GLOBAL CHRISTIAN OUTREACH
Preaching the Gospel to All Creation
Mark 16:15
THE GREAT APOSTASY
Momentous Truth? Or Horrendous Hoax?
By Loren Franck
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The Bible is clear. Jesus assured that "Everyone who believes in [Christ] may have eternal life" (John 3:15 ESV). The Bible also teaches, "He who believes in the Son has eternal life" (John 3:36). Scripture also declares, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31).
Want the gift of eternal life? Receive the biblical Jesus as your Savior (John 1:12; Romans 10:9).
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DID YOU KNOW?
Jesus Christ died for your sins so you wouldn't have to (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Mormons take missionary work seriously. So, if you’re a Christian that relies solely on the Bible as scripture, you need vigilant preparation to confront members of the LDS church effectively. A good start? The following seven affirmations regarding what Mormons have termed the “Great Apostasy.”
LDS leaders claim the Church of Jesus Christ vanished from earth in approximately 325 A.D. But if Mormonism had prophets of God that commune with God “face to face” as Moses did (Exodus 33:11), Latter-day Saints could truthfully claim membership in the only bona fide church of Christ (see Doctrine and Covenants 1:30; 20:1; 21:3). So, when discussing the claims of Mormonism’s founder Joseph Smith and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the so-called Great Apostasy is an excellent discussion topic.
One can read Gospel Principles, an LDS-church-published study manual, and glean Mormonism’s essentials of the Great Apostasy. For example, one section of the book claims Christ’s church was lost from the earth after the death of priesthood leaders. “The perfect organization of the Church no longer existed, and confusion resulted,” one excerpt reads. “More and more error crept into Church doctrine, and soon the destruction of the Church was complete” (1997 edition, p. 105).
The infamous second president of the LDS church, Brigham Young, who boasted that all his sermons were scripture (Journal of Discourses 13:95; 264; 16:161), touted Mormonism’s version of the Great Apostasy. In fact, Young claimed Mormonism “is the only system of religion known in heaven or on earth that can exalt man to the Godhead” (Journal of Discourses 10:215).
Similarly, during the April 1995 LDS General Conference in Salt Lake City, Mormon “apostle” Dallin Oaks spoke of the alleged Great Apostasy. In one assertion, he maintained: “ . . . Many Christians reject the idea of a tangible, personal God and a Godhead of three separate beings. They believe that God is a spirit and that the Godhead is only one God. In our view, these concepts are evidence of the falling away we call the Great Apostasy.”
But Christians unequivocally believe there’s only God, who is a spirit, not a tangible being. The Bible unmistakably elaborates on this fundamental doctrine (John 4:24; Deuteronomy 4:35, 39; 6:4; 32:39; 1 Samuel 2:2; Isaiah 37:16, 20; 43:10, 11; 44:8; 45:5, 6, 21–23; 46:9; Joel 2:27; 1 Chronicles 17:20; 2 Sam 7:22; Psalm 18:31; 86:10; Mark 12:32 (28–34); John 5:44; 17:3; Romans 3:30; Ephesians 4:6; 1 Corinthians 8:4, 6; 1 Timothy 1:17; 2:5; 6:15; Jude 4). As evidenced by these verses, belief in one God who is a spirit is the antithesis of apostasy.
Now let’s briefly examine seven facts about the alleged Great Apostasy.
1. Two thousand years ago, Jesus said the gates of hell would never overpower his church (Matthew 16:18).
The LDS church claims mankind fell away completely from Christ’s church sometime in the fourth century A.D. Even leading-level Mormons can’t pinpoint the date of this alleged occurrence. To justify its existence, Mormonism asserts there was no true church after that time, no authoritative ministry, no divine revelation to ecclesiastical leaders, and that most church ordinances (including eternal marriage and baptism for the dead) were perverted or simply eliminated.
But in Matthew 16:18, the head of the church, Jesus Christ, disagrees. “ . . . I will build My church,” the Lord decreed, “and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” Certainly, the apostles understood this doctrine, as did the early saints. For example, Paul noted in Ephesians 3:21 that God would receive glory in Christ’s church throughout “all generations forever and ever.” That wouldn’t be possible if the Great Apostasy occurred.
So, since there was no total apostasy, Mormonism can’t be the true church.
2. During his mortal ministry, Christ promised to be with his disciples “always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
The Mormon church claims that no divinely authorized priesthood administrator functioned in the church for about 1,500 years after Christ spoke the words in Matthew 28:20. In fact, some of Joseph Smith’s most touted “revelations” detailed Moses, Elijah, John the Baptist, and Peter, James and John returning from the dead to restore allegedly important priesthood keys—that is, according to Mormons, the right of presidency (Doctrine and Covenants 13:1; 27:5, 6, 8, 9, 12, 13; 110:11–16; 128:21).
Accordingly, the LDS church teaches there were no members of the true church on earth from the time of the alleged total apostasy until 1820, when Joseph Smith supposedly experienced the “First Vision.” Supposedly occurring in 1820 near his home in upstate New York, Smith claimed to have seen the Father and the Son. Smith further said he was forbidden to join any church of his day because “they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: ‘they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof’” (Joseph Smith—History 1:19).
This was a declaration of spiritual war against biblical Christianity.
Consequently, Mormons claim all other churches are wrong in structure and doctrine. But since Jesus was always to be with his disciples—whatever the time, place and circumstances—a complete falling away from the truth was impossible. As in many other circumstances, Joseph Smith taught false doctrine. There was no Great Apostasy.
And if no total apostasy occurred, Mormonism can’t be the true church.
3. Mormons say 2 Timothy 4:1 proves the Lord’s church experienced complete apostasy after Christ’s resurrection.
This prophecy is important to Christians as well as Mormons. Believers in the biblical Jesus use it as evidence than an apostasy occurred years after the Ascension—and that’s exactly what happened. But the verse doesn’t say “all will fall away from the faith.” Instead, the New American Standard Bible version of 2 Timothy 4:1 reads, “ . . . In the later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons” (italics added). Contrary to how Mormonism bends the scriptures to their own liking (2 Peter 3:16), the passage doesn’t teach that a total apostasy took place after Christ’s crucifixion.
Those preaching the Mormon gospel frequently pervert the truth. I did during my two years as a Mormon missionary. LDS people try desperately to sell their counterfeit gospel based on good works and Joseph Smith’s counterfeit claims of divine authority. In fact, numerous Mormon leaders have insisted there is no salvation without believing Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. Even Smith said so. For example, when asked if all would be damned except Mormons, he said yes, and that some of them would be damned too (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 119).
Brigham Young, third president of the Mormon church, incorrectly claimed, “ . . . No man or woman in this dispensation will ever enter the celestial kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith . . . every man and woman must have the certificate of Joseph Smith, junior, as a passport to their entrance into the mansion where God and Christ are . . . ” (Journal of Discourses 7:289). And Joseph Fielding Smith, tenth president of the LDS church, echoed this doctrine, claiming, ““[There is] no salvation without accepting Joseph Smith. If Joseph Smith was verily a prophet, and if he told the truth . . . no man can reject that testimony without incurring the most dreadful consequences, for he cannot enter the kingdom of God"
(Doctrines of Salvation 1:190).
But there’s only one gospel of Jesus Christ—the one he and his apostles preached (Matthew 24:14; 2 Corinthians 11:3, 4). Contrary to LDS doctrine, the gospel is not composed of “the eternal truths or laws, covenants, and ordinances needed for mankind to return to the presence of God” (Preach My Gospel, 2004, p. 70). All who enter heaven need Christ’s permission, not Joseph Smith’s. As the apostle John explained, “Whoever believes will in [Christ] have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:15, 16). In other writings, John repeated this vital tenet. “And the testimony is this,” he wrote, “that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life” (1 John 5:11, 12).
The apostle Paul clearly defined the gospel of Jesus Christ. He wrote: “Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:1–4).
In Colossians 1:15, Paul equated the gospel with “the word of truth.” To the Ephesians, he emphasized that the gospel is “the message of truth,” the good news of salvation (Ephesians 1:13). Nowhere does the Bible teach that the gospel of Jesus Christ is system of “eternal truths or laws, covenants, and ordinances needed for mankind to return to the presence of God.” There are no “different” gospels acceptable to God (Galatians 1:6, 7). In truth, anyone, even if sincere and apparently righteous, will be accursed if he proclaims another gospel (Galatians 1:8, 9).
Mormonism can’t be the true church if he teaches another gospel.
4. Mormons use Isaiah 24:5 and 6 to prove a total apostasy occurred after Christ’s resurrection.
Mormons cite Isaiah 24:5, 6 when claiming a complete falling away from religious truth and priesthood authority approximately 300 years after Christ’s resurrection. But how do Mormons explain Isaiah 24:3? It reads, “The earth will be completely laid waste and completely despoiled . . . ” (italics added).
Isaiah 24 is one of several Bible chapters that outline God’s pending judgment upon the earth. To be sure, the earth will purified and made worthy of Christ’s presence before his millennial reign, but Isaiah 24 doesn’t concern Joseph Smith or Mormonism. The Lord’s promise that “a curse devours the earth . . . Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left” (Isaiah 24:6) refers to the aforementioned pre-millennial cleansing rather than a complete falling away to purportedly occur before the dubious ministry of Joseph Smith.
In fact, Isaiah 24:1 provides solid evidence for this view. The verse maintains, “Behold, the Lord lays the earth waste, devastates it, distorts its surface and scatters its inhabitants.” That doesn’t describe a pre–Joseph Smith apostasy. Verses 19 and 20 continue the pre-millennial theme of divine judgment: “The earth is broken asunder, the earth is split through, the earth is shaken violently . . . And it will fall, never to rise again” (italics added). As a result, believers will someday enjoy a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21:1), one purified for God’s presence and the eternal dwelling of his people (Revelation 22:1–5, 14, 15).
No total apostasy? No Mormonism as the true church.
5. Official LDS literature cites Amos 8:11 and 12 when claiming Christ’s church fell into complete apostasy.
Like other Old Testament verses Mormons cite regarding the Great Apostasy, Amos 8:11 and 12 refer to Israel, not the Christian church. The context and remaining passages of Amos 8 confirm this truth.
For example, Amos 8:2 reads, "The end has come for My people Israel. I will spare them no longer.” Verse 3 adds, “The songs of the palace will turn to wailing in that day . . . Many will be the corpses; in every place they will cast them forth in silence.” And verse 5 continues: “When will the new moon be over, so that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath, that we may open the wheat market, to make the bushel smaller and the shekel bigger, and to cheat with dishonest scales [?]” For believers familiar with Israel and the Old Testament, the discussion in verse 5 regarding new moons, Sabbaths and dishonest scales sounds familiar. It all rings true of Israel, not the church.
Another compelling aspect of Amos 8:11 and 12 arises in verses 8–10. In these passages, the Lord issued stern warnings such as the land won’t quake, it will be tossed about, all will mourn, and the sun will set at noon. Concurrent with the “famine of hearing the words of the Lord” (Amos 8:11), “beautiful virgins and the young men will faint from thirst” (v. 13). This probably has a spiritual context, but in Joseph’s Smith’s day, abundant “living water” was available (John 4:10–15). And plenty of scripture was available before Joseph Smith’s time to guide believers to Jesus, the source of eternal life (John 3:36; 5:24; 20:31).
The signs Amos outlines in verses 1–10 were to occur among Israel before the famine of hearing God’s word mentioned in verses 11 and 12. The promised restoration of Israel is highlighted in Amos 9:11–15. Amos 8 sounds nothing like God addressing Christians, particularly those living between 325 A.D. and 1820 when Joseph Smith claimed to have experienced the First Vision. The chapter says nothing about a complete apostasy of Christ’s church.
And if no complete apostasy occurred, Mormonism can’t be the true church.
6. Paul warned the Ephesians, “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:29, 30). But do his words prove Mormonism’s view of the Great Apostasy?
Paul was addressing specific believers who were living in his day. However, Mormons falsely claim these verses prove that “a great falling away” occurred after Christ’s resurrection. Acts 20:29 and 30 don’t teach a complete global apostasy—or even a partial worldwide falling away. These passages apply only to the Ephesians Paul addressed.
So, despite Mormonism’s best efforts to convince people otherwise, no global gospel restoration has been necessary, or even desirable. As noted, partial apostasy and departure from the truth occasionally occurred among the early Christian church. For instance, the Lord called the church at Pergamum to repentance. Clearly, they had erred in doctrine and practice, but they remained part of Christ’s body of believers (Revelation 2:12–16). But that’s a far cry from Mormonism’s version of the Great Apostasy.
No total apostasy? No Mormonism as the true church.
7. The LDS church has also relied on 2 Peter 2:1–3 when alleging a complete apostasy occurred after the Ascension. In fact, Mormon leaders have claimed that many of the false teachers Peter mentioned are Christian pastors.
Let’s examine this seminal verse and briefly show how it applies to Mormonism, not to contemporary Christian pastors. 2 Peter 2:1–3 reads:
“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep” (NASB).
Four important observations about Mormonism based on these verses?
Destructive Heresies
Perhaps Mormonism’s greatest heresy, introduced by LDS church founder Joseph Smith, is that men can become Gods (Doctrine and Covenants 132:19–21, 37; History of the Church 6:473–479; 6:302–317). But as noted earlier, the Bible teaches there’s only one God. “You alone are God,” the psalmist declared regarding the Lord (Psalm 86:10).
Denying the Master
In one shocking quote, Joseph Smith claimed he performed a work greater than God did: “I have more to boast of than ever any man had. I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam . . . Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from Him; but the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet.” (History of The Church 6:408–409, italics added).
2 Peter 2:1 warns that those who blaspheme in this manner would bring “swift destruction upon themselves.” How fitting that Joseph Smith died in a June 27, 1844, gunfight shortly after his outrageous boast. I can think of no better way to deny the Master than to claim what Joseph Smith did in this quotation. In truth, no one has performed a greater work for mankind that Christ has done (Romans 11:36; 1 Corinthians 8:6). Christians would never say what Joseph Smith did.
Following Their Sensuality
The practice of polygamy has made Mormonism famous in selected circles. During the 1800s, some Mormon men had multiple wives, and some were teenage girls. But the LDS church no longer practices polygamy. Bowing to pressure from the U.S. federal government, Mormons officially gave up the practice in 1890 (Doctrine and Covenants Official Declaration—1). However, the LDS church still believes in the principle of plural marriage.
Brigham Young declared that “if any of you will deny the plurality of wives, and continue to do so, I promise that you will be damned” (Journal of Discourses 3:266). He further affirmed, “The only men who become Gods, even the Sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy” (Journal of Discourses 11:269).
Young also made the LDS position clear with the following statement. Recall that Young said his statements equaled scripture (Journal of Discourses 13:95; 264). “Monogamy, or restrictions by law to one wife,” Young said when speaking on plural marriage, “is no part of the economy of heaven among men. Such a system was commenced by the founders of the Roman empire [sic] . . . Rome became the mistress of the world, and introduced this order of monogamy wherever her sway was acknowledged. Thus this monogamic [sic] order of marriage, so esteemed by modern Christians as a holy sacrament and divine institution, is nothing but a system established by a set of robbers . . . Why do we believe in and practice polygamy? Because the Lord introduced it to his servants in a revelation given to Joseph Smith, and the Lord's servants have always practised [sic] it. "And is that religion popular in heaven?" It is the only popular religion there . . . (Deseret News, August 6, 1862).
Exploitation Using False Words
Peter warned that false teachers in our day would greedily exploit people using destructive words. This is certainly true with Mormon church presidents. For example, besides the false doctrines that God was once a mortal man and that men can become Gods, Brigham Young taught that Adam is God.
On April 9, 1852, while addressing Mormons in his role as church president, Young proclaimed: "[Adam] is our Father and our God, and the only God with whom we have to do. Every man upon the earth, professing Christians or non-professing, must hear it, and will know it sooner or later," (Journal of Discourses 1:50). This wasn't mere opinion or a slip of the tongue. It was a definitive doctrinal pronouncement—scripture to Mormons of Young's era.
Explaining this teaching on another occasion, Young taught, “Some have grumbled because I believe our God to be so near to us as Father Adam. There are many who know that doctrine to be true” (Journal of Discourses 5:332). After preaching the Adam-God doctrine for more than two decades as Mormon church president, Young lamented, "How much unbelief exists in the minds of the Latter-day Saints in regard to one particular doctrine which I revealed to them, and which God revealed to me—namely that Adam is our father and God" (Deseret News, June 18, 1873, p. 308, italics added).
Comparing this Mormon “prophet’s” teachings with the doctrinal gold standard of the Bible, nothing could be further from the truth. Brigham Young’s teachings are the consummate example of exploitation using false words.
The Only Biblically Based Conclusion
Despite the uncertainty Mormonism offers, there is good news for people who love the Lord. Jesus Christ paid the full price for your sins so you wouldn’t have to (2 Corinthians 5:20, 21; 1 Peter 3:18; Hebrews 7:25). In other words, he died in your place on the cross at Calvary. When you believe and have faith in him as revealed in the Bible, he also freely credits you with his perfect righteousness and sovereignly grants you the gift of eternal life (John 6:40; Hebrews 10:39).
Unlike Mormons, who can at best hope they’ll gain eternal life by keeping the checklist of LDS commandments, Christians can know they’ll receive the gift of eternal life and live with God forever. The apostle Paul emphasized, “For whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13, italics added). That’s surety; that’s confidence. And John made it clear that Christians can know they’re saved. “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13, italics added).
Mormonism doesn’t offer this knowledge. It never did, and it never will. For this and countless other reasons, it can’t be the true church.
A BYU graduate and former Mormon missionary, Loren Franck is president and executive director of Global Christian Outreach. Please prayerfully support our ministry. We need your financial support. Comments or questions? Write loren@gco4lds.org.
©2011 Global Christian Outreach, Inc. All Rights Reserved
SAMPLE RESIGNATION LETTER
Dear Bishop:
Effective immediately, I hereby resign my membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Throughout all relevant LDS church records, you are to designate that this action is at my own request. I simply want my name removed from the records of the church.
I will not attend or participate in church courts, hearings or other disciplinary action. Neither will I speak with home teachers, members of bishoprics, members of stake presidencies or with other church officials unless I initiate contact.
Please notify me in writing when my name has been removed from church records.
Yours truly,
[your name and address]
Loren Franck, received his endowments and was married in the Los Angeles Mormon temple (above). During his 11 years in Mormonism, he was appalled
at the LDS church’s many doctrinal contradictions and cultic temple rituals on behalf of dead people.
Loren Franck, a BYU graduate and former Mormon missionary, was as-tounded that Mormon prophets dis-agreed on the nature of God, the way to eternal life and on many other fundamental doctrines. Loren resigned his Mormon church membership in 1984 and turned to the biblical Jesus in 2001.
WANT TO BE A
GOOD SAMARITAN?
You can help people who need it most. Log on to www.wshola.org for details.
IS GOD LEARNING?
“God himself is increasing and progressing in knowledge, power, and dominion, and will do so, worlds without end” (Wilford Woodruff, Journal of Discourses 6:120).
The Bible affirms that God “is perfect in knowledge” (Job 37:16), and that “his understanding is infinite” (Psalm 147:5). Even the Book of Mormon says that “God . . . knoweth all things, and there is not anything save he knows it” (2 Nephi 9:20).
YOU HAVE THE POWER
When you’re ready to improve your life, empowerment is paramount.
Empowerment is especially important in your relationship with God. For instance, you need God-given power to understand Christ’s saving truths, to separate yourself from Mormonism and other religious cults, to receive forgiveness of all your sins, and to possess the gift of eternal life. Speaking of Christ’s loving outreach to “those in opposition,” Paul wrote, “ . . . God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will” (2 Timothy 2:25, 26).
When God grants repentance to unbelievers, plus through the Bible and Holy Spirit escorts them to the truth, they obtain God’s power to escape the adversary.
How to obtain that power? Ask God for it. “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,” Jesus instructed, “how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” (Luke 11:13). Paul explained the process in these words: “For the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’” (Romans 10:11–13 ESV).
With the Lord’s help, you have power to leave the Mormon church—or any other manmade religion. You have the power to avoid their meetings, to stop tithing, and to quit obeying their leaders. You can stop believing their foolish, damning doctrines and begin to believe in Jesus as revealed in the Bible. Paul said you can call upon the name of the Lord and be saved—no tithing, no temple, no Mormon “prophet.”
You don’t need religion or its leaders. All you need is a new life in Christ. And with God on your side, you have the power to receive it.
—Loren Franck
