Spirit of Prophecy Counsels Relating To Church-State Relationships

God Never Forces Man’s Conscience

God never forces the will or the conscience; but Satan’s constant resort—to gain control of those whom he cannot otherwise seduce—is compulsion by cruelty. Through fear or force he endeavors to rule the conscience, and to secure homage to himself. To accomplish this, he works through both religious and secular authorities, moving them to the enforcement of human laws in defiance of the law of God.—The Great Controversy, 591. SPCCSR 5.2