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The Spirit of Prophecy Volume 4
“It is written.” To every suggestion of the adversary he opposed the
wisdom and power of the word. In order for Satan to maintain his
sway over men, and establish the authority of the papal usurper, he
must keep them in ignorance of the Scriptures. The Bible would
exalt God, and place finite men in their true position; therefore its
sacred truths must be concealed and suppressed. This logic was
adopted by the Roman Church. For hundreds of years the circulation
of the Bible was prohibited. The people were forbidden to read it,
or to have it in their houses, and unprincipled priests and prelates
interpreted its teachings to sustain their pretensions. Thus the pope
came to be almost universally acknowledged as the vicegerent of
God on earth, endowed with supreme authority over Church and
State.
The detector of error having been removed, Satan worked ac-
cording to his will. Prophecy had declared that the papacy was to
“think to change times and laws.” [
Daniel 7:25
.] This work it was not
slow to attempt. To afford converts from heathenism a substitute for
the worship of idols, and thus to promote their nominal acceptance
of Christianity, the adoration of images and relics was gradually in-
troduced into the Christian worship. The decree of a general council
finally established this system of popish idolatry. To complete the
sacrilegious work, Rome presumed to expunge from the law of God
the second commandment, forbidding image worship, and to divide
the tenth commandment, in order to preserve the number.
[55]
The spirit of concession to paganism opened the way for a still
further disregard of Heaven’s authority. Satan tampered with the
fourth commandment also, and essayed to set aside the ancient
Sabbath, the day which God had blessed and sanctified, and in its
stead to exalt the festival observed by the heathen as “the venerable
day of the sun.” This change was not at first attempted openly. In
the first centuries the true Sabbath had been kept by all Christians.
They were jealous for the honor of God, and, believing that his law
is immutable, they zealously guarded the sacredness of its precepts.
But with great subtlety, Satan worked through his agents to bring
about his object. That the attention of the people might be called
to the Sunday, it was made a festival in honor of the resurrection of
Christ. Religious services were held upon it; yet it was regarded as
a day of recreation, the Sabbath being still sacredly observed.