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mrykalov
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I found this group from a search I did on Verlan Andersen's book "The Apostasy of the Latter Days".  It happened to be listed first in the search, so I clicked on it and thought that this may be a good group to join, so I did. I am busy just reading posts on different subjects to get to know the group a bit better.

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3 hours ago, NeuroTypical said:

Hi and welcome mrykalov!  I didn't know our happy little forum had been listed in any published books - that's kind of cool.

Well, not actually mentioned in the book, but when internetting the book and author, this came up first:

The Apostasy of the Latter Days, by H. Verlan Anderson

Click on the Website, much more..................

THE APOSTASY OF THE LATTER DAYS

By H. Verlan Andersen

of The First Quorum of Seventy

of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

1914 - 1992

HISTORY WARNS THAT APOSTASY MUST BE EXPECTED

(See Introduction)

Religious history testifies that, with the single exception of the inhabitants of the City of Enoch, no people to whom the gospel has been given have remained faithful to their covenants for more than a few generations. Time after time the Lord has established his church among a group who have lived his commandments for a few years and then fallen away thus bringing upon themselves his judgments. This cycle of human folly which so many prophets have noted, has repeated itself with such consistent regularity that any group which finds itself to be the favored recipients of the gospel would do well to assume that their own apostasy is certain and the only question about it is how long it will take.

Christ, who as governor of the world, has the painful duty of punishing transgression, has spoken of the infidelity of the House of Israel and the frequency with which they have rejected him. Just before he made his appearance to those righteous Nephites who survived the terrible disaster inflicted upon their nation, he uttered these words of anguish:

"O ye people of these great cities which have fallen, who are descendants of Jacob, yea who are of the house of Israel, how oft have I gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and have nourished you. And again, how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, yea, O ye people of the house of Israel, who have fallen; ... how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens, and ye would not." (3 Nephi 10:4-5)

To the Jews the Lord said:

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how oft would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" (Matt. 23:37)

The fact that the Lord has found it necessary to restore his gospel so many times is in itself evidence of the regularity with which apostasy has occurred because the only thing which will cause the destruction of his Church is the wickedness of its members. As the angel told Alma who had been trying to destroy the Lord's work among the Nephites:

"Alma, arise and stand forth, for why persecutest thou the church of God? For the Lord has said: "This is my church, and I will establish it; and nothing shall overthrow it, save it is the transgression of my people." (Messiah 27:13)

The prophet, Mormon, whose labor as a historian gave him the opportunity to observe the frequency of the righteousness - wickedness - punishment cycle, spoke of it as though it were a law of life which operates as a certain consequence of a universal human weakness. His analysis of apostasy and its causes should interest us deeply:

"And thus we can behold how false, and also the unsteadiness of the hearts of the children of men; yea, we can see that the Lord in his great infinite goodness doth bless and prosper those who put their trust in him. Yea, and we may see at the very time when he doth prosper his people, yea, in the increase of their fields, their flocks and their herds, and in gold and silver, and in all manner of precious things of every kind and art; sparing their lives, and delivering them out of the hands of their enemies ... yea, and in fine, doing all things for the welfare and happiness of his people; yea, then is the time that they do harden their hearts, and do forget the Lord their God, .. and this because of their ease and exceedingly great prosperity. And thus we see that except the Lord doth chasten his people with afflictions, yea, except he doth visit them with death and with terror, and with famine and with all manner of pestilence, they will not remember him. O how foolish, and how vain, and how evil and devilish and how quick to do iniquity and how slow to do good, are the children of men..." (Helaman. 12:1-4)

 

 

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