The Restoration Of All Things

[Joseph Antley]

In the Book of Acts, it says that the heavens must recieve Christ until the "restitution of all things", which is interpreted by the Church to mean the restoration of Christ's Church, and refers to the First Vision, when Christ again descended, and the restoration of the Church in general.

In D&C 86:10, it says "Therefore your life and the priesthood have remained, and must needs remain through you and your lineage until the restoration of all things spoken by the mouths of all the holy prophets since the world began."

Here is implied that the "restoration of all things" is a later event, which will end the priesthood descending through the lines of God's heirs (am I reading that right?). What event is this referring to?

Other scriptures use the same wording (the "the restoration of all things" that was taught by the prophets "since the world began") to describe the restoration of the Priesthood keys through Elijah and/or Elias.

Are all of these separate events that are described using the exact same wording?

[The Nehor]

It depends on whether we've restored all things yet....I'm guessing not.

[Thama]

In the Book of Acts, it says that the heavens must recieve Christ until the "restitution of all things", which is interpreted by the Church to mean the restoration of Christ's Church, and refers to the First Vision, when Christ again descended, and the restoration of the Church in general.

In D&C 86:10, it says "Therefore your life and the priesthood have remained, and must needs remain through you and your lineage until the restoration of all things spoken by the mouths of all the holy prophets since the world began."

Here is implied that the "restoration of all things" is a later event, which will end the priesthood descending through the lines of God's heirs (am I reading that right?). What event is this referring to?

Other scriptures use the same wording (the "the restoration of all things" that was taught by the prophets "since the world began") to describe the restoration of the Priesthood keys through Elijah and/or Elias.

Are all of these separate events that are described using the exact same wording?

For a thing to be restituted, it must first be lost. We should not make the mistake of thinking that this scripture may only apply to the application of every law and piece of knowledge available to God, rather these will come with Celestial glory. Rather, for a restitution of all things to occur, only those ordinances, structures, etc. which had previously been a part of the Gospel taught to the inhabitants of the earth must be brought back. I'm not sure that there is any way to know whether this has been fulfilled yet or not, though I'm inclined to think that it has.

Also, the word "restitute" actually works better here than "restore". Restoration implies changing something back to a former state which had been corrupted, while restitution implies the complete replacement of something which had been lost. When speaking of priesthood, ordinances, and revelations, Paul's language (and its KJV translation) appears to be more precise than the common Mormon language.

[Dale]

Reasoning From the Scriptures with The Mormon's by Ron Rhodes, and Marian Bodine challenged the LDS interpretation. I seem to recall them stating that it referred to the Restoration of Israel. And nothing in it led them to believe it had anything to do with supporting a total apostasy. Every reference that's used to support a total apostasy is seen as only supporting a partial apostasy. No need for a reformation if the church was in total apostasy as only a restoration would do.

[freakin a man]

Reasoning From the Scriptures with The Mormon's by Ron Rhodes, and Marian Bodine challenged the LDS interpretation. I seem to recall them stating that it referred to the Restoration of Israel. And nothing in it led them to believe it had anything to do with supporting a total apostasy. Every reference that's used to support a total apostasy is seen as only supporting a partial apostasy. No need for a reformation if the church was in total apostasy as only a restoration would do.

Of course they are not going to see a total apostasy as that would basically invalidate much of their views on the history of Christianity and support the legitimacy of the LDS position. I personally think the partial apostasy is a joke. What exactly is a partial apostasy. To me that can be from anywhere between 0.1%-99.9% of people falling away. Has there ever been a time when people did not leave the faith? Partial apostasy have been going on since time began.

2 Timothy 1:15 "This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes." (Partial Apostasy???) Actually this shows that a total apostasy is possible. As he says that all of the Christians in Asia have turned away.

Galations 1:6-8 "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel..." (Partial Apostasy???)

So if Peter and Paul thought of partial apostasy in relation to 2 Thess Chapter 2, people back in those days would have been right to say "Well open your eyes Paul. This partial apostasy is going on right now!"

Partial apostasy really does not tell us anything. I think that when Peter speaks of the restoration of all things in the future, he might have in reference to what he said in 1 Peter 4:7 "But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer."

I happen to think that if the end of all things was at hand in Peter's day, then clearly the restoring of these "all things" would need to happen in the future.

[LifeOnaPlate]

To be more technical, a universal apostasy as we might imagine it would have meant the end of Christianity. The changed form of Christianity [continuing its changes even today] still continued. The Bible being around was key to many of the early converts; The Pratts, Brigham Young, John Taylor, and where would Joseph Smith had been without the Book of James?

The restitution of all things still continues. The restoration is a process began by Joseph Smith and it will continue until the winding up scene. There are still a few specific ordinances the Church as a whole has not been trusted with. There is more to come!