We claim that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints is a restored Church. This would imply that its teachings were had among the ancients. If this is true, it seems that this can be easily tested. We can now look at the most ancient of teachings from the original parent religion and see how close it is to the claimed restored church. To me it seems logical that if it were true then, it would be true now. This simple test can add credence or suspect to any religion that has lasted through time or claims to have been restored. In the case of Christianity, this would apply to both Protestants and Catholics as well.
Lets look at some of the interesting teachings that we can actually verify were common (or non-existent) among the very earliest Christians—the most ancient of Christian teachings. After all, who else can we say were more Christian than those who knew Jesus or lived in his day? Here are some actual beliefs from very early Christianity:
The premortal existence of souls
Baptism necessary for salvation
Baptism by emersion
Baptism for the dead
Creation out of existing matter
An unpaid ministry
One God (No Trinity or any metaphysical teachings whatsoever)
God is a glorified man
The Deification of man
No belief in “original sin”
We are literal spirit children of God
Three heavens or degrees of glory
An esoteric teaching (Temple worship)
Qualify for Salvation through prescribed works
There are many others, but these are the major ones. We should keep in mind that evidence suggests that an apostasy was going on very early, and some teachings may have already evolved upon any extant writing. Although some of these doctrines can be said to have existed in ancient Judaism as well, and most of them were believed by mainstream as well as by sideline schisms. Also a very revealing occurrence is that the earlier we go, generally the closer we get to LDS beliefs.
As amazing as this is, by far the most remarkable point to me here is that most of these teachings had been lost to mankind, or at least to the predominant churches of the day of Joseph Smith and were most certainly not available to him. This is monumental to me. How did he do it? Ironically, Mormons are ignorantly harassed for believing these things even today—a day when we can have actual access to what the very earliest Christians believed—unlike in the day of Joseph Smith. As Mormon and non-Mormon scholars alike have rightly assessed—Joseph Smith was either the greatest religious genius ever, or he was what he said he was—a prophet of God. It is actually a much easier stretch for me to believe the latter.
The fact that there would need to be a restoration was known by the prophets for many ages. We can turn to the scriptures to verify this. “For that day [the second coming] shall not come, except there come a falling away first.” (2 Thes 2: 3) “Behold, the day will come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.” (Amos 8: 11) The Reformers used these very same scriptures to proclaim their actions were justified in reforming the Catholic church.
Even more than this, it was prophesied that there would be a restitution of all things, and that all the prophets knew of this. (Acts 3: 21 and Eph 1: 10) In other words, all the doctrines, covenants, practices, knowledge, and truth that were ever had by man through all the ages would be restored in the last days (including polygamy). To me it seems only logical that, to present-day man, some of these restored things would be perceived as new, unusual and even evil.
For a much more detailed look at this subject, I would recommend Restoring the Ancient Church by Barry Bickmore.
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