Zurich. The New Apostolic Church publishes a series of articles on the "Testimony". On 20 November the forth of five articles appears in the German edition of the official church periodical "Unsere Familie". Here we will publish important source material and annotated versions of the articles in English, distributed by the Working Group History of the New Apostolic Church.

The fourth part

This article shows that the “heads” of Christendom did not react to the Great Testimony. This could be taken to mean that the apostles having done their duty and warned them, were now justified in establishing a church organization of their own.

Before this, however, the loss of the apostle unity in 1840 led to a time of crisis. Apostle Drummond completely rewrote the last part of the Testimony. He considered it impossible in 1843 to establish a church led by apostles before the Second Coming. Apostle Cardale, on the other hand, made use of parts of the Testimony to compile a manual for a church led by apostles.

After sealing had been introduced in 1847, there was a renewed effort to establish an ecclesiastical structure. At first, the Great Testimony had lost in importance. From about 1860 it received more attention and it was used for evangelistic efforts. From now, this document was not expected to convince the heads of Christendom of a divine commission for the apostles, but individual members of their flocks.

Copyright notice: The articles of the series "The Testimony" published on this website are the property of the New Apostolic Church International. It is not permitted to copy the articles on to other websites or in print. Setting a link to this site, however, is allowed.

Article 4: Changing Uses made of the Great Testimony in the Catholic Apostolic Church

Work in Progress: Different Editions of the Great Testimony

Drummond's heavily edited Version of the Great Testimony - a Synopsis

Cardale's edited Version of the Great Testimony in his "Manual" - a Synopsis

Précis du Témoignage

Covering letter for a new presentation of the Great Testimony in 1888