Did the Great Apostasy Happen? Part One

Prolegomena

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints makes some big claims: a new book of Scripture, a living prophet, God’s full truth restored to the Earth. It’s a lot to take in. Fortunately, though, there is an initial logical hinge upon which all this swings: the claim of a “Great Apostasy.”

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints really only has a reason to exist if the Church set up by Christ and the fullness of Christ’s teachings disappeared from off the face of the Earth. If there was no apostasy, then there would be no need for a restoration, Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, etc. God would have in essence wound a clock which was still telling perfect time. Mormons claim the clock broke and that God stepped in and through Joseph Smith fixed it. Who then, is right? Is the original clock still telling time or did it break?[1]

This is no mere lofty musing or abstraction – it is important stuff. A radical truth claim is being made by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and that truth claim must be evaluated out of a love not only of truth but also out of a desire to fully know God and His will.

How then, can this claim be proven or disproven? What issues are important and what questions what must be answered? What reliable criteria can be used?

In attempting to answer this question of a Great Apostasy, we are from the outset disadvantaged. History is not objective, incomplete and sometime unreliable. People lie and often do, even in historical records. Perspectives change and evidence (both archaeologically and documentarily) is incomplete. Although I’m personally not comfortable trying to construct my theology on the basis of history, it is a necessary evil that must be appealed to as second-tier evidence. God’s word should come first, history second. Although history is flawed, it still has its place.

Unfortunately, too, the Bible also brings with it disadvantages in trying to establish whether or not a Great Apostasy occurred. This, of course, comes from the fact that the New Testament give us only a very small sliver of the time frame we are trying to evaluate. We are in essence evaluating the last 2,000 years of Christian History; the New Testament goes radio silent after about 90 AD. Additionally, some of the passages referred to are prophetic, and it is notoriously difficult trying to differentiate stages at which a prophecy will be fulfilled. For instance, take the confusion at the time of Christ regarding Messianic prophecies. The Jews were expecting a triumphant king, as Isaiah prophesied, not understanding that his writings referred to two comings of the Messiah: the first as servant, the second as ruler. As it is said, prophecies can be fulfilled a thousand ways, and often times the real fulfillment is only to be seen in hindsight and with the aid of the Holy Spirit.

So then, in the quest to answer the question, “Did the Great Apostasy occur?,” we will move forward using our two main tools – history and the Bible, with the caveats and handicaps mentioned above.

[1] I would like to briefly add that it is possible that a Great Apostasy did take place and that we are as of yet awaiting a full restoration of God’s truth. Nevertheless, it is important to determine whether or not such an event did take place, before evaluating further LDS claims which will either uphold or destroy their position.