The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the LDS Church) claims that Christ's authority vanished from the earth some time after His apostles died. The LDS Church calls this a total apostasy because they claim that there was not one person left who could act with the authority of God. According to the accepted version of Joseph Smith's first vision, Jesus came back to earth to tell Joseph Smith to "restore" the true gospel again to the earth. We will explore this topic by studying what the official LDS scriptures say. Joseph's first vision is found in The Pearl of Great Price.
1) The Pearl of Great Price - Joseph Smith History 1:19
"I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all
wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an
abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that:
"they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me,
they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness,
but they deny the power thereof.""
Establishing a Total Apostasy
We are to establish all things (including teachings) on the
testimony of two or more witnesses. According to Joseph Smith's testimony,
recorded in The Pearl of Great Price, he went out in the woods
alone to pray. (Verse 15) According to Joseph Smith, the second voice
he heard was the voice of the Lord of Mormonism (Verse 17). This Lord
said (verse 19) that all the existing churches were wrong. All their
creeds and professors (professors of their faith - evangelists/preachers) were
also wrong. So, we have this total apostasy on the authority
of the Jesus of Mormonism by the testimony of only one witness, Joseph
Smith! Today the LDS Church claims it has the right to exist because
Joseph Smith claimed he was called by this Jesus to restore the true church
on the Earth.
2) The Book of Mormon - III Nephi 28
The Book of Mormon tells of Jesus visiting the American
continent. He picks out twelve more disciples to spread the LDS gospel.
The heading for Chapter 28 says: "...Three Nephites are given power over death so as to remain on Earth until Jesus comes again...and they are now ministering among men." Verses 6-9: "...ye have desired the thing which John, my beloved, who was with me in my ministry, before that I was lifted up by the Jews, desired of me. Therefore, more blessed are ye, for ye shall never taste of death; but ye shall live to behold all the doings of the Father unto the children of men, even until all things shall be fulfilled according to the will of the Father, when I shall come in my glory with the powers of heaven. And ye shall never endure the pains of death; ...for ye have desired that ye might bring the souls of man unto me, while the world shall stand."
Fountain of Youth - Three Nephite Apostles
The Jesus of The Book of Mormon has stated that He will
not allow these three Nephite Apostles to suffer death, but they
will continue living until Jesus' second coming. Jesus gave these Nephites
full apostleship with all the authority to act in His name, the same as the
apostles of the Old World (Moroni 2:2). They are presently ministering
among men to bring their souls unto the Jesus of The Book of Mormon
. This means that three apostles, who are nearly two thousand years
old, are still today doing evangelism for Jesus' true Church.
3) Doctrine & Covenants (D&C)
Section 7
The heading for D&C section 7 says, "John the beloved
shall live until the Lord comes." Verses 1-7: "John my beloved,
what desirest thou? ...And I said unto him; Lord, give unto me power over
death, that I may live and bring souls unto thee. And the Lord said
unto me; verily, verily, I say unto thee, because thou desirest this thou
shalt tarry until I come in my glory, and shalt prophesy before nations,
kindreds, tongues and people. And for this cause the Lord said unto
Peter: ...my beloved has desired that he might do more, or a greater work
yet among men than what he has before done. ...therefore I will make him as
a flaming fire and a ministering angel; he shall minister for those who
shall be heirs of salvation who dwell on the earth. And I will make thee
to minister for him and for thy brother James; and unto you three I will
give this power and the keys of this ministry until I come."
John the Beloved Apostle Still Lives!
We find here that John the Beloved, one of the original
apostles, was also allowed to stay alive on the Earth winning souls to
Christ until Jesus' second coming. Thus according to The Book of Mormon
and the D&C, we have three Nephite apostles and one original
apostle who will never die. Two LDS scriptures agree, making a total of four
full-fledged apostles staying alive evangelizing until Jesus' second
coming. If these apostles could not bring souls to Christ, then Jesus would
have done a vain work by allowing them to stay alive all this time only
attempting to win souls without having any real success.
Total Apostasy?
On that very day in 1820 when Joseph Smith went out in the woods
to pray, these four were hard at the Lord's work bringing souls to Christ.
If Jesus was successful at starting his true church on two continents, one
in the Old World and one in the New World, these four apostles could be
successful at keeping them going with all their converts. After being
personally trained by Jesus himself, they should be pretty effective.
Can you imagine how many new members these four experts would have made if
they only converted one person each month in their extended lifetime of full
time service (even if none of their converts converted anybody else)?
(How does this compare to a two year mission?). Starting with only these
four men, in one hundred years, there would be forty-eight hundred new
believers (and at least some of their children and their children's
children)! Of course Christ's apostles would make sure their converts
joined Christ's true, established church to learn to be obedient to the
ordinances and commandments of God and for fellowship. As these churches
grew they would have to build other buildings to house the new members. As
the apostles went on missionary journeys, they would establish Christ's true
church in other countries. Thus there would be many local churches in many
places.
Which Church Should Joseph Join?
But even if there were only these four apostles in existence on
that very day that Joseph went out alone to pray, Jesus would have known
about them. The Jesus of Joseph's first vision doesn't seem to know
anything about these men. How could he forget his promise to his apostles?
He should have answered that Joseph should join none of them except the
church lead by John the Beloved (in Jerusalem?), or Nephite #1 (now in
Australia?), or Nephite #2 (in Mexico?), or Nephite #3 ( in New York?). The
Jesus of the First Vision has a memory problem!
Who do you believe?
Do you believe the Jesus of the First Vision, who says there was
a total apostasy? Or ... do you believe the Jesus of The Book of
Mormon and The Doctrine & Covenants who says there can never be a
total apostasy because he has guaranteed, on his word, that there will
always be a minimum of four full-fledged apostles on the earth? Which
Joseph Smith do you believe? The one who wrote The Book of Mormon
and The D&C by inspiration? Or the one who told us of his 'First
Vision' encounter with a Jesus who can't remember what he has done?
Author: Marshall Almarode