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What Does the New Testament Teach about the Great Apostasy? #695 · Scripture Central

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  Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not
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  come except there come a falling away 1st and that man of sin be
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  revealed the son of perdition. Hey listeners, this is Nick from
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  Scripture Central and today's podcast addresses the question
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  What does the New Testament teach about the Great Apostasy?
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  In 1820, as Joseph Smith prayed in the sacred Grove, he saw God
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  the Father and his son Jesus Christ.
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  Joseph, who had been struggling to know where he might find the
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  true Church, asked the divine Personages which of all the
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  sects was right. For at this time it had never
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  entered into my heart that all were wrong and which I should
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  join. The answer Joseph received came
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  as a shock to him and would begin his preparation as a
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  prophet. I was answered that I must join
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  none of them, for they were all wrong, and the personage who
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  addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in
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  his sight. Because of this Joseph Smith
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  would be called of God to restore his church on the earth.
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  The belief in the Great Apostasy is central to Latter day St.
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  teachings, that is, that there was an actual falling away from
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  the Gospel as originally taught by Jesus Christ and His
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  Apostles, therefore necessitating a restoration.
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  While this may appear to be a bold claim, closer review of the
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  New Testament shows that the apostles knew of the forthcoming
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  apostasy and warned the Church extensively against the false
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  teachers that would come in its wake.
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  The word apostasy comes from the Greek word apostasia, which
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  literally means rebellion and in the New Testament connotates a
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  people rebelling from God. However, the meaning of this
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  word is unfortunately often masked in translations into
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  English. For example, the King James
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  Version of Second Thessalonians chapter 2, verse three,
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  translates apostasia as falling away.
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  Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not
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  come except there come a falling away 1st, and that man of sin be
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  revealed, the son of perdition. While not always clear in
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  translations of the Bible, the connotation of apostasy as a
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  rebellion against God is clearly described in the Book of Mormon.
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  Noel B Reynolds has noted that in light of the evidence from
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  the New Testament and based on the meaning of apostasy as
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  rebellion, it is a myth that the apostasy happened because of
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  outside persecution. Rather, the New Testament
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  consistently describes the forthcoming apostasy as an
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  internal rebellion by members of the early church against God and
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  his chosen leaders, a rebellion that became more and more
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  prominent as the apostles wrote earnestly and hopes that the
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  congregations might repent. For example, when Paul was
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  returning to Jerusalem from his third missionary journey, he
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  warned the leaders of Ephesus after my departing.
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  Shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock
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  also of your own selves? Shall men arise speaking
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  perverse things to draw away disciples after them?
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  While the Ephesian Saints were no stranger to persecution from
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  the Greco Roman world, of much greater concern to Paul was that
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  the Ephesian Saints remain loyal to the Lord and their covenants.
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  Moreover, much of Paul's epistles were written in part to
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  correct false beliefs and attitudes that were arising in
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  the various churches, just as he had foretold.
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  Shortly before he was executed under Nero's command, Paul
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  warned Timothy that the prophesied rebellion was then at
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  hand, as many churches Paul established had forsaken him and
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  the gospel. All they which are in Asia, be
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  turned away from me, of whom are for jealous and hermogenes.
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  This rebellion even reached some of Paul's most trusted
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  missionary companions. Demas hath forsaken me, having
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  loved this present world, and is departed unto thesalonica
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  crescents to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.
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  Only Luke is with me. Unfortunately, this rebellion
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  against the gospel would only grow worse, for the time will
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  come when they will not endure sound doctrine.
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  But after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers
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  having itching ears, and they shall turn away their ears from
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  the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
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  Prophecies, regarding the apostasy of the New Testament
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  Church were even made by Jesus Christ Himself, such as in the
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  parable of the wheat and the tares.
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  And this no doubt influenced how apostles shaped their messages.
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  The concept of apostasy as a rebellion against the Lord has
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  deep roots in Jewish and Christian tradition.
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  Indeed, as James E Falconer has observed, both faithfulness to
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  God and apostasy from him are often spoken of in terms of
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  covenant throughout the Old Testament.
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  To be faithful is to keep covenant, to apostasize is to
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  break covenant. Furthermore, in the Greek
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  Septuagint, the word apostasia is used to describe idolatry and
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  forsaking the Lord. Similarly, the same word is used
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  to describe divorce, especially when marriage was used as a
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  metaphor for God's covenant with Israel.
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  Early Christian texts similarly describe the apostasy as a
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  corruption of priesthood leaders and a rejection of ordinances
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  and covenants. As such, apostasy marks the loss
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  of covenants and priesthood authority that can be restored
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  only through a prophet of God. While it is evident that the New
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  Testament apostles knew and warned others about the
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  impending apostasy, they knew that was not the end of the
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  story. As Peter told the Saints in
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  Jerusalem, the times of restitution of all things which
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  God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the
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  world began, would come. This restitution of all things
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  was begun by God the Father and Jesus Christ through the Prophet
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  Joseph Smith. As Falconer explained, we cannot
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  understand what apostasy means for New Testament Christians
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  without understanding that it included the loss of the temple
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  and so of the priesthood. For ultimately, the rebellion of
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  apostasy involves severing one's covenant relation to God, a
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  relation manifest through the priesthood, through standing in
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  the presence of God. A serious part of the
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  Restoration entailed restoring covenants and temples, thereby
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  providing a corrective course to this rebellion that corrupted
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  many early Christian doctrines and beliefs.
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  Covenants are essential to the gospel of Jesus Christ, and they
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  allow us to grow closer to our Savior and become more like Him.
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  Thank you for listening to this presentation from Scripture
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  Central. For more information, please
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  visit scripturecentral.org.