The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 290

Chap. 16 - The Pilgrim Fathers
The English Reformers, while renouncing the doctrines of
Romanism, had retained many of its forms. Thus though the authority
and the creed of Rome were rejected, not a few of her customs
and ceremonies were incorporated into the worship of the Church
of England. It was claimed that these things were not matters of
conscience; that though they were not commanded in Scripture, and
hence were nonessential, yet not being forbidden, they were not
intrinsically evil. Their observance tended to narrow the gulf which
separated the reformed churches from Rome, and it was urged that they
would promote the acceptance of the Protestant faith by Romanists.
To the conservative and compromising, these arguments seemed
conclusive. But there was another class that did not so judge. The
fact that these customs “tended to bridge over the chasm between Rome
and the Reformation” (Martyn, volume 5, page 22), was in their view a
conclusive argument against retaining them. They looked upon them
as badges of the slavery from which they had been delivered and to
which they had no disposition to return. They reasoned that God has
in His word established the regulations governing His worship, and that
men are not at liberty to add to these or to detract from them. The
very beginning of the great apostasy was in seeking to supplement the
authority of God by

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