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“Some would argue that what set Cain’s sacrifice of part from Abel’s was not that it was bloodless, but merely that it was insincere- that Cain’s heart was not right. If his heart had been in the right place, God would have accepted his offering of the fruit of the ground, just as He accepted Abel’s lamb. This approach to Cain and Abel's offering begins on rather shaky ground, with the presupposition that what makes worship acceptable or not acceptable to God is the sincerity of the worshipper. Could Cain have offered anything at all to God just as long as he was sincere in his heart? Why then did God reject Nadab and Abihu’s “strange fire”? Why did He not accept Uzzah’s “sincere” desire to steady the Ark? God is concerned about the sincerity of the worshipper, to be sure. He is not honored by mere forms while the heart of the worshipper is disengaged or sunk in hypocrisy. Nevertheless, sincerity alone is not enough apart from obedience to God's commands.” (Douglas Comin, Worship: From Genesis to Revelation, p.11)

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”Does the history of tyranny apply to the United States? Certainly the early Americans who spoke of “eternal vigilance” would have thought so. The logic of the system they devised was to mitigate the consequences of our real imperfections, not to celebrate our imaginary perfection. We certainly face, as did the ancient Greeks, the problem of oligarchy- ever more threatening as globalization increases differences in wealth. The odd American idea that giving money to political campaigns is free speech means that the very rich have far more speech, and so in effect far more voting power, than other citizens. We believe that we have checks and balances, but have rarely faced a situation like the present: when the less popular of the two parties controls every lever of power at the federal level, as well as the majority of the statehouses. The party that exercises such control proposes few policies that are popular with the society at large, and several that are generally unpopular- and thus must either fear democracy or weaken it.” (Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny, p.29-30)

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Israel at first did not appreciate its distinctiveness. It wanted to be like the rest which, led to apostasy and its downfall. After the Captivity, Israel became exclusive and went to the other extreme. Such aloofness dampened missionary enthusiasm, foiling God's attempt to fulfill His plan through a specific nation. In order for His message to attain a universal form, He took another approach. God would use people from all over the world and establish a church instead of a nation. There would still be a specific group doing His will, but it would be better able to reach the world since the members of the church would consist of people all over the world. (Sakae Kubo, The God of Relationships, p.131)

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“The demand to worship the image was not specifically targeted at Daniel's three Hebrew friends. They were simply caught up in the situation because they were civil servants of the government of Babylon- positions for which they had been brought as exiles to Babylon from Judah and to which they had been appointed by the end of chapter 2 (see vs 49). Like them, we, too, may be carried along by the force of circumstances over which we have no direct control. There comes a time, however, when those who follow God have to take a stand for the right and be counted. We cannot always flow with the crowd, no matter how tempting it may be to do so.” (William Shea, Daniel, p.74-75)

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“Many times we tell our children they cannot do this or that, they cannot associate with the world or get involved with them. Over and over again they ask, “But why can't we”? The church says the same thing to adults, and they ask, “But why can't we”? All sorts of logical reasons are offered as to why it is okay to associate with the world, but little do we realize that it involves giving our affections to another lover. When we associate with the world, we are saying that we do not like the Husband of the church. We love something else more than Him. Of course, if you have never fallen in love with Him, affection for the world is almost meaningless. It is not until we have tasted the love of Christ for us as individuals and begin to love Him in response to His first loving us, that we begin to see the difference between Him and other lovers. Often our hearts have not been removed from the world in what we call conversion. We are still in love with everything else but Him. Too often we only love right doctrines, or we only love the church, but we do not love Him even though the church is His body. We do not make that very fine distinction; and we do not really come to love Him.” (J.W, Lehman, Christ our Righteousness, p.237)

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“In addition to the popularity of the American media there are other reasons that help to explain why it is so powerful. What are these reasons? I) the media is protected by the First Amendment of the constitution of the United states which guarantees freedom of speech. Ii) Americans are literate and information- seeking people, and the media fills this need for information. iii) the media is big business in the United States and those who own different communication mediums are wealthy and therefore quite influential. Iv) The media monopolizes the airwaves. It can relate any kind of information it wants to the very general public. v) Culturally speaking, Americans appear to have a special likeness for good and juicy stories, and sometimes even downright dirt. The media often provides this for us. vi) The media is invasive. It invades and encroaches on people's personal lives. vii) Accordingly, people have come to be afraid of it. vii) The media shapes people’s thinking because it is so much a part of our lives in the United states. viii) The media, especially television is visual: we see actual pictures of what is happening and this increases the likelihood that we will believe the information that is being relayed to us. The media creates for us a double sensory perception. ix) The media is around us everywhere. We are constantly being bombarded by it. So how can we avoid it and not be influenced by it especially when it is such an integral part of our way of life?” (Mahin Gosine, Whatever Happened to the Real America?, p. 33)

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“Almost 40 years ago [1930’s] the editor of the Review and Herald at that time, Francis McClellan Wilcox, spoke of the situation in Adventism as it had built up during the years of the church’s history. Elder Wilcox maintained that Satan endeavors to draw away God's people from allegiance to Him by various subtle maneuvers. Some of the subtleties that were listed included the corruption of the simplicity of one's faith, the menace of false standards that switched the emphasis in Christian experience, the lowering of standards as related to proper Sabbath observers, the careless attitude of many who have drifted into the area of worldly amusements and entertainment, the poor example set by the ministry before the people, the breakdown of the home life, the loss of the sanctity of marriage, the dire threat of worldly education bringing about startling transformations in the Adventist school system, the intrusion of the so-called liberal and broad minded attitude among God's people, and the attempt to minimize the effectiveness of God's final message to the world through his church.” (Carl Anderson, Crises in SDA Education, p.13)

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“The Empire required all non-Jews to participate in Roman civil religion. The Romans tolerated all kinds of religious practices, but no matter what your religion was or where you came from, the government also expected you to take part in the ceremonies and public events of Roman society. Such events were somewhat like the Fourth of July parade In the United States. It did not matter what religion you were: it was part of your duty as a citizen to join in.

Citizens who did not participate in the civil religion (the Jews, of course, were exempted) faced serious consequences, even apart from any death penalty. Those who did not take part in the civil ceremonies would significant economic opportunities. They would be ostracized from the trade guilds, in which people networked to build their businesses. When jobs opened up, the best would be reserved for the “good citizens” of the area. Noninvolvement also had political consequences. Civic positions required people to encourage and lead out in the civil religion. Without political position, Christians had no or little ability to influence the development of society or to improve their position within it. Lack of involvement in the civil religion also forfeited social opportunities. Just as today, the party crowd was also the “in crowd” and Christians had a hard time becoming “in.” As a result, those who refused to participate in Roman civil religion became poor, powerless, and social outcasts. These were very real issues to anyone who considered becoming a Christian in first-century Asia Minor.”
(Jon Paulien, The Deep Things of God, p.24-25)

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“…[H]istory tells us that even after the tribunal of the Inquisition had been dis- established in all the other European states, it continued in Rome; when the temporal power disappeared, it still subsisted insofar and in such a manner as it could under the circumstances. So that in the twentieth century there exists at Rome the Tribunal of the Holy Office; and if it does not now order heretics to be hanged or burned, this is not because Romanism does not believe that it can hang or burn, and that such means are legitimate or convenient, but because no temporal power would support it in such insane and inhuman projects. But if Romanism should again come into its ancient prestige and power, then as formerly, and tomorrow as yesterday, it would decree these terrible hecatombs which now fill with horror the literate Romanists who attribute them to the temporal rulers, in ignorance or in denial of history. (G.E. Fradryssa, Roman Catholicism Capitulating Before Protestantism, p.269)