sway over men, and establish the
authority of the papal usurper, he must keep them in ignorance of the
Scriptures. The Bible would exalt God, and place finite men in their true
position; therefore its sacred truths must be concealed and suppressed.
This logic was adopted by the Roman Church. For hundreds of years the
circulation of the Bible was prohibited. The people were forbidden to read
it or to have it in their houses, and unprincipled priests and prelates
interpreted its teachings to sustain their pretensions. Thus the pope came
to be almost universally acknowledged as the vicegerent of God on earth,
endowed with authority over church and state.

The detector of error having been removed, Satan worked according to his
will. Prophecy had declared that the papacy was to "think to change times
and laws."(74) This work it was not slow to attempt. To afford converts
from heathenism a substitute for the worship of idols, and thus to promote
their nominal acceptance of Christianity, the adoration of images and
relics was gradually introduced into the Christian worship. The decree of
a general council(75) finally established this system of idolatry. To
complete the sacrilegious work, Rome presumed to expunge from the law of
God the second commandment, forbidding image worship, and to divide the
tenth commandment, in order to preserve the number.

The spirit of concession to paganism opened the way for a still further
disregard of Heaven's authority. Satan, working through unconsecrated
leaders of the church, tampered with the fourth commandment also, and
essayed to set aside the ancient Sabbath, the day which God had blessed
and sanctified,(76) and in its stead to exalt the festival observed by the
heathen as "the venerable day of the sun." This change was not at first
attempted openly. In the first centuries the true Sabbath had been kept by
all Christians. They were jealous for the honor of God, and believing that
His law is immutable, they zealously guarded the sacredness of its
precepts. But with great subtlety, Satan worked through his agents to
bring about his object. That the attention of the people might be called
to the Sunday, it was made a festival in honor of the resurrection of
Christ. Religious services were held upon it; yet it was regarded as a day
of recreation, the Sabbath being still sacredly observed.

To prepare the way for the work which he designed to accomplish, Satan had
led the Jews, before the