From these seven points, then—the corruption of the doctrine of God and the Godhead; the rejection of the doctrine of Divine Authority; the distortion of the doctrine of church organization and church government; the changing of the outward ordinances; the perversion of the simple church ritual; the loss of spiritual gifts; and the corruption of the body of church doctrines,—from these seven points, it is indisputably evident that the great apostasy from the primitive Christian church is an accomplished fact. Although there followed in the middle ages a period of reformation—or revolution—yet there was effected no return to the primitive faith. There came no new revelation, and therefore there could come no authorized church. The churches of the Protestants were merely broken off from the mother Catholic church, which they themselves believed to be apostate. Each new religious teacher as he arose placed his own personal interpretation upon the word of God. Thus there came to be many creeds; and since these creeds differed materially in essential points, contention and strife became inevitably common among the sects.

Such was the condition of the world in the spring of 1820. Although, for the purposes of a revival meeting, the ministers of the Protestant churches might unite for a time in a general effort to waken the people to spiritual life, yet there lay beneath the surface feelings of antagonism and bitterness the one toward the other. The seven marks of the apostasy make them alien to Christ.[I]

[Footnote I: For a full consideration of the apostasy and the so-called reformation, see B. H. Roberts' "Outlines of Ecclesiastical History," and J. E. Talmage's "The Great Apostasy.">[

IV.
THE RESTORATION PREDICTED.

The great universal apostasy we have thus briefly described was foretold by many of the ancient prophets. In both the New and the Old Testament may be found pertinent references to a general falling-away; for the prophets of old—specially chosen men who spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost—foresaw clearly that even the simple words of Jesus would become corrupted, though the fact of His ministry might be accepted.

And just as the prophets of old foresaw the falling away, so, too, they foresaw and predicted the glorious restoration. The blissful condition to be desired at the time of the restoration was described by the Lord to Jeremiah. The Lord God would make a new covenant with His people. It was to be a time when the law of the Lord should be put in the "inward parts" of the people, and they should "teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord"; for they should all know Him, from the least of them to the greatest of them.[A] How far we are in the modern religious world from realizing the condition here described, it is needless to say. The promised new covenant has certainly not been generally accepted. The time remains yet to come when creeds shall cease contending one with another, saying, "Know the Lord." The time is not yet to come, however, when the new covenant shall be introduced. It is here.

[Footnote A: Jer. 31:31-34.]

King Nebuchadnezzar had one night a wonderful dream. He saw standing before him a great image of excellent brightness, but terrible form. The head of the image was of gold; the breast and the arms were of silver; the belly and the thighs were of brass; the legs were of iron; and the feet were part of iron and part of clay. As the image stood before the dreamsight of the king, there appeared a stone cut without hands, which smote the feet of the image and broke it to pieces. The clay, the iron, the brass, the silver, the gold, of which the image was made became like chaff and were scattered in the winds of heaven; but the little stone became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

To the Hebrew prophet Daniel was given the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream. The four parts made of gold, and silver, and brass, and iron, represented, he said, four great world kingdoms that should arise. In fact, the first of them—that represented by the head of gold—was Nebuchadnezzar's own, the kingdom of Babylon. After it should arise another inferior to it—the kingdom of the Medes and Persians—typified by the breast and arms of silver. There should come in succession two others—the kingdom of Alexander, a kingdom of brass to bear rule over the whole earth; and the empire of Rome, an empire of iron, strong, to break in pieces and subdue all things. Finally, after the fall of these four world empires, the earth should be divided into many kingdoms, some strong and some weak, as the feet and toes of the image were part of iron and part of potter's clay. Then, in the days of these kingdoms, said the prophet Daniel, "shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms and it shall stand forever."[B]

[Footnote B: Dan. 2:31-45.]