February 22

Argentine Church Shaken from the Inside

By “Awake!” correspondent in Argentina

THIS South American country suffers its share of agitation and violence so prevalent throughout the world in our time. Of course, that is not particularly surprising in these days.

But what is dumbfounding to many here in Argentina is that numerous clergymen at all levels of the Roman Catholic Church are being accused of inciting “plunder, robbery, assault, kidnapping, crime, bloody fighting, chaos. . . . And all that in the name of Christianity, the Gospels, and Jesus Christ.”

That is the accusation stated in a report entitled “Declaration of Argentine Priests.” The document was signed by 140 well-known clergymen of the Catholic church.

Is the situation really that ugly here in Argentina? Who are these priests “of diverse hierarchies and placed at all levels” of the Catholic church that are charged with inciting “kidnapping, crime, bloody fighting, chaos”? Why are they accused of such atrocities? What measures has the church taken? And the average Argentine church member​—what is his reaction to all this?

Events Leading to Crisis

The events leading to such charges have been building up for some time. But recently they have come to the fore because of cruel terrorist murders.

An editorial in the Buenos Aires Herald reported: “In the past 14 months three prominent Argentines have been assassinated in cold blood. . . . in June last year [1969] Augusto Vandor, Argentina’s most influential trade union leader; the slaying of former President Pedro Aramburu on May 31 [1970] by his kidnappers; and the slaughter of José Alonso,” another union leader, more recently.

What does this have to do with clergymen of the Catholic church? The public press notes the connection. Siete Dias stated: “The presumed ties of priests . . . with the assassination of General Aramburu provoke secret meetings in the bosom of the Argentine Church . . . to analyze the influence of extremism among the clergy.”

Monsignor Juan Carlos Aramburu (not to be confused with the assassinated former president, Pedro Aramburu) regretfully admitted: “The recent events that are of public knowledge, unfortunately, have put to the test and affected the essential value of the priestly mission in being builders of ‘unity of mankind’ founded on love.” And former Interior Minister Guillermo Borda said: “The extreme wing of the Church has exercised a pressure which I am tempted to call decisive in the recent outbursts of intemperance and violence in the country.”

The “Third World Movement”

Who make up this priestly group accused of inciting violence and agitation? During the past few years they have been called “progressists,” “rebels,” and now they are well known as priests of the “Third World movement.” “The movement” takes its name from the Medellín (Colombia) declaration by eighteen ‘progressive’ bishops who called for a ‘third world’ owing allegiance to neither Capitalism nor Communism.

In answer to a question that the publication Periscopio (now Primera Plana) sent to them, priests Jorge Vernazza, Héctor Botán, Rodolfo Ricciardelli and Domingo Bresci, all of the Third World movement, made this remark: “Upon talking of violence it is imperative to distinguish between the oppressor’s violence and that of the oppressed: that one is unjust and condemned, the other can be the only way of being freed from the unjust aggression, and is then a legitimate defense.” Thus, violence is condoned.

The Buenos Aires Herald calls forty-year-old Argentine priest Carlos Mujica the “chief spokesman” for the Third World movement. This priest serves as professor of theology in Buenos Aires’ well-known Savior’s University. He claims that the changes in the last ten years in the Catholic church are “irreversible,” and that priests must work to bring political and social change. He noted that the Vietnam War had an enormous influence in the formation of public opinion, particularly in the case of youths who see it as a great injustice. He lists other events in Latin America, such as the Cuban revolution and the invasion of Dominican Republic by North American marines, as contributing to the changing of political views among many. The result, he says, is the producing of “a certain conversion to socialism.”

Hence, such priests identify themselves with a movement that works for political and social change even by violent revolution if necessary. And how many such priests are there in the Argentine church? According to Mujica, their number is multiplying with the passing of each day.

This is admitted by other priests. The group of some 140 well-known clergymen who published the “Declaration of Argentine Priests” observed: “Here you have a group of priests in the last few years, each time more numerous, of diverse hierarchies and placed at all levels, that are found determined to change the Church’s image, that of Christianity and even that Jesus Christ himself.” Thus, it is acknowledged by the church itself that the Third World movement among priests grows.

In the eyes of many church officials, and in political circles as well, the ideas of the Third World movement seem close to those of Marxism, if not directly Marxist.

Crisis at Peak

What brought the ‘movement’ into grave difficulty was former President Aramburu’s kidnapping and murder. Analisis commented: “Evidently the participation of militant Catholics in the assassination of Aramburu and the presumed connection of priests with terrorists’ activities have accelerated the internal fighting within the Church.”

Former President Aramburu was kidnapped May 29, 1970, and his body was found buried in a lime grave July 16. His disappearance and whereabouts had caused great intrigue and upheaval in the country during that time. The Third World movement was accused of being connected with Aramburu’s murderers.

Then what really ignited fuses at many official levels was when priests Hernán Benítez and Carlos Mujica officially attended the funeral of two dead men who were suspected of being Aramburu’s killers, and who were slain in a skirmish with the police. At the church service, the priests spoke well of the two dead men. Mujica called them “my brothers” and extolled them as examples for youths to follow in fighting to achieve “a just society.’’ Two other priests were at the service.

As a result, priests Benítez and Mujica were arrested and accused of propagating seditious doctrine and exalting political crime. Later they were released for lack of evidence. But a scathing editorial in La Prensa said: “To say, of those wanted for kidnapping and murder . . . ‘that this sacrifice serves as an example to the people’ is to instigate the people to violence and crime, wanting to represent the most abominable acts as plausible and meritorious. This dangerous provocation is called condoning or praising crime.” The newspaper added: “Surprise leads to amazement when such praises issue from those who have embraced the religious career for imparting peace to souls, inculcating justice and preaching love of neighbor.”

While some felt inclined to say that the whole Third World movement should not be judged by the acts of a few of its members, others felt that it would be hard to think otherwise. Why so? Because its chief spokesman and other priests insist upon associating themselves with a guerrilla organization that has proudly claimed responsibility for cold-blooded murders.

All of this has resulted in a crisis within the church here. A very serious division has come about within priestly ranks. Monsignor Aramburu acknowledged this, for in a letter to the country’s clergy he stated: “It is not reasonable nor opportune when the storm on the outside is lashing the house, that also movement be made inside . . . jolting its foundation.” In effect, he said that there were many forces tearing at the church from the outside, but now there were powerful forces within the church itself also tearing at it, shaking the church to its very foundation.

When government officials tried to get the hierarchy of the church to punish and suspend the Third World rebel priests, the high curia seems to have decided not to, on the ground that it would be ‘splitting the church in two.’ But that already appears to have happened anyhow.

Reaction of Argentine People

What is the reaction of the average Argentine Catholic to all this?

Even before the present crisis, many Catholics had disassociated themselves from the clergy. Now the alienation is even deeper for increasing numbers. Some say: “I am Catholic, but in my way.” Others declare: “I am Catholic, but I do not think I have to go to church.” Still others state: “I am Catholic, but I do not have anything to do with the priests.”

One lady being visited by Jehovah’s witnesses said to them: “I am very offended with the church. I am from a traditionally Catholic family. My mother died in a strange way; we could never clearly establish the cause of her death. Because of that, we could not get the priest to come and give the blessing at her funeral, in spite of her having been an irreproachable person. However, two prominent priests attended the funeral of the two terrorists and spoke of them as examples for youths. After that, I do not think I will ever step foot inside a Catholic church again.”

This same woman has an aunt who is a nun. This nun is elderly and commented to her niece that she felt “very depressed because of the attitude that people showed the clergy.” She also feels that this hostility has become sharper in the last few years, as shown even in small details. For example, now she notes that seldom does anyone offer her a seat when traveling in public transportation, neither for being a woman, nor for being aged, nor because she is a nun, while years ago a nun traveling standing up was a rarity. She also complained: “It is becoming somewhat insufferable being identified with the Catholic clergy.”

Of course, many Argentine people still go to church and give it their support. But more and more do not. And a growing number express a willingness to talk about the Bible with Jehovah’s witnesses when they call on the people in their Bible educational work. Many now listen attentively and enjoy the free Bible courses in their homes that Jehovah’s witnesses carry on as a public service.

Without a doubt, the Catholic church is in deep trouble here in Argentina. That difficulty reflects the worldwide problems the church is having. Everywhere her doctrines, methods of organization, and her attitudes toward governmental and social issues are being challenged. Not only does this come from the outside, from non-Catholics, but now it is tearing at the church from within, from her own clergy and people.

Overeating Can Lead to Trouble

● The Wise Encyclopedia of Cookery is a cookbook that makes the following observations about the effects of overeating: “Temporary overeating at one or two meals may not produce any serious ill effect, but if the excess in feeding be long continued a variety of ills result, attributable directly to overloading of the alimentary canal. There is a limit to the quantity of every food which can be digested in a given time. Beyond this the food, whether starches, fats, sugars, or protein, may decompose, or pass away unaltered. Or, if the excess be absorbed the blood is overwhelmed, and the excretory organs are overworked.

“The inability to sing with precision after a too hearty meal is often attributed to temporary congestion of the vocal cords. While this is observed in the thickened speech of alcoholism, the difficulty in singing caused by overeating is mainly due to inability to regulate the actions of the diaphragm and other respiratory muscles when the stomach is too greatly distended. Overeating . . . is the commonest dietetic error, and looking at the question in its broadest aspects, it is quite certain that the foundation for more disease is laid by this habit than by overdrinking.”

The Gift of Language

WITHOUT language, you would not be able to read these words. Without language, you could not talk to other people, or even write them a letter.

Language is the means by which feelings or thoughts are expressed, or communicated. The tongue plays a most active part in expressing one’s thoughts and the English word “language” indicates this, as it comes from the Latin lingua, meaning “tongue.” The Hebrew and Greek words for “tongue” also signify “language.” The Hebrew term for “lip” is used in a similar way.

Language is most intimately associated with the mind. It is the mind that employs the speech organs​—throat, tongue, lips and teeth—​as its instruments. Thus, the Encyclopædia Britannica states: “Thinking and words go together. For thinking, to be clear, has to rely upon names [or nouns] and their various associations with one another. . . . While some minor reservations are justifiable there is an overwhelming mass of evidence . . . that fortifies the contention stated above​—no words, no thinking.”

Origin of Speech

But how did such a valuable thing as language begin? Encyclopedias generally say that no one knows how it began. A common theory is that it started long, long ago as grunts, groans and barks. But what are the facts?

For one thing, knowledge about language does not go back beyond six thousand years. In fact, Professor of Anthropology and Linguistics G. L. Trager says: “Historical knowledge about existing languages goes back only a few thousand years.”

Did language really start with simple grunts and barks? An article in Science Illustrated of July 1948 stated: “Older forms of the languages known today were far more difficult than their modern descendants . . . man appears not to have begun with a simple speech, and gradually made it more complex, but rather to have gotten hold of a tremendously knotty speech somewhere in the unrecorded past, and gradually simplified it to the modern form.”

Linguist Dr. Mason also points out that “the idea that ‘savages’ speak in a series of grunts, and are unable to express many ‘civilized’ concepts, is very wrong.” He adds that “many of the languages of non-literate peoples are far more complex than modern European ones.”​—Science News Letter, September 3, 1955.

The evidence is thus against any ‘evolutionary’ origin of speech or of ancient languages.

On the origin of language, lexicographer Ludwig Koehler wrote: “There has been, especially in former times, much speculation as to how human speech ‘came into being.’ Writers strove to explore ‘animal language.’ For animals also are able to express audibly by sounds and groups of sounds their feelings and sensations, such as contentment, fear, emotion, anger, sexual desire and satisfaction in its fulfillment, and perhaps many other things. However manifold these [animal] expressions may be . . . they lack concept and thought, the essential domain of human language.”

After showing how men can explore the physiological aspect of human speech, Koehler adds: “But what actually happens in speech, how the spark of perception kindles the spirit of the child, or of mankind generally, to become the spoken word, eludes our grasp. Human speech is a secret; it is a divine gift, a miracle.”a

A Divine Gift

According to the Holy Bible, man was created about six thousand years ago. It reveals that the first human, Adam, was created with a vocabulary, his language being a divine gift. Thus, rather than Adam’s learning to speak by imitating the animals, beginning with grunts and growls, as is taught by evolution, the facts as set down in the book of Genesis are that Adam made almost immediate use of his power of speech by bestowing names upon the various animal creations. Without the divine gift of language the newly created man would have been no more able to understand verbal instructions from his Creator than the unreasoning animals.​—Gen. 1:27-30; 2:16-20; 2 Pet. 2:12.

So, while only man of all earth’s creatures has the ability of true speech, language did not originate with him, but with his All-wise Creator, Jehovah God.

Even before man’s appearance on the universal scene, language had been employed for untold ages. For the Christian apostle Paul makes inspired reference to “tongues of men and of angels.” (1 Cor. 13:1) Here, then, is another divine gift​—the ‘tongue of angels.’ Almighty God has long been speaking to his angelic creatures in their ‘tongue’ and they ‘carry out his word.’ (Ps. 103:20) He and his spirit sons do not rely upon an atmosphere, which makes possible sound waves and vibrations necessary for human speech. So angelic language is obviously beyond human conception or attainment. To talk with men as God’s messengers, angels therefore had to use human language.​—Gen. 22:15-18.

How Human Languages Began to Multiply

Language scholars estimate that today there are about three thousand spoken languages used on the earth. Some are spoken by hundreds of millions of persons, others by a few hundred. How did all these come about? Bible history alone explains the origin of this diversity in human languages.

Up until some point after the global flood of Noah’s day, all mankind “continued to be of one language and of one set of words.” (Gen. 11:1) The Bible indicates that the language later called “Hebrew” was the original “one language.” It preceded all other languages. But this does not mean that all other languages stemmed from and are related to Hebrew. Then where did the other languages get their start?

The Genesis account describes the uniting of some part of the post-Flood human family in a project opposed to God’s will. Instead of spreading out and ‘filling the earth,’ they wanted to centralize human society. They concentrated on a site that became known as the plains of Shinar in Mesopotamia. Evidently this was also to become a religious center, with a religious tower. (Gen. 9:1; 11:2-4) However, Almighty God broke up their project. He did this by confusing their common language. This made impossible any coordinated work on their project. It led to their scattering to all parts of the earth.​—Gen. 11:6-9.

Available non-Biblical evidence is in harmony with this account. Concerning the focal point from which the spreading of ancient languages began, Sir Henry Rawlinson, Oriental language scholar, observed: “If we were to be guided by the mere intersection of linguistic paths, and independently of all reference to the Scriptural record, we should still be led to fix on the plains of Shinar, as the focus from which the various lines had radiated.”

Changed Thought Patterns and New Grammars

It appears that when miraculously confusing human language, Jehovah God did not produce merely dialects of Hebrew. He produced a number of completely new languages, each capable of expressing the full range of human feeling and thought.

Thus the builders at the Tower of Babel did not continue to have “one set of words,” one common vocabulary. They also did not continue to have a common grammar or a common way of expressing the relationship between words. Professor S. R. Driver states: “Languages, however, differ not only in grammar and roots, but also . . . in the manner in which ideas are built up into a sentence. Different races do not think in the same way; and consequently the forms taken by the sentence in different languages are not the same.”

Hence, different languages require different thought patterns, making it difficult for a new learner to ‘think in the language.’ This is also why a literal translation of something said or written in an unfamiliar language may seem illogical, often causing persons to say, in effect, “But that doesn’t make sense!” So it appears that when Almighty God confused the speech of those at Babel, he first blotted out all memory of their previous common language. Then he introduced into their minds not only new vocabularies but also changed thought patterns, producing new grammars.

We find, for example, that certain languages are monosyllabic; that is, made up of words of only one syllable. Chinese is an example. By contrast, the vocabularies of a number of other languages are formed largely by agglutination; that is, by joining words placed side by side. For example, the German word Hausfriedensbruch literally means “house peace breakage.” More understandably to the English-speaking mind, it means “trespass.” In some languages syntax, the order of the words in the sentence, is very important; in others it matters little. So, too, some languages have many conjugations (or verbal forms). Others, such as Chinese, have none. Countless differences could be cited, each requiring an adjustment in mental patterns, often with great effort.

Families of Languages

The tenth chapter of Genesis contains what is commonly called the “Table of Nations.” It tells how seventy families, peoples or nations descended from Noah’s three sons, Japheth, Ham and Shem. In each case these are grouped “according to their families, according to their tongues, in their lands, by their nations.”​—Gen. 10:5, 20, 31, 32.

Today we find that philology, the comparative study of languages, generally classifies languages into distinct “families.” Among the major “families” listed by modern philologists are: Indo-European, Semitic, Hamitic, African Negro, Sino-Tibetan, Japanese and Korean, Uralic and Altaic, Dravidian and Malayo-Polynesian. However, there are still many languages that defy classification today.

Interestingly, the “parent” language of each major family usually has not been identified. Certainly there is no evidence pointing to any one “parent” language as the source of all the thousands of tongues now spoken. The evidence, instead, points to the many “parent” languages begun at Babel.

Evidently the original languages resulting from the divine action at Babel in course of time produced related dialects. These dialects often developed into separate languages. Even Shem’s descendants, who apparently did not figure among the crowd at Babel, came to speak, not only Hebrew, but also Aramaean, Akkadian and Arabic.

Historically, various factors have contributed to the change in languages: separation due to distance or geographical barriers; wars and conquests; a breakdown in communications; and immigration by those of another language. Due to such factors ancient major languages have fragmented. Then, too, certain tongues have partially merged with others. Some languages have disappeared completely, replaced by those of invading conquerors.

The Indo-European Family

Within each of the major families there are many subdivisions or smaller families. Thus, the Indo-European family includes such branches as Germanic (or Teutonic), Romance (or Latin-Romance), Balto-Slavic, Indo-Iranian, Greek, Celtic, Albanian and Armenian.

Most of these smaller families, in turn, have several members. Romance languages, for example, embrace French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Romanian. The Germanic branch includes English, German, Dutch-Flemish, Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish.

The most widely used of all language families, the Indo-European tongues are spoken by about 50 percent of earth’s population. This family of languages is called “Indo-European” because of their location, being found in India and Europe; and they are grouped together because they appear to have had a common ancestor, which may well have been Sanskrit. These languages have clearly defined parts of speech, such as nouns, pronouns, verbs, and so forth. And their words are inflected, that is, slightly changed, usually in the endings, to show changes in gender, number and case. Also, the fact that these languages have certain simple words, such as “mother” and “father,” in common, suggests a common ancestry. Thus “mother” is mat, in Russian; mater, in Latin; mata, in Sanskrit; madre, in Spanish; meter, in Greek; and mutter, in German.

Of all the Indo-European languages, Greek is, next to Sanskrit (no longer spoken), the oldest, and it is considered by many to be the language most highly developed as well as the most clearly defined.

Will the time ever come when the use of a multiplicity of languages will cease? Well, after the global flood all the earth was of one language before large numbers of humans at Babel went contrary to God’s will for post-Flood mankind. As a result, their language was confused at Babel. After the end of this system of things, all mankind will be in harmony with God. (2 Pet. 3:5-7, 13) In God’s new order it seems reasonable that there will be a return to one language for all mankind. Whether that language will be man’s original tongue, Hebrew, or a blend of Hebrew with the most delightful aspects of other languages or something different, the Bible does not discuss.

Truly the gift of language was one of God’s great gifts to man. It is a precious treasure. How blessed men are that they can communicate with one another through the power of speech!

[Footnotes]

Bringing Up Children in a Godly Way

TODAY ever so many parents are heartbroken because of the way their children turned out. They keep asking, “What did we do wrong?”

But there are also parents whose children give them joy. One such is the mother who recently wrote the Watch Tower Society telling how her children were witnessing to God’s name and kingdom. She concluded by saying, “Our children are a real pleasure to us.”

What makes the difference? No doubt the children who bring joy to their parents are those carefully reared “in the discipline and mental-regulating of Jehovah.” (Eph. 6:4) What might be said to be a noteworthy instance of a father who did this is one of Jehovah’s witnesses in Alabama who reared eighteen children, twelve by his first wife and six by his second. Today these children range from fourteen to forty-two years of age and each one is a zealous dedicated servant of Jehovah God. Among these are a number of overseers, missionaries and other full-time preachers. How did he go about rearing them “in the discipline and mental-regulating of Jehovah”?

For one thing, he fostered a warm, loving atmosphere in the home. Those separated from each other for the day would ask each other at the evening meal: “What did you do today?” If they had an interesting or an amusing experience they enjoyed telling it to the rest. If one came home later and no one asked him, “What did you do today?” he usually asked, “Well, isn’t anyone going to ask me what I did today?” Everyone was made to feel that the rest of the family was interested in him and cared for him.

This father also saw to it that the family enjoyed recreation together. Both he and his wife were on the family ball teams, although the girls would run bases for their mother. He and his wife were not too busy for such things. And they took all their children along with them when visiting such places as the Grand Canyon and Yosemite National Park on their vacations.

As loving and affectionate as the father was, he could also be firm when necessary. As the girls grew older he established a hard-and-fast rule for his daughters. Whenever any boy invited one of them out, another sister had to go along. This did not always suit the young men, but the daughters respected their father’s instructions and wishes in this as in everything else. They appreciated his wise and loving concern for them.

In particular did the father teach and exemplify putting first the interests of God’s kingdom. (Matt. 6:33) He saw to it that the family studied the Bible together and prayed together and he encouraged his children to do personal Bible study. Bible words were among the first expressions they learned. He made it an inflexible rule never to neglect the meetings of the Christian congregation. Even when relatives who were not Witnesses came for a visit, his entire family, as many as fourteen, all went to the meetings. Their guests would ask, “Are all of you going?” Yes, they all were, and so this left the guests the choice of remaining home alone or accompanying the family to their meetings. To their own surprise, these guests found they enjoyed and benefited from the experience of attending a meeting of the Witnesses!

Not only did the father and mother set a good example by regularity in the Christian field ministry, but the whole family would often spend from one to three months during the summer preaching in parts of the country that did not ordinarily get to hear the good news of God’s kingdom. In going from door to door the parents took their tots along with them, so that as these grew up they took to house-to-house preaching on their own as ‘ducks take to water.’

Helpful also in giving these children the benefit of “the discipline and mental-regulating of Jehovah” was the custom of the father to invite to his home those serving as traveling representatives of the Watch Tower Society. These were made to feel very much at home and so were always glad to come. They had a fine influence on the children and gave them something to aim for.

Eighteen children, and all of them holding firm to Jehovah’s pure worship in preaching and in conduct! Yes, it can be done when the apostolic advice is followed to rear children in “the discipline and mental-regulating of Jehovah.”

Blueprints for Everlasting Life

IN THE prime of life, your body contains more than a million million tiny living cells. Some scientists believe that these cells hold instructions that could be unlocked for everlasting life. The reason for such a belief is the amazing blueprint that cells have for reproduction and repair.

All the many kinds of cells in your body were grown from the single cell that represented you at the time of your conception. The nucleus of that cell contained the blueprint to direct your development. As each cell in your body was made, it was given an exact copy of the blueprint. This blueprint is named deoxyribonucleic acid, generally referred to as DNA.

The Amazing DNA

The gene is the carrier of heredity. There are tens of thousands of genes in each cell. The key part of each gene is the compound called DNA. A coiled, threadlike molecule, DNA may be likened to a twisted rope ladder.

The two sides of the ladder are made of phosphate and a type of sugar called deoxyribose. These two sides are joined together by the ladder’s “rungs” which are composed of millions of pairs of chemical bases.

The number of rungs, or bases, totals in the millions. Yet there are only two types, The two types are (1) adenine paired with thymine, and (2) cytosine paired with guanine. The sequence in which these pairs are arranged, linking the two sides of the spiral ladder, makes up the genetic code or blueprint for life.

Building from the Blueprint

From conception onward, the blueprint issues instructions for duplicating and constructing. Cells are added until a baby is formed. After the baby is born, cell duplication continues until growth to adulthood is complete. Then it continues at a slower rate, to replace cells that have died.

DNA duplicates itself in a remarkable manner. This starts when the two interlocked sides of the ladder begin to separate, or “unzip,” from each other. Each side has one half of every one of the millions of pairs of bases attached to it.

Like “spare parts,” additional adenine, thymine, guanine and cytosine, which are manufactured in the cell’s nucleus, are attracted to both separated sides of the ladder. The half pair of every chemical base left on each side picks up an appropriate mating base (and none other) until two new sets of interlocked sides have been built, making two twisted ladders. These two new sets are the exact duplicates of their parent. They become the key elements in each nucleus of the two cells that replace the original parent cell.

Man’s understanding of this process is far from complete. For example, it is known that each cell in your body contains the same blueprint. Yet not all cells are identical. Instead, there is an astounding variety of cells. There are bone, nerve, lung, muscle and blood cells, to mention some. How can one blueprint be read in so many different ways? Why are not all cells identical to the original cell? Such questions continue to baffle scientists.

Furthermore, the cells do not occur in shapeless groupings. They are organized into structures that have distinct functions. Some make up your skeleton, others the nervous system, still others the eyes, ears, heart, lungs, stomach and skin.

Clearly, DNA is an amazing blueprint for body building. It makes possible the birth of new cells, both for growth and to take the place of those that die. Its qualities are such that one reporter was moved to write: “The idea [of everlasting life] is by no means ridiculous.”

The Aging Process

Cell duplication should theoretically keep the body alive forever. Even brain cells, said to be unable to replace themselves after childhood, are now thought by some to renew themselves almost daily by a process described as “perpetual rapid growth.” An authority on brain cells, Paul A. Weiss, suggests that while they may not divide in the adult, they constantly manufacture “spare parts” and thus keep renewing themselves.

So the body can manufacture the cells and other substances needed for continued rejuvenation of itself. Yet, the firm flesh, soft skin, supple joints and healthy organs of youth inevitably give way to the flabby flesh, leathery skin, stiff joints and deteriorating organs of advanced age. Why?

Loss of weight and declining capacity as the body ages are attributed to the progressive death of cells. As time passes, the body is not able to replace all the cells that die, as it does in younger age. But why not? Cell biologists simply do not know.

Some have suggested that the DNA blueprint in the cell is like a computer having a “program” for living, but that eventually the program runs out. Other scientists speculate that repeated duplication of the cells clogs the DNA with “transcription error.” They liken this to continued rerecording of a beautiful melody, which eventually makes it an unrecognizable noise. Some think that the cell poisons itself with age. Another says that the body forgets what it should do and commits suicide by rejecting its own cells as it would a transplanted organ.

Experiments Provide No Answer

This bewildering array of theories often results from the many experiments conducted in regard to aging. Some of the most famous were those of Alexis Carrel. Carrel supposedly kept living cells from chick embryos alive in cultures for more than thirty years.

However, Leonard Hayflick, reporting in Scientific American of March 1968, shows that these experiments were improperly conducted. Carrel’s nutrient evidently contained live chick cells that replaced his original colony of cells instead of sustaining it. Such cultures invariably died out when care was taken to keep living cells out of the food given them. In any event, these experiments did not provide any answer to the question of why man ages and dies.

In some experiments it was found that substances in the cells of old animals inhibited the manufacture of protein. But cells of young animals do not contain those substances. Since the manufacture of protein is essential to life, it was felt that this discovery might hold a clue to the cause of aging. But does it? Why does it happen? What can be done about it? Such questions find no sure answers.

In other experiments mouse skin was kept alive twice as long as a mouse normally lives. How? By transplanting the skin from one live mouse to another. This seemed to show that the individual cells in mouse skin possessed the ability to live longer than the mouse from which they came. But does it solve the problem of aging? No; all it shows is that cells may have a potentially longer life. Yet, they eventually die. And these experiments were artificially contrived, not representing life as it really is.

It must be kept in mind that cells do not live in a glass dish. They live in YOU. Your body, with all its complex, interacting and self-regulating systems is a far cry from a sterile bowl. For this reason experiments in culture dishes that seem to show this or that possibility are not as significant as they may seem. Nor are experiments with animals. God created man distinct and separate from the animal realm. So results from experiments with animals may not necessarily apply to humans.

The fact remains that no such theories or experiments come to grips with the real answer to the problem. Whether there is “transcription error” in the DNA, cell poisoning or some other cause, we still get old and die. No matter what the theory or experiment, people are still living only the Biblical average of seventy or eighty years. (Ps. 90:10) Nothing that science or medicine has done has altered this basic truth.

Whatever the reason, the amazing DNA blueprint is not now programmed to sustain cells in perfect balance. In old age those wearing out and dying are not always replaced by new ones through cell division. So degeneration and death follow.

The One Who Knows

A computer can be changed, or reprogrammed. Man’s DNA blueprint needs to be reprogrammed for everlasting life. If it could be reprogrammed to keep the right balance in cell replacement and renewal, man could live forever.

But who could do such a thing? Obviously, no human, however intelligent he may be, knows that much about man’s blueprints. And it is a vain hope to think that dying, imperfect man will someday find a way to eliminate death. Only the One who created life, who gave mankind the DNA blueprint, knows enough about it to reprogram it for everlasting life.

The Creator of man, Jehovah God, knows every detail of your marvelous DNA blueprint. He should. He designed it and put it into operation. Writing under the inspiration of God’s powerful holy spirit, the psalmist said of the Creator: “I shall laud you because in a fear-inspiring way I am wonderfully made. . . . My bones were not hidden from you when I was made in secret, . . . Your eyes saw even the embryo of me, and in your book all its parts were down in writing, as regards the days when they were formed.”​—Ps. 139:14-16.

The Creator does not take a negative attitude toward the possibility of living forever. Dozens of times in his own Word he states with certainty that everlasting life will be a reality, without fail. For example, Romans 6:23 says: “The gift God gives is everlasting life.” Psalm 37:29 foretells: “The righteous themselves will possess the earth, and they will reside forever upon it.”

So the Maker of the DNA has promised that man will live forever on earth someday. That was God’s purpose when he created man. He equipped man’s body for everlasting life. Had man remained faithful to his Creator, he would be able to live forever right now.

But that was not the case. The first human pair disobeyed God’s law and thus lost the opportunity to live forever. They became defective, imperfect. (Deut. 32:5) Their bodies lost the capacity of sustaining cell replacement in perfection. Precisely how that happened, just what the technical matters involved were, the Bible does not say. But from their rebellion on, their bodies were “programmed” for death, not eternal life.

All of Adam’s descendants inherited that same “program” in their bodies. We are all Adam’s offspring. That is why we all die. As Romans 5:12 states: “Through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men.” We inherited death just as we inherit certain physical characteristics.

Another Blueprint for Life

Jehovah has arranged a way for persons to regain the opportunity for everlasting life. You can, too, if that is what you really want.

What is involved? First, a study of God’s Word, the Bible. The Holy Scriptures can be regarded as another blueprint for life. In them we find God’s specific written instructions that lead to eternal life. If we carefully examine these instructions, and then follow them, we can be confident that Jehovah will grant us eternal life in his new order.

Such confidence is surely not misplaced. Jehovah has set the limits on how long we can hope to live now, and he can remove those limits. Scientists do not know how to make your body parts go on living forever. But Jehovah does. All your body parts are in writing in his “book.” Death is no mystery to the Creator of the amazing DNA. He knows exactly what causes aging and death and precisely how to stop that process. He knows how to bring cell replacement into perfect balance.

Jehovah has given us his guarantee that there will be a time when honest-hearted persons will live forever on earth. The prospect of eternal life is thus not a vain hope. It is not a lie, because God himself has promised it, and God cannot lie.​—Titus 1:2; Heb. 6:18.

The Bible can now become your personal blueprint for everlasting life. Study it. Place your confidence in the promises and power of God it tells you about. (John 17:3; Prov. 2:1-5, 21, 22) Always keep in mind that humans can only be students of the living cell. But Jehovah is its maker. He alone can direct it so that we can have everlasting life in his new order.

The Date Palm

A single date palm can produce from 100 to 600 pounds of dates in a good year. And the tree may continue to bear fruit for 100 years.

Policemen Under Fire

THE job of a policeman is not an easy one. He is called on to care for a variety of difficulties, and to put his life in jeopardy as well. Many policemen are killed in the line of duty each year, even in “normal” times.

However, these are not normal times. The job of a policeman is now more dangerous than ever. This is especially true in the United States. There, in a comparable period, twice as many policemen were killed in unprovoked attacks in 1970 as in 1969, and four times as many as in 1968.

In New York city alone, figures for 1970 up to November show that 38 policemen were shot, 46 cut or stabbed and 390 punched or kicked. More than 1,030 lost time from duty because of violence committed against them. In Detroit, such assaults increased 68 percent in a year. In California, murders of policemen have doubled. Elsewhere the trend has been much the same.

Why such an increase? One reason is the fantastic rise in crime. More and more persons have turned to criminal activities. This places the lives of policemen in greater danger as they deal with such individuals.

There is another factor, however, in the rising number of assaults, one that is even more ominous than the huge increase in crime.

Ominous Trend

In the past few years the United States has witnessed a swift growth of what has been called “Terrorism.” In city after city, policemen are being killed in cold blood. The way these particular attacks are carried out shows that they differ from the type that results when police apprehend a criminal who then resorts to violence.

For example, a Sacramento policeman was killed while riding in his patrol car, shot to death by a sniper who used a military rifle. In San Francisco a police station was bombed, killing one officer and wounding eight others. Three were killed on different occasions when they were issuing traffic tickets; in each case an assassin approached the unsuspecting officer while he was writing out the ticket and killed him with a handgun. In West Philadelphia a gunman walked into a police guardhouse and pumped five bullets into the desk sergeant as he sat quietly.

Thus, a Detroit policeman declared: “It’s like being in a guerrilla war.” Philadelphia Police Commissioner Frank Rizzo said: “This is no longer crime. This is revolution.” California’s chief deputy attorney general Charles O’Brien stated: “Law officers have become a special target for the terrorists and anarchists in our society. . . . I find it very frightening.” He called the “fantastic increase” in assaults “a clear and present danger to the government of the United States.” And Senator James Eastland declared: “An organized ‘war upon the police’ threatens to undermine law and order in the United States.” He added: “These deliberate attacks are too widespread, the incidents too numerous, the tactics too similar to suggest isolated acts of violence.”

In Cairo, Illinois, Police Chief Roy Burke said in September that snipers had fired at his car on six different occasions during the year. “It had so many holes in it I had to get a new one,” he said. Then in October, fifteen to eighteen men dressed in army fatigue uniforms attacked the Cairo police station three times in about six hours. In the third attack, hundreds of rounds of gunfire were poured into the station. Cairo’s Mayor A. B. Thomas stated: “What we have had tonight in Cairo is open armed insurrection.”

Why Is It Happening?

Why this increase in terrorism? Bill Moyers, former assistant to the president, said in Harper’s magazine: “In a hundred communities in every part of the country in a season of violence, no one​—Presidential commissions, state agencies, police, the participants themselves—​could say with authority, ‘This is why it happened.’”

Yet, there are factors involved that can be understood. For example, regarding the attacks in Cairo, Newsweek magazine reported that they were “an apparent act of retaliation for alleged police assaults on Negro residents.” It noted that militant whites “infuriated black elements by conducting regular, vigilante-style patrols of Negro neighborhoods. This time it seemed to be the blacks’ turn for exacerbating the tension.”

Lieutenant William McCoy of the Detroit police department told of printed instructions distributed among militant blacks. The instructions said: “When a self-defense group moves against this oppressive system by executing a pig [policeman] by any means​—sniping, stabbing, bombing, etc.​—in defense against the 400 years of racist brutality and murder, this can only be defined as self-defense.” Thus one main reason black “revolutionaries” give for their activities is resentment at the treatment they have received during centuries of slavery, prejudice and abuse.

There are also numerous groups of white “revolutionaries.” What is their aim? When reporters have had opportunity to talk to some of them, they make clear that they work to overthrow the established order, including the governmental arrangement. But no clear picture is given as to what they propose as a replacement.

What does this have to do with attacks on policemen by such groups or persons? A police lieutenant said: “The policeman is the most visible symbol of the establishment and the justice that it represents. The people who shoot at policemen do it because they can’t reach the Mayor, the President or even their wife to satisfy their pathological needs to get even.”

Are these “revolutionary” groups, both black and white, under any central direction or control? United States Attorney General John Mitchell described them as a loose conspiracy of radical and anarchist groups dedicated to the destruction of American institutions. William C. Sullivan, an assistant to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s director, said that the FBI has no evidence that any one group, including the Communist Party, is responsible for the growing disorder.

One “revolutionary” told a Newsweek reporter: “The people have to be told that we’re not really a bunch of Communist murderers in disguise. We want change now. And nothing is at our disposal but violence. We can’t even demonstrate without getting clubbed and tear-gassed. Well, if we can’t live in peace, then the rich can’t live in peace. There will be all-out war within a year.” He said that one third of his group were veterans of the Vietnam war who used their military training in weapons and explosives for revolutionary purposes.

How serious do authorities regard the situation? A veteran Justice Department official described it this way: “Face it, we’re in what amounts to a guerrilla war with the kids. And so far, the kids are winning.” Many of the “kids” are children of middle-class parents. They consider themselves “counterculture patriots” and not criminals. They liken their activities to the revolutionaries who overthrew British rule in the American colonies, leading to the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

Where Will It Lead?

There is no doubt that individual policemen have been guilty of corruption, unfair treatment or even criminal activities. Law-enforcement authorities admit that. But what would happen if all policemen were taken out of the way in today’s society?

An example of what would likely happen was seen in Montreal, Canada. On October 7, 1969, Montreal’s 3,700 law-enforcement officers staged a seventeen-hour-long wildcat strike in a dispute over wages. The result was anarchy. During that period there was a staggering wave of robberies, burglaries and other crime. About one thousand plate-glass windows were smashed in downtown Montreal. Hundreds of stores, large and small, were looted. The editor of the Montreal Star reported that the major lesson was that all the citizens of Montreal discovered just how vulnerable they were without police protection. No one was immune. Rich and poor alike suffered.

However, this does not excuse policemen from their responsibility not to abuse their authority. When a presidential commission investigated campus violence, it noted that it was ‘mandatory for police to keep their cool and for their superiors to help them.’

Yet, the vicious escalation goes on. Those with grievances, real or imagined, often take it out on the police. The police, being human, at times respond with increasing toughness, which often makes others become more hostile to them. The result is a growing trend toward anarchy.

An official in Washington, D.C., concluded: “Unless something is done to reverse the present trend, this country is going to be in a civil war within five to ten years.” He noted that “people are getting fed up with this violence in the streets” and that a growing number of the public could be provoked to the point where they would approve the use of crushing repressive force. If that happened, what then? The official said: “What they would have left would be a fascist state.”

Earth’s Perpetual Show

● During every hour the sun is causing a spectacular show somewhere on the earth. As the earth turns, half of it basks in the brilliant light of the sun while the other half is shrouded in nightly gloom. And in this process the light is always pushing back the darkness and the darkness is always creeping back.

The volume The Wilderness World of John Muir describes this continual phenomenon of the earth as follows: “This grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never all dried at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal sunset, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls.”

Delinquents of Birdland

By “Awake!” correspondent in the British Isles

THE European starling, with its iridescent glossy-black plumage, is an irrepressible bird. It is forever making noises, of many kinds. True, it will take to flight at the slightest alarm, but it soon bustles back again, strutting along jauntily to show its unconcern!

Many persons dislike these pugnacious birds, and not without reason. They have a habit of descending in flocks when poultry are being fed, and blithely stealing much of the food. Some persons claim that they are kept awake at night by their raucous cries. Starlings can also do a lot of damage to crops.

Some two million of them would fly in nightly to roost in a ten-acre larch plantation at Kinver, England. Before they were dispersed, they had killed 30,000 fifteen-year-old larch trees.

Berries, fruits, corn and other crops suffer from starling onslaughts. Lamented one farmer: “Keeping a million birds off a field is like trying to stop it from raining. I’ve spent $2,000 on guns and ammunition this year and all I’ve done is chase the birds to my neighbors’ fields.”

Starlings like city life, apparently enjoying the warmth from the big buildings. So in some places they commute every morning from huge community roosts in the heart of the city to nearby countryside areas. There they feed, but at night they return to sleep in their city dormitories.

In Washington, D.C., more than 10,000 birds have been known to roost in a single block, dirtying both buildings and people. As far back as 1929, officials at President Hoover’s inauguration were worrying about starlings along the parade route. For President Kennedy’s inauguration in 1961, the inaugural committee had the trees along the parade route sprayed with a substance supposedly highly unpleasant to starlings, spending $8,600 for this.

Interestingly, in 1890 there was not even one starling in the United States. That year a wealthy New Yorker decided to introduce Americans to every bird mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays, and so had sixty starlings from England released in Central Park. Now there are hundreds of millions, starlings having migrated from coast to coast. The first one in Vancouver was seen in 1946. By the late 1950’s they were invading Oregon holly groves by the thousands.

To protect crops and city buildings from these invasions, efforts of all sorts have been made to disperse starlings, nearly all unsuccessful. Authorities have tried fireworks, rubber snakes, gas-filled balloons, electrified wires, bags of smelly chemicals, rattles, wooden clappers, clashing cymbals, supersonic sounds, ultraviolet rays, searchlights, tranquilizers, and many others.

In Melbourne, Australia, the City Council installed a formidable dummy owl with flashing eyes on the ornamental facade of the Town Hall, a favorite roosting spot. With what effect? The starlings simply perched on it!

Though starlings are delinquents, authorities are hesitant to recommend trying to exterminate them. For starlings eat a great number of insects, such as Japanese beetles. It is figured that their value in controlling pests may far outweigh the nuisance that they can be.

Furthermore, millions of people like starlings. City people especially derive pleasure from watching their swift and spectacular flight, as they wheel and maneuver almost as one bird. Also, many persons listen with admiration to their numerous and varied noises and songs.

Starlings have truly an amazing talent for mimicry. It is said that they can imitate forty-four different birds! But besides that, they can imitate the bark of a dog and the meow of a cat. They have been taught to speak and to whistle tunes. Some persons catch starlings and keep them as pets, even as others keep parrots or parakeets. They can provide fascinating entertainment.

Although in some places starlings may be considered only delinquents, they do have their redeeming characteristics. Starlings are indeed remarkable birds.

Violins of Distinction

By “Awake!” correspondent in Canada

AMATI, Stradivari, Guarneri​—these are names of master violinmakers of the past. Their works still speak to us in tones of such excellence that they have stood for many decades as the criteria of violins of distinction.

Attempts have been made to copy their instruments. Some have succeeded as far as appearance is concerned, but when played, alas, their “voices” give them away.

Notwithstanding, there are today a few violinmakers of exceptional talent who pursue their art with the fervor and pride of an Amati, a Stradivari, or a Guarneri. Come with me to visit one in British Columbia, Canada, and you will meet an artist who indeed makes violins of distinction.

Before we go, let us understand that this is a violinmaker who creates his own distinctive instrument, not one who simply copies other patterns or models.

One thing may strike you as you look around the modest cabin he uses as his workshop: There are just two violins at different stages of development. As he describes these to us you can sense that each one he makes is imbued with the personality of an artist to whom exactness, perfection and beauty are paramount.

What Type of Violin?

“I have recently completed one for a professor at a university” he tells us. “You see, I make violins on order for the special use of the customers, as a violin is made with its intended use in mind. I will make one especially for chamber music, or perhaps for solo or concert playing, or again, for orchestra​—whatever the musician will use it for.”

Violins made for chamber music are built so they will have a mild and soft tone. Orchestra violins, on the other hand, are constructed to have a clear and strong tone, one harder than the soft voice of chamber music. Concert or solo violins need a full tone, which our violinmaker describes as being ‘darker’ than that of the orchestra violins, and not as hard.

And how is the desired tonal quality obtained? He draws our attention to the degree of arch on the top piece of a violin he is making. He explains that a higher arch allows for a larger amount of air in the violin box and this produces soft, romantic tones, whereas a shallower arch produces vibrations that give clearer and stronger sounds, such as would come from an orchestra violin.

The Materials

Do you notice the supply of wood used for making violins? It is stacked neatly over there in the corner. Observe that it is arranged so air can get around each piece, and that it is in a dry spot protected from dampness. It takes about six years for the wood to dry naturally. So some of it has been there for a long time.

As we examine the type of wood used, we learn that the sides, back, bridge, neck and scroll of the violin are made of maple. But the top, the sound post and the bass-bar are made of spruce.

His supply of maple came from Europe where it grew in mountain forests about 1,500 feet above sea level and in limestone soil. This means that the wood has finer grain because of slower growth. It was cut during winter when sap movement was at a minimum. The best maple he has seen came from the Balkans. The spruce comes from Canada’s west coast and is of excellent quality.

Even the varnish is important in creating a violin of distinction. Our host tells us that he still makes his own, designing the varnish to suit the particular type of violin. He uses mastic, juniper gum, shellac, putty made by bees, other resins, alcohol and color. He believes that the varnish should be applied in thin layers and should dry quickly. Can you smell it?

Naturally we cannot expect to see a violin made before our eyes on this one visit. In fact, our host tells us that he usually makes only three violins a year. Not much in quantity, but very high in quality.

Exactness of Construction

Look at the back piece of the violin that he is showing us. This back may look rough right now, but, then, he is just starting to shape it. Notice that it is divided into squares, all neatly marked out by pencil. If you were to count them, you would find about two hundred. This helps him accurately to graduate the thickness of the wood as he shapes the violin back.

First, using a gouge, and then a tiny plane, and finally a scraper (he does not use sandpaper), and starting from the edges, the back is shaped to the desired thicknesses. After doing the outside of the back, he will then do the inside of the piece. The finished product will be two millimeters (about a thirteenth of an inch) in thickness at the edges to six millimeters at a point in the middle that is 195 millimeters (about 7.7 inches) down from the top of the violin back. This point is known as the vibration center. A micrometer is used to measure the thickness of each square as the work gradually moves toward the vibration center. Does not such attention to detail and exactness fascinate you?

When he explains how the top piece is fitted, we expect something similar to the way the violin back is made. But notice the special care that has to be given to the arching of the top. It graduates in thickness, from the edges toward the center third of the top, being the thickest at the spot where the bridge is mounted.

Acoustical Harmony

We soon come to realize even more that, besides the matter of fidelity in building and fitting its component parts, each step in the construction of a violin is filled with acoustical meaning. The top piece certainly illustrates this. When the top has been finished inside and out and struck lightly, it should give a vibration tone of F#. But after the f-holes are cut out, its vibration tone is changed to C#. The addition of the bass-bar alters the tone again. The bass-bar is a piece of spruce that is glued just inside on the top piece of the violin at the upper edge of the left f-hole, and runs along under the G string. It serves to produce a stronger sound on the G string as well as support for the left foot of the bridge. When it has been installed on the top piece, the vibration tone is changed again, and this time to E.

The f-holes, which allow sound to escape, must be made with the utmost of care and be exactly the right size. If they are too small, vibration tones are locked within the body and the sound is muffled. If cut too large, a tone too thin and shrill is produced.

Even the design of the bridge can disrupt the violin’s distinctive and harmonious voice. Our host tells us of an experience with a musician for whom he made a violin and who decided that he wanted a different design on the bridge of the instrument. Instead of returning it to the violinmaker, the musician took it to a repair establishment in a big city. Immediately, the violin lost the special tone that made it a violin of distinction. This tone was restored only when the foreign bridge was replaced with one that allowed for its complete acoustical harmony with each of the other components of the instrument. “You see,” he emphasizes, “every part is acoustically important.”

Checking the Vibrations

When the violin is finally finished and the strings are tuned, the vibration tones must be checked. Our host demonstrates how this is done. First he explains that there are twelve different vibration tones on the top of the violin and twelve on the back. All these must work together in harmony. For instance, inside the edge of the left f-hole at the bass-bar, the vibration tone should be A. Just inside the curve on the outside edge of the left f-hole, the tone should be G, one tone lower than A. The violin is made each step of the way with this acoustical harmony in mind. Indeed, the violin has aptly been described as a symphony of harmony.

After explaining this, our host reaches for a box of tiny glass tubes. He rubs his thumb and forefinger in some crushed alum, and after placing the end of one of the tubes on a testing point of the violin, he gently strokes the tube from top to bottom. As his finger and thumb caress it, a sound is produced as if the violin were being played. A faint glow of satisfaction appears upon his face as the sensitive ear of an artist recognizes the sound of pure fidelity. With this method he can ascertain the vibration tone he is working to attain at any appropriate spot in the violin’s construction. Yes, indeed, a symphony of harmony.

‘True in the Fifth’

Are you curious to know what is the most common fault with improperly made violins? Let us ask him.

“I have found ‘true in the fifth’ to be the most common,” he replies.

“What is that?”

“‘True in the fifth’ means that the first and fifth notes of any chord harmonize. If it is not true in the fifth, the violinist encounters difficulty in playing, and must adjust his fingering on each separate string to compensate. Keep in mind, too, that the four strings on a violin are tuned in fifths.

“To avoid this error, great care must be exercised in attaching the neck of the violin to the violin box or body, and in gluing the ebony fingerboard to the neck. The neck must align perfectly with the center line of both the violin top and back. It must be set in at such a slant that the end of the fingerboard at its highest point is twenty-five millimeters (about one inch) lower than the highest point of the violin top. Otherwise, it will not be ‘true in the fifth.’”

I will have to think about that one. How about you? But it is time to leave now. As we do, we thank the violinmaker for his time and hospitality. We may not know how to make a violin, but our knowledge has been considerably enhanced. We are convinced that it takes an artist to produce a violin of distinction; he needs to be very knowledgeable and to understand how each stroke of the gouge, each caress of the plane, each touch of the scraper, each component of the violin, will affect the final tone of the instrument.

One cannot help but be impressed with the acoustical laws originated by the Great Creator, laws discovered by man, and captured in a box by a man of skill and art. The result is a violin of distinction.

[Diagram on page 21]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

SCROLL

PEGS

NECK

FINGERBOARD

TOP PIECE

F-HOLES

BRIDGE

RIB

I Was a Buddhist

AS TOLD TO “AWAKE!” CORRESPONDENT IN LAOS

BEFORE dawn I got up, put on my sarong and went to the kitchen to start the day. First the kerosene stove must be lit. Then a large pot of water was set on it. Finally, a large cone-shaped basket full of rice which had soaked in water all night was set into the pot of water. The rice was barely cooked and packed into its carrying basket when the drum at the nearby temple or wat boomed out dully.

That’s right. I was not up at five o’clock preparing rice for myself. It was for the monks at the neighboring wat. The drumbeat sounded the signal for me and my neighbors to take our rice baskets out into the street and await the arrival of the monks. We were all carefully dressed in our best silk sarongs, with silk stoles draped over our left shoulders. We knelt down in a long line on the road, and soon through the war gate came the procession of barefoot, saffron-robed monks.

How we respected these men! Had they not given their lives, or at least part of them, in devotion to Buddha and his teachings? What a privilege we considered it to be able to offer them support in this way. As each monk passed by me I took a handful of rice from my basket and placed it in the proffered bowl. None of the monks spoke a word, not even the customary “khob chai” (thank you). Ours was the privilege to give. Indeed, by giving gifts to these “holy men” we fully believed that we were making “boon” that is, building up merit for ourselves so that in our reincarnation we would be happy and rich and have a large house and many servants.

When the last monk had received his rice, I took out a small phial of water and poured its contents on the ground. That was our way of calling Nang Thorani, the goddess Earth, and our dead ancestors to bear witness to our good deeds. As the monks departed we each meditated silently with bowed heads, filled with satisfaction at a deed well done.

Yes, I loved my religion and took every opportunity to arrange a special feast for my friends or go to the wat to help the monks with their work. I obeyed the precepts of Buddhism and felt that I was laying a splendid foundation for my next life.

A New Experience

At that time I was living in a town in southern Laos. I was employed as a librarian. One day a woman came into the library and introduced herself as a missionary of Jehovah’s witnesses. That was something new to me, but I felt attracted by her warm, friendly personality. She told me something about her beliefs and they sounded so good that I thought to myself: “It’s just the same as Buddhism.”

Soon after, I moved farther south to where my parents lived, and where there were no witnesses of Jehovah at all. At the same time the missionary moved to the capital, so that in the course of the following two years I met her only once during a visit to Vientiane. Again I came away with the thought that her religion closely resembled mine.

To explain this apparent similarity, I should mention that Buddhism teaches that salvation is gained by following the noble Eightfold Path: (1) Right view​—viewing the world realistically; (2) Right resolution​—trying to free oneself from such qualities as pride and resentment, and striving to love one’s enemies; (3) Right speech​—which Buddha defined as “abstinence from lying speech, from backbiting and abusive speech and from idle babble”; (4) Right conduct​—being peaceful, pure, honest; (5) Right livelihood​—avoiding work that causes suffering to others; (6) Right effort​—strenuously developing good states of mind; (7) Right mindfulness​—being vigilant or mentally alert so as to avoid thoughtless speech or conduct; and (8) Right concentration, that is, meditation.

In the matter of conduct, the Bible teaching sounded to me quite similar to Buddhist teaching. There is a particularly close resemblance between the commandments listed at Exodus 20 and four of the “five precepts” that Buddhists recite in the temple on holy days:

“I take the precept to abstain from killing;

I take the precept to abstain from stealing;

I take the precept to abstain from adultery;

I take the precept to abstain from lying;

I take the precept to abstain from liquor that causes intoxication and heedlessness.”

Back at that time I thought of the Bible as another book of religious rules. It never occurred to me that it was divinely authored, and that it contained evidences that proved it to be no mere work of man. At the same time I had been taking it for granted that the missionary was a Roman Catholic. I figured that just as there are many variants of Buddhism (as practiced in India, Laos, Japan, and so on), so Jehovah’s witnesses and Catholics were variants of the same religion.

After two years in the south I obtained employment in Vientiane. When I got settled there I decided to visit the missionary at the address she had given me. I really liked her. She took the occasion to invite me to attend meetings of the Witnesses, but I was not sufficiently interested to accept. I recall at that time trying to read the book From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained and not being able to understand it. Besides, I had my religion.

A Turning Point

My missionary friend kept in touch with me, and at every opportunity urged me to attend the meetings of Jehovah’s witnesses. Finally I consented and began to learn many good things from the Bible. Since I had always had a high regard for sacred things, I enjoyed the study of the Bible, even though I did not yet see any clear distinction between its teaching and Buddhism.

A turning point arrived for me when the missionary gave me a copy of Awake! magazine one day. It was an issue dealing with family life. Buddhist teaching has little to say on this subject, and as a result polygamy, divorce, common-law marriage, desertion and prostitution are quite common. But now I found out that the Bible specifically lays down the duty of the father to support his family, to teach and discipline, and to take the lead in worship and all other vital matters. (Prov. 29:17; Eph. 6:4; 1 Tim. 5:8) And I learned that the wife’s position is to show respect for her husband while busying herself around the home for the benefit of her family.​—Titus 2:4, 5.

Demonism Exposed

Another magazine that impressed me tremendously was an issue of The Watchtower with an article on “Repelling the Attacks of Wicked Spirits.” You see, demon worship abounds in Laos. Though not strictly a part of the Buddhist religion, thousands believe in and seek to appease the demons. For example, you can see in one corner of the yard of many homes a tiny house provided for the spirit to whom that plot of land is supposed to belong. It could be a good or an evil spirit, but in any event it must be appeased with offerings of food, flowers, incense, and so on. The householder expects by such gifts to gain the protection of the spirit.

Demons are supposed to be the spirits of dead people come back to earth. Most Laotians are very much afraid of them, thinking that they can cause sickness and death and other mischief, while they themselves are helpless to keep free of their influence.

Imagine what a revelation it was to me to read in the Bible that demons are really disobedient angels, wicked creatures, enemies of God and man! (2 Pet. 2:4; Matt. 4:24) More than that, I learned that the only way to get free from their baleful influence was to get rid of anything connected with them, statues, pictures, charms, books on magical arts, and to rely on God’s help.​—Eph. 6:10-18; Acts 19:19.

Once the matter of demons was clear in my mind I found it easy to accept the explanation of some of our Buddhist ceremonies, unexpected though they were. For example, the favorite Laotian ceremony​—baci (pronounced bah-see)—​is closely related to demonism. It is performed on special occasions, such as when someone is sick, or going on a long journey, or when a child has been born. A long string of cotton is cut up into short lengths and those present tie the pieces around one another’s wrists. The result is that each one will have many such strings on his wrists. These, we had always been taught, were to bring good luck.

The missionary pointed out that these strings were connected with the idea that each of the thirty-two vital organs of the body is inhabited by a “soul.”a The purpose of the baci is to call back any of these “souls” that may have departed. If one has a headache, for instance, it is because that particular “soul” has wandered off somewhere, and must be called back if a cure is to be effected. And if one is about to take a long journey it is vital that all his “souls” be present at such an undertaking. Needless to say, when I learned the facts I stopped participating in such ceremonies right away.

Grateful to Be Free of Babylon

Another surprise for me was to learn that Jehovah God is the One who created earth. (Isa. 45:11, 12) From childhood I had been taught, with fellow Buddhists, that everything came about by chance. We have many legends in Laos about the origin of the human race, but none of them, as I recall, mention a Creator. Now I began to see the reasonableness of God’s written Word. Surely everything we see around us in life proclaims the existence of a Creator!​—Rom. 1:19, 20.

Eventually I learned, through regular Bible study, that there is true religion and false religion. I was amazed to find out that all false religion in its various manifestations finds root in the ancient religion of Babylon​—a religion that confused men and dishonored God, a religion that stressed rites and ceremonies and imparted no genuine education in righteousness to its devotees.

When I finally had the opportunity of attending a large assembly of Jehovah’s witnesses I saw for myself that the Bible’s teaching about having love among themselves was indeed being put into practice. (John 13:35) From this point on I never looked back. I knew I was on the right track.

In due course I symbolized my dedication to the Creator by water baptism at the district assembly in Chiengmai, northern Thailand, and since then I have been trying hard to aid others to find the true religion. Jehovah has blessed my humble efforts, for my young brother, who had at one time entered a Buddhist wat as a novice monk, has now dedicated his life to Jehovah, and another member of my family has started to study the Bible.

[Footnotes]

Trickery or Spiritism at the Nicene Council?

◆ Sir Edward B. Tylor, in his book Primitive Culture, mentions an incident that was reported to have taken place at the Nicene Council. He states:

“Ecclesiastical history commemorates a miracle at the close of the Nicene Council. Two bishops, Chrysanthus and Mysonius, had died during its sitting, and the remaining crowd of Fathers brought the acts, signed by themselves, to the tomb, addressed the deceased bishops as if still alive, and left the document. Next day, returning, they found the two signatures added, to this effect:​—‘We Chrysanthus and Mysonius, consenting with all the Fathers in the holy first and œcumenical Nicene Synod, although translated from the body, have also signed the volume with our own hands.’”

Was this some sort of trickery or was it an act of spiritism? It is interesting to observe that Tylor refers to the incident in his chapter dealing with spiritism and the practice of spirit writing.

Whether it was spiritism or trickery, the incident is evidence of the superstitious thinking and the kind of mentality of the men involved in the sessions of this council. No wonder such ones were wide open to accepting unscriptural ideas! Yes, it gives some insight into why the Trinity teaching, which dishonors Jehovah God, was upheld and made the basic doctrine of Christendom by the men who met at this council in Nicaea.

“Your Word Is Truth”

Do You Give Priority to Prayer?

PRIORITY is defined as “coming before in order of importance; a preferential position allotted to anything which gives it first claim to the necessary resources.” During World War II the term “priority” was used a great deal; all industries that were vital to the war effort were given priority.

To give priority to prayer, then, means to recognize its importance. It means to make time for it by taking time from other things of less importance.

Today Christian ministers often hear the complaint that people are too busy even to listen to the message of God’s kingdom. But are all these people actually too busy to listen to a short Bible sermon? By no means, if they had the desire! It is all a matter of what they think is most important for them. Many give entertainment priority because they are “lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God.”​—2 Tim. 3:4.

Herein lies a lesson for the dedicated Christian when it comes to prayer. If you are a dedicated Christian, you, of course, know that you should make time for prayer; that you should take time to pray before each meal; that you should begin and end each day with prayer to your Maker as well as pray at other times. But do you always do so? Or do you find yourself going to work in the morning without first having taken time to talk to God, to thank him for the night’s rest, for the light of another day, and for all the blessings that lie before you, spiritually as well as materially, not to say anything about asking God for wisdom and strength for the day and his blessing upon the interests of his work world wide?

True, in getting ready for work there are certain things that simply must be done: bathing or washing up, grooming one’s hair and perhaps shaving; having a bite to eat and getting off in time to catch the bus​—you know it does not wait. These things are essential if one is to “provide fine things in the sight of all men.” (Rom. 12:17) Doing these necessary things day after day, you know by now how long they take. So could you not get up a little earlier to allow some time each morning for talking with God and for at least a brief consideration of the Bible text for the day and its comment as published in the Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses? Doing so, you would be heeding the apostle’s advice to be “buying out the opportune time for yourselves, because the days are wicked.”​—Eph. 5:16.

Jesus Christ, the perfect Son of God, when upon the earth appreciated the value and need of prayer. The Gospels tell us that at the time of his baptism he prayed, that he spent whole nights in prayer, and that he repeatedly prayed on the last day of his earthly ministry. And he taught his followers how to pray and urged them, “Keep on the watch and pray continually.”​—Matt. 26:41.

What this matter of giving priority all comes down to is being conscious of our spiritual needs. (Matt. 5:3) We need to talk to God daily. ‘In all our ways we need to acknowledge him, in order to have his direction for our paths.’ (Prov. 3:5, 6) We must continually bear in mind the principle given at Psalm 127:1: “Unless Jehovah himself builds the house, it is to no avail that its builders have worked hard on it. Unless Jehovah himself guards the city, it is to no avail that the guard has kept awake.” Yes, we continually need to be aware of the fact that ‘our times are in the hand of God.’​—Ps. 31:15.

Prayer is the best way for us to keep close to Jehovah God, our Maker, our Life-giver, our Sustainer and our Judge. By prayer we can be aided to walk modestly with our God. (Mic. 6:8) To the extent that we “persevere in prayer,” to that extent Jehovah God will be near to us. (Rom. 12:12; 1 Thess. 5:17) And to that extent We will be strengthened in two of the most vital aspects of our Christian lives. What are they?

On the one hand, the closer we live to Jehovah God by prayer, the more we will fear to displease him. That fear is the beginning of wisdom, for it will help us to depart from evil, yes, it will strengthen us to resist temptation. And on the other hand, the closer we live to Jehovah God, the more we will get to know and love him and the more zeal we will have for the keeping of his commandments, for that is what the love of God means, even as the apostle John shows.​—Prov. 8:13; 9:10; 1 John 5:2, 3.

If we do indeed give our prayers to Jehovah priority over other matters, then we will have time to include praise and thanksgiving, and not limit them just to asking things of God. The psalms furnish us good examples in this respect, for while, strictly speaking, they are songs, many of them are also, in essence, prayers of praise and thanksgiving as well as petitions.

For example, Psalm 136 commands us: “Give thanks to Jehovah, O you people, for he is good: for his loving-kindness is to time indefinite; give thanks to the God of the gods . . . give thanks to the Lord of the lords. . . . Give thanks to the God of the heavens.”​—Ps. 136:1-3, 26.

And in coming to Jehovah God with petitions, requests and supplications, let us never be so bold that we find ourselves demanding or commanding God. Never let us be found preaching or lecturing to Him. No, we are beggars, and our attitude must be the same as that of Jesus, who said: “Not as I will, but as you will.”​—Matt. 26:39.

If we give our prayers priority we will be able to present our petitions with reasons for God to grant our request. This may be because his name is involved, or because we know that he is a God that delights in mercy, justice and loving-kindness. (Ex. 34:6, 7; Dan. 9:16-19) Or we can beg forgiveness due to our having inherited sin from our parents, even as did King David.​—Ps. 51:1-5.

And when praying let us use choice words and language, remembering to whom we are talking​—to the Most High, the Sovereign Ruler of the universe. Recognizing this fact will also cause us to come to him in real humility and with the greatest possible respect. And in making our requests let us never “say the same things over and over again,” as do people who do not believe the Bible.​—Matt. 6:7.

Neither should we be like the old man who prayed: “God bless me and my wife, my son John and his wife; us four and no more.” No, but let us take in the largest scope. We want to pray for the sanctification of God’s name, for the coming of his kingdom, and for his will to be done on earth. And we also want to remember the welfare of ‘the entire association of our brothers’ throughout the world.​—1 Pet. 5:9; Matt. 6:9, 10.

If we recognize that what God’s Word says is truth, we will give priority to prayer, we will never neglect it. We will make our prayers as inclusive as they should be and couch them in the fine words they deserve.

Watching the World

Scientists Can Be a Menace

◆ In a speech given by Stewart Udall, former Secretary of the Interior, the science establishment was accused of failing to warn the nation years ago of the growing environmental crisis. Those persons who tried to were attacked as “unscientific upstarts.” Mr. Udall observed: “To put it briefly, some leaders of science have seemed to assert that their profession merits public support without public accountability, public support without any assurance of value returned, public support without any guarantee that such largesse will be used in the long-term national interest. There is no doubt that in the main, science has returned good value in terms of scientific results. But as we all know today, science, lacking any foresighted ethical or social vision, can be a menace to man as well as a beneficence.”

Doctors Condemn Smoking

◆ The Royal College of Physicians in Great Britain stated that smoking had created a “holocaust” in Britain because it has been responsible for the death of 27,500 men and women annually. The physicians stated: “Cigarette smoking is now as important a cause of death as were the great epidemic diseases such as typhoid, cholera, and tuberculosis that affected previous generations in this country.” They also said: “There is no doubt that smoking during pregnancy retards the unborn baby’s growth. It has been found that mothers who smoked during pregnancy were more likely to have a miscarriage, to have a still-born baby, or one which died soon after birth.”

Blood of Smokers Deficient

◆ At a hospital in Gainesville, Florida, investigators discovered that blood taken from people who smoke does not carry sufficient oxygen to make the blood of any value for transfusion purposes. They urged rejection of blood donors who smoke. Heart surgeon Dr. Grady Hallman observed that “any patient receiving a transfusion runs the risk of getting hepatitis or having a reaction leading to shock.” It is not uncommon for death to result from a blood transfusion.

Aborting Live Fetuses

◆ Since the abortion law went into effect in New York state twenty-six fetuses have been aborted alive. One weighed two and a half pounds and has survived. It was to be put up for adoption. The other twenty-five survived for only a few minutes, showing such signs of life as heartbeat, gasps and muscular movements.

A Doctor Looks at Abortion

◆ In a letter published by The News-Sentinel of Fort Wayne, Indiana, December 28, 1970,, a doctor expressed a frank view of abortion. He said: “Regarding abortion, the basic question really is whether or not the act is murder. This in turn hinges upon whether or not the fetus is human, because there is no civilized society in which law or morals permit one recognized human to be destroyed for the convenience of another, and in many societies even punitive execution is forbidden. . . . While we may not accord a fetus certain legal rights . . . to deny that it is human, for any reason, is simply an avoidance of fact, and to destroy him willfully, even though he came into being under the most distasteful of conditions, or for any other reason, meets all the criteria of murder just as certainly as it is murder willfully to turn off the heat in the incubator of a 1-1/2 pound premature baby.”

Towel Found in Patient

◆ After a 68-year-old man died following an operation in the Toronto General Hospital, an autopsy revealed that a towel nearly one yard long had been left in his abdomen.

Troublesome Hearts

◆ Every year 600,000 Americans die from heart disease and an additional 200,000 die from disorders of the arteries. Most of them are men. In view of these facts the Inter-Society Commission for Heart Disease Resources recommended a reduction in the daily intake of cholesterol. This means fewer eggs, less butter and high-fat cuts of meat as well as cream, ice cream and foods fried in deep fat. The panel also condemned smoking and even recommended the phasing out of the entire cigarette industry.

War Crimes

◆ The New York Times of December 30, 1970, observed that the “United States has engaged in activities in Vietnam for which Germany and Japan were prosecuted after World War II.” It then quoted Professor George Bunn, law professor of the University of Wisconsin, as saying that the destruction of civilian crops is a violation of three international agreements. The massacre of men, women and children in My Lai, Vietnam, by American troops was compared in a letter to the Minneapolis Tribune of December 14, 1970, with the killing of all men in the village of Lidice, Czechoslovakia, by Nazi troops during World War II. The United Nations Committee for investigating war crimes tried and sentenced the Germans responsible for that massacre.

Mangrove Forest Destroyed

◆ According to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, sprays used by the military for defoliation in Vietnam have destroyed a fifth of the 1.2 million acres of mangrove forest in South Vietnam. There are doubts that the jungle can recover. The forests have remained dead for six years after being sprayed.

Girls Encourage Sex Crimes

◆ One of the reasons given for the mounting sex crimes in Hong Kong is the sexually suggestive clothes girls are wearing. This was the opinion of Yan Chi-kit, President of the Hong Kong and Kowloon Joint Kainfong Research Council. He feels that the temptation of suggestive clothes is often too much for young men.

Pregnant Children

◆ According to the director of a medical clinic in Richmond, Virginia, teen-age pregnancies in the United States are increasing in a “tragic fashion.” The director also observed: “Alarming is the number of pregnancies among girls under 15 who face serious educational, medical and social problems.” Such girls are more susceptible to toxemia, vaginal infections and long, premature labor due to the pelvis not being fully developed.

Deteriorating Family Life

◆ With a growing number of young people living together without marriage and in communes, and with a climbing divorce rate, as well as changing attitudes about the usefulness of families, there is a growing concern about the family. Dr. Paul Popenoe, who founded the American Institute of Family Relations, observed: “No society has ever survived after its family life deteriorated.”

Priest Approves Violence

◆ In Brazil Archbishop Helder Câmara has condoned violence by saying: “I respect those who in full conscience, choose revolutionary violence. I am not here to condemn anybody. . . . The Latin-American Church cannot condemn the use of force. The duty of the Church is to interfere.” This statement appeared in the magazine O Cruzeiro of September 22, 1970, pages 20 to 22.

Catholic Deacons

◆ Two hundred and seventy-five men are being trained to become the first permanent deacons of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. They will continue in their regular secular jobs while serving part time as deacons. They will engage in all the functions of a priest except saying mass, hearing confessions and anointing the sick. The reason for this appointment is a shortage of priests.

Churches for Sale

◆ Shifting populations and withering congregations are causing many churches to be put up for sale. They are being converted into homes, theaters, warehouses, supermarkets, gas stations, TV repair stores and recreation centers. A New York radio station bought one and converted it into a radio studio and music store. Another church was made into a discotheque with rock music being played on its organ. Some people are using the stained glass from the windows in their bathrooms.

Evidence of Impalement

◆ Upon examining some skeletons found in one of several cave tombs northeast of Jerusalem, a team of Israeli scholars discovered a skeleton whose two heel bones were pierced by a single, large iron nail. The skeleton dates back to early Christian times and is the first evidence ever found of impalement in Biblical times. Over 3,000 Jews were executed in this manner by the Romans in 66 C.E. The nail had hit a knot in the wood and had bent in such a fashion that it could not be withdrawn. It appears that he was impaled with his legs together and his knees and feet pointing in the same direction. The legs had been broken as was also the case with other skeletons found there.

Man’s Inner Clock

◆ Your body functions according to a biological clock that is based on a twenty-four-hour cycle. Researchers have found that you are not the same in the morning as you are at night. Persons who tried to live on twelve-, eighteen-, and even forty-eight-hour days became cranky, error-prone and disoriented. Not until they returned to a twenty-four-hour cycle did they return to normal. Researchers have found that tissues continued to show this rhythm when removed and placed in a nutrient solution.

Earthquake Warning

◆ In the San Francisco Bay area, twenty-nine hours before a minor earthquake struck a town twenty-five miles away, the entire Bay area tilted in the direction of the quake’s center. Scientists hope that this finding will prove to be a means of giving advance notice when earthquakes will occur.

Well-fed but Poorly Nourished

◆ Medical studies show that you may eat plenty of food but be poorly nourished. Reporting on the situation The Wall Street Journal of January 6, 1971, stated: “Dietary habits may be at least partly responsible, nutritionists suspect, for a variety of common health complaints ranging from hypertension (too much salt on your food) to irritability, insomnia and anxiety (all attributable in some cases to vitamin shortages).” Dr. Robert Mendelsohn, professor of pediatrics commented: “In general, advertising promotes foods nobody needs and which are no good for you.”

Two Galaxies Found

◆ Two huge galaxies that have been obscured by interstellar dust were detected by California astronomers. Most galaxies are a very great distance from us. What is outstanding about these newly discovered galaxies is that they are relatively close, only about three million light-years away. One is believed to be larger than our own galaxy, the Milky Way, as well as that of the Andromeda galaxy, which is a neighbor of ours.

More Deadly than Snakes

◆ If you see a small octopus (arm spread of only three or four inches) with bluish patterns on its yellowish-brown body in the waters off Australia do not touch it. It is probably a blue-ringed octopus and is more deadly than the most venomous snake. A soldier who was exploring rock pools near Sydney found one and placed it on his arm. He died ninety minutes after being bitten.

Living in Fear

◆ In large cities there are many elderly persons who are afraid to venture out of their homes because of street crime. The Special Senate Committee on Aging reported: “It has become clear that the elderly, in increasing numbers, stay at home behind locked doors after dark and even during some daylight hours.” Another report regarding New York city said that “of 137 elderly interviewees, each had been mugged at least once.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses Call at Your Home.

JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES CALL AT YOUR HOME. WHY? LEARN THE FACTS ABOUT THEM.

You can learn the truth about their activities since 1870 by reading the hardbound book of 320 pages “Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Divine Purpose.” It can be had for $1. Its page size is similar to that in this magazine.

Please send me the 320-page, hardbound book Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Divine Purpose and the gift booklet Man’s Rule About to Give Way to God’s Rule. I am enclosing $1.

What Is The Future of World Governments?

It is foretold in this vision.

More than 2,500 years ago this prophetic vision was recorded in the Bible by the prophet Daniel. It and other prophecies in his book reveal the future of the governments of men existing today.

Read the intriguing details in the book “Your Will Be Done on Earth.” Learn also how the religions of the world are involved. You can read the surprising facts in the book What Has Religion Done for Mankind? How the outcome will sanctify God’s name is interestingly explained in the book “Let Your Name Be Sanctified.” All three hardbound books, totaling 1,120 pages, can be had for $1.50.

I am enclosing $1.50 for the three books “Your Will Be Done on Earth,” What Has Religion Done for Mankind? and “Let Your Name Be Sanctified.” As a free gift send also the booklets God’s Way Is Love, “This Good News of the Kingdom” and When God Is King over All the Earth.