XPost: alt.religion.christian.adventist, alt.religion.christian.boston-church,   
   alt.religion.christian.baptist   
   XPost: alt.religion.christian.biblestudy   
   From: perfectlyInnocent@as-if.com   
      
   Thank you Donna for that excellent rebuttal.   
      
   "Donna"  wrote in message news:...   
   > March 21, 1878-The Sins of the Pharisees by E.G. White   
   >   
   > "Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, saying, The   
   > scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. All therefore whatsoever they   
   > bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works; for   
   > they say, and do not." The scribes and Pharisees claimed to be invested with   
   > divine authority similar to that of Moses. They assumed to take his place as   
   > expounders of the law and judges of the people. As such they claimed all   
   > deference and obedience from the people. But Jesus admonished his hearers to   
   > observe and do that which the priests taught according to the law, but not   
   > to follow their example, for they neglected the duties which they taught   
   > others to observe.   
   >   
   >   The Saviour made it plain to all that he held no personal grievance   
   > against the scribes and Pharisees, notwithstanding their abuse of him; but   
   > he openly condemned their characters and acts as directly opposed to their   
   > teachings, and therefore not to be imitated. Said he, "They bind heavy   
   > burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they   
   > themselves will not move them with one of their fingers." The Pharisees   
   > enjoined a multitude of minute regulations having their foundation in   
   > tradition, and unreasonably restraining personal liberty of action.   
   >   
   >      God forbade the eating of unclean beasts, not to exercise an arbitrary   
   > authority, but to preserve the life and health of his people. In order for   
   > them to retain their faculties of mind and body, it was necessary that their   
   > blood should be kept pure, by eating simple, healthful food. He therefore   
   > specified the animals least objectionable for food. The leading Jews who   
   > delighted in teaching and in administering the law, carried the prohibitions   
   > of God to unreasonable lengths, making life a burden of ceremonies and   
   > restrictions. They carried the regulations of eating and drinking so far   
   > that the mind was kept on a continual strain in discriminating between what   
   > was considered clean and unclean, and in following out the multitude of   
   > injunctions imposed by the priests. All the water was strained lest the   
   > presence of the smallest speck or insect might render it unclean, and   
   > therefore unfit to use. They were in constant fear of infringing upon   
   > customs and traditions which were taught to them as portions of the law.   
   >   
   >      The Pharisees by their endless round of forms, fastened the minds of   
   > the people upon external services to the neglect of true religion. They   
   > failed to connect the thought of Christ with their ceremonies, and, having   
   > forsaken the fountain of living water, hewed out for themselves broken   
   > cisterns that could hold no water.   
   >   
   >      The priests, scribes and rulers not only rejected Christ themselves but   
   > took the most unfair means to prejudice the people against him, deceiving   
   > them by false reports and gross misrepresentations. Said Jesus: "Woe unto   
   > you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven   
   > against men; for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that   
   > are entering to go in." These words, condemning this sin of the Pharisees,   
   > are applicable to all who follow their example. In all ages of the world   
   > truth has been unpopular; its doctrines are not congenial to the natural   
   > mind. The cold professor, the bigot and hypocrite are not willing to accept   
   > that which searches the heart, and reproves the life. Some ministers turn   
   > the ears of the people from truth unto fables, stopping at nothing that will   
   > help to carry out their purpose. They even stoop to pervert the words and   
   > malign the characters of those who receive and love the precious truths of   
   > God, and labor to bring others to a knowledge of them.   
   >   
   >      The Saviour pronounced a woe on those who, imitating the great rebel,   
   > compass all difficulties to make one proselyte. Said he, "Woe unto you   
   > scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one   
   > proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell   
   > than yourselves." Those whom he addressed would resort to any species of   
   > deception in order to gain influence with the people, and prevent them from   
   > believing and obeying the truth. The Saviour declared of them: "Ye are of   
   > your father, the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a   
   > murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth, because there is no   
   > truth in him; when he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own; for he is a   
   > liar and the father of it." These cutting words were applied to those who   
   > made the highest pretensions to godliness, and who regarded all other   
   > nations as contemptible in the sight of God.   
   >   
   >      Just such zealous adversaries of the truth are met in our day. They   
   > leave no means untried to subvert the minds and consciences of men. They   
   > originate falsehoods, and find plenty ready to believe them. They have taken   
   > step after step away from the light into darkness, until the light has   
   > become darkness to them. They possess a determined zeal, which savors of   
   > honesty, and appears to many as such. They are willing to make great   
   > sacrifices and endure rebuffs for the sake of attaining their object,   
   > returning again and again to the same point, seeking to turn souls away from   
   > the divine truth unto superstitions and fables. These pious pretenders come   
   > as angels of light, professing deep experience in the things of God, while   
   > they are doing the work of Satan. Those whom they succeed in gaining become   
   > even worse than themselves; such is the downward road to ruin. Jesus says of   
   > this latter class, "Ye make him twofold more the child of hell than   
   > yourselves."   
   >   
   >      The Saviour continued: "Woe unto you, ye blind guides, who say,   
   > Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall   
   > swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! Ye fools and blind; for   
   > whether is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? And,   
   > Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by   
   > the gift that is upon it he is guilty. Ye fools and blind; for whether is   
   > greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?" The priests   
   > interpreted the requirements of God to meet their false and narrow standard.   
   > They presumed to make nice distinctions between the comparative guilt of   
   > various sins, passing over some lightly, assigning as an excuse that the end   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)