The authority was lost and revelation withdrawn.   Without the will of the Lord at the head of the church, without the strength of the priesthood, without the authority for the ordinances of salvation, the church of Christ ceased to exist in the old world and by the time of Constantine, it became a political bureaucracy rather than the engine of salvation.

This is how the darkness ensued.  Civilization in the west literally took a turn backwards in which we regressed to a more savage stage of man.  It became the universe described by Thomas Hobbes in which life was nasty, brutish and short.  Literacy left us, Charlemagne who ruled a great kingdom could barely write his own name.  The scriptures were considered either too holy to read or too dangerous to understand, pushing them to the realm of legend.  Bathing was an annual event, at best and the Lords doctrine without prophets and apostles was undercut and made part and parcel with fables.  For hundreds of years there was little in the way of light and almost no progress.  Perhaps the strongest change was the hierarchical clergy.

What do we make of such a time, how can changes be made to happen?  Is man inevitably able to raise himself by his own bootstraps?  Is the glory of man simply man developing himself with his own indomitable spirit.  I think it is hubris to believe in such indomitability for man, though popular opinion today seems to indicate that is exactly what we should believe.  Accept the pride in ourselves and embrace it.  We know the Lord does not act along lines of coincidence; the Lord does not take advantage of situations.  He in fact creates situations that are to His advantage.  Consider the following:

The prophet Joseph Smith once stated

“Every man who has a calling to minister to the inhabitants of the world was ordained to the very purpose in the Grand Council of heaven before this world was.  I suppose I was ordained to this very office in that Grand Council”

President J. Reuben Clark Jr. stated

“I like to think that this statement by the Prophet Joseph Smith does include those of us of lesser calling and lesser stature… I like to think that perhaps in the grand council something at least was said to us indicating what would be expected of us, and empowering us, subject to the re-confirmation here, to do certain things in building up the kingdom of God on earth”.

Finally I would ask you to look at this building around you.  It was not built upon the spur of the moment.  Plans were drawn up, and before the first cornerstone was laid before us, the ground was made ready for it.  When the foundation was set, there had already been much preparation.

So what was the coincidence that the world sees, and that we see as the preparation of the ground for the foundation about to be set?

Lets look at the steps toward restoration then.  The more obvious.

Johannes Gutenberg.

Scriptures which are rare and not understood cannot be used to obtain greater light and knowledge.  As a people we needed to have books prepared that the masses could read, and for such books to be prepared, a mechanism had to be in place.  It would not come quickly but it must come about.  The printing press in the late 1400’s provides such a vehicle.

The 15th century marks the transition from the Middle Ages to Modern Times. In virtually all areas of human interaction there were far-reaching changes. Dangerous and long sea voyages of Portuguese and Spanish explorers opened up new worlds, while in Europe, the old world, the political balance of power was completely remodeled.  Technical innovations, a marked increase in written communication even outside monastery walls, attempts to reform the church. 

But there was also a strong counter balance to the spread of light and knowledge.  At the same time, massive auto de fe’s or inquisitions were held.

Consider also: 

The Protestant Reformation was a movement which emerged in the 16th century within decades of the Gutenburg press, as a series of attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church in Western Europe.  The main front of the reformation was started by Martin Luther and his 95 Thesis. The reformation ended in division and the establishment of new institutions, most importantly Lutheranism, the Reformed churches and Anabaptists, a radical branch whose name means “those who baptize again”. It also led to the Counter Reformation within the Roman Catholic Church, which led to the Council of Trent (1548–1563), when Rome struck back against the fundamental ideas defended by the Reformers, like Luther. The rift between Catholics and Protestants would lead to the breakup of large European empires into the modern nation-state system.

So we see the actions of such reformers not only changed the face of religion, but how nations changed from the divine rights of kings to the social contract between government leaders and those that they rule.  This soon led to constitutional freedoms that were formalized in the English speaking sphere (more so than the rest of Europe).

I think we as humans seek the divine, I believe it is instinctive in us to attempt to return to Heavenly Father.  Where it not so religion and the understanding of religion could not exist.  But we know that desire alone, without the authority of the Lord, is insufficient to return to Him.  So there has to be a system or house of order that allows the proper methods to be in place.

So, lets move forward a century or so to the colonies. The colonies of the Americas did  soon follow this development and were definately an effect of the earlier developments, a direct effect.  Britain was literally the only nation that accepted the form and ideal of limited government at that time and grudgingly accepted some religious freedom in the colonies.  Massachusetts for the puritans, Maryland for the Catholics, Rhode Island for religious dissidentors (and even felt that Indians should be treated with respect and religious tolerance based on conscience), Pennsylvania for the Quakers.  Indeed it appears as if the US had a proclivity for splintering and searching for the religious truth, especially in the New England area.  Of course this geographic area also has some important meaning for we saints too.

As I have indicated, before the stone of the first foundation is lain, the Lord prepares the ground.  But there is more.  Consider some f these "coincidences":

In a revolutionary war of independence the US fairly lost every battle, and was in constant retreat and yet was still able to overcome Britain, for a time.   Several times during this long and arduous war, the rebels were on the verge of collapse.  1776 we suffered one defeat after another.  In Brooklyn we were out generaled, out gunned and out manned by a superior army.  We were also trapped.  But on the night of October 29 we were able to accomplish the equivalent of a Dunkirk.  Trapped in a stormy night, 9000 men were about to be captured.  If the British Warships had come up the East River they would have decimated the army.  Captured General Washington and the war would have been over.  But there was a raging nor‘easter that kept them at bay.  The storm subsided for a short time and a thick fog set in, allowing the army to escape, before the clearing light.  They just barely escaped too.

Consider the plans of Napoleon to build his empire in America, and how those plans were dashed when Haiti under Trouissant d’Ouverture rebelled  (inspired by the French Revolution ironically) and found freedom.  Leading Napoleon to sell Louisiana territory to the US since he no longer had an area to which he could send his men and supplies in order to increase his empire in the New World.  Odds are he would have reneged on the deal had he beaten Europe, and later would have made the US a vassal to French control.

The later war of 1812, in which Britain and the US fought for the sovereignty over the US had some remarkable moments.  Recall that in this war the British marched upon Washington DC and so poorly did our troops do that there was a general panic in the populace.  Secretary of State James Monroe even forced to acted as a scout for the army.  England in the first part of the war was focused on Napoleon which they finally defeated, but now, now England could send their best battle hardened troops.  These troops tore through the US military.  Our soldiers basically ran at the battle of Bladensdale in Maryland.  The only British casualties were from heat stroke in chasing the running Americans.  The British army entered Washington DC.  They burned the White House, the Congress, and prepared to ravage the entire city when suddenly a mighty hurricane rose in Washington DC (a rare occurrance), so strong was the wind that cannons were tipped over.  As the ranks attempted to reform, a tornado descended in their midst and scattered them once again.  When the troops returned to their ships, they looked more like a defeated regiment than a conquering army.

Then during the bombing of Fort McHenry which set up the invasion of Baltimore.  Britain was firing these two hundred pound bombs with their equivalent of “shock and awe” Wherever they landed they created devastation.  One hit directly into the powder room, 250,000 pounds of gunpowder.  Of the many many bombs that landed (2 – 3000 bombs and many many more rockets) this one did not explode, had it done so the fort would have gone up, including the majority of the weapons stores for the entire nation.  They removed the bomb, held on through the night, and in the morning hoisted the largest flag in our nation as the British sailed away.  We also received our nations anthem from that night.

The US maintained its independence.

In the nation as a whole in the early 1800’s there also came to be a great awakening.  A new religious movement in which the people began to once again question the established religious institutions.  Throughout the nation preachers held huge tent meetings or revivals, they began to question the staid doctrines once again and emphasized personal agency or choice.  Such new ideas where vociferously attacked by the established churches, but slowly they found their way into the mainstream of acceptance.

Again, we see how the Lord preserves and prepares us.

Not only us but also Joseph Smith and his family.

Consider:

In 1815 Mount Tambora in Indonesia erupted.  In New England it became known as the year without summer.  In June and July frost and snow killed the crops in Vermont, indeed lake ice was reported as far south as Pennsylvania in July.  These crop failures led the Smith family to leave Vermont where they had resided.  The Smiths lived far far away from the hill Cumorah, which awaited one special individual in their family, that family we now know moved to Palmyra New York further south (by the way no one made the connection with Tambora originally, in the US they blamed Benjamin Franklin and his experiments with electricity).

We know the story of the operation on a young Joseph Smith (1813) for osteomyelitis.  An infection of the bone caused by bacteria (which no one understood then).  We know that the surgical procedure was carried out by one of the foremost surgeons in the US at that time.  A Dr. Nathan Smith who happened to be in that area (with the help of seven other surgeons, he recommended cutting off the leg but Joesph's mother implored otherwise).  What is less well known is the surgical procedure that was pioneered that day, was never again successful until around 1907 almost a century later when we better understood bacteria.

One could claim a series of lucky coincidences (running for several hundred years). 

Personally I am not one to call the Lord “lucky”.

Something that isn't easy to do on some subjects.

In short, four parts.

The falling away and both biblical and apocraphal sources.

The social changes during early Rennaissance.

Preservation of the US when by rights it should have failed.

Finally the unusual circumstances of Joseph Smith's life.

Alas, I cannot dictate the level of intellect available to you.  Let us hope your mental RAM increases as you mature.

Maybe its too much

Just some interesting observations.  Sometimes its good to organize thoughts and I really don't write these things down unless I want someone else to look at them and test them.  Sometimes I am way off in my views, so its good to offer them up to be tested.

Consider it sharing time.

I'm sure I could invent some faith promoting rumors, but that would not be a plus in the long run... 

Since it seems like this is kind of a stream of conscious outline of notes, Jeff, what is the source material for the thoughts you are including?  You'll want to make sure you have all that clearly documented as you get the drafts together.

Jeffrey, I enjoyed your post. This is something I've thought a lot about too. I have a series of tapes that Michael Medved (he's a prochristian conservative, observant Jew) did on his radio show about the American Revolution, in which he brings out many, many, many "coincidences" of how America was just plain lucky to be. He's convinced that America is blessed by God to exist and is a promised land.

One of the most remarkable events in the historical record he shared in his comments was the siege of Charleston and that little fort that held off the entire British Navy, and the freak changes in the river that kept the Navy from taking the city.

If you ever get a chance to hear them, they're really good.

--Ray