DID THE NEW TESTAMENT PREDICT A COMPLETE APOSTASY?

Did Christ's church disappear from the earth and have to be restored centuries later?

There is no question that the New Testament warns about apostasy.

Jesus warned about false prophets. Paul warned that false teachers would arise. Peter said destructive teachings would enter the church. Some Christians were already abandoning the faith while the apostles were still alive.

But that leaves us with another question:

Did the New Testament predict that apostasy would become so complete that Christ's church would disappear from the earth?

That question matters.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that after Jesus' apostles died, priesthood authority was lost from the earth. Christ's original church therefore needed to be restored. Joseph Smith's calling and the restoration of priesthood authority are built upon that claim.

Before examining Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, or any other LDS teaching, perhaps we should begin here:

Did Jesus and His apostles say this would happen?

Let's read first and conclude later.

1. The New Testament Certainly Predicts Apostasy

We don't need to minimize the warnings.

Paul told the Ephesian elders:

Acts 20:29–30

After his departure, dangerous teachers would enter the flock. Even men from among the church's own leadership would arise and distort the truth in order to attract followers.

That is apostasy.

And notice where some of it would originate:

From among themselves.

Paul knew corruption could develop inside the church.

But keep reading.

2. What Did Paul Tell Christians to Do About It?

Paul did not say:

The church will disappear, so wait for God to restore it centuries from now.

He said:

“Therefore be alert.”
— Acts 20:31

Then he entrusted them to God and to the message of His grace, which was able to build them up.

Paul's warning follows a simple pattern:

False teachers are coming.
Therefore guard the flock.
Remain faithful to what God has given you.

That certainly predicts apostasy.

But does it predict the complete disappearance of the church?

The text doesn't say that.

3. What About “The Apostasy”?

Second Thessalonians 2 is particularly important.

Paul writes about the coming of Christ and warns that certain things must happen first.

In verse 3 he speaks of “the apostasy.”

The Greek word is apostasia.

It means rebellion, defection, or falling away.

So again, let's concede what the text plainly says:

Paul predicted apostasy.

He also described lawlessness, deception, false signs and people refusing to love the truth.

This is serious.

But we still have to ask:

Does “there will be an apostasy” mean “every faithful Christian and congregation will disappear from the earth”?

Those aren't automatically the same statement.

4. Don't Stop Reading at Verse 12

Something important happens immediately after Paul's description of apostasy.

Paul turns to the Thessalonian Christians and tells them:

“Stand firm and hold on to the traditions that we taught you.”
— 2 Thessalonians 2:15

Notice Paul's solution to apostasy.

He doesn't tell Christians that preserving the apostolic faith will eventually become impossible.

He tells them to hold on to it.

Once again the pattern is:

Apostasy is coming.
Deception is coming.
Therefore remain faithful to what the apostles taught.

5. Paul Warned Timothy About the Same Thing

Paul said:

“For there will be a time when people will not tolerate sound teaching.”
— 2 Timothy 4:3

They would gather teachers who told them what they wanted to hear and would turn away from the truth.

Another clear prediction of apostasy.

But what does Paul tell Timothy?

Keep preaching the message.
Be ready.
Reprove.
Rebuke.
Exhort.
Remain self-controlled.
Do the work of an evangelist.

Paul's answer to approaching apostasy is not surrender.

It is faithfulness.

6. Peter Warned About False Teachers Too

Peter wrote:

“There will be false teachers among you.”
— 2 Peter 2:1

They would secretly introduce destructive teachings, and many would follow them.

Again:

Apostasy? Yes.

But Peter does not say:

Every Christian will follow them.

Nor does he say that Christ's church will cease to exist.

We must be careful not to make a passage say more than it actually says.

7. But Didn't Jesus Say His Church Would Survive?

Now we need to examine the other side of the evidence.

Jesus said:

“I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”
— Matthew 16:18

Whatever disagreements Christians may have about some details of this verse, one statement is difficult to miss:

Jesus said, “I will build my church.”

And He described the powers of death as unable to overcome it.

If we are going to say that Christ's church later completely disappeared from the earth, we should at least ask how that fits Jesus' promise.

8. “I Am With You Always”

At the end of Matthew, Jesus commissioned His disciples to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey everything He had commanded.

Then He promised:

“I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
— Matthew 28:20

Notice the time span.

The apostles themselves would die.

Yet Jesus' mission—making disciples, baptizing them, teaching them—and His promised presence extend to the end of the age.

That raises an important question.

If Christ's authorized church and gospel ministry completely disappeared shortly after the apostles died, what does His promise mean?

At the very least, a complete-apostasy interpretation has to account for it.

9. “Throughout All Generations”

Paul wrote:

“To him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.”
— Ephesians 3:21

Notice the expression:

“in the church”

and

“to all generations.”

Paul apparently expected God to continue receiving glory through Christ and His church across succeeding generations.

Again, that doesn't mean every congregation would remain faithful.

The New Testament repeatedly proves otherwise.

But a corrupted congregation and an extinct church are two very different things.

10. Look at the Seven Churches of Revelation

Revelation 2–3 gives us a remarkable picture.

Some churches were faithful.

Some had serious doctrinal problems.

Some tolerated immorality.

One had abandoned its first love.

One was spiritually lukewarm.

Sardis had a reputation for being alive but was nearly dead.

Jesus even warned Ephesus that its lampstand could be removed if it refused to repent.

Yet notice something.

Jesus doesn't say that because one congregation becomes unfaithful, the entire church everywhere ceases to exist.

He calls individual churches to repent and calls faithful Christians to overcome.

That is exactly the pattern we've been finding elsewhere.

Apostasy can occur without apostasy becoming universal.

11. Even During the Apostles' Lifetime, Churches Went Wrong

This is worth remembering.

The Galatians were already being influenced by another gospel.

Corinth was divided and tolerated serious sin.

Some at Corinth even denied the resurrection.

False teachers troubled Colossae.

The churches of Asia had serious problems.

So simply having living apostles on earth did not guarantee that every congregation remained faithful.

The New Testament solution wasn't:

Create an organization in which apostasy becomes impossible.

It was repeatedly:

Return to what you received.
Hold fast.
Remember.
Repent.
Remain faithful.

12. What About the Faith Itself?

Jude wrote that Christians should:

“contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.”
— Jude 3

That expression deserves attention.

Christianity was not waiting for its essential faith to be revealed centuries later.

The faith had been delivered.

The problem was preserving it against corruption.

That distinction matters.

There is a difference between:

RESTORING what completely disappeared

and

RETURNING to teaching that has already been given.

The New Testament repeatedly calls Christians to the second.

13. Apostasy Does Not Require Extinction

Suppose a hundred congregations exist.

Some abandon apostolic teaching.

Others introduce false practices.

Others divide.

Others become spiritually dead.

Others remain faithful.

We could truthfully say:

There has been widespread apostasy.

But we could not therefore conclude:

Christ's church has disappeared from the earth.

That conclusion would require additional evidence.

And that is precisely the distinction we need to make when reading the New Testament.

14. What Does the Evidence Actually Establish?

Put the passages together.

The New Testament clearly predicts:

False teachers.

Corrupt church leaders.

Doctrinal error.

Christians abandoning the truth.

Congregations becoming unfaithful.

Serious apostasy.

We should believe all of that because the text says it.

But where does the New Testament say:

Every faithful Christian would disappear?

Where does it say:

Every congregation would become apostate?

Where does it say:

God would remove all spiritual authority from the earth?

Where does it say:

Christ's church would cease to exist for centuries?

And where does it predict:

A later prophet would have to restore the church and its authority?

Those are considerably larger claims.

We should not assume them merely because Scripture predicts apostasy.

15. This Isn't Yet a Study of Joseph Smith

That is important.

We haven't asked whether Joseph Smith was sincere.

We haven't examined the First Vision.

We haven't investigated the Book of Mormon.

We haven't examined his claimed revelations.

Those questions can come later.

We are asking something that logically comes before all of them:

Did the New Testament actually predict the kind of complete apostasy that would make a later restoration necessary?

So far, Scripture unquestionably predicts apostasy.

But the additional claim that Christ's church would completely disappear from the earth requires something the passages we've examined have not supplied.

In fact, alongside the warnings of apostasy we repeatedly find commands to:

Watch.
Stand firm.
Hold fast.
Remain faithful.
Contend for the faith already delivered.

And we hear Jesus promise:

“I will build my church.”

Perhaps that is where our investigation of the Restoration should begin.

Not with tradition.

Not with prejudice.

Not even with Joseph Smith.

Begin with the text.

TEXT B4 TRADITION

Read First. Conclude Later.

I think this is Page 1. And I deliberately left the history of what actually happened after the apostles out of it. That deserves its own page, because that's where our parked Ortlund question becomes very useful:

The Apostles Died—What Happened Next?

That could let us test the historical claim that Christianity disappeared rather than merely assuming either the LDS version or the traditional Christian version of the story.

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