To many of our youth there is great danger in listening to the discourses that are given by those who in the world are called great men. These discourses are often of a highly intellectual nature, and prevailing errors of science falsely so-called and of popular religious doctrine are mingled with wise sayings and observations, but they undermine the statements of the Bible and give the impression that there is reason for questioning the truth of the inspired Word. In this way the seeds of skepticism are sown by great and professedly wise men, but their names are registered in the books of record in heaven as fools, and they are an offense to God. They repeat the falsehoods that Satan put into the mouth of the serpent, and educate the youth in delusions. 3SM 232.3
This is the kind of education the enemy delights in. It is sorcery. The great apostle inquired, “Who hath bewitched you that ye should not obey the truth?” Those who receive and admire the sentiments of these so-called great men are in danger, for through the subtlety of the enemy the sophistical reasoning of these false teachers takes root in the heart of our youth, and almost imperceptibly they are converted from truth to error. But the conversion should be just the other way. Our young men who have seen the evidences of the verity of truth should be firmly established and able to win souls to Christ from the darkness of error. 3SM 232.4
The youth who go to Ann Arbor [The University of Michigan was located at Ann Arbor, some 65 miles east of Battle Creek; in 1891 Adventist youth seeking medical training studied there.—Compilers.] must receive Jesus as their personal Saviour or they will build upon the sand, and their foundation will be swept away. The spirit of Christ must regenerate and sanctify the soul, and pure affection for Christ must be kept alive by humble, daily trust in God. Christ must be formed within, the hope of glory. Let Jesus be revealed to those with whom you associate.—Letter 26, 1891. 3SM 233.1