The concept of “dispensations” is foundational to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As suggested by the name, a “dispensation” is a period of time in which the Lord “dispenses” his will to his children via prophets. Latter-day Saint belief in the existence of dispensations should be carefully distinguished from other conceptions of a “dispensation.” For Latter-day Saints, a dispensation refers to a period of time in which God reveals His will, priesthood authority, and gospel to humanity through prophets. Examples include the dispensation of Moses and the dispensation of the fulness of times initiated by Joseph Smith. Latter-day Saints believe that throughout history, there have been several dispensations, each beginning with God calling a prophet to restore truth and authority. The exact number is unknown.¹⁸⁸ According to Latter-day Saint belief, these dispensations can end with apostasy, when people fall away from the truth, until a new dispensation is established.

Jesus Christ also inaugurated a new dispensation with his advent to the earth and organization of His Church. Some academics today doubt that Jesus established a Church, but close examination of sources from early Christianity combined with the knowledge gleaned from the Book of Mormon and other modern revelation help to establish the fact that Jesus did indeed start a church during His lifetime.¹⁸⁹

‍Preach My Gospel, the Church’s manual for its missionaries both current and prospective, teaches the following:

After the Apostles were killed, there was a widespread falling away from the gospel and Church of Jesus Christ. This falling away is sometimes called the Great Apostasy. Because of it, God withdrew priesthood authority from the earth. This loss included the authority needed to direct the Church. As a result, the Church that Jesus had established was no longer on the earth. During this time, people changed many gospel teachings. Much of the knowledge about the true nature of Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost was distorted or lost. People also changed priesthood ordinances, such as baptism. . . Prophets and apostles had foretold the falling away (see 2 Thessalonians 2:1–3). They had also foretold that the gospel and Church of Jesus Christ would be restored to the earth (see Acts 3:20–21). If there had not been a falling away, a restoration would not have been needed.¹⁹⁰

This is the Church’s most-recently expressed view of the Apostasy. In recent decades, there has been a great deal of material produced by Latter-day Saint scholars on the Great Apostasy. On one hand are scholars like Hugh Nibley who have plumbed the writings of the Early Church fathers and carefully examined scriptural statements regarding the Apostasy to substantiate the traditional views of it.¹⁹¹ On the other hand are scholars that suggest that the standard narrative of Apostasy needs to be revised (still in line, however, with scriptural commitments regarding the Apostasy. ¹⁹² This dialogue is still ongoing. This dialogue may establish more fully exactly what was lost during the Apostasy, the fate of those who lived during it, and more.

One thing that most certainly was lost during the Apostasy was prophetic leadership with the correct priesthood authority. With that, it is logical to presume that nothing from the early, original Church of Jesus would have been lost. 

One of the most poignant objections that has been raised about the Apostasy is regarding the fate of those that were not given the opportunity to hear the Gospel. Did God really just leave his people in the dust for 1800 years? The Latter-day Saint response to this would be two-fold. First, the Latter-day Saint would affirm that the focus of the Apostasy should be on how we abandoned God rather than God abandoning us. Second, the Latter-day Saint would affirm that those that did not have the chance to respond to the full light of the Gospel will have that chance in the spirit world through the grace of Christ’s Atonement (Moroni 8:22; Doctrine & Covenants 137:7, 10; 138:25–37).

While many other religions scoff at the idea that the Christian God could allow the Church to descend into a generalized Apostasy and that God could be absent in some way during that time, those same religions often recognize the same need that Joseph Smith did. For example, while many Protestants have become critics of the Great Apostasy, the existence of their religious movement was predicated on recognizing that the Catholic Church had drifted away from many great and important truths as taught by the scriptures and early Christians.

The view of Apostasy held by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is significantly different from that of many other Christian denominations. Most Christian traditions focus more on the theological concept of individual sin and doctrinal divergence but do not perceive a complete loss of the priesthood authority in the manner described by Latter-day Saint teachings. For many, the apostolic age is thought to have ended with the death of the original apostles, with the “church” continuing in a non-authoritative form. The Church, however, emphasizes that the original authority and the necessary fullness of the gospel were fully restored by Joseph Smith through heavenly messengers. This belief offers a unique understanding of Christ’s Church not just as a reflection of Christian teachings, but as one with the divine authority to govern the kingdom of God upon the earth, including the power to perform ordinances that ensure salvation and eternal progression.

While many questions about the Apostasy remain, the understanding we do have is sufficient to help us understand the questions that early Christians struggled with during their longer-than-millenium contemplation of many vexing theological questions. We cannot understand and fully appreciate the Restoration’s unique and exclusive answers without understanding the Apostasy’s questions.