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262
Early Writings
they throw the cloak of religion.” I was shown the pride of the
nominal churches. God is not in their thoughts; their carnal minds
dwell upon themselves; they decorate their poor mortal bodies, and
then look upon themselves with satisfaction and pleasure. Jesus and
the angels look upon them in anger. Said the angel, “Their sins and
pride have reached unto heaven. Their portion is prepared. Justice
and judgment have slumbered long, but will soon awake. Vengeance
is Mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.” The fearful threatenings of
the third angel are to be realized, and all the wicked are to drink of
the wrath of God. An innumerable host of evil angels are spreading
over the whole land and crowding the churches. These agents of
Satan look upon the religious bodies with exultation, for the cloak
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of religion covers the greatest crime and iniquity.
All heaven beholds with indignation human beings, the work-
manship of God, reduced by their fellow men to the lowest depths of
degradation and placed on a level with the brute creation. Professed
followers of that dear Saviour whose compassion was ever moved
at the sight of human woe, heartily engage in this enormous and
grievous sin, and deal in slaves and souls of men. Human agony
is carried from place to place and bought and sold. Angels have
recorded it all; it is written in the book. The tears of the pious bond-
men and bondwomen, of fathers, mothers, and children, brothers
and sisters, are all bottled up in heaven. God will restrain His anger
but little longer. His wrath burns against this nation and especially
against the religious bodies that have sanctioned this terrible traffic
and have themselves engaged in it. Such injustice, such oppres-
sion, such sufferings, are looked upon with heartless indifference
by many professed followers of the meek and lowly Jesus. And
many of them can themselves inflict, with hateful satisfaction, all
this indescribable agony; and yet they dare to worship God. It is
solemn mockery; Satan exults over it and reproaches Jesus and His
angels with such inconsistency, saying, with hellish triumph, “Such
are Christ’s followers!”
These professed Christians read of the sufferings of the martyrs,
and tears course down their cheeks. They wonder that men could
ever become so hardened as to practice such cruelty toward their
fellow men. Yet those who think and speak thus are at the same time
holding human beings in slavery. And this is not all; they sever the