It was by falsifying the character of God and exciting distrust of Him that Satan tempted Eve to transgress. By sin the minds of our first parents were darkened, their natures were degraded, and their conceptions of God were molded by their own narrowness and selfishness. And as men became bolder in sin, the knowledge and the love of God faded from their minds and hearts. “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God,” they “became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” {5T 738.2}

»Hvad intet øje har set og intet øre hørt og hvad der ikke er opkommet i noget menneskes hjerte, hvad Gud har beredt for dem, der elsker ham.« Visselig kan ingen, som betragter hans nådes rigdom, undlade at udbryde med apostelen: »Gud ske tak for hans uudsigelige gave!«