Part 1: From Apostles to Apostates
After passing through the hands of Greek philosophers, the Early Church experienced major changes in its understanding and interpretation of their basic Doctrine. When the apostles were lost to the Church, the organization was cut off from its spiritual channels to God. Church government began to be run from the bottom up, with clergy and members choosing Bishops who represented them at Councils. Doctrine and dogmas were discussed and resolved by debate and consensus.
Based on a false conclusion by Augustine regarding the nature of God, council members could not reach correct principles or agree on doctrine thereafter. Conclusions were then reached either by negotiations, intimidation or outright force. Before too long differences between these doctrines and the original teachings of Jesus were numerous and immense.
Many councils were called to resolve the differences, but no agreement could be reached that satisfied all sides of the argument. Settlements were imposed arbitrarily from the top down and enforced. Disagreement was punishable by any one of three alternatives:
- Excommunication
- Banishment
- Execution
Under such circumstances, it is easy to understand how common folk accepted what they were told to believe – even if and when it was changed. To think differently than the orthodoxy was a dangerous choice. It could lead to a charge of heresy and that would bring any of those three penalties down on your head.
Over time, as the doctrine changed, it was accepted and written in credos. Here is a comparison between the original teachings of Christ and what they became as a result of this system.
| Belief | Early Christian Belief | Belief Became |
| God Speaks | God spoke in Biblical times. He speaks to his Prophets today. | God spoke in Biblical times. He does not speak today. |
| God Same as Early Church | God is the father of our spirits. He is loving and caring. We are the center of His glory. He is material substance and spirit in a glorified body. He is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. We are made in his image. We are his sons and daughters. Christ told us to pray to God and he will answer our prayers. | God is an immaterial being. He is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. God is unlike us in every way. He is made of a different matter than we are. We cannot communicate with him. We cannot understand God or his Purposes We are not of the same spiritual matter as God Man cannot communicate with God |
| Jesus Christ Same as in Early Church | Jesus is the son of the Father. He is a separate person, distinct from his Father. He was chosen to be the creator of this world. He volunteered to be our Saviour. He was perfect. He was crucified for our sins and resurrected on the third day. He will return in the last days and will reign in the Millennium on earth with the Father. Jesus was the spirit son of God both in Heaven as well as on earth. When he was born, he was clothed in a physical body of flesh and bone, just as we are. | Jesus is co-eternal with the Father. Jesus is of the same substance as the Father. He was crucified, died and raised again on the third day. Jesus returned to the substance of the Father. He is immaterial. Jesus, the Word, is immaterial and co-eternal. He became flesh, at which time his two natures, which are entirely different and separated, were united. |
| Holy Ghost Same as Taught in Early Church. | The Holy Ghost is personage of spirit. He is third member of the God Head. He reveals, testifies, teaches and bears witness that Jesus is the Christ. | The Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son. He is of the substance of the Father: Immaterial. The Trinity of the Godhead is: One material substance, yet three distinct natures. |
| Man/ Mankind Same as early Church | Man is the spirit child of Heavenly parents. He is of divine nature and potential. At birth, man was clothed in a physical body. He existed before birth in the realm of his Heavenly parents. Man is on earth to be tested and to gain experience, for which he will be judged. | Man was created out of nothing. He is a creature built for God’s glory. If he is evil, it is to show God’s redeeming love. If he is good, then God works through him to reveal his glory and achieve his good works among men. Man did not exist until mortal conception. Man is entirely different from the divine nature of God. |
| Adam and Eve Same as early Church | Adam and Eve are man’s first parents. They transgressed and forfeited their home in Eden so that they might have children and learn the Plan of Salvation. Man does not suffer for their transgression, other than he has inherited a mortal body like theirs, which will die. Christ atoned for Adam and Eve’s sin and all mankind’s sins on the condition of repentance. This act, which overcomes the effects of death on the physical body, also negates the effects of sins on his spirit. | Man inherits the sins of Adam and Eve. By nature, man is sinful, weak and incapable of becoming good by himself or being able to accept Christ. Man must receive the gift of free grace from God, which may be received through the ordinances of the Church. |
| Same as early church | Salvation is a process. Mankind is on earth to determine “if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them”. Sin and virtue are placed before him, and he must choose for himself, by his own freewill. Time is permitted for him to experience the consequences of both. An option to repent is granted if he chooses to do so. Thus, through a series of tests, man choses and gains experience and wisdom through trial and error. Man may progress in strength by forsaking sin and living in accordance to the commandment: “Be ye perfect even as your Father in Heaven is perfect.” The ordinances of the Gospel are essential as a measure of man keeping the commandments and doing the will of the Father. This Plan of Salvation existed before man was on earth and is the means by which God himself qualified to became God. | Man’s salvation was given to him only once, when it was introduced by Jesus Christ during his lifetime. Salvation is offered to those who are the elect of God, which he predestined he would save before they were born. The outward signs of the elect are those who receive baptism and receive the rites of the Church for their sins, no matter how many times those sins are committed. These rites are indispensable and have saving power in themselves. The majority of mankind, unless they have been chosen by God to be saved, are doomed to hell with no possibility of hope or salvation – except by the intercession of the Saints, or merits of Mary or Jesus Christ. |
| Baptize total emergence in water Same as early Church | Baptism is performed for the remission of personal sins and admission into the Church. It is a required ordinance performed by an authorized Priesthood holder. A person must have reached the age of accountability (normally 8-years- old) before being baptized. The candidate is completely emerged in water, as demonstrated by John the Baptist when he baptized Jesus. | Baptism is performed by priests on babies, or a child of any age, for forgiveness of the original sin of Adam. Baptism is performed on adults for the same reason, plus forgiveness of personal sin and admission to the Church. The candidate is sprinkled with water. |
| Gift of the Holy Ghost Same as Early Church | The gift of the Holy Ghost is a required ordinance performed by an authorized priesthood holder. The directive given during the ordinance, is to “Receive the HolyGhost”, which for many may require a lifetime of faithful living in order to fully received these many blessing. These blessings include a testimony of the divinity of Christ, discernment and other blessings, such as those outlined in D&C 46: 8-26. | There is no Gift of the Holy Ghost other than that experienced in the early Church on the Day of Pentecost. |
| Revelation Same as taught in Early Church | Revelation is the revealing of God’s will by direct personal communication from the Father, the Son o through the influence of the Holy Ghost. Without this revealing of God’s will, man is left to himself to determine the best use of his talents and abilities, and what is right and what is wrong for himself and others. In order for man to receive revelation, he must first be living in accordance to the commandments he has already received from God. | There is no revelation from God. It ceased after the death of the last apostles. All that God wanted to tell or reveal to us, has been revealed. Nonetheless, when any Pope speaks officially for the Church, he is infallible regardless of the personal behaviour or character of the Pope. New doctrine comes about from speculative thinking, discussion and debate. It must also be accepted by the majority of council or it will not be binding on the Church. |
As time passed more and more of the original teachings disappeared or were thought of as myths and fables. Lost to man was the understanding of the following:
1/ The purpose and nature of God, Christ and the Holy Ghost.
2/ The purpose and nature of man and his relationship to God.
3/ The premortal, present, future, post-earth life and the eternal nature of mankind.
4/ The plan of happiness / salvation.
5/ The role, atonement, and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
6/ The purpose of evil and role of Satan.
7/ The three degrees of glory.
8/ The organization and purpose of the Church.
9/ The priesthood and its functions and offices.
10/ The necessity of the temple: the work and ordinances for the living and dead.
11/ Continuous revelation.
By the end of the 5th Century the original Church was no longer in existence and what was being taught was unrecognizable.
What followed was a form of Humanitarianism and Materialism. Below is a table of devolution of comparative theories resulting from a lack of understanding and the availability of revelation.
| Original Teachings | Apostate Religions | Humanitarianism |
| The nature and purpose of the Godhead. Tangible and loving Father. We are his offspring. | An indifferent, incomprehensible, spiritual, superior God who we must obey or suffer eternal damnation. | There is no God. There is no right or wrong. Religion prohibits the progression of mankind. |
| We are here to be tested to see if we will be obedient to God and choose good, or disobedient and chose evil. Obedience bring happiness here in this life and eternal happiness in the hereafter. | God is responsible for everything. We can only appease him and save ourselves by confessing our sins and praying to the early Saints to intercede on our behalf. We have no say in our Salvation. | We should seek ways and means of solving human problems through our own knowledge and new technical or medical discoveries. God is a waste of our time and talents. |
| Obedience to God’s will leads to new knowledge. All knowledge comes from God and is useful. We learn by experience how to use that knowledge for the benefit of all. | Revelation ceased with the apostles. New knowledge come from debate and philosophical reasoning. The Pope has final say and he is infallible. | Science and education are the means of discovery and progress. The use of such knowledge will be determined by those in authority. There are no exceptions. |
| This life is a time of probation and testing. We are to work our way through to understanding and eternal life by discovering for ourselves the consequences of both evil and good choices.As we conform to Christ’s teachings, we become more like him. Thus, we become acceptable to God as Christ was loved and acceptable. | There is nothing we can do to override the will of God. He works his goodness through us, and if we are evil, we are an example to others why evil is wrong. God forgives the sinners to show his love and mercy towards us. | We do not have to wait for some miraculous hereafter to find happiness. Through science and the use of our own talents we can build it for ourselves by discovering the secrets of nature and applying them for the betterment of everyone. |
Through this comparison we can see how humanitarianism evolves from false teachings, which in turn leads to extreme forms of humanitarianism such as socialism and communism. Under these philosophies, man becomes no more than a superior animal and the value of life depreciates accordingly. Survival is its main objective and brutality is its means of achieving and retaining it. Instead of evolving upward towards God, we devolve downwards towards the beasts/animals.
This condition was described by Mosiah as “the natural man”. (Mosiah 3: 19)
“For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit…”
“If men do not comprehend the character of God, they do not comprehend themselves”. – Joseph Smith.
“And this is life Eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17: 3)
The decline and apostasy of the Church established in the Meridian of time was in the deepest depths of its despair. Yet God had not abandoned them. Like the parents of misbehaving children he had left them to their own devises until they could see the folly and foolishness of their choices. Now it was time to slowly reintroduce them to the principles of good behavior which he had given them freely and they had recklessly rejected. The time for the course correction of mankind was again at hand. A day of rebirth would be introduced again. The Lord would place righteous souls at the right time and in the right place for that to happen.