The Body of the Church Destroyed

Notwithstanding that the early officers of the Church were endowed with the Holy Priesthood and exercised the spiritual gifts, which were to remain until all came “unto a perfect man unto the stature of the fulness of Christ,” there came a great and terrible change, absolutely destroying the perfect body of the Church. In its place arose a strange organization which eventually gained dominion over the earth and ruled the destinies of men, not in love unfeigned, but in blood and carnage most appalling, and with an iron hand.

The Falling Away Predicted

The rise of this power had been predicted by many of the prophets of old and by the apostles of our Lord. Even the Savior, when instructing his disciples regarding the signs of the times, intimated that this would occur. Isaiah, seven centuries before the birth of Christ, predicted that the time would come when the earth would be defiled under its inhabitants because of the transgression of the law, the changing of ordinances and the breaking of the new and everlasting covenant. It is evident that this was to occur in the latter days, and not in the days of Israel’s subjection to the law, for the law of Moses was not an everlasting covenant. This prophecy was to receive its consummation in the day when the earth, defiled by the wickedness and corruption of its inhabitants, should be cleansed by fire and few men left (Isaiah 24:1 –6).

The Prophecies of Isaiah and Amos

Speaking of this event Isaiah says: “For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.” Shortly before this time, Amos also predicted that the time would come when the Lord would send a famine in the land, “not a famine of bread,” said he, “nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.”

The Vision of Daniel

Daniel saw in vision the overthrow of the Church established by the Savior in the meridian of time. In his vision of the four beasts, representing the kingdoms seen by Nebuchadnezzar in his dream, he saw one horn, or power, come up among the ten that succeeded the Roman Empire, “more stout than his fellows.” This horn had eyes and a mouth that spake very great words against the Most High, and three other kingdoms were subdued by this great horn. The same power “made war with the saints and prevailed against them,” and through continued conflict and exercise of might was able to “wear out the saints of the Most High” and thought to “change times and laws.” This blasphemous power was to rule until the coming of the Ancient of Days, when the kingdom and dominion was to be “given to the people of the saints of the Most High whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.”

Apostasy Commenced in Days of Apostles

The falling away from the faith commenced before the close of the ministry of the apostles. Paul, when at Miletus taking his final departure from the elders of Ephesus who had come to meet him, earnestly entreated them to take heed to feed the Church of God, for, said he, “I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock, and of yourselves shall men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them.” He also took occasion to warn the Saints at Thessalonica not to be deceived regarding the ushering in of the second advent of the Son of God, “for that day,” he wrote to them, “shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”

The Predictions of Paul

The Saints at Galatia commenced very early to depart from the faith. Timothy was warned by Paul, and instructed that in the last days perilous times would come and men would be “lovers of their ownselves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more that lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” Moreover, he said the time would come, “when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”

Prophecy of Peter

Peter, likewise, by the spirit of prophecy, bore record of the departure from the faith when he wrote to the Saints, saying: “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.” Then he sought to impress upon the minds of the Saints the fact that the prophets before him had also predicted these direful events, saying: “That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Savior; knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying: Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”

The Mystery of Iniquity

As already stated, Paul declared to the Thessalonians that the “mystery of iniquity” was already at work, and to Timothy he said: “All they which are in Asia be turned away from me.” He had, we are led to believe, had some dispute with Asiatic converts, for he wrote to Timothy in great sorrow because some of his companions had forsaken him and were advocating doctrines contrary to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In trying to correct these evils he was left to contend alone, for he adds: “At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me.”

Decline of Spiritual Gifts

It was not long after the departure of the apostles that spiritual gifts ceased to be manifest in the Church. The decline of these blessings, which are inseparably connected with the Church of Christ, led to the belief, so prevalent even in this day, that they were not to be continued, having been instituted in the incipiency of the Church, merely as a means of aiding in its establishment, after which they were no longer needed.

Revelation and heavenly communication also came to an end. There was no more vision, for the people had closed their eyes. This condition also led to the universal belief, which the world holds even now, that the canon of scripture is full and there is to be no more scripture, notwithstanding the Lord has revealed through his servants that revelation is to continue.

Changes in Church Government

The offices in the Priesthood were also changed because those unto whom the Gospel was preached would not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts heaped to themselves teachers having itching ears and were “men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.”

The Church Taken from Among Men

Instead of apostles and prophets there came, as time went on, a very different ecclesiastical order from that instituted by the Lord. The Church established by the Redeemer was taken from the earth because of continued persecution and apostasy, until there was but a dead form of the true Church left. The great ecclesiastical organization that arose and claimed to be the Church of Christ was of gradual growth. The change from truth to error was not made all in one day. It commenced in the first century and continued during the immediate centuries that followed, until the Church established in the days of the apostles was no more to be found among men. Without the direction of inspired men, who could communicate with God, the change was a natural one.

Rise of the Church of Rome

In the beginning of the fourth century this great religious power, under the Emperor Constantine became the state religion of the Roman Empire. From that time forth its dominion spread and before many years had passed away it became the ruling power in religion in the so-called civilized world. By it “times and laws” were changed. The simple principles of the Christian faith were embellished almost beyond recognition with pomp and mystic rites borrowed from pagan worship. The priests and potentates, who officiated in these ceremonies, no longer followed the simple customs of the humble fishermen of Galilee but, dressed in splendid and costly robes, with mitres on their heads, they performed their various parts in pride and with mystifying ceremonies that over-awed and bewildered the humble people.

Changes in the Doctrines of the Church

The correct doctrine regarding the Godhead taught by Jesus Christ, was changed into a mystery. The ordinance of baptism was changed from burial in the water for the remission of sins, to sprinkling of a little water on the head. Sprinkling of infants, miscalled baptism, a custom which “is mockery before God, denying the mercies of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit,” became a fixed and universal custom. Changes in the administration of the sacrament of the Lord’s supper were also introduced, and the doctrine advanced that the bread and wine became the flesh and blood of our crucified Redeemer, by transubstantiation. Those who entered the ministry were forbidden to marry, and many other changes, which need not be mentioned here, were made in the principles of the Gospel, in the functions of the Priesthood and the worship of the Lord.

Temporal Power of the Pope

Rome became the capital of this ecclesiastical power and the bishop or pope, as he was called, its head. As its power grew it claimed dominion not only in matter religious, but in civil affairs as well. During the acme of its glory it ruled practically the known world. By it kings were made and by it they were dethroned. Unless they bowed before the papal power in abject submission they were made to feel the weight of its mighty hand.

Frederick Seebohm, in his Era of the Protestant Revolution, says: “Kings were not secure on their thrones till they had the sanction of the Church. On the other hand the clergy claimed to be free from prosecution under the criminal laws of the land they lived in. They struggled to keep their own ecclesiastical laws and their own ecclesiastical courts, receiving authority direct from Rome, and with final appeal, not to the crown, but to the pope.”

“To establish an accusation against a bishop,” writes Motley, in his Rise of the Dutch Republic, “seventy-two witnesses were necessary; against a deacon, twenty-seven; against an inferior dignitary, seven; while two were sufficient to convict a layman.”

Power of the Clergy

Few outside of the clergy were educated enough to read and write; therefore priests became the lawyers, diplomats, ambassadors, instructors and prime ministers in the nations. All learned men talked and wrote in Latin, which was the language of Rome. It is said that for centuries a man convicted of a crime in England, by showing that he could read or write, could claim the benefits of a trial in the ecclesiastical court, which, “by long abuse came to mean exemption from the punishment of the criminal law of the land.”

Not only did the priests fill these important offices where they were enabled to wield great power and to control, very largely, the destinies of nations, but many of them became extremely avaricious and “divined for money.” Jean de Valdez, brother of the secretary to King Charles V, wrote of the times as follows: “I see that we can scarcely get anything from Christ’s ministers but for money; at baptism money, at bishoping money, at marriage money, for confession money—no, not extreme unction without money! They will ring no bells without money, no burial in Church without money; so that it seemeth that Paradise is shut up from them that have no money. The rich is buried in the Church, the poor in the church-yard. The rich may marry with his nearest kin, but the poor not so, albeit he be ready to die for love of her. The rich may eat flesh in Lent, but the poor may not, albeit fish perhaps be much dearer. The rich man may readily get large indulgences, but the poor none, because he wanteth money to pay for them” (Era of the Protestant Revolution, p. 60).

In addition to all this they taxed the people in various ways, receiving a tithing from all produce of the farms, a tenth of the land and of the wages of the working man. Writes Motley: “Not content, moreover, with their territories and their tithings, the churchmen perpetually devised new burdens upon the peasantry. Plows, sickles, horses, oxen, all implements of husbandry were taxed for the benefit of those who toiled not, but who gathered into barns.”

Sale of Indulgences

Some of these ecclesiastical rulers became so avaricious and filled with the spirit of greed that they advanced the blasphemous doctrine of forgiving sins by the sale of indulgences. It is claimed by the Church of Rome that these evils were the sins of individuals who perverted the doctrine of the church in relation to penance and forgiveness of sin. The indulgence was, according to their teaching, “a pardon usually granted by the pope, through which the contrite sinner escaped a part, or all, of the punishment which remained even after he had been absolved. The pardon did not therefore forgive the guilt of the sinner, for that had necessarily to be removed before the indulgence was granted; it only removed or mitigated the penalties which even the forgiven sinner would, without the indulgence, have expected to undergo in purgatory.”¹

However, the sale of indulgences in various parts of Europe, was a means of creating large fortunes for those who sanctioned it. There was no crime in the category for which the power of forgiveness was not offered if the party seeking it could pay the price. The various countries were districted and farmed for the collection of these revenues, according to John Lathrop Motley, the historian, who writes:

“The price current of the wares offered for sale was published in every town and village [in the Netherlands]. God’s pardon for crimes already committed, or about to be committed, was advertized according to a graded tariff. Thus poisoning, for example, was absolved for eleven ducats, six livres tournois. Absolution for incest was afforded at thirty-six livres, three ducats. Perjury came to seven livres and three carlines. Pardon for murder, if not by poison, was cheaper. Even a parricide could buy forgiveness at God’s tribunal at one ducat, four livres, eight carlines. Henry de Mountfort, in the year 1448, purchased absolution for that crime at that price. Was it strange that a century or so of this kind of work should produce a Luther? Was it unnatural that plain people, who loved the ancient Church, should rather desire to see her purged of such blasphemous abuses than to hear of St. Peter’s dome rising a little nearer to the clouds on these proceeds of commuted crime?... The Netherlands, like other countries, are districted and farmed for the collection of this papal revenue. Much of the money thus raised remains in the hands of the vile collectors. Sincere Catholics, who love and honor the ancient religion, shrink with horror at the spectacle offered on every side. Criminals buying paradise for money, monks spending the money thus paid in gaming houses, taverns, and brothels; this seems to those who have studied their Testaments a different scheme of salvation from the one promulgated by Christ. There has evidently been a departure from the system of earlier apostles. Innocent conservative souls are much perplexed; but at last all these infamies arouse a giant to do battle with the giant wrong.”²

Thus were the prophecies of the scriptures fulfilled; the laws transgressed by a power that exalted itself “above all that is called God” and in his sacred name speaking “great words against the Most High.”

Notes