The long night of apostate darkness had taken its terrible toll on the world, particularly the religious world. Few persons of Israelite lineage in the nineteenth century had but a vague idea of their lineal tie to Abraham; even fewer persons were aware that the religion of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was nowhere to be found on earth. Indeed, “all sorts of fruit did cumber the tree”: the philosophies of men were mingled freely with scripture, and the quiet and peaceful assurance that one is believing in doctrines and practicing behavior that is pleasing to God was all but absent.