The Great Apostasy

In writing this review, I fear that some of my Mormon friends may feel that I am attacking them and their religion. This is not the case. I am attacking James Edward Talmage's 1909 work entitled The Great Apostasy; Considered in the Light of Scriptural and Secular History, and taking him to task for shoddy historical method, a general ignorance of his subject matter, and poor conclusions. I do not encourage you to try to defend him, for his work is seriously flawed in a multitude of ways.After r [...]

Ever since my husband and I toured Temple Square in Salt Lake City, I have been aware of the great apostasy that was foretold by prophets in the Bible. I only knew a little bit about it, and that Martin Luther, and others, saw and revealed what had happened to the Primitive Church that Jesus Christ organized when he walked the earth. I had heard of "the dark ages" and just had a vague idea that somehow, when the Apostles of Jesus Christ had all perished, that the church drifted into error BUT, I [...]

It's a little too reliant on the anti Catholic protestant modernist histories that were popular around the time Elder Talmadge wrote it. I would recommend it as an illustration of how the church thought of the apostasy around the turn of the century, but wouldn't take it as the last word on the history. At the very least, it should be read with Miranda Wilcox's Standing Apart as a more updated companion piece.

This was such an insightful commentary on what is usually a mysterious part of our religious history. In the post-Da Vinci Code world, this book is a great clarifier on what happened after Christ and the apostles were all gone from the earth--how the world gradually fell into apostasy and then slowly got back to the point where the gospel could be restored.

A wonderful little treatise which gives the history of the Christian church after the death of Christ up until its restoration in 1830. This is a good jumping off place for newer material that deals with the early Christian church and the rise of Catholicism. An LDS classic.

Loved it!

I enjoyed this read. It allowed me to go back to my academic religious study roots and read a book that is not flowery or sweet, but more just laying out the facts as presented. Having said that I have made about 100 notes of places that I would like to work on future study to verify facts, read original sources, and do further research. This book is a bit heavy for most casual readers. This did take quite a bit of time to digestI took it slow so that I could really work with the information. I [...]

Talmage explains the great apostasy in such a simple and straight forward way. It's clear that an apostasy happened and that a restoration of the true church of Christ was necessary. Entertaining read with a lot of interesting historical facts mingled in.

An Overview of the ApostasyA well documented assessment of changes and conditions in Christianity leading to an Apostasy from within and without the Church and the subsequent need for a restoration of Priesthood authority.

This book is a broad overview of some of the evidences that many Christians hold were the cause for the loss of the true priesthood authority given by Jesus Christ to His Apostles during the meridian of time. Talmage talks of the suppression inflicted by Roman emperors which caused so much damage to the organization of Christ's Church. After the suppression ended, and Constantine relinquished pagan gods for the God of Christendom, Talmage goes on to support the further corrupted nature of true a [...]

Interesting and well-researched (although dated) history book exploring the reasons the Great Apostasy happened. Talmage establishes the fact that the authority of the Church, established by Jesus Christ, has not continued in unbroken succession. Mormons believe that one must have authority in order to give authority or to pass authority along, and authority (or Priesthood power) can be lost when the person holding the authority does not live in harmony with God's teachings. A quick look at papa [...]

I continued my exploration of my father's suggested literature with another Talmage classic. I was once again enthralled with Talmage's vocabulary, and found myself doing a little vocabulary expanding work with a dictionary to figure out just exactly what the author was saying. I became even more interested in the history of the Catholic Church, and the writings of Josephus, the recorder of Jewish History during the Dark Ages. Nero and the chapters concerning the inquisition of impossing Christi [...]

Most Mormons would be surprised I gave this book a two, but the book suffers from a few problems, most notably a huge reliance on Protestant historical propaganda. As a result, the image of the Catholic Church is grossly exaggerated; this is, of course, not Elder Talmage's fault as he was surely limited by his sources. When the lectures upon which the book is based were delivered, Talmage would have had a very difficult time getting hold of pro-Catholic works. Nowadays, with the benefit of bette [...]

Having read the LDS book Jesus the Christ, also written by James E. Talmage, I decided to read The Great Apostasy. The Great Apostasy is also an LDS book. Only knowing a little about what a Apostasy was, I wanted to learn more about the subject in greater detail. I thought it would be a good book to learn from. This book talked about what happened with the church Christ created when He living and what happened to it after His death. I would highly recommend this book, I really enjoyed it. This [...]

The Great Apostasy is a book about the history of the decline of the primitive church from the time of Christ’s death through the many difficult times that Christians endured. Talmage’s point is that Christ gave his authority to the original Twelve Apostles and that the authority was either lost through apostasy (which a restoration is required) or it never left the Earth and the changed form of the primitive church today (the Catholic Church) still has the authority of Christ. An interestin [...]

What a great book written by James E. Talmage. I was unaware of the horrible persecutions that Christians suffered as defenders of Christ during the first few centuries following Christ's ministry upon the Earth. And what innumerable sects of religion/ideas came about shortly following the apostolic ministry! I gave it 4 stars because I was disappointed in the short length defending The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the church that holds the authoritative priesthood on Earth tod [...]

I've had this book on my shelf for about 10 years waiting to be read. I love the history of the apostasy and this book does have a lot of good information and brings to light some issues that I hadn't thought about. For example, Talmage spends some time describing how the apostasy began as a falling from the church, which eventually translated into the falling of the church. I only gave it three stars because Talmage can be a dry writer. Also, his endnotes are way too long. They are full of inte [...]

This is another book that took me awhile to get around to reading, but was worth it and I wished I read it awhile ago. It was a great read right after Douglas's "The Robe". Talmage knows how to lay out complicated topics in a clear, easy to understand format and I really appreciate his knowledge and expertise. The subject matter is a part of history everyone should know and I don't think there could be a better source. He quotes extensively from major historians and demonstrates he has done his [...]

As I read this book, it seemed very similar to a book that I read about a year ago: Outlines of Ecclesiastical History: A Text Book by B.H. Roberts. Although much of the territory is similar - according to my faded memory of the former - they are not identical. Indeed, this one was written sixteen years later.To my mind, either one is probably a good introduction, and I don't regret having read both.

1. This book is sort of a disappointment after Jesus the Christ. That is like the best book ever. This is not. 2. It is however chock full of fun details about early Christianity and early Christian apostasy.3. I would recommend buying this book rather than borrowing it. I wanted to mark all sorts of bits of it while reading it that I could refer to later. Talmage is an ever so quotable writer. 4. This review follows somewhat the format this book is written in. Yes, it is annoying. 5. You all sh [...]

In unabashed political incorrectness, Talmadge walks through point by point, the prophecies of the Apostasy, the underpinnings, the causes and the implications of that great falling away.This is a very easy read as such books go and is a very good introductory read for more detailed discussions of the Apostasy; e.g. Callisters book.Talmadge also does a good job of summarizing the interweaving the secular history of the relevant period with the religious history; esp. the roles of Judaist and pag [...]

How the Apostasy came about after Christ had established his church on the earth. How the Apostasy was predicted Persecutions external as well as internal. How Constantine joins Christianity for Political reasons. How the Nicean Creed came about, scripture reading forbidden, revolts against the churches, the reformers as well as establishment of Christ's original church. Excellent read and well documented

A bit more basic than his other books, and a bit more caustic in his attack on false doctrines and non-LDS religions, but very informative on certain aspects of the great apostasy. If you want to know more about the chronology, changes in doctrine, practices, ordinances, priesthood, and the like, it is a great read for you. I thoroughly enjoyed it, although some parts were a little basic for what I have come to expect out of Talmage.

A great book discussing how the Church Christ established fell into apostasy. Many historical facts are presented as evidence of the loss of the authority of heaven on earth. Structure is very similar to Jesus the Christ. After reading this you wonder how the Catholic church has any ground to stand on with regards to them claiming the divinity of their religion, let alone the churches that came about during the reformation.

A very short informative read. I read it twice on my mission and just recently read it again. The first two times took less than a day and the third time it was only 3 days or so. The book is really short like 125 pages or something. There is a lot of good history in there but generally you can see that there are many levels of apostasy and although it is unclear when Priesthood Authority was lost, Priesthood power was certainly lost early on in the first centuries following the resurrection.

This was a generous 4. Although the two other works I read by Talmage contributed to my knowledge and testimony of the gospel nearly as much as the scriptures themselves, The Great Apostasy was no where near comprehensive enough and sacrificed heart for brevity. I am grateful for the knowledge it has imparted, but I regret there not being much more of it.

This book is small but meaty, and it took me a while to chew through. At times it was dry or difficult to understand (that's history for you), but it was an exceptionally enlightening read that taught me so much. It makes clear the divinity of the LDS church, and my own testimony was inarguably strengthened. I feel like this is an important book that at least more members should read.

Very good summary of the apostasy. There is a lot more information that I would have imagined on the subject, including names, dates and reasons why changes were made to Christ's original church structure. Three stars because of the format of the book, which was essentially a long series of bullet points. This made it more difficult to read.

I am replacing this book from the shelf "currently-reading" to the shelf "to-read" This was a book my husband chose for our Sunday reading. We started it and even finished a chapter. We could not proceed though because our baby was born and at a moment we do not have a chance to read books together. We are still planning on reading it later.

This is a great book! The facts of a universal Apostacy are laid out in a very clear and unambiguous manner. The author has done his homework (and had an inside scoop) and the resources he uses in this work are extensive and varied. I highly recommend this book to all those who seek to follow Jesus Christ.