If I can jump in, the answer to your question is very simple. Yes, there was a widespread general apostasy, no doubt partially based in the fact that access to the scriptures was much more limited than it is now, so there was a huge dependence on those who possessed copies and, presumably, the learning associated with them. Where teachers were corrupted, the impact was exponsntial. The apostasy was widespread and general, but never universal. The scriptures were twisted, abused, and ignored in many places. But they never vanished, and the world was never without authentic followers of Christ. This is the fundamental difference between the need for a Reformation vs. a Restoration.
And if I may address the notion of praying to God whether or not the Book of Mormon is true... This concept is an abuse of James 1:5 on two counts. First, it overlooks the first portion of the scripture: “If any of you lacks wisdom...” Notice how this is conditional and not universal. It conditions it upon whether or not someone lacks wisdom. I’ve personally gained much wisdom from the scriptures. Enough to recognize the Book of Mormon as a sham.
Secondly, if you ask God to tell you whether the Book of Mormon is true, you’re not following the second part of James 1:5. Wisdom is the ability to make wise decisions. It is not the decision itself. Solomon didn’t ask God which woman he should give the baby to. Because he had already asked God for wisdom, and received it, he was able to make the wise judgment that he did.
We are warned multiple times in the New Testament about false gospels, false christs and lying spirits. What makes you think that a lying spirit is incapable of giving you a “burning in the bosom” if you’re seeking one? In Vegas, this would be called a “rigged game.”
Nowhere does the Bible promise an internal feeling as a determination of truth. The fact that another verse is shanghaied from its context and applied that way does not trump all the other ways God has indicated that we can determine the truthfulness of something. You can’t categorically state with any honesty that the feeling you received when you prayed about the Book of Mormon is any different than the feeling a Nicheren Shoshu Buddhist feels after chanting for a half hour. You can’t climb into them and compare feelings. Feelings aren’t without value, and wonderful feelings certainly come from interaction with God, but the significance of our feelings is subject to scripture, not the other way around. Otherwise, any drunken binge would be prospectively a religious experience. Thankfully, God hasn’t left us to that.
The flip side of this is that, the moment you base your evaluation of truth on something you feel inside, you have just eliminated a portion of the greatest commandment, which includes loving God with all of our minds.
Thanks for that clarification. My wife is persistent in trying to get me to “Get on your (my) knees and pray about the truthfulness of the BoM”, so that I will become an active mormon again.
Your post has presented me with the proper context in how to address this.
But you are saying there was a “Great Apostasy” after the death of the apostles, right?
I agree with you that “The scriptures were twisted, abused, and ignored in many places. But they never vanished, and the world was never without authentic followers of Christ.” I have no problem with that. I have always believed that, but the difference between what you say and what I say is the “priesthood” or the “authority to act in God’s name.” The Mormon and the Catholic Church are very pragmatic about the importance of a formal priesthood while the Protestant religion teaches the “priesthood of the people.” It seems to me that the Catholic Church teaches that they have the “true” priesthood, one that came down from Christ to the Apostles and from them to the modern day. I don’t ever recall ever hearing the Early Church Fathers ever talk about a “priesthood of the believer,” rather is was a very formal priesthood.
From what I understand, and I could be wrong, the concept of “priesthood of the believer” wasn’t discovered to be in the Bible until the Reformation.
These three principles were rediscovered to be in the Bible during the Reformation:
1. Sole authority of Scripture (Sola Scriptura)
2. Justification by faith alone (Sola Fide and Sola Gratia)
3. Priesthood of the believer.
These are massive changes within the Church during the Reformation. Is there any credible evidence that the Apostasy wasn’t total. Total apostasy doesn’t necessarily mean that all truth was lost and there were no authentic followers of Christ.
Protestants use the “gates of Hell” scripture to point out that the Church never went into apostasy, that God preserved and hid his chosen ones until the reformation, but the Catholic Church uses that same scripture to point out that they, being the true Church of God, because it still has the priesthood and they have a continuous line of Popes from Peter down to the present day.
As a Mormon, why should I accept the Protestant interpretation over the Roman Catholic interpretation or vice-versa? Honestly, if anything, I would have to accept the Catholic POV. Who chose which books were included in the Bible and who made the major decisions in what went into the creeds in the late 4th and early 5th centuries? It was people who very much believed in a hierarchical priesthood, that it was works and grace, and they also believed not only in scripture as the word of God, but also Tradition.
Well said.
The test of faith is a procees for both the mind and the Spirit. If it were not so there would have been no need for God to give us intellect, much less free will.
I don’t believe it is an abuse of James 1:5 to think that someone who is confused about religious issues to turn to God, the source of all truth, for guidance. Jesus tells us that if we ask we shall receive, and if we knock it shall be opened unto us.
God can communicate directly to those who humbly approach Him in faith and provide enlightenment through the power of the Holy Ghost.
Regarding the Book of Mormon, I have read it and in prayer asked God for a confirmation of its truthfulness. I have received that confirmation through the power of the Holy Ghost.