25. "Behold, four hundred years have passed away since the coming of our Lord and Savior. And behold, the Lamanites have hunted my people, the Nephites, down from city to city, and from place to place, even until they are no more; and great has been their fall; yea, great and marvelous is the destruction of my people, the Nephites. And behold, it is the hand of the Lord which hath done it. And behold also, the Lamanites are at war one with another; and the whole face of this land is one continual round of murder and bloodshed; and no one knoweth the end of the war. And now behold, I say no more concerning them, for there are none, save it be the Lamanites and robbers that do exist upon the face of the land; and there are none that do know the true God, save it be the disciples of Jesus,—(See III Nephi 28:1-7.) who did tarry in the land until the wickedness of the people was so great, that the Lord would not suffer them to remain with the people; and whether they be upon the face of the land no man knoweth."—(Mormon 8:6-10.)
NOTES.
1. The Early Apostasy Recognized. The fact of the early beginning of the apostasy is generally recognized by theologians and authorities on biblical interpretation. Clarke's commentary on the declaration of Paul as to the "mystery of iniquity" then at work (See II Thess. 2:7) is as follows:
"For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: There is a system of corrupt doctrine which will lead to the general apostasy, already in existence; but it is a mystery; it is as yet hidden; it dare not show itself because of that which hindereth or withholdeth. But when that which now restraineth is taken out of the way, then shall that wicked one be revealed; it will then be manifest who he is and what he is."
2. Early Dissensions in the Church. As instances of the disagreements and differences that troubled and disturbed the Church even in apostolic days Mosheim says: "The first of these controversies, which was set on foot in the church of Antioch, regarded the necessity of observing the law of Moses, and its issue is mentioned by St. Luke in the Acts of the Apostles (chap. 15). This controversy was followed by many others, either with the Jews who were violently attached to the worship of their ancestors, or with the votaries of a wild and fanatical sort of philosophy, or with such as, mistaking the true genius of the Christian religion, abused it monstrously to the encouragement of their vices, and their indulgence of the appetites and passions. St. Paul and the other apostles have in several places of their writings, mentioned these controversies, but with such brevity that it is difficult at this distance of time to come at the true state of the question in these various disputes. The most weighty and important of all these controversies was that which certain Jewish doctors raised at Rome, and in other Christian Churches concerning the means of justification and acceptance with God, and the method of salvation pointed out in the word of God. The apostles, wherever they exercised their ministry, had constantly declared all hopes of acceptance and salvation delusive, except such as were founded on Jesus the Redeemer, and His all-sufficient merits; while the Jewish doctors maintained the works of the law to be the true efficient cause of the soul's eternal salvation and felicity. This latter sentiment not only led to many other errors extremely prejudicial to Christianity, but was also injurious to the glory of the divine Savior."—(Mosheim, "Ecclesiastical History," Cent. I, Part II, 11-12.)
3. Unauthorized Writings in the Apostolic Age. Paul's reference to "another gospel" in his epistle to the Galatians (1:6) suggested to Dr. Adam Clarke the following commentary on the passage:
"Another gospel: It is certain that in the very earliest ages of the Christian Church, there were several spurious gospels in circulation; and it was the multitude of these false or inaccurate relations that induced St. Luke to write his own (see Luke 1:1). We have the names of more than seventy of these spurious narratives still on record, and in ancient writers many fragments of them remain; these have been collected and published by Fabricius in his account of the apocryphal books of the New Testament (3 vols, 8 vo.) In some of these gospels the necessity of circumcision and subjection to the Mosaic law, in unity with the gospel, were strongly inculcated."—(Clarke, "Bible Commentary.")
4. Some Authorities on Ecclesiastical History. Among the authorities cited in the text are those named below. A brief note as to each may be of interest.
Eusebius: Eusebius Pamphilus, bishop of Caesarea in Palestine. He lived from about 260 to about 339 A.D., though there is some uncertainty as to the exact time of his death. He was an eye witness of and a participant in some of the sufferings incident to heathen persecution of the Christians, and has been called the "Father of Church History." He was the author of several works, among them one of the earliest on "Ecclesiastical History." The quotations from this work by Eusebius, as given in the text, are from the version translated from the Greek by C. F. Cruse.
Mosheim: Dr. J. L. von Mosheim, chancellor of the University of Gottingen; a German writer, noted for his contributions to church history. He is the author of an exhaustive work on "Ecclesiastical History" (6 vols.), dated 1755. The excerpts from Mosheim's "Ecclesiastical History" given in the text are taken from the version translated into English by Dr. Archibald Maclaine, dated 1764.