The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 84
leaders, like the Pharisees of old, make the commandment of God of
none effect by their tradition. Thus homes were made desolate and
parents were deprived of the society of their sons and daughters.
Even the students in the universities were deceived by the false
representations of the monks and induced to join their orders. Many
afterward repented this step, seeing that they had blighted their own lives
and had brought sorrow upon their parents; but once fast in the snare it
was impossible for them to obtain their freedom. Many parents, fearing
the influence of the monks, refused to send their sons to the universities.
There was a marked falling off in the number of students in attendance
at the great centers of learning. The schools languished, and ignorance
prevailed.
The pope had bestowed on these monks the power to hear
confessions and to grant pardon. This became a source of great
evil. Bent on enhancing their gains, the friars were so ready to grant
absolution that criminals of all descriptions resorted to them, and, as a
result, the worst vices rapidly increased. The sick and the poor were left
to suffer, while the gifts that should have relieved their wants went to the
monks, who with threats demanded the alms of the people, denouncing
the impiety of those who should withhold gifts from their orders.
Notwithstanding their profession of poverty, the wealth of the friars
was constantly increasing, and their magnificent edifices and luxurious
tables made more apparent the growing poverty of the nation. And while
spending their time in luxury and pleasure, they sent out in their stead
ignorant men, who could only recount marvelous tales, legends, and jests
to amuse the people and make them still more completely the dupes
of the monks. Yet the friars continued to maintain their hold on the
superstitious multit udes and led them to believe that all religious duty
was comprised in acknowledging the supremacy of the pope, adoring
the saints, and making gifts to the monks, and that this was sufficient to
secure them a place in heaven.
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