🌿 How Many “Falling Aways” Are There — Really?
🌿 How Many “Falling Aways” Are There — Really?
This is something that sat with me for a long time.
We hear it often:
“There was a great falling away… and then the Restoration fixed it.”
But when you slow down, open the scriptures, and simply watch the pattern, a natural question rises:
Which falling away are we talking about?
Or… are there more than one?
I’m not trying to attack anyone here.
I’m just trying to let the scriptures speak for themselves.
🕊️ A Pattern the Scriptures Keep Repeating
One thing I’ve learned is this:
God doesn’t change —
people do.
And the scriptures show a repeating rhythm:
God reveals truth
People rejoice
Structure forms
Authority replaces revelation
The Spirit withdraws
God begins again… quietly
This isn’t accusation.
It’s observation.
📜 Paul Warned of a Falling Away After Christ
Paul wrote to believers — not pagans — and gave this warning:
Second Epistle to the Thessalonians 2:3
“That day shall not come, except there come a falling away first…”
This falling away happens after Christ, not before Him.
Historically, this aligns with:
the death of the apostles
the rise of creeds
councils replacing revelation
Christianity merging with empire
That is clearly one falling away.
But the scriptures don’t stop there.
🔥 Isaiah Shows This Is Not a One-Time Event
Isaiah describes people who still talk about God —
but no longer hear Him.
Book of Isaiah 29:13
“This people draw near me with their mouth… but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men.”
Jesus quoted this.
Joseph Smith quoted this.
Why?
Because Isaiah is describing a repeating condition, not a single historical moment.
🌱 The Book of Mormon Warns the Gentiles — After the Restoration
Here’s where things get very clear.
The Book of Mormon doesn’t just warn ancient Israel or early Christianity.
It warns Gentiles who receive the fulness.
Third Nephi 16:10
“If the Gentiles sin against my gospel… I will take away from them my gospel.”
That cannot be Rome.
Rome never received the fulness described in the Book of Mormon.
And then this:
Second Nephi 28:21
“Others will he pacify… that they will say: All is well in Zion…”
This warning is post-restoration language.
That suggests another falling away is possible — even after truth is restored.
🌍 “But Didn’t Joseph Say the Church Would Never Fall Away?”
Many immediately think of a familiar saying attributed to Joseph Smith:
“This Church will fill the whole earth.”
And the assumption is:
If the Church fills the earth, it cannot fall away.
But scripture doesn’t say a church fills the earth.
It says a kingdom does.
Book of Daniel 2:34–35
“A stone was cut out without hands… and the stone… became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.”
That stone:
is cut without hands
is not organized by men
does not rise by succession or vote
Joseph consistently taught that:
authority can be lost
revelation must continue
power comes from heaven, not offices
So it is entirely scriptural for:
God’s Kingdom to continue growing
while churches lose living connection
That does not negate Joseph’s mission.
It actually confirms the pattern.
🔁 The Pattern Repeats
Israel fell after Moses
Judaism fell before Christ
Christianity fell after Christ
Gentile Christianity is warned it can fall too
Each time:
God preserves a remnant
God works quietly
God restores access, not institutions
🕊️ A Gentle Closing Thought
The real question isn’t:
“Who fell?”
The real question is:
“Am I listening now?”
Because every falling away begins the same way:
When people stop hearing Him…
and start quoting each other instead.
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