Apostasy; Missionary Gospel Study Program (1988) "From Adam to the Present, the whole history of the world has been one of recurring instance of personal and group apostasy after an another... Apostasy consist in abandonment and forsaking of...true principles, and all those who do not believe and conform to them are in an apostate condition, whether they are the ones who departed from the truth or whether they inherited their false concepts from their apostate fathers.. "With the loss of the gospel, the nations of the earth went into a moral eclipse called the Dark Ages. Apostasy was universal. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, darkness covereth the earth, and gross darkness the minds of the people, and all flesh has become corrupt before my face." (D&C 112:23.) And this darkness still prevails except among those who have come to a knowledge of the restored gospel (Doctrines of Salvation, Vol.3 pp. 265-326)" (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine pp. 43-44).
Resources
Jesus The Christ, Chapter 40
A Marvelous Work and a Wonder, Chapter 4
The Articles of Faith, Chapter 11, pp 198-204
Selected Articles from the Ensign
Reflections on the Law of Moses: Old Testament Apostasy in Context,, Gib Kocherhans, Ensign, June 1981
Clement, Ignatius, and Polycarp; Three Bishops between the Apostles and Apostasy, Richard Lloyd Anderson, Ensign, August 1976
The Great Apostasy as Seen by Eusebius, Hyde m. Merrill, Ensign, November 1972
Whither the Early Church?, S. Kent Brown, Ensign, October 1988
Early Signs of the Apostasy, Kent p. Jackson, Ensign, December 1984
I Testify, Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign, November 1988, 86
Once or Twice in a Thousand Years, Bruce R. McConkie, Ensign, April 2005
Apostasy, Restoration, and Lessons in Faith, Andrew C.Skinner, Ensign, December 1995
Is the LDS View of God Consistent with the Bible?, William O. Nelson, Ensign, July 1987
The Cloven Tongues of Fire, Boyd K. Packer, Ensign, May 2000
Keys of the Priesthood, Russell M. Nelson, Ensign, Nov 1987
The Twelve, Boyd K. Packer, Ensign, May 2008
Preparations for the Restoration and the Second Coming: My Hand Shall Be over Thee, Robert D. Hales, Ensign, Nov 2005
The Restoration of All Things, James C. Faust, Ensign, May 2006
Apostasy and Restoration, Dallin H. Oaks, Ensign, May 1995
The Restoration and Faith, Joseph B. Wirthlin, Ensign, January 2006
Scriptures:
2 Nephi chapters 26-28 2 Nephi 26
"Christ shall minister to the Nephites - Nephi foresees the destruction of his people - They shall speak from the dust - The gentiles shall build up false churches and secret combinations - The Lord forbids men to practice priestcrafts.Between 559 and 545 B.C." 2 Nephi 27
"Darkness and apostasy shall cover the earth in the last days - The Book of Mormon shall come forth - Three witnesses shall testify of the book - The learned man cannot read the sealed book - The Lord shall do a marvelous work and a wonder Compare Isaiah 29.Between 559 and 545 B.C." 2 Nephi 28
"Many false churches shall be built up in the last days - They shall teach false and vain and foolish doctrines - Apostasy shall abound because of false teachers - The devil shall rage in the hearts of men - He shall teach all manner of false doctrines.Between 559 and 545 B.C." Jacob 5
"Jacob quotes Zenos relative to the allegory of the tame and wild olive trees - They are a likeness of Israel and the gentiles - The scattering and gathering of Israel are prefigured - Allusions are made to the Nephites and Lamanites and all the house of Israel - Gentiles shall be grafted into Israel - Eventually the vineyard shall be burned.Between 544 and 421 B.C." 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3
"1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;" 2 Timothy 4:1-5
1 "I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
5 But_watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry."
Topical Guide:
Apostasy of Individuals
Apostasy of Israel
Apostasy of the Early Christian Church
Darkness, Spiritual
Hardheartedness, Harden, Hardness
Holy Ghost, Lost of Bible Dictionary:
Darkness Guide to the Scriptures:
Apostasy See also Rebellion; Restoration of the Gospel
Darkness, Spiritual See also Wicked, Wickedness
Blaspheme, Blasphemy
<https://salvation.scottsworld.info/which.htm#apostasy> Which Church: Apostasy