Labor for the Church
149
everything to extremes, and make Christian duties as burdensome as
the Jews made the observance of the Sabbath. The rebuke which Jesus
gave to the scribes and Pharisees applies to this class as well: “Ye tithe
mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and
the love of God.” One fanatic, with his strong spirit and radical ideas,
who will oppress the conscience of those who want to be right, will do
great harm. The church needs to be purified from all such influences.
The second commandment prohibits image worship; but God him-
self employed pictures and symbols to represent to his prophets lessons
which he would have them give to the people, and which could thus be
better understood than if given in any other way. He appealed to the
understanding through the sense of sight. Prophetic history was pre-
sented to Daniel and John in symbols, and these were to be represented
plainly upon tables, that he who read might understand.
It is true that altogether too much money is expended upon pictures;
not a little means which should flow into the treasury of God is paid to
the artist. But the evil that will result to the church from the course of
these extremists is far greater than that which they are trying to correct.
It is sometimes a difficult matter to tell just where the line is, where
the picture-making becomes a sin. But those who love God and desire
with all their hearts to keep his commandments will be directed by
him. God would not have them depend on any man to be conscience
for them. He who accepts all the ideas and impressions of unbalanced
minds will become confused and bewildered. It is Satan’s object to
divert the attention from the third angel’s message to side issues, that
minds and hearts that should be growing in grace and in the knowledge
of the truth may be dwarfed and enfeebled, so that God may not be
glorified by them.
A few in Christiania had gone so far as to burn all the pictures in
their possession, destroying even the likenesses of their friends. While
we had no sympathy with these fanatical movements, we advised that
those who had burned their pictures should not incur the expense of
replacing them. If they had acted conscientiously, they should be
satisfied to let the matter rest where it was. But they ought not to
require others to do as they had done. They should not endeavor to be
conscience for their brethren and sisters.
There are some who imagine that it is their duty to be church
tinkers. It is agreeable to their natural feelings to be seeking spot