Link and Quote Related to CHFT 1

From Milton V. Backman's article describing the advent of religious freedom in America as part of a prelude to the restoration ("Preparing the Way: The Rise of Religioius Freedom in New England," January, 1989 Ensign): "During this American reformation, many beliefs were brought into harmony with the teachings of the still-future restored Church. These changes in belief would later make it easier for many to receive the fulness of the gospel. For example, the Unitarians, Eastern Christians, and some Universalists replaced the traditional view that God was three persons of one essence with a belief that the Father and Son were two separate and distinct entities."

From Thomas Jefferson's letters ----- To Van der Kemp, 1820 "The genuine and simple religion of Jesus will one day be restored: such as it was preached and practised by himself. Very soon after his death it became muffled up in mysteries, and has been ever since kept in concealment from the vulgar eye. To penetrate and dissipate these clouds of darkness, the general mind must be strengthened by education." ----- To S. Kercheval, 1810 "But a short time elapsed after the death of the great reformer of the Jewish religion, before his principles were departed from by those who professed to be his special servants, and perverted into an engine for enslaving mankind, and aggrandizing their oppressors in Church and State: that the purest system of morals ever before preached to man has been adulterated and sophisticated by artificial constructions, into a mere contrivance to filch wealth and power to themselves: that rational men, not being able to swallow their impious heresies, in order to force them down their throats, they raise the hue and cry of infidelity, while themselves are the greatest obstacles to the advancement of the real doctrines of Jesus, and do, in fact, constitute the real Anti-Christ." ----- To John Adams, 1813 "It is too late in the day for men of sincerity to pretend they believe in the Platonic mysticisms that three are one, and one is three; and yet that the one is not three, and the three are not one . . . But this constitutes the craft, the power and the profit of the priests. Sweep away their gossamer fabrics of factitious religion, and they would catch no more flies. We should all then, like the Quakers, live without an order of priests, moralize for ourselves, follow the oracle of conscience, and say nothing about what no man can understand, nor therefore believe."

Timeline Related to CHFT 1

Timeline: Some Significant Events Leading up to the Restoration -Christ is born- 30 AD Christ begins his formal mortal ministry; 33AD the Savior is crucified; 42AD Apostles spread Christ’s gospel; 43AD the Church under Bishop Linus has deteriorated (see Romans 1), Paul ordains Deacon Linus; 64AD Nero kills Deacon Linus, Bishop Linus takes Christians to catacombs; 70AD Jerusalem destroyed by Romans; 75AD Bishop Linus decides to call the church Catholic (universal); 96AD by this time, all apostles are killed except John; 320AD Constantine calls first Nicene Council to decide what God is; start of dark ages; 785AD Empress Irene calls second Nicene Council, canonization of saints begins; 1200AD Sale of indulgences initiated to help fund three wars; printing press surfaces; 1300AD Renaissance begins, sparked by advent of printing press; 1381-84AD John Wycliffe translates the Bible into English from Latin; 1455AD Johannes Gutenberg prints the first book, the Bible, with movable type (Latin); 1492AD Columbus is a product of the Renaissance; 1515AD Martin Luther nails his 95 questions to the door at Wittenberg, wants to reform Catholic Church; 1523AD Martin Luther excommunicated, German princes protect him in order to deny payment to Rome; 1526AD William Tyndale begins smuggling his translation of the New Testament into England, where it is banned; 1534AD Henry VIII wants a divorce, creates the Church of England; 1540AD John Calvin – Presbyterians; 1575AD Catholics slaughter thousands of reformists in Paris; 1611AD The King James Bible is published; 1620AD Pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock; 1776AD A Nation is born – new ideas of freedom; 1781AD Revolutionary War ends; 1785AD Constitutional Convention begins; 1787AD Constitution signed and ratified – first written recognition of Freedom of Religion; 1805AD Joseph Smith born; 1812AD War of 1812, last war fought on American soil by foreign troops; 1820AD First Vision; 1830AD Latter-day Church organized.

Introduction to Study of Church History

Can we possibly cover nearly 6,000 years of the earth's history in 60 minutes? How about the nearly 2,000 years between Christ's establishment of his Church during the meridian of time and Joseph Smith's first vision? Certainly not; but in our first institute class we will look at events leading up to the restoration of the gospel in the latter days. We'll discuss the great apostasy, renaissance, reformation, the discovery and colonization of America, and religious freedom. Andrew C. Skinner wrote in his article, Forerunners and Foundation Stones of the Restoration, "Thousands of years before the actual events took place, Enoch was taught that in the last days righteousness would come down out of heaven and truth would be sent forth out of the earth prior to the Second Coming. President Ezra Taft Benson declared, 'We have seen the marvelous fulfillment of that prophecy in our generation. The Book of Mormon has come forth out of the earth, filled with truth. . . . God has also sent down righteousness from heaven. The Father Himself appeared with His Son to the Prophet Joseph Smith. The angel Moroni, John the Baptist, Peter, James, and numerous other angels were directed by heaven to restore the necessary powers to the kingdom.' (Ezra Taft Benson, A Witness and a Warning (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1988, 26.) The point to be emphasized here is that the key events of the Restoration were revealed by the Lord to His prophets many thousands of years before they happened. But it is also true that the preparatory events leading up to the Restoration were revealed long before they occurred. The prophet Nephi described some of the significant preparatory events he saw for himself, which had also been seen by his father, Lehi (1 Nephi 10:17 and 11:3). These events include the voyage of Christopher Columbus across the Atlantic Ocean (1 Nephi 13:10); the travails and travels of the Puritans and Pilgrims (1 Nephi 13:13); the colonization of America (1 Nephi 13:15–16); the American Revolutionary War involving Great Britain (1 Nephi 13:17); God’s direct intervention in the affairs of the fledgling country of America (1 Nephi 13:18–19); the country’s prosperity (1 Nephi 13:20); and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon (1 Nephi 13:35–40)." Our first institute class will be an overview of the coming year and discussion centering on the prelude to the Restoration. Dr. Skinner's article in its entirety is linked above and in the "Links" section to the right, where the Institute Manual: Church History in the Fulness of Times is also linked. Chapter 1 in the manual treats this subject and would make excellent reading prior to class. Unlike years past, there will be no study guide each week. Unless, of course, there is a clamoring!

The spread of early Christianity. By the end of the first century A.D.the Apostles had taken the gospel north into Syria and Asia Minor; west to Macedonia, Greece, Italy, and the isles of the Mediterranean; then to northeastern Africa, and Egypt. A century later Christian communities existed in Gaul (France), Germany, and the Iberian Peninsula (Spain) as well as in northwestern Africa.