Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

For that reason the ancients said that the devil has, so to speak, twin mirrors which he holds before a man. The first mirror is the minimizing mirror. With it he makes the sin quite small and insignificant. He holds this mirror up to a person when he wants to tempt a man into, to drive him towards, sin. The second mirror is the magnifying mirror. With it he makes the sin quite large and thick. He holds this mirror up to a person he has toppled into sin. With this trick the devil deceives very many people, so that they either commit sin against their conscience with great eagerness; or later despair in vexation over the sin. -- Blessed Johann Gerhard, *An Explanation* p. 147