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Idolatry Then and Now, July 23
1 Kings 17
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Exodus 20:3
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Though in a different form, idolatry exists in the Christian world today as
verily as it existed among ancient Israel in the days of Elijah. The God of many
professedly wise men, of philosophers, poets, politicians, journalists—the God
of polished fashionable circles, of many colleges and universities, even of some
theological institutions—is little better than Baal, the sun-god of Phoenicia.
No error accepted by the Christian world strikes more boldly against the
authority of Heaven, ... none is more pernicious in its results, than the modern
doctrine, so rapidly gaining ground, that God’s law is no longer binding upon
men
The Bible is within the reach of all, but there are few who really accept it
as the guide of life. Infidelity prevails to an alarming extent, not in the world
merely, but in the church. Many have come to deny doctrines which are the
very pillars of the Christian faith. The great facts of creation as presented by
the inspired writers, the fall of man, the atonement, and the perpetuity of the
law of God, are practically rejected, either wholly or in part, by a large share of
the professedly Christian world. Thousands who pride themselves upon their
wisdom and independence regard it as an evidence of weakness to place implicit
confidence in the Bible; they think it a proof of superior talent and learning to
cavil at the Scriptures and to spiritualize and explain away their most important
truths. Many ministers are teaching their people, and many professors and
teachers are instructing their students, that the law of God has been changed or
abrogated; and those who regard its requirements as still valid, to be literally
obeyed, are thought to be deserving only of ridicule or contempt
The last great conflict between truth and error is but the final struggle of the
long-standing controversy concerning the law of God. Upon this battle we are
now entering
[211]
42
The Great Controversy, 583, 584
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43
Ibid., 583
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44
Ibid., 582
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