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.