Week # 20
APOSTASY
"From Adam to the present, the whole history of the world has been one recurring instance of personal and group apostasy after another. . . . Apostasy consists in abandonment and forsaking of . . . true principles, and all those who do not believe and conform to them are in an apostate condition, whether they are the ones who departed from the truth or whether they inherited their false concepts from their apostate fathers....
"With the loss of the gospel, the nations of the earth went into a moral eclipse called the Dark Ages. Apostasy was universal. 'Darkness covereth the earth, and gross darkness the minds of the people, and all flesh has become corrupt before my face.' (D&C 112:23.) And this darkness still prevails except among those who have come to a knowledge of the restored gospel (Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 3, pp. 265-326)
(Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, pp.43-44).
Questions and Activities
APOSTASY
"From Adam to the present, the whole history of the world has been one recurring instance of personal and group apostasy after another. . . . Apostasy consists in abandonment and forsaking of . . . true principles, and all those who do not believe and conform to them are in an apostate condition, whether they are the ones who departed from the truth or whether they inherited their false concepts from their apostate fathers....
"With the loss of the gospel, the nations of the earth went into a moral eclipse called the Dark Ages. Apostasy was universal. 'Darkness covereth the earth, and gross darkness the minds of the people, and all flesh has become corrupt before my face.' (D&C 112:23.) And this darkness still prevails except among those who have come to a knowledge of the restored gospel (Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 3, pp. 265-326)
(Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, pp.43-44).
Questions and Activities
- What does the word apostasy mean?
- What were the causes of the great apostasy that lasted through the Dark Ages?
- What truths, ordinances, and covenants were lost during the great apostasy?
- Find in the scriptures prophecies about the great apostasy.
- What are the evidences of apostasy in the world today?
- What are the indications of individual apostasy?
- What is the role of missionary work in overcoming apostasy?
Topical Guide
Apostasy of Individuals
Apostasy of Israel
Apostasy of the Early Christian Church
Darkness, Spiritual
False Doctrine
Hardheartedness, Harden, Hardness
Holy Ghost, Loss of
Scriptures
2 Nephi 26-28
Jacob 5
2 Thessalonians 2:1-3
2 Timothy 4:1-5
Bible Dictionary
Darkness
Other Sources
Jesus the Christ, chapter 40
A Marvelous Work and a Wonder, chapter 4
The Articles of Faith, chapter 11, pp. 198-204
I read Chapter 40 from Jesus the Christ this week. Elder Talmadge is very specific about the state of the world prior to the restoration of the gospel. His explanation helped me to understand how vital Joseph Smith’s role in restoring the Gospel of Jesus Christ was to my salvation. I was particularly struck by a statement he made to describe the Dark Ages.
ReplyDelete“Let it not be concluded that through the night of universal apostasy, long and dark as it was, God had forgotten the world. Mankind had not been left wholly to itself. The Spirit of God was operative so far as the unbelief of men permitted. John the apostle, and the Three Nephite disciples, were ministering among men, though unknown. But through the centuries of spiritual darkness men lived and died without the administration of a contemporary apostle, prophet, elder, bishop , priest, teacher, or deacon. Whatever of the form of Godliness existed in the churches of human establishment was destitute of divine power. The time foreseen by the inspired apostle had fully come-mankind in general refused to endure sound doctrine, but, having itching ears, did they heap to themselves teachers, after their own lusts, and verily had they turned away their ears from the truth to follow after fables.”
Elder Talmadge’s explanation sounded a lot like our world today-- mankind in general refusing to endure sound doctrine but heaping to themselves teachers after their own lusts and turning their ears away from truth to follow fables. It made me think how easy it is to be distracted to replace the best with the good. Last night at the adult session of Stake Conference President Castillo talked of the creeping landslide of corrosive elements from the world encroaching into our lives and our homes. It doesn’t take much distraction to move us away from the light. My question to myself is, what do I need to do on a daily basis that will help me be more mindful and specific in drawing closer to the Savior, so that my inclination and desire to do his will increases?