Editing Great Apostasy

{{Short description|Concept in some Christian churches}}
{{For|the book by James E. Talmage|The Great Apostasy (book)}}
{{Christian Eschatology}}
[[File:PapalPolitics2.JPG|right|thumb|''Antichristus'', a woodcut by [[Lucas Cranach the Elder]]: the [[Pope as Antichrist|pope depicted as the Antichrist]], using his [[Temporal power (papal)|temporal power]] to grant authority to a generously contributing ruler.]]

The '''Great Apostasy''' is a concept within [[Christianity]] to describe a perception that [[mainstream Christian]] Churches have fallen away from the original faith founded by [[Jesus in Christianity|Jesus]] and promulgated through his [[Twelve Apostles]].<ref name="FosterBlowersDunnavantWilliams2004"/>

A belief in a Great Apostasy has been characteristic of the [[Restorationist]] tradition of Christianity, which includes unrelated groups emerging after the [[Second Great Awakening]], such as the [[Christadelphians]], [[The New Church | Swedenborgians]], [[Non-Denominational]], [[Latter Day Saint movement|Latter Day Saints]], [[Jehovah's Witnesses]], and [[Iglesia ni Cristo]].<ref name="Molloy2017">{{cite book |last1=Molloy |first1=Michael |title=The Christian Experience: An Introduction to Christianity |date= 2017 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-4725-8284-3 |page=366 |language=en|quote=Like other Restorationists, Russell held the theory of the Great Apostasy, the belief that Christianity had fallen away from its original purity. To the simple early message of Christianity, he believed, later teachers and political leaders had added unwarranted beliefs and practices.}}</ref><ref name="Buck2009">{{cite book |last1=Buck |first1=Christopher |title=Religious Myths and Visions of America: How Minority Faiths Redefined America's World Role |date=2009 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0-313-35959-0 |page=88 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="LewisMittelstadt2016">{{cite book |last1=Lewis |first1=Paul W. |last2=Mittelstadt |first2=Martin William |title=What's So Liberal about the Liberal Arts?: Integrated Approaches to Christian Formation |date=2016 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=978-1-4982-3145-9 |language=en |quote=The Second Great Awakening (1790–1840) spurred a renewed interest in primitive Christianity. What is known as the Restoration Movement of the nineteenth century gave birth to an array of groups: Mormons (The Latter Day Saint Movement), the Churches of Christ, Adventists, and Jehovah's Witnesses. Though these groups demonstrate a breathtaking diversity on the continuum of Christianity they share an intense restorationist impulse. Picasso and Stravinsky reflect a primitivism that came to the fore around the turn of the twentieth century that more broadly has been characterized as a "retreat from the industrialized world.}}</ref> These Restorationist groups hold that traditional Christianity, represented by [[Catholic Church|Catholicism]], [[Protestantism]] and [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodoxy]], has fallen into error and thus, the true faith needs to be restored.<ref name="FosterBlowersDunnavantWilliams2004">{{cite book |last1=Foster |first1=Douglas A. |last2=Blowers |first2=Paul M. |last3=Dunnavant |first3=Anthony L. |last4=Williams |first4=D. Newell |title=The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement |date=2004 |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |isbn=978-0-8028-3898-8 |page=561 |language=en|quote=...to distinguish the goal of their restorationist efforts from other forms of Christianity, whether Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, denomination, or sectarian. They viewed modern Christianity as corrupt, apostate, or spurious, while New Testament Christianity was, in the words of Alexander Campbell, 'the gospel of our Lord as proclaimed originally by the apostles.'}}</ref>

The term has been used to describe the perceived fallen state of traditional [[Christianity]], especially the [[Catholic Church]], sometimes claiming that it changed the doctrines of the early church and allowed traditional [[Greco-Roman culture]] (i.e., [[Greco-Roman mysteries]], deities of [[Sun|solar]] [[monism]] such as [[Mithraism|Mithras]] and [[Sol Invictus]], [[paganism|pagan]] festivals and [[Mithraic mysteries|Mithraic sun worship]] and [[idol worship]]) into the Church on its own perception of authority.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Discoveries|first=Amazing|title=Sun Worship {{!}} Paganism and Catholicism {{!}} Buddhism, Hinduism and Catholicism|url=https://amazingdiscoveries.org/S-deception_end-time_paganism_Catholic_sun-worship|access-date=2020-08-25|website=amazingdiscoveries.org|language=en|archive-date=2023-06-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230604043048/https://amazingdiscoveries.org/S-deception_end-time_paganism_Catholic_sun-worship|url-status=dead}}</ref> Because it made these changes using claims of [[Sacred tradition|tradition]] and not from [[Religious text#Christianity|scripture]], the Church – in the opinion of those adhering to this concept – has fallen into [[apostasy]].<ref name = HN1>{{Cite book | last = Newcomb | first = Harvey | author-link = Harvey Newcomb | title = Great Apostasy: Being an Account of the Origin, Rise and Progress of Corruption and Tryanny in the Church of Rome | publisher = Kessinger Publishing | year = 2003 | pages = ix | isbn = 978-0766178847 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=XZ0JL9AhS0wC&pg=PA33 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name = JTC1>{{Cite book | last = Talmage | first = James E.| author-link = James E. Talmage | title = [[Jesus the Christ (book)|Jesus the Christ]] | publisher = LDS Church | year = 1973 | pages = 745–757 |edition= 40th |oclc= 2012826 }}</ref> A major thread of this perception is the suggestion that, to attract and convert people to Christianity, the Church in Rome incorporated pagan beliefs and practices within the Christian religion, mostly [[Religion in ancient Rome|Graeco-Roman rituals, mysteries, and festivals]].<ref>Socrates, ''Church History'', 5.22, in {{cite web
 | last = Schaff
 | first = Philip
 | title = The Author's Views respecting the Celebration of Easter, Baptism, Fasting, Marriage, the Eucharist, and Other Ecclesiastical Rites.
 | work = Socrates and Sozomenus Ecclesiastical Histories
 | publisher = Calvin College Christian Classics Ethereal Library
 |date=July 13, 2005
 | url = http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf202.ii.viii.xxiii.html
 | access-date = 20 July 2018}}</ref> 

The term is derived from the [[Second Epistle to the Thessalonians]], in which the [[Apostle Paul]] informs the [[Early centers of Christianity|Christians of Thessalonica]] that a great [[apostasy]] must occur before the [[Second Coming|return of Christ]], when "the [[man of sin]] is revealed, the son of destruction" ([[2 Thessalonians 2|chapter]] {{Bibleverse-nb||2 Thessalonians|2:1–12|ESV}}). The [[Catholic Church]], [[Lutheran Church]], [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern]] and [[Oriental Orthodoxy|Oriental Orthodox Churches]] have interpreted this chapter as referring to a future falling-away, during the reign of the [[Antichrist]] at the [[Eschatology|end of time]].<ref name="DeGarmo2019">{{cite book |last1=DeGarmo |first1=Braxton |title=Still Here!: Surviving the End Times |date=15 September 2019 |publisher=Christen Haus Publishing |isbn=978-1-943509-35-5 |page=23 |language=en |quote=Amillennialism has been the primary perspective of the church though most of history and still outside of the U.S., as well as in the orthodox (Catholic and Eastern Orthodox) and reform (Presbyterian and Lutheran) groups within the U.S.}}</ref>

==Overview==
{{See also|Roman imperial cult|Hellenistic philosophy|Neoplatonism|Gnosticism|Hellenistic Judaism}}
[[File:Bronnikov gimnpifagoreizev.jpg|thumb|right|Pythagoreans celebrate sunrise]]

Some modern scholars<ref>See [[Alister E. McGrath]], ''Iustitia Dei: A History of the Christian Doctrine of Justification'', 2nd edition (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, reprinted 1998), pp. 17, 19–20; Erich S. Gruen, ''Heritage and Hellenism: The Reinvention of Jewish Tradition'', U California Press, Berkeley, 1998.</ref> believe that the Christian Church in the early stages picked up pagan oral teachings from Jewish and Hellenistic sources, which formed the basis of a secret [[oral tradition]], which in the 4th century came to be called the ''[[disciplina arcani]]''. Mainstream theologians believe it contained liturgical details and certain other pagan traditions which remain a part of some branches of [[Nicene Christianity|mainstream Christianity]] (for example, some Catholic theologians thought that the doctrine of [[transubstantiation]] was a part of this).<ref name="Stroumsa">G. G. Stroumsa, ''Hidden Wisdom: Esoteric Traditions and the Roots of Christian Mysticism'', 2005.</ref><ref>Frommann, ''De Disciplina Arcani in vetere Ecclesia christiana obticuisse fertur'', Jena 1833.</ref><ref>E. Hatch, ''The Influence of Greek Ideas and Usages upon the Christian Church'', London, 1890, Chapter 10.</ref> Important [[Western esotericism|esoteric]] influences on the church were the Christian theologians [[Clement of Alexandria]] and [[Origen]], the main figures of the [[Catechetical School of Alexandria]].<ref>Jean Danielou, ''Origen'', translated by Walter Mitchell, 1955.</ref>

Restorationists teach that the [[Pope|Papacy]] slowly became corrupted as it strove to attain great dominion and authority, both civil and ecclesiastical.<ref>"The [[Council of Chalcedon]] (415 AD) made the following declaration in Canon 28: 'The Bishop of New Rome (Constantinople) shall enjoy the same honor as the Bishop of Old Rome, for the former possesses the same privileges.'" (Disciplinary Decrees of the General Councils, Schroeder, p. 125).</ref><ref>"He (Theodore I, bishop of Rome, 642–649 DJR) was the first Pope officially styled 'Sovereign Pontiff,' and the last whom the bishops called 'brother.' The preeminence of the first See and the extension of the Pontifical authority were becoming more necessary in proportion as the Church spread further her conquests." (Darras, Vol. II, p. 232).</ref> For example, they say, it reinstated the pagan ceremonies and obligations of the ''[[College of Pontiffs|Collegium Pontificum]]'' and the position of ''[[Pontifex Maximus]]'' and created Christian [[religious order]]s to replace the ancient Roman ones such as the [[Vestal Virgin]]s and the ''[[Flamen|flamines]]''. It brought into the church the ancient pagan festivals and made them 'Holy Days'.<ref>"The church took the pagan philosophy and made it the buckler of faith against the heathen. She took the pagan, Roman Pantheon, temple of all the gods, and made it sacred to all the martyrs; so it stands to this day. She took the pagan Sunday and made it the Christian Sunday. She took the pagan Easter and made it the feast we celebrate during this season.
Sunday and Easter day are, if we consider their derivation, much the same. In truth, all Sundays are Sundays only because they are a weekly, partial recurrence of Easter day. The pagan Sunday was, in a manner, an unconscious preparation for Easter day. The Sun was a foremost god with heathendom. Balder the beautiful, the White God, the old Scandinavians called him. The sun has worshippers at this hour in Persia and other lands. ...Hence the church in these countries would seem to have said, "Keep that old pagan name. It shall remain consecrated, sanctified." And thus the pagan Sunday, dedicated to Balder, became the Christian Sunday, sacred to Jesus. The sun is a fitting emblem of Jesus. The Fathers often compared Jesus to the sun; as they compared Mary to the moon, the beautiful moon, the beautiful Mary, shedding her mild, beneficent light on the darkness and the night of this world – not light of her own; no Catholic says this; but – light reflected from the sun, Jesus." Source: PASCHALE GAUDIUM, by William L. Gildea, D.D., in The Catholic World, Vol. LVIII., No. 348., March, 1894., published in New York by The Office of the Catholic World., pp. 808–809.</ref> Catholics as well as the Reformers pointed to the office of the Papacy as responsible for the fallen state of the church as they considered the conduct of those in power had grown so spiritually or morally corrupt that it was called the [[antichrist|Antichrist power]] by those within as well as outside of the church.<ref>Every Reformer, without exception, spoke of the papacy as Antichrist" – R. Allen Anderson, Unfolding the Revelation, p. 137</ref><ref>Arnulf Bishop of Orleans (Roman Catholic) "deplored the roman popes as 'monsters of guilt' and declared in a council called by the King of France in 991 AD that the pontiff, clad in purple and gold, was, 'Antichrist, sitting in the temple of God, and showing himself as God'" – Philip Schaff, ''History of the Christian Church'', 8 vols., reprint of the 3d (1910) ed. (Grand Rapids Mich.: Wm. B Eerdmans Publishing Co., n.d.).</ref><ref>Martin Luther states, 
"We here are of the conviction that the papacy is the seat of the true and real Antichrist ...Personally I declare that I owe the Pope no other obedience than that to Antichrist." (Aug. 18, 1520) Taken from ''The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers'', Vol. 2., p. 121 by Froom. (In response to a papal bull [official decree]): "I despise and attack it, as impious, false. ...It is Christ Himself who is condemned therein. ...I rejoice in having to bear such ills for the best of causes. Already I feel greater liberty in my heart; for at last I know that the pope is antichrist, and that his throne is that of Satan himself." – D'Aubigné, b. 6, ch. 9.</ref>

== Protestant views ==
{{Main|Constantine the Great and Christianity}}
Reformers like Martin Luther, John Calvin and others disagreed with the papacy's claim of temporal power over all secular governments and the autocratic character of the papal office, and challenged papal authority as a corruption from the early church and questioned the Catholic Church's ability to define Christian practice.<ref>See Luther, [http://www.bookofconcord.com/smalcald.html#article4 Smalcald Articles, Article four] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010210703/http://www.bookofconcord.com/smalcald.html#article4 |date=2008-10-10 }}</ref>

===Reformed perspective===
{{Main|Protestant Reformation}}
The defenses of the right belief and worship of the church resided in the [[bishop]]s, and Protestants theorize that the process of unifying the doctrine of the church also concentrated power into their own hands (see also [[Ignatius of Antioch]], who advocated a powerful bishop), and made their office an instrument of power coveted by ambitious men.<ref>John Wesley speaking of the office of the Papacy he said, "He is in an emphatical sense, the Man of Sin, as he increases all manner of sin above measure. And he is, too, properly styled the Son of Perdition, as he has caused the death of numberless multitudes, both of his opposers and followers... He it is...that exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped...claiming the highest power, and highest honour...claiming the prerogatives which belong to God alone."  Taken from Antichrist and His Ten Kingdoms by John Wesley, p. 110.</ref> They charge that, through ambition and jealousy, the church has been at times, and not very subtly, subverted from carrying out its sacred aim. For the Reformers, the culmination of this gradual corruption was typified, in a concentrated way, in the office of the pope who took on ancient titles such as ''Pontifex Maximus'' and supreme power in the church.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Chapter 24. Babylon the Great – Dispensational Truth – Study Resources|url=https://www.blueletterbible.org/study/larkin/dt/24.cfm|access-date=2020-08-25|website=Blue Letter Bible|language=en}}</ref>

Calvin, Luther, and many later churches and preachers have held that Scripture points out the [[Catholic Church]] as the fallen church of biblical prophecy.<ref>1689 London Baptist Confession{{snd}}Chapter 26: Of the Church. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Head of the church, in whom, by the appointment of the Father, all power for the calling, institution, order or government of the church, is invested in a supreme and sovereign manner; neither can the Pope of Rome in any sense be head thereof, but is that antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalteth himself in the church against Christ, and all that is called God; whom the Lord shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.</ref><ref>Clarke, Adam. ''Commentary on the Old Testament'' Vol IV p. 596.</ref>

[[Theology of Martin Luther|Martin Luther]] believed and taught that the church had strayed and fallen away from the true teachings of the scripture. He challenged the authority of the [[pope]] of the [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic Church]] by teaching that the [[Bible]] is the [[Sola scriptura|only source]] of [[Divinity|divinely]] revealed knowledge,<ref>Ewald M. Plass, ''What Luther Says'', 3 vols., (St. Louis: CPH, 1959), 88, no. 269; M. Reu, ''Luther and the Scriptures'', Columbus, Ohio: Wartburg Press, 1944, p. 23.</ref> and opposed [[sacerdotalism]] by considering [[Priesthood of all believers|all baptized Christians to be a holy priesthood]].<ref>Luther, Martin. ''Concerning the Ministry'' (1523), tr. Conrad Bergendoff, in Bergendoff, Conrad (ed.) Luther's Works. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1958, 40:18 ff.</ref>

Although [[Lutherans]] and [[Calvinists]] hold that the [[Ecumenical Council]]s of the early and [[medieval]] church are true expressions of the Christian faith, many assert{{Weasel inline|date=February 2011}} the councils are at times inconsistent with one another, and err on particular points. The true church, they argue, will be mixed with alien influences and false beliefs, which is necessary in order for these impurities ultimately to be overcome and the truth to be vindicated.

The [[Westminster Confession of Faith]] (Calvinist), states:

<blockquote>The purest churches under heaven are subject both to mixture and error; and some have so degenerated as to become no churches of Christ, but [[synagogues]] of [[Satan]]. Nevertheless, there shall be always a church on earth, to worship God according to his will.</blockquote>

===Dispensationalist perspective===
{{anchor|Dispensationalism}}

The [[Historicism (Christianity)|Historicist]] biblical interpretation was the viewpoint of most major Protestant Reformers, beginning with the accusations of Martin Luther. Refuting these claims was accordingly a major objective of the [[Counter-Reformation]], both in the Catholic Church's initial response to Luther and especially in the aftermath of the [[Council of Trent]]. This required a renewed effort to interpret the relevant scriptural passages in light of the arguments put forth by the early Protestants. Two particularly noteworthy theories were proposed during the Counter-Reformation to address the historicist claim that the Antichrist was actually the Roman Catholic church.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://adventistbiblicalresearch.org/materials/prophecy/ellen-g-white-and-interpretation-daniel-and-revelation|title=Ellen G. White and the Interpretation of Daniel and Revelation &#124; Biblical Research Institute|website=adventistbiblicalresearch.org|access-date=2015-07-04|archive-date=2020-02-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200204071005/http://www.adventistbiblicalresearch.org/materials/prophecy/ellen-g-white-and-interpretation-daniel-and-revelation|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Francisco Ribera]] and [[Luis de Alcazar]], both 16th-century Spanish [[Jesuits]], rose to meet the challenge by introducing counter-interpretations of the prophecies in Daniel and Revelation.<ref>The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 4 [4BC], 42.</ref> Their approaches became known as the [[Preterist]] and [[futurism (Christianity)|Futurist]] schools, and both theologies quickly gained traction throughout Catholic Europe.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Futurism and Preterism|url=https://amazingdiscoveries.org/RT_encyclopedia_Futurism_Preterism_Catholic|access-date=2020-08-25|website=amazingdiscoveries.org|language=en}}</ref>

Gradually, Preterism and Futurism gained currency even in Protestant thought. Few mainstream Protestant leaders today still employ the vocabulary of "apostasy" and "anti-Christ" when discussing the papacy, although some conservative Evangelical and [[Christian fundamentalism|fundamentalist]] churches still accept these teachings to varying degrees.

The spread of [[dispensationalist]] doctrine has led many conservative Protestants to drop the traditional interpretation of the Book of Revelation as prediction of events that have taken place throughout history (historicism) and shifted it to future events (futurism), eliminating any relation between the prophecies and the Catholic Church. This has resulted in a re-interpretation of the [[Eschatology|end times]]. Although Protestant fundamentalists still largely object to Catholic doctrine concerning the papacy, most have dropped the harsher Reformation view and no longer identify the pope as the Antichrist.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Dispensationalism's Basic Fallacies – No.&nbsp;1 |url=https://www.ministrymagazine.org/archive/1939/11/dispensationalisms-basic-fallacies|access-date=2020-08-25|website=www.ministrymagazine.org|language=en}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=January 2021}}

==Restorationist perspective==
{{Main|Restorationism (Christian primitivism)}}

===Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints===
[[File:Joseph Smith first vision stained glass.jpg|thumb|LDS Church members believe that [[Joseph Smith]] was called by God to restore the true teachings of Jesus Christ]]

According to the [[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] (LDS Church), the Great Apostasy started not long after the [[Ascension of Jesus Christ|ascension]] of Jesus and continued until [[Joseph Smith]]'s [[First Vision]] in 1820.<ref name = PMG35>{{Cite book | title = Preach My Gospel (A Guide to Missionary Service) | publisher = LDS Church | year = 2004 | page = 35 | url = http://media.ldscdn.org/pdf/scripture-and-lesson-support/preach-my-gospel-a-guide-to-missionary-service/2005-04-00-preach-my-gospel-a-guide-to-missionary-service-eng.pdf?download=true | isbn = 0-402-36617-4 | access-date = 2017-01-23 | archive-date = 2017-01-27 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170127194606/http://media.ldscdn.org/pdf/scripture-and-lesson-support/preach-my-gospel-a-guide-to-missionary-service/2005-04-00-preach-my-gospel-a-guide-to-missionary-service-eng.pdf?download=true | url-status = dead }}</ref> To LDS Church members, or [[Latter-day Saints]], the Great Apostasy is marked by:
*the difficulty of the [[Twelve apostles|Apostles]] to keep early Christians from distorting the teachings of Jesus and to prevent the followers from dividing into different ideological groups;<ref name = MARV1>{{Cite book | last = Richards | first = LeGrand | author-link = LeGrand Richards | title = [[A Marvelous Work and a Wonder]] | publisher = Deseret Book Company | year = 1976 | page = 24 | isbn = 0-87747-161-4}}</ref>
*the [[Persecution of Christians|persecution]] and [[martyr]]dom of the church's Apostles;<ref name = GA1>{{Cite book | last = Talmage | first = James E. | author-link = James E. Talmage | title = The Great Apostasy | publisher = The Deseret News | year = 1909 | page = 68 | url =https://archive.org/stream/greatapostasycon00atalm#page/68/mode/2up | isbn = 0-87579-843-8}}</ref>
*the loss of leaders with [[Priesthood (Latter Day Saints)|priesthood authority]] to administer the church and its ordinances;<ref name = Eyring>{{Citation | last = Eyring | first = Henry B. | author-link = Henry B. Eyring | title = The True and Living Church | url =https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2008/05/the-true-and-living-church?lang=eng | journal = [[Ensign (LDS magazine)|Ensign]] | publisher = LDS Church | pages = 20–24 | date = May 2008 }}</ref>
*the lack of [[continuous revelation]] to instruct the leaders and guide the church;<ref name = PMG35/> and
*the corruption of Christian doctrine by [[Greek philosophy|Greek]] or other allegedly [[paganism|pagan]] philosophies such as [[Neo-Platonism]], [[Platonic realism]], [[Aristotelianism]] and [[Ascetic#Christianity|Asceticism]].<ref name = GA2>{{Cite book | last = Talmage | first = James E. | author-link = James E. Talmage | title = The Great Apostasy | publisher = The Deseret News | year = 1909 | pages = 64–65 | url =https://archive.org/stream/greatapostasycon00atalm#page/68/mode/2up | isbn = 0-87579-843-8}}</ref>

Beginning in the 1st century and continuing up to the 4th century AD, some [[List of Roman Emperors|emperors]] of the [[Roman Empire]] carried out violent persecutions against early Christians.<ref name = burning>{{Cite book | last = Renan | first = Joseph | author-link = Joseph Renan | title = The History of the Origins of Christianity. Book IV. The Antichrist | publisher = Mathieson & Company | year = 1890 | pages = 60–75 | url = http://www.ccel.org/ccel/renan/antichrist.viii.html }}</ref>

The LDS Church believes that all priesthood leaders with authority to conduct and perpetuate church affairs were either martyred, taken from the earth, or began to teach impure doctrines, causing a break in the necessary [[apostolic succession]].<ref name = PMG35/> It is a belief that what survived was a portion of the light and truth that Jesus had established: the Church of Jesus Christ, as established by him, was no longer to be found on the earth. Survivors of the persecutions were overly-influenced by various pagan philosophies either because they were not well indoctrinated in Jesus' teachings or they corrupted their Christian beliefs (willingly, by compulsion, or with good intentions but without direct revelation from God to help them interpret said beliefs) by accepting non-Christian doctrines into their faith. LDS Church doctrine is that many plain and simple truths of the gospel of Christ were, therefore, lost.<ref name = PMG35/>

The LDS Church and its members understand various writings in the [[New Testament]] to be an indication that even soon after the ascension of Jesus the Apostles struggled to keep early Christians from distorting the teachings of Jesus and to prevent the followers from dividing into different ideological groups.<ref name = Faust>{{Citation | last = Faust | first = James E. | author-link = James E. Faust | title = The Restoration of All Things | url = https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/liahona/2006/05/the-restoration-of-all-things?lang=eng | journal = [[Liahona (magazine)|Liahona]] | publisher = LDS Church | pages = 61–62, 67–68 | date = May 2006 }}</ref> The doctrine highlights statements from the Scriptures that various Old Testament and New Testament scriptures, like 2 Thessalonians 2:3, that Jesus Christ prophesied this "falling away" or "apostasy." The Christian believers who survived the persecutions took it upon themselves to speak for God, interpret, amend or add to his doctrines and ordinances, and carry out his work without proper authority and divine direction from God. During this time, important doctrines and rites were lost or corrupted.<ref>{{citation|last= Merrill |first= Hyde M. |title= The Great Apostasy as Seen by Eusebius |url= https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1972/11/the-great-apostasy-as-seen-by-eusebius?lang=eng |date=November 1971 |journal= Ensign |publisher= LDS Church }}</ref> The doctrine of the [[Trinity]] adopted at the [[First Council of Nicaea|Council of Nicaea]] is an example shown of how pagan philosophy corrupted the teachings of Jesus. The LDS Church believes that Joseph Smith's visions and revelations taught an important and sacrosanct doctrine that God, the Eternal Father, His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are not [[consubstantial|one substance]], but three separate and distinct beings forming one [[Godhead (Latter Day Saints)|Godhead]].<ref>{{lds|Doctrine and Covenants|dc|130|22}}</ref> Latter-day Saints reject the early [[ecumenical council]]s for what they see as misguided human attempts without divine assistance to decide matters of doctrine, substituting debate or politics for divine [[revelation]]. The LDS Church teaches that the often heated proceedings of such councils were evidence that the church was no longer led by revelation and divine authority. Indeed, the normative Christian view is that public revelation, or revelation that is binding on all Christians, concluded with the death of the last Apostle.<ref>http://www.catholic.com/tracts/private-revelation {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202233732/http://www.catholic.com/tracts/private-revelation |date=2013-12-02 }} (first paragraph)</ref>

As a result, LDS Church members refer to the "restitution of all things" mentioned in {{bibleverse||Acts|3:20–21}} and believe that a [[Restoration (Mormonism)|restoration]] of all the original and primary doctrines and rites of Christianity was necessary.<ref name = Faust/> Church members believe that God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to Smith, then a 14-year-old boy, and called him to be a prophet.<ref>{{Citation | last = Roberts| first = B. H. | author-link = B. H. Roberts | title = [[History of the Church (Joseph Smith)|History of the Church]] | publisher = Deseret News Press | pages = 1–8  | year = 1902 }}</ref> Later Peter, James, and John, three of Christ's apostles in the New Testament, appeared from heaven to Smith and ordained him an apostle.<ref>{{Citation | title = D&C 27:12 | url = http://classic.scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/27/12#12 }}</ref> Through Christ's priesthood authority and divine direction, church members believe that Smith was called and ordained to re-establish Christ's church. Hence, members of the faith refer to their church as "The Church of Jesus Christ," a name which they believe to have been revealed to Smith after the church's founding on 6 April 1830, originally called the [[Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)|Church of Christ]]. Latter-day Saints is a term members believe refers to members of Christ's church who were originally called "saints" and that the LDS Church is Christ's restored church in these days, believed by many Christian denominations to be the last days prior to the prophesied second coming of Jesus.<ref>{{Citation | last = Cook | first = Quentin L. | author-link = Quentin L. Cook | title = Are You a Saint? | url = https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/liahona/2003/11/are-you-a-saint?lang=eng | journal = Liahona | publisher = LDS Church | pages = 95–96 | date = November 2003 }}</ref>

===Adventists===
[[Ellen G. White|Ellen White]] wrote

{{blockquote|His word has given warning of the impending danger; let this be unheeded, and the Protestant world will learn what the purposes of Rome really are, only when it is too late to escape the snare. She is silently growing into power. Her doctrines are exerting their influence in legislative halls, in the churches, and in the hearts of men. She is piling up her lofty and massive structures in the secret recesses of which her former persecutions will be repeated. Stealthily and unsuspectedly she is strengthening her forces to further her own ends when the time shall come for her to strike. All that she desires is vantage ground, and this is already being given her. We shall soon see and shall feel what the purpose of the Roman element is. Whoever shall believe and obey the word of God will thereby incur reproach and persecution.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite book
 | last = White
 | first = Ellen G.
 | author-link = Ellen G. White
 | title = The Great Controversy: Between Christ and Satan
 | orig-year = 1888
 | url = http://www.whiteestate.org/books/gc/gc.asp
 | access-date = 2006-06-06
 | year = 1999
 | publisher = The Ellen G. White Estate
 | isbn = 0-8163-1923-5
 | chapter = Enmity Between Man and Satan
 | chapter-url = http://www.whiteestate.org/books/gc/gc30.html
 | page = 581
}}</ref>|author=Ellen G. White|title=The Great Controversy: Between Christ and Satan|source=page 581}}

[[Seventh-day Adventists]] believe that the [[Mark of the beast|mark of the Beast]] refers to the apostate church which in the [[Eschatology|end times]] will legally enforce Sunday-worship. "Those who reject God's memorial of creatorship – the Bible Sabbath – choosing to worship and honor Sunday in the full knowledge that it is not God's appointed day of worship, will receive the 'mark of the beast.{{'"}}<ref>{{Cite book|title=Seventh-day Adventists Believe (2nd ed) |publisher=Ministerial Association, [[General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists]] |year=2005 |page=196}}</ref> "Sunday Sabbath is purely a child of the Papacy. It is the mark of the beast."<ref>Advent Review, Vol. I, No. 2, August, 1850.</ref> They see an apostate church that changed God's law, preferred pagan traditions, allowed pagan beliefs and ceremonies into the church, and brought oppression against and persecuted the true believers throughout the Dark Ages for 1260 years as prophesied in Revelation 12:6, 14–16.<ref>{{Cite web |title=EGW Writings®: The Complete Published Books of Ellen G. White |url=https://egwwritings.org/ |access-date=2023-05-11 |website=egwwritings.org |at=Chapter 15 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Seventh-day Adventists Believe (2nd ed)|publisher=Ministerial Association, [[General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists]]|year=2005|isbn=1-57847-041-2|pages=184–185}}</ref>

===Hyperdispensationalism===
{{main|Hyperdispensationalism}}
Hyperdispensationalism is a niche view in Protestantism which views Pauline Christianity or the beliefs and doctrines espoused by the apostle Paul through his writings as the purest form of Christian faith and worship from which the church fell away. [[Ethelbert William Bullinger|E. W. Bullinger]] framed the position for early apostasy thus:

{{blockquote|We are told, on every hand, today, that we must go back to the first three centuries to find the purity of faith and worship of the primitive church! But it is clear from this comparison of Acts xix.10 and 2 Tim.i.15, that we cannot go back ... even to the apostle's own life-time! ... It was Pauline truth and teaching from which all had "turned away".<ref>Carey, Juanita, ''E. W. Bullinger: A Biography'', p. 148, quoting from Bullinger's ''The Church Epistles''.</ref>|author=Juanita Carey|title=''E. W. Bullinger: A Biography''|source=page 148, quoting from Bullinger's "The Church Epistles"}}

==Responses of Catholicism, Lutheranism==
{{Further|Eucharist in the Catholic Church|Clerical celibacy (Catholic Church)|Lent}}

Regarding "forbidding to marry" and the "commanding to abstain from meats" in 1 Timothy 4 (Paul might have spoken in general in regard to any new sects or doctrines which could arise), the Catholic Church responds:

{{Blockquote|Regarding the Church's discipline of celibacy, men and women freely abstain from the high and holy good of marriage so that they can more fully give themselves to God and His work. Marriage is not "forbidden". Neither is it considered evil. See the Catechism of the Catholic Church (Catechism), numbers 1618–20, especially the quote from St. John Chrysostom. 1 Timothy 4:1–5 needs to be read in context. There were those in Paul's time that forbade marriage on heretical presuppositions that marriage was intrinsically evil, a teaching based in turn on the false belief that the body or all matter was evil, and only the Spirit was good. This [[Gnostic]] heresy became prevalent again in the second century. The heresy became manifest in later centuries as well, with groups like the Albigensians, who also fell away from the Catholic Faith. ... With regard to foods, none are forbidden to Catholics. Unlike vegetarians, we may eat meat; unlike Jews and Muslims, we may eat pork, shellfish, and other non-kosher foods. Fasting – a practice actively promoted in Scripture – and abstinence from certain foods at particular times are good spiritual disciplines, but there is no food from which Catholics must abstain at all times. ... So who is Paul condemning regarding abstinence? He is referring to [[Gnostics]] and their spiritual descendants. In ascetic Gnosticism, we find both practices Paul condemned in his First Letter to Timothy. Ascetic Gnostics categorically forbade marriage (which libertine Gnostics also did) and abstained from sexual intercourse and meat all the time.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://catholicexchange.com/2003/03/04/82916/ |title=Doesn't St. Paul Condemn Celibacy, Fasting and Abstaining From Meat? |publisher=Catholic Exchange |date=2003-03-04 |access-date=2012-08-17}}</ref>|title=Doesn't St. Paul Condemn Celibacy, Fasting, and Abstaining From Meat?}}

[[Martin Luther]], who spearheaded the [[Reformation]], sought to ''reform'' the Catholic Church, as opposed to ''restoring'' it.<ref name="Lamport2017">{{cite book |last1=Lamport |first1=Mark A. |title=Encyclopedia of Martin Luther and the Reformation |year=2017 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-7159-3 |page=15 |language=English}}</ref> The [[Lutheran Church]] traditionally sees itself as the "main trunk of the historical Christian Tree" founded by Christ and the Apostles, holding that during the Reformation, the [[Holy See|Church of Rome]] fell away.<ref name="Remensnyder1893">{{cite book |author1=Junius Benjamin Remensnyder |title=The Lutheran Manual |date=1893 |publisher=Boschen & Wefer Company |page=12 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rWA3AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA12 |language=English}}</ref><ref name="Frey1918">{{cite book|last=Frey|first=H.|title=Is One Church as Good as Another?|volume=37|year=1918|publisher=[[The Lutheran Witness]]|language=English|pages=82–83}}</ref> As such, the [[Augsburg Confession]], the Lutheran confession of faith, teaches that "the faith as confessed by Luther and his followers is nothing new, but the true catholic faith, and that their churches represent the true catholic or universal church".<ref name="Ludwig2016">{{cite magazine|title=Luther's Catholic Reformation|last=Ludwig|first=Alan|date=12 September 2016|magazine=[[The Lutheran Witness]]|language=en|quote=When the Lutherans presented the ''Augsburg Confession'' before Emperor Charles V in 1530, they carefully showed that each article of faith and practice was true first of all to Holy Scripture, and then also to the teaching of the church fathers and the councils and even the canon law of the Church of Rome. They boldly claim, 'This is about the Sum of our Doctrine, in which, as can be seen, there is nothing that varies from the Scriptures, or from the Church Catholic, or from the Church of Rome as known from its writers' (AC XXI Conclusion 1). The underlying thesis of the ''Augsburg Confession'' is that the faith as confessed by Luther and his followers is nothing new, but the true catholic faith, and that their churches represent the true catholic or universal church. In fact, it is actually the Church of Rome that has departed from the ancient faith and practice of the catholic church (see AC XXIII 13, XXVIII 72 and other places).}}</ref> When the Lutherans presented the Augsburg Confession to [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor]], they explained "that each article of faith and practice was true first of all to Holy Scripture, and then also to the teaching of the church fathers and the councils".<ref name="Ludwig2016"/>

==See also==
{{Div col}}
* [[Antinomianism]]
* [[Bible prophecy]]
* [[Caesaropapism]]
* [[Constantinian shift]]
* [[Criticism of the Roman Catholic Church]]
* [[Mormonism and Christianity]]
* [[References to the Antichrist in ecclesiastical writings]]
* [[Sacralism]]
* [[Summary of Christian eschatological differences]]
* [[Total depravity]]
{{Div col end}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* [[James L. Barker]]; ''Apostasy from the Divine Church''; [[Bookcraft]]; {{ISBN|0-88494-544-8}} (1952; Hardcover 1984)
* [[Barry R. Bickmore]]; ''Restoring the Ancient Church''; Cornerstone Publishing, FAIR; {{ISBN|1-893036-00-6}} (Paperback, 1999); [https://web.archive.org/web/20051125025519/http://www.fair-lds.org/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=FAIR-BB-99&Category_Code=FP Available directly from the publisher]
* The ''[[Geneva Bible]]'' (1599), annotations of "Fr. Junius" to the [[Book of Revelation]], repr. L. L. Brown Publishing, {{ISBN|0-9629888-0-4}} (1990)
* Holy Bible, King James Version, Isaiah 2:2,3; 5:20,21,25–29; 24:1–5; 28:10,11; 29:4,10–14,18,22–24; 49:22–23; 52:11,12; 54:1–3; 55:5; 56:6–8; 60:1–3,16. Malachi 3:1; 4:5,6.
* {{cite journal|author = Eric R. Dursteler|title = Inheriting the 'Great Apostasy': The Evolution of Latter-day Saint Views on the Middle Ages and the Renaissance|url = http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1100&index=4|journal = [[Journal of Mormon History]] |volume = 28|issue = Fall|year = 2002|pages = 23–59|access-date = 2014-03-28|archive-date = 2014-04-01|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140401081614/http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1100&index=4|url-status = dead |via=the [[Neal A. Maxwell Institute]] website}}
* The ''[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1571-39articles.html Thirty-Nine Articles]'' of the Episcopal Church in America.
* [[Steven C. Harper]]; ''[https://rsc.byu.edu/archived/prelude-restoration-apostasy-restored-church Prelude to the Restoration: Apostasy to the Restored Church] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230232014/https://rsc.byu.edu/archived/prelude-restoration-apostasy-restored-church |date=2013-12-30 }}''; [[Brigham Young University]] 2004; {{ISBN|1-5903-8329-X}}
* [[Kent P. Jackson]]; ''From Apostasy to Restoration''; [[Deseret Book]]; {{ISBN|1-57345-218-1}} (Hardcover 1996)
* [[Hugh Nibley]]; [[Todd M. Compton]] and [[Stephen D. Ricks]], editors; ''Mormonism and Early Christianity''; [[Deseret Book]]; {{ISBN|0-87579-127-1}} (Hardcover, 1987)
* [[Hugh Nibley]]; [https://web.archive.org/web/20111011084826/http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/books/?bookid=54 ''The World and the Prophets''] Maxwell Institute, BYU
* [[James E. Talmage]]; ''[[The Great Apostasy (book)|The Great Apostasy]]''; [[Deseret Book]]; {{ISBN|0-87579-843-8}} (1909; Softcover, February 1994)
* [[Johann Lorenz Von Mosheim]]; ''De rebus Christianorum ante Constantinum Magnum Commentarii'' (6 vols.); (1753)
** Johann Lorenz Von Mosheim; ''Ecclesiastical History from the Birth of Christ to the Beginning of the Eighteenth Century'' (4 vols.), translated by Archibald Maclaine; (1758)
** Johann Lorenz Von Mosheim; ''Ecclesiastical History'', translated by James Murdock; (1851)
* Timothy M. Youngblood; ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20140813104314/http://www.masters-table.org/apostasy/Great_Apostasy_PDF.pdf The Great Apostasy]'' (2nd ed.); Copyright 1998/2005 Timothy Malone Youngblood. {{LCCN|TXu 000883-964}}<!-- Invalid. -->.

{{Doomsday}}

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