The Tools of Satan

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Mar 26, 1896

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 22, No. 13.

The Tools of Satan

It is the ambition of the secular press to be “live,” “bright,” “witty,” and “up to date” in political and general matters. It is not deemed out of the way, but rather an indication of being “posted all around,” even to pervert the solemn warnings of Scripture for the purpose of being “spicy.” A Kansas City paper recently perpetrated what was supposed to be a scholarly joke by applying a prophecy of the Revelation (chapter 13:17, 18) to a certain individual and a certain political party. The article of itself is of no consequence to us, or to any one for that matter, but its effect will be to add its mite to the belittling of the Scripture in the minds of all who read it. That is a game which Satan has been playing for a long time with a good degree of success. He has utilized the outright infidel, the “oppositions of science falsely so called,” the devotees of “popular” theology, the pagan theories adopted by an apostate church, the ignorance and bigotry of an “unstable” class who “wrest” the Scriptures “unto their own destruction,” and, not the least harmful (to themselves at least), the scoffers and jokers. All of these classes, each in its own sphere, add to the facilities of the adversary in his far-reaching scheme to confuse the minds of the people in regard to the word of God. It is a great pity that an influential daily journal, with opportunity and capacity for doing great good, should stoop to the unprofitable work of turning the truth into fables.