WHY DID JOSEPH SMITH CLAIM CHRISTIANITY NEEDED TO BE RESTORED?
Was the New Testament church lost from the earth and restored through a new prophet?
During the nineteenth century, several religious movements spoke about restoring Christianity.
But they did not all mean the same thing by restoration.
Alexander Campbell and Barton W. Stone called Christians back to the New Testament. Their basic appeal was: Go back to the apostolic teaching and practice found in Scripture.
Joseph Smith made a much larger claim.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that after the apostles died, priesthood authority was lost from the earth, important truths were corrupted, and Christ's church was no longer present in its original form. Therefore, Christianity did not merely need reform. It needed divine restoration. (The Church of Jesus Christ)
That restoration, according to LDS teaching, came through Joseph Smith.
That gives us a clear question for this study:
Does the New Testament teach that Christ's church and its authority disappeared from the earth and later had to be restored through a new prophet, new revelation, and restored priesthood?
We will begin with what Joseph Smith and the LDS Church claim.
Then we will open the New Testament.
1. WHAT WAS HAPPENING RELIGIOUSLY WHEN JOSEPH SMITH WAS YOUNG?
Joseph Smith was born in 1805.
He grew up during a period of intense religious activity in the United States. Protestant churches disagreed about doctrine, salvation, baptism, church government, and other subjects.
According to Joseph Smith's later account, those disagreements troubled him.
In the account now called Joseph Smith—History, he describes asking which church was right and which he should join.
That question is important.
It sounds remarkably similar to the question many people still ask:
With so many churches teaching different things, how can they all be right?
Joseph Smith's eventual answer, however, went much further than saying that some churches had misunderstood parts of Scripture.
He claimed that God had revealed that a restoration was necessary.
2. WHAT DID JOSEPH SMITH CLAIM HAPPENED IN 1820?
Joseph Smith later reported that when he was fourteen years old, he went into the woods to pray about which church he should join.
He said that God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him.
This experience became known as the First Vision.
We need to make an important distinction.
It is historically true that Joseph Smith reported such an experience.
Whether the vision actually came from God is a different question.
History can tell us what Joseph Smith claimed.
It cannot, by historical investigation alone, prove that God appeared to him.
That claim must be examined.
And Joseph Smith's reported answer to his question changed everything.
3. WHAT DID JOSEPH SMITH SAY HE LEARNED ABOUT THE EXISTING CHURCHES?
According to Joseph Smith's account, he was told not to join the existing churches.
The LDS explanation eventually developed into what is called the Great Apostasy.
The current LDS Church teaches that after the death of the apostles, unauthorized changes were made in doctrine, church organization, and priesthood ordinances, and that priesthood authority was withdrawn from the earth. (The Church of Jesus Christ)
Notice how far that claim goes.
It is not merely:
Some Christians became unfaithful.
The New Testament itself says that would happen.
It is not merely:
Churches developed teachings and practices that were not apostolic.
Our historical studies have shown that developments certainly occurred.
The LDS claim goes further:
The priesthood authority necessary to direct Christ's church was lost from the earth.
That is the claim we must examine.
4. WHAT IS THE LDS “GREAT APOSTASY”?
Latter-day Saint teaching says that Jesus established His church and gave His apostles divine priesthood authority.
As the apostles died, according to LDS teaching, that authority was not successfully continued.
Without that authority, changes entered Christianity. Eventually Christ's original church, with its necessary priesthood authority, was no longer on earth.
The LDS Church explicitly distinguishes restoration from reformation. Its teaching materials say that reform changes something that still exists, while restoration brings back something that has been lost. (The Church of Jesus Christ)
That distinction helps us understand Joseph Smith.
Luther could not solve the problem.
Calvin could not solve it.
Wesley could not solve it.
No reformer could solve it because, according to LDS teaching, the necessary divine authority was no longer present.
Something lost had to be restored.
5. HOW WAS THIS DIFFERENT FROM THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION?
Martin Luther did not claim that Peter, James, and John had appeared to him and restored apostolic authority.
He argued that serious errors had entered the church and appealed to Scripture against teachings he believed were wrong.
Other reformers disagreed with Rome—and with one another—but they generally worked from the conviction that Scripture remained available to the church.
Joseph Smith's claim was different.
The problem could not be solved merely by correcting doctrine from the Bible.
According to LDS teaching, authority itself had been lost.
Therefore, restoration required divine intervention.
That is a much larger claim than reformation.
6. HOW WAS JOSEPH SMITH'S RESTORATION DIFFERENT FROM THE STONE-CAMPBELL RESTORATION MOVEMENT?
This distinction is especially important because both movements used the language of restoration.
Stone and Campbell argued, in different ways and with differences between themselves, that Christians should move past denominational traditions and return to the apostolic teaching preserved in Scripture.
They did not claim that an angel had given them a lost priesthood.
They did not produce another book of Scripture.
They did not claim to be prophets receiving a new body of revelation for the church.
Joseph Smith's restoration made those additional claims.
So we have two very different approaches:
RETURN TO THE APOSTOLIC TEXT.
and
RESTORE LOST APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY THROUGH NEW DIVINE REVELATION.
Those are not the same thing.
Which approach does the New Testament support?
7. WHERE DID THE BOOK OF MORMON ENTER THE STORY?
Joseph Smith said an angel named Moroni directed him to ancient plates containing a sacred record.
He said he translated that record by divine power.
The Book of Mormon was published in 1830 and became foundational scripture for the new movement. LDS sources identify it as scripture alongside the Bible. (news-jm.churchofjesuschrist.org)
This introduces another question.
The Restoration was no longer simply an argument about how to interpret the Bible.
There was now another claimed source of divine revelation.
That changes the authority question.
If the Book of Mormon is revelation from God, Christians should receive what God has revealed.
If it is not, Christians should not give it divine authority.
So how do we decide?
We must test the claim.
8. DID LDS AUTHORITY STOP WITH THE BOOK OF MORMON?
No.
Latter-day Saints also accept the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price as scripture.
The LDS Church also teaches continuing revelation through living prophets.
Joseph Smith therefore did not simply say:
“Here is another ancient book.”
He claimed an ongoing prophetic role.
LDS sources describe him as a prophet, seer, revelator, translator, apostle, and elder. (The Church of Jesus Christ)
Once again, our question is not whether Joseph Smith sincerely believed these things.
Our question is:
WHAT AUTHORITY DOES THE NEW TESTAMENT GIVE US FOR ACCEPTING SUCH A CLAIM?
9. WHAT DID JOSEPH SMITH CLAIM ABOUT RESTORED PRIESTHOOD AUTHORITY?
This is central to LDS restoration theology.
Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery reported that John the Baptist appeared to them in May 1829 and conferred upon them the Aaronic Priesthood.
They later said Peter, James, and John conferred the Melchizedek Priesthood upon them.
The LDS Church continues to teach these events as the restoration of priesthood authority that had disappeared during the Great Apostasy. (The Church of Jesus Christ)
Notice the reasoning:
The apostles possessed authority.
That authority was lost.
Therefore, that authority had to be restored.
Heavenly messengers restored it to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery.
Everything depends upon those claims being true.
So before asking whether Joseph Smith received the restored priesthood, perhaps we should ask an earlier question:
Does the New Testament say this priesthood authority would disappear from the earth?
10. WHAT CHURCH DID JOSEPH SMITH ORGANIZE?
On April 6, 1830, Joseph Smith and others formally organized a church in Fayette, New York.
The original name was the Church of Christ. The present name, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was adopted later. (The Church of Jesus Christ)
From the LDS perspective, this was not simply the beginning of another denomination.
It was the restoration of Christ's church.
That distinction is essential if we are going to represent Latter-day Saints fairly.
They do not merely claim:
“We think our denomination understands Christianity better.”
Their restoration claim is much greater.
They claim that divine authority and Christ's church were restored to the earth.
11. DOES THE NEW TESTAMENT PREDICT APOSTASY?
Yes.
We should acknowledge that immediately.
Read Acts 20:28–31.
Paul warned the Ephesian elders that false teachers would arise, even from among themselves.
Read 1 Timothy 4:1.
“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith...” — 1 Timothy 4:1, KJV
Read 2 Timothy 4:3–4.
Paul warned that people would turn away from sound teaching.
Read 2 Thessalonians 2:1–12.
Whatever conclusions we reach about the difficult details of that passage, Paul certainly warns about rebellion and deception.
So Joseph Smith did not invent the idea that Christians could depart from apostolic teaching.
The New Testament says they could.
The question is something more specific:
DOES APOSTASY MEAN THAT CHRIST'S ENTIRE CHURCH AND ITS AUTHORITY DISAPPEARED FROM THE EARTH?
That conclusion requires additional evidence.
12. DID JESUS SAY HIS CHURCH WOULD DISAPPEAR?
Read Matthew 16:18.
Jesus said:
“I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” — Matthew 16:18, KJV
Christians disagree about some important details in this passage, including the meaning of the “rock” and Peter's role.
We do not need to settle all those questions here.
One point is unmistakable:
Jesus said He would build His church.
But does “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” mean that no widespread apostasy could ever occur?
We should be careful.
The verse does not say:
“No congregation will ever become corrupt.”
Revelation 2–3 shows that congregations could become seriously unfaithful and even face removal.
Neither does Matthew 16:18 explicitly explain every detail about the historical continuity of church institutions.
So we should not make the verse say more than Jesus said.
But neither should we ignore it.
If someone claims that Christ's church disappeared from the earth for centuries, Jesus' promise deserves serious consideration.
13. DOES A WARNING ABOUT APOSTASY PROVE A TOTAL APOSTASY?
No.
That is an important distinction.
Paul warned:
“some shall depart from the faith.” — 1 Timothy 4:1, KJV
Some departing from the faith is not the same statement as all Christians disappearing from the earth.
Acts 20 predicts false teachers.
It does not explicitly say that every faithful congregation would cease to exist.
Second Timothy predicts people turning away from truth.
It does not explicitly say that the gospel itself would disappear.
So we need to distinguish two propositions:
THE NEW TESTAMENT PREDICTS APOSTASY.
That is explicit.
THE NEW TESTAMENT PREDICTS A COMPLETE LOSS OF CHRIST'S CHURCH AND DIVINE AUTHORITY FROM THE EARTH.
That is a further conclusion.
Where does the text establish it?
14. DOES THE NEW TESTAMENT SAY CHRISTIAN PRIESTHOOD AUTHORITY WOULD DISAPPEAR AND LATER BE RESTORED?
This question takes us directly to the text.
The New Testament speaks about apostles.
It speaks about elders and overseers.
It speaks about evangelists, teachers, deacons, and other servants.
It also speaks about Christians collectively in priestly language.
Peter writes:
“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people...” — 1 Peter 2:9, KJV
Revelation 1:6 says Christ:
“hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father.” — Revelation 1:6, KJV
Hebrews presents Jesus Himself as our great High Priest.
Read Hebrews 4:14–16.
So before importing a later definition of “priesthood authority” into the New Testament, we need to ask:
What does the New Testament itself mean by priest, priesthood, apostle, elder, overseer, and authority?
Then we can ask whether it predicts that such authority would disappear and later be restored by John the Baptist, Peter, James, and John.
The LDS claim is specific.
It deserves specific textual evidence.
15. DID THE APOSTLES EXPECT THEIR TEACHING TO CONTINUE AFTER THEIR DEATHS?
Yes.
Read 2 Timothy 2:2.
Paul tells Timothy:
“And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.” — 2 Timothy 2:2, KJV
Notice the sequence.
Paul.
Timothy.
Faithful men.
Others.
The teaching was to continue.
Peter also knew that his death was approaching.
Read 2 Peter 1:12–15.
He wanted Christians to be able to remember the apostolic message after he was gone.
Jude speaks of:
“the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” — Jude 3, KJV
None of those passages, by themselves, settles every question about later church authority.
But they do show something important.
The apostles expected their teaching to continue after their deaths.
16. DID THE APOSTLES SAY CHRISTIANS WOULD NEED NEW SCRIPTURE CENTURIES LATER?
We should frame this question carefully.
The Bible never says, “After the last apostle dies, God can never communicate anything again.”
We should not claim a verse says something it does not say.
But neither does the New Testament tell Christians to expect another prophet eighteen centuries later who would bring additional scripture and restore a lost priesthood.
Instead, the apostles repeatedly direct Christians back to the message already delivered.
Paul warned:
“But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.” — Galatians 1:8, KJV
Notice Paul's standard.
Even an angel does not authenticate a different gospel merely by appearing.
The message must be tested.
That principle becomes especially important when a religious movement claims angelic messengers and additional revelation.
17. HOW SHOULD CHRISTIANS TEST A CLAIM OF NEW REVELATION?
The New Testament does not tell Christians to believe every spiritual claim.
John writes:
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God.” — 1 John 4:1, KJV
Paul says:
“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” — 1 Thessalonians 5:21, KJV
And the Bereans:
“searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” — Acts 17:11, KJV
Therefore, asking whether Joseph Smith's claims agree with previously revealed truth is not unfair.
It is precisely the kind of testing Scripture requires.
The same standard should apply to anyone claiming revelation—including someone from our own religious tradition.
18. DOES THE BOOK OF MORMON AGREE WITH THE NEW TESTAMENT?
This question deserves more than a handful of quotations pulled from the Internet.
If we examine it, we should do it carefully.
We should read the relevant passages in context and ask about major teachings:
Who is God?
Who is Jesus?
What is the gospel?
How is a person reconciled to God?
What authority belongs to apostles and other church leaders?
What is priesthood?
What is the church?
What revelation did the apostles expect Christians to follow?
And where later LDS teachings go beyond the Book of Mormon itself, we should distinguish those later developments rather than pretend that every LDS doctrine appeared fully formed in 1830.
That would be a separate study in itself.
Our present question is narrower:
Was additional scripture necessary because the apostolic faith had disappeared?
19. DID LDS TEACHING CONTINUE TO DEVELOP AFTER 1830?
Yes.
The movement's teachings and organization developed during Joseph Smith's lifetime and afterward.
Latter-day Saints do not necessarily see continuing revelation as a problem. Continuing revelation is part of their understanding of how Christ directs His restored church.
That means we should not criticize LDS teaching merely because it developed.
Our own historical study has shown that teachings and practices developed in many Christian traditions.
The question is authority.
WHO AUTHORIZED THE DEVELOPMENT?
HOW DO WE KNOW THE REVELATION CAME FROM GOD?
HOW SHOULD IT BE TESTED?
Those are biblical questions.
20. WHAT AUTHORITY DOES THE LDS CHURCH CLAIM TODAY?
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints continues to teach that the Great Apostasy resulted in the loss of priesthood authority and that this authority was restored through Joseph Smith by heavenly messengers. (The Church of Jesus Christ)
That means the historical claim we have been studying is not merely an interesting nineteenth-century controversy.
It remains central to LDS identity.
Their argument is essentially:
Christ established His church.
Apostasy occurred.
Priesthood authority was lost.
The original church therefore needed restoration.
God called Joseph Smith.
Priesthood authority was restored.
Christ's church was organized again.
Additional revelation accompanied that restoration.
We should make sure we understand that argument before answering it.
21. WHAT, THEN, MUST THE NEW TESTAMENT ESTABLISH?
This brings the whole study into focus.
There is no question that the New Testament warns about apostasy.
It does.
There is no question that Christians departed from apostolic teaching.
Church history provides abundant evidence that doctrines, practices, and structures developed over time.
But those facts do not by themselves establish the complete LDS restoration claim.
Several additional propositions are necessary:
Christ's church completely disappeared from the earth.
Necessary divine authority disappeared with it.
That authority could not continue through faithful Christians holding to apostolic teaching.
A future restoration was therefore necessary.
God chose Joseph Smith to accomplish it.
Angelic messengers restored lost priesthood authority to him.
God gave additional scripture and continuing revelation through him.
Each step requires evidence.
We should not reject those propositions simply because they are unfamiliar.
Neither should we accept them simply because someone claims revelation.
Each claim must be tested.
22. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RESTORING THE TEXT AND RESTORING LOST REVELATION?
Now we can see why this study belongs immediately after our studies of the Restoration Movement.
Both movements looked at divided Christianity and said:
Something has gone wrong.
But their proposed solutions were fundamentally different.
One approach says:
The apostolic message remains available. Open the Scriptures. Remove what people have added. Return to what Christ and His apostles taught.
The LDS approach says:
The apostolic church and its priesthood authority were lost. God therefore had to restore them through a prophet, heavenly messengers, additional scripture, and continuing revelation.
That leaves us with a choice between two very different meanings of restoration.
And the way to examine them is not by asking which movement has nicer people.
It is not by asking which has more members.
It is not by asking which has more impressive buildings, better organization, or a more interesting history.
The question is:
WHAT DOES THE TEXT REQUIRE?
23. WHERE DOES THIS LEAVE US?
We should treat Latter-day Saints as we would want them to treat us.
Listen carefully.
Represent their beliefs accurately.
Let them explain what they actually believe rather than attacking something they do not believe.
Then open the Bible.
The LDS Church is quite clear about its central claim: Christ's original church fell into a Great Apostasy, priesthood authority was lost, and God restored that authority and church through Joseph Smith. (The Church of Jesus Christ)
Now we can ask whether the New Testament establishes that sequence.
Does it predict apostasy?
Yes.
Does it predict false teachers?
Yes.
Does it show congregations departing from the truth?
Yes.
But does it say Christ's church and all necessary divine authority would disappear from the earth for centuries?
Does it say Christianity would then be restored through a new prophet?
Does it tell us to expect additional scripture and restored priesthood through angelic messengers?
Those are separate questions.
And they cannot be answered merely by proving that apostasy occurred.
The evidence for the restoration must be examined too.
That is where TEXT B4 TRADITION takes us.
Not:
What have I always been told about Mormons?
Not:
What does my church say about Joseph Smith?
But:
WHAT DOES THE TEXT SAY?
Read first.
Conclude later.
TEXT B4 TRADITION
Read First. Conclude Later.
RETURN TO MAIN SERIES: ONE CHURCH, SO MANY DIVISIONS—WHAT HAPPENED?
NEXT STUDY: WHAT HAPPENED WHEN WILLIAM MILLER PREDICTED CHRIST’S RETURN?