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 favor 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 .
Such was the fate of Rome ' s opponents . For her adherents she had the discipline of the scourge , of famishing hunger , of bodily austerities in every conceivable , heart-sickening form . To secure the favor of Heaven , penitents violated the laws of God by violating the laws of nature . They were taught to sunder the ties which He has formed to bless and gladden man ' s earthly sojourn . The churchyard contains millions of victims who spent their lives in vain endeavors to subdue their natural affections , to repress , as offensive to God , every thought and feeling of sympathy with their fellow creatures .
If we desire to understand the determined cruelty of Satan , manifested for hundreds of years , not among those who never heard of God , but in the very heart and throughout the extent of Christendom , we have only to look at the history of Romanism . Through this mammoth system of deception the prince of evil achieves his purpose of bringing dishonor to God and wretchedness to man . And as we see how he succeeds in disguising himself and accomplishing his work through the leaders of the church , we may better understand why he has so great antipathy to the Bible . If that Book is read , the mercy and love of God will be revealed ; it will be seen that He lays upon men none of these heavy burdens . All that He asks is a broken and contrite heart , a humble , obedient spirit .
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