The Great Hope (Condensed)

Dangerous Errors

Among the most successful agencies of the great deceiver are the lying wonders of spiritualism. As men reject the truth they fall a prey to deception. GrH_c 11.1

Another error is the doctrine that denies the deity of Christ, claiming that He had no existence before His advent to this world. This theory contradicts the statements of our Saviour concerning His relationship with the Father and His pre-existence. It undermines faith in the Bible as a revelation from God. If men reject the testimony of Scripture concerning the deity of Christ, it is vain to argue with them; no argument, however conclusive, could convince them. None who hold this error can have a true conception of Christ or of the plan of God for man's redemption. GrH_c 11.2

Still another error is the belief that Satan has no existence as a personal being, that the name is used in Scripture merely to represent men's evil thoughts and desires. GrH_c 11.3

The teaching that the second advent of Christ is His coming to each individual at death is a device to divert minds from His personal coming in the clouds of heaven. Satan has thus been saying, “Behold, he is in the secret chambers” (see Matthew 24:23-26), and many have been lost by accepting this deception. GrH_c 11.4

Again men of science claim that there can be no real answer to prayer; this would be a violation of law—a miracle, and miracles have no existence. The universe, say they, is governed by fixed laws, and God Himself does nothing contrary to these laws. Thus they represent God as bound by His own laws—as if divine laws could exclude divine freedom. GrH_c 11.5

Were not miracles wrought by Christ and His apostles? The same Saviour is as willing to listen to the prayer of faith as when He walked visibly among men. The natural cooperates with the supernatural. It is a part of God's plan to grant us, in answer to the prayer of faith, that which He would not bestow did we not thus ask. GrH_c 11.6