Cowley's Talks on Doctrine

by Matthias F. Cowley

In speaking of this power that should destroy the Saints, Daniel the prophet, says, "And he shall speak great words against the Most High and shall wear out the Saints of the Most High." We might illustrate how literally these prophecies were verified by the following example: Previous to the late Civil War in the American Union, the South organized a republican form of government with the requisite officers to constitute such a government. In a short time, however, the Northern States engaged in war with the South and overcame them, so that the confederacy of that section ceased to exist. Suppose a stranger should visit the South at the present time and inquire of some person in that region of country if they have a republic entirely independent of the North, and on being answered "We have," the visitor queries, "Where is your president?" "Well, he is done away with, because no longer needed." He is asked, "Where is your vice-president?" "Oh, we have none." "Where is your congress?" "Well, that was dissolved long ago and has not existed since." "Pray, then," says the stranger, "What have you left?" "Well, we have a judge, and a policeman, besides the book which gives a history of the officers you inquire about." Such answers, however absurd and inconsistent, are very similar to those offered by the religious world of today who claim to have the Church of Christ; but when asked where are their apostles, they answer, "We have none, they are done away with." "Have you prophets?" "Oh, no! They are no longer needed." "Do the members of your church enjoy the gifts of the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised should follow believers?" "Certainly not, they have passed away centuries ago, and we have no occasion for them now." "Well, then, what have you left?" "Why, we have a pastor and a deacon, and then we have the good Book, the Holy Bible, that describes the officers you mention."

It is very clear, from the condition of affairs, that we have briefly described, that at some period in the past, the Church of Jesus Christ was taken from the earth and the human family left without the direct and authorized administration of the plan of salvation. The prophecies we have quoted show, first, that such an event was to transpire some time in the future; second, about the period of time in which many of these predictions were verified, and, third, the means of power by which the Saints were overcome.

There are other prophecies in the Bible which plainly show that the extent of the ancient apostasy would be universal and continue in the earth until a certain period in the history of the human family, which will, with other items, form the subject matter for our next consideration. As the predictions of the prophets relating to the past have been so literally verified, this fact should promote, in the hearts of the people, great faith in the words of the Lord, as these are given in the Bible.

We have shown that the Church established by the Savior in all its pristine beauty and purity was taken from the earth. As none of the religious denominations, existing between the time of the ancient apostles and the nineteenth century have received a new commission from heaven, that fact is proof that the effect of the primitive apostasy has extended without interruption to the present age of the world.

Dr. Mosheim is the author of four large volumes of religious history comprehending about eighteen centuries of the Christian era. This work has been translated by Dr. Murdock with copious notes, or extracts, from the writers who lived contemporary with the times of which he writes. From the translation of Mosheim's Ecclesiastical Institutes we make a few quotations.

In speaking of the second century of the Christian era, Mosheim says (Vol. 1, p. 142): "For the noble simplicity and the majestic dignity of the Christian religion were lost, or at least impaired, when these philosophers presumed to associate their dogmas with it and to bring faith and piety under the dominion of human reason." On pages 182 and 183 of the same volume we are informed that, to conform to the customs of Jews and Pagan priests, rites and ceremonies were added to the simplicity of correct worship, and a "large part therefore of the Christian observances and institutions even in this century had the aspect of Pagan mysteries." Passing on to the third century on page 257, we have the following: "All the monuments of this century which have come down to us, show that there was a great increase of ceremonies." Page 259: "Baptism was publicly administered twice a year to candidates who had gone through a long preparation and trial."

Of the fourth century we learn from p. 345 that the regard for Platonic philosophy was embraced and mingled with the doctrine of the Savior: "Hence it is that we see on every hand evident traces of excessive veneration for Saints in heaven; of belief in a fire to purify souls on leaving the body; of partiality for priestly celibacy; the worship of images and relics, and for many other opinions which, in the process of time, almost banished the true religion or at least very much obscured and corrupted it." Of the fifth century, an account is given of impostors perpetrating artifices to make people think they were miracles and thereby induce them to embrace Christianity. Religious teachings, we are informed, "were substantiated, not so much by the declarations of the Holy Scriptures, as by the authority and logical reasonings of the ancient doctors." Page 455: "The whole Christian Church was in this century overwhelmed with these disgraceful fictions."

We might proceed with similar quotations relative to subsequent centuries intervening between the fifth and the time of the Reformation, but the foregoing will suffice to show that religious matters grew worse from one age to another, presenting to the world a mass of religious confusion. Although there may have been honorable men who protested against these evils, it is evident that genuine authority and the principles of the Gospel in their purity could not be derived from such a corrupt source. We are informed in the Scriptures that an evil tree will not produce good fruit nor a bitter fountain send forth sweet waters. As neither Luther, Melancthon, Huss, Zwingli, Calvin nor any of the reformers of that age received revelation from heaven authorizing them to establish the Church, we find that the world was still without the plan of salvation, and that the products of the Reformation, as religious bodies, are the offspring of the mother church, described in the Scriptures as the "mother of harlots and abomination of the earth." This unnatural mother, like some of the fashionable women of modern times (whose husbands and illicit patrons are zealously opposing the Latter-day Saints), endeavored to procure abortion, but failing in this, she tried to destroy her children after birth. Both attempts being futile, the children grew to years of maturity and in turn gave birth to other children, and so on until now there are several generations of them living. These offspring, being without natural affection, have been and still are quarreling with each other and casting missiles at their mothers and grandmothers as the case may be.

In the midst of this religious spectacle, however, there are and have been many honorable people who have realized the fallen condition of the world and were honest enough to acknowledge the same. From Elder John Morgan's Tract No. 1, we make the following extracts: "Roger Williams refused to continue as pastor over the oldest Baptist church in America on the grounds that there was no regularly constituted church on earth nor any person authorized to administer church ordinances, nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the Great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seeking." (See Picturesque America, page 502.) Smith's Bible Dictionary also says: "We must not expect to see the Church of Holy Scriptures actually existing in its perfection on the earth. It is not to be found thus perfect either in the collected fragments of Christendom or still less in any one of these fragments." The names of sixty-five learned divines and biblical scholars are on the preface page as contributors to and endorsers of this book.

Mr. Wesley states that the reason the gifts are no longer in the church, is because the love of many waxed cold and the Christians had turned heathens again and had only a dead form left. (See volume 1, sermon 94.)