What Happened to the Original Church?

This publication answers the following all-important questions:

Question: Has the church of Jesus Christ, authoritatively established, maintained an organized existence upon the earth from apostolic age to the present?

Question: Of all the thousands of Churches that exist today, all claiming to be correct, is one of them the same Church organization Jesus created? Is one recognized by Him to be His organization?

The references here cited will be focused on New Testament scriptures. There are many other references in other early church history writings to support the principles and events discussed herein, but for purposes of this document we will focus mainly on the ones found in the New Testament.

The following sections will layout doctrines and organization of the original Church, and follow that with scriptural passages showing how it was practiced in the meridian of time.  These things will clearly show that the original Church fell away from the organization and teachings Jesus and His apostles instituted.

The Way It Was

1. Original Organization

There is no doubt as to the basic organization of the original Church set up by Jesus.  It’s in the scriptures and in the history books (written by other early members of Jesus’ Church).  After Jesus’ death, the apostles and other leaders, which were either ordained by Jesus or other apostles, led the Church.  They were the presiding authority as to the growth, government, and functions of the Church.  Any doctrine, revelations, rebuke, dispute resolution, etc. came from the apostles (or other presiding authorities such as elders and bishops for lesser local issues).  This was the source of the majority of the apostle’s epistles, to teach and correct the churches. Some of them were addressed to the local leaders (e.g. Titus and Timothy – leaders of Crete and Ephesus respectively), and some were addressed to the branches of the Church in general.

Since the apostles were charged by the Lord to preach the gospel throughout the world, they left most of the government of the Churches in each city up to the local leaders whom they appointed.  The apostles were the general authority over the entire church, but local leadership was accomplished by those appointed and ordained by the apostles.  For example, Titus was the presiding authority (Bishop) over the Church in Crete (see Titus 1:5-7 and the footnote at the end of Titus [KJV]).  Paul addressed his epistle to Titus as a leader of the Church at Crete and instructed Titus to ordain elders to assist him in the Church government in that area.

Titus 1:5 “For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee.”

Also, Timothy was the Bishop over the Church at Ephesus (see footnote at end of 2 Timothy), and Linus was the presiding leader at Rome.

In this way, the Church grew and expanded.  Bishops and local leaders in each city were equal in authority, because they had jurisdiction only over the Church locality they served, while the apostles were the final authority for the entire Church.

The picture of the New Testament Church, then, is one of many branches in many cities, presided over by local leaders known as bishops or elders, with the apostles being the final authority over the entire Church.  These things are not an interpretation of events or scriptures; they are a matter of fact, and of history.

2. Authority Given By The Laying On Of Hands

The Apostles Physically Received Authority From Jesus, And Gave Authority To Others By The Laying On Of Hands.  Jesus chose and ordained 12 apostles with His authority. The apostles chose and ordained other apostles and other church leaders after Jesus’ ascension [Matthias, Paul, Barnabas, Stephen and the 6, elders, bishops, etc.]. This authority was used to perform ordinances in the Church, to heal, etc.  The authority throughout the New Testament was given by laying on of the hands of one who had the authority to give. They were “ordained” by the “Laying on of hands”.

John 15:16 Jesus, speaking to the apostles says… “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you…”

Matthew 10:1 “And when he (Jesus) had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.”

Mark 3:14-15 “And He ordained twelve, that they should be with Him, and that He might send them forth to preach.”

Acts 1:21-26 Matthias was ordained an apostle by the apostles to take Judas’ place

Acts 16:4-5 “And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem. And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.”

Acts 14:23 “And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.”

1 Timothy 2:5 Paul says: “Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.”

1 Timothy 4:14 “Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.”

Hebrews 6:2 “Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.”

Acts 7:18 “And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles hands the Holy Ghost was given…”

Acts 19:6 “And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.”

Acts 6:5-6 Stephen and the other 6 ordained “…Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.”

3. Called By Authority

Throughout the history of the early Church, leaders were called and chosen by the apostles or local leaders.  People did not take it upon themselves to be a minister; they were chosen and called by those in authority (See above referenced scriptures also).

Speaking of this authority, Paul says:

Hebrews 5:4 “No man taketh this honor unto himself, save he that was called of God, as was Aaron.”

How was Aaron called?  He was called by a Prophet.  None of the leaders of the original Church called themselves.  They were called by those in authority.

Again:

John 15:16 Jesus speaking to the apostles says… “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you…”

4. Apostles Continued to Receive Revelation for the Church

Revelation was a continual process with the apostles in the Church after Jesus’ ascension.  They wrote new scriptures to the branches of the Church; they received continuing guidance from God concerning Church government and doctrine.  Future events were also revealed to them.  Even current issues that the Church was struggling with were answered through revelation to the apostles.

Acts 15:2 – To solve disputations they went to the apostles

While many Jews were coming into the Church, there was “much disputing” between members of the Church on whether non-Jews should be circumcised when joining the Church.  The answer, of course, came from the apostles, the final authority.

Acts 10:9-17 – Peter received a revelation to take the gospel to the Gentiles

2 Corinthians 12:2 – Paul was given a revelation where he heard “unspeakable things”

“I knew a man in Christ above 14 years ago (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.  And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.”

2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 – Paul was given a revelation of an apostasy before the 2nd coming of Jesus

Speaking of the 2^nd coming, Paul told the Thessalonians “that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first…”

John’s Revelation – Many revelations concerning the Church and the future of the Church were received by John and written in the Revelations

Many other revelations were documented during the time of the apostles.

5. Apostles Expected Apostleship to Continue

The apostles continued to call and ordain other apostles to the ministry.  The office of apostle was to continue as long as the Church was there.  They were to lead the Church.  Nowhere is it written that they expected to die off, leaving only their writings as a clue to the happenings of the Church.  But with persecution and apostle killing rampant, it was impossible for the apostles to continually track and call new apostles as they were executed. There are a total of 17 apostles named in the New Testament. All but John the Revelator were cruelly persecuted and murdered.

Ephesians 4:11-13 “And he gave some apostles; and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors, and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”

This scripture says that these offices of the Church were to continue “Till we all come in the unity of the faith…”.  It is very clear from early Church history that this never happened.  The following shows why they didn’t get to that point:

6. Manner of death of the apostles:

1. Judas —> Committed Suicide (Matthew 27:3-5)
2. Phillip —> Scourged, thrown into prison, crucified at Heliopolis in Phrygia A.D. 54
3. Matthew —> Slain with a Halberd (battle axe) at Nadabah Ethiopia A.D. 60
4. James the Less —> Beaten and stoned by the Jews and had his brains dashed out with a fullers club
5. Matthias (took Judas’ place) —> Stoned at Jerusalem, then beheaded
6. Andrew (Brother of Peter) —> Crucified at Edessa
7. Mark —> Dragged to pieces in the streets of Alexandria
8. Peter —> Supposed to have been crucified at Rome
9. Paul —> Beheaded at Rome by order of Nero
10. Thaddeus (Brother of James) —> Crucified at Edessa A.D. 72
11. Matthew —> Cruelly beaten and then crucified by the Idolaters of India
12. Thomas (Called Didimus) —> Thrust through with a spear by pagan priests
13. Luke —> Supposed to have been hanged on an Olive tree by the Idolatrous Priests of Greece
14. Simon Zelotes —> Crucified in Britain A.D. 74
15. Barnabas —> Killed around A.D.73 (no details of manner of death)
16. James the Great —> Unknown
    
17. John (Brother to James the Great) —> Cast into a cauldron of boiling oil at Rome / escaped miraculously and was banished to Patmos (Only apostle to escape violent death)

7. Apostles added to the original 12

Acts 1:26 “…and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.”

Acts 13:1-3 “…the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.  And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.”

Acts 14:14 “Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes…”

Ephesians 1:1 “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ…”

Galatians 1:19 “But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord’s brother.” (Not the original apostle James who was a son of Zebedee and brother of John the apostle. This was “James the less”.)

Had the apostles continued on the earth, is there any doubt that the Church would have continued unchanged and led with the same authority?

The Way It Should Have Continued

Obviously, the Church should have continued exactly the way it was set up.  I doubt anyone would argue that Jesus and the apostles didn’t know what they were doing when they organized the Church.  Unless divinely guided, there should have been no changes in doctrine or organization.

How did the apostles expect it to continue?

These scriptures describe the expectations of the apostles as it relates to the original Church and how it should have continued. But did it?

1 Cor. 1:10 “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”

1 Cor. 11:2 “Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them unto you.”

1 Cor. 14:33 “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.”

1 Cor. 15: 1-2 “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.”

Ephesians 4:5 “One Lord, one faith, one baptism.”

Heb. 3:12 Speaking of the priesthood and being called to authority Paul says… “No man taketh this honor unto himself, save he that is called of God, as was Aaron.”

Ephesians 4:11-13 “And he gave some apostles; and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors, and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”

Churches since that time have claimed having evangelists, pastors, and teachers; but none of them claim prophets and apostles. Paul is very clear that we should have all of these until “we all come in the unity of faith… and of the knowledge of the Son of God.” Unless a major event went unnoticed, that hasn’t happened yet, so apostles and prophets should remain a trademark of Jesus’ Church today.

The Way It Ended

Apostasy Foretold

The apostles frequently had to reprimand and exhort the saints to beware of false teachings. Apostate teachings were very prevalent even while the apostles were alive.  Orson Pratt describes it this way:

“The great apostasy of the Christian Church commenced in the first century; while there were yet inspired apostles and prophets in their midst; hence Paul, just previous to his martyrdom, enumerates a great number who had ‘made shipwreck of their faith,’ and ‘turned aside unto vain jangling;’ teaching ‘that the resurrection was already past,’ giving ‘heed to fables and endless genealogies,’ ‘doubting about questions and strifes of words whereof came envyings, railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness.’ This apostasy had become so general that Paul declares to Timothy, ‘that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me;’ and again he says, ‘at my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me;’ he further says that ‘there are many unruly, and vain talkers, deceivers, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake.’ These apostates, no doubt, pretended to be very righteous; for, says the apostle Paul, ‘they profess that they know God: but in words they deny Him, being abominable and disobedient and unto every good work reprobate.’ ”

Paul, in response to rumors spread among the Thessalonians that the 2^nd coming of the Lord was to be in their day, wrote the following to set the record straight that Christ’s 2^nd coming was not to be until there was a falling away (apostasy) first.

2 Thess. 2:1-3 “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.”

The word in the Greek is “apostasia” which means a total falling away.

Paul frequently acknowledged with emotion the truth of the falling away of the members of the Church.  In the following scripture he acknowledges spending the previous 3 years warning the saints of the pending danger that awaited them. It was so bad even while he was with them to correct them, that he accepted the fact that it would be disastrous when he was gone.

Acts 20:29-31 “For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.”

Paul admonishes the Galatian saints to stay with the gospel that he preached, because they were already being led away with other gospels. He says very strongly that not even if an angel from heaven teaches a different gospel than what was originally taught, “let him be accursed”.

Galatians 1:6-8 “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Chirst. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”

With this in mind, read the following scripture where John the revelator sees in the last days an angel from heaven coming to the earth to preach the “everlasting gospel” to the inhabitants of the earth. If the gospel that Paul referred to were still here, why would an angel be coming to preach it again?

Revelations 14:6 “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.”

Paul also states that all of Asia had turned away from him, even when he had been there to admonish and teach them.

2 Tim. 1:15 “Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost, which dwelleth in us. This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.” (65 AD)

Paul prophesies a time when the people will no longer hear the true gospel.

2 Tim. 4:3-4 “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”

Jude sends a desperation message for the Church to hold on to the truth, which was rapidly disintegrating.

Jude 3-4 “It was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Chirst.”

The overwhelming message of the first 3 chapters of John’s revelation to the 7 Churches remaining in Asia is one of rebuke for false doctrine.

In short, the passing of the apostles led to the general presence of apostate teachings throughout the Church.

The Dark Ages of Apostasy

The picture here painted of the early Church is grim.  After the death of the apostles, persecution continued and the Church headed in a direction which led to massive confusion, the proliferation of false doctrine, and a movement by many to destroy the Church.  There was no general authority to lead the Church and give instruction or reproof to branches of the Church that desperately needed it.

Hegesippus, an early Church writer who is widely accepted as the writer that “flourished nearest the days of the apostles”, wrote the following:

“The Church continued until then as a pure and uncorrupt virgin; whilst if there were any at all that attempted to pervert the sound doctrine of the saving gospel, they were yet skulking in dark retreats; but when the sacred choir of apostles became extinct, and the generation of those that had been privileged to hear their inspired wisdom had passed away, then also the combinations of impious error arose by the fraud and delusions of false teachers. These also, as there were none of the apostles left, henceforth attempted, without shame to preach their false doctrine against the gospel of truth.”

This downhill spiral eventually led to a time world history knows as the “Dark Ages”.

Amos prophesied of the dark ages and described them, where people will look for the truth but will not be able to find it [because it wasn’t to be found].

Amos 8:11-12 “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the word of the Lord.  And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.”

Isaiah saw in the latter days that there was a period of darkness on the earth where they “changed the ordinance” just as Paul said NOT to do (1 Cor. 11:12).

Isaiah 24:5 “The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.”

It takes an entire additional book to detail the numerous examples of apostate teachings and actions of the resulting Church and its leaders in the post-apostle period.  To summarize, the period from 325 A.D. until the reformation (over 1,000 years) was filled with such gross wickedness, that the original Church was not even recognizable in the resulting organization.  The ONLY Church that claimed to exist from Jesus’ original was the Roman Catholic (and the closely-connected orthodox Church).

There are many books of history that clearly demonstrate the disconnect between the original teachings and Church, and the resulting Roman Catholic Church, the entire reformation being evidence of this.

How Would It Come Back?

Mainstream Christianity teaches that the truth that was taught during the time of Christ was brought back during the times of the reformation. Admittedly, the truth was lost during these dark ages, but they believe we returned to the truth by the “reforming” of the teachings of the Catholic Church to align with what was said in the bible. Hundreds of churches began out of this reformation of the truth. Which one reformed most correctly?

The Reformers

What did the reformers and others think happened to the Church Jesus and the apostles organized?  Here’s what they said:

Martin Luther (Lutheran Church), who began what became the protestant movement (Mainstream Christianity today), said the following:

“I have sought nothing beyond reforming the Church in conformity with the Holy Scriptures”.

“ The spiritual powers have been not only corrupted by sin, but absolutely destroyed; so that there is now nothing in them but a depraved reason and a will that is the enemy and opponent of God. I simply say that Christianity has ceased to exist among those who should have preserved it.”

John Wesley (Wesleyan / Methodist) said the following:

“It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the Church for more than two or three centuries. We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when Emperor Constantine called himself a Christian…from this time they almost totally ceased… The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens… This was the real cause why the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian Church; because the Christians were turned Heathen again, and had only a dead form left.”

Roger Williams

“There is no regularly constituted church on earth, nor any person qualified to administer any church ordinances; nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the Great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seeking.”

Thomas Jefferson

“The religion builders have so distorted and deformed the doctrines of Jesus, so muffled them in mysticisms, fancies and falsehoods, have caricatured them into forms so inconceivable, as to shock reasonable thinkers. … Happy in the prospect of a restoration of primitive Christianity, I must leave to younger persons to encounter and lop off the false branches which have been engrafted into it by the mythologists of the middle and modern ages.”

Restitution of All Things

If the truth taught by Jesus and His apostles was lost, as most Christian Churches teach, then why would God not bring it back in an obvious way? Would he leave it up to scholars to bring back the true teachings of Christ? That was how this whole loss of true doctrine got started. Or would he restore His Church with its true teachings in recognizable way, to tell the world that the gospel has returned from darkness?

Acts 3:20-21 “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you. Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

There was a time of “Restitution of all things”.  An angel did come from heaven with the “everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth (Rev. 14:6)”. New apostles have been called. Revelation is back. The dark ages of apostasy are past. And what has happened since this “Restitution” occurred? Well, we’ve gone from thousands of years of horse and buggy to cars, space ships, computers, the moon, Mars, satellites, etc. etc. etc. all in the space of just over 150 years. The world is being prepared for the return of the Savior Jesus Christ. These are the “last times”.

Contrast all of this with the fact that there is not one shred of evidence that the original Church that Jesus began continued down through the dark ages. No line of authority can be traced. In fact the only authority that presumably came down was rooted in the Roman Catholic Church. Protestant authority traces back to Catholic roots. So if the Catholic Church did not carry down the correct authority, the protestant Churches must not have it either, because it was never restored. If so, when?

Also, the Catholic Pope Damasus I and his council of Bishops decided which of all the books of alleged scripture were to be included in the present day New Testament almost 3 hundred years after the last one was written.  If they were not the inspired, authoritative leaders of the original Church of Jesus Christ continued from the apostles, but were apostate, then how can an assumption be made that their choices were inspired?  Maybe they chose the books that best fit their current doctrine. Many books were discarded from the cannon, and we only have copies of the original text that are many generations after the originals (hand-copied many times). The question is, if the Catholic Church did not continue as the original true Church of Christ, then when was the correct Church brought back again.

It is obvious that there needed to be a restoration of the truth that was originally taught.

Apostasy Today

How do people today decide which Church to go to? They go to the one they like the best! Or, even worse, they go to the one they think teaches correct doctrine?! Just the logic in the thought is sickening! Imagine the apostles saying, “find out which church teaches what you like and go to it, even though they teach different doctrines.” In Christ’s Church, They all taught the same things! [doctrine, ordinances, spiritual gifts, observances]. This is what Paul was speaking about when he said:

2 Tim. 4:3-4  “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables”.

A minister friend of mine said it best, summing up where we are today in many places.  He said:

“It’s so hard being a minister now-a-days.  If you don’t teach them what they WANT to hear, they’ll have you removed”.

Proof:

In the final analysis, the proof that the original Church no longer existed soon after the departure of the apostles lies in the following questions and statements.

If the original Church and authority continued in any form on the earth after the apostles were taken, then where are the inherent things that were to strictly belong to and go hand in hand with the Church wherever it was, namely: revelation, scriptures, miracles, spiritual outpourings?

There is not one shred of evidence, or even scriptural reference, that the total apostasy from the original Church would not happen.  In fact it’s the opposite.  These scriptures are only some that plainly paint the picture of what actually did happen: a total falling away.  And when gone, would His Church be restored over a thousand years later by men dissenting from the apostate institution?  No, that would lead to confusion, differing opinions, and many Churches as a result of following human wisdom and interpretation of the scriptures (exactly what happened).  Thankfully, the restoration of Christ’s Church would happen through revelation from God, which all Christian Churches (except the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) teach that revelation ceased with the death of the apostles (which is, coincidentally, totally un-scriptural).

Of all the questions in the world, this one stands out as the most important: is there a Christian Church on the earth today that is ordained of God as His Church? The Lord said in Matthew 7:14 “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”  It should be agreed, then, that it is the most important mission in anyone’s life to find the truth.

God’s Mouth Shut?

The writer’s personal belief is that one of Satan’s greatest achievements was when he was able to essentially shut God’s mouth to the world by snuffing out the apostles and closing the cannon of scripture.  He has made the world believe that God does not talk anymore.  Anything He would say has already been said, and is in the Bible, so there’s no need to accept any more of God’s word.  This belief has been so easily accepted by the world because it was true for over 1,700 years.  God did not speak during the dark ages of apostasy.  Obviously, people would accept the fact that He doesn’t speak anymore because there was no evidence that He was speaking.  Satan would have the world limited to what God had said up to that point in time.

Wow, what a victory.  Think about it… what if God were speaking today (heaven knows we need more guidance today than at any time in the history of the world)?  What if He was speaking, and the world ignored everything He said because they didn’t believe He spoke anymore.  It is comparable to when the Hebrews wouldn’t look at Moses’ staff to be healed of a deadly snake bite because they didn’t believe it would heal them.  They died.

Nowhere does God or anyone in scripture say that God’s word would indefinitely cease, or be closed (only for the period of darkness and apostasy previously cited).  This doctrine is totally un-scriptural.  If the mainstream Christian world believes as it says it does, that nothing will be accepted unless it is in the bible, then the world really should be looking for more of God’s word by apostles and prophets, because it never says revelation and scripture will end with the books of the bible.

Worth Investigating

Well, it was said at the beginning of this publication, that the most important question in the world is “where is God’s Church?”, especially if that Church must be found to gain salvation. If there is a Church that He recognizes as His Church, the world’s mission is to find it.

I invite you to investigate the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I don’t ask you to believe it, I ask you to investigate it so you can find out for yourself, with God’s help.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is probably the only Church on earth that claims to be a direct and divine restoration of the original Church of Jesus Christ that fell away into darkness. One that claims to have restored to it apostles and prophets, scripture, revelation, and authority, just like the original Church. It claims to have been restored not by learned men in a council, professors, or even religious teachers, but by God through His servants.

We find through this restoration that a people on the American continent anciently were visited by Jesus Christ and taught His gospel after His resurrection. Their record of scripture was given as part of this restoration and translated into what is known as the Book of Mormon.

Is it not worth looking into? This publication is informing you that the original Church of Jesus Christ has returned to the earth in its fullness. If there was any chance whatsoever that this could be true, it would be worth the time to look into it, would it not?

Surely it necessitates investigation.

Here’s a place to start:

http://www.mormon.org