Editing Openai/691a45a6-8ed0-8010-a7d9-24657a41a9aa (section)

===== It depends on what you mean by “apostasy.” =====

If you define apostasy the way Hyrum Smith does—
the complete loss of divine authority, priesthood keys, correct doctrine, and the structure of Christ’s original church—then, purely on historical grounds, that scenario is not more likely.

Why?

Because the historical evidence doesn’t support the idea of a pristine, uniform original church that then fell off a cliff. The earliest Christian communities were already varied on doctrine, leadership structure, and practice. The New Testament itself contains disputes, competing teachings, and evolving interpretations. That suggests development rather than catastrophic loss.

From that angle, the “Great Apostasy” becomes a theological lens, not a historical event you could point to.

If instead you define apostasy more broadly—
Christianity drifted, fought, adapted, disagreed, reshaped doctrine, absorbed philosophical influences, and became something different from its earliest forms—
then yes, that absolutely happened. Every historian agrees Christianity evolved dramatically.

But that’s different from the LDS-specific claim that God’s authority vanished and had to be restored in upstate New York.