Chapter 10: Devolution

 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:

  1. Excommunication
  2. Banishment
  3. 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.

BeliefEarly Christian BeliefBelief 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.