March 22

Page Two

In many parts of the world, religious leaders are concerned about the number of people leaving their churches. In this issue, our report from Italy takes up the matter regarding the situation in the Catholic Church. At a later time, Awake! will consider the situation in other religions.

[Picture Credit Line on page 2]

R. Krubner/​H. Armstrong Roberts

Why Are They Worried About Losing Members?

Many churches are losing members. These first three articles, by Awake! correspondent in Italy, show that the Vatican itself, as well as many Catholic papers and commentators, is concerned. What reasons do they and others give for loss of church members?

THE Vatican is concerned. It issued a report last May entitled Sects or New Religious Movements: Pastoral Challenge. This document was the result of a study begun in 1984 by four Vatican departments to determine why so many Catholics are leaving the church.

Among the many reasons the Vatican gave for Catholics’ leaving the church were the following: ‘Concern over the future; the nature of truth and how it is to be found; the meaning of life; the lack of answers to their questions; feeling betrayed, deceived, exploited, not listened to; and disillusioned with Church laws and practices.’

It sounds like the condition of the crowds that flocked to Jesus: “They were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9:36)a The Vatican document admitted that there are “many deficiencies and inadequacies in the actual behaviour of the Church” and emphasized that “there is a vacuum crying out to be filled.” It also referred to the “lack of leadership, patience and personal commitment on the part of church leaders.”

Other sources list further reasons for the departures from the churches. The well-known Dutch Catholic theologian Johannes Baptist Metz made this statement: “Our Western religion is secularized to the bone. No trace of messianism has been left over in it. Rulership by God has vanished out of it. He does not figure anymore within the churches, within theology, nor within the social and political issues of our day.”

Commenting on the situation regarding young people in Spain, Concilium, an international theological magazine, said: “Youth and the church represent two totally separate worlds, far removed from each other.” This magazine mentions parallel situations in Holland, Belgium, Federal Republic of Germany, and Australia.

One press report referred to the papal document as “the Vatican’s cry of alarm.” The document suggests a ‘rethinking of the parish community approach.’ It should be ‘outgoing and witnessing.’ It observes that the sects go “out of their way to meet people where they are, warmly, personally, and directly, pulling the individual out of anonymity, promoting participation, spontaneity, responsibility, commitment.”

It calls for an “ongoing education in the faith” to combat the religious ignorance so widespread among members of the churches today. “The word of God,” the document declares, “should be rediscovered as an important community-building element,” and the preaching work should have a “biblical dimension.”

Turning from its self-examination, the document strikes an ominous note: “At times we may have to recognize, and even support, radical interventions on the part of the state acting in its own sphere.” (Italics ours.) This “invitation” to the State to step in to help in the war was not lost on the press. “Is the shadow of the ‘secular arm’ reappearing with regard to non-Catholic religions, and particularly with regard to the so-called ‘sects’?” asked Marco Tosatti in La Stampa of June 4, 1986.

Does this possible use of the government indicate that the Vatican wishes to return to its methods of the Dark and Middle Ages to suppress freedom of worship? Did Jesus ever request the help of political authorities to neutralize those who opposed his teachings? Did Peter ever do so? Did the other apostles ever do so? Was it not the Pharisees who appealed to Pilate in order to have Jesus impaled? Is requesting governmental help proof of spiritual strength, or is it an admission of weakness?

Not all Catholics leaving the church are joining another religion, but large numbers are flocking to one particular religious organization. What group is that, and why is it the one being chosen by so many who are leaving their church?

[Footnotes]

[Picture Credit Line on page 4]

Cover photo: K. Scholz/​H. Armstrong Roberts

Why Are So Many Becoming Jehovah’s Witnesses?

IN MANY lands people are doing just that. For example, at Bologna, Italy, church authorities, with the pope’s approval, held a congress to study how to combat the success of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The Catholic Church raised a “cry of alarm,” according to La Repubblica, because every year ten thousand Catholics become Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The Jesuit Giusseppe De Rosa said that “from a religious point of view the most dangerous are Jehovah’s Witnesses. They come fully trained; they always have the Bible in their hand.”

In an editorial dealing specifically with Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Jesuit magazine La Civiltá Cattolica of February 18, 1984, wrote:

“The first reason for the spread of the movement lies in the propaganda techniques [that is, in the preaching work]. The work on the one hand is painstaking, carried out from door to door by people who are scrupulously trained in this work and strongly convinced . . .

“The second reason for the success of the JWs is in the attractive force of the jehovist message, in being able to cater to the needs, demands, and expectations of the people of our times. First of all, it fulfills the need for certainties, something very much appreciated at a time when all is uncertain and unsteady. . . . Above all, it is an absolutely certain revelation of the future, and therefore all who accept it are freed from all fear and anxiety and can face the future with joy, with the certainty of surviving the ruination of God’s tremendous judgment day for a wicked world and to live in eternal happiness on earth. Secondly, the jehovist message helps in overcoming the anxiety of the individual in the face of this world’s woes, announcing that the overturning of today’s unbearable situation is near, and that soon, therefore, there will be a new era, a new world will be born from which all the wicked who are now triumphant will be eliminated. . . .

“The third reason for the success of JWs is that the movement gives its members a precise and strong identity, and it is a place for them where they are welcomed with warmth and a sense of brotherhood and solidarity.”

The Vatican document analyzed people’s needs at the present time, and the foregoing quote from the Jesuit magazine La Civiltá Cattolica showed that it is the message of Jehovah’s Witnesses that is fulfilling those needs. This is further evidenced by the Catholic writer Vittorio Messori in his recent book Scommessa sulla morte (A Bet on Death), in which he writes:

“It makes you think when you realize that one of these apocalyptical sects​—Jehovah’s Witnesses—​is the fastest growing confession, or religion, in the world. It is among the most practiced religions in many lands . . . and it is perhaps in first place when it comes to fervor, zeal, activism, ability to make proselytes.

“Neither is their ever more accentuated presence limited to lands of Christian tradition, but it reaches the whole of the world where, in the name of Jehovah, and in a very short time, results are obtained that are often superior to those of Catholic, protestant, and orthodox missionaries in centuries of work.

“This impressive force of expansion is incomprehensible only to the one who does not want to admit that . . . Jehovah’s Witnesses’ way of reading the Bible evidently meets real needs that other theologies no longer fill.

“One cannot avoid the issue by insinuating that the Witnesses prosper because they play on fear. Just the opposite: Unlike the ‘official’ churches, they deny the existence of hell, preaching annihilation for the wicked and unbelievers, definitive disappearance after death. An unpleasant prospect, perhaps; but certainly less terrorizing than the threat of terrible pains for all eternity.”

Yes, the God of Jehovah’s Witnesses is a loving God, not one that strikes people with terror.

The following quotation is taken from the Catholic magazine Mondo erre of March 1986: “It ought to be said that Jehovah’s Witnesses are the first to live the faith they preach: They don’t get angry, they don’t smoke, they don’t accumulate riches, they keep out of political discussions, . . . they pay the taxes, they follow a virtuous and honest life-style, they are happy and obliging. All of this has made them well liked.”

Ex-Catholics Interviewed

It is interesting to consider some firsthand accounts indicating the reasons why two ex-Catholics chose another religion.

Rosanna C., a young married woman who lives in the province of Parma (northern Italy), says:

“I had a peaceful infancy. I received much affection from my parents and had a normal Catholic education. During adolescence, I developed a desire common to many young people: I wanted to make myself useful to God and serve him. This desire was nourished by reading a copy of the Gospel I bought at a bookstall. I had never read it before. What I read made me love Jesus. I realized that he had a message of hope for mankind, even though I did not grasp the meaning of it. I also realized that his disciples must show deep love for God and their fellowman.”

Awake!: Were you satisfied with the way you practiced your religion?

Rosanna: Not really. When I was 17, I taught catechism to children who were from 10 to 12 years of age. As a member of a Catholic Action youth group, I took part in meetings and spiritual meditation. I was very occupied, religiously speaking. But there were two things I didn’t like. The Bible, the book I so deeply respected, was never examined, and in the group I belonged to, there was no real unselfish love or unity. And that was not all. I was also concerned by the fact that a sodomite and a Lesbian were accepted and highly esteemed by the group. One afternoon I just broke down and cried.

Awake!: Was it easy for you to become one of Jehovah’s Witnesses?

Rosanna: No, it certainly wasn’t! When my parents first began receiving visits by Jehovah’s Witnesses, I had no wish to join in. Later, however, impressed by the good manners of the Witnesses, I decided to get to know them and joined in on a Bible discussion with them. This was decisive for me. What most impressed me was the fact that for every objection I raised, they gave me a clear answer from the Bible.

Awake!: Did you ask any priests for advice after this conversation?

Rosanna: Yes, several, and a nun. They were not too concerned about helping a ‘lost sheep.’ After an accurate study of the Bible, in 1977 I symbolized my dedication to Jehovah God with water baptism.

Claudio C., 30, from Isérnia (central Italy), said:

“When I was ten years old, of my own free will I entered a seminary run by the Capuchin friars. My desire was to serve God as a missionary. Seminary life had its problems due to certain situations existing there; but what really disturbed me was when my superiors refused to give me a copy of the Bible, a book I greatly desired to read. I was even more concerned when a priest told us that man’s origin was through evolution. I realized that I could not achieve my goal of serving God in the seminary, so I left at the age of 15.”

Awake!: How did you come in contact with Jehovah’s Witnesses?

Claudio: They came to my house. I remember asking them direct questions, and they gave me direct and precise answers. They left two books with me, Did Man Get Here by Evolution or by Creation? and Is the Bible Really the Word of God? After reading them, I realized that the theory of evolution is unfounded and that the Scriptures are inspired by God. My brother had joined me in my search for the truth, and we wondered if the Witnesses really were the representatives of true Christianity. We needed to examine their doctrines more thoroughly.

Awake!: What did you do then?

Claudio: We had conversations with three priests and with ministers of several Protestant denominations. After a thorough investigation, we were convinced that it was Jehovah’s Witnesses that really helped people to understand the Bible. We got baptized as Jehovah’s Witnesses, and I’ve finally achieved my childhood goal of serving God.

Are you willing to compare your religious views with God’s Word the Bible? Do you have the courage to do that with an open mind?

[Blurb on page 5]

“They always have the Bible in their hand.”​—Jesuit Giusseppe De Rosa

[Blurb on page 6]

“Jehovah’s Witnesses are the first to live the faith they preach.​—The Catholic magazine Mondo erre

[Picture on page 6]

“They gave me a clear answer from the Bible”

[Picture on page 7]

“I’ve finally achieved my childhood goal of serving God”

Are You Open-Minded Toward God?

DO YOU love God? Do you want to know him better? The way to do so was shown 19 centuries ago. The apostle Paul preached to a mixed crowd of Jews and Greeks in a Jewish synagogue in Thessalonica. Some Jews and some Greeks were convinced and changed their religion, but many of the Jews, “full of resentment, enlisted the help of a gang from the market place, stirred up a crowd, and soon had the whole city in an uproar.”

Under cover of darkness, Paul escaped the mob and moved on to Beroea and soon was in the synagogue preaching to both Jews and Greeks. “Here the Jews were more open-minded than those in Thessalonika, and they welcomed the word very readily; every day they studied the scriptures to check whether it was true. Many Jews became believers, and so did many Greek women from the upper classes and a number of the men.”​—Acts 17:1-12.

The Jews in Thessalonica clung to their centuries-old religion with its oral traditions that made void God’s Word. (Matthew 15:1-9) How different were those of Beroea​—they listened with open minds, checked the Scriptures to see whether Paul’s words were true, and changed their religion.

Catholic commentators, as quoted in the previous article, have this to say about Jehovah’s Witnesses. They are “in first place when it comes to fervor, zeal, activism.” They “are the first to live the faith they preach,” and they “follow a virtuous and honest life-style.” One is “welcomed with warmth and a sense of brotherhood and solidarity.” “They always have the Bible in their hand,” and their “way of reading the Bible evidently meets real needs that other theologies no longer fill.” Their message “helps in overcoming the anxiety of the individual in the face of this world’s woes.” All of this and more is said by Catholic clergymen and commentators. Is not all of this high praise for Jehovah’s Witnesses?

Would it not be wise, then, to listen to their Bible-based conversations when they call at your door? And remember, the fact that their religion is disparagingly called a “sect” does not make it false. The first Christians were called “the Nazarene sect.” The Bible admonishes all of us to “prove all things: hold fast that which is good.” (Acts 24:5; 1 Thessalonians 5:21, Douay Version) Should not all who love God and want to know him heed this divine counsel?

[Box/​Pictures on page 9]

If you are a Catholic and wish to know God better, with an open mind consider these questions along with the scriptures cited, using your own Bible.

The Catholic Douay Version Bible teaches that the soul dies​—does your church teach that it is immortal?​—Ezekiel 18:4; Acts 3:23; Apocalypse 16:3.

It teaches that the wages sin pays is death​—does your church teach that sinners are tortured in hell or in purgatory?​—Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10; Romans 6:23.

It teaches that Jehovah is one God and that Jesus is not equal to him​—does your church teach that God is one God in three persons and that Jesus is one of three equals?​—Deuteronomy 6:4; John 14:28.

It teaches that Jesus is the rock on which God’s church is built​—does your church teach that it is built on Peter?​—Ephesians 2:20, 21; 1 Peter 2:4-8.

It teaches praying to God through Christ Jesus​—does your church teach praying to or through others?​—Philippians 4:6; 1 Timothy 2:5.

It teaches addressing confession of sins and requests for forgiveness to God through the advocacy of Jesus Christ​—does your church teach that these favors come through a priest?​—1 John 1:9; 2:1.

And that same Catholic Bible teaches that friendship with the world and political involvement with this world is enmity with God​—does your church involve itself with the political or military affairs of this world?​—John 15:19; 18:36; James 1:27; 4:4.

[Pictures]

Hellfire?

Trinity?

Intercessors?

How Knowing Greek Led Me to Know God

“NICHOLAS, I’d like you to give serious thought to taking Greek.” “Oh, yes, Sir, Mr. Benton, yes, Sir.” This was in the 1950’s. I was in my tenth-grade year at Phillips Academy, a private school in Andover, Massachusetts. I was already taking Latin and French. Now he wanted me to take Greek too? Well, I did like languages. Maybe he had a point about Greek.

So at the start of my 11th-grade year, I signed up for Greek. I found it amazingly flexible, very expressive and creative, yet very simple too. Soon I was hooked on the language. Thus it was that I began my very exciting trip through Greek​—never dreaming where it would lead me!

From Phillips Academy I went on to college, to Princeton. In my senior year I decided I wanted to teach, and after graduating, I did start at an Episcopal boys’ school, St. Paul’s, in New Hampshire. This was consistent with my background. Growing up, I was a longtime choirboy at the local Episcopal Church. In my area the respectable people were either Unitarian or Episcopalian. So I’d been steeped in the very High Church Episcopalianism but exposed to very little Biblical or spiritual understanding. The Bible was swallowed up in church formalism. Now at St. Paul’s I was immersed in it once again. Everybody​—faculty and students—​had to go to chapel every weekday and twice on Sunday.

I taught Latin and Greek there for four years. After my first year I got married to a young lady named Suzanne. The next three summers I studied for and got my master’s degree in Latin and Greek. While considering going for my doctoral degree, I received a letter from my old Greek mentor at Phillips Academy, Dr. Chase. “I’ve just had an opening in Andover,” he wrote. “I know you want to go to graduate school. But would you please come down and talk to us?” I did, and wound up teaching Greek there. I’ve taught there ever since.

We hadn’t lived in our new home for more than three weeks when there was a knock on the door. It was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. She started a Bible study with Suzanne. That was in 1968. The Watch Tower publication they studied along with the Bible was The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life. It used some original-language Greek words, such as hades and psyche and stauros. Suzanne would come to me and ask:

“Oh, Nicholas, here’s a word that Karen and I studied in the Bible. Could stauros just mean ‘stake’?”

“Well, sure. It does mean ‘stake.’ I don’t know how they ever got ‘cross’ out of stauros. But I’m not surprised. The Christian church has been doing things like that at least since Constantine’s time.”

Later I met Karen’s husband, and after some general discussions a regular Bible study was started. But I had problems. Episcopalianism had given me no knowledge of the Bible, no faith in it. I needed an approach to the study that would satisfy my demand for logic. Was it reasonable to think that the Witnesses​—an unpopular minority often scorned and ridiculed—​had the scholarship to meet my need?

But then I remembered, minorities with different ideas were often ridiculed by the majority, even despised and persecuted by them, yet ultimately were proved right. Now here are these Witnesses​—a minority, different, running around knocking on doors, standing on street corners with their magazines, scoffed at, and often despised and persecuted. Maybe it would be worth listening to them​—they just might have something!

So I took as a working hypothesis, or theory, “Maybe Jehovah’s Witnesses can show me who God really is.” My theory began with just two assumptions: (1) that the majority isn’t necessarily right and (2) that, except for popular opinion, I had no reason to consider the ideas of Jehovah’s Witnesses false. After a few sessions to discuss the Bible, I realized there was a third underlying assumption to be dealt with. I brought it up to the Witness studying with me: “Arthur, how can I be sure that the words of the Bible are not just old stories?”

“Do I have the book for you!” he exclaimed.

He brought me a book just recently published (1969) by the Watch Tower Society, Is the Bible Really the Word of God? It was packed with facts on science and archaeology that confirmed the Bible’s historical accuracy and discussed many fulfilled prophecies that proved its inspiration. So this important assumption held up​—the Bible had to be God’s Word!

Arthur and other Witnesses then showed skill in bringing together all the scriptures on given points, and by thus ‘combining spiritual matters with spiritual words,’ they brought clarity and harmony into material that otherwise seemed obscure or contradictory. (1 Corinthians 2:13) My questions were answered with scriptures, the pieces fit together, harmonious patterns of truth emerged. My second assumption was also correct: The Witnesses understood it correctly.

By this time I had started going to Witness meetings at the Kingdom Hall. Next I went from door to door with Arthur. One woman, a Baptist, gave me one of these little tracts about the Witnesses, supposedly exposing their errors. In several places it referred to the Greek. So I was curious: Just how knowledgeable were they in Greek. Within a few weeks I had acquired several more similar tracts to examine.

Most of them revolved around the Trinity. They assumed the Trinity to be true, then carefully selected their scholarly authorities to prove it. In fact, the attacks on Witness teachings often focused on the Trinity and on their New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures. In Greek, as in English, some words can mean different things in different contexts. The English word “bow,” for instance, can be a courteous bow, a bow of ribbon, or a bow with which to shoot arrows.

In Bible study, however, you look not only at the context but also at other scriptures to see how the word is used in different settings. So you check to see whether you’re leaning on your assumptions or on the evidence. I noticed that these tract writers frequently manipulate the evidence, misrepresent it. On the other hand, the Society was quite honest in looking at all the evidence, all the possibilities, offering their conclusions, but then telling you to decide. After a careful examination of the points of controversy, I saw that the Society was right.

In some places the Trinitarians clearly manipulate the evidence. The classic example of this is, I guess, John 8:58. There Jesus said: “Before Abraham was, I am.” (King James Version) The Trinitarians pick up Jesus’ use of “I am” here and relate it to Jehovah’s statement to Moses in Exodus 3:14 (KJ), “I am that I am.” Because both Jesus and Jehovah used “I am,” they argue that this makes Jesus and Jehovah one. And the Greek root does say am in the present tense at John 8:58.

However, even their own theological grammar books acknowledge that where an expression of past time appears in the sentence, the present tense verb can sometimes be translated as if it has begun in past time and continues up to the present.a This is also true in French and it is true in Latin. Hence, when the New World Translation says “I have been” instead of “I am,” it is translating the Greek correctly. (John 8:58) Yet the Trinitarians act as if ‘No, that’s not even possible!’ So I began to notice this misrepresentation of the evidence on the part of the detractors of the Society.

‘Well, since the Society’s scholarship is credible in the Greek,’ I reasoned, ‘must it not also be in its other writings?’ It was this that led me to study in earnest, which in turn led me to baptism in 1970.

The year before this, a publication was released by the Watch Tower Society entitled The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures. It proved to be crucial for me. Perhaps more than any other single thing, it was instrumental in causing me to become one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. In the left-hand column on each page is the original koine Greek text, and under each line is a literal translation of the Greek. In the right-hand column of each page, in modern-day English, is the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures.

Incidentally, right at the time when this publication came out, I was assigned to teach at Phillips Academy a course in New Testament Greek. Since I did not learn Greek from a theologian who was teaching New Testament Greek, I was probably much more objective about it. I could look at the words with fresh eyes, free of the traditional, doctrinal notions.

Such preconceptions can really give you eyes that don’t see and ears that don’t hear because if, as you do your research, you’re looking for something to confirm what you already believe, that’s all your eyes and ears will see or hear. Instead of looking to see ‘Well, what’s the whole case?’ they see only what can be used, or misused, to support their preconceptions.

Incidentally, most theologians that I’ve met are not strong in Greek. The quality of Greek scholarship in the Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures, however, is very good. It’s the kind of thing that a person who really wants to work with the Greek, even though not knowing much Greek, can do a lot with. I feel it’s one of the greatly underappreciated jewels of the Watch Tower Society’s publications.

Now, as to my becoming one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. In addition to all the help from these scholarly works of the Society​—especially those relating to the Greek—​the time period was important for me. The years ’68, ’69, ’70​—remember what life was like then? I sympathized with the hippie movement because I didn’t like what my country was doing and I didn’t like what the establishment was doing. On the other hand, I didn’t like the idea of dropping acid or smoking marijuana. The hippies didn’t really have the answers; neither did the establishment. I was looking for better answers, more meaning, some larger purpose in all of this.

Life has to be more than going through the motions of teaching or selling insurance or what have you. Life isn’t just books: It’s people​—not just people going to elite prep schools and Ivy League colleges. I’d been that route, and something was still missing. I was looking for something that was bigger than the usual mold, something of real value.

And I found it in Bible truth. Bible truth has it all​—loving God and loving people. This truth made me really see people. People who are auto mechanics, ditchdiggers, railroad engineers, people who are all kinds of different things, people that I would have missed meeting in any other way. And it wasn’t just getting to meet them; it was getting to know them well and coming to love them.

This is really what it was with Jesus, too, wasn’t it? The people. He related to people. To the needs of people. He was so involved with people. Paul too. Much in Paul’s letters is counsel about people getting along with people. I said to myself at one point: ‘If they’re going to start throwing people into concentration camps, I want to be in there with people I care about. Let me in too!’

I thought: ‘If it comes to the time when you have to stand up and be counted, then you’ve got one choice. Either you’re going to be part of the system that is persecuting or you’re going to be part of those that are being persecuted.’ I wanted to be counted with those who were applying Bible principles and standing up for righteousness, whatever the cost.

I’d spent enough time on the scientific, intellectual aspects. It was time for feelings to take over. These people were doing it. These people were living it. I wanted to be with them. It wasn’t some date, it wasn’t Armageddon, it wasn’t saving my skin. It was my heart talking. These people are right. These other groups are wrong. I want to be where it’s right.

All of this was going through my mind one morning as I stepped into the shower, and it was at that moment that I made a dedication in my heart to serve Jehovah God. I’m one of those people that had to go through the intellectual part before I could move on to the matters of the heart. It put my dedication on a solid foundation of faith based on knowledge​—the all-important knowledge, namely: “This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ.”​—John 17:3.

Thus my life came to have meaning and now rests on a foundation of love​—love for Jehovah, love for Jesus, and love for the people who love Jehovah and Jesus.​—As told by Nicholas Kip.

[Footnotes]

[Blurb on page 11]

“It does mean ‘stake.’ I don’t know how they ever got ‘cross’ out of stauros”

[Blurb on page 12]

They see only what can be used, or misused, to prove their preconceptions

[Box on page 14]

Some Comments by Greek Scholars on The New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures

“I am interested in the mission work of your people, and its world wide scope, and much pleased with the free, frank and vigorous translation. It exhibits a vast array of sound serious learning, as I can testify.”​—Letter, December 8, 1950, from Edgar J. Goodspeed, translator of the Greek “New Testament” in An American Translation.

“The translation is evidently the work of skilled and clever scholars, who have sought to bring out as much of the true sense of the Greek text as the English language is capable of expressing.”​—Hebrew and Greek scholar Alexander Thomson, in The Differentiator, April 1952, pages 52-7.

“The translation of the New Testament is evidence of the presence in the movement of scholars qualified to deal intelligently with the many problems of Biblical translation.”​—Andover Newton Quarterly, January 1963.

“The New Testament translation was made by a committee whose membership has never been revealed​—a committee that possessed an unusual competence in Greek.”​—Andover Newton Quarterly, September 1966.

“This is no ordinary interlinear: the integrity of the text is preserved, and the English which appears below it is simply the basic meaning of the Greek word. . . . After examining a copy, I equipped several interested second-year Greek students with it as an auxiliary text. . . . The translation by the anonymous committee is thoroughly up-to-date and consistently accurate. . . . In sum, when a Witness comes to the door, the classicist, Greek student, or Bible student alike would do well to bring him in and place an order.”​—From a review of The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures, by Thomas N. Winter of the University of Nebraska, appearing in The Classical Journal, April–May 1974.

[Picture on page 10]

Nicholas Kip teaching Greek

[Picture on page 13]

Nicholas and his wife Suzanne, checking in the Kingdom Interlinear

Forests in the Sea

My name is Garibaldi. This is my home. Isn’t it beautiful?

People once tried to catch me and put me into a small tank. Can you imagine that? I would have died of claustrophobia. Pardon the big word. It means dread of tight places.

But I am safe now. I was made California’s state marine fish, and now I am protected.

If you wish to learn about my lovely home and meet some of my neighbors, please read about the [Forests in the Sea]

VISITORS to the groves of California’s giant coast redwoods stand and gaze up in silent wonder. Surrounded by the huge trunks towering upward, the leafy canopy high overhead, the shafts of light slanting down through this green ceiling, you feel small and insignificant. With the silence, the stillness, the shafts of light so dramatically defined against the shade of the great forest engulfing you​—a feeling of reverential awe steals over you. Many relate to these forests of giant redwoods.

Not so many relate to forest giants of another kind. They stand not on the coast but just off the coast of California. They, too, tower upward, spread a canopy overhead, with shafts of light penetrating down into the gloom of their environment. There also is a silence, a stillness, and light beams that add a haunting beauty to the forest surrounding you​—and similar feelings of wonder and awe wash over you.

This forest has no trees, but fronds; no trunks, but stipes; no leaves, but blades; no roots, but holdfasts. This forest is underwater. Its fancy name is Macrocystis pyrifera, its common one is giant kelp​—brown algae and “the largest and fastest-growing marine plant in the world.” Visitors to its forests must carry their air with them, so they don scuba gear and also wet suits to protect against the cold of the sea. And if they wish to take away more than memories, they must carry with them underwater cameras and artificial lighting.

Giant kelp starts out microscopically small. Spores attach themselves to rocks up to a hundred feet deep, develop into microscopic male and female plantlets, which combine sperm and eggs to produce an embryo.a From these embryos fronds grow upward; spaghettilike cords grow downward. The fronds reach for the surface and sunlight, the cords glue tightly to rocks and anchor the plants in place. Called haptera, these cords grow into large bundles and are known as holdfasts.

As the fronds grow they add blades with gas-filled floats to keep themselves headed for the surface of the sea. There they continue to grow, spreading out to form dense canopies. Each frond may live only six months, but new ones grow up from the holdfast. The whole kelp plant can live for five years or more. It absorbs nutrients throughout its whole supple structure​—blades, stipes, and holdfasts.

And the fronds grow up to two feet a day! They may grow a hundred feet or more to reach the surface, then add another hundred feet to form the floating canopy. It is through these canopies of floating kelp that shafts of sunlight penetrate to add an ethereal beauty, an otherworldliness, to this underwater realm.

A kelp bed teems with life. Scientists claim that just one mature kelp plant can support over a million organisms. Some 178 species live in the holdfasts alone​—crabs, nudibranchs, brittle stars, worms, and others. In all, an estimated 800 species live in and around a kelp bed, using it as food, shelter, or hunting grounds. Starfish, anemones, jellyfish, moray eels, and many fish frequent the kelp beds. One very pugnacious little fellow is the bright-orange garibaldi​—also distinguished as California’s state marine fish.

Late in the 1950’s many of the California kelp forests were near extinction. Warmer seas will kill kelp, and storms tear them loose from their holdfasts, but the main threat was from the sea urchin. It was, as it often is, man’s doing. Kelco corporation’s news release explains:

“Sea urchins are spiney marine creatures that feed on kelp holdfasts, fronds and young plants. The near decimation of the sea urchin’s most effective natural enemy, the sea otter, by large-scale hunting in earlier years had upset the ecological balance of the kelp beds. Urchins, left free to satisfy their appetites on kelp began reproducing unchecked and devoured vast stretches of kelp forest. Urchins were recorded as moving up to 30 feet a month through the kelp beds.”

But the remedy was also man’s doing. The sea otter became protected, their numbers increased, the sea urchins decreased, and the kelp forests are recovering. As Kelco reports: “Today, our kelp forests are beginning to near the generous boundaries occupied some sixty years ago. The ecological balance is being restored, and a once endangered natural resource has been reborn.”

And, with this rebirth, divers once more glide through the kelp jungles and with cameras clicking bring back to us a small measure of the glories to be found in these forests in the sea.

[Footnotes]

[Full-page picture on page 17]

[Pictures on page 18]

Sea Otter

Sea Urchins

Holdfast

When Kelp Comes Ashore

GIANT kelp is more involved in your life than you think. An article in Oceanus, by marine biologists Ron H. McPeak and Dale A. Glantz, gives information on how kelp gets from the ocean and into the lives of most of us. It is harvested along the California coast from San Diego north to Carmel.

In productive beds it may be cut three times a year. Modern harvesting vessels are pushed stern first through the beds. Reciprocating blades mounted at the base of a conveyor system operate like a seagoing lawn mower, cutting the floating fronds of the kelp canopy three feet below the surface.a The conveyor carries the cut kelp aboard. In one day a harvesting vessel can reap as much as 550 metric tons. In California the kelp industry has harvested as much as 156,000 metric tons in one year.

The kelp forest is not damaged by this harvesting. The still-submerged part of the kelp is where sexual reproduction occurs. Also, buoyancy and photosynthesis occur the entire length of the fronds. The removal of the thick canopy lets in more sunlight, which stimulates the growth of the new fronds that are beneath the surface. Soon a new canopy is formed, and another harvest is in the making.

When kelp comes ashore, it goes far beyond the coastline. Its products find their way into your kitchen, dining room, and bathroom medicine cabinet. They find their way into feed for livestock and poultry and into fertilizer for crops. Chemicals from kelp end up in the products of industry.

Kelp’s most important contribution is algin. It was first discovered by a British pharmacist in 1883. But it was not until 1929 that Kelco, a San Diego company, became the world’s first producer of algin products. Now the annual sales of these products manufactured in California exceed $35 million. Their uses are legion. “They thicken, smooth, emulsify, stabilize, gelatinize or create a film when combined with other substances.” After giving this information, Sport Diver magazine elaborates:

“Many brewers use alginates to form tougher beer bubbles, making for a longer-lasting foam head. Alginates keep cosmetic creams from separating and help maintain ice cream’s smoothness. Part of the taste and texture of chocolate milk drinks and glazed doughnuts are derived from alginates. They do everything from coating paper to improve its printing quality to making it greaseproof.

“As if those weren’t enough uses, it impregnates fabrics to help retard burning. Other forms are used in laundry starches and textile print pastes. Some pharmaceuticals contain algin, as do certain adhesives, rubber products, wallboard cements and auto polishes.”

Harvesting of the giant kelp is regulated by the California State Fish and Game Commission. May the commission do its job well to safeguard kelp from human exploitation, and may the delightful sea otters protect it from the sea urchins, that the beauty of its forests may continue to dazzle our eyes and its products continue to tickle our palates.

[Footnotes]

[Picture on page 18]

Kelco harvesting vessel

Young People Ask . . .

Does Prayer Really Help?

“OF THOSE who pray,” said one survey, “about half employ prayer as a ‘hotline to heaven,’ requesting specific help for themselves, their families and friends.” But do such prayers really help? A young girl named Peggy felt they did. After praying to God about her problems, she said: “I felt better and I would go to sleep and I’d wake up the next morning and I wouldn’t think about it. I would forget all about it.”

Perhaps some personal problem has likewise moved you on occasion to approach God as a last resort. Like Peggy, you may even have felt better as a result. Peggy’s prayer, however, did not really help her solve her problem. And perhaps the same was true in your case. You may thus have wondered if prayer simply is something that makes you feel better. ‘How do I know,’ you ask, ‘that I’m not just talking into the air? Is there someone listening who really cares about me and can help me?’

‘God​—Does He Care About Me?’

It may indeed seem hard to believe that God in heaven could be concerned about our little problems. However, in his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said: “Observe intently the birds of heaven, because they do not sow seed or reap or gather into storehouses; still your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth more than they are?” Jesus continued: “Also, on the matter of clothing, why are you anxious? Take a lesson from the lilies of the field, how they are growing; they do not toil, nor do they spin; but I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these.”​—Matthew 6:26, 28, 29.

Surely, then, if God cares so much for birds and lilies​—would he not care about us enough to listen to our prayers? The Bible thus calls God the “Hearer of prayer.” (Psalm 65:2) He promises that when we pray to him in faith, “no matter what it is that we ask according to his will, he hears us”! (1 John 5:14) And many youths feel that this has proved true in their case.

A young girl named Kay says: “Prayer helps me to be very happy. Sometimes you just feel like expressing your inner feelings to someone, and there is no one better than Jehovah to express them to because Jehovah understands, and you know that he is the only one who can really help you.” Young Peggy (not the one mentioned at the outset) likewise feels that her prayers fall on hearing ears. Notice how she once handled a personal problem: “I just cried and cried about it. But once I stopped crying, I found myself talking to Jehovah, as if he were right there, sitting next to me and listening to what I had to say.”

How Prayer Helps

These youths have learned to follow the counsel of the psalmist: “Throw your burden upon Jehovah himself.” (Psalm 55:22) However, prayer helps in ways that go beyond bringing mere emotional relief. A youth named Maria speaks from personal experience: “I know that whenever I have a problem I can turn to Jehovah for guidance and he will help me.”

Maria, like Peggy and Kay, is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. All three have developed a close personal friendship with God over a period of time through prayer and study of the Bible. To these youths God is truly “a refuge and strength, a help that is readily to be found during distresses.” (Psalm 46:1) However, note that Maria does not pray for the miraculous removal of her problems. Rather, she prays “for guidance.” This points to one of the fundamental principles of prayer.

At James 1:2-5 the Bible says: “Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you meet with various trials, knowing as you do that this tested quality of your faith works out endurance . . . So, if any one of you is lacking in wisdom, let him keep on asking God, for he gives generously to all and without reproaching; and it will be given him.” James did not encourage us to pray for escape from “various trials.” We could, however, “keep on asking God” for the wisdom to deal with that trial! God does not ‘reproach’ us as being stupid for asking for this wisdom. Rather, he generously promises us that such wisdom “will be given.”

Suppose, then, you are faced with a difficult situation​—a problem with a teacher, a disagreement with your parents. Try praying to God. At the very least, prayer focuses your heart and mind on what is important in God’s sight. This helps put your problem in perspective. Jesus further promised that his holy spirit would ‘bring back to mind all the things he had taught.’ (John 14:26) Similarly, if you pray for guidance, God can call to your mind scriptures or godly principles that bear on the matter. Of course, God will expect some effort on your part, such as researching matters in the Bible or seeking mature advice. God can bless your efforts, at times even giving “the power beyond what is normal” so that you can endure.​—2 Corinthians 4:7.

How to Pray to God

Would you, too, like to enjoy a close friendship with God and know that he answers your prayers? Like Kay, Peggy, and Maria, you must begin with a study of the Bible. This will help you to learn about Jehovah God’s personality and qualities. As you learn what a kind and loving God he is, you will feel more comfortable about approaching him in prayer.

‘But what do I say to him?’ you may ask. Praying to God can be much like talking with a close friend. If you had a difficult problem on your mind, wouldn’t you speak very openly to such a friend, expressing your most intimate thoughts and concerns? God is a friend with whom you can trust your deepest thoughts, knowing he will understand exactly what you mean. But since he has far greater wisdom and power than any human, he can really help you!

However, should personal problems always dominate your prayers? Jesus gave us a model prayer known as the Lord’s Prayer, or Our Father prayer, found in the Bible at Matthew 6:9-13. Note that first in importance was the sanctification (or holding as sacred) of God’s name, Jehovah. Next was that God’s Kingdom (or heavenly government) come and that God’s will be done both in heaven and on the earth. It was only after discussing these great issues that Jesus gave attention to personal concerns, such as food, gaining forgiveness, and enduring temptation to do wrong. Your prayers can reflect the same priorities, showing God that you are not selfishly concerned with just your own problems.

Jesus, however, cautioned: “But when praying, do not say the same things over and over again, just as the people of the nations do, for they imagine they will get a hearing for their use of many words.” (Matthew 6:7) Long, complicated prayers do not impress God; neither do prayers read out of a book or recited like a rhyme, as if the choice of words were what is important. Said the psalmist: “Before him pour out your heart.” (Psalm 62:8) Do you have some sort of weakness that you have worked hard to overcome but that keeps surfacing? Is there some family problem that makes you very unhappy? These are things about which you can “pour out your heart” to God for divine help.

Keep in mind, though, that you must also be willing to accept God’s answer. Jehovah, in his wisdom, may see things you do not see. So if you ask for something and don’t receive it, this does not mean Jehovah was not listening. It could simply mean you have asked for something that was not in your best interests. As the proverb says: “Trust in Jehovah with all your heart and do not lean upon your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5) Keep praying about it, and you will eventually receive God’s direction.

When prayer becomes a regular part of your life, it can bring you into a close and happy relationship with Jehovah God, something to be treasured. If you have not yet developed the habit of prayer, now is a good time to start. Why not pray to God about your desire to establish a good relationship with him? He will surely help you.​—James 4:8.

[Picture on page 21]

“I know that whenever I have a problem I can turn to Jehovah for guidance and he will help me.”

A Time to Possess, a Time to Share

THIS lovely bluebird perches on her twig and feels secure. Her mate is very protective. If another male comes close, her mate becomes a feathered fury and chases the intruder off “his” property. He is a possessive little fellow.

Man’s “best friend,” the dog, is another example of possessiveness. If you do not think so, just try taking away from him a bone that belongs to him!

This trait of possessiveness can even be seen in infants. Did you ever watch two young children wanting to play with the same toy? One has the toy in his hands. The other tries to take it away, but the first noisily refuses to let go. It is “his” toy, and he is determined to keep it that way.

Is it wrong to hold on to your possessions? The Bible establishes the principle of private property. Men are to build houses and live in them, plant vineyards and eat their fruitage, dwell under their own vine and fig tree. (Isaiah 65:21; Micah 4:4) The bluebird was there first and needs his territory in order to feed his family. The dog was given the bone and needs it to sustain himself.

But the child and his toy? It is his possession, but if he does not share it, he will have no playmates. He will be happier if he shares his possessions. Christians are not to forget “the sharing of things with others.” The rich are admonished “to be liberal, ready to share.” In such sharing there is great happiness.​—Hebrews 13:16; 1 Timothy 6:18; Acts 20:35.

There is a time to be possessing and a time to be sharing. In the final analysis, however, we should remember that “to Jehovah belong the earth and that which fills it, the productive land and those dwelling in it.” (Psalm 24:1) Learn to use those things that are temporarily at our disposal in a way that will please their true Owner, Jehovah God.

King David of Israel was a very wealthy man, but he realistically said to God: “Yours, O Jehovah, are the greatness and the mightiness and the beauty and the excellency and the dignity; for everything in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Jehovah . . . The riches and the glory are on account of you.”​—1 Chronicles 29:11, 12.

Rather than possessively hoarding what was his, David made a huge contribution toward the construction of a temple for Jehovah’s worship. Did he seek some special recognition for his generosity? No. Rather, he realized that, in a sense, it was not generosity at all. “Who am I and who are my people, that we should retain power to make voluntary offerings like this? For everything is from you, and out of your own hand we have given to you.”​—1 Chronicles 29:14.

Is not David’s attitude the correct one for all of us to have?

The World Since 1914

Part 2​—1929-1934 Worldwide Depression and On to War Again

“IF EVER fortune seemed to smile upon the United States it was on that day.” So historian David A. Shannon describes the day in 1929 on which U.S. president Herbert Hoover took his oath of office. Shannon explains: “It was a year of peace, no war clouds were on the horizon, and American wealth was actively expanding overseas and changing conditions in less economically fortunate parts of the world.”

But by the end of Hoover’s presidency, “the national mood had utterly reversed. Instead of optimism there was pessimism, desperation, a heavy measure of despair.” What had happened?

‘Black Thursday’​—End of an Era

On Wednesday, October 23, 1929, a number of speculators for no apparent reason began selling overpriced stock on the New York stock market. The next day, Thursday, anxious to sell before their stock lost more in value, stockholders set off a stampede that within a week wiped out over $15 billion in stock value and within the next few months many billions more. Thus began the Great Depression.

Economists and historians have many theories as to what went wrong. But, as one of them points out, it is evident that the Depression’s many causes “were deeply embedded in the prosperous twenties.” Since their prosperity “had been built on a shaky foundation . . . , the stock market crash . . . suddenly revealed the economic rot underlying [them].”​—The United States in the Twentieth Century, pages 10, 12.

At any rate, the heady years of the Roaring Twenties were gone. Gone also were the heady hopes they had engendered. “The great stockmarket crash of 1929 pricked the bubble,” say historians F. Freidel and N. Pollack. “As abundance ebbed, leaving millions suffering privation, the twenties seemed no more than an unreal interlude or a cruel joke​—an immoral jazz age, the era of the golden calf.”​—American Issues in the Twentieth Century, page 115.

Suddenly millions were unemployed. People in debt lost what they had purchased on credit, including their homes. Families doubled up to save expenses. As stock prices plummeted, fortunes were wiped out overnight. Businesses folded. A wave of suicides shocked the nation as thousands of U.S. banks closed their doors. One comedian got big laughs when he said that he was used to having checks returned marked “no funds.” But now he was getting them back marked “no bank.”

The economic collapse was worldwide in scope and far-reaching in its effects. In fact, the book The United States and Its Place in World Affairs 1918-1943 claims that “this economic tragedy touched every country and every side of life, social and political, domestic and international.”

Meanwhile, in Japan militarists were also using the economic situation to their advantage. Says The New Encyclopædia Britannica: “The notion that expansion through military conquest would solve Japan’s economic problems gained currency during the Great Depression of 1929.” The instability of the early ’30’s allowed these militarists to gain such control that they were able​—even without the approval of the civil government—​to overrun Manchuria and to conquer it within just five months. Labeled an aggressor by the League of Nations, Japan answered, not by withdrawing from Manchuria, but by withdrawing from the League.

Me First!

By emphasizing pleasures and promoting materialism, the Roaring Twenties had fostered a me-first attitude that strangled spirituality. But “the economic earthquake that began in 1929,” as the above-mentioned history book The United States and Its Place in World Affairs 1918-1943 calls it, now made this attitude even more pronounced. How so? Because the Depression “destroyed any sense of community of interests that might have been growing up, and made each family intent on its own preservation, no matter what the effect on others. Each for himself, save our own skins, no matter who takes the hindmost!”

In individuals such an egotistical, self-centered, inconsiderate attitude is generally viewed with contempt. But under the guise of patriotism, a similar attitude on the part of national groups is often considered justified, at times even desirable. The Great Depression promoted such a spirit.

Historian Hermann Graml says that “the world economic crisis dealt the spirit of international understanding and cooperation manifested in the League of Nations a fatal blow,” and that this opened up the way for “an unscrupulous development of egotism on the part of individual nations.” He says “most nations were driven to the unreasonable​—but understandable—​inconsiderateness based upon self-preservation that causes a crowd to panic.”​—Europa zwischen den Kriegen (Europe Between the Wars), page 237.

Perhaps nowhere was this attitude more bluntly expressed than in a speech delivered by Nazi Germany’s Heinrich Himmler some years later. “Honesty, decency, faithfulness, and comradeship,” he said, “must be shown when dealing with those of like blood but to no one else. What happens to a Russian, to a Czech, does not interest me in the slightest. . . . Whether nations live in prosperity or starve to death like cattle interests me only insofar as we need them as slaves for our culture. . . . Whether 10,000 Russian females collapse from exhaustion while digging an antitank ditch interests me only insofar as the antitank ditch for Germany is finished.”

With both individuals and nations demonstrating such a me-first attitude and such a disregard for God’s law to love “your neighbor as yourself,” how could peace possibly be achieved or maintained? (Luke 10:27) “Abundant peace belongs to those loving your law,” says the Bible at Psalm 119:165. But since this love was lacking, the nations could easily be maneuvered into position for a new war. Significantly, both a lack of love and a me-first attitude were to characterize “the last days” of Satan’s wicked system.​—2 Timothy 3:1-5; Matthew 24:3, 12.

In Whom Should Man Trust?

Did the obviously deteriorating world situation cause people to turn back to the God upon whom they had turned their backs during the Roaring Twenties? In some instances, it did. Many people became responsive to the message being proclaimed by Jehovah’s Witnesses, the name adopted in 1931 by Christians associated with the Watch Tower Society. But the nations as a whole were unresponsive, placing their trust not in God but in “great” men.

For example, at the start of the 1930’s Mohandas Gandhi was gaining increased support in India for his intensified nonviolent campaign of civil disobedience. Many hoped that the independence from British rule that he was seeking would lead to a stable and peaceful India. Did it?

That same year Chinese President Chiang Kai-shek became a member of the Methodist Church. Many hoped that his conversion to Christianity would open the way for a close alliance between China and Western so-called Christian nations. Did it?

In 1932, at a Vatican-held ceremony, Mussolini celebrated his tenth anniversary in power. Many hoped that the papal blessing there bestowed would ensure pious Italians, their duce, and their land lasting security and protection. Did it?

Also in 1932 Franklin D. Roosevelt, newly elected president of the United States, promised his countrymen a New Deal to get things moving again. A year later he outlined U.S. disarmament plans and appealed to the world to abolish all offensive weapons. Many hoped that this New Deal would lead to an end of unemployment and poverty as well as to peace. Did it?

In 1933 Hitler became Germany’s new chancellor. Shortly thereafter, in his so-called Peace Speech, one of the most effective he ever delivered, he downgraded war as “unlimited madness” that would “cause the collapse of the present social and political order.” He stressed Germany’s willingness to disarm, in harmony with Roosevelt’s proposal, saying: “Germany is prepared to agree to any solemn pact of nonaggression, because she does not think of attacking but only of acquiring security.” Many hoped that this policy would restore the honor and dignity of the German nation and by peaceful means guarantee its dynamic leader’s regime for a thousand years. Did it?

And then there was that “great” organization, the League of Nations. Of it the Watchtower magazine of May 15, 1932, said: “The kings of the earth, upon the advice of the clergy, . . . join together in a League of Nations and trust in that and in the ingenuity of man to deliver the perplexed and suffering world out of its present dilemma.” Many hoped​—although Jehovah’s Witnesses were not among them—​that the League would indeed deliver the world out of its dilemma. Did it?

Over two thousand years ago, the psalmist wrote: “Rely not upon great men​—mere mortals who can give no help.” With the benefit of hindsight, would you not agree with the wisdom of these words?​—Psalm 146:3, Moffatt.

Had There Been No Depression . . .

“It would be a foolish oversimplification to place all the responsibility for the events and trends of the thirties at the door of the depression.” So say the authors of the book The United States and Its Place in World Affairs 1918-1943. “Yet,” they admit, “the widespread want and insecurity of the lean years did set the stage, supplied the actors with some powerful lines, added big scenes to the tragic plot, and gave the audience new heroes to applaud or new villains to hiss.” They conclude that had there been no depression, it is very possible that there would have been no second world war.

But there was a world depression, and there was a second world war. So obviously, despite religious backing, the League of Nations failed to achieve the peace it was designed to maintain. From its very beginning the League was doomed. But it would not die quickly. It would slowly stagger to its death. Read about it in our next issue.

[Box on page 26]

Other Items That Made the News

1929​—Awards by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscars) given in Hollywood for the first time

1930​—The planet Pluto discovered

Uruguay first winner of soccer’s World Cup

1931​—Flood in China leaves over 8,000 dead and 23 million homeless

Over 2,000 die in earthquake in Nicaragua

Tallest building in the world at that time, New York’s Empire State Building, completed

1932​—Discovery of the neutron and of deuterium (heavy hydrogen) help bring nuclear physics into being

1933​—Germany withdraws from League of Nations; Hitler proclaimed chancellor; first concentration camp, in Dachau, opened; concordat between Germany and Vatican signed; public burning of undesirable books in Berlin

1934​—FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) organized in United States to fight gangsterism

Chinese Red Army of some 90,000 soldiers begins its Long March to Yenan

[Picture on page 25]

In just a short time, millions were left jobless

[Credit Line]

A. Rothstein/​Dover

From Our Readers

Pornography

Thank you for your articles on pornography. (December 22, 1986) I am glad to see this topic brought to light for the public to see the real damage it does to people’s lives. I am a victim of abuse and the scars it leaves are unbelievable. Porn often results in child abuse, so where is the child’s freedom of choice?

V. L., England

Practical Jokes

I have thoroughly enjoyed the article “Young People Ask . . . Aren’t Practical Jokes Harmless Fun?” (September 22, 1986) I found that practical jokes were not all that much fun all the time. Sometimes you can lose a friend and not really mean to. I am 13 and really love to read “Young People Ask . . .” I learn from other people’s mistakes.

D. D., United States

How Safe Are the Banks?

I just don’t know how to thank you for the articles on “How Safe Are the Banks?” (October 22, 1986) I especially enjoyed the first article on “The Need for Money.” Thanks to that article, I was able to do some research that the teacher asked us to do at school. Please print more articles that deal with historical subjects, as this will help many other young people of my age to do thorough research. I am a 12-year-old girl.

M. C., Italy

Upon receiving the issue on “How Safe Are the Banks?” I asked my employer, who is a bank president, to give me his honest opinion as to the accuracy of these articles. He stated: “I am very impressed with these articles. On page 11, column 1, paragraph 1, is the key to safe banking. Also, the statement ‘Banks are as safe as the governments that back them’ is absolutely true. You can’t go wrong following these excellent articles and their advice.” Thank you for publishing these timely articles.

A. M., United States

Is Marriage Necessary?

I am a mother of four, a Catholic, and yet an ardent reader of your magazine. I wish to comment on the articles on “Marriage​—Is It Necessary?” (July 8, 1986) Youths today are really engrossed with modernization, so modern that even the sacred relationship of men and women is taken with just a shrug of the shoulders. As a mother, I too would not want my three daughters’ future life to be based on paperless marriages. Young couples will come to understand the far-reaching effects brought about by these non-permanent, live-in relationships

M. E. C., Philippines

Credit Cards

Thank you for publishing the article on “Credit Cards​—A ‘Plastic Trap’?” (December 8, 1986) Being caught in that trap, reading this article has helped me to understand the importance of exploring the aspects of a credit card before getting involved. I sincerely hope that this article will be as beneficial to others as it has been to me.

D. R., United States

Watching the World

Unwed Couples

The number of unmarried persons living together hit an all-time high, with 2.22 million couples in the United States, reported the Census Bureau last December. For the previous year, the figure was 1.98 million. Thus, the upward trend in the number of unwed-couple households, although temporarily stalled in 1985, continues. Unwed couples now make up 4.1 percent of all couples in the United States, according to the Bureau’s statistics.

Unusual “Divorce”

A 15-year-old boy in Melbourne, Australia, was recently granted a “divorce” from his parents. He had applied for a Children’s Court Order so that he could be made a ward of the State. The grounds? “Irreconcilable differences”! According to The Australian, the parents claimed that their son had ‘fallen into bad company’ and had been missing school regularly. When they took a stand against his misconduct, the boy ran away from home and began legal proceedings against his parents. Because the boy said that he was afraid of both of his parents but especially of his mother, the court magistrate ordered the boy made a ward of the State. He is now living with a foster family in Melbourne.

They Prayed for Peace

Spiritual leaders from 12 different faiths and representing every major religion of the world assembled in Assisi, Italy, last October at the request of Pope John Paul II. They came as delegates to the “World Day of Prayer for Peace.” Their goal: global peace for 24 hours. In at least 11 nations fighting reportedly stopped temporarily, but in others, such as Northern Ireland and Lebanon, violence persisted.

Although united in their search for worldwide peace, the representatives were divided along religious lines. They came, not to pray together, but as the pope said, to be “together to pray.” The religious leaders, 155 or more, divided into 12 groups so that each faith could pray separately. Some of the “religious families” represented were: Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Shintoists, Zoroastrians, African animists, Jews, and American Indians. According to The New York Times, the Dalai Lama, a Buddhist leader, “converted the altar of the Church of San Pietro by placing a small statue of the Buddha atop the tabernacle and setting prayer scrolls and incense burners around it.” And two American Indians of the Crow tribe, John and Burton Pretty On Top, “smoked a peace pipe at the final ceremony.”

Pain Costs

The Nuprin Pain Report on “The High Cost of Pain” showed that 550 million workdays are lost each year in the United States because workers suffer pain of one kind or another. Headaches topped the list with 157 million workdays lost. Bone-joint pains of various kinds ranked second with 108 million lost workdays. Then followed 99 million workdays lost for stomach pains, 89 million for backaches, 58 million for muscle pains, 25 million for menstrual pains, and 15 million for dental pains.

Space Scrapyard

Ever since Sputnik blazed a trail on October 4, 1957, almost 3,500 space vehicles have been launched into orbit by man. An analysis revealed that as of the middle of last year, there were 1,619 satellites and space probes still in orbit, whereas 1,876 had perished. In addition, numerous rocket stages and other leftovers, such as covers and bolts needed when putting a satellite into orbit, were still revolving around the earth. According to the German magazine Luft- und Raumfahrt, 4,457 of these registered wreckage fragments were still circling the earth on June 30, 1986.

Vatican View of Homosexuality

A new document by the Catholic Church has reinforced its previous teachings on homosexuality. For the first time, the church has explicitly condemned the mere inclination toward homosexuality as “an objective disorder.” In past statements the church concentrated on the sinfulness of homosexual acts. Although not mentioning it directly, the document alluded to the AIDS epidemic when it criticized the prohomosexual movement. The 14-page document, issued by the Vatican’s Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and sent to all Catholic bishops around the world, also says that persons who engage in homosexual acts commit an “intrinsic moral evil.” One reason for the new guidelines, say Vatican officials, is the Vatican’s concern that some pastors and theologians may have the wrong view of the church’s stand on homosexuality.

Historic Flight

Last December a featherweight aircraft called Voyager flew into aviation history after successfully completing the first nonstop flight around the world without refueling. After nine perilous days in the air and covering 25,012 miles (40,252 km), the handcrafted airplane piloted by a man and a woman landed in California. This flight broke the previous world distance record of 12,532 miles (20,168 km) set in 1962. The peculiar-looking Voyager, described as resembling a dragonfly and made mostly of stiffened paper and plastic, carried three times as much fuel as its weight of 2,680 pounds (1,216 kg). The craft’s designer cited simplicity as its greatest strength. “We succeeded by keeping everything pared to a minimum,” he said.

Giraffe Attack

“I thought a giraffe was a tame animal,” said a visitor to one of South Africa’s game parks. His party, traveling in a minibus, had to stop because a giraffe stood in the road and refused to move. So one of the tourists got out and tried to chase it away. Instead, the giraffe charged. The tourist quickly dived under the minibus for safety. The animal kept attacking, reared on its hind legs, and smashed its hooves through the windshield. The occupants narrowly escaped injury. The giraffe’s anger finally subsided, and it wandered into the bush. Why the attack? It appears that the minibus had stopped between the giraffe and its mate.

Businessmen Terrorist Target

Terrorists now set their sights on businessmen as one of their prime targets. “Forty-eight percent of all terrorist kidnapings have involved businessmen,” says Brian M. Jenkins, security director for the Rand Corporation, in Leaders magazine. Terrorists kidnap corporate executives to finance violent operations. There have been twice as many terrorist attacks against businesses in the 1980’s as there were in the early 1970’s. “If terrorists do not spark an Armageddon with chemical, biological or even nuclear weapons, as some observers predict,” he adds, “incidents of large-scale, indiscriminate murder will increase.”

Gentler Exercises

Running and aerobic dancing have a growing number of adherents. But for people who suffer from weak knees or ankles, or a bad back, those exercises could be hazardous to their health. “Most people shouldn’t run, but they don’t learn this until after the fact,” Dr. James A. Nicholas, an orthopedic surgeon and director of the Institute for Sports Medicine and Athletic Trauma at a New York City hospital, told The New York Times. Another doctor, a consultant to the President’s Council on Physical Fitness, agrees. “Running is tough on the body,” he says. “But it is not as bad as the jumping steps in high-speed aerobic dance. Swimming, bicycling and walking are much better.” For these reasons, the gentler exercises​—walking for fitness and low-impact or nonimpact aerobics—​are gaining popularity among the health-conscious population.

It Was the Talk of the Town

THREE Kingdom Halls, two apartments, on three floors in a building of 16,000 square feet (1,500 sq m), constructed in three days​—that’s what set Waterbury, Connecticut, talking. On the long weekend of October 11-13, it was accomplished by some 1,500 of Jehovah’s Witnesses in what The Sunday Republican headlined as a “weekend miracle.”

Cooperative city officials visited the site. The mayor said: “It’s a beautiful building. You must be very proud of it.”

A director of a local bank looked on in amazement: “I’ve been trying to get a branch of our bank built for two years, and here you people get your building up in three days!”

The city planner watched the crews work and said: “It’s like a well-oiled machine.” His secretary added: “It appears you had divine direction.”

The attorney who handled the legal work came with his wife, a professor at the University of Connecticut. She said: “It’s amazing what people can do when they work together.” He offered: “We have three empty bedrooms. If you need them to house some of your workers, you’re welcome to use them.”

One of the building inspectors said: “Fantastic, fantastic. The building is not only up to code but exceeds it.”

When Witnesses applied for the heating and air-conditioning permit, the inspector studied the plans, then asked: “How long are you going to take to put this building up?” “Three days.” He threw back his head and laughed heartily. “Three days? You have two months’ work just on these plans!” Again he laughed.

During the construction work, visitors flocked in, tours were conducted, coffee and lunches were served. On Sunday, the second day, 3,000 were fed in 12 minutes.

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Faith Plus Works Did It

“It was faith that got a teenager to work mixing cement when his father said he can’t get him to cut the grass at home. It was faith that got tour guides to talk proudly of their accomplishments . . . They built a $2 million structure for perhaps $700,000.

“Black and white, young and old, men and women all had faith and worked side by side, each to his ability. Young children could help pick up stones; women could work in the kitchen; some could drive; everyone could do something. What it means is that this is their church and always will be. There is no need to wish them success, because they have shown they have the will to make it so.”​—Editorial in The American (Waterbury, Connecticut), October 15, 1986.

An Event You Should Not Miss

“Keep doing this in remembrance of me.” Those words of our Lord Jesus Christ, found at Luke 22:19, were spoken at the time when he instituted the memorial of his death. It is Jesus’ death that opened to humankind the prospect of attaining everlasting life in paradise conditions. So his death is something we must remember. Will you observe the memorial of it this year?

Please accept this invitation from Jehovah’s Witnesses to join them in memorializing this important event. This observance will be after sundown on the date that corresponds with Nisan 14 on the Bible’s lunar calendar. Mark down the date on your calendar so that you do not forget. It is Sunday, April 12, 1987. The one giving you this invitation can tell you the exact meeting place and time.