490
The Great Controversy
ral immortality and man’s consciousness in death, they have rejected
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the only defense against the delusions of spiritualism. The doctrine of
eternal torment has led many to disbelieve the Bible. And as the claims
of the fourth commandment are urged upon the people, it is found
that the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath is enjoined; and as
the only way to free themselves from a duty which they are unwilling
to perform, many popular teachers declare that the law of God is no
longer binding. Thus they cast away the law and the Sabbath together.
As the work of Sabbath reform extends, this rejection of the divine law
to avoid the claims of the fourth commandment will become well-nigh
universal. The teachings of religious leaders have opened the door to
infidelity, to spiritualism, and to contempt for God’s holy law; and
upon these leaders rests a fearful responsibility for the iniquity that
exists in the Christian world.
Yet this very class put forth the claim that the fast-spreading cor-
ruption is largely attributable to the desecration of the so-called “Chris-
tian sabbath,” and that the enforcement of Sunday observance would
greatly improve the morals of society. This claim is especially urged in
America, where the doctrine of the true Sabbath has been most widely
preached. Here the temperance work, one of the most prominent and
important of moral reforms, is often combined with the Sunday move-
ment, and the advocates of the latter represent themselves as laboring
to promote the highest interest of society; and those who refuse to
unite with them are denounced as the enemies of temperance and
reform. But the fact that a movement to establish error is connected
with a work which is in itself good, is not an argument in favor of
the error. We may disguise poison by mingling it with wholesome
food, but we do not change its nature. On the contrary, it is rendered
more dangerous, as it is more likely to be taken unawares. It is one of
Satan’s devices to combine with falsehood just enough truth to give
it plausibility. The leaders of the Sunday movement may advocate
reforms which the people need, principles which are in harmony with
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the Bible; yet while there is with these a requirement which is contrary
to God’s law, His servants cannot unite with them. Nothing can justify
them in setting aside the commandments of God for the precepts of
men.
Through the two great errors, the immortality of the soul and
Sunday sacredness, Satan will bring the people under his deceptions.