its 2 1/2 million words, more than a third became devoted to the nonlegal part of the Mishnah. Much of the teachings are reflections and personal opinions of the teachers and scholars who wrote them.

As the Bible became the core of Christian living, so did the Talmud become the daily companion of the Jewish culture including the very existence of the entity. As hostility and forced expulsion from society pressed in on them, the Jews became dependent on their traditions and customs honoured by their forefathers. The Talmud also provided an identity which gave them purpose and cohesion.

The next major force that impacted the life of Jewry occurred in the early fourth century. Constantine converted to Christianity and brought the religion to the Roman Empire by force. In an attempt to save his crumbling Empire, he shifted the Capital to Constantinople which was to become a new centre of power. No doubt his thinking for such a move was to leave the corruption and immorality of the old system behind. However, this scheme was stillborn. What was born in its place, was the Byzantine Empire. Just before the lights went out in the East, the Papacy was established. Arguments and contentions caused the world of the Roman Church to split in two parts, East and West. These shifting tectonic plates caused new waves of persecution and intolerance to come crashing down upon the Jews. 

Constantine unleashed Christianity with Empirical edict and might. Singled out for degradation were the Jews because, as a whole, they would not submit to compulsory baptism. They suffered greatly under the Persian and Byzantium Empires. 

Meanwhile, the new European states that were the outcome of the disintegrated Roman Empire, began to collate. Originally, the Edict of Caracalla in 212 A.D. had given Jews the right to citizenship. Now under the Theodosius Code of 438 A.D., an enforced, sustained policy of intolerance began to demand strict regulations regarding their freedoms. The Jews were not permitted to marry Christians, could not have Christian slaves, could build no synagogues, and were restricted in their occupation choices. For the next 1½ centuries, and the continuing during the rise of Islam, the Jews were harassed in and banished from one location after another. With the collapse of the Empire, the various states remaining were free to impose whatever conditions they wanted upon the nation-less Jews. All relics from the Christian period were removed from the Holy lands, as well as any evidences from Biblical prophets. Churches were built over original historical holy sites. Jews were banned from entering such places as Jerusalem. 

When the Babylonians, Cyrus and Alexander the Great conquered the Holy Land, they were mostly tolerant of the Jews and allowed them to practice their religion. This was not the case when the Jews fell into the hands of the Christians. Now they were forced to be baptized as Christians or be deported as Jews. 

These were desperate times. Thousands were baptized while the rest of the Jews migrated to Italy, Franco/ Germany, and Spain. The Jews who settled in Spain (who became known as Sephardic Jews) endured particularly harsh treatment because they were labelled “Christ Killers”.  Regardless of where they sought shelter, they tended to live in urban communities, isolating themselves in Ghettos. Almost without exception, they remained as aliens in their new surroundings, permitted to work only in the humblest of occupations.

Like a football between competing teams, both the Jews in Europe and the Jews in Palestine were kicked back and forth between the East Orthodox Church, West Roman Catholics, the Christian Kings, the Persians, the Arabs and the Muslims. As a result, Jews were forced to abandon the pursuit of agriculture and relinquish any ties to the land. Excluded from the economy of all nations they resorted to trades where they eventually achieved a universal prominence. This unfortunately made them a natural target for all kinds of abuse as well.

And God Spake

OLD TESTAMENT PREFACE PART 1
Was Genesis really the beginning?

When I was a small boy, my mental imaging of God creating the world was very simplistic and elementary. I visualized God sitting on some sort of Throne in his Clouds of Glory commanding the elements to form and the world to materialize. Looking like an architect over-seeing a miniaturized model displayed before him, he pointed with his finger as lightning hissed from it to the object to complete the assigned task. When it was completed, he held it in his hands and pronounced it “ Good”. Then he placed it in space between the planets and stars and withdrew behind his glory clouds again where, like Santa Claus, he remains where no one could see him, watching us.

Fortunately, most of that image changed long before my reading of Abraham 3 : 24,when I began to understand there were others such as Christ and Michael, involved in the creation. Despite all of this, the image of several Gods now in the clouds instead of one and the vision of the World in space with the lightning finger, still lingers in imaginations of my mind tucked away with other of my childhood impressions.

Over the many years of reading and studying, pondering and reflecting, my view has crystallized and dramatically shifted. The childhood ideas and imaginations and other such like understanding have been replaced and hopefully has become more accurate. One experience that helped me understand the workings of God, was witnessing the unfolding of an event in Montreal that was called Expo 67.

As I watched this Herculean task come to fruition, it amazed me to see how many people were involved, how critical accurate communications were, how much physical effort was applied and how much cooperation and strict compliance to the laws of order and rules was required. All these factors were absolutely essential from top to bottom in all the organizations including between various companies, Governments of other Countries and all their contractors throughout the entire world. To have this degree of perfect communication occur implies a level of competence I never realized mere mortals could attain. This was just some of the planning that was required before the Expo was opened.

As far back as 1958, the idea of hosting the 1967 expo was raised at a meeting of Canadian, Provincial, Government representatives. There were many other countries doing the same bidding for that same opportunity. All bids had to be be submitted to Brussels in 1960 where the committee, who was authorized and assigned the responsibility, resided. They alone had the authority to choose the country who could best meet the requirements and standards as had already been establish and considered mandatory by this committee.

Montreal was finally awarded permission to proceed in 1962. The Political party leader behind all this promotion in Canada, was John Diefenbaker, leader of the Conservative Party. When Lester Pearson of the Liberal Party replaced him in in 1963, he determined to carry on with the plan as constituted. Montreal’s Mayor, Jean Drapeau was authorized to appoint a local site planning committee to handle details like, what property would be used, who would physically create and build the site and who would put in the necessary utilities. Even the matter of how the costs could be shared among the various levels of government would have to be agreed upon before anything could start.

This was just the beginning. Yet to be done was the awarding the contract to the winning bidder, construction of the routes and modes of transportation to get the army of workers to get to their respective sites.

The longest orthotropic bridge in the world had to be constructed to accommodate the thousands of trucks that would carry 15 million tons of rock and earth to built two islands on which to establish the site. The list of other detailed and critical matters needed, seemed to continually grow.

For the next two years the site resembled an active open pit mine. Meanwhile life had to carry on for the ordinary citizens living in and adjacent to the future site. They still had to navigate along their daily routes across, around and between the construction traffic. None the less, on April 28, 1967, 90 nations with about 120 booths and buildings, all speaking different languages, miraculously were ready on time for the official Grand opening of “Expo 67. Man and His Habitat”.

If this is what is required for a successful, relatively small occurrence in the scheme of mankind’s history, I reasoned then, what must have been required to put together a new world that would orbit in harmony with all other neighbouring planets, plus a moon and a sun, all the while providing and supplying the necessary requirements for sustaining billions of God’s children for as long as they would residents on the Earth ?

I cannot possibly attempt to imagine such a gigantic, cosmic sized, mind-bending achievement nor what that would have involved.

Of course man is primitive, while God is immeasurably smarter and has access to knowledge, experience and systems we have no concept of. Still, there are similarities between the two projects so far as the required organizational knowledge, then implementation is concerned.

To begin with, God did not and does not work alone. The creation of a world, we read, was a joint effort of the Gods. Elohim is a Hebrew plural word (like the word “People”)meaning ” The Gods” inferring more than one. We know Christ worked under our God’s supervision, as had Michael (later called Adam), as an assistant. There is no indication that they were the only ones involved! And what about this statement from Christ to Moses?

“There are many worlds that have passed away.. and there are many that now stand and innumerable are they unto man, but all things are numbered unto me for they are mine.”
Moses 1:35

Building an Earth planet, was not a new concept. There was a pattern set both in precedence and in design. Surely in a world of order, there would be a procedure regarding how it is to be done and exactly who is permitted to do so.

Brigham Young stated (Oct 1862):
“There never was a time where there did not exist an earth like this, peopled with men and women as this is. There never was a beginning to the order of Creation in which we find ourselves.”

There must have been many councils in heaven beside the First Grand Council, in order to plan, direct and then report back. This system, which we know and practice here, must most certainly have originated there, especially when so many worlds were being built, all at the same time.

This process is continually going on! What a insanely busy place it would seem to us. Yet, it is called “Organized” because that is the nature of the world of Gods.

Perhaps, like the supreme organization in Brussels but on a vastly greater scale, permission had to be obtained from the council of Gods for our world to be built. We are no doubt too far away in intelligence, space and time to hope to understand any of this or the individuals involved or their capabilities and accomplishments. Still, there are echoes in ancient writings that reflect a belief similar to this that indeed, another council took place. The Egyptians, for instance, under the Pharaoh Shabaka, from the 25 Dynasty, record:

“All the Gods assembled in the presence of the supreme God PTAH – he who was the mind and the mouth of the council of the Gods.”

The Babylonian creation story in their writings called the ENUMA ELISH relates that, “The Creator, he of vast intelligence who attended a great assembly among his brethren the Gods, before the world was made.“

It was Joseph Smith who told us in Feb 1843, that he was permitted to see the FIRST GRAND COUNCIL.

“It was convened in Kolob where “ The Gods came together and concocted the plan of making the world and inhabitants The Grand Council sat in yonder Heavens and contemplated the creation of the worlds that were created at the time. Then the heads of Gods appointed one God for us.”

Here again, from another experience, I can relate to this necessity of planned organization by remembering how New Church Stakes are organized .

The First Presidency in Salt Lake City, after reviewing a submission of the facts, give their consent when permission is requested to organize a new Stake. Upon receiving this permission, the local Area Officer,, holding the proper priesthood authority to do so, calls and ordains a singular High Priest to serve as the Stake President. This man is exclusively assigned as the Stake President for a Specific Stake and no other, even though there are many Stakes and many Stake Presidents of the Church in existence world wide. No other President will be called as long as he holds that calling.

Following the candidate’s acceptance as Presiding Officer over a predetermined group of members, those members effected and none others ,are asked if they are willing to allow and sustain him to this right to Preside, effectively subjecting their will to his in the affairs of their ecclesiastic matters in this geographic area of the world . If all such have agreed to this proposal, then he becomes the one and only Stake President officially recognize with this power.

I was there in the geographical area of Medicine Hat, Alberta, and prior to that in Surrey, B.C. Canada, when a new Stake was formed and a new President called. I was there to sustain him and covenanted to support and report only to him as our Priesthood authority. I was there to serve and accept callings and responsibilities from him. My role was very minor in the event, but I rejoiced and sang for joy at its happening.

If this system of Priesthood order and Government in our world is a mirror image of the vast organized system of Priesthood order in God’s organized universe, then what we are seeing appears to be not a Government of one arbitrary God, as most contemporary religions would lead us to believe, but a whole community of Gods working together, under the direction of the First Presidency of Gods as suggested by this analogy.

God referred to such a situation when he questioned Job in Job 38: 4- 7.

“Where was thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare if thou has understanding? Who hath laid the measure thereof if thou knowest? Or who hath stretched the line upon it? Where upon are the foundations thereof fastened? Or who hast laid the corner stone thereof? When the Morning Stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy…”

When this world’s cornerstone was laid indicating commencement, were we no doubt there, singing and shouting for joy along with them? In April 1844, Joseph Smith further revealed:

“God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man and sits enthroned in yonder Heavens. This is the great secret. If you were to see him today, you would see him like a man in form- like yourselves in all the person, image and very form of a man, for Adam was created in that very fashion, image and likeness of God”.

What does that mean for us as Adam’s children!

Surely we must have been among them, because here we are now, numbered and living along with those who have been permitted to come here to this SECOND ESTATE! No wonder we shouted for joy.

Why do we have trouble accepting God as once being a man as we, ourselves are now? We have no problem accepting that the Stake President is like us in every respect and was once a young boy who consented and planned for baptism like us. Later he was ordained a Deacon and progressed through the Aaronic Priesthood until eventually he became an Elder and was given the Melchizedek Priesthood. He grew and progressed just as we are doing. He is no different than us except for his ecclesiastical position to which he was called, chosen and qualified because of worthiness and willingness to serve. If a man can achieve this in our limited lifespan here, what can he achieve given millions of years of life and achievement in the presence of God?

I am convinced that the title God is a Priesthood calling! Not attainable while on this earth of course, but apparently among those who are much further ahead than we are in the process of “becoming perfect like our Father in Heaven who is perfect”. Matt 5: 48

There must be layers of hierarchy, just as there is here, established by the more and the less experienced in knowledge and capabilities among the Family of Gods. There are those who make decisions and commands, there are those that carry them out. There were probably innumerable Gods and assistant Gods in training. Some had great responsibilities while others with less experience were supervised and assisted while they gained the required knowledge and understanding.

From the teachings of both Book of Mormon prophets and the latter day prophets we learn:

God hath created all things, both things to act and things to be acted upon. 
(2 Nephi 2: 14)

Intelligences can neither be created nor destroyed but have always existed.
(D&C 93: 29)

This Earth was not created from nothing or “Ex Nehilo” as the early Christian Fathers concluded. Science has revealed what is now common understanding. The law of conservation of energy says: “Matter cannot be either created nor destroyed”. Therefore, existing matter or material had to be used to form the earth. These existing materials were organized and shaped much like the materials used to build roads, houses and islands to create Expo 67.

What is emerging is a very different picture regarding the creation than I imagined it to be. As I now look at the “wheels within wheels” representation that Ezekiel the prophet saw in his vision (Ezekiel 1: 16), I realize these could be the wheels within wheels of the Universes existing around and overlapping each other. There is so much we know very little about.

There are at least four such “Wheels within wheels” when we examine the information we already have about the world we live in. Let’s first take the two categories of entities that inhabit them.

The Two Categories

1. THE INVISIBLE.

There is a veil drawn between us and God that prevents us from sensing or seeing God or any of God’s creations and organizations that do not pertain to our world.

A/ Spirit Matter
The specially refined matter that makes up our spiritual bodies, the spirit earth and other spiritual organizations.

B/ Resurrected Matter
After resurrection, physical bodies and spiritual bodies, including matter are permanently fused and associated with one of the Three Degrees of Glory. Like the appearances of God or Christ to men, there have been times when resurrected beings have appeared to righteous men for special occasions, but the general rule is they are and remain invisible to the rest of us

2. THE VISIBLE.

A/ Mortal Matter
That which we feel, hear and see today and all that can be perceived by our senses both on the earth and in the surrounding universes or galaxies of physical formations, no matter what the distance from Earth.

B/ Translated Matter
Mortal matter in which the natural process of aging and decay are temporarily suspended.

OTHER WHEELS BOTH EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR TO THIS UNIVERSE

There are at least 4 other “Wheels within Wheels” of space, kingdoms or worlds through which we progress that exist around us.

The four Kingdom or Estates

1/ THE VAST UNORGANIZED UNIVERSE OF SPACE.

This is the vast unlimited space where all intelligences and materials originated and remain until choosing to be swept up into the organized Universe of Gods. Here the Spirit of God or the Holy Ghost has no effect or influence.

Orson Hyde, Brigham Young and Joseph Smith were once engaged in a conversation regarding the spirit of God or the Holy Ghost. Brother Hyde expressed the opinion that the spirit of God existed everywhere, even in the unorganized universe. As Brigham Young recalled:

“Brother Hyde was upon the same theory once, and in conversation with Joseph Smith advanced the idea that eternity or boundless space was filled with the Spirit of God or the Holy Ghost.
After portraying his views upon the theory very carefully and minutely, he asked Brother Joseph what he thought of it? He replied that it appeared very beautiful, and that he did not know of but one serious objection to it . Says Brother Hyde, “What is that?” Joseph replied, “ It is not true”

The first of the two places which we are examining then differ in that regard. This one is chaotic and unproductive, immeasurably large, having no means to form or organize itself in any meaningful way. It only consists of matter or materials and intelligences. Virtually nothing has been given in the scriptures which we currently have, about the conditions, nor the capabilities of those in this sphere.

Brigham Young said, June 1873
“When we try to contemplate and meditate upon the fact that there never was a beginning you are lost at once. The present and the future we can comprehend some little about, but the past is all a blank, and it is right and reasonable that it should be so. But if we are faithful in the things of God, they will open up, open up, open up; and our minds will expand, reach forth and receive more and more, and by and by we can begin to see the Gods have been forever and ever.”

Like wise it is impossible to imagine a reservoir of materials and intelligences, even in space, being so big, so numberless and boundless that it can never be depleted or emptied. Nor can we visualize that something can exist forever that has never had a beginning. Yet this is what is meant and we can only accept it on its own merit because there is no other way to either frame it or comprehend it. This is truly “Outer Darkness”. Our understanding is just too limited.

Working then on faith, we can perhaps see it as a place where unorganized entities called intelligence (because they have such), were proselyted by a force similar to our current missionary program, and invited to become part of the organized world of the family of Gods. To do so would mean they could advance, progress, line by line, concept upon concept and evolve from being acted upon to being capable of acting on their own. Eventually, they could become like those who were guiding them. Reason tells us that it would have to be voluntary as “God can force no man to Heaven”. In other words, the everlasting principle of free agency or free choice, was in force and respected.

Organized intelligences went to the unorganized intelligences and preached to them about the Good News as they gathered into the family of God. Does this sound like a familiar pattern?

2/ THE ORGANIZED WORLD OF INTELLIGENCES

This is where all intelligences who have chosen to follow God and obey his word have been gathered. There would no doubt be many trials, lessons and opportunities in this sphere as these intelligences learned what “Organized” really means.

Obedience no doubt was one of the prime conditions and there would have been those who found the resulting power and potential of being organized refreshing, even exciting, as compared to their previous situation of knowing and being capable of very little. Now, they also would become accountable for their acts. This would be a quantum leap in progression as they learned the rules regarding how and with what power they could act.

Perhaps others would find the power and ability to influence the behavior of other things and other intelligences exhilarating and perhaps even dangerously intoxicating!

The powers of good verses evil must have been outlined and explained as the consequences of choice. One cannot help but be curious as to how and when these forces of good and evil were first introduced and if they are similar to how we are exposed to them in our life experiences even today. Whatever they were and however configured, there were means whereby the intelligences either qualified or were rejected before being allowed to progress to the next sphere in the long stringent process of progression. Those who managed to exercise control over the limited powers, met the conditions required and were qualified to be born into the world of spiritual matter.

3/ THE SPIRITUAL WORLD

This is a sphere of specially refined matter into which we, as intelligences were born. It is too refined to be perceptible by our current physical senses. None-the-less, our Intelligences were fused into spiritual matter bodies that allowed us to express ourselves and communicate in a new, different and intensified manner. We were able to progress in intelligence, wisdom, obedience, faithfulness and understanding as we wanted.

Some did remarkably well such as Jesus Christ . Others failed miserably, such as Lucifer, Son of the Morning . As the differences between these two individuals increased, we made important decisions regarding to which of the two we would align ourselves, associate with and follow. This had a great influence upon our second estate. Things such as: where, when, how we would be born, how we would be tested, into which families we would be born. Our convictions and behavior even determined if we would be born into physical bodies or not.

There, we were free to choose, but like little children we had no capacity to sin or refrain from sin. We knew only through our intellect about pain, remorse, shame or regret. We had to wait until we were away from the presence of God and had physical bodies to be able to experiment with such things as sin, disobedience and the consequences of such behavior.

All this would have been explained to us in detail, but it was all only hypothetical. All these negatives about the opportunity to try these things and many more, to gain experience, knowledge and understanding as part of our training to become as God would render ourselves disqualified, unworthy to be able to return to the pristine Holy presence of our Father in Heaven. This seems so incongruous, that the means provided for us to gain experience and knowledge would at the same time prove to be the very thing that would disqualify us from achieving that goal.

This was no error or flaw in the plan. It was an integral and essential part of the needed experience required for our qualification. We could not escape this conundrum without help.

It was also in the Plan of the Gods that our Heavenly Father would appoint a Savior, one who would volunteer to take upon themselves the difficult responsibility of living a perfect life so as to qualify to redeem mankind from their fallen state. It would require that he give his own life

It was conditional upon our accepting the terms of atonement, such as faith in the Redeemer, repentance, baptism, taking his name on ourselves and following his commandments.

Two candidates presented themselves. They however, had very different proposals regarding how they would be prepared to accept this calling.

The first proposed he would make certain that no one sinned or made mistakes and thereby all would return to God safely. His proposal was simple. By negating the principle of free choice, and replacing it with a system of force, all would be compelled to be righteous. However, he also demanded a portion of God’s Glory for his reward for saving all mankind.

Moses 4: 1
Behold here am I, send me I will be thy Son and I will redeem all mankind that one soul shalt not be lost. And surely I will do it , wherefore give me thine Honour.

The Second proposed that he would go. By serving as an example, he would honour the principle of Free choice allowing all to choose for themselves. Further, he sought no Glory for so doing. Rather, the Glory would remain with the Father where it belonged.

Moses 4: 2
But behold, my Beloved Son, which was my beloved from the beginning said unto me “Father thy will be done and the glory be thine forever.”

The Second was chosen because he did not make is accepting conditional. He simply volunteered to become The Son of the Father to accomplish the Father’s will. He did not demand any glory or recognition. He simply said “ The Glory be thine.”

We have been told that the original first Parents God, the Father, and his consort, God the Mother, to whom we were born as spirits in this realm, were resurrected beings whose composition of body, role and Priesthood calling were very different from ours. It is important to understand that our Father in Heaven held the position of God having been appointed to God of this world in a previous council of Gods. Our Mother, his Eternal companion, a Goddess in her own status, had qualified through her own righteousness even as her husband had. She enjoyed an equal participating full role as parent, teacher, counselor and confidant to the Father.

As Father and Mother, they had the right to determine which of their spirit children would best fulfill the role as Savior for all their other children. In their role and with their Priesthood authority, they performed this duty and chose the second candidate.

As Lucifer, the first candidate received the news of his rejection he became angry and rebelled. Convincing one third of the spirits, (our brothers and sisters) to support him. As a result he and all who followed him, were cast out and down from their former status because of this rebellion.

Moses 4: 3
Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which O the Lord God had given him and also that I should give unto him mine own power, by the power of mine only begotten, I caused that he should be cast down.

They became sworn enemies to God, his works and all his obedient children and their works.

All this involved communication and discussion that included emotions like hate, anger and jealousy. These were contrasted by loyalty, love and tolerance. (We see the same in ourselves here.) In the end it affected every one of us as we choose sides in this war. That same war followed us from the spirit world and is still going on in the physical world.

Moses 4; 4
And he became Satan, yea even the devil, the Father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not harken unto my voice.

This then, was the “first estate” mentioned in scriptures by both Abraham and Jude.

The stage was set for the second estate. The opposition was in place, a Savior was provided to save us from our future fallen state, if we so chose to follow him. Also an opposite plan had been made by Lucifer who was bound and determine to bring as many as he could find to follow him into his world of chaos, destruction and deceit. All that now had to be done was for the spirit world to become a physical world and each of us to be born into it according, to our time, to undergo our last grand test.

Two individuals, one male the other female, where chosen and accepted to be the first to enter this “New World”. They needed to be valiant spirits, chosen for their obedience and support for Christ’s Role in God’s plan. Like all first souls and first parents in all new worlds, they were called Adam and Eve – which meant “Many”.

From the Old Testament, Student’s manual OF 1980 , GENESIS TO SAMUEL, pages 38-43, we learn the status of Adam and Eve while in the Garden of Eden, our First Estate before their Fall.

1/ They were immortal or not subject to death 2/ They were in the presence of God the Father 3/ They had no posterity 4/ They were without any knowledge of good or evil

They had knowledge of course. They could communicate with God and each other through speech. They were teachable but given the limited conditions they were under, were unable to visualize or understand the power and consequences of Good and Evil. They had never experienced pain or sorrow or the thousands of other emotions and feelings that have come to us in this mortal life. As long as they remained immortal in the Garden of Eden, this knowledge would not, could not be theirs to experience. (Smith, Doctrines of Salvation. 1: 107-8) (Genesis: 3-4)

Other sources of these facts are, 1/ K.J. Bible Luke 3: 38 “ ….which was the Son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the Son of Adam, which was the son of God” (I.E. Genealogy of Lamech to God) 2/. Pearl of Great Price .  Abraham 4. 27.  ” So the Gods went down to organize man in their own image , in the image of Gods to form they him, male and female to form they them” 3/  Pearl of Great Price  Moses 4: 8-9 ” …. and this was the book of the Generations of Adam( Begat, procreated ) saying: in the day that God created man in the likeness of God made he him: In the image of his own body, male and female , created he them….”   4/ Mormon Doctrine, Bruce R McConkie, ADAM.      ” As to the manner in which Adam was placed on Earth, The First Presidency of the church has given us this plain statement: ” He took upon him an appropriate body the body of man, and so became a “living soul” All who have inhabited the earth since Adam have taken bodies and become souls in a like manner. Man began life as a human being, in the likeness of our Heavenly Father. True it is that the body of man enters upon its career as a tiny germ or embryo, which becomes as infant, quickened at a certain stag by the spirit whose tabernacle it is, and the child, after being born, develops into a man. There is nothing in this , however, to indicate that the original man, the first of our race, began life as anything else than a man, or less that the human sperm or embryo that becomes a man” 5/ The First Presidency of the Church Joseph Fielding Smith.  Improvement Era,  1897-1970, vol XIII ” The Origins of Man”, His origin and destiny

All Men and Women are in the similitude of the Universal Father and Mother and are literally the sons and daughters of Deity. God created man in his own image. This is just as true of the spirit as it is the body, which is only the clothing of the spirit, its complement, the two together constituting the soul.

Adam our great Progenitor ” The First Man”, was like Christ, a pre- existent spirit, and like Christ he took upon him an appropriate body, the body of a man, and so became a living soul. The doctrines of pre-existence, revealed so plainly particularly in latter days, pours a wonderful flood of light upon the otherwise mysterious problem of man’s origin. It shows that man, as a spirit , was begotten and born of Heavenly Parents, and reared to maturity in the eternal mansions of the Father, prior to coming upon the Earth in a temporal body to undergo an experience in mortality. It teaches that all men existed in the spirit before any man existed in the flesh, and that all who have inhabited the Earth since Adam have taken bodies and become souls in a like manner.

…..Man by searching, cannot find out God. Never, unaided, will he discover the truth about the beginning of human life. The Lord must reveal himself, or remain unrevealed, and the same is true of the facts relating to the origin of Adam’s race . God alone can reveal them. Some of these facts, however, are already known and what has been made known it is our duty to receive and retain,

The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints, basing its belief on divine revelation, ancient and modern, proclaims man to be the direct and lineal offspring of Deity. God himself is an exalted man, perfected enthroned and supreme. By his almighty power, he organized the Earth and all it contains, from spirit to element, which exist co-eternally with himself. He formed every plant that grows and every animal that breaths, each after its own kind, spiritually and temporally. ” That which is spiritual being in the likeness of that which is temporal, and that which temporal being in the likeness of that which is spiritual”. He made the tad pole and the ape, the lion and the elephant. but he did not make them in his own image, nor endow them with Godlike reason and intelligence. Never the less, the whole animal creation will be protected and perpetuated in the hereafter, each class in its ” distinct order or sphere” and will enjoy ” Eternal felicity” That fact has been made plain in this dispensation ( D0ctrine and Covenants 77:3)

6/ Joseph Smith, King Follet Sermon 7 Apr, 1844

“God Himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder Heavens! That is the great secret. If the veil were rent today, and the Great God who holds the world in its orbit, and who upholds all worlds and all things by his power , was to make himself visible, I say if you were to see him today , you would see him like a man in form, for Adam was created in the very fashion image and likeness of God and received instructions from, and walked and talked , and conversed with him, as one man talks and communes with another..

“If Jesus Christ was the son of God, and John discovered that God, the Father of Jesus Christ, had a Father, you may suppose that he had a Father also. Where was there ever a son without a father? And where was there ever a father without first being a son? Whenever did a tree or anything spring into existence without a progenitor? And everything comes this way. Paul says that which is earthly is in the likeness of that which is Heavenly. Hence, if Jesus had a Father, can we not believe he had a Father also? I despise the idea of being scared to death at such a Doctrine, for the Bible is full of it. ( The Life and teachings of Jesus Christ and His Apostles. Instructor’s guide Religion 211-12, 2000 )

7/ Joseph Smith, Sermon 16 Jun 1844 

A/ If Jesus had been born of two divine parents,…,

1/ he would not have died as he was immortal. There fore he could not offer his life for us as a sacrifice for our sins.

2/ He would have been unable to experience physical pain or suffering. He would not have been able to experience the adversity and agonies experienced by mortals.

3/ He would not have been subjected to the the temptation of sin therefore he could not have understood the true nature of sin. Likewise his ability to judge us, fairly, would have been compromised

B/ If Jesus had been born of two mortal parents,…

1/ He could not have had the power to over come death. 2/ He could not have endured the infinite pain and suffering for our sins which he suffered in Gethsemane. 3/ He would have sinned and thus, like other men, would be under the condemnation and demands of the law of Justice. As such he could not qualify for the role as Savior of Mankind.

C/ Jesus had to be born of a divine parent and a mortal parent because,…

1/ He had to have the capability to die and the power to rise again. The other sons and daughters of Mary, but fathered by Joseph, did not have that power. 2/ He had to have the capability to suffer pain but at the same time, have the power to endure the full pain and sufferings of the Atonement which would have killed mortal men. The other sons and daughters of Mary but fathered by Joseph, did not have that power.

4/ THE PHYSICAL WORLD OR THE WORLD IN WHICH WE NOW LIVE.

The composition of the physical matter which makes up the world in which we now live and from which our bodies are made, is very different from that of the spirit world. Therefore in these bodies, we cannot see the refined material of spirit. The power and capabilities we have in this world are far greater than anything we have experienced up to this point. Here we could create things for our comfort or pleasure. Here we could control the elements. Here we could participate in the creation process of bringing forth offspring – bodies for the spirits of those spirits waiting to come here. It is a great new testing ground of experimenting and understanding. We also may see the consequences of our choices. Some results are instant, while others are delayed. Some experiences are unbelievably beautiful, while others are devastatingly tragic.

The Saviour, Jesus Christ, our Elder Spiritual Brother and God in his own right, would consent to put his status aside, and subject himself to be born here as well. Taking upon himself a mortal body, he would live a righteous life and ultimately be executed, though innocent, in a brutal and cruel manner. In a process we understand little of, he would take upon himself the suffering of our sins as an offering of atonement for them.

This option, known as the plan of redemption, has the conditions mentioned before: we must accept Him and live in obedience in order for his atonement to apply to us individually.

The great principle, freedom to choose, is ours. How we use, of course, would be the great test.

Alma 34: 32
For behold this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God, Yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.

This is the second estate mentioned in both Abraham and Jude: “Those that keep this estate are promised to be added upon receiving Glory and Eternal lives.”

5/ THE POST MORTAL SPIRIT WORLD

The question about what happens after death is best answered by Alma.

Alma 40: 11- 14
Now concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection _ Behold it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of men as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them Life.
And it shall come to pass that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a State of happiness which is called paradise, a State of rest, a state of peace where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care and sorrow.
Then it shall come to pass that the spirits of the wicked, yea those that are evil- for behold they have no part or portion of the spirit of the Lord; for behold they chose evil works rather than good, therefore the spirit of the devil did enter into them and take possession of their house – and these shall be cast out into outer darkness, there shall be weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth, and this because of their own iniquity being led captive by the will of the devil.
Now this is the state of the souls of the wicked, yea in darkness, and a state of awful, fearful looking for the fiery indignation of the wrath of God upon them; thus they remain in this state as well as the righteous in Paradise until the time of their resurrection.

Those who would have proven themselves capable of selfcontrol, having followed in strict obedience would have “proven themselves in all things”.

Those who did not, would be given less blessings and future capabilities than those that had. Others, having become rebellious and rejecting the gospel and Holy Ghost, they would be granted even less. We do not know their future, but it said, it would be better had they never been born.

This world of the spirit of the dead consists of two separate divisions. The first is known as “ Paradise” where the righteous dwell” and the second as “Spirit Prison” for all others.

It was to Paradise that the spirit of Christ went during the three days that his body lay in the tomb. It is reported that he commenced missionary work, sending forth the righteous spirits to preach to those in the Prison. (See: 1 St Peter 3: 18 – 20, also President Joseph F Smith Oct 3, 1918)

This world is all around us but because of the nature of spirit element, it is not visible to us. These spirits will remain in this sphere until their resurrection.

The Three Degrees of Glory

Following the last judgment and the resurrection, our resurrected souls will be assigned to one of three kingdoms according to how we “ KEPT OUR SECOND ESTATE”. Our knowledge and understanding of these spheres or glories has only recently been restored to us by Joseph Smith. (See D and C 76)

1/ THE CELESTIAL

These are they who have received the title of “First Born”. We are told that they shall dwell in the presence of God the Father, who is Father of our Spirits. We are his children and literal offspring as he was the physical father of Adam and Eve.

Adam and Eve lost their immortal status, when they disobediently partook of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. Two things resulted from this action.

-1/ The introduction of mortality or physical death to the bodies of Adam and Eve and all their decedents thereafter.
These are the type of bodies that we have presently. Nonetheless we are still direct descendants of God the Father and his wife, our Mother as their off-spring through Adam and Eve.

– 2/ They were cast out of the presence of God.
This is called the spiritual death. We live on an earth that is spiritually dead or out of the presence and influence of God.

In order for one to qualify to re-enter or return to the highest Degree of Glory and live in the presence of God, three things must must occur.

-1/ Physical death must be overcome or reversed.
This has been achieved by the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He has risen from the dead, has broken the bond of death for all of us. All men will be resurrected.

-2/ The spiritual death must be overcome.
This has been achieved by Christ when he voluntarily atoned for our sins in the garden of Gethsemane. There he shed great drops of blood like sweat in his suffering. However, this atonement is conditional. We must be willing to repent of our sins, be baptized, be obedient to Christ’s commandments and take his name upon us .

3/ We must overcome all things by faith, be sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise and endure to the end.

We are told that some of those who were righteous and have died, such as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, have already been able to achieve their Glory and have entered into the highest of these Kingdoms, the Celestial. (See: D and C 132: 37)

2/ THE TERRESTRIAL

Those that are assigned to dwell in this kingdom, are they who died without the law.

D and C 76 :72 – 79
…who received not the the testimony of Christ in the world but afterwards received it. Are the honourable men of the world, but who have been blinded by the craftiness of men.

3/ THE TELESTIAL.

In this Kingdom are those who received not the gospel of Jesus Christ or a Testimony of Him. They will be the last of the spirits to be reunited with their bodies.

No information have been given to us regarding these Kingdoms or what conditions are like. This is as far into the future as we can currently see.

The Lord says: “This is my work and my Glory – to bring to pass the immortality and eternal Life of men.” (Moses 1:39)

John states: “And this is life Eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3)

AS WE SAID, “ WHEELS WITHIN WHEELS.
It has been necessary to review as far back as we could go so that we realize and appreciate the long, laborious preparation, progress and sacrifice that we have all made and committed to getting to our SECOND ESTATE. We have made it this far. Now the question remains: How are we doing in the finals? Hopefully we are now able to more clearly see who and what we are up against, and what the rewards are for those who succeed. God has committed all that he has for our success. The rest is up to us. May you feel encouraged and uplifted as you conceptualize the grace and love of God – and the importance of all that you are doing.


Chapter 1: Introduction

Part 1: From Apostles to Apostates

  • ( Apostles) Persons who are commissioned by the Authority of Jesus Christ to preach the gospel to the World and administer the Affairs of his Church here on Earth.
  • * ( Apostate) Persons who have intentionally abandoned their former believe system and those who follow them

As long as Jesus Christ was alive, the Jewish Authorities hounded him without let up. Inciting, heckling, and disrupting him during his public teachings, the shouting and accusations soon escalated to physical violence and in the end, his death. His fellow Jews threatened civil unrest if Christ did not cease and desist. The local Roman authorities had already reached their limits of tolerance with these almost ungovernable, religious fanatical Jews.

Yet what they feared even more were reprisals from Rome if they took no action at all to squash this latest rebellion.

 Pilot had already been threatened with retribution because of his mishandling of Roman/Jewish affairs in Jerusalem. He was more that eager to collaborate with the Jewish Sanhedrin to bring about a quick and final solution which culminated in the execution of Christ. There on a cross, among thieves at Golgotha, the place of the skull, he died like a common criminal. 

This deed, accomplished in a very ordinary, unspectacular location, was intended to end the rise of this troublesome teacher. Instead it was his launching pad, literally when he rose from the dead three days later.

There was nothing ordinary about the life of Christ. Not the way he was born, not the way he lived and not the way he died. Certainly no one had risen from the dead before. Every effort was made then, and ever since, to make it appear that none of the supernatural events recorded ever happened. His death and the disappearance of his body from the tomb was explained away. The Roman guards were bribed to falsely report his friends came by night and stole the body. Unarmed rebel-rousers overpowering the experienced, battle hardened Roman soldiers? I hardly think so. The penalty for such dereliction of duty was death. Where were the dead bodies of at least some of the rabble the guards had managed to kill before submitting? Where were the dead bodies of the soldiers who had been overwhelmed? Surely, they would have fought to their death. Where was the evidence to suggest such a scenario? The shoddy attempt at a cover up was obvious. The Jews do admit Jesus was a good and wise teacher. In the end, they could eliminate the teacher, but they could not eliminate his teachings.

In the short three years Jesus taught, his teachings were filled with wisdom and life-changing concepts for those who believed Him. He turned the skeptic’s conception of heir God from one of oppression and punishment to one of Love, Compassion and Forgiveness. He redirected their hopelessness into service for others and hope for an eternal life for all. He organized a Church with Apostles, Pastors, Priests and Prophets. He commanded them to go into the world to preach His word to every nation, tongue and people.

After his appearance following his crucifixion they, being filled with the Holy Ghost, went forward to do this missionary work as they had been commanded. With the exception of John, each sealed his testimony with the shedding of their own blood.

In one of Christ’s last acts of encouragement, He stood outside Jerusalem reassuring these disciples of His love and promised he would return. Then He suddenly ascended in a light into the Heavens. He was gone. They were on their own. What great courage and conviction it must have taken for them to pull their hoods over their heads, wrap their cloaks tightly over their shoulders and walk into the winds of adversity and death. In a few short years, they too, would lay lifeless, having sacrificed their all to the cause.

The message of Christ, his atonement and his resurrection were immediately subjected to a deliberate conspiracy to falsify and distort. This conspiracy reached its pinnacle of madness in the third and fourth centuries, A.D. Roman and Greek scholars and philosophers reconstructed the teachings of Christ in a manner more acceptable to their limited logic and understanding. Had Christ’s ministry been an exercise of futility? Had He failed? Ask the millions of followers who have embraced his gospel since. Ask yourself the same question. 

This written testimony is a brief summary of that period of history. It hopes to catch both the miraculous as well as the malicious events that occurred to the orphaned child, the Church of Jesus Christ.

Abandoned almost at birth in a wild and scheming world, the Church grew into an almost totally unrecognizable adulthood. The simple yet profound gospel, taught with so much hope by Jesus of Nazareth, became a sophisticated lady of the night. Powerful and unprincipled, she reigned with blood and horror. Miraculously, an ember of its former self still burned in her calloused heart. This ember is what fed the hopes of millions down through the dark centuries that followed.

I will be satisfied if even one soul, my own perhaps, will have been improved from better knowing the history of those colossal events and the persons that shaped the western Church for the next 1600 years. After all, it was this same Church that spawned the New Testament , the Bible. It became the only witness of Christ available to countless Christian Martyrs for over 1800 years. And it was that same Bible that sent a searching young boy into the woods, to his knees in prayer in 1820 after reading these words in James 1: 5.

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not and it shall be given him. “

The long dark night of spiritual ignorance, and famine of hearing the word of God would have to wait almost two millennium before that event.

Chapter 2: Loss of Authority and Revelation

Part 1: Apostles to Apostates

Peter, James and John were called as the first presidency of Christ’s church in the meridian of time. Evidence of them receiving the keys for such is recorded in Matt 16: 19. Following this event, we have several accounts of these same brethren accompanying Christ on His various special moments and miraculous events (Mark 5: 37-42, Matt 26: 37–39, John 20: 1-10). How did it happen that within a few short centuries the Church of Jesus Christ, laid with a foundation of Apostles, 70’s , Bishops, Elders, Teachers and Priests, had all but disappeared? While persecution from without was a ever deadly and constant danger, it was not the determining factor. The real threat was discord and contention and came from within.

As the center core of priesthood leaders began their solemn mandate to bring Christ’s message to the world, they immediately drew the attention of the political authorities, both Jewish and Roman. 

The Romans generally were tolerant of diverse religions, but Palestinian Jews were in constant rebellion. Nero is rumored to have been responsible for the burning of Rome. He found it was convenient for his own future to blame the Christians. This started a new round of serious Christian persecution. The brutal attacks on these newly converted Jews brought imprisonment and execution of some of their leaders. James, brother of John, (both sons of Zebedee), was slain by the sword of Herod. Peter was imprisoned and later disappeared under the decree of Nero. He is believed to have been crucified in Rome, nailed to the cross, upside down. The first James was replaced by James the Brother of Jesus. It is his book (Epistle of James) we have in the New Testament. This James was brought up on the walls of the City by the Jews and commanded to deny Christ in front of the congregation. Instead he bore his testimony of Christ’s Messiahship. He was cast down off the walls and stoned to death. John the Beloved (the same John also known as the son of Zebedee) was promised to remain on Earth until the second coming of Christ, but we lose track of him for almost half a century. In his later years, John was banished to the Isle of Patmos where he received a vision which now forms the basis of the Book of Revelation. Meanwhile he wrote three other letters that we are aware of (1st, 2nd and 3rd John), then disappeared after 98 A.D. By that time, tradition records the deaths of the other Apostles as follows:

Judas Iscariot, Suicide 33. A D 
Jude (Judas, brother of James), Martyred in Egypt
Simon the Zealot, Killed by sword in Persia
Thomas, Speared in India
Matthew, Martyred in Ethiopia
Bartholomew, Flayed and beheaded in Arabia for refusing to honour Pagan God
Phillip, Died in Phrygia by a Roman Proconsul
Andrew, Crucified in Greece
Paul, Beheaded by Nero in Rome

With no Prophets or Apostles to guide them,the Church lost its Priesthood channel to Christ, the source of revelation. The most senior Priesthood authority was that of a Bishop. But which one should lead and by what authority? There had been many called and set apart through-out the Middle East. However, it was not in the mandate of any Bishop to receive revelation and speak for the entire Church.

When Paul (formerly Saul) was converted and commenced his major missionary efforts,they extended far beyond the boundaries of Jerusalem, Syria or Palestine. His success resulted in a sudden wave of untrained members, most without any in-depth knowledge of their newly found religion. Many spoke foreign languages. Even more still clung to old beliefs and practices. As fast as they established branches and appointed local Bishops, the Jewish, the Gnostics, the Pagans and the Romans pressured the new converts to abandon their faith. Paul spent most of his time and energies correcting and decrying the false doctrines of the rebellious and floundering factions within the Church. Paul’s warnings were numerous, but in general they were ineffective as the swarms of opponents overwhelm the capabilities and resources of the new members. Paul specifically warns of the impending disintegration:

Acts 20:28 -29
“Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own Blood. 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.”

Paul’s words to Timothy were accurate and ominous:
2 Timothy 4: 3
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine: but after their own lusts shall they heap themselves teachers having itching ears.”

After the death of Paul, his influence all but ceased and the hearts of the disbelievers and total membership began to shrivel. The Old Testament Prophet, Amos had cautioned this would happen.

Amos 8: 11-12
“Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread nor of the thirst for water, but of hearing the word of God. 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”. 

Among the Bishops who wrote letters of concern were, Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, and Polycarp of Smyrna. These men however recognized they did not have the authority to receive revelation regarding the affairs of the overall Church as did the Apostles or Paul. They recorded their concerns regarding the apostate affairs of the various branches but could not do anything more to change them. 

It was a period of extreme confusion of which we have the least amount of documentation in all of church history. Charismatic and popular members in some branches were appointed as Bishops, while other already appointed were dismissed. Where no authority existed, members contested for Priesthood positions. This led to competitions within branches for authority over other branches whose geographical boundaries and membership was smaller. Writings from other concerned Bishops indicate the level of chaos that existed from the early second to the early fourth centuries A.D. 

Author, Location, Date, Concerns 

Herman: Rome 150 AD
– Stresses righteousness in the face of apostasy.
– Emphasizes baptism for living and dead.

Justin Martyr: Rome 150 AD
– Presents Christ as second to God. It was He(Christ) who revealed early Christian doctrines and worship.

Irenaeus: Lyons 200 AD
– Against heresies.
– Opposes Gnostic views and the Rationalization of the teachings of Christ.

Clement: Alexandria 190- 215 AD
– Opposes paganism but is personally influenced Greek philosophers.

Tertullian: Carthage 195-220 AD
– Left Church to support a growing movement away from floundering Saints to the primitive purity thought only to exist in the breakaway sects in the Dessert

Origen: Alexandria 203-253 AD
– Most influential theologian of his day.
– Author of first systematic attempt in Christian theology.
– Heavily influenced by Greek philosophers

Cyprian: Carthage 249 AD
– Wrote 65 letters regarding doctrinal and administrative concerns.
– Insisted on his Bishopric being independent of Rome.
– Held strict views regarding lapsing Christians.

Eusebius: Caesarea 325 AD
– Attempted to show apostolic continuity, thereby  preserving valuable quotations from early writings from the Pre-Nicene Christian beliefs.

As the Church spiraled downward, none of them could have imagined that they and their entire squabbling, disorganized, Church would be saved by a brutal, savage Warlord. He had already had his wife and son executed .His bloodied hands held the only power strong enough to force the contentious Church leaders together. He was to become the longest ruling Emperor of Rome. His titles would include, Augustus Constantine, Emperor Constantine, Constantine the Great and finally, Saint Constantine. All titles, he bestowed upon himself because there was no other that he, with power to do so.

The Head of the Church moves from being “Christ Directed” to “Roman Emperor Directed”

This is the defining moment in time when the Church, established by Christ Himself, lost all recognition and pretense of being “From God”. The Head of the Church, while clothed in the Bishop’s religious finery and augmented by scriptures, now was no more than a puppet, a tool under the of control of the firm hand of the most powerful, undisputed ruler of the Western Empire. 

After securing this grip and bringing a brief, rare degree of stability to the Roman Empire, Constantine focused on halting the practice of persecuting Christians and the almost impossible task of bringing peace and order among the Bishops. Until then, these two problems had been the major threats both to the Church and to the Emperor.

Through the Edict of Milan, Constantine dealt with the first threat from the outside. Under the leadership of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, the fiercest persecution ever launched against the Christians was resulting in the deaths of thousands. Constantine ordered that Christianity be legalized, their scriptures deemed sacrosanct and that their property returned. In 305 A.D. Constantine was victorious. Christianity was proclaimed as the State Religion.

The second threat was much more difficult. Not only was there major geographic, political and language differences between the Bishops, but the misunderstandings and the quarreling had now threatened to split the West and Eastern Empires. Their reasoning and differences, which had formerly been somewhat modified by the influence of the Holy Ghost, had produced a degree of moderation and cooperation. But with the power of the Holy Ghost long departed, everything of a spiritual nature was now resolved by theologians or philosophers over whom the Emperor exercised total and complete control. In contrast to the former Bishops and other spiritually minded Church leaders who still possessed a degree of conviction of the Gospel truths. Now in control of the Church were educators, philosophers, who required only that they were adequately and formally educated in he traditional schools of Rhetorical principles, available in Troy and Alexandria

Constantine’s main concern was to quell the religious dissent and turmoil that threatened the unity of his Empire. He already had total control of his subjects while they were alive. What more could he ask for than to gain complete power over men’s lives even after they were dead? Was not the Church, with its promise to grant men their salvation, just the means whereby he could achieve such a goal? 

Constantine’s resolve to save the Church and grant himself the supreme and ultimate power that it alone held, could do just that. He did just that. Such a bold move gave him what previous Emperors could not even have dreamed of. He succeeded but the price to the Church of Jesus Christ was the total spiritual bankruptcy of Christianity. The Church was now effectively hijacked by the State through a merger of the two most powerful bodies in the Empire., the Church and the State.

In a first attempt to consolidate, Constantine convened a conference to be held in Nicaea in 325.A.D. Between 250 to 318 Bishops from all of the Christian world attended. Constantine presided over the council. His presence, while certainly intimidating, did not necessarily influence the outcome of the theological conclusions reached. But with the specific goals which he was determined to have resolved, he was resolute. 

Here are some of the goals and topics on the agenda:

1/ To establish a common uniform doctrine and creed, acceptable to everyone and which would become compulsory for all citizens.

2/ To agree upon which books would be included as cannon (accepted scriptures and writings.)

3/ No council had been held since the one in Jerusalem (which had convened to set conditions so Gentiles could join the Church). This Council was to be recognize as the precedent for all future councils.

4/ The Council would resolve disagreements regarding the understanding of the nature of God, his Son and the Holy Ghost.

5/ To establish when holy celebrations, such as Easter and Christmas, would be held. 

6/ To establish a system whereby consensus would be reached on issues, now and in the future.

7/ To find a solution to the Arian Controversy. (Arius led a group, deemed to be heretical, that believed the nature of Christ was different from that accepted by the other Bishops).

8/ To establish procedure to ordain future clergy.

9/ To agree upon a system for the construction of Church buildings.

10/ To establishing norms for public repentance and punishments.

11/ To agree upon how to admit repentant heretics.

12/ Find clarification for the role of Deacons.

Two of these agreements drastically reduced the authority previously held by the Church:

1/ The Bishop’s role became inferior to the Emperor’s and in some cases, no power existent beyond the Bishop’s own parish. 

2/ It opened the door wide for the academics, (appointed by Rome), to tinker, revise, replace or otherwise transform the basic core doctrines of the Church as they pleased

Upon the death of Constantine in 337 A.D. the civilized Christian Church of the world waited to see how all that Constantine had wrought would work out. Waiting in the wings was the perfect candidate to take advantage of this transformation. His name was Aurelius Augustine.

St. Augustine.

Augustine was born 354 A D in Tagaste, North Africa. Not for better, but for worse, he took the lead to further complicate what Constantine had started.

He is a window to everything that was wrong with the Greek society of his day. Having spent his early youth in a wild orgy of living, Augustine reasoned that man had not the power by himself to change his own behavior from sinful to righteous. His father was a pagan and his mother a Christian. She deterred him from being baptized until, as she put it, “The irregularities and excesses of youth were passed”. Augustine expressed his attitude in his own words: “Give me chastity, but give it not yet.” 

He rejected the religion of his mother (Christian) because he thought the Bible was “barbarous and incomprehensible”. He practiced the Manichean lifestyle, a Persian religion popular in his day that proposed that there were two opposing powers in the world: good and evil. Unfortunately, they were out of balance and nothing but living an ascetic lifestyle of complete self-discipline and denial would bring the two into a balanced position again. All these experiences and influences early in his life reflected themselves in Augustine’s prolific writings later. Naturally, these strong-held personal beliefs surfaced thereafter as the foundational principles of the dogma of the Roman Catholic Church. 

The victory of the philosophical conclusions of the purpose of man’s existence over the recorded scriptures of Christ and the inspired Apostolic teachings, was completed by the hand and mind of Augustine. Tutored in the sciences, rhetoric, mathematics and philosophy, the antithesis of the simple soul-teachings of Christ, he was perfectly positioned to become the greatest influence on the thinking and doctrine of the Catholic Church since Paul. 

Chapter 3: Effects of Greek Philosophy: Augustine

  Part 1: From Apostles to Apostates

While the Nicene Council’s intent was to put an end to the speculation and descent within the Church, it in fact served to do just the opposite. The church in the fourth Century had long ago dispensed with the theological teachings of the Biblical religion of Christ. Arguments based on erroneous conclusions only produced more philosophic speculation. Those who opposed these speculations, such as Arius who was a member of the council of Elders, were excommunicated. This however did not mean the end of the Arian movement or a wholesale unification of understanding. It simply broke the Church into smaller factions. These ranged from near-alignment to the Nicene model to all the way to radicalism. Fortunately Arius suddenly died in 336 A.D., and thereafter the movement slowly was absorbed into what was rapidly and systematically becoming the “Classic Theism” or “Acceptable Thinking”, as seen by the senior Bishop ( Augustine). This all-encompassing orthodoxy about the nature of the God Head is still embraced by the majority of Catholic and Protestant churches alike in the world today. 

Two of the major figures in this philosophical quarrel at that time, were Pelagius and Augustine. Their opposing views mirrored their contrasting life experiences. If an understanding of how the early Greek philosophers came to this collection of nonsense called collective reasoning, then it is very important to first understand the thinking and background of the men who more than any others, brought it about. It is after all, this reasoning that influenced what the world wide Christian Church would believe for the next 1,500 years.

Starting first with the works of Augustine, these are some of the issues about which he wrote.

1/ The depravity of human man.

The two major influences regarding this point of view were his early immoral life style and the guilt of it that he felt for the rest of his life. Secondly was his 9 years as a Manichean. The latter’s views about man were that his nature was essentially evil and that he by himself could never become righteous. Righteousness was attained by suppressing everything to do with the physical body and its needs while devoting all one’s energies and thoughts to the perfecting of the spirit.

2/ The idea of Saving Grace 
This concept came about as a result of his conversion to Christianity which he relates as follows.
Augustine had listened to the lectures of Ambrose because he was fascinated by his eloquence. This led him later to read the epistles of Paul which in turn caused him to feel he should give up his immoral habits. Being imbued with the teachings of the Manicheans that “man is evil and could not overcome evil”, he pleaded, “Give me chastity, but not yet!” The spirit was willing but the body was too, too out of balance to give up all that sin so soon. While in the midst of a battle between his beliefs and his guilt, he prayed to God and asked for help to end his life of immorality. Suddenly he heard the voice of a child singing from a house, “Take up and read. Take up and read.” He immediately got up and found a Book of scriptures. He read the first verse he had opened to. It was the story of a young man who asked Christ what he should do to be saved. Christ replied “Go and sell what thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in Heaven, and come follow me.” (Luke 18: 22) He returned to read again from the volume of the Apostles and there read, “Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying, but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provisions for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof.” (Romans 13: 12-14) That was sufficient for Augustine, he felt he had received direct revelation. Because of this experience, he concluded that evil-man could turn to God only if and when God wanted the change to take place. This gift of grace, he concluded, affected the will of man and was given free by God — not by any works or merit of man himself. 

3/ Organizing of Monastic orders 
Following his conversion and baptism, Augustine sold his property, gave up his chair in Milan, and with his friends, went to Africa where he set up a form of a Monastic community.

4/ The concept of an material GOD was incomprehensible. 
Having struggled with his physical desires, he could not believe that such evil passions could have any place in the nature of a pure God.

5/ Attempting to harmonize the” Trinity” with the teachings of the Bible. 
Because of his misunderstanding of the nature of God in the first place, he nor anyone else could come up with a logical relationship between the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

6/ The purpose of Evil. 
Without the understanding of the purpose of this life and the plan of Man’s salvation, there is no logical answer for evil in this world. It is in the understanding of choice and opposites provided in this world by Satan, that we appreciate the need for evil.

7/ Original or “Inherited” sin. 
The struggle of choosing good or evil portrayed in the garden drama resulting in the ultimate fall from grace of Adam and Eve, was understood to be the penalty of a displeased God imposed upon his disobedient Children. This conclusion demonstrates the complete ignorance on the part of the Church leaders in the 4th century of the purpose for man’s existence. 

8/ The “Elect”. 
The philosophers clearly thought of themselves as being the “elect” because of their superior education. Still there seemed to be no common reasoning as to the “ways of the Lord” and why he would favour or “respect” certain people over others.

9/ God alone is responsible for man’s salvation. 
God selects only a few, the rest he abandons. There is nothing man can do on his own to change this arbitrary selection of God. This is a natural conclusion following the misunderstanding of the Nature of God as shown in item 8.

10/ All must be baptized to enter the Kingdom of God. 
Another logical conclusion from an incorrect assumption and understanding of John 3: 3-5. Christ demonstrated by his own baptism and his gathering of little Children around himself what the qualifications were. Easily observable in little children, these qualities we must also have before our entry into the kingdom. Notice also the difference of qualifications in verse 3. Except a man be born again he cannot “see” the kingdom of Heaven or even conceive of the Kingdom of heaven, as opposed to verse 5 which states, “Except a man be born of water and the spirit” (in other words baptized and given the gift of the Holy Spirit), he cannot “enter” the Kingdom of God. The exception is the little children, who, before the years of accountability,“cannot sin for power is not given unto Satan to tempt little children until they begin to become accountable unto me,” (D & C 29: 46-47) or age 8 years.
Another logical conclusion from an incorrect assumption and understanding of John 3: 3-5. Christ demonstrated by his own baptism and his gathering of little Children around himself what the qualifications were. Easily observable in little children, these qualities we must also have before our entry into the kingdom.
Notice also the difference of qualifications in verse 3. Except a man be born again he cannot “see” the kingdom of Heaven or even conceive of the Kingdom of heaven, as opposed to verse 5 which states, “Except a man be born of water and the spirit” (in other words baptized and given the gift of the Holy Spirit), he cannot “enter” the Kingdom of God. The exception is the little children, who, before the years of accountability,“cannot sin for power is not given unto Satan to tempt little children until they begin to become accountable unto me,” (D&C 29: 46-47) or age 8 years.

Starting on the foundation of earlier false assumptions, all these thoughts were original and a result of Augustine’s creative thinking. He used scriptures out of context that supported his theories but ignored others that contradicted them. He relied upon Greek philosophy and personal experiences to arrive at his conclusions. Catholic and Protestant Churches of our day quote Augustine as their authority. He is the great Saint Augustine, and yet there has not ever been a greater contaminating influence than his personal religious philosophy was upon Christianity.

At first Augustine was tolerant of different religious ideas, but this was never the view of Roman Emperors. They had been the Supreme God of the Pagan religions in Rome prior to Christianity. They had tried to unify the Empire around Pagan worship. Constantine had made the Christian Church subject to Emperor’s will in the absence of any recognized christian church leader. Upon his death, this relationship did not change. Those who replaced Augustine continued to enforce Christian doctrine by political decree. They appointed Bishops, decided what was orthodox and what was not, and determined what punishment would be inflicted if disobeyed.

For the next 5 centuries, Augustine’s philosophies were deemed to be correct. Therefore, they were imposed by Imperial edict. Heresy was put on the same level as murder or treason, punishable by death. The Church had become the co-conspirator in the hands of the State to control opposition and heresy. The struggle for dominance between State and Church was inevitable. It was only a matter of time and opportunity until their roles would reverse.