Sep 12, 2026 · 3 hr 26 min · 13 segments
"Great Apostasy Considered in the Light of Scriptural and Secular History" by James E. Talmage delves into the concept of the Great Apostasy, analyzing its implications through both scriptural and…
Chapter 1 of The Great Apostasy by James E. Talmage.
This is a LibriVox recording.
All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Read by Matthias Whitney.
The Great Apostasy by James E. Talmage.
Chapter 1.
Introduction.
A belief common to all sects and churches professing Christianity is that Jesus Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of the human race, established his church upon the earth by personal ministration in the meridian of time.
Ecclesiastical history, as distinguished from secular history, deals with the experiences of the church from the time of its establishment.
The conditions under which the church was founded first claim our attention.
They were allowed a considerable degree of liberty in maintaining their religious observances and national customs generally, but their status was far from that of a free and independent people.
The period was one of comparative peace, a time marked by fewer wars and less dissension than the empire had known for many years.
These conditions were favorable for the mission of the Christ and for the founding of his church on earth.
The religious system's extent at the time of Christ's earthly ministry may be classified in a general way as Jewish and pagan, with a minor system, the Samaritan, which was essentially a mixture of the other two.
The children of Israel alone proclaimed the existence of the true and living God.
They alone looked forward to the advent of the Messiah, whom mistakenly they awaited as a prospective conqueror coming to crush the enemies of their nation.
All other nations, tongues, and peoples bowed to pagan deities, and their worship comprised naught but the central rites of heathen idolatry.
Paganism was a religion of form and ceremony, based on polytheism, a belief in the existence of a multitude of gods, which deities were subject to all the vices and passions of humanity, while distinguished by immunity from death.
Morality and virtue were unknown as elements of heathen service, and the dominant idea in pagan worship was that of propitiating the gods in the hope of averting their anger and purchasing their favor.
The Israelites, or Jews as they were collectively known, thus stood apart among the nations as proud possessors of superior knowledge, with a lineage and literature, with a priestly organization and a system of laws that separated and distinguished them as a people at once peculiar and exclusive.
While the Jews regarded their idolatrous neighbors with abhorrence and contempt, they in turn were treated with derision as fanatics and inferiors.
But the Jews, while thus distinguished as a people from the rest of the world, were by no means a united people.
On the contrary, they were divided among themselves on matters of religious profession and practice.
Chapter 1 of The Great Apostasy by James E. Talmage.
This is a LibriVox recording.
All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Read by Matthias Whitney.
The Great Apostasy by James E. Talmage.
Chapter 1.
Introduction.
A belief common to all sects and churches professing Christianity is that Jesus Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of the human race, established his church upon the earth by personal ministration in the meridian of time.
Ecclesiastical history, as distinguished from secular history, deals with the experiences of the church from the time of its establishment.
The conditions under which the church was founded first claim our attention.
They were allowed a considerable degree of liberty in maintaining their religious observances and national customs generally, but their status was far from that of a free and independent people.
The period was one of comparative peace, a time marked by fewer wars and less dissension than the empire had known for many years.
These conditions were favorable for the mission of the Christ and for the founding of his church on earth.
The religious system's extent at the time of Christ's earthly ministry may be classified in a general way as Jewish and pagan, with a minor system, the Samaritan, which was essentially a mixture of the other two.
The children of Israel alone proclaimed the existence of the true and living God.
They alone looked forward to the advent of the Messiah, whom mistakenly they awaited as a prospective conqueror coming to crush the enemies of their nation.
All other nations, tongues, and peoples bowed to pagan deities, and their worship comprised naught but the central rites of heathen idolatry.
Paganism was a religion of form and ceremony, based on polytheism, a belief in the existence of a multitude of gods, which deities were subject to all the vices and passions of humanity, while distinguished by immunity from death.
Morality and virtue were unknown as elements of heathen service, and the dominant idea in pagan worship was that of propitiating the gods in the hope of averting their anger and purchasing their favor.
The Israelites, or Jews as they were collectively known, thus stood apart among the nations as proud possessors of superior knowledge, with a lineage and literature, with a priestly organization and a system of laws that separated and distinguished them as a people at once peculiar and exclusive.
While the Jews regarded their idolatrous neighbors with abhorrence and contempt, they in turn were treated with derision as fanatics and inferiors.
But the Jews, while thus distinguished as a people from the rest of the world, were by no means a united people.
On the contrary, they were divided among themselves on matters of religious profession and practice.
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