There is a striking similarity between the Church of Rome and the Jewish Church at the time of Christ ' s first advent . While the Jews secretly trampled upon every principle of the law of God , they were outwardly rigorous in the observance of its precepts , loading it down with exactions and traditions that made obedience painful and burdensome . As the Jews professed to revere the law , so do Romanists claim to reverence the cross . They exalt the symbol of Christ ' s sufferings , while in their lives they deny Him whom it represents .
Papists place crosses upon their churches , upon their altars , and upon their garments . Everywhere is seen the insignia of the cross . Everywhere it is outwardly honoured and exalted . But the teachings of Christ are buried beneath a mass of senseless traditions , false interpretations , and rigorous exactions . The Saviour ' s words concerning the bigoted Jews , apply with still greater force to the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church : " They bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne , and lay them on men ' s shoulders ; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers ." Matthew 23:4 . Conscientious souls are kept in constant terror fearing the wrath of an offended God , while many of the dignitaries of the church are living in luxury and sensual pleasure .
The worship of images and relics , the invocation of saints , and the exaltation of the pope are devices of Satan to attract the minds of the people from God and from His Son . To accomplish their ruin , he endeavours to turn their attention from Him through whom alone they can find salvation . He will direct them to any object that can be substituted for the One who has said : " Come unto Me , all ye that labour and are heavy-laden , and I will give you rest ." Matthew 11:28 . It is Satan ' s constant effort to misrepresent the character of God , the nature of sin , and the real issues at stake in the great controversy . His sophistry lessens the obligation of the divine law and gives men license to sin . At the same time he causes them to cherish false conceptions of God so that they regard Him with fear and hate rather than with love . The cruelty inherent in his own character is attributed to the Creator ; it is embodied in systems of religion and expressed in modes of worship . Thus the minds of men are blinded , and Satan secures them as his agents to war against God . By perverted conceptions of the divine attributes , heathen nations were led to believe human sacrifices necessary to secure the favour of Deity ; and horrible cruelties have been perpetrated under the various forms of idolatry .
The Roman Catholic Church , uniting the forms of paganism and Christianity , and , like paganism , misrepresenting the character of God , had resorted to practices no less cruel and revolting . In the days of Rome ' s supremacy there were instruments of torture to compel assent to her doctrines . There was the stake for those who would not concede to her claims . There were massacres on a scale that will never be known until revealed in the judgment . Dignitaries of the church studied , under Satan their master , to invent means to cause the greatest possible torture and not end the life of the victim . In many cases the infernal process was repeated to the utmost limit of human endurance , until nature gave up the struggle , and the sufferer hailed death as a sweet release .
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