Through the persecution and martyrdom of Church leaders and the general
wickedness of the people, the Church of Jesus Christ was taken from the earth.
Today the Church of Jesus Christ has been restored and is called The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All
of the offices and functions of the Church in the days of Jesus are present in
the Church today...
The Church Organization
It was compared to a perfectly
formed building that was "built upon the foundation of the
apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone"
(Ephesians 2:20)...
The Apostles and other Church leaders visited and wrote letters to
the leaders in the various branches...
Later, other Apostles died or were killed. Paul, Barnabas, and James,
the brother of the Lord, were all ordained in their places...
First Principles and Ordinances
Everyone needed these saving ordinances of baptism and the gift of the
Holy Ghost...
The Church of Jesus Christ in the Americas
After Jesus was resurrected, he visited the people in America and organized his Church among them, teaching the people for three days and then returning often for some time thereafter (see 3 Nephi 11-28).
Apostasy from the True Church
Some members taught ideas from their old pagan or Jewish beliefs instead of
the simple truths taught by Jesus. Some rebelled openly... One by
one, the Apostles were killed or otherwise taken from the earth.
Because of wickedness and apostasy, the persecution,
surviving Apostles could not meet to choose apostolic authority
and ordain men to replace those who were dead. Eventually, local
priesthood leaders keys were also taken from
the only ones who had authority to direct the scattered branches of the
Church earth. The perfect
organization of the Church that Jesus Christ had established
no longer existed, and confusion resulted. More and more error crept into Church
doctrine, and soon the destruction
dissolution of the Church was complete...
This church was very different from the church Jesus organized. Members
of this church believed It taught that God was a being without
form or substance...
The emperor chose his own leaders and sometimes called them by the
same titles used by priesthood leaders in the true Church of Christ. Church
officers were given honor and wealth. Bishops and archbishops fought among
themselves to gain more power.
Additional Scriptures