And so it was in the experience of the Nephites. Wickedness reared its head among them; pride, born of self-love, took possession of the souls of some, and inroads were made in the unity and peace of the Church. These evils continued to spread until at last the spirit of apostasy was rampant, in the western world, as in the eastern; men departed from God and his ways until rebellion, disunion, and anarchy everywhere prevailed; civilization was overwhelmed; and people descended to barbarism, and, at last, for the most part, to savagery. In this condition they were discovered by the Europeans, near the close of the fifteenth century. But notwithstanding this decline from the religion of Jesus Christ and a high state of civilization, what had been accomplished through the revelation of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the western world was of great importance. As already stared, the harvest of souls in the periods when righteousness prevailed, was very great; and the records which had been written by prophets and holy men, and preserved with great care by the commandment of God, were destined to be of immense importance in future ages. They would proclaim with trumpet tongue the justice and the mercy of God; they would demonstrate that the Lord has in mind the salvation of all races and nations of men; they would stand forth as the most important witness for the authenticity and general truth of the Jewish scriptures, both of the Old and the New testaments; they would be the voice of sleeping nations testifying that Moses did write the Pentateuch; they would bear witness that Isaiah is the author of the prophecies ascribed to him; that Jesus is the Christ, "the very eternal God," [17] that he suffered for the sins of the sins of the world, therein glorifying the Father, and accomplishing the purposes of God with reference to the salvation of men; they would bear witness that there is no name given under heaven whereby men can be saved but the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; and finally, those Nephite records, in the Book of Mormon, would establish the great and supreme truths that God is a reality--that he lives; that man is the child of God; that he is immortal, and accountable to God for his actions; that he may be saved through acceptance of and continued obedience to the gospel. A writer held much in esteem by the orthodox Christian world--and deservedly so--in a noble work but recently issued from the press, said: