Chapter 7—How to Meet Opposition
“We Cannot Come Down”—Time and strength can be better
employed than to dwell at length upon the quibbles of our opponents
who deal in slander and misrepresentations. While precious time is
employed in following the crooks and turns of dishonest opponents,
the people who are open to conviction are dying for want of knowledge.
A train of senseless quibbles of Satan’s own invention, are brought
before minds, while the people are crying for food, for meat in due
season.
It takes those who have trained their minds to war against the truth
to manufacture quibbles. And we are not wise to take them from their
hands, and pass them out to thousands who would never have thought
of them had we not published them to the world. This is what our
opponents want to have done; they want to be brought to notice, and to
have us publish for them. This is especially true of some. This is their
main object in writing out their falsehoods, and in misrepresenting the
truth and the characters of those who love and advocate the truth. They
will die out more speedily to be left unnoticed, to have their errors and
falsehoods treated with silent contempt. They do not want to be let
alone. Opposition is the element that they love. If it were not for this,
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they would have but little influence....
There are occasions where their glaring misrepresentations will
have to be met. When this is the case, it should be done promptly and
briefly, and we should then pass on to our work. The plan of Christ’s
teaching should be ours. He was plain and simple, striking directly at
the root of the matter, and the minds of all were met.
It is not the best policy to be so very explicit, and say all upon a
point that can be said, when a few arguments will cover the ground, and
be sufficient for all practical purposes to convince or silence opponents.
You may remove every prop today, and close the mouths of objectors
so that they can say nothing, and tomorrow they will go over the same
ground again. Thus it will be, over and over, because they do not love
the light, and will not come to the light lest their darkness and error
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