1. 2 Thessalonians
The Apostasy

2. “I say to all and especially the youth of the Church that if you haven’t already, you will one day find yourself called upon to defend your faith or perhaps even endure some personal abuse simply because you are a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” (“The Cost—and Blessings—of Discipleship,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2014, 6).

3. 2 Thessalonians 1:3-5 According to these verses, how are we to defend our beliefs?

4. 2 Thessalonians 1:6–10 What belief did these saints have to defend?
“Patience is not passive resignation, nor is it failing to act because of our fears. Patience means active waiting and enduring. It means staying with something and doing all that we can—working, hoping, and exercising faith; bearing hardship with fortitude, even when the desires of our hearts are delayed. Patience is not simply enduring; it is enduring well!” (“Continue in Patience,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2010, 57).
2 Thessalonians 1:6–10 What belief did these saints have to defend?

5. What evidences do we have that an Apostasy occurred
What evidences do we have that an Apostasy occurred? 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3

6. “After the death of Jesus Christ, wicked people persecuted the Apostles and Church members and killed many of them. With the death of the Apostles, priesthood keys and the presiding priesthood authority were taken from the earth. The Apostles had kept the doctrines of the gospel pure and maintained the order and standard of worthiness for Church members. Without the Apostles, over time the doctrines were corrupted, and unauthorized changes were made in Church organization and priesthood ordinances, such as baptism and conferring the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Preach My Gospel: A Guide to Missionary Service[2004], 35).

7. “‘Falling away’ is a translation of the Greek word apostasia, a word that is closer in meaning to ‘rebellion’ or ‘mutiny.’ Paul was therefore speaking of an intentional fight against the gospel of Jesus Christ rather than a gradual movement away from it. Apostasy is often not simply a passive letting go of truth but an active rebellion that originates within the covenant community” (New Testament Student Manual[Church Educational System manual, 2014], 453).

8. President John Taylor: “There were men in those dark ages who could commune with God, and who, by the power of faith, could draw aside the curtain of eternity and gaze upon the invisible world[,] … have the ministering of angels, and unfold the future destinies of the world. If those were dark ages I pray God to give me a little darkness, and deliver me from the light and intelligence that prevail in our day” (in Journal of Discourses, 16:197).

9. APOSTASY OR RESTORATION EVENTS
Christ born
Began ministry
Crucified
Apostles taught and were killed off

10. “James was killed in Jerusalem by Herod. Peter and Paul died in Rome
“James was killed in Jerusalem by Herod. Peter and Paul died in Rome. Tradition holds that Philip went to the East. Much more than this we do not know.
“They scattered; they taught, testified, and established the Church. And they died for their beliefs, and with their deaths came the dark centuries of apostasy.
“The most precious thing lost in the Apostasy was the authority held by the Twelve—the priesthood keys. For the Church to be His Church, there must be a Quorum of the Twelve who hold the keys and confer them on others” (“The Twelve,” Ensign orLiahona, May 2008, 84).

11. APOSTASY OR RESTORATION EVENTS
Christ born
Began ministry
Crucified
Apostles taught and were killed off
Contantine has vision of a cross above the sun bearing the words, Conquer by This.
Constantine holds council at Nicea
Second Nicean Council- Saint Worship
Pope Joan (?)
1095 First Crusade (Pope Urban) ‘Salvation for success’ (200,000 died in 9 crusades)
Great Schism

12. “As the centuries passed, the flame flickered and dimmed
“As the centuries passed, the flame flickered and dimmed. Ordinances were changed or abandoned. The line was broken, and the authority to confer the Holy Ghost as a gift was gone. The Dark Ages of apostasy settled over the world” (“The Cloven Tongues of Fire,” Ensign, May 2000, 8).

13. APOSTASY OR RESTORATION EVENTS (con’t)
Pope Innocent III – Indulgences / Printing Press
Renaissance
Columbus
1515 Martin Luther
1523 Martin Luther excommunicated
1534 Henry VIII – Episcopalian Church
John Calvin - Presbyterians
John Knox – Puritans

14. APOSTASY OR RESTORATION EVENTS (con’t)
Puritans move to Boston
1776 Revolutionary War
1783 U.S. Constitution
1805 Joseph Smith born
First Vision
1830 The Church is Restored

15. Who has a testimony of the Restoration?
Amos 3:7; 8:11–12. Video presentation—“God Reveals His Secrets”

16. Who has a testimony of the Apostasy and Restoration?
Only True God, Jeffrey R. Holland, Oct. 2007