Pride of Opinion by N. E. C.

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 22, 1875

“Pride of Opinion.”

By N. E. C.

How ready many are to rise up against the truth as soon as it is presented for their consideration. Instead of patiently investigating, they set themselves in battle array, and thus being blinded by prejudice are utterly unprepared to weigh the arguments presented. They will then boast that they are not of the changeable sort, who follow every wind of doctrine. Such would do well to remember the old proverb, “Wise men change sometimes, but fools never.”

All reform and progression involves a change of opinion and action, and a change from error to truth should be regarded honorable.

The following pertinent remarks on this subject we find in the editorial department of an old number of the True Wesleyan:—

“Men are often too proud to confess their errors, or to change when they are convinced that they are wrong. There is nothing more absurd than man’s pride of opinion. For men to persist in an error after they are convinced, lest by giving it up, they should show themselves to have been mistaken, is madness. There is one thought that should humble this pride of opinion. It is this: All men have been, and still are, more or less mistaken in many important matters. To this we should add the fact that wherein we are in error, if we do not correct ourselves, others will be sure to correct us, as human society progresses toward its higher destiny. When we look at ourselves as individuals, we see that we have arrived at our present position by a succession of changes, and yet we are ashamed to change. The whole path of life, from the cradle to the grave, is strewed with cast-off ideas and opinions. We have taken up an idea and brought it on with us for a time, and cherished it as truth, but after bringing it for some time, we threw it down and picked up another, or picked up two in place of it, for most men increase their ideas. These were retained for a time and then cast off for others, and in this way we have arrived at our present positions, changing at every step, and yet all the while ashamed to change, lest the world should know that we had been mistaken.”

“The same is true of society in general; for the changes of individuals effect changes in society, and all the changes of society are but the changes of individuals that compose society. The present state of the arts and sciences has been arrived at by a succession of changes. The principles of the several sciences have been arrived at by a succession of changes. The principles of the several sciences which have been settled by one generation, have been rejected and exploded by the next, and yet men are proud of their opinions. All improvement involves change, and yet men are ashamed to change. If men will change from bad to good, and from good to better, the more rapid their changes, the better will it be for themselves and the world.”

N. E. C.