Sealed book of Mormon Ch.34

AND it came to pass that the part of the
world from which my fathers had departed in
the days of Lehi was under the complete
control and domination of the Roman Empire.
And with this domination, the government
provided freedom for its citizens to practice
their religious beliefs according to the dictates
of their own conscience.
For the Romans had many gods among
them whom they worshipped and honored. And
their leaders pretended that they also
worshipped these gods. Nevertheless, they
allowed the religions and beliefs of the people to
give them their hope and their patience, which
hope and patience caused peace throughout the
land. But the majority of the leaders did not, in
and of themselves, believe in the faith of the
people, but made a pretend in their beliefs so
that the people would accept them and honor
them as the leaders that their gods had anointed
to lead them.
And every citizen of Rome was given the
freedom to worship how and where and what
they desired. And with this freedom, many of
the people began to organize themselves into
different factions and religions that were
ramifications of each other.
For if a man did not believe in his religious
leaders, then he was not forced to follow them,
but could choose for himself the religion and the
leader that satisfied his desires of faith.
And the leaders of the Romans knew that
this freedom would keep the people happy and
distracted from the heavy tax burden that the
government had placed upon them. For the
leaders of the Romans cared about the fine
things of the world which they received by way
of this tax, and cared not whether there was a true God or not. And this tax was the only thing
that they required of the people.
And because of the rule of the Romans, the
Jews were once again able to return to
Jerusalem and establish themselves as a people
within the borders of the Roman Empire. And
they were protected by the armies of the
Romans and given freedom to live according to
their customs and their traditions.
And there lived a man and his wife among the Jews who had listened to the leaders of the
church of God which had been reestablished
among them. And they had for a long time been
wrought upon by the Holy Ghost regarding the
true nature and purpose of religion among the
children of men. And they knew that the church
of God at Jerusalem had been corrupted by the
examples of the leaders.