Brother G boasts of his independence of mind and judgment, while he is blocking up the way of sinners by his unconsecrated life and his opposition to the work in blindly warring against Christ in the persons of His servants; but he is deceived in the quality of true independence. Independence is not obstinacy, although obstinacy is often confounded with independence. When Brother G has formed an opinion, and expressed it in his family or in the church with considerable confidence and with some publicity, he is then inclined to make it appear that he is right by every argument he can produce. He is in danger, great danger, of closing his eyes and violating his conscience by his persistency; for the temptation of the enemy is strong upon him. His pride of opinion is hard to yield, even in the face of light and evidence sufficient to convince him if he would be convinced. He thinks that if he should admit that he was wrong, it would be a reflection on his judgment and discernment. {4T 239.1}

Bror G praler af sin selvstændige tænkning og dømmekraft, medens han blokerer vejen for syndere, ved sin uhellige livsførelse og sin modstand mod arbejde, ved at udøve blind krig mod Kristus, i skikkelse af hans tjenere. Bror G han er vildfaret om den sande selvstændigheds egenskab. Selvstændighed er ikke stædighed, selvom stædighed ofte forveksles med selvstændighed. Når bror G har dannet en mening og sagt den i sin familie eller i menigheden med en betydelig tiltro og med nogen reklame, er han tilbøjelig til at gøre det klart at han har ret i ethvert argument han kan give. Han er skal passe på, meget på, at han ikke lukker øjnene og bryder sin samvittighed ved denne fremturen; for fjendens fristelser er stærke for ham. Hans stolthedsopfattelse er svær at opgive også når lyset og vidnesbyrdet tilstrækkeligt nok til at overbevise ham, - hvis han ville lade sig overbevise. Han mener, at hvis han skulle indrømme at have uret, ville det være en refleksion om hans dømmekraft og skarpsindighed.