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Thursday, October 20, 2016

Spurgeon Thursday - Of Two Evils

“Of two evils choose neither” -Charles Spurgeon,

Ok folks, this quote has nothing to do with voting. You can safely say that in every political election both choices are evil because all humans are sinners. So then in that case, yes, you are looking for the lesser of two evils.  However that's not what Spurgeon was talking about. It's an often misused quote, and often applied to voting. 

This quote attributed to Spurgeon is about sin, not about voting or picking candidates. The original quote is about what to do when faced with a clear choice of sin (lying or stealing):
“John Ploughman says, Of two evils choose neither. Don’t choose the least, but let all evils alone.” - Charles H. Spurgeon in The Salt Cellars – Proverbs & Quaint Sayings
As for voting, Spurgeon urged Christians to exercise the right of voting wisely, voting thoughtfully and prayerfully concentrating on the needs of the community. The only time a person shouldn't vote is when they're voting out of ignorance. A vote solely based on age, sex, race, or religion is clearly based on ignorance and emotionalism (as if there's a difference), please stay home. We want people who consider their votes fully and intellectually based on issues, not emotions or arbitrary quotas. As Spurgeon said
“I would not, however, say to any persons here present, despise the privilege which you have as citizens. Far be it from me to do it. When we become Christians we do not leave off being Englishmen; when we become professors of religion we do not cease to have the rights and privileges which citizenship has bestowed on us.
Let us, whenever we shall have the opportunity of using the right of voting, use it as in the sight of Almighty God, knowing that for everything we shall be brought into account, and for that amongst the rest, seeing that we are entrusted with it. And let us remember that we are our own governors, to a great degree, and that if at the next election we should choose wrong governors we shall have nobody to blame but ourselves, however wrongly they may afterwards act, unless we exercise all prudence and prayer to Almighty God to direct our hearts to a right choice in this matter.
May God so help us, and may the result be for his glory, however unexpected that result may be to any of us!” (Charles Spurgeon - “Particular Election,” No. 123, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit (Albany, OR: AGES Electronic Edition, 1997)

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