The Watchtower — August 1, 1955

Priest Advises Einstein

AN Associated Press dispatch of April 13 from Atlantic City said: “A top Catholic educator today urged scientists, including Albert Einstein, to tend to their neutrons and stop ‘philosophizing.’ The Rev. Robert Henle, dean of the St. Louis University Graduate School, said the nation was ‘getting a lot of scientists’ who start ‘philosophizing at the age of 40.’ Most, he said, are ‘not trained to do so.’ In a news conference at the annual convention of the National Catholic Educational Assn., Henle said Einstein in recent years has philosophized about the ‘nature and existence of God.’ ‘I object to his making an authoritative statement about an absolute,’ said Henle. ‘He has no training to talk about the existence or non-existence of God.’”—New York Post, April 13, 1955.

The late Albert Einstein said, according to Life magazine of May 2, 1955: “I do not believe in the God of theology who rewards good and punishes evil. . . . I cannot accept any concept of God based on the fear of life or the fear of death, or blind faith.” From all reports Einstein was of gentle disposition, and it is understandable that he could not believe in the God of theology, a God that eternally tortures souls in a fiery hell, or burns them for centuries in a flaming purgatory until priests on earth are paid enough to pray enough to get these souls released.

This same issue of Life reported that Einstein said: “The presence of a superior reasoning power . . . revealed in the incomprehensible universe, forms my idea of God.” Because the God of theology taught by orthodox religions was unacceptable, Einstein groped for another God. He did believe in a supreme spirit or intelligence in back of all the created wonders and was impressed with the order in the universe, as Time magazine of May 2, 1955, shows. It quoted him: “I cannot believe that God plays dice with the cosmos.” The magazine continued: “Albert Einstein, who often said he could not accept the doctrine of immortality of the soul, traveled the rim of mystery and at times, he admitted, it made him feel close to God. ‘I assert,’ he once said, ‘that the cosmic religious experience is the strongest and the noblest driving force . . . My religion consists of a humble admiration for the illimitable superior spirit who reveals Himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble minds.’” The Bible agrees with Einstein when “he could not accept the doctrine of immortality of the soul,” for it states, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die,” and reports that even the sinless Jesus “poured out his soul unto death.”—Ezek. 18:4; Isa. 53:12.

Einstein said he could not accept any concept of God based on “blind faith.” A Biblical faith in Jehovah God is not blind in the sense of having absolutely no basis for it. Faith is “the evident demonstration of realities though not beheld.” (Heb. 11:1, NW) Without seeing electricity or gravitation Einstein believed in their existence because he had seen evidence demonstrating their reality. Without seeing “the illimitable superior spirit” Einstein believed in his existence because of the majesty and power and orderliness he had seen in the universe. The Bible points to these created wonders as evidence of the invisible Creator: “His invisible qualities are clearly seen from the world’s creation onward, because they are understood by the things made, even his eternal power and Godship.” (Rom. 1:20, NW) That knowledge and understanding of the reports in the Bible are necessary for faith in the God of the Bible is shown by Romans 10:17 (NW): “So faith follows the report.” But faith in the God of orthodox theology is a blind faith because it is not based on Bible truths, but rather in the pagan imaginings of ancient priests or in the opinionated philosophizings of modern ministers. No reasoning person should accept such a concept of God based on blind faith. However, they should not let the false concept of God that orthodox religions teach turn them away from the God of the Bible. They should study the Bible to learn of the God that created the universe, not being prejudiced against him by religious falsehoods.

If orthodox religions had stuck to the Bible perhaps Einstein would have stuck to his neutrons. If these religions had taught the God of the Bible, and not some repulsive pagan deity that supposedly tortures imaginary souls in nonexistent purgatories and hells of fire and brimstone, perhaps Einstein would not have felt the need of looking for another concept of God. Perhaps Henle should remove the rafter from his own eye before fretting about the straw in Einstein’s. He might try sticking to the God of the Bible he claims to serve, and drop pagan doctrines and human traditions, forego the flattering titles of Reverend and Father that the Bible limits to Jehovah God, and give up the unscriptural money-making schemes of purgatorial prayers and bingo gambling. (Job 32:21, 22; Matt. 7:1-5; 21:13; 23:9) Henle accuses Einstein of not sticking to his business of science, but he himself is guilty of straying from his claimed work of serving God. Pointedly Romans 2:1 (NW) says: “Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are, if you judge; for in the thing in which you judge another, you condemn yourself, inasmuch as you that judge practice the same things.”

The Foundation of Education

Time never outdates the Bible; it is always modern because it is the very basis for education. Germany’s great writer, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, talked about education and the Bible. Goethe, one of the most eminent in all world literature, said: “I am convinced that the Bible becomes even more beautiful the more one understands it. Let culture and science go on advancing, and the mind progress as it may, it will never go beyond the elevation and moral culture of Christianity, as it glistens and shines forth in the Gospels. It is to the intrinsic value that the Bible owes the extraordinary veneration in which it is held by so many nations and generations. It is not only a popular book, it is the book of the people. The greater the intellectual progress of ages, the more fully possible will it also become to employ the Bible both as the foundation and as the instrument of education—of that education by which not pedants but truly wise men are formed.”—The Supremacy of the Bible, p. xxviii.

No “Gift of Tongues” Today

What purposes were served by the Pentecostal gift of tongues? Does God’s holy spirit still impart the gift of tongues, and must we be able to speak in tongues to prove we have received the holy spirit? What does the Bible say?

THE location was an upper chamber in Jerusalem. Present were 120 of Christ’s followers including his apostles, his half brothers and his mother. The time was the day of Pentecost, A.D. 33, about May 20, according to our calendar. Ten days had passed since Christ was seen ascending into heaven. “Suddenly there occurred from heaven a noise just like that of a rushing stiff breeze, and it filled the whole house in which they were sitting. And tongues as if of fire became visible and were distributed to them, and one sat upon each one of them, and they all became filled with holy spirit and started to speak with different tongues.”—Acts 2:1-4, NW.

At the time, because of the feast of Pentecost, there “were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, reverent men, from every nation of those under heaven. So, when this sound occurred, the multitude came together and were bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in his own language” “the magnificent things of God.” Peter, as the spokesman, explained to the awe-stricken Jews the meaning of this miracle, that it was a fulfillment of Joel 2:28, 29 regarding Jehovah’s pouring out his spirit upon all kinds of flesh.—Acts 2:5-18, NW.

About three and a half years later speaking with tongues accompanied the pouring out of the holy spirit upon Cornelius and his household while Peter was preaching to them. Years later a similar incident took place after Paul had preached to some at Ephesus. Do these three instances, the only ones mentioned in the Scriptures, where the gift of tongues accompanied the receiving of the holy spirit, establish a hard and fast rule that all who have received the holy spirit will be able to speak in tongues?

Among a considerable number of the smaller sects of the United States, particularly those termed “Pentecostal,” there is a strong emphasis on speaking with tongues. Thus regarding the General Assemblies of God, whose membership is upward of a quarter of a million in the United States, we are told that “they are especially insistent upon the teaching of the gift of tongues following spirit baptism; no minister doubting that gift could hold credentials in this group.”—Handbook of Denominations.

PURPOSE OF GIFT OF TONGUES

Jehovah God had empowered Moses to perform miracles in order to establish his authenticity as God’s prophet. On the same basis Christ Jesus had proved himself as Jehovah’s prophet, even as he said to his critics. “Even though you do not believe me, believe the works.” What, then, could be more logical than that Jesus’ immediate followers should be able to do the same? And so they also performed miracles, cured the sick, raised the dead, etc. The gift of tongues was just one of the many gifts of the spirit possessed by the apostles and early disciples, helping them to demonstrate that they were indeed true followers of the Son of God and that they had the right, the true, religion.—John 10:38, NW.

The gift of tongues, however, served another purpose, a most practical purpose. Especially on the day of Pentecost, by means of this gift of tongues they were able to witness to Jews coming from many different lands and who did not understand Aramaic, the native tongue. No wonder that three thousand of them embraced Christianity on that day!

Today, however, neither of these two reasons holds. Christianity having demonstrated its divine origin, there is no further need for miracles. Incidentally, let us note that while some claim to possess the gift of healing there is absolutely no similarity between the healing done by Jesus and his apostles and that professed to be done today. Back there everyone that came to Jesus or the apostles was cured, today only an exceptional few can claim to have been helped. Besides, back there even the dead were raised. And then also, today we have the Bible in 1,125 and more languages and “this good news of the kingdom” is being preached in upward of a hundred different tongues.

The fact is that speaking in tongues played a very minor role in the early Christian ministry. Not a word do we read about Jesus himself speaking in tongues, nor of his followers being commanded to do so or doing so while he was with them. Their ministry being primarily to the Jews, there was no need of tongues. So speaking in tongues is not included in Jesus’ parting instructions: “Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you.”—Matt. 28:19, 20, NW.

“But,” asks a Pentecostal, “what about Mark 16:17, which says: ‘These signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues.’ Doesn’t that prove that all Christ’s followers should be able to speak with tongues?” But let us note the context. According to it believers should not only be able to talk with tongues but also be able to cast out demons, able to handle poisonous snakes without injury and drink deadly potions without harm.

True, there are some few who hold that the holy spirit will enable one to handle poisonous snakes without harm; that is why the United States press periodically tells of some of these misguided ones’ being bitten and even dying from snake bites under such conditions. Such as W. J. Palmer of Johnson City, Tennessee, who died of snake bites October 4, 1953; J. Thomas of Trenton, Georgia, who died of such snake bites June 15, 1954, and C. E. Canada, of Greenville, South Carolina, who in August, 1953, survived a snake bite only because he accepted massive injections of serum that the other two who died had refused.

The fact is that modern Bible scholars are agreed that the last twelve verses that speak about tongues and not being injured by snakes were not written by Mark but added by another. According to Goodspeed, Mark’s account “stops abruptly at the end of Mr 16:8 in the two best and oldest manuscripts, the Sinaitic and the Vatican, and a few others.”—The Goodspeed Parallel New Testament.

GIFTS VERSUS FRUITAGE OF SPIRIT

Because the gift of tongues fascinated the Corinthian Christians all out of proportion to its value, Paul had to set them straight on the matter, which he did in his first letter to them, 1Co chapters 12 to 14 being the only other references to tongues aside from Acts. Even back there not all had the gift of tongues, for Paul wrote: “Not all are apostles, are they? Not all are prophets, are they? Not all are teachers, are they? Not all perform powerful works, do they? Not all have gifts of healings, do they? Not all speak in tongues, do they? Not all are translators, are they?” And note the order, from the most important, apostles, to the least important, tongues and their interpretation.—1 Cor. 12:27-30, NW.

Continuing his argument in 1Co chapter 13, Paul shows what really is important: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but do not have love, I have become a sounding piece of brass or a clashing cymbal.” And, relegating the gift of tongues to its proper place, Paul states in the following chapter: “He that speaks in a tongue upbuilds himself, but he that prophesies upbuilds a congregation. Now I would like for all of you to speak in tongues, but I prefer that you prophesy. Indeed, he that prophesies is greater than he that speaks in tongues, unless, in fact, he translates, that the congregation may receive upbuilding.” “I thank God, I speak in more tongues than all of you do. Nevertheless, in a congregation I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I might also instruct others verbally, than ten thousand words in a tongue. Brothers, do not become young children in powers of understanding.” “Tongues are for a sign, not to the believers, but to the unbelievers.”—1 Cor. 14:4-25, NW.

No question about it, Paul did not attach great importance to the gift of tongues. He showed that it profited little unless what was said was translated, and that to prophesy, here meaning to expound publicly, was far more helpful than any gift of tongues.

Today the Christian congregation no longer needs the gift of tongues but it does need the fruit of the spirit, even as Paul shows: “Love never fails. But whether there are gifts of prophesying, they will be done away with; WHETHER THERE ARE TONGUES, THEY WILL CEASE.” “When I was a babe, I used to speak as a babe, to think as a babe, to reason as a babe; but now that I have become a man, I have done away with the traits of a babe.” Clearly, the miraculous gifts that served the Christian congregation in its babyhood would no longer be necessary upon its maturity. What appears as speaking in tongues today, termed glossolalia, if not the product of emotionalism or mental unbalance, is an instance in which “Satan himself keeps transforming himself into an angel of light” to deceive.—1 Cor. 13:8, 11; 2 Cor. 11:14, NW.

Jesus said, “By their fruits you will recognize them.” The fruits his true followers bear today are those of preaching “this good news of the kingdom,” keeping “oneself without spot from the world,” and “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, mildness, self-control.” These, and not the speaking with tongues, identify the true Christian minister and show whether he has the holy spirit or not.—Matt. 7:16; 24:14; Jas. 1:27; Gal. 5:22, 23, NW.

Clothe yourselves with the new personality which through accurate knowledge is being renewed according to the image of the one who created it—Col. 3:10, NW.

Part 3—Visiting Jehovah’s Witnesses in Central America

WHAT a pleasant surprise in arriving at El Salvador, for on walking out of customs there were over 200 brothers to greet the president of the Society! They formed a human corridor, which made it possible for Brother Knorr to walk between the two columns and speak personally to everyone. What smiles! all radiating joy, which only people of the New World society can express. The convention was already going on in San Salvador, but two radio interviews had been arranged for that afternoon. So the branch servant, Brother Beedle, and his wife, along with Sisters Bowin and Clogston, who arranged for the interviews and broadcasts, took their visitor directly to the radio stations. The group drove past the building site for the new branch home and Brother Knorr surprised his companions by accurately pointing out some of the details of the future building from memory of the floor plan sent to him several months previously for his approval. When the party arrived at the radio station they found out that they were offered twice as much time as they had expected, so they spoke extemporaneously about The Watchtower, Awake! the New World society and their expansion work.

That evening Brother Knorr sat in the audience along with the Spanish-speaking brothers of El Salvador and he enjoyed the analytical discussion of the Bible study work and magazine distribution. From time to time he would ask the branch servant just what certain expressions meant, but he was able to follow along fairly well because of the charts, which depicted nine years of progress in these two important features of the work in El Salvador.

That night twenty-two missionaries stayed up quite late examining the new Yearbook and calendar brought along for them from Brooklyn. Overjoyed, they all engaged in a pleasant discussion. Even though all got to bed late that night there was no sleeping in on Sunday morning. The baptismal talk was the first event on the program and thirty-two persons declared to the great congregation that they had dedicated their lives to serve Jehovah God. The immersion took place at a mountain lake, secluded amid rare beauty. Then all sped to the site of the new branch home, where Brother Knorr dedicated the building, 150 attending. Using pointed, forceful words, he explained extemporaneously that the stone and brick of the new structure would not be able to do the speaking, but those who would use the new Kingdom Hall could and would make the building speak by means of their lips. Pointing to the steel girders that had been put in place, he expressed the hope that the hall (70 feet long and 30 feet wide) would soon be too small to accommodate all persons of good will in San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador. This would become true because of the vigorous preaching that would be done by all the publishers. The audience fully appreciated that success depended on their activity. They certainly did not want the stones to do the crying out because of their silence.

That afternoon there was a very fine crowd of 572 in attendance to hear the public talk, and the entire discourse was simultaneously broadcast from the convention to an uncounted multitude. That evening Brother Knorr’s closing talk included earnest, pointed remarks to all the dedicated Christian ministers. Even though they did not understand his tongue, they felt to their hearts the things he explained and none of the sincerity and personal warmth was screened out in the interpretation. He told them of Paul’s advice to speak up in the congregation meetings. Their heads nodded in approval. He gave them counsel on their faith and urged them on to maturity. The assembly seemed to have a very good effect upon all of Jehovah’s witnesses in the country, because in December they had 316 publishers out in the field.

Next day there was much to do at the branch office—details for building of the new branch home and Kingdom Hall, conferring with missionaries, etc. There is a very friendly man of good will, a consulting engineer, who has greatly helped the brothers in erecting the new building. Jehovah’s witnesses there appreciate his kindness and his love for their work. The new structure, of brick over a framework of welded steel, is fireproof, earthquake-proof. The brothers are very proud of their new home, and expected to move in during May.

Undoubtedly the work will advance in El Salvador with the good lead that the missionaries set before the people. A great crowd from that country should be gathered. Progress! Growth! Expansion! is the talk of the day in El Salvador.

NICARAGUA

Flying south from El Salvador one sees volcanoes, to right and left; and on landing at Managua’s airport he sees Las Mercedes, a volcano of Santiago, continually puffing off sulphuric steam. While volcanoes through their quaking can shake the very ground under man’s feet, still Jehovah God at the battle of Armageddon will shake all the nations and at the same time preserve alive all members of the New World society for his new earth. Right now many of Jehovah’s witnesses live amid these volcanoes, not fearful of their shaking, but happy even there to preach the good news of God’s kingdom.

As is usual, the president of the Society checked over all the branch records, talked with missionaries, had the pleasure of meeting and greeting those at the convention and bringing to them Scriptural advice and information. Due to constant changes in currency values, it was necessary to reduce the subscription rate on La Atalaya and ¡Despertad! (Spanish editions of The Watchtower and Awake!)—bringing it more into line with the current exchange rate. This, many hope, will greatly increase the distribution of these magazines in Nicaragua. When house-to-house ministers once realize the great value of these magazines they share eagerly in taking subscriptions, working regularly with them week by week. This practice was urged at the assembly, it being pointed out that there is a fertile field for sowing of the magazines in this country.

The brothers had a very hard time finding a building where they could hold a district assembly. Finally a man of good will offered his large vacant house. Its spacious corridor, opening on a patio, made a very acceptable auditorium. There Brother Knorr spoke to the audience on Psalm 112, particularly stressing the 1955 yeartext for all of Jehovah’s witnesses world-wide.

On the opening night of the assembly there were 242 present and this was most encouraging, especially when in November only 160 publishers had shared in field service. This was not the public talk—just the opening of the assembly. So surely there are many people of good will in Managua and throughout Nicaragua, and these are gathered together in a convention.

Saturday morning brought great joy to the audience, for then a discourse on dedication and baptism was being given. When those desiring to be baptized were asked to stand up there were twenty-two men and thirteen women. These candidates for immersion then drove out thirty kilometers to the shore of Lake Managua, a beautiful spot. But what was still more happifying was the faith of these people. After some years of the work’s standing still in this country because of local conditions, it now appeared that advancement was being made; and the missionaries, scattered in numerous cities throughout the country, are very zealous and are giving splendid assistance to those of good will, bringing them on to maturity, helping each to be a real minister of the good news. It was indeed a pleasure to be there for a few days. Brother Knorr could not stay to give the public talk, but this the branch servant did (while Brother Knorr traveled on to Costa Rica, where another convention was in session and where he was scheduled to speak). In Managua the assembly was very successful. The brothers learned new ways of doing better work, enjoyed fellowship with one another, and encouraged and incited one another to love and right works. Jehovah’s irresistible power that made these stately mountains and beautiful lakes now is operating upon His witnesses in Nicaragua, and Jehovah will give them the increase.

COSTA RICA

When the branch office learned that the president of the Society would visit Costa Rica, the first thing to do was to arrange for a national assembly and find a hall to accommodate all the country’s publishers. In previous years an indoor basketball stadium had been used, so its owner was again approached. The inquirers were told that she could not rent to Jehovah’s witnesses because of the law. It turned out, however, to be ecclesiastical law. Catholics had been forbidden by the priest to rent buildings to anyone of another religion. The owner asked the branch servant to come back in a week, and in the meantime she would speak to the priest and try to obtain permission to rent the stadium. The priest refused permission, even though the owner told him that Jehovah’s witnesses were the most reliable people she had ever rented to. Catholics thought that would bar the convention from San José. But the search on the part of the branch servant and others continued. They discovered that the National Baseball Federation was completing its new stadium and, while that would not be ready for baseball, the stands were finished, usable for an assembly. The baseball people did not permit religious prejudices to interfere with their renting their stadium; so a contract was signed. Jehovah’s witnesses throughout all the land were invited to come to the assembly in San José, which began on Saturday, December 18.

To get the stadium ready meant a lot of work. They had to put in wiring, install lights, fix cafeteria equipment, build the platform, etc., but the brothers energetically went ahead, preparing everything. Just before the convention the weather was very lovely; but now a storm was brewing, cold winds and rain were coming in on San José. This could be a real obstacle for the assembly, as the grandstand was uncovered, but under the seats there was ample room for all to sit and see everything, since the stands themselves were eight feet from the ground. So this would provide shelter in case of rain.

Eager volunteers had arranged a very attractive platform right in front of the green infield of the ball diamond. The platform was flanked on both sides by palm leaves and other plants; and two small coffee trees, with ripe red coffee berries, were prominently placed. At the platform, too, more local color—a typical oxcart.

Conventioners that came from the coast understood English. Those in San José and other parts of Costa Rica understood Spanish. So the programs were put on in two languages. Saturday opened up with 825 in attendance, and twenty-three symbolized, by water baptism, their dedication to Jehovah God.

Sunday morning Brother Knorr arrived right on time. He came in by plane, speaking Sunday afternoon to the assembled 1,129. The public lecture was set for Sunday evening, but, with heavy rain and cold weather, only 1,250 came to hear the lecture, “God’s Love to the Rescue in Man’s Crisis”—although even that was the largest number ever to attend a public meeting in this country. Very helpful instruction was given to all of the brothers, in both English and Spanish; and at the final session, in a pouring rain, the president related some of the experiences encountered in other countries and told the large congregation of some changes in the work in Costa Rica. Another circuit servant was to be assigned, making four, and the congregations would be visited every four months instead of semiannually, to build them up more strongly and help them in their organizational work. All were noticeably glad for this additional service, and especially were they happy when the president of the Society announced that a new branch office and missionary home would be built and a Kingdom Hall constructed in the same building. Up until now the Society had been renting a home for the branch and for missionaries’ quarters, and the congregation was renting a hall that was much too small for the many congregations in San José itself. Some months earlier the San José congregations had started a building fund, but now they would not have to be waiting four or five years to get enough money together to start building a Kingdom Hall of their own, for the Society had agreed to finance it and the local brothers could make contributions as usual. This was recognized as a wonderful provision from Jehovah. (By April property had been purchased, plans already having been made for the construction of the building, and everyone was pleased with the location, central to the city.)

It was a real pleasure for Brother Knorr to meet again with Brother Hardin in the missionary home. He was a graduate of the first Gilead class who had faithfully served the interests of the Kingdom in Costa Rica for many years. He had been confined to bed for quite some time, arthritis now affecting all of his limbs. His wife, with help of other missionaries, was giving him all needed care, doctors were looking after him as he required their attention, and from time to time in the past six months he had gained sufficient strength to do considerable preaching. The local congregation would not let him resign as congregation servant, because of their love for him, and while he was bedfast he continued to prepare the service meetings and direct the work of the congregation from his room in the missionary home. All of the brothers loved him for his zeal and his determination to keep on working. During all of his illness he never expressed the desire to leave his assignment. During the convention he was very happy to hear of the progress of activities and to get reports, and Brother Knorr had great delight in talking to him as he had opportunity. However, at 3:30 Wednesday morning, December 22, Brother Hardin died. He was a missionary right up to the end. His faithfulness and service are an excellent example to all those with him in the missionary service and to the congregations round about. Brother Knorr had to leave at 11:30 a.m. to go on to Panama, but before he left he knew all about the funeral that would be held that same afternoon. In these countries it is necessary to bury the dead within twenty-four hours. So news was sent around to the brothers concerning Brother Hardin’s death and announcement was given of the funeral services for that afternoon. There were 300 persons crowded into the Kingdom Hall to hear the funeral discourse.

It is wonderful to know and work with such faithful brothers and to see Brother Hardin’s wife continue on there faithfully. While these are sad moments, still Jehovah’s witnesses do not sorrow as do others, for they know of the hope that is set before them. Sister Hardin continues on in the missionary home along with the other missionaries and her joy will be full. One cannot help thinking of the contrast between faithful missionary service, as here exemplified, and those unfaithful.

Some missionaries have gone to Costa Rica in times past, and after working for a few years became interested in money and commercialism and in settling down to get more of the things this old world has to offer. Not only have such stopped missionary work but they have become negligent congregation publishers, thus setting a bad example for those brothers who did not even have the Gilead School training to aid them in their faith and give them the knowledge of Jehovah God. Certainly one today can rejoice with those who are faithful; and what joy it must be to those who, having been faithful for years and sticking with the work assigned, keep right on going, even though their brothers or sisters, or husbands or wives, finish their ministry for the present! Some day, in the resurrection, they will joyously resume and continue worshiping and praising the Sovereign Ruler of the universe, whereas others who go back to the world, seeking its pleasures and its goods, never will have the opportunity of gaining everlasting life. To turn away completely from Jehovah’s organization and be interested just in this old world, not bringing praise to Jehovah’s name, not meeting with Jehovah’s people, must bring torment to the minds of those so doing. They must convince themselves to believe a lie and the Devil is the father (sustainer) of them. People who turn back to the world must make excuses for their having failed to pursue the course on which they started and, instead, following another course, in order to try to convince themselves and others that they have taken what, in their eyes, is a right course. Those who enter and stay in full-time service, like missionaries, are happy in their work, for their work is the “joy of the Lord.” As long as one’s heart is fixed, trusting in Jehovah, he will have no fear of evil tidings that spread in the world, and he will not try to find security in this old world but will find true security only in the New World society.

In Costa Rica there is much more to be done. Those who have been careless with their privileges will either have to line up with Jehovah’s requirements or get out. There are still many sheeplike ones to be gathered and they will be brought into Jehovah’s clean organization and work with those who set the right example. By Jehovah’s undeserved kindness Costa Rica will share in the prosperity of God’s nation in 1955.

Modern History of Jehovah’s Witnesses

Part 15—Foreign Activities Under Fascist-Nazi Persecution

BY THE year 1934 what was happening internationally as to Jehovah’s witnesses? In forty-nine countries branch offices were being maintained by the Watch Tower Society.a Its work was advancing and developing along the pattern as reported for the United States. As Catholic-Fascism was expanding in Europe increasing difficulties were coming upon the witnesses. In Italy some fifty witnesses had to operate underground, being continually hounded by the police, who arrested even persons accepting literature.b Several of these Italian associates were imprisoned by Mussolini’s Fascist government.

In Spain prior to the Fascist revolution from 1936 to 1939 the work of the handful of witnesses was growing very well. Actually amid civil war in 1936 the Spanish witnesses reported placement of 105,570 pieces of Bible literature.c

In pre-Hitler Germany the witness work of the Society grew tremendously. From 1919 to 1933 the German brothers distributed into the hands of the German people 48,000,000 books and booklets and 77,000,000 copies of the German edition of The Golden Age.d In the 1930’s the Society conducted what was known as “International Testimony Periods” of eight-day duration, during which all the witnesses globally would demonstrate their world unity by spending time every day that week giving a uniformly prepared testimony and distributing the same publication. For example, 58,804 workers in 77 countries reported activity for “The Remnant’s Thanksgiving Period” of April 8-16, 1933.e During this campaign the booklet Crisis was distributed. It is interesting to note that for this special period Germany reported 19,268 workers, to compare with 20,719 for the United States. Thus in 1933 workers in those two countries were about the same in number. But for this special week Germany reported distribution of 2,271,630 pieces of literature, surpassing the United States’ placement of 877,194, so demonstrating the very zealous publishing activity in Germany right after Hitler became dictator. Even before his time much Catholic opposition was experienced. For example, for the years 1931 and 1932 there was reported a total of 2,335 legal actions pending against the German witnesses.f

With the advent of the Hitler dictatorship in January, 1933, the clouds of opposition immediately became pitch-black. Early in April, 1933, the police occupied the Society’s large new factory and Bethel home in Magdeburg, Germany, placed its printing machines under seal and conducted an exhaustive search for evidence of subversive activity. None being found, the Society was allowed to resume control of its own premises on April 28. This enabled them to complete the compilation of their above record special-period report for April 8-16. Amidst this trouble Judge Rutherford decided to visit Germany, which he did in June, 1933. On June 25 in Berlin 7,000 witnesses attended a specially called assembly, unanimously passing a resolution entitled “Declaration of Facts.” It was a strong protest to Hitler and his government against their highhanded interferences with the witness work of the Society. In quick retaliation three days later, on June 28, 1933, for the second time the Society’s property was seized and occupied, and by government decree its printing plant was closed. The 180 members of the Bethel family at Magdeburg were compelled to leave the premises within the next few weeks. Said Hitler:

“These so-called ‘Earnest Bible Students’ [Jehovah’s witnesses] are trouble-makers; they disturb the harmonious life amongst the Germans; I consider them quacks; I do not tolerate that the German Catholics be besmirched in such a manner by this American ‘Judge’ Rutherford; I dissolve the ‘Earnest Bible Students’ in Germany; their property I dedicate to the people’s welfare; I will have all their literature confiscated.”g

This flagrant violation of international property rights was carried out by the Hitler government even though the American Watch Tower Society had been recognized in Germany since 1921, where, according to international law, it was allowed to own and operate property. At behest of the Society’s Brooklyn headquarters the United States Department of State did take action to register its protest with the Hitler government.h

With the Society’s German headquarters now closed the Hitler government proceeded to interfere with the congregational meetings of Jehovah’s witnesses throughout the land, forbidding the brothers to meet together. This forced the work to go underground in 1934, when some of the witnesses began to be imprisoned for failing to comply with the government’s totalitarian orders. Because of this unwarranted persecution a world campaign of protest was arranged by the Society for October 7, 1934. Notwithstanding the government’s order, every congregation in Germany did meet together on the night of October 7, when, after a solemn prayer to Jehovah, there was dispatched to the Hitler government in Berlin a resolution of protest signed by the local congregation of Jehovah’s witnesses. United in spirit on this same night, congregations of Jehovah’s witnesses in fifty countries met likewise in prayer to Jehovah followed by each group’s sending a cable of protest addressed to the Hitler government as follows: “Your ill-treatment of Jehovah’s witnesses shocks all good people of earth and dishonors God’s name. Refrain from further persecuting Jehovah’s witnesses; otherwise God will destroy you and your national party.”i

According to an eyewitness report, this world-wide demonstration caused quite a stir on October 7, 1934, at Berlin in the Reich Ministry of the Interior when Hitler himself happened to visit Dr. Frick, minister of the interior, who was receiving these protest messages. The sworn account (reproduced below) says that upon Hitler’s hearing of the telegrams, he jumped to his feet and with clenched fists hysterically screamed: “This brood will be exterminated in Germany!”j Thus a mad national effort was embarked upon, to eliminate Jehovah’s witnesses from the German national scene. In the course of the dark years that followed thousands of witnesses were arrested, falsely convicted and put in prisons and concentration camps where many of them suffered unspeakably. Some two thousand witnesses lost their lives in this struggle to keep faithful integrity to Jehovah. But as warned in the global flood of cablegrams and telegrams of October 7, 1934, Hitler, the fighter against God, was no more in the land of the living eleven years later, when it is claimed he committed suicide in Berlin in 1945. Nevertheless, some 8,000 witnesses survived his demonized, torture-chamber concentration camps to live to take up again their preaching work and freely worship their loving God Jehovah.

Britain, too, saw an expansion of theocratic interests. In the early 1930’s the field organization attained a steadiness as to size and distribution of Bible literature. By 1931 there were 365 congregations established and functioning for service with about four thousand regular workers, including 196 pioneers, distributing annually between one and a half to two million books and booklets.k However, in 1937 a special call to wakefulness was sounded that stirred the British announcers of Jehovah’s kingdom to greater efforts and growth. The report for the next year, 1938, indicated five thousand ministers participated in the field service, placing 4,308,710 pieces of literature. During 1939 this was amazingly expanded to 6,185,937 books and booklets by 6,861 ministers, 511 of which were pioneers. This expansion rolled on into 1940 with a distribution of 6,200,282 Bible publications by 9,860 publishers, including the remarkable number of 1,037 pioneers.l In spite of total war conditions the increase continued to mount, 12,436 partaking in the monthly service in 1942, with 1,488 full-time ministers among them.a The British witnesses became a united solid organization, spiritually up to date to withstand the ordeals of the long dark war years.

British activities were not conducted without opposition. Theirs as well was the experience of opposition from Catholic-inspired sources as was their brothers’ in other parts of the world, but not to the same extent. Several Catholic-Fascist attacks were withstood in 1938 and 1939 at such points as London, Glasgow, Clydebank, Oldham, Newbridge, Hebburn on Tyne, Folkestone, Camberley, Leicester, Dundee, Ebbw Vale and Northwich, where, in some cases, priest-led mobs assaulted the witnesses and in other instances meetings were interfered with.b There were 71 cases of assault reported for 1940.c The London Catholic Herald on October 14, 1938, published a libelous attack on the witnesses and Judge Rutherford, falsely charging that their activities were subversive. The Catholic Herald was promptly compelled to publish a humiliating retraction on the front page of its issue for November 25.d

In 1938, too, on September 10 and 11, London was the key city for the Watch Tower Society’s first multicity convention. Fifty assemblies of Jehovah’s witnesses met simultaneously in England, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, the United States and Australia. All fifty cities were tied together by radio-telephone public-address facilities so that the two principal addresses delivered at London’s Royal Albert Hall by Judge Rutherford were excellently heard by all the overseas audiences as well as audiences at the other cities in the British Isles. On Saturday the hour’s talk was on the striking subject “Fill the Earth.” On Sunday (September 11), for the public talk, at the fifty-city convention 150,000 persons heard Rutherford’s direct original delivery of his stirring lecture “Face the Facts,” warning the democratic peoples of the approaching Catholic-Fascist bid for world control. This was a remarkable assembly.e Within twelve months thereafter World War II had started, with the Nazis and Fascists feverishly making an all-out effort for world domination, as warned.

In advertising the “Face the Facts” public lecture extensive sandwich-sign parades were used in the convention cities in both hemispheres. Later, when this and other lectures were reproduced by recordings at smaller public gatherings, single-file lines of publishers with such advertising signs suspended over their shoulders would march along heavily traveled streets handing out leaflets to advertise such meetings. This spectacular feature of street witnessing became known as ‘information marching.’f Subsequently 12,000,000 copies of this lecture “Face the Facts” in booklet form were distributed in all the earth.g A mighty prewar testimony was this.

(To be continued)

[Footnotes]

“DECLARATION—On October 7, 1934, having been previously summoned, I visited Dr. Wilhelm Frick, at that time Minister of the Interior of the Reich and Prussia, in his home office of the Reich, located in Berlin, 6 am Königsplatz, since I was a plenipotentiary of General Ludendorff. I was to accept communications, contents of which were an attempt to persuade General Ludendorff to discontinuance of his objection to the Nazi Regime. During my discussion with Dr. Frick, Hitler suddenly appeared and began taking part in the conversation. When our discussion obligatorily dealt with the action against the International Bible Students Association [Jehovah’s witnesses] in Germany up until now, Dr. Frick showed Hitler a number of telegrams protesting against the Third Reich’s persecution of the Bible Students, saying: ‘If the Bible Students do not immediately get in line we will act against them using the strongest means.’ After which Hitler jumped to his feet and with clenched fists hysterically screamed: ‘This brood will be exterminated in Germany!’ Four years after this discussion I was able, by my own observations, to convince myself, during my seven years in protective custody in the hell of the Nazi’s concentration-camps at Sachsenhausen, Flossenburg and Mauthausen—I was in prison until released by the Allies—that Hitler’s outburst of anger was not just an idle threat. No other group of prisoners of the named concentration-camps was exposed to the sadism of the SS-soldiery in such a fashion as the Bible Students were. It was a sadism marked by an unending chain of physical and mental tortures, the likes of which no language in the world can express.

“Frankfort-on-the-Main, November 12, 1947; 9 Wehrheimer St.

[signed] Karl R. A Wittig

“Roll of Record No. 778 in the year of 1947:

“The signature of the author Karl Wittig appearing on the reverse side of this page, residing in 9 Wehrheimer St., Frankfort-on-the-Main, is herewith certified.

“Frankfort-on-the-Main, November 13, 1947.

[signed] Ludwig, Notary Public

[SEAL] Otto Ludwig, Notary Public in Frankfort-on-the-Main.”

More Evidence of the Bible’s Accuracy

An American archaeologist, Dr. Nelson Glueck, has uncovered an enormous amount of evidence confirming the historical accuracy of the Bible. Of the many scriptures that he has shed archaeological light on, one of the most interesting is the verse that tells of the Jordan Valley in ancient times as follows: “So Lot raised his eyes and saw the whole district of the Jordan, that all of it was a well-watered region before Jehovah destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of Jehovah.”—Genesis 13:10, New World Trans.

Critics said this was imaginary writing. They said all evidence leads to the conclusion that at the time of Lot, about 2,000 B.C., the Jordan district was an uninhabited desert. No civilization, they said; no irrigation; no farming. “The Valley,” announced George Adam Smith in his famed Historical Geography of the Holy Land, “has never been populous. It has deserved the name of wilderness.”

Along came Dr. Glueck, who refused to believe what the so-called authorities said, because his past discoveries had all confirmed the Bible. Into the wilderness to study the wastelands went the archaeologist. There he found shattered pottery and other items that shed light on the wilderness. When he returned he had scientific evidence that startled the critics, evidence that changed the maps of ancient Palestine.

Again his discoveries confirmed the Bible’s accuracy. Declared the archaeologist: “The Jordan Valley was not only one of the first settled sections of the country, but it was also one of the richest parts of all ancient Palestine and Transjordan . . . truly, a Garden of God.”—Coronet, March, 1955.

Be Satisfied by Work

“It is God’s gift to man that every one should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil.”—Eccl. 3:13, RS.

1. What does Jehovah choose to do, and how does doing it affect him?

JEHOVAH is supreme in all the universe. There is no head over him. He takes orders from no one. He is accountable to no one. He has absolute freedom to do as he pleases, to do either this or that or something else. He chooses the course that makes him happy and he is known as the happy God. The happifying course he chooses is to work. He is not wearied by work: “The everlasting God, Jehovah, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary.” Hence it could not be in the sense of needing to recuperate that he refreshed himself at the end of the sixth creative day: “In six days Jehovah made the heavens and the earth and on the seventh day he desisted and proceeded to refresh himself.” Jehovah did not desist or rest from all work, but just from this particular creative work, and upon its completion he contemplated it and noted that it was very good, up to his standard of perfection, and he was refreshed and satisfied by the accomplishment of this work of highest quality. To see this fine work completed was a joy and a satisfaction and a refreshment to Jehovah the Creator.—Isa. 40:28, AS; Ex. 31:17, NW, margin.

2. What is Jesus’ choice, and with what results?

² Proving Jehovah continues working during the sabbath or seventh day of the creative week are Jesus’ words: “My Father has kept working until now, and I keep working.” These words also show Jesus works. He does the work Jehovah assigns to him. He willingly and voluntarily does God’s work, and expressed delight in doing Jehovah’s will. He found it as nourishing and as satisfying and as refreshing as food; more so, in fact, for on one occasion when his disciples urged him to eat he responded: “My food is for me to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work.” The joy of accomplishment would refresh him at the end of the work, dissipating any tiredness and leaving him satisfied and exhilarated.—John 5:17; 4:34, NW.

3. How was man equipped to work, and what assignment was he given when created?

³ Man was created in the image and likeness of God and Christ, with a measure of their attributes of wisdom, power, justice and love. By his wisdom man could know how to do things, by his power he would be able to do them, by his sense of justice he could use the fruits of his labor fairly, and by his quality of love he could go even beyond justice in dealing generously and unselfishly. He was made with the capacity to do good work and he was given work to do. When man was created, “Jehovah God proceeded to take the man and settle him in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and to take care of it.” Man and his wife were told to “be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is creeping upon the earth.” What a wonderful privilege of work was given the first human pair when the earth with its plant and animal life was placed under their care and they were to fill it with their offspring, and Jehovah had given them the mental and physical capacities to enable them to accomplish the assignment perfectly!—Gen. 2:15; 1:28, NW.

4. Why did Jehovah give man work to do, and what findings now demonstrate the wisdom of this?

⁴ Jehovah did not give man this work to do to get out of doing it himself. He did it for man’s good, because man was equipped to work and would find happiness in doing this work that was within his capacities. It was for man’s pleasure and enjoyment and satisfaction that Jehovah assigned him suitable work. The work would fill his life, rout any possibility of boredom or dull monotony, and give him the satisfying feeling of being useful. Rather than the divine attributes’ being repressed or frustrated or stagnated by inactivity, they could find a proper outlet for full expression in the work assigned by Jehovah. Recent scientific studies confirm the Scriptural truth that man was made to work. They have shown that the majority of elderly persons in good health do not want to retire, that retirement more often brings boredom instead of happiness, and that investigators believe it makes bored and idle persons lose the will to live and actually cuts down on their life span. Hobbies do not satisfactorily replace work in the lives of retired persons. Enjoyed a few hours a week as a change and relaxation from regular work, they become tiresome when pursued full time. Also, hobbies usually fall short of this requirement, as stated in one article: “To maintain mental health a man must feel that he is doing work which serves a useful purpose.” To retire from good work is more of a blight than a blessing. So Jehovah acted for man’s good when he gave man an assignment of work.

5. What is Jehovah’s will concerning the fruits of man’s labor?

⁵ Jehovah does not want man deprived of the fruits of his labor. “The hard-working farmer,” wrote the apostle Paul, “must be the first to partake of the fruits.” Previously he had expounded this divine principle at greater length, saying: “Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Or who shepherds a flock and does not eat some of the milk of the flock? Am I speaking these things by human standards? Or does not the Law also say these things? For in the law of Moses it is written: ‘You must not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain.’ Is it oxen God is caring for? Or is it altogether for our sakes he says it? Really for our sakes it was written, because the man who plows ought to plow in hope and the man who threshes ought to do so in hope of being a partaker.” Even the oxen were to partake of the fruits of their labor. But are oxen the primary concern? If Jehovah safeguards the interests of the working brute, how much more so will he champion the welfare of working men! Paul is not here nullifying the divine rule of consideration for oxen, but by a forceful rhetorical construction he is showing that in comparison with men oxen are as nothing, and if the humane principle applies to oxen it applies with incomparably greater force to mankind, and especially to those laboring in Jehovah’s service and sowing spiritual things in the interests of others.—2 Tim. 2:6; 1 Cor. 9:7-11, NW.

6, 7. How does Deuteronomy 20:1, 5, 6 strikingly show man is to enjoy the results of his work?

⁶ The law concerning oxen that Paul quoted is found at Deuteronomy 25:4, and in that same book Jehovah directly concerns himself with men and their right to enjoy the results of their labors. The setting is important. The nation of Israel had just finished its wilderness sojourn and was poised on the plains of Moab for entry into the Promised Land. This land was occupied by fighting hordes of demon worshipers. The entry of Israel would precipitate war and in battle Israel would find itself outnumbered: “In case you should go out to the battle against your enemies and you have seen horses and war chariots, a people more numerous than you, you must not be afraid of them, for Jehovah your God is with you.” Nevertheless, notwithstanding the urgency of theocratic warfare and the pressing need for every able-bodied man in the fighting ranks, note these exemptions to military duty: “Who is the man that has built a new house and has not inaugurated it? Let him go and return to his house, for fear he may die in the battle and another man should inaugurate it. And who is the man that has planted a vineyard and not begun to use it? Let him go and return to his house, for fear he may die in the battle and another man should begin to use it.”—Deut. 20:1, 5, 6, NW.

⁷ Jehovah holds that a man should enjoy the fruits of his labor, that his work should not be in vain, without the reward of enjoying its good. This was to hold true even in the emergency of war, when every able man was sorely needed. He was to have the satisfaction of enjoying his work and not go to the battle front wondering whether he would return to enjoy living in his house or not, or whether some other man would live in it. The builder was to be the first to enjoy the results of that labor. Then, later on, he would respond to the call to war when it came and be able to fight with undivided attention, not plagued by thoughts that he would never enjoy the house he built, for then he would already have experienced that joy. The same was true with regard to the man who had planted a vineyard. He was to eat of its fruit before he went to war. This might mean an exemption of several years, since the law stipulated no fruitage was to be used the first three years, the fourth year’s produce was to be an offering to Jehovah, and not until the fifth year was the fruitage permitted for common or general use. Nevertheless, exemption held until the planter had partaken of the harvest.—Lev. 19:23-25.

8. How did Jesus show that work is a reward in itself?

⁸ By an illustration Jesus showed that work gives its own reward in joyfulness. A man was going on a trip, but before leaving he summoned his slaves and left them in charge of his interests, distributing his goods according to the varying abilities of his slaves. After a long absence he returned and called for an accounting. By diligent work the one caring for five talents doubled them, and the one caring for two talents doubled them, but the one left in charge of one talent was sluggish and did nothing with it and so gained nothing. Now, how were the two industrious workers rewarded? Were they told to take a vacation at the seashore or in the mountains? Was that their reward? No, their reward for hard work was, not a vacation, but, of all things, more work! To each of them in turn the master said: “Well done, good and faithful slave! You were faithful over a few things. I will appoint you over many things. Enter into the joy of your master.” The master’s joy was in this work, and by getting more of this work to do the diligent slaves entered more fully into their master’s joy. But what about the lazy slave that would not work? What happened to him? The decision was: “Take away the talent from him and give it to him that has the ten talents.” This should have overjoyed the lazy one. He did not want to work. Now the work was taken from him. He could spend his life loafing. But instead of rejoicing because of no work he went off weeping and gnashing his teeth.—Matt. 25:14-30, NW.

9. What purpose do vacations serve?

⁹ To be happy we need to work. True, we need some rest, a change for mind and body to mend frayed nerves and recuperate physical strength. The sabbath arrangement of the Mosaic law provided for such a relaxing change after a period of hard work. Vacations of limited duration are invaluable for renewing strength. But when the physical and mental and nervous energies have been restored by an enjoyable vacation we begin to get restless. The vacation has served its purpose. We have been made strong again for activity and we are ready to go to work. To continue the vacation beyond this point is to enter a period of boredom and restlessness and to court the demoralizing dangers of idleness. We want to get back to work. We miss the joy and satisfaction that come from useful employment.

10. What now replaces the love of work, and what results therefrom?

¹⁰ Jehovah wants men to take pleasure in work and enjoy its fruits: “I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; also that it is God’s gift to man that every one should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil.” (Eccl. 3:12, 13, RS) Many are toiling today, but few are finding deep pleasure in it. Less and less is the satisfaction of accomplishment the reward for men’s labors; more and more the target of their efforts is money. It is the era of materialism, when pride in fine work has been eaten by the corrosion of greed, and zeal for artistic attainment bows before the idol of commercial gain. Replacing love of work by love of money results in deterioration of quality of work and artistic attainments. Money rules, and degraded persons pay for degraded products. They may have more materially, but they have less spiritually. Instead of finding their pleasure in their work they seek it in the accumulation of money, but their anxieties and neuroses and mental disorders cry out the failure of their course. In centuries past men wrote or painted or composed music in dingy quarters and finished their life in obscurity, but they were rewarded with satisfaction in their labors, and this driving zeal of theirs produced the recognized masterpieces in literature and art and music. The money-makers of today get the rewards they seek, like the scribes and Pharisees and Sadducees who did their works to be seen of men; but both miss the deep pleasure and contentment of satisfying accomplishment. Created to work and enjoy it, many today hate it and dodge it and instead court wealth and cater to the desires of the flesh and are soon engulfed in

THE VANITY OF MATERIALISM

11. How does Solomon seemingly contradict himself on the subject of work?

¹¹ While Solomon was still faithful to Jehovah he was used to write many thought-provoking proverbs and meditations, and in the book of Ecclesiastes written by him the vanities in the life of men on earth are repeatedly emphasized. Work comes in for frequent notice and sometimes it seems as though Solomon contradicts himself on the subject, at times saying it is vain and futile and in other instances lauding it as man’s pleasure and a gift from God. For example, at Ecclesiastes 3:13, the theme text of this article, Solomon said that to eat and drink and get pleasure from work was God’s gift to man. Yet at Ecclesiastes 1:2, 3 (RS) he writes: “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?” In the next chapter he recounts much of his work and says: “My heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil.” But immediately he adds that it is all vanity because he will die just like the fool and the results of his toil will be left to others instead of being enjoyed by the toiler: “I hated all my toil in which I had toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me; and who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity.” Nevertheless, he is soon repeating that work is pleasure: “There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God; for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?”—Eccl. 2:10, 18, 19, 24, 25, RS.

12. What is frustrating about toil, and why is the work of some vain?

¹² So a frustrating thing about toil was that its fruits could not always be enjoyed by the toiler because of the intervention of death. Then there were some whose work was vanity because even while living they did not enjoy its fruits but were misers, denying themselves pleasure in order to hoard their wealth: “Again, I saw vanity under the sun: a person who has no one, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, ‘For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?’ This also is vanity and an unhappy business.” “A stranger enjoys them; this is vanity; it is a sore affliction.” Do you remember the Scriptural incidents previously noted showing that Jehovah wants each one to enjoy the fruits of his own labor? If this does not take place the labor is a futility and a vanity to the laborer.—Eccl. 4:7, 8; 6:2, RS.

13. What spirit mars much work today, and what is the balanced view?

¹³ “Again, I considered all labour and all excelling in work, that it is a man’s rivalry with his neighbour. This also is vanity and a striving after wind. The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh. Better is a handful of quietness, than both the hands full of labour and striving after wind.” (Eccl. 4:4-6, Jew. Pub.) With many the incentive to work is not the accomplishment of something worth doing but is an envious rivalry to outdo their fellow man. It is the pressure of competition and greed that drives them to work harder and better than their neighbor, and in a spirit of jealousy they try to equal or surpass the materialism of their neighbor. Modernly expressed, they are intent on “keeping up with the Joneses.” This is selfish and agitating, vexatious and vain. The other extreme is the fool that folds his hands in idleness, is overwhelmed by poverty, and consumes his own flesh in starvation. Better to follow a middle course, work calmly and peacefully, without agitation and envy of others’ possessions, and enjoy one sufficient handful in quiet contentment, than jealously to grasp two handfuls gained by bitter competition or to sit in want with two hands left empty by foolish laziness. Neither too much nor too little is good—the former makes men feel independent of God and the latter tempts them to thievery: “Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me: lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is Jehovah? or lest I be poor, and steal, and use profanely the name of my God.”—Prov. 30:8, 9, AS.

14. How did Solomon show the vanity of heaping up riches, and how does the Midrash illustrate his words?

¹⁴ Of what lasting profit are the riches heaped up by troublesome and angry competition? As moderns say, “You can’t take it with you.” Solomon expressed it more eloquently: “Just as he emerged from his mother’s womb, naked does he return, going even as he came; and he carries away nothing of his toil which he can carry in his hand. This, indeed, is a sore evil: just as he came, so will he go; and what profit has he in that he toiled for the wind, and spent all his days in darkness and mourning, and in much trouble, sickness, and anger?” The Jewish Midrash illustrates this with a parable. A fox found a vineyard fenced in, but located one hole through which he might enter. He was a little too big, so he fasted for three days and became thin, then squirmed through the opening. Inside, he feasted on the grapes until he became fat again, so that when he tried to leave the vineyard he could not squeeze out the hole. He fasted another three days to get lean enough to wriggle out. When outside he gazed back at the vineyard and exclaimed: “All that is inside is indeed beautiful, but what advantage has one from you? As he enters so he leaves.” So it is with this world, ends the parable. We enter with nothing and leave the same way.—Eccl. 5:15-17, AT.

15. According to Solomon, and in removal of the seeming contradiction of observations on work, what work is vain and what work is not?

¹⁵ So of what good is it to devote oneself to materialism? Of what lasting advantage is it? To toil with that in view is vain. To work to accumulate wealth for hoarding is folly. To compete in jealous rivalry is a vexatious striving for the wind. To labor to heap up material treasure is as vain as idleness is foolish. We should work for our necessary food and drink and for the sheer enjoyment of work: “So, the good which I see to be worth while is that one should eat and drink and get enjoyment out of all his toil at which he toils under the sun during the course of his life which God grants him; for that is his lot.” Solomon called such work good, saw it, not as vanity, but worthwhile, and said it was his lot in the life Jehovah gives man. In the final analysis, Solomon did not ignore Jehovah nor recommend a life given over to fleshly indulgence without thought of God or the future: “The conclusion of the matter, all having been heard: Fear God and keep his commands; for this concerns all mankind, that God brings every work into judgment with regard to everything concealed, whether it be good or evil.” There is to be an accounting. We are to work in fear of Jehovah because he will finally judge our works, even the hidden ones, even the motives within our heart. Our work is to do good, in harmony with his commands. Such work is not a vanity. It does not perish with us, but continues in God’s remembrance and will gain us a favorable judgment. But more on this later.—Eccl. 5:18; 12:13, AT.

16. As a result of the inroads of materialism, what sickness and danger now confront the world?

¹⁶ Right now consider some closing observations on materialism. We hear much about it today. Communism is railed against as materialistic and is rightly condemned for it. But is not the whole world materialistic? Even those who claim to speak for God work for materialism, consider it practical, put their trust in it, and actually view as foolishly impractical the comparatively few that exercise faith in Jehovah and his Word and his new world. Concentrating on materialistic science, they are spiritually sick and the morality and integrity and championing of right principles by men of the world are dying out as expediency arguments and materialistic outlooks are becoming more alive and active in human affairs. The advance in materialism has been as great as the retreat in spirituality, and even a depraved world blinded by the superficial glitter of its material wealth is beginning to worry about the gloomy consequences of its spiritual poverty. Newsweek for March 29, 1954, said: “The magnificent scientific mind of man had devised the means of man’s total destruction. The laggard political mind of man would now struggle with the problem of saving man from his own ingenuity.” Malenkov said atomic war “means the death of world civilization.” Eisenhower admitted atomic war would mean “civilization destroyed.”

17. What does Toynbee point to as necessities if human life is to continue on earth?

¹⁷ Writing in the New York Times Magazine of December 26, 1954, the famed British historian Arnold J. Toynbee began: “What are our emotions as we approach this new year 1955? Are we feeling that the world needs a spiritual reawakening?” He says the world is under the spell of the West, but that the secular philosophy under which the West has been living is proving an inadequate guide. Because of the fanaticism and wars of false religions our forefathers before the close of the seventeenth century “took their treasure out of religion and reinvested it in natural science” and that this faith in science “has been the guiding inspiration of the West down to our own day, until at last its limitations and its weaknesses have been exposed as an ironical consequence of its dazzling success. . . . In our time, science has placed in human hands the power to destroy life on earth.” This hardened old world has not considered love feasible, but Toynbee next declares it to be the vital, practical need: “‘See, I have set before thee this day Life and Good and Death and Evil.’ Yahweh’s winged words to Israel ought to be ringing in our ears today. Now that the peoples of the world find themselves standing within point-blank range of one another with deadly weapons in their hands, the virtues of prudence, self-control, tolerance, wisdom and—far above all these—love have become necessities of life in the literal sense. Human life on earth cannot continue unless we ordinary men and women can manage to practice these virtues up to a far higher standard than we have thought it feasible, so far, to require of ourselves.”

18. How does U.S. News & World Report lament mushrooming materialism?

¹⁸ In U.S. News & World Report, December 31, 1954, David Lawrence wrote editorially: “A crass materialism has emerged to influence the mood of the age. Europe is thriving in a new-found prosperity stimulated by American dollars. ‘Neutralism’ and abandonment of principle are commonplace. In this country—where high standards of living, wages unprecedented in weekly amounts, creature comforts, gadgets and luxuries of an ‘abundant life’ are not only fostered as a social objective but underwritten as the paramount obligation of political government—there is less and less emphasis on morals and more and more subservience to the gods of expediency. Indeed, the ruling philosophy of the modern ‘intellectual’ is that ‘in the public interest’ Peter must be robbed to pay Paul and that, no matter what the words of the Constitution may say, the end justifies the means. This insidious germ permeates the bloodstream of government.”

19. According to a report in Science News Letter, what disease is most threatening today, what are its symptoms, and what is the remedy?

¹⁹ The Science News Letter for December 11, 1954, reported that according to Dr. Julian P. Price of the American Medical Association’s board of trustees “the disease threatening the nation today is spiritual, not physical or mental,” and the symptoms of the disease include “laxness of morals in our national government in recent years, the hold which organized vice has upon legislative and social life, increase in crime in our teen-age population, bribery and unethical conduct in amateur athletics, the mad search for pleasure which causes our people to spend four times as much for beverages as they do for religious and welfare activities.” His prescription? “The only remedy which is of any avail—and to this history bears testimony—lies in a change of heart. It is my sincere belief that the greatest need of our country today—and of our profession—is a spiritual rebirth, a return to God and to His eternal principles. And the rebirth must come in the heart of the average citizen.”

20. What ails this world?

²⁰ Men are beginning to recognize that materialism is what ails them, that there needs to be a change of heart and a return to spiritual values. Otherwise life is stripped of its deeper joys. The joy of work is gone, with all effort measured by money. Recall the words of Solomon previously quoted, that when he said to eat and drink and enjoy work because it was given by God, he added: “For apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?” (Eccl. 2:24, 25, RS) The work must be good work, done with right motives, in harmony with Jehovah’s purpose, a work given by his hand, and done according to principles of integrity and morality. But inasmuch as modern men have not considered this feasible and look upon it as hampering them in their mad scramble of competitively heaping up money and material goods, they have cast it off like shackles, only to find themselves imprisoned and frustrated by their own greed and their world cringing in terror because of a morally decadent materialism of atomic power.

21. Of what value will material wealth be at Armageddon?

²¹ Their quest for material wealth now harms them spiritually, and at Armageddon will do them no good physically. In these last days it testifies against them: “Come, now, you rich men, weep, howling over your calamities which are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted, and your outer garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their rust will be as a witness against you and will eat your fleshy parts. Something like fire is what you have stored up in the last days. You have lived in luxury upon the earth and have gone in for sensual pleasure.” Their materialism cannot deliver them from divine wrath: “Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of Jehovah’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he will make an end, yea, a terrible end, of all them that dwell in the land.” So useless will their money be that it will be thrown aside: “They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be as an unclean thing; their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of Jehovah.” Setting aside right principles to be unimpeded in accumulating wealth, they cast off what could deliver: “Riches profit not in the day of wrath; but righteousness delivereth from death.”—Jas. 5:1-3, 5, NW; Zeph. 1:18; Ezek. 7:19; Prov. 11:4, AS.

22. Why is much work today vain, but what work is not?

²² So many today no longer enjoy their work, competitive greed robs them of peaceful enjoyment of life, scientific materialism is a terrifying threat to their existence, and when they die they can carry none of the fruits of their toil with them. Truly such work is vanity. But with an appreciation of spiritual values man can enjoy his work, eat and sleep in peace of mind, have no fear of materialism, and even when he dies the beneficial fruits of his labor will not be lost to him. This work is not vanity, but yields deep satisfaction. The following article gives details.

“Be Rich in Right Works”

“Give orders to those who are rich in the present system of things not to be arrogant, and to rest their hope, not on uncertain riches, but on God, who furnishes us all things richly for our enjoyment; to work at good, to be rich in right works.”—1 Tim. 6:17, 18, NW.

1. What is Jesus’ counsel on treasure?

CHRIST Jesus counseled: “Stop storing up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break in and steal. Rather, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” How can creatures on earth store up treasures in heaven?—Matt. 6:19-21, NW.

2. What surpasses in value precious metals and stones, how is it gained, and what does it mean for its possessor?

² Beyond comparison with silver and gold is Jehovah’s truth: “Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold; for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.” To gain it you must cry for it, search it out, seek it diligently: “My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you cry out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures; then you will understand the fear of [Jehovah] and find the knowledge of God.” To find it and apply it is to find peace, happiness and life eternal: “Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gets understanding, for the gain from it is better than gain from silver and its profit better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called happy.”—Prov. 8:10, 11; 2:1-5; 3:13-18, RS.

3. How can we lay up treasure in heaven, and will death rob us of it?

³ We must do more than hear the word of Jehovah. We must “become doers of the word, and not hearers only.” “He who peers into the perfect law that belongs to freedom and who persists in it, this man, because he has become, not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, will be happy in his doing it.” And he will be getting rich, not in silver and gold that perishes, but in right works: “Give orders to those who are rich in the present system of things not to be arrogant, and to rest their hope, not on uncertain riches, but on God, who furnishes us all things richly for our enjoyment; to work at good, to be rich in right works, to be liberal, ready to share, safely treasuring up for themselves a right foundation for the future, in order that they may get a firm hold on the real life.” Jehovah “judges impartially according to each one’s work,” and uses Christ to do this, who shows his qualifications when he says: “I am he who searches the inmost thoughts and hearts, and I will give to you individually according to your deeds.” If you seek out his words of truth, share them with others, do the right works they command, and shun the evil deeds they deplore, you will be laying up a treasure in heaven for the future and firmly embracing the prospect of real life in Jehovah’s new world. The anointed followers of Christ who die now and are instantaneously changed suffer no loss of their treasure of good works, “for the things they did go right with them.” To them it cannot be correctly said, “You can’t take it with you.” The same principle will not allow death to rob the other sheep of heavenly treasure: “God is not unrighteous so as to forget your work and the love you showed for his name.”—Jas. 1:22, 25; 1 Tim. 6:17-19; 1 Pet. 1:17; Rev. 2:23; 14:13; Heb. 6:10, NW.

4. What is the meaning of 1 Corinthians 3:12-15?

⁴ But the works of the wicked perish with them: “The strong shall be as tow, and his work as a spark; and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.” At times even those in Jehovah’s service may err and build the wrong works on the foundation, Christ Jesus: “Now if anyone builds on the foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood materials, hay, stubble, each one’s work will become manifest, for the day will show it up, because it will be revealed by means of fire, and the fire itself will prove what sort of work each one’s is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward; if anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved; yet, if so, it will be as through fire.” The gold, silver and precious stones endure the flames, but the wood, hay and stubble do not. The former symbolize approved works that are not destroyed by Jehovah’s fiery judgments, whereas the latter combustible materials are erroneous doctrines and works that cannot stand before Jehovah’s fiery tests. If the one performing the latter ones will suffer the loss of them, quit doing them, and turn to good works he will be saved. If he will let Jehovah’s judgment eliminate the false practices and take up the works approved by the Bible he will be saved by this cleansing, purifying fiery judgment; but if he clings to the false works he will perish with them.—Isa. 1:31, AS; 1 Cor. 3:12-15, NW.

5. Why should we become skilled in preaching work, and how can we?

⁵ The primary work Christians must now do is fulfill Jesus’ words: “This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for the purpose of a witness to all the nations.” Our preaching work should be of as high a quality as possible for us, so that we can have a standing before the Kings Jehovah and Christ: “Do you see a man skilful in his work? he will stand before kings.” For necessary instruction and training the Bible is provided, in order “that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work.” So by private and group study, by regular attendance at congregational meetings, and by participation in the training program “do your utmost to present yourself approved to God, a workman with nothing to be ashamed of, handling the word of the truth aright.” Satan, the god of this present wicked world, has woven a gigantic tissue of religious lies and spreads it like a veil over the nations so that unbelievers are blinded to the enlightening good news of Christ’s kingdom. But Jehovah’s Word is like a two-edged sword and Christians must be skilled in wielding it to slash to shreds the blinding veil and let the light shine into the honest minds and hearts of sheeplike men and women and children. The fact that Satan makes the preaching work difficult only adds to the thrill of accomplishing it, with Jehovah’s help.—Matt. 24:14, NW; Prov. 22:29, RS; 2 Tim. 3:17; 2:15, NW.

6. What scriptures suggest quantity of work as well as quality?

⁶ Not only quality but also quantity must be considered. The days are critical and the time is short, so the admonition is to “preach the word, be at it urgently in favorable season, in troublesome season.” “Become steadfast, unmovable, always having plenty to do in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in connection with the Lord.” “Keep working out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” “Do not loiter at your business. Be aglow with the spirit.” “Sloth brings the sleep that has no awaking.” “Cursed be he that doeth the work of Jehovah negligently.” If we do the work of Jehovah in a skillful way and also do much of it the joy of accomplishment will be greater and in right works we shall be richer.—2 Tim. 4:2; 1 Cor. 15:58; Phil. 2:12; Rom. 12:11, NW; Prov. 19:15, Knox; Jer. 48:10, AS.

7. What enemy charge boomerangs, when will matters be righted, and what shows the time is ripe for it?

⁷ Because of doing these right spiritual works and upsetting the materialistic religions of their time the early Christians were accused of turning the world upside down, but actually it was the false religionists that perverted matters, and at similar hypocrites long before Christ’s time Jehovah’s prophet had leveled the stinging charge: “Ye turn things upside down!” (Isa. 29:16, AS; Acts 17:6) At Armageddon Jehovah breaks forth against them in a destruction. By the expression of this righteous indignation the “earth and the works in it will be discovered,” meaning all the vile works of this present wicked earthly system will be discovered to be like the heavens, burned up, along with the workers of such evils. And although people are now told beforehand of this work of Jehovah, they refuse to believe, as also foretold. Yet in view of the decline of honesty and decay of integrity and collapse of morality the time is ripe for it: “It is time for Jehovah to work; for they have made void thy law.” As Jesus told hypocrites of his day: “You have made the word of God invalid because of your tradition.”—2 Pet. 3:10, NW; Ps. 119:126, AS; Matt. 15:6, NW; Hab. 1:5; Acts 13:40, 41.

8. How should we now wisely use time?

⁸ Since the time is ripe for Jehovah’s destructive work, it is imperative to be urgently at the warning work now. Time must be used wisely, not wasted, for it is short. To save others and to save ourselves we must get rich quick, not in material ways, but in right works. Use the time to work. When doing nothing some idly say: “I’m just killing time.” They do consume time but in time they are consumed. Time passes on; we pass out. We stop; time marches on. It does not take time long to pass us—seventy or eighty years, more or less, a mere drop in time’s stream. But now, in these last days, we do not have even this droplet of time, for Armageddon comes on apace. If we are to march on with time instead of being outmarched by it, we must get in step with the Bible and walk with God. We must appreciate the spiritual values and store up lasting treasure, not being shortsighted materialists grabbing at the wind and ending with nothing, not even breath. You say you have no time to study God’s Word? You say you have no time to do his work? That is like saying you have no time to breathe.

9. What is this life good for, and what is the effect upon us of preaching or refusing to preach?

⁹ This present life as the world lives it is not really living. “The one that goes in for sensual gratification is dead though she is living.” This life is good for only one thing, namely, to get rich in right works, to treasure up a right foundation for the future, to get a firm hold on real life in Jehovah’s new world. We could have everything that this life has to offer, and yet if empty of right works it would be wasted and worthless. The days of this life are few and full of trouble and pain, sorrow and suffering, grief and disappointment, wickedness and death. The days are few, but there are enough for us to get rich in right works if we do not delay. To do such works brings us joy and satisfaction, peace and contentment, spiritual health and eternal life. Strange though it may seem, not to do them is exhausting, whereas to do them is refreshing. When Jeremiah decided not to preach he finally cried out: “I am worn out with holding it in—I cannot endure it.” When Elihu discerned necessary preaching to do he declared: “I will speak, that I may be refreshed.” Just as Jehovah was refreshed by his work of creation, and doing Jehovah’s will was like refreshing food to Jesus, so the accomplishment of the preaching work is refreshing to Jehovah’s witnesses at this time. So even as we work we are refreshed, and even in the face of persecution we do not become weary in well doing, for “they that wait for Jehovah shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.”—1 Tim. 5:6, NW; Jer. 20:9, AT; Job 32:20; Isa. 40:31, AS.

WORK IN THE NEW WORLD

10. What will keep life in the new world from becoming dull?

¹⁰ To be delivered to real life in the new world does not mean being granted a permanent vacation. Overlong vacations become dull. Loafing becomes monotonous. Life becomes uninteresting. The real life in the new world will never become dull or monotonous or uninteresting, because there will be plenty of work. Not the vain and futile work of this world that makes the work week a grind and that makes men speak of its beginning as “blue” Monday. No, it will be the interesting and even fascinating work of beautifying the earth, exercising loving dominion over animal life, and raising children to fill the earth with a righteous race. There will always be right work for the mind and for the body, and, just as in the case of the anointed witnesses and their work now, so then men “shall long enjoy the work of their hands.” Or, more in accord with the literal meaning of the Hebrew, the work of their hands they will “use to the full” or “wear out.” The fruits of their labor will not be stolen or uselessly hoarded or left behind unused by the worker because death took him. There will be nothing to frustrate Jehovah’s purpose that the worker will reap the joy and satisfaction of his own work.—Isa. 65:22; Ro; Yg.

11. From what shall we have rest in the new world, and what wonderful vistas of work will open up for us?

¹¹ The thousand-year reign of Christ will be a time of rest from drought, crop failure, hurricane, earthquake, accidents and oppressive toil; rest from cheating commercialists, corrupt politicians and hypocritical religionists; rest from racial strife and national divisions, from cold wars and hot wars, from pain and sickness, and from suffering and death. It will be a time of rest from all the rottenness heaped on humankind for the past six thousand years of tyranny by wicked men and degraded demons and depraved Devil. But it will not be a time of rest from right works. There will always be new work, with new problems to solve and new mysteries to penetrate. These will challenge our mind and body and draw us on to ever new advances in work, knowledge, wisdom and understanding. And with endless life, individuals will have time to finish the work they start. Now men either know a little about a lot, or a lot about a little. Their studies leave them broad and shallow, or narrow and deep. But in the new world where time is not doled out in limited life spans that are as fleeting shadows men will have time to pursue studies until they become both broad and deep, learning much about many subjects. And the rich satisfaction of increasing knowledge will never end, for we can never know it all. Only Jehovah knows it all, and we can never begin to fathom the depths of his limitless wisdom. What a marvelous future of satisfying work lies ahead of obedient mankind!

12. What admonition is given for our good?

¹² To have that real life then is worth working for now. Jehovah works, Christ works, man should work, will be happier if he works, will live longer if he works, will have satisfaction in his work now if it fills a useful purpose, and will gain real life in the new world if his present works are right in Jehovah’s sight. Store treasure in heaven. Earthly riches are temporary. Work for what endures: “Do not toil to acquire wealth; be wise enough to desist.” “The world is passing away and so is its desire, but he that does the will of God remains forever.” The more a desire is fed the bigger and hungrier it gets, whether spiritual or material. We have only so much time, and the more we use it to please the flesh the less we shall have for things of the spirit.—Prov. 23:4, RS; 1 John 2:17, NW.

13. What is the subtle danger of materialism?

¹³ The material crowds out the spiritual if we let it, and sometimes subtly does it before we know it. There is a fable about an Arab and his camel. It was a cold night, and as the Arab sat in his small tent the camel looked in and begged to be allowed to put his head inside because of the cold. Soon he asked to get his neck in, then his forelegs, and finally asked to stand wholly within. Permission was granted, but it was so crowded the camel nudged the Arab and moved him outside, saying there was not room for both in the tent. So it is with materialism. If we give it an opening it will encroach more and more on our time and energy and soon spirituality will be crowded out of our life. This is not to say we should go to the other extreme of asceticism and put on “a self-imposed form of worship and mock humility, a severe treatment of the body,” for material goods are needed, are to be enjoyed, and can be used in Jehovah’s service also; but when pursued beyond our needs they cost too much. As this disintegrating old world is finding out, the cost of materialism is spirituality, and to pay over spirituality is eventually to pay over your life: “The minding of the flesh means death, but the minding of the spirit means life and peace.” Now many glory in the god of materialism, when actually it is their shame: “Their god is their belly, and their glory consists in their shame, and they have their minds upon things on the earth.” Do Jehovah’s work, not your belly’s bidding!—Col. 2:23; Rom. 8:6; Phil. 3:19, NW.

14. What is the common denominator of happiness? So what must we now do?

¹⁴ Money is not the common denominator of happiness. Some rich people are happy, many are not. Some poor people are happy, many are not. Youth is not the common denominator of happiness. Some youths are happy, some are not. Many aged persons are happy, many are not. Health is not the common denominator of happiness. Some healthy people are happy, but many are sad. Some sickly ones are happier than healthy ones. The same can be said for the famous and the obscure, the popular and the unpopular, the talented and the mediocre—none of these conditions is the common denominator of happiness. The common denominator of happiness and peace and contentment is knowing Jehovah. All who know Jehovah and serve him—whether rich or poor, young or old, healthy or sickly, famous or obscure, popular or unpopular, talented or mediocre—all of them are happy and contented and hopeful. To take in knowledge of Jehovah and Christ and then give out the truth water to others means life everlasting: “The generous man will be enriched; and he who waters will himself be watered.” Such happy persons now study Jehovah’s Word, tell it to others, obey his commands, live clean lives, systematically preach, become rich in right works, and thereby get a firm grip on the real life that will be filled to overflowing with satisfying works to the everlasting praise of the great Creator God, Jehovah.—Prov. 11:25, AT; John 17:3, NW.

Questions From Readers

● Jesus said: “Whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other also to him.” How does this harmonize with the right of self-defense that Jehovah’s witnesses believe in?—K. K., United States.

Jesus did not say if someone hit you with a club or with a clenched fist you should allow him to strike you again. If an attacker wants to hurt you physically he uses a weapon or at least doubles up his fist when he hits you. On the other hand, if he wants to insult or humiliate you or provoke you into a fight he may slap you with his open hand. A slap is not an attack with intent to injure or kill, but is to insult the one struck. Such personal insults or attempts to provoke one into a fight should not stir the Christian to retaliate. If the blow is struck and the striker then waits to see the result, the Christian will not retaliate and thus be drawn into a brawl.

However, this refusal to pay back insult for insult does not mean Christians are to be pacifists or that they must never resort to self-defense. Christ Jesus himself will go forth to fight Jehovah’s battle of Armageddon, at the head of heavenly armies. Christians resurrected as spirit creatures will serve with him in that war. In ancient times Jehovah’s people fought at his direction and with his help. Today Christians rightfully defend the Kingdom interests, their meeting places, their right to assemble, their property, their brothers and sisters and their own persons. They do not arm in advance, in anticipation of trouble. But when attacked they may ward off blows and strike in defense, though not in offense. If attacked on public property they will call on officers of the law or withdraw, if possible, but in their homes or at their meeting places they need not retreat. They have Scriptural and legal rights to take defensive action. They are not thereby violating Jesus’ words at Matthew 5:39, for those words pertain to personal insults, not to attacks designed to do serious physical damage to one’s person.

Recognizing the Theocratic Organization for Life

THE Bible shows Jehovah God to be a God of purpose, a God who works, a God who accomplishes things. In his love and wisdom he has seen fit to create intelligent creatures to whom he gives the privilege of working with their Maker for the carrying out of his purposes. Those who do so thereby serve the purpose of their existence and are rewarded with life. Those who refuse to do so have no excuse for existing and so receive death. Jehovah’s rule in this regard is: “Them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.”—1 Sam. 2:30, AS.a

For the carrying out of any work involving more than one person an organization is required, and so we find that in times past God has had organizations on earth. Such organizations were “theocratic” in that they were ruled by God. The nation of Israel was one such organization, the early Christian congregation was another. Those who recognized such theocratic organizations, such as Joshua and Caleb and Paul and Barnabas, received Jehovah’s blessing; those who refused to do so, such as Korah, Joab and Diotrephes, were destined for God’s wrath and death.

From such things that were written aforetime as well as the fact that the Bible itself was written by and for those in Jehovah’s theocratic organization we can see that the Bible is basically an organization book; it drives home the point that if we would gain life we must recognize the theocratic organization. The wise person will therefore humble himself to Jehovah’s arrangement, for humility and life are better than pride and death.

Jesus foretold that there would be a theocratic organization on earth today, a “faithful and discreet slave” class, not just one individual, which he would set over all his belongings to feed his servants spiritual food at the proper time. The facts show that this organization is associated with Jehovah’s witnesses. It is apostolic in that it follows the teachings and methods of preaching of the inspired apostles and, like the early Christian congregation, it has a governing body that is closely associated with the legally established service agency, the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, which Society has branches in some seventy-five lands.

To recognize the theocratic organization in our day, therefore, means to recognize this instrument of Jehovah and to work with it. That means co-operating with whatever persons are appointed by it to special positions as servants, and especially must these fully inform themselves of what is required of them and then carefully carry out instructions.

For the sake of peace, harmony and efficiency we must recognize the theocratic organization. We may not call attention to ourselves but must put the organization to the fore. We may not feel precocious and pull away a following after ourselves as though the organization were too slow for us. And if the organization administers a rebuke to us, let us not become disgruntled and leave, but rather let us wisely and humbly accept the rebuke and profit by it. The organization can get along without us but we cannot get along without it. If we recognize it, it will recognize us, support us, work for us, and retain us in its divine service now; and, continuing therein, we shall gain everlasting life in Jehovah’s new world. Truly it is the part of wisdom humbly to recognize the theocratic organization.

[Footnotes]

Announcements

RECOGNIZING THE THEOCRATIC ORGANIZATION FOR LIFE—1 Sam. 2:30, AS.

Orderly arrangement for the association and co-operative activity of God’s servants is essential to progress in the spreading of the good news of the Kingdom. Such orderly arrangements Jehovah God directs through his theocratic organization. Recognizing his organization, appreciating its theocratic purpose and following its direction will lead to effective service and to life in God’s new world. During August Jehovah’s witnesses will continue putting this principle into practice by working together in bringing people good news of great joy, everywhere. A book and a booklet will be offered from door to door on a contribution of only 50c. Everyone who wants to do this work contact Jehovah’s witnesses in your vicinity.

“THIS MEANS EVERLASTING LIFE”

What can compare with everlasting life? Wealth? Fame? Or personal accomplishment? No, as desirable as may be the attainment of even our fondest imaginations, their brilliance fades as life forces ebb. So, if you would prolong the cherished good things you now know, you must not seek them first; but rather, you must first seek everlasting life. The 320-page book “This Means Everlasting Life” and the 32-page booklet God’s Way Is Love present information of vital import to life seekers. Both will be promptly sent to you, postpaid, for the small contribution of 50c.

“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES FOR THE WEEKS

September 4: Be Satisfied by Work, ¶1-17. Page 465.

September 11: Be Satisfied by Work, ¶18-22; and “Be Rich in Right Works.” Page 471.

A Cleric Indulges in Speculation

London’s Daily Sketch ran a daily speculation on the subject “If Christ Came Back.” Donald Soper, ex-president of Britain’s Methodist Conference, speculated: “He would have much to say about politics—probably more than about anything else . . . In fact, I believe he would say that his kingdom must first be sought in the political field.” But Christ put his kingdom outside the realm of worldly politics when he emphatically declared: “My kingdom is no part of this world.”

Check Your Memory

After reading this issue of “The Watchtower,” do you remember—

✔ What kind of God Albert Einstein believed in? P. 451, ¶3.

✔ What purpose the gift of tongues served? P. 453, ¶5.

✔ How the Bible shows Christians would no longer need the gift of tongues? P. 455, ¶4.

✔ What outstanding example of faithful service was set by a missionary in Costa Rica? P. 459, ¶4.

✔ What effect the advent of Hitler’s dictatorship had upon Jehovah’s witnesses in Germany? P. 461, ¶4.

✔ Under what circumstances Adolf Hitler screamed of Jehovah’s witnesses: “This brood will be exterminated in Germany”? P. 462, ¶4.

✔ How God equipped man to work? P. 465, ¶3.

✔ Why, specifically, it was arranged that man should work? P. 466, ¶4.

✔ What sound purpose vacations serve, and when their benefit reaches its end? P. 468, ¶9.

✔ What really is wrong with this world? P. 472, ¶20.

✔ What one thing that you can get is of the greatest value? P. 473, ¶2.

✔ What will keep your eternity of life in the new world from becoming dull? P. 476, ¶10.

✔ Whether the command to ‘turn the other cheek’ should prevent a Christian from resorting to self-defense? P. 478, ¶3.