Christianity and Civil Prosecution
To persecute or prosecute any man because of his religion is not Christianity. To persecute or prosecute any man because he does not recognize any religion is not Christianity. To persecute or prosecute any man for any reason is not Christianity. Christ was tempted in every way that it is possible for us to be tempted. He was persecuted and prosecuted even to death. He was hindered by every conceivable means—by threats, by intrigues, by assaults, by misrepresentation, by having His meetings disturbed and broken up, and by the opposition of His friends. But He never resented evil in any way, excepting by the power of the Holy Spirit. He never sought protection, or relief, or the advancement of the cause He represented, at the hands of any civil court or legislative body. He gave His Holy Spirit to His church, to be their guide and defense, through the Word. Therefore they were, under all circumstances, to follow Him. His immediate successors in the work followed the same principle, and we have no record of their resisting or resenting evil only as they called the Spirit of God to their aid. Therefore, when we see men prosecuting an enemy by the power of civil law, or invoking the power of civil government to enforce the recognition of any doctrine or dogma, we may know that the Spirit that sustains Christianity is absent.