RELIGION AS A MEDIUM OF EVIL.
By W. N. Glenn
Satan's favorite medium of operation is religion. The work of God is religious, in truth and liberty; the work of the adversary is deception. Satan would fain make men believe that evil is good; so he would dress his schemes and false ideas in the guise of religion. He would pose as a benefactor of the human race, especially promising liberty. This was the ruse he employed in deceiving Eve; he persuaded her that she was unduly circumscribed, unreasonably deprived of freedom in eating, restricted in the matter of knowledge and pleasure. After the fall of man, this wily destroyer actuated men to pervert the ordinances prescribed by the Lord in the plan of salvation. Cain was not induced to give up all formality of religion, but he was led to believe that the “fruit of the ground” would do just as well for an offering to the Lord as the “firstlings of his flock,” which had been ordained by the Lord as typical of the sacrifice of the Son of God for the sins of the world. God at first revealed his word in his works, and men were to study these to gain a knowledge of the Creator and Preserver of the universe. “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.” Ps. 19:1-4. “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead.” Rom. 1:20. But Satan took advantage of this means of education; he did not turn men from studying the works of God, but he turned their ideas of worship. Instead of worshiping the Creator of all the wonderful things in heaven and in the earth, men were deceived into worshiping the works themselves. “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves; who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever.” Verses 22-25. In all ages men have been lured away from God and his truth by religion, and all religions not based upon the word of God have been and are counterfeits of the true. However distant these imitations may have eventually departed from the original model, their first departures were slight, so slight as to be well calculated to deceive. Often the beginnings of these departures have been works of supererogation, attempts to be extra righteous, to do more than is required by the Lord. But all such righteousness is mere self-righteousness, and the doing of more than is required by the word of God is always at the expense of something that is required. When ancient Israel went astray from the true God, they did not stop worshiping or sacrificing; they worshiped and offered sacrifices to the false gods of the nations around them. And this worship and these sacrifices were usually more elaborate and more pretentious than the worship and sacrifices which God required. To such lengths were they enticed through religious zeal, through false imitation of true sacrifices and true worship, that they even sacrificed their children to dumb idols. 2 Chron. 33:1-9. When Jesus Christ was about to enter upon his ministry, Satan appeared to him and sought to secure his downfall in the wilderness through misrepresentation of the word of God. He tried to convince the Lord himself that the monstrous propositions laid before him were sustained by the Scriptures. Failing in this, the enemy of souls turned to the church, and moved the rulers, the priests, the scribes, and through them the people, to reject the only One who could save them from sin and death. By working upon their religious scruples, the adversary moved them to envy, moved them to reject the Scriptures of truth, to make void the law of God through their traditions, and finally to put to death the Son of God. And in all they did they were actuated through an intense religious zeal. This same zeal for the traditions of their fathers incited the same people to continue the persecutions of the disciples after their Master had returned to glory. The apostle Paul, who before his conversion was a persistent persecutor of the disciples of Christ, testifies that he was moved by religious zeal. When the7Jews at Jerusalem were persecuting him for his Christian faith, he reminds them of his former course, and that he “persecuted this way unto the death” because he was “zealous toward God.” Acts 22:3-5. Writing to the Galatian churches, he says: “Ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it; and profited in the Jews’ religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.” Gal. 1:13, 14. It is a well-known historical fact that all the persecutions of God's people have been on account of their religion, and have been induced by religion. It is also a fact that the worst persecutions have been waged in the name of the Christian religion. Satan is willing that men shall profess the Christian religion, if they will accept traditional doctrine instead of the plain word of God. There is one peculiarity of traditional doctrine, those who hold to it are prone to imagine that all should in some way be compelled to observe it. Such was the idea of the Jews with regard to their traditions. Such was the idea of the Papal Church in the Dark Ages, and, for that matter, such is the idea of that church yet wherever she has the power to enforce her decrees; and the religion of the Papacy is almost wholly traditional. The persecutions of the Catholics by the Covenanters of Great Britain was for the purpose of enforcing Covenanter tradition, and not for the inculcation of the doctrines of the Bible. The persecutions by the Puritans of New England were prompted by the idea that all should be compelled to observe Puritan tradition. It is pertinent to state in this connection that no persecution has ever arisen which had for its object the compulsory observance of any tenet supported by a plain “Thus saith the Lord.” Persecution has ever been prompted by traditional zeal in the interest of traditional religion. It is also a fact that persecution has not only been a resort of religious bigotry, but it has been made possible by civil law, has been in the main merely the execution of civil law. Therefore those who desire to see their traditions enforced upon the masses, are obliged first to secure the aid of the civil law; and therefore when any class of religionists, whether professed Christian or otherwise, seek the enactment of civil law compelling the observance of traditional doctrine, it is clear that their object is the coercion or punishment of all who do not yield their conscientious scruples to the demands of such civil law. The persecutions of the Dark Ages began with the introduction of the Sunday sabbath into the church. It was at the council of Laodicea, A. D. 364, that it was decided to transfer the Sabbath services to the first day of the week. Then it was also decreed that all who should continue to “Judaize” (to observe the seventh-day Sabbath) should be excommunicated. The civil law had some years before decreed the observance of Sunday as a day of rest. And this, too, was the result of religious zeal—first, pagan; secondly, nominal Christian. From this nucleus grew a vast system of compulsory adherence to and support of traditional religion. Thus, through the medium of religion, and in the name of the Christian religion, was entailed upon the world that long and dreadful period of cruel persecution known as the Dark Ages. And now we are entering upon what threatens to be the parallel of that terrible time. The National Reform combination of religious forces is making strenuous efforts to secure a national Sunday law, in order to compel all to observe the Sunday sabbath, which is only a traditional church institution. True, there have been from the outset of our government Sunday laws in most of the states; but the aforesaid religious forces are not satisfied with these. It is complained that the general government renders these to a certain degree inefficient, because it ignores them, and therefore the advocates of Sunday observance can not punish dissenters as they otherwise would. Furthermore the state governments do not cover all the territory of the general government, and the religious traditionalists have longings for power to enforce their traditions in every nook and corner; and this notwithstanding all history shows that such power means persecution even to the death, wherever there is Christian fortitude or innate independence to resist to that extent. So in California, there is no general state Sunday law, and certain religious elements are very much exercised because they have not power to punish dissenters from their traditional dogma of Sunday observance. The Christian Endeavor Society is taking the lead in this work. They seem determined to have a state Sunday law to show to the international convention of that society which is to convene in San Francisco next year. Whether they succeed this winter in securing a state Sunday law for California and a national Sunday law remains to be seen; if not, there is every indication that they will succeed sometime, and that before many years. And when as a nation we shall have fully started out on a regime of restricted conscience, of official espionage of the religious convictions of the people, of blockades in the way of civil and religious liberty, we may do so in the full knowledge that the despotic condition was brought about through the medium of religion. We may know, too, that it was achieved by a religion falsely called Christian, a religion of traditional dogma; for “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” W. N. GLENN.