"The Roman Church now presents a fair front to the world, covering with apologies her record of horrible cruelties. She has clothed herself in Christlike garments; but she is unchanged. Every principle of the papacy that existed in past ages exists today. The doctrines devised in the darkest ages are still held. Let none deceive themselves. The papacy that Protestants are now so ready to honor is the same that ruled the world in the days of the Reformation, when men of God stood up, at the peril of their lives, to expose her iniquity. She possesses the same pride and arrogant assumption that lorded it over kings and princes, and claimed the prerogatives of God. Her spirit is no less cruel and despotic now than when she crushed out human liberty and slew the saints of the Most High. GC 571.1"
"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."
The EGW passage describes the Roman Church presenting a false, Christlike exterior while maintaining cruel principles, directly mirroring the warning in Matthew 7:15 about false prophets in sheep's clothing.
"The papacy is just what prophecy declared that she would be, the apostasy of the latter times. 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4 . It is a part of her policy to assume the character which will best accomplish her purpose; but beneath the variable appearance of the chameleon she conceals the invariable venom of the serpent. “Faith ought not to be kept with heretics, nor persons suspected of heresy” (Lenfant, volume 1, page 516), she declares. Shall this power, whose record for a thousand years is written in the blood of the saints, be now acknowledged as a part of the church of Christ? GC 571.2"
"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;"
EGW directly references and interprets 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 as a prophecy about the papacy and its apostasy.
"And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him."
EGW uses the imagery of the serpent to describe the papacy's hidden venom, which thematically aligns with Revelation 12:9's depiction of Satan as the 'old serpent.'
"So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns."
Both passages describe the papacy as a corrupt and dangerous power. EGW explicitly identifies the papacy as the apostasy of the latter times and alludes to its deceptive nature. Revelation 17:3 uses symbolic imagery to depict a similar entity, a woman on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemy.
"It is not without reason that the claim has been put forth in Protestant countries that Catholicism differs less widely from Protestantism than in former times. There has been a change; but the change is not in the papacy. Catholicism indeed resembles much of the Protestantism that now exists, because Protestantism has so greatly degenerated since the days of the Reformers. GC 571.3"
"I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:"
EGW's statement about Protestantism degenerating and resembling Catholicism echoes the sentiment in Galatians 1:6 about believers turning away from the original gospel.
"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;"
Both passages discuss a departure from sound doctrine and a willingness to embrace teachings that align with personal desires. The EGW passage speaks of Protestantism's degeneration, while 2 Timothy 4:3 warns of people turning away from sound doctrine to follow teachers who cater to their 'itching ears.'
"As the Protestant churches have been seeking the favor of the world, false charity has blinded their eyes. They do not see but that it is right to believe good of all evil, and as the inevitable result they will finally believe evil of all good. Instead of standing in defense of the faith once delivered to the saints, they are now, as it were, apologizing to Rome for their uncharitable opinion of her, begging pardon for their bigotry. GC 571.4"
"Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!"
The EGW passage directly reflects the principle in Isaiah 5:20. EGW describes Protestant churches calling evil good (believing good of all evil) and good evil (believing evil of all good), mirroring Isaiah's condemnation of those who invert moral values.