There is only one satisfactory way of answering objections of this kind, and

that is to let the Book speak for itself.

The following is the context of the passage concerned:

'Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of

Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of

Israel came!

Pass ye unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go ye to Hamath the

great: then go down to Gath of the Philistines: be they better than

these kingdoms? or their border greater than your border?

Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to

come near;

That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches,

and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of

the stall;

That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves

instruments of musick, like David;

That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief

ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph' (Amos

It will be seen that the evil lay in the 'device,' not in the mere

possession of the instrument.  It was one of the many devices introduced to

deaden the senses, to help men to 'put far away the evil day', and not to

'grieve for the affliction of Joseph'.  It is this feature that stigmatizes

so much of so-called 'modern progress'.  It is used as an opiate to deaden

the conscience, as a distraction to drown the groan of creation, as a

palliative to take off the edge of the curse -- in other words, it is the way

of Cain.

We find a further reference to the evil effect of inventions in 2

Chronicles 26:

'And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men'

('inventions, invented by the inventor', Rotherham) (2 Chron. 26:15).

Assuming that Uzziah, as king, had the right to defend his city and

country against the enemy, one might perhaps object and ask why it should not

be legitimate for him to make use of the inventive genius of his time.

Again, let the Book speak for itself:

'As long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper ... he

strengthened himself exceedingly ... he was marvellously helped, till

he was strong.  But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his

destruction' (2 Chron. 26:5,8,15,16).

It was not the mere possession of these inventions that mattered, but

the evil influence that their possession always produced, the inducing of a

self-reliance that was incipiently anti-God.  The next recorded act of Uzziah

was the usurpation of the priesthood, an action which was visited by leprosy,

and which cut him off for the rest of his days from the house of the Lord.