42
The Great Controversy
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 authority over church and state.
The detector of error having been removed, Satan worked accord-
ing 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
[52]
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 intro-
duced into the Christian worship. The decree of a general council (see
Appendix) finally established this system of 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.
The spirit of concession to paganism opened the way for a still
further disregard of Heaven’s authority. Satan, working through uncon-
secrated leaders of the church, tampered with the fourth commandment
also, and essayed to set aside the ancient Sabbath, the day which God
had blessed and sanctified (
Genesis 2:2, 3
), 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.
To prepare the way for the work which he designed to accomplish,
Satan had led the Jews, before the advent of Christ, to load down the