The Watchtower — August 15, 1955

Keep Up with the Good Examples

MANY persons of the old world seek material possessions in a mad scramble to “keep up with the Joneses.” Dedicated persons of the new world would rather keep up with the Isaiahs and Jeremiahs, the Peters and Pauls. They are more interested in spiritual treasures than in earthly riches: “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. No one can be a slave to two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stick to the one and despise the other. You cannot be slaves to God and to Riches.”—Matt. 6:19-21, 24, NW.

To heap up material possessions far beyond our needs, to be determined to accumulate showy riches, is to endanger our spiritual welfare and flouts the warning: “For we have brought nothing into the world, and neither can we carry anything out. So, having sustenance and covering, we shall be content with these things. However, those who are determined to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and many senseless and hurtful desires which plunge men into destruction and ruin. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of injurious things, and by reaching out for this love some have been led astray from the faith and have stabbed themselves all over with many pains.”—1 Tim. 6:7-10, NW.

Wealth feeds greed, and the more you get the more you want, and in the end you do not have money but it has you, and the inspired saying proves true: “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money; nor he who loves wealth, with gain: this also is vanity.” Again, “His eyes are never satisfied with riches.” Materialism will crowd out the spiritual if you let it: “The flesh is against the spirit in its desire, and the spirit against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, so that the very things that you would like to do you do not do.” So Christians should not stumble into the vain snare of an envious race to keep up with the materialistic “Joneses”: “Let us not become egotistical, stirring up competition with one another, envying one another.”—Eccl. 5:10; 4:8, RS; Gal. 5:17, 26, NW.

Riches accumulated beyond any reasonable need not only lack enduring value but also identify you as materialistic and witness against you and your spirituality: “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.” With wealth a man may make a showy splash, but it lasts no longer than the waves from a rock plunked into a pond. “The sun rises with its burning heat and withers the vegetation, and its flower drops off and the beauty of its outward appearance perishes. So, too, the rich man will fade away in all his ways of life.” “Everything in the world—the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the showy display of one’s means of life—does not originate with the Father, but originates with the world. Furthermore, the world is passing away and so is its desire, but he that does the will of God remains forever.”—Jas. 5:2, 3; 1:11; 1 John 2:16, 17, NW.

So it is the unseen things of the spirit that last, and not the eye-filling material things that many are now competitively accumulating. Like the apostle Paul, true Christians appreciate this and eye the lasting spiritual treasures as more desirable: “We keep our eyes, not on the things seen, but on the things unseen. For the things seen are temporary, but the things unseen are everlasting.”—2 Cor. 4:18, NW.

The prophet Moses turned his back on material treasure to look toward the reward for spirituality: “By faith Moses, when grown up, refused to be called the son of the daughter of Pharaoh, choosing to be ill-treated with the people of God rather than to have the temporary enjoyment of sin, because he esteemed the reproach of the Christ as riches greater than the treasures of Egypt, for he looked intently toward the payment of the reward.” So also did the prophet greater than Moses, Christ Jesus. Satan the Devil offered him rulership over all the kingdoms of earth, but this material wealth and pomp and] power Jesus rejected, holding instead to integrity and true worship of Jehovah. And later materialistic Jews wanted to make him king because he gave them bread. Again he rejected kingship contrary to Jehovah’s arrangement, and when he advised these Jews to seek, not bread that perishes, but Himself as the bread from heaven that brought life eternal, they balked at this spiritual provision.—Heb. 11:24-26; Matt. 4:8-10; John 6:15, 26-66, NW.

So what will Jehovah’s witnesses do? “To this course you were called, because even Christ suffered for you, leaving you a model for you to follow his steps closely,” said Peter. “Become imitators of me, even as I am of Christ,” and “Keep your eye on those who are walking in a way that accords with the example you have in us,” said Paul. “Brothers, take as a pattern of the suffering of evil and the exercising of patience the prophets, who spoke in the name of Jehovah,” wrote James. Yes, take these faithful prophets and witnesses of Jehovah as examples and imitate them, keep your eye on them, try to keep up with them, and not with the materialistic Joneses of this old world that is perishing! Why try to keep up with the Joneses when we do not want to go where the Joneses are going? Instead, try to keep up with the good examples, for we want to go where they are going and be with them in the new world of righteousness.—1 Pet. 2:21; 1 Cor. 11:1; Phil. 3:17; Jas. 5:10, NW.

If I have made gold my hope, or have said to fine gold, Thou art my confidence; this also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above.—Job 31:24, 28.

Overcoming the Fears of This Generation

Do you fear the wrong things? Most people do. It is because they lack knowledge of the cause and meaning of the world’s fears. This article proves that you can really overcome fear and find the happiness and confidence that stem from knowledge.

FEAR has enveloped this generation. Everywhere people are in fear. They fear insecurity. They fear hunger. They fear disease. They fear neighbors. They fear governments. They fear war. They fear knowledge. They even fear fear. That is why, not long ago, Adlai Stevenson declared: “The tragedy of our day is the climate of fear in which we live.”

Recent reports show that the Russian people are dominated in all situations by fear. But the so-called free world is little better. A wave of neighbor fear has so paralyzed thinking that Dr. F. H. Sanford, executive secretary of the American Psychological Association, said that a “what will people think?” disease is driving mankind, from cab driver to scientist, toward strait-jacketed thinking and lock-step living.—Science News Letter, April 16, 1955.

Throughout history, whenever there were times of crisis or disaster, men still looked to the future, if not with confidence, at least with hope. Now that has changed. “Since the breakdown of public order during the First World War,” writes Walter Lippmann in The Public Philosophy, “there has been no security for multitudes and no ease of mind for anyone.”

Scientists, who know the power of the atom as no layman does, rightly fear the future. Even before the destructiveness of the hydrogen bomb was fully realized, Dr. Harold C. Urey, Nobel Prize winner and atomic scientist, declared: “Freedom from fear? We will eat fear, sleep in fear, live in fear and die in fear.”

Philosophers, despite their clever cogitations, cannot ignore or dispel the climate of fear. Bertrand Russell, writing for the New York Times Magazine of September 27, 1953, said: “Ever since 1914, everybody conscious of trends in the world has been deeply troubled by what has seemed like a fated and predetermined march toward ever greater disaster.” Then he spotlighted the gloom for the future by saying: “Many serious people have come to feel that nothing can be done to avert the plunge towards ruin.”

Politicians and statesmen cannot find the way out of the anguished climate of fear. Bewildered and dismayed, they speak words of pessimism. For instance, Adlai Stevenson candidly looked at the future this way: “We are never going to solve many of the hard problems of the world, but will simply have to learn to live with them for years and maybe for centuries.” (Time, November 22, 1954) For a politician that is straight talking. No rosy promises, just the unvarnished facts.

OVERCOMING FEAR WITH KNOWLEDGE

“In losing the easy optimism of a preceding generation,” said the secretary-general of the United Nations recently, “we must not act as though we had also lost the deep conviction of our predecessors of the value of knowledge.” Yet that is what great masses of mankind have done. They fear knowledge, a prime weapon to combat fear. So do not fear knowledge. What is that knowledge that is of paramount importance in overcoming fear? It is knowledge of the meaning of the odd characteristics of this generation, its unprecedented global fear and fear of the future.

Who can give us the key to the meaning of such things as this? Certainly it is futile to imbibe the mental regurgitations of fear-struck worldlings, who readily admit they are floundering in the fog of fear. Rather we must go to one who speaks authoritatively, namely, the Son of God, Christ Jesus. In response to a question concerning the consummation of this system of things, the greatest prophet who ever lived said: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be great earthquakes and in one place after another pestilences and food shortages, and there will be fearful sights.”—Luke 21:10, 11, NW.

“Fearful sights” were thus foretold as a sign of the “last days.” These “fearful sights” in themselves do not make up the “last days” sign; but when they occur with the other foretold woes upon one generation, as they do now, the sign of the “last days” has become visible.

These “fearful sights” were not to be the usual fearful sights, the kind of fears that man has often had. Oh no, for the great Prophet stressed the uniqueness of these “fearful sights” when he said that there would be “on the earth anguish of nations, not knowing the way out because of the roaring of the sea and its agitation, while men become faint out of fear and expectation of the things coming upon the inhabited earth.” (Luke 21:25, 26, NW) Note what this means: First, such anguish and fear among the nations that even the most astute statesmen will not be able to find a way out; in other words, such intense fear world-wide that it stands unprecedented in the history of man. Second, men becoming “faint out of fear.” Why? Because of “expectation of things coming,” fear of the very future itself. The odd characteristics of our time mark the fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy.

So since 1914 this generation, the generation that knows fear as no other generation has, is living in the “last days,” “the time of the end,” or that time when a corrupt, wicked system of things is doomed to pass away to make room for a righteous new world of God’s making. It is at the culmination of this transition period that the war of Armageddon will occur. It will be the greatest fear-inspiring event of all ages, past or future, for as Jesus declared it is that “great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world’s beginning until now, no, nor will occur again.”—Matt. 24:21, NW.

Most people, then, fear the wrong things. They fear their neighbors or they fear nations. Rather, they should fear Armageddon. They should fear it because it will destroy their world and them, too, if they remain with it. But of this the mass of mankind are ignorant. And ignorance breeds fear of the wrong things. So now is the time to face the facts fearlessly, especially since it is this generation that is face to face with Armageddon. Warned Jesus: “Truly I say to you, This generation will by no means pass away until all things occur [including Armageddon].”—Luke 21:32, NW.

Really, you need not even fear Armageddon if you obtain knowledge and act upon that knowledge. Why? Because the woes and events that go to make up the “last days” sign call for joy, not sadness; for confidence, not fear. Sound strange? Not when we hear these words of the Master, words telling true Christians to exult when they see the world in its unprecedented state of fear with its wars, anguish of nations, fears and gloom for the future, earthquakes, famines and other woes: “As these things start to occur [upon one generation], raise yourselves erect and lift your heads up, because your deliverance is getting near.”—Luke 21:28, NW.

Deliverance into a righteous new world is possible. That is why the apostle Peter, after telling of the destruction of this system of things, goes on with the comforting assurance: “But there are new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according to his promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell.” (2 Pet. 3:13, NW) So all the world’s woes and fears are a cause for rejoicing because they mean just this: they are a prelude to God’s new world of righteousness.

But knowledge of the meaning of the world’s fears is not enough. One must go on to obtain knowledge of the cause of a fear-struck world. Without this knowledge one is battling a foe in the dark. God’s Word, the Bible, throws the searchlight on the foe of man, the producer of fear, the arch foe of Jehovah, namely, Satan the Devil. No wonder the earth is in seething turmoil: since 1914, as a result of a war in heaven, Satan has been hurled to the earth, where he now stirs up distress and violence. The Bible enlightens us, at Revelation 12:7-10, 12 (NW):

“War broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels battled with the dragon, and the dragon and its angels battled but it did not prevail, neither was a place found for them any longer in heaven. So down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth; he was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him.” The result: “Woe for the earth and for the! sea, because the Devil has come down to you, having great anger, knowing he has a short period of time.”

MAKING JEHOVAH YOUR HELPER

Knowing now that we are living in a most marvelous time in human history, you are in position to overcome fear. But you must pursue the course of taking in knowledge. Make time for this. Study God’s Word with the help of the many Bible study aids that Jehovah’s witnesses are bringing the people for the fight against fear. Remember the Bible advises: “A wise man is better than a strong man, and a man of knowledge than a man of might; for by wise guidance you wage war, and victory lies in a wealth of counselors.” Since a “man of knowledge” is better than a “man of might,” he is the one equipped to overcome fear. By obtaining wise guidance from counselors, kings and rulers plan to wage war. So to wage war against fear and, such a formidable foe as Satan the Devil you need the very best counselors. No better counselors can be had than Jehovah God and Christ Jesus. Follow their advice. By heeding the counsel of God’s Word you will wage war successfully and be able to take up the words: “Jehovah is my helper; I will not be afraid.”—Prov. 24:5, 6, AT; Heb. 13:6, NW.

God’s Word is like a sword, and knowledge obtained from it is like a suit of armor. In ancient times, when a soldier went out to wage war, a sword and a suit of armor were not enough; he also needed a shield. So since a Christian’s warfare is really “against the machinations of the Devil” and his “wicked spirit forces in the heavenly places,” the Bible advises you to “take up the complete suit of armor from God,” and, above all things, to “take up the large shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the wicked one’s burning missiles.” How important faith is, then, to overcome fear, fear caused by the Devil’s machinations! Do you know how powerful faith is? Faith that results in a confident reliance upon God’s Word is so powerful that the apostle said: “This is the conquest that has conquered the world, our faith.” You need that kind of faith for the conquest of fear.—Eph. 6:11-17; 1 John 5:4, NW.

THE CLIMATE OF LOVE

Even more than faith and knowledge is required for overcoming the fears of this generation. For one must abandon the climate of fear and enter into the climate of love. Why? Because “there is no fear in love, but perfect love throws fear outside.” (1 John 4:18, NW) What kind of love is this that “throws fear outside”? Only such love that Jesus identified could be so powerful. It is the love embraced by the two great commandments of life: “You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind.” “You must love your neighbor as yourself.”—Matt. 22:37-39, NW.

To love Jehovah means to stop fearing men. Really, it is foolish to fear men. They cannot give you life. God can. Men may take one’s life away, but they cannot take away one’s right to future life in the new world. But God can! So Jesus counsels: “Do not become fearful of those who kill the body but can not kill the soul; but rather be in fear of him that can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” Love of Jehovah, then, requires fearing the right One. Fear Jehovah. It is not a degrading fear such as the fear of men is. “The fear of man bringeth a snare,” but “the fear of Jehovah is clean, enduring for ever.” Finally, love for Jehovah is demonstrated by obeying his commandments: “This is what the love of God means, that we observe his commandments.”—Matt. 10:28, NW; Prov. 29:25; Ps. 19:9, AS; 1 John 5:3, NW.

As for our neighbors, we are to love them, not fear them. Love will cast out fear. The best way to show love for one’s neighbor is to bring him a fear-dispelling message, namely, the good news of Jehovah’s new world.

Yes, tell others of the only remedy for a world of fear, God’s new world. For that new world will be a world of tranquillity and peace, of life and health, of happiness and joy. Gone will be fears of all kinds! No more fear of the future. No more insurance policies, not even life insurance, because Jehovah guarantees your future: “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith Jehovah, so shall your seed and your name remain.” (Isa. 66:22, AS) Never, nevermore will there be fear of sickness or fear of death, because God “will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be any more.” (Rev. 21:4, NW) And never again will men fear fear, because freedom from fear will be an absolute reality. God says so: “They shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of Jehovah of hosts hath spoken it.” (Mic. 4:4, AS) The climate of fear will have given way to the climate of love.

Even now you can have freedom from the fears of this generation. Acquire knowledge, faith and love. One other step is necessary. You need the climate of love now; you need the climate of fearlessness now. If you associate with the old world you will be contaminated by fear. Rather associate with fearless people and partake of their fearlessness. Yes, face the future confidently with the fearless New World society, never failing to show love for your neighbors by inviting them to join with Jehovah’s witnesses and now “say to those whose hearts beat wildly, ‘Courage, fear not!’”—Isa. 35:4, AT.

Modern History of Jehovah’s Witnesses

Part 16—Publishing Under a New Name, Theocratically

UPON Judge Rutherford’s return from Britain to New York city on October 2, 1938, he delivered a timely stinging lecture before an audience of 7,000 on the subject “Fascism or Freedom.” This soon appeared in booklet form and was circulated by the millions to alert the people as to Fascism’s imminent blood bath of war. The following summer, June 23-25, 1939, another multicity convention was successfully held, New York city’s Madison Square Garden being the key center. Twenty-eight conventions all together—several in Australia, ten in Britain including London, one in Honolulu and several in the United States—formed the international audience of 75,000 persons to hear the convention’s climactic public talk “Government and Peace” delivered by the Watch Tower Society’s president. About halfway through this forceful lecture a riot, plotted by Vatican-inspired “Father” Coughlin’s “Christian Front” WMCA (radio station) picket marchers, broke out at the New York key assembly. It required the Garden ushers (all of them Jehovah’s witnesses) about fifteen minutes to quell the mob by overpowering and removing from the Garden the 500 Fascist disturbers.

The disturbance began by booing, hissing and yelling “Heil Hitler” and “Viva Franco,” etc. At the same instant, by wire and wireless communication, thousands in many other places of earth heard the actual riot taking place. Applause after applause by the Garden audience gave the speaker, Rutherford, lusty support as he masterfully continued to speak over the microphone to outride the storm.a Nothing came of the charges that the Society legally pressed against the ringleaders of this Catholic mob. However, in the fall of 1939 the three-judge Special Sessions Court of the City of New York (composed of two Roman Catholics and a Jew) not only exonerated three of the ushers (Jehovah’s witnesses) but commended them for reasonably exercising necessary firmness against the mobsters when the city police wholly failed to do their duty to preserve order when the vast public assembly in the Garden was suddenly threatened with disruption. Those three ushers had been falsely arrested, accused and prosecuted on complaint of several of the Catholic mobsters whom the ushers forcibly removed from the Garden.b

Another incident of note: At London, England, on Saturday, June 24, 1939, the I. R. A. (Irish Republican Army, a Catholic terrorist movement that had been carrying out a campaign of bombing throughout Britain for the previous several months) telephoned an “official” threat to the Society’s London office, warning that they would take violent action if the London-Belfast circuit of Rutherford’s overseas lecture for June 25 (from New York’s Madison Square Garden) were not canceled. Scotland Yard police were immediately informed, and they surrounded the Society’s assembly halls for protection. One bomb was exploded near Kingsway Hall, the Saturday convention center in London, but not one of the witnesses was harmed although several pedestrians were killed.c On both sides of the Atlantic Catholic elements resorted to violence to frighten the witnesses away from their freedom of worship.

During this strenuous period of prodigious activity from 1929 to 1939 were there any significant organizational developments? Yes, there were. At the Columbus (Ohio) convention in 1931 (July 24-30) some 15,000 attended, to adopt the resolution embracing the new name, JEHOVAH’S WITNESSESd—truly a meaningful name based on the words of Jehovah himself recorded by Isaiah (43:10-12, AS). With what joyous acceptance this new name was received world-wide! In weeks that followed, at fifty extension conventions in all parts of the earth Jehovah’s people met to embrace joyfully this remarkable new name. How distinctive it is! With it comes great responsibility. Surely the name has come to be recognized earth-wide since 1931. All this testifies that it aptly fits the ones who are blessed in bearing it. They are zealously advocating the name JEHOVAH, restoring it to the topmost position it deserves in universal affairs, for is not Jehovah the glorious Sovereign of his entire universe?—Ps. 83:18; Acts 3:19-23; 4:24-30; 1 Cor. 15:28; Rev. 11:15; Dan. 7:13, 14; Isa. 9:6, 7.

The above “new name” resolution and the text of Rutherford’s convention address were published in the booklet The Kingdom the Hope of the World, soon thereafter printed in many languages. During the following October a campaign was conducted for delivering personally to all the rulers a copy of this booklet. In the United States and Canada alone 132,066 were served with the booklet, of which 88,009 were clergymen, 19,103 politicians, 22,869 financiers and 2,085 military leaders.e In ensuing months this booklet reached the homes of five million others in all parts of the earth.f The new name had come to stay.

In an earlier part of this history we saw how finally, in 1938, after a twenty-year gradual process, congregational government came to be wholly conformed to the theocratic pattern preserved in the Scriptures, whereby the Society made direct appointments of all servants. This made possible the next step toward theocratic integration or gathering together into a more solid, unified society. It had been learned from the experiences of divisional campaigns (operated from 1933 to 1935), where congregations in a given area banded together in open field witnessing to withstand persecution and opposition, that unusual unity and strength thus were manifested and deepened. So in October, 1938, the next step in theocratic organization of the inhabitants of “Beulah” land occurred with commencement of the zone service. About twenty congregations in a particular area were formed together as a “zone.” The Society appointed a “zone servant” to spend one week with each congregation, to organize it better and aid it in its field witnessing activity. Frequently a “zone assembly” would be held, the twenty or more participating congregations getting together for mutual contact and upbuilding. Special servants were sent from the Society’s headquarters to serve at these assemblies. A new set of organization instructions was issued, becoming effective among all of Jehovah’s people October 1, 1938.g

This new arrangement proved to be a great forward movement drawing the national and international organization into a complete whole. Almost immediately a further increase in publishers as well as general field activity was manifest. In 1942, under a rearrangement, the visiting representative sent by the Society came to be called the “servant to the brethren.”h After October 15, 1946, what formerly had been called a zone became known as a “circuit,” assembling twice a year in local convention.i Later, in 1948, several circuits were formed into a larger unit known as a “district,” which also met in major assembly about once a year.j The one in charge of a district became known as the “district servant” and the new name for the “servant to the brethren” came to be “circuit servant.”

Among other developments to note was that resulting from the visit of the Society’s president to the Hawaiian Islands in 1935. Then a branch office was established in Honolulu and arrangements were made for construction of an assembly hall in connection with the new branch building there being erected.k At the dedication this hall was appropriately designated “Kingdom Hall,” thus commencing the practice of Jehovah’s witnesses the world over of calling their congregational meeting centers Kingdom Halls. In the fall of 1937 what had formerly been known as the “London Tabernacle” was now redecorated and renamed “Kingdom Hall.”l

Consolation appeared in its first issue on October 6, 1937, this being the new name for The Golden Age, the Society’s magazine (now Awake!), which since October, 1919, had been regularly circulated every other week.a

Australia became favored in the spring of 1938 with its first visit of a president of the Society. Jehovah’s witnesses there received Judge Rutherford with great enthusiasm. There in Sydney’s Sports Ground 25,000 eagerly listened to Rutherford’s famous lecture “Warning.” This climaxed the Sydney convention, to which witnesses had come from every part of the South Pacific—Malaya, Java, French Indochina, Shanghai, New Zealand and all states of the Commonwealth of Australia.b

Magazine distribution on street corners, offering The Watchtower and Consolation, was inaugurated by the Society in February, 1940.c Specially designed magazine bags, each hanging from the shoulder of one of Jehovah’s witnesses—young or old—quickly became a weekly sight among passers-by in village, town and city as the early days of this effective publicity work sped by. Since 1940 hundreds of millions, in nearly every land of earth, have viewed these witnesses standing weekly on the street corners, heralding their arresting announcement of the theocratic government. This work, too, has become a potent force in God’s judging of the minds of men, and in having men as well as women and many children become trained for a large share in even more effective magazine work of today and tomorrow.—Matt. 25:31-46; Prov. 1:20-23, AS; RS.

To round out the picture as to the gigantic distribution performed in this period, the accompanying table will aid every thoughtful reader to understand through comparison: In four successive periods (shown in the table) the preparatory and final work of “announcing Jehovah’s kingdom” became progressively world-wide during the 65-year epoch embraced in the table.

“ANNOUNCING JEHOVAH’S KINGDOM”

1874 to 1892 1,535,000d 400e

1893 to 1918 9,737,224f 21,274g

1919 to 1930 93,500,000h 23,988i

1931 to 1939 215,984,991j 61,589k

Truly Jehovah’s witnesses as irresistible “locusts” were ‘diligent in the business’ of their Father and His unconquerable King during the decade ending in 1939. (Prov. 22:29; Luke 2:49) Much happened to them organizationally; and at the same time their unending resistance of apostate opposers prominently brought them forth onto the world stage as champions of freedom of speech and of worship. From a nontheocratic source its concluding commendatory words are here included:

“Jehovah’s Witnesses have literally covered the earth with their witnessing . . . No modern Christians make a more constant use of scripture, or memorize it in greater quantities than the Witnesses. To argue successfully with them on scriptural grounds, one must know his scriptures better than most members of even the fundamentalist churches do today. . . . Against any sort of opposition they press ahead. They fight by every legal means for their civil rights, the right of public assembly—sometimes denied them—the right to distribute their literature, the right of conscience to put God above every other loyalty. They have performed a signal service to democracy by their fight to preserve their civil rights, for in their struggle they have done much to secure those rights for every minority group in America. When the civil rights of any one group are invaded, the rights of no other group are safe. They have therefore made a definite contribution to the preservation of some of the most precious things in our democracy.”l

(To be continued)

[Footnotes]

P.V.P. 100 Per Cent Effective

The International News Service in March, 1954, reported on the dramatic use of P.V.P. by New York Doctors, which, when put in the veins, “in an emergency, will do the life-saving job of restoring blood volume, fighting shock, and preventing the loss of electrolytes and other precious body fluids just as well as real blood plasma.” Two doctors at two New York hospitals “reported dramatically effective results of P.V.P. transfusions on 224 critically hurt patients. These patients had suffered third-degree burns, lacerated wounds, fractures, penetrating wounds of chest and abdomen, or head injuries. Some had suddenly gone into shock on the operating table or in the maternity’s delivery room. The P.V.P. was transfused, the doctors reported in the New York Journal of Medicine, and ‘prompt and sustained improvement was observed in all cases.’ Of the 224 patients, 220 recovered. None of the four deaths was due to blood loss or shock.”

Part 4—Visiting Jehovah’s Witnesses in Central America

WHEN it was learned that the president of the Watch Tower Society, N. H. Knorr, would visit Panama for five days, arrangements were made for two district assemblies, one for Spanish-speaking publishers and the other for English-speaking witnesses.

Jehovah’s witnesses in Panama, as far as the two language groups go, are about equal in number. For both assemblies the commodious Pacific Clubhouse in the Canal Zone was used. Radio, newspapers and other channels of communication gave good publicity to the assemblies. This was greatly appreciated and helped considerably in the attendance at the public meetings. The Spanish assembly was held Wednesday and Thursday, December 22 and 23. Brother Knorr arrived Wednesday afternoon and spoke that evening through an interpreter to 369, pointing out how wonderfully the work had increased in the past ten years. In Panama, in 1944, there were 43 publishers; now a new peak had been reached, 891 publishers. With all these announcers of the Kingdom now sharing the load of responsibility, certainly much work can be done with the two journals, The Watchtower and Awake! Each publisher here is trying to place nine magazines every month, and they are having good success. Next morning Jehovah’s witnesses met together again and seventeen of our Spanish-speaking brothers were baptized.

On Thursday, between sessions, a marriage was performed in the convention hall. This involved a couple who for years had been living as “good Catholics” in common-law marriage; but, now having heard the truth, they wanted to be acceptable to the New World society. Just before the day the assembly began another couple was married in order to be good witnesses for Jehovah. A third marriage was performed a day after the assembly. The branch office in Panama does everything it can to help persons legalize their marriage and thus keep the marriage bed undefiled. Now the government officials realize that all that become Jehovah’s witnesses and that have been living in common-law marriage are going to get legally married, legalizing it on the books regardless of how old they are or how long they have lived together. The people of Panama, when speaking about one’s becoming a witness of Jehovah, remark that if you do become one you have to live a clean life. That is the way they ought to talk, and it is the Catholic people who are talking. Do you not think it strange for “good Catholics” to be living in common-law marriage? The Catholic Church forbids divorce even if one of the marriage partners commits adultery and lives with someone else. They have forced many of their parishioners to feel it is better not to be married at all. Another reason for many in Central and South America for not getting married is because of the high fees charged by priests. They cannot even afford it. Persons who are seeking truth and righteousness and clean living certainly rejoice when they begin to meet with Jehovah’s witnesses. They are different because they follow the Bible teachings and the high principles set forth by Christ Jesus on morals.

The Spanish assembly was climaxed Thursday night when the branch servant delivered the public discourse “God’s Love to the Rescue in Man’s Crisis,” in Spanish. There were 517 in attendance.

No convention session was held Friday (December 24), but all were kept busy at the branch office discussing problems with the branch servant and missionaries, and preparing for the English assembly to begin Saturday.

On December 25 the weather was sunny and warm, uncomfortably so for Panama’s visitors but ideal for the joyous group of Kingdom announcers who again met at the Clubhouse, this time Panama’s English-speaking witnesses of Jehovah. Here the same spirit was evident that had been shown among the Spanish-speaking brothers. All were happy and delighted, and even many of the Spanish-speaking brothers that understood English came back to this Clubhouse session.

Everyone at the assembly was wondering how many would come out for the public meeting Sunday evening at eight o’clock, and they were overjoyed to see the fruitage of their diligent efforts in advertising the public talk; for 1,023 persons packed out the assembly hall to hear the public talk “God’s Love to the Rescue in Man’s Crisis,” delivered by Brother Knorr. This was the highest attendance ever had at an assembly in Panama. In January the publishers in Panama moved ahead to a new peak of 906. They are anxious to help the “other sheep” study and gain information concerning Jehovah’s new world of righteousness.

TOUCHING SOUTH AMERICA

The Society’s president had just finished visiting all the countries of Central America and now was on his homeward turn. In proceeding to other necessary stops it was convenient to pause at Barranquilla, where the branch office for Colombia is located. Knowing of his coming, the congregation in Barranquilla arranged for an assembly. He was met at the airport and there was an Arab brother very anxious to take him into town in his car. The reason was soon apparent, for the brother was overjoyed and had news for Brother Knorr. He was a very active publisher, zealous and new in the truth; but now, that very day, his wife had symbolized her dedication to Jehovah God and this was his joy. He had hoped and prayed that some day his wife would see the truth as he did, and now she had; and he was so anxious to tell the president, because only a year previous he himself had come into the truth. Now he and his wife together could bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of Jehovah and together help them on into the New World organization. It was a most pleasant trip and one that always makes a Christian’s heart warm, for another “sheep” has been gathered under the arrangements of Christ Jesus.

As soon as we arrived at the Kingdom Hall at Barranquilla Brother Knorr was invited to speak to an audience of 401. It seemed like just yesterday that the speaker had been there, having visited a year previous on his South American trip. For this night a public meeting had been arranged in the Kingdom Hall, and their patio, too, was crowded when 655 came out to hear.

The Society has missionaries situated in different parts of Colombia and they are doing excellent work, but the number of them is limited. One of the fine things about this country is that when the “other sheep” come into the truth and grow on to maturity they appreciate the value of the pioneer service. The missionaries have talked it and lived it. Many of them have engaged in it and it is through their splendid efforts, going out in the field in different parts of Colombia and eventually getting into the special pioneer service, that the work there is moving ahead so rapidly. By January they had reached a new all-time peak of 624 publishers. This is well over their 20 per cent of the previous year’s average.

The missionaries the Society has there now love the people and love the congregations. Those in Barranquilla take out groups of people every day and work with them in the field, training them to be good publishers and pioneers. Then it is not long until they get into the special pioneer service and they are off on their own in some isolated territory.

It would have been good to remain longer, but connections had to be made in Venezuela at Maracaibo, to fly on to Curaçao. So on the afternoon of December 29 good-by was said to a smiling group of witnesses at the airport and away the president went to Maracaibo. In a short while he was met there by more publishers in another land. They had arranged for a public meeting in the patio of a brother’s home. It was the biggest public meeting they had had in this city for Jehovah’s witnesses, 207 coming.

Venezuela is doing very well. In November there were 780 reporting field service, but by February of 1955 the total had moved up to 832. Scattered throughout all Venezuela there are 31 missionaries and they have been taking the lead in preaching the good news of the Kingdom. A most prosperous country, its oil, iron and other commodities are in great demand. Money is plentiful, and often it is hard to turn the minds of people away from material things of this world to spiritual things; but, despite this, publishers in Venezuela have been making good progress in gathering together the “other sheep.”

The president of the Society found it a real pleasure to be able to live in the missionary home and to talk with the missionaries about their problems. The branch servant had come from Caracas to go over some matters, taking advantage of the president’s one-day stopover in Maracaibo. Just a year previous Brother Knorr had visited all the missionary homes in Venezuela and the branch office and they had had a general convention, but just now this was only a jumping point for the islands in the Caribbean and there was little time for discussion. It was good to learn that the new branch home purchased by the Society was in proper order and everybody happy with his new location in Caracas.

Who Leads Whom?

Britain’s archbishop of York recently gave a speech in the House of Lords in which he backed Britain’s decision to make hydrogen bombs. Several shocked churchgoers sent letters to the Manchester Guardian Weekly on the matter. One of these letters to the editor, in the issue of March 24, 1955, said: “Sir,—The Archbishop of York’s speech in the Lords justifying the making of the hydrogen bomb was a very powerful utterance, more convincing than anything our political leaders have said on the subject. Yet in one passage he undermined his position as a Christian leader and his right to speak as such. He conceded virtually that the true Christian position is to be prepared to suffer wrong rather than inflict it. ‘It is an argument that must appeal to every Christian.’ Yet amazingly he proceeded to dissociate himself from that position because it did not express ‘the deliberate convictions of the great majority.’ That means that almost the highest churchman in the land cannot take the full Christian position until he has the consent of the untutored and largely pagan masses.”

Gossip Can Destroy You!

“I tell you that every unprofitable saying that men speak, they will render an account concerning it on Judgment Day; for by your words you will be vindicated, and by your words you will be condemned.”—Matt. 12:36, 37, NW.

1. What is characteristic of those who gossip, and why should we be on guard against it?

GOSSIP started with the Devil. Eve listened to his slanderous tale about Jehovah, believed it, acted upon it, spread it to her husband, and the final result was that the first human pair was separated from their best Friend. From that time to this men have gossiped and men have suffered for it. Few, if any, have not been guilty of it or victimized by it. Often those repeatedly guilty of it are the most indignant when they become its target. When it is about them they hate it. When it is by them they gloss it over. Many preface their gossip with an apology and thereby betray a guilty conscience. Frequently they begin, “I don’t like to say this, but . . .” and then proceed with relish to say it. Or the opening may be, “I don’t know whether this is true or not, but . . . ” and proceed to tell what they suspect is false. Really, we should not be ignorant of Satan’s devices. We should be on guard against gossip, a weapon of the Devil.

2. What should we have in mind as we study this article?

² Be on guard against whom? Against ourselves. As you read this, think. Think how it applies to you, not to your neighbor. True, it applies to your neighbor. He admits it. But the important thing is for you to admit it applies to you, for you to apply it to yourself. You can change yourself. You may not be able to change your neighbor. Concentrate on yourself. Then when you have become faultless in this matter help your neighbor to become that way also. When you have removed the rafter from your own eye you may then try to extract the straw from your neighbor’s. We are prone to be easy on ourselves and hard on others. For our own safety, reverse it and be hard on ourselves and easy on others.—Matt. 7:1-5.

3. Why do gossipers exaggerate, and what is the status of those who reveal secrets?

³ What is gossip? It is talk that works injury. It may be done maliciously and with intent to injure, but often it is innocently performed with no desire to hurt anyone. A harmless statement upon repetition becomes harmful because it is colored or twisted or exaggerated to add spice to it. Without malice a person may do this to make the tale more enticing, more acceptable to hearers, capable of causing a more gratifying reaction of surprise or dismay or shock, and in his zeal to spice up the tale the gossiper never thinks of the harm he inflicts on the one involved in it. His mouth becomes a snare in which he puts his own foot and he is caught violating Jehovah’s command: “You must not go around among your people for the sake of slandering.” “You must not take up an untrue report” and “you must not follow after the crowd for evil ends.” Even though an untrue report is repeated by many, we do not have to follow that crowd and join in slandering our brother. If we are not sure the report is true we should not repeat it. And sometimes even if it is true we should not repeat it. “He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing hidden.” “He who goes about gossiping reveals secrets; therefore do not associate with one who speaks foolishly.” One who discloses secret matters of no concern to others is speaking foolishly, is meddling, busybodying, talebearing, gossiping. He betrays a trust and works injury.—Lev. 19:16; Ex. 23:1, 2, NW; Prov. 11:13; 20:19, RS.

4. When and to whom must secrets sometimes be revealed, and are such reports injurious gossip?

⁴ Sometimes a secret must be told even though someone is injured. When you know someone is secretly sinning and jeopardizing his standing with Jehovah and marring the purity of the congregation you must speak. Speak to whom? Everyone in the congregation? There is no reason to. To so spread it would be wrong, harmful to both the individual and the congregation. In some cases it may be sufficient to speak to the individual involved; more often it will be necessary to talk to the servant committee of the congregation. To make such a report may result in what seems injurious to the guilty person, but actually the ultimate result will be to his good. No discipline seems joyous at the time, but one submitting to it and trained by it finally reaps benefit from it. The point to remember is that when such a secret is revealed it should be to those able or delegated to correct the matter, and not to gossips for them to cluck about. Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “For the disclosure was made to me about you, my brothers, by those of the house of Chloe, that dissensions exist among you.” Were those of the house of Chloe gossiping about the brothers at Corinth? No, the report was made for their good. It was made to one who could remedy matters by authoritatively correcting them and putting their feet back on the path of life and in the footsteps of Jesus.—1 Cor. 1:11; Heb. 12:11, NW.

5. Why do some refuse to report on a friend, and are they actually true friends?

⁵ Jehovah’s law provided for witnesses to testify against wrongdoers. We are not forbidden to bear witness; we are only forbidden to bear false witness. Many in the world condemn as “squealing” the disclosure of facts that expose another. Especially is this the code of the underworld, which says it is all right to remain silent or to testify falsely to shield a criminal, but it is odious to tell the truth if it exposes a wrongdoer. In the Christian congregation it is a mistaken sense of loyalty to a brother to shield his sins when those sins jeopardize both his life and the congregation’s purity. The true friend of the brother and of Jehovah’s congregation will rebuke him, or if necessary will report to the committee so that a rebuke of greater force can be given to shock the sinner back to his senses. A true friend will inflict this temporary wound for the sinner’s eternal healing: “Sincere are the wounds of a friend; but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.” So the friend that conceals a continuing sinful practice is not a real friend, but is actually an enemy. He may be commended by the code of the underworld, but he is condemned by the scriptural principles of the new world.—Prov. 27:6, AT.

6. What talk is not gossip, when does it become gossip and what questions help us to determine proper and improper talk?

⁶ Hence it is not gossip to report to the proper servants a continuing sinful practice, but it would be gossip to spread it to others in the congregation who are in no position to take corrective measures, and it would be wrong to reveal a past sin of one who had truly repented and reformed and who was demonstrating it by making straight paths for his feet. Nor is it gossip to talk about our brothers, what they are doing, where they are going or what is happening to them. We are interested in people, and especially in our brothers, and there is no harm in discussing their activities if we are accurate and if it results in no injury to them. But this talk becomes gossip when we probe into their personal, private affairs, or when we raise questions about their motives or cast doubts or plant suspicions about their conduct. Is your talk disparaging of the person? Does it hurt his reputation? Does it cause his friends to separate from him? Does it hurt his feelings or sow discord? Does it cause him to lose privileges of service? Is it true? If true, has it been exaggerated or colored until the impression it leaves is untrue? Is it spoken with a feeling of superiority, smugness, envy, malice or bitterness? Can you say it with a conscience that is clear, so clear that you would say it to the person’s face in exactly the same tone and words? And what is the result of your words? Is the fruit of your talk good or evil? By its fruit it can be recognized.

7. What indicates that women trespass with the tongue more often than men?

⁷ Not all individuals have the same weaknesses. To counter our weaknesses we must first know them. Do you have a weakness for gossip? If you do, admit it; millions of others keep you company. Admit it, and fight it! How else can you overcome it? Though it may not be pleasant for women to hear, the Bible seems to indicate that women trespass with the tongue more often than men. This is not to say men do not gossip. They do. Some gossip more than women. But women as a group are guilty of gossip more than are men as a group. The Bible specially cautions women: “Let the aged women be reverent in behavior, not slanderous.” Also, “Women should likewise be serious, not slanderous.” It is when discussing women that the Bible states: “At the same time they also learn to be unoccupied, gadding about to the houses, yes, not only unoccupied, but also gossipers and meddlers in other people’s affairs, talking of things they ought not.” Not the male tongue, but the female tongue is the one singled out as the irritant in households: “A wife’s quarreling is a continual dripping of rain.” Again, “A continual dripping on a rainy day and a contentious woman are alike; to restrain her is to restrain the wind or to grasp oil in his right hand.”—Titus 2:3; 1 Tim. 3:11; 5:13, NW; Prov. 19:13; 27:15, 16, RS.

8. Why do women gossip more than men, yet how is their talkativeness often an asset?

⁸ Why is this? Is it because men have higher principles in this regard? Not necessarily. A man’s aggressive tendencies make his trespasses take a different direction. As a group men are more prone than women to commit physical violence or murder. But women like to talk more than men do, and they are very much interested in people, the activities and problems and romances of people. When women talk they discuss what interests them, which means they talk about people, which in turn means there is an ever-present danger that the talk may deteriorate into gossip. Men are more interested in subjects, in science, world events, economics or their work, and when they talk about these things the danger of gossip is not so great as when discussing people. Talking in itself is not bad. Women’s flair for talking can be and often is put to good use. It is by their talkativeness that small children learn to speak. Because of their ready speech women ministers may present the truth to others more easily than men, and they may make more of a contribution to congregational meetings by volunteering comments when the program calls for audience participation. But this asset can become a snare when the tongue breaks loose and runs uncontrolled in gossip. Hence both men and women will examine themselves to see whether they have a weakness for gossip, and if they find they do they will keep a special watch over their tongue.

THE EVILS OF GOSSIP

9. What does the Bible say about meddlers and busybodies?

⁹ Jehovah’s Word repeatedly warns against gossiping. Gossipers are meddlers and busybodies, tending to the business of others while neglecting their own. Christians are cautioned: “Certain ones are walking disorderly among you, not working at all but meddling with what does not concern them.” If we suffer it should be for maintaining Christian integrity, not for busybodying: “Let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a busybody in other people’s matters. But if he suffers as a Christian, let him not feel shame.” Rather than noisily intrude in the affairs of others, “make it your aim to live quietly and to mind your own business.” “Every fool will be meddling,” the Bible tells us. Why fit into the description of a fool?—2 Thess. 3:11; 1 Pet. 4:15, 16; 1 Thess. 4:11, NW; Prov. 20:3.

10. How do gossipers start trouble and keep it going, and why are they not friends?

¹⁰ Meddling gossips make trouble. They babble the business of others, color and exaggerate, misrepresent and distort, and heap high their inflammatory whisperings: “For lack of wood the fire goes out; and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases. As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife. The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body.” Rather than the words’ being spoken aloud to the person’s face, they are whispered behind his back and the slander is greedily swallowed by ears gluttonous for gossip. These whisperings make no mere superficial impression, but they sink in deep to be thoroughly chewed and digested. “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity,” but the whisperer is no friend. Just when the person needs friends and brothers most, when he is in some trouble or undergoing adversity, then is when the whisperer strikes the hardest to deprive the sufferer of his friends: “A whisperer separates close friends.” “He who repeats a matter alienates a friend.”—Prov. 26:20-22; 17:17; 16:28; 17:9, RS.

11. What kind of talk was predicted for these last days, and what is the responsibility of the gossiper who unwittingly spreads lies?

¹¹ “He who utters slander is a fool.” Most gossip is slanderous. Any truth once present is soon magnified till the bulk of the tale is lies. Friends begin to shy away from the one being slandered, and Jehovah’s hatred comes upon the gossiper “who sows discord among brothers” in the congregation. Slandering is one of the sins predicted to flourish in the last days and which makes this old world worthy of destruction; so Christians especially should shun “hypocrisy and envies and all kinds of backbiting.” (Prov. 10:18; 6:19, RS; 1 Pet. 2:1; 2 Tim. 3:3, NW) Often gossip is not malicious and no harm is intended, but harm follows nonetheless. If you accidentally kill a man he is just as dead as if you meant to do it. If you spread lies thinking them truths, they are still lies and you are lying. You may try to shift the blame to another, saying he told the tale to you. All right, he lied. But when you repeated it you lied. According to the libel laws if one repeats a lie in print he is guilty, regardless of who started it or whom he was quoting. After all, if only the originator of a rumor uttered it the rumor would never get very far or do much damage. Does not Jehovah hold responsible those today who repeat the religious lies started many centuries ago? He also holds accountable the gossipers who either start lies or spread lies.

12. What do gossipers seem to forget, and even when they remember what do they say?

¹² If one has been spreading lies unknowingly he is not as reprehensible as the deliberate liar, but neither is he guiltless. If he is truly sorry he will certainly be cautious about repeating tales in the future. But this caution is not characteristic of lovers of gossip. Relative to proving himself faithful Paul said: “Forgetting the things behind and stretching forward to the things ahead, I am pursuing down toward the goal for the prize of the calling above.” (Phil. 3:13, 14, NW) Paul forgot the past and looked ahead with a good end in view, but gossipers seem to forget their past tales that proved to be false and look ahead with undiminished fervor for more talebearing in the future. You would think they would remember how often their past gossip proved to be false, and hence you would expect them to be far more cautious in the future. But they seldom are. If they bother to give their past lies a thought, it is to justify them. They deny that they ever said it, or say they only repeated what someone else said, or they hide the first lie by telling another one. Suppose they were spreading a rumor that two persons were going to be married. Time passes and there is no marriage. Then they say the two had a fight and called off the wedding. Yet at the start it was all in the imaginations and suspicions of the gossipers, the rumor never having any solid foundation. If gossipers would look behind at the harm their lies had done they might not look ahead with such zeal for more tongue-wagging.

13. Why is gossip cowardly and murderous, and what will result to those who persist in it?

¹³ Gossip can be vicious. It is cowardly. It can be murderous. It can murder a good name or ruin a good reputation or poison the minds of people against the victim of the gossip. “They make their tongue sharp as a serpent’s, and under their lips is the poison of vipers.” Speech can be deadly: “Their teeth are spears and arrows, their tongues sharp swords.” Some tongues are as sharp as swords and the words they shoot forth can pierce like arrows, and the verbal shots they loose are from ambush and strike their victim in the back: “Who whet their tongues like swords, who aim bitter words like arrows, shooting from ambush at the blameless, shooting at him suddenly and without fear.” But the cowards that gossip behind a person’s back should remember that they have to face Jehovah, that Jehovah hears if their human victim does not, and “because of their tongue he will bring them to ruin.” Their gossiping tongues will get them uprooted from the land of the living: “Your tongue is like a sharp razor, you worker of treachery. You love evil more than good, and lying more than speaking the truth. Selah. You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue. But God will break you down for ever; he will snatch and tear you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living.”—Ps. 140:3; 57:4; 64:3, 4, 8; 52:2-5, RS.

14. What can gossip lead to?

¹⁴ Gossip can become so wicked and do so much damage that it can merit disfellowshiping. It can bring the babbler to ruin in the congregation: “He who guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.” His gossip may separate friends, but if it continues it will separate him from Jehovah’s organization: “Jehovah, who shall sojourn in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that slandereth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his friend, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor.” “Perverted speech I hate,” says Jehovah. If Jehovah hates it, so should we, and the hateful thing should not be permitted to exist in the congregation. We pray as directed: “Deliver my soul, O Jehovah, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.” If such lips and tongues are in the congregation, by disfellowshiping action the congregation can be delivered from them.—Prov. 13:3, RS; Ps. 15:1, 3, AS; Prov. 8:13, RS; Ps. 120:2, AS.

15. What makes gossip so dangerous, and what questions should the gossiper consider?

¹⁵ Many times gossip is concerning a minor matter, but discord is sown as wagging tongues magnify it out of all proportion. A gossip makes a mountain of the molehill and a molehill of the mountain. The real mountain, the sowing of discord, is as a molehill to the gossiper in comparison with the minor difficulty that he magnifies to mountainous proportions to bring about the discord. How dangerous is such unprofitable speaking! We read at Matthew 12:36, 37 (NW): “I tell you that every unprofitable saying that men speak, they will render an account concerning it on Judgment Day; for by your words you will be vindicated, and by your words you will be condemned.” How do you think words of gossip will be viewed during judgment periods? Can you vindicate your gossip? Will the plea that you meant no harm suffice? Will it ring true if the record shows you continued gossiping even after some of your tales proved false? Can you shift responsibility for the words that came out of your mouth? Be assured that your words, if they were gossipy words, will be condemned. How much better now to cultivate wisely a tongue that heals instead of injures: “There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.”—Prov. 12:18, RS.

You Can Crush Gossip!

“The north wind brings forth rain, and a slandering tongue an angry face.”—Prov. 25:23, AT.

1. With what illustrations did James show the power of the tongue and the inconsistency of using it to bless and curse?

THE disciple James took to task the human tongue. By striking illustrations he emphasized the difficulty of controlling this little body member. Bits in the mouths of horses can turn their whole bodies. Small rudders can swing big ships around. So the little tongue makes great brags. As a tiny spark can set a forest aflame, so the small tongue can be a fire to inflame the whole body and defile it. The beasts of earth men can tame, “but the tongue, not one of mankind can get it tamed.” Why, “if anyone does not stumble in word, this one is a perfect man.” A fountain does not bubble out both the sweet and the bitter. A fig tree does not produce olives, nor a vine figs. Neither does salt water produce sweet water. Yet the same tongue sends out both blessing and cursing. This is not fitting. While no man is perfect and no man can perfectly control the tongue, yet this does not give license to gossip or obscenity. We can keep its damage to a minimum. We can keep it from being full of venom to poison the mind of one against another. We can keep it from becoming a sword that cuts or an arrow that pierces, not letting it fly murderously to destroy by gossip the good name of others. If it is busy with waters of truth it cannot be aflame with gossip. James showed it must be brought under some control, saying: “It is not proper, my brothers, for these things to go on occurring this way.”—Jas. 3:2-12, NW.

2. What may partly explain why persons are quicker to criticize than commend?

² To understand why we gossip may help us to stop before we start. It is a fact that human creatures are quicker to criticize than commend. Why do we tend to tell the bad and be mum about the good? Do we take the good for granted, accepting it as proper without comment? Do we single out the bad because we feel irritation or even righteous indignation about it? This may be true in some instances. Is it a matter of commenting on extremes that grabs our attention? We comment on the good if it is outstanding and on the bad if it is extreme. However, gossip is more often petty, focusing on trivial matters. So apparently more is involved than extremes that catch our notice, or trespasses serious enough to make us righteously indignant.

3. What present natural conditions may explain the tendency to gossip, resulting in what conflict?

³ Humans are social creatures, naturally banding together in communities. They like to communicate with one another and there is a strong tendency to tell others what we have just learned. To know something another does not and to relieve ourselves of the morsel makes us feel wise. But why are the tidbits of gossip the daintiest of morsels? Well, it is “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks,” and of the heart of fallen man we read: “The heart is treacherous above all things, and desperately sick—who can understand it?” Or, “Deceitful is the heart above all things, and dangerously wayward—who can know it?” Then it says Jehovah knows the heart, and the prayer is for him to heal it. Fallen man with inherited sinfulness inclines toward wrongdoing, and his heart, the seat of motive and affection, is deceitful and wayward and sick, and out of the contents of this weak organ of fallen flesh the mouth of man speaks. The sinful tendency is to speak sinfully, but minds educated by Jehovah’s Word strive to follow Jehovah’s law. So a conflict ensues between God’s law in the mind and sin’s law in the flesh, with this frequent result: “What I wish, this I do not practice; but what I hate is what I do.” After we have gossiped we repent and wish we had stilled our tongue. We regret our weakness of letting gossip go in one ear and out the mouth. We must strengthen our mind in Jehovah’s law and pray for his healing of our heart to help us crush sin’s law in our flesh and gain victory over it. Sick and wayward hearts incline to see the sickness and waywardness in others, and out of this abundance mouths speak. To this inclination many public newspapers pander by headlining sordid crimes and by featuring gossip columns.—Matt. 12:34, NW; Jer. 17:9, 10, 14, AT, Ro; Rom. 7:15, NW.

4. What motives may be behind gossip?

⁴ Sometimes gossip is deliberate and malicious, designed to run one person down while elevating the gossiper. The slanderer may be undermining another to get his job or steal his friends or get his position of service in a congregation. He may be trying to build up feeling or opposition against a person because he dislikes that one. Frequently there is a spirit of envy or jealousy in back of talebearing. The gossiper may envy his victim’s prominence or reputation or good works, the gossiper by comparison not showing up to advantage. Why did Cain kill Abel? “Because his own works were wicked, but those of his brother were righteous.” For the same reason gossips try to raise themselves by lowering others. Any who thus seek to exalt themselves will certainly be humbled and brought low, and likewise those who forward the schemes of such ones by spreading their envious slanders. Also for sake of advantage and to ingratiate oneself with a certain person the schemer might gossip about one he knows this person dislikes. This may turn into flattery, contrasting favorably the one listening with the one being slandered. Of such it is true: “Their mouths speak swelling things, while they are admiring personalities for the sake of their own benefit.” Christians copy Paul, who said: “At no time have we turned up either with flattering speech, (just as you know) or with a false front for covetousness, God is witness!” Jehovah hates “a mind with crafty plans.”—1 John 3:12; Jude 16; 1 Thess. 2:5, NW; Prov. 6:18, Mo.

5. How may gossip be used to divert attention from oneself?

⁵ A person may gossip to divert attention from himself. If he puts others in the critical spotlight it is not on him. So he may seek to hide his own filth by slinging mud at others. Or, a gossip may criticize others of sins he commits. He wants company, for then disapproval cannot concentrate on him alone but spreads out over a group. If he is accused he can point to others as doing the same thing, thinking thereby to justify or excuse himself. Incidentally, gossipers are often the first ones to accuse others of gossiping. Knowing they are guilty themselves, they judge others by themselves, but much more harshly than themselves. Someone else always starts it. So it works out as the Bible 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.”—Rom. 2:1, NW.

6. How do some subtly exalt themselves, and with what result?

⁶ Many times persons gossip about others to exalt themselves. They may not realize this, but it is a subtle motive behind the talk. To criticize others in effect exalts oneself. Since you disapprove of such a fault you would not be guilty of it, is the implication. This kind of gossiping can be a form of bragging on yourself. You point the finger of guilt at another, and you feel superior. You feel a bit smug about it. You border on the Pharisee who in prayer to God gossiped about others and gave thanks that he was not like them, “not as the rest of men, extortioners, unrighteous, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.” But the tax collector when praying “kept beating his chest, saying: ‘O God, be gracious to me a sinner.’” He did not feel smugly superior to others, but humbly lamented his own unworthiness. Then the divine rule was stated: “Everyone that exalts himself will be humiliated, but he that humbles himself will be exalted.” To exalt yourself subtly by gossiping leads to humiliation. To be exalted by Jehovah, humbly consider your own faults, not those of others.—Luke 18:9-14, NW.

7. What other factors may contribute to gossiping, yet when all the camouflage is stripped off what is gossip seen to be?

⁷ A number of other factors might contribute to gossiping. If one is too frustrated to do certain things, is unable to do them for some reason, he might compensate for it by criticizing those who do these things, making such conduct seem wrong. One might feel insecure, so he finds fault with others to reassure himself. If one is strong in a certain point he might be very critical of those weak in that respect, lacking mercy, and egotistically thinking he is the standard to be measured up to. By criticizing this weakness in others he subtly calls notice to his superiority on that point. In many instances persons gossip to get attention, to gain a listening ear. It flatters them to know something others want to hear, makes them feel wise. Actually they are shallow, too shallow or too lazy to think deeply and gain attention by intelligent speaking. It is easy to gossip, criticize, disparage and exaggerate, so they do this to tickle ears itching to hear spicy tales. The gossiper puts two and two together and gets five, and with repetition the sum mounts to six or seven. Undoubtedly there are many reasons and combinations of reasons why people gossip. But when all camouflage is stripped off and we see gossip for what it is—unkind, unfair, harmful, hateful, shallow, slanderous, malicious, murderous—we understand why Jehovah detests it and why Christians should shun it.

STOP GOSSIP GOING AND COMING!

8. What makes gossip cowardly, and what thought will help hold the tongue?

⁸ To see gossip for what it is helps us stop it from going out of our mouth. It is cowardly talk and a goodly percentage of it is lying talk. Who likes a coward and a liar? Not Jehovah. His Word says: “As for the cowards . . . and all the liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur. This means the second death.” To say behind the back what one fears to say to the face is cowardly. We should not shoot others in the back with words. Do you object to the accused one’s hearing the accusation? Are you not willing to give him a chance to defend himself, to tell his side, to clarify matters, to spike a rumor or refute a falsehood? How can he if you do not face him? Are you being fair and honest with your brother? When you start to say something about someone ask yourself, Am I willing to say this to his face? If it is gossip you will probably answer No, and if you are a gossiper you will probably say it anyway. You may swear the one you tell to secrecy. Yet a proverb emphasizes how such talk gets back to the one slandered: “Even in your thought, do not curse the king, nor in your bedchamber curse the rich; for a bird of the air will carry your voice, or some winged creature tell the matter.” And can you rightly complain? You could not keep the secret yourself. Why expect another to? Why expect more of another than of yourself? Keeping quiet was too great a strain for you. Why expect another to resist the strain you could not? Moreover, he may like the person you slander and may want to give the person a chance to defend himself. That is only fair. So when you start to gossip, think how you will feel when your victim hears it, probably in an exaggerated version. Let this thought help hold your tongue.—Rev. 21:8, NW; Eccl. 10:20, RS.

9. What better reason is there for stopping gossip, and in what several ways can we try to break the habit?

⁹ However, our motive for clamping our lips against gossip should be better than fearing the repercussions when our victim catches us at it. Gossip pleases Satan, it displeases Jehovah. Whom will we please? Which one will we serve? You serve the one you obey. It is Satan’s will for you to gossip. Jehovah’s will is that you crush it. Gossip becomes a habit. The more you do it the more entrenched becomes the habit. To break the habit calls for conscious, steadfast, determined, strenuous effort. You cannot pamper yourself. Do not try to taper off. Stop now! Wage an unflagging fight! Every time you resist the urge the habit loses ground, its grip on you is weakened; but each time you succumb to it you strengthen its hold on you. Fight it to the death, with no backing down, no giving in, no retreating. Fight it at the source, kill its roots, which are in the mind and heart. Do more than put gossip from your mind; put good thoughts in its place. Jesus showed that when an unclean spirit was ousted from a man it would return with seven others if the man did not become filled with Jehovah’s spirit. (Matt. 12:43-45) So crowd out evil gossip with good thoughts. Pray for Jehovah’s help: “Set a watch, O Jehovah, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.” Gossipers look for the bad in people. Form the habit of looking for the good in them. Instead of eyeing bad people “keep your eye on those who are walking in a way that accords with the example you have in us,” Paul says.—Ps. 141:3, AS; Phil. 3:17, NW.

10. What thoughts will help us refrain from gossip even when we become its target?

¹⁰ But what if someone gossips about us? Cannot we fight back in self-defense? With truth, yes, but not with gossip. Why let others provoke us to sin, as Moses once did: “They made his spirit bitter, and he spoke words that were rash”? Why let a gossiper turn you into one, making you into his evil image by getting you to gossip back? Prove yourself stronger than this weakling, “not paying back injury for injury or reviling for reviling.” “Return evil for evil to no one.” Refuse to pile more fuel on the fires of gossip and rather than become heated by inflammatory talk remain cool and calm in spirit: “He who has a hasty temper exalts folly.” David realized the danger of heated replies: “I said, ‘I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue; I will bridle my mouth, so long as the wicked are in my presence.’ I was dumb and silent, I held my peace to no avail; my distress grew worse, my heart became hot within me. As I mused, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue.” As he thought he boiled within, but when he spoke it was not in hot slanders to the opposers, but in prayerful petition to Jehovah.—Ps. 106:33, RS; 1 Pet. 3:9; Rom. 12:17, NW; Prov. 14:29; Ps. 39:1-3, RS.

11. Why is it wrong to listen to gossip?

¹¹ When you gossip you help at most no one and you hurt at least three: the one you talk about, the one you talk to, and yourself. The same is true when you listen to gossip. You hurt the same three. Do you know a sure way that you can crush gossip? Refuse to listen to it. The gossiper wants your ears. Do not lend him your ears. He will only fill them with dirt. And you may be tempted to spread the dirt to other ears. Help him and protect yourself by not listening. When you give ear to gossip you are not an innocent bystander. You should stop gossip both going out and coming in. If you send it out, your tongue is sinning; if you take it in, your ears are sinning. If you listen to gossip and believe it you are in effect answering a matter before you hear it, for until you hear both sides you have not heard it fully. Hence, according to the Bible, you are being unfair and committing folly: “To answer before one hears is one’s folly and shame.” So turn a deaf ear to gossip. Pause and consider: if a gossip were slandering you would you not like for the hearer to stop him? So do as you would be done to, as Jesus said: “All things, therefore, that you want men to do to you, you also must likewise do to them.”—Prov. 18:13, AT; Matt. 7:12, NW.

12. What should we remember about gossipers, and how can we try to help them?

¹² Always remember this: a gossiper is not a true friend. If he gossips to you he will gossip about you. By gossiping he may nudge you toward gossiping, thereby pumping you, and “when he goes out, he tells it abroad.” This is sly hypocrisy. But a gossiper does not need to have two heads to be two-faced. He will gossip to whomever he is with, because it is an entrenched habit that controls him. If by refusing to listen you can halt the tongue he cannot, you help him, and he may appreciate it later: “He who rebukes a man will afterward find more favor than he who flatters with his tongue.” But whether he later appreciates it or not, as a follower of Jehovah you must register disapproval and meet his gossip with a frown: “The north wind brings forth rain, and a slandering tongue an angry face.” If he does not reform and replace his foolish words with those of wisdom and knowledge, do as the Bible says: “Leave the presence of a fool, for there you do not meet words of knowledge.” Only those like him will listen to him: “An evildoer listens to wicked lips; and a liar gives heed to a mischievous tongue.” For our own protection we must break association with the chronic gossip: “Do not be misled. Bad associations spoil useful habits.”—Ps. 41:6; Prov. 28:23, RS; Pr 25:23, AT; Pr 14:7; 17:4, RS; 1 Cor. 15:33, NW.

LOVE BANKRUPTS GOSSIP

13. How does love bankrupt gossip?

¹³ Gossip feeds and grows on weaknesses and faults, but love robs it of its sustenance by hiding these shortcomings: “Love covers a multitude of sins.” Love leaves gossip bankrupt of material and deletes it from our discussions, and hence love with its power to cover over shortcomings is urged upon Christians: “Above all things, have intense love for one another.” You love yourself. That love shows ingenuity in finding excuses for your mistakes or extenuating circumstances to cover over your errors. It makes you prejudiced in your own favor and as a result it is difficult for you to see your own faults. Well, “you must love your neighbor as yourself.” Let the same love that covers your shortcomings work to cover the faults of your brothers. Let it make you as understanding, as merciful, as forgiving toward him as it makes you toward yourself. Jehovah “knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.” You are glad he remembers and does not expect too much? Then you remember your brother’s is dust also and do not expect too much. You must forgive to be forgiven. According to Jesus’ model prayer, you ask Jehovah to forgive you as you forgive others. If you do not forgive, you are not effectually asking for forgiveness. When you forgive offenses forget them. If you later repeat them and gossip about them your forgiveness was from deceitful lips, not from a sincere heart. You are lacking in the love that covers a multitude of sins.—1 Pet. 4:8; Matt. 19:19, NW; Ps. 103:14, RS.

14. What good admonition does Proverbs 16:2 give, and what will crush gossip if it fills our hearts?

¹⁴ Proverbs 16:2 (AS) states: “All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but Jehovah weigheth the spirits.” Jehovah’s scales are true balances, not tilted by favoritism or partiality or prejudice, and on them he weighs the spirit, the disposition, the impulses that motivate a man’s thinking or speaking or acting. A man’s love for himself makes him partial to himself and to him his ways seem clean, but Jehovah’s impartial scales test the genuineness of the motives behind his thought or word or deed. So be careful, and not too sure you are clean while viewing others as soiled. When Jehovah reads his scales his eye is impartially merciful for all. You try to be impartially merciful when looking at yourself and at others, not partial to yourself and exacting of others. “Love covers all offenses.” Jehovah in his love provides Christ’s ransom to cover all offenses of obedient persons. We should cultivate the kind of love that will forgivingly cover over our brothers’ offenses toward us. Here is a description of that kind of love: “Love is long-suffering and obliging. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, does not get puffed up, does not behave indecently, does not look for its own interests, does not become provoked. It does not keep account of the injury. It does not rejoice over unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” If we speak out of hearts filled with this kind of love, we shall never gossip!—Prov. 10:12, RS; 1 Cor. 13:4-7, NW.

15. What debt will we always have, and what error should we shun?

¹⁵ We may as well face it. We shall never get out of debt, no matter how long we live, even if that be for eternity. We shall always be owing something. What is that? Romans 13:8 (NW) answers: “Do not be owing anybody a single thing, except to love one another.” We shall always owe love to one another. We should start paying on that debt now and never stop payment. One way to start is to stop all gossip. And if you think your talk about someone is clean, remember Jehovah weighs your spirit and if there is any taint to your talk it will show on his scales. And reflect on this before you let your tongue loose on someone. Remember that in Jesus’ illustration of the sheep and the goats the goats were surprised when told of their indifference and neglect relative to Christ; then they learned that what they had done or failed to do to his brothers was counted as done to him. Now, would you gossip about Christ, find fault with him, carry tales against him? If you would not do these things to him, do not do them to your brothers. Do not commit the error of the goats. The way you treat your brothers is the way you treat Christ. In fact, the Bible says that if you say you love Jehovah but are hating your brother you are a liar, “for he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot be loving God, whom he has not seen.” So start now and never stop paying on the debt of love you owe your brothers.—1 John 4:20, NW.

RESPECT THE MIND GOD GAVE YOU!

16, 17. What illustrations show the folly of using the mind for gossip, and what quotation shows the marvels of the mind?

¹⁶ If you had the finest automobile made, with the most painstaking workmanship mechanically, and with a bright, new, shiny, stylish body, would you use it to pull a plow or haul fertilizer? If you had a beautiful home of modern design, with large picture windows with colorful drapes, artistically decorated, tastefully furnished with luxurious pieces for all the rooms, and with shining hardwood floors in some rooms and thick cushiony wall-to-wall rugs in others, would you let pigs have the run of that house? You would never so misuse such a fine car and such a beautiful home, would you? They are made for a higher use and deserve much better treatment.

¹⁷ So it is with the human mind. It deserves a much loftier use than being filled with gossip, stuffed with slander, crammed with dirt and made to use the tongue as a tool to scatter this filth to others. The brain is a marvelous gift from Jehovah, so complicated and intricate that the wisest men cannot begin to fathom fully its workings. One researcher has said that it is capable of holding fifty times as much information as is contained in the Library of Congress. An article in The Reader’s Digest, July, 1954, states: “To get a faint idea of what is going on continuously in the brain and the spinal cord, think of 1000 telephone switchboards, each big enough for a city like New York, going full tilt receiving and transmitting requests, questions, orders. . . . Through its incredible ability to hook together thousands of reverberating circuits in a fraction of a second—each representing a memory or an idea—the brain is able to bring together into one grand circuit the data needed to think and make decisions. Many scientists believe that every experience of our lives is recorded and preserved by these electrical circuits, including millions that we seem to have completely forgotten. Psychiatrists have found that when a patient tries day after day he can recall buried incidents of his childhood, even though he invariably begins by saying, ‘I don’t remember a thing.’” The article concludes that even the most brilliant man does not “in a lifetime use more than a tiny portion of the capacity of his brain.”

18. Are we “leaky vessels,” as some have said?

¹⁸ Note the opinion that “every experience of our lives is recorded and preserved.” How does this fit with the assertion by some that we are “leaky vessels,” which assertion they base on a Bible text? According to the King James Version, marginal reading, Hebrews 2:1 says: “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should run out as leaking vessels.” The New World Translation clearly presents the proper thought: “That is why it is necessary for us to pay more than the usual attention to the things heard by us, that we may never drift away.” It is not the truths we hear that run out as though we were leaky vessels, but it is we ourselves who are in danger of slipping or drifting away if we do not pay close, unusual attention to what we learn. So our minds are not leaky vessels and points learned are recorded and retained, but the information may become buried and lost to us as far as remembering it for use if we have not paid “more than the usual attention” to it when learning it. It will be hard to dig out and will call for strenuous mental effort by a diligent probing of the memory. Failure to dig it out is no proof it is not there. The marvels of the mind heavily underline the grateful words of David: “I will give thanks unto thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”—Ps. 139:14, AS.

19. With what should we fill our minds?

¹⁹ Do you thank Jehovah for your fearfully and wonderfully made mind? How do you? By filling it with gossip and using it to disgorge gossip? Is that the thanks he gets from you? If that is the case with you, it is time you forsake your ways of gossip and thoughts of slander and show you respect and appreciate the mind God gave you by filling it with good ways and high thoughts, with divine ways and Jehovah’s thoughts: “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto Jehovah, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith Jehovah. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” His ways and thoughts are expressed in the Bible and through it he talks to us. And what does he talk about? Whom Matthew was out with last night? Or the latest gossip about Priscilla? Hardly! He does not degrade our minds or cater to the sinful tendencies of fallen flesh; rather he seeks to edify and upbuild and strengthen in righteousness. His Word discloses the high level our thinking should take: “Whatever things are true [not rumor or slander], whatever things are of serious concern [not trivial or petty], whatever things are righteous [not unfair or wicked], whatever things are chaste [not evil suspicions or gossip dirt], whatever things are lovable [not belittling or hateful], whatever things are well spoken of [not derogatory or evilly mentioned], whatever virtue [not badness] there is and whatever praiseworthy [not condemned] thing there is, continue considering these things.”—Isa. 55:7-9, AS; Phil. 4:8, NW.

20. What concluding summary of this study is here given?

²⁰ So remember gossip started with Satan. Guard against it. It works injury. Jehovah forbids it. Discern the bad motives behind it. Let it dirty neither your tongue nor your ear. Do not let it make you its slave just because someone makes you its victim. Remain truly friendly and loving, remembering that a gossiper is neither. And treat your fearfully and wonderfully made mind right. Fill it with good. The milk and the meat of Jehovah’s Word nourish and strengthen the human mind. Enlarge and deepen your mind to the maturity of appreciating rich food. The gossiping mind is the shallow mind, and an empty brain and a tattling tongue go together. Better to have more on the mind and less on the tongue than an empty mind and a full tongue. Certainly we are not ignorant of the evils of gossip, of ways to combat it, and of how to use our tongue right. The disciple James said: “If one knows how to do what is right and yet does not do it, it is a sin for him.” (Jas. 4:17, NW) With Jehovah’s law in our mind we can intelligently fight this sin in our flesh. We must crush gossip out of our life before gossip causes God to crush the life out of us!

“Women Talk Too Much”

This is the title of an article by Sophie Kerr in the December 11, 1954, Saturday Evening Post. After the opening observation that “women have become awesomely articulate without having anything special added to their hearts, minds or spirits to be articulate about,” she says concerning female conversation: “No sentence on either side is finished without interruption, no question is ever fully answered, no story is permitted to end, and if an idea should stray into the arena it is not recognized, much less developed.” Even if one gets the floor “don’t think for an instant that the opposition actually listens; no, the opposition is crouched tense in her corner framing what she is going to say” when she can break in. “The rule is: Everybody talks. Nobody listens.” Author Kerr labels today’s superloquacious woman “the machine gunner of words, loaded with ammunition.” But she laments that the bulk of it is all trivia, not worth uttering, and concludes: “Let’s face it. Women need fewer words and more thought; less chatter and more meditative silence; a better selection of what they say and better manners when they say it.”

How different it can be with the theocratic women of Jehovah’s visible organization! They have many good things in their minds and hearts and spirits to be articulate about, yet listen courteously while others speak, to see how their responses can be most helpful. The conclusion about women of the world is also true about men—both sexes could do well on fewer words with more thought and could have a better selection of material if they meditated on what Jehovah’s Word says concerning the critical times hard to deal with that now confront baffled mankind.

Congratulations, Formosa!

A VICTORY has been won on Formosa! It is a victory for human rights and for cherished freedoms that all enlightened men hold dear. It is a victory for the Chinese government now on Formosa, demonstrating an appreciation of the ideals that sustain free men today. It shows that the government is not only ready to make professions of freedom and equal rights for all, but it is also ready to back words by action.

On March 23, 1955, the governor of the province of Taiwan (Formosa) approved registration of the International Bible Students Association in Taiwan, and this registration went into effect when the district court in Taipei, after making its investigation, gave final approval on April 25.

Thus an 18-year fight for recognition and religious freedom by the faithful witnesses of Jehovah on Taiwan has at last borne fruit. It is a praiseworthy result, in that it shows that unrelenting determination, patience and integrity on the part of God’s servants bring their reward. It is praiseworthy on the part of the Formosan government, in that it shows the government has been willing to discard former prejudices and reverse the mistakes made by predecessors in government.

It is eighteen long years now since the first native Taiwanese accepted the Bible teachings from Jehovah’s witnesses. From the very beginning theirs has been a fight for the truth. The first Taiwanese minister of Jehovah’s witnesses was imprisoned by the Japanese just three weeks after being baptized, and his record shows that during the next ten years he spent the greater part of his time behind prison walls and in torture chambers.

But he kept fighting for the truth, and others joined him in the fight. It was harder than ordinary fighting, for they had no carnal weapons for protection against their Japanese persecutors. But being fortified by the Word of God and having the shield of faith and other divinely provided equipment, they fought on. They received no Watchtower magazines from the outside world to help. They had no association with others of their faith. All the association any of them had in those first ten years was one week by the one original Taiwanese minister with the Japanese minister who first brought him the Bible truth. This Japanese minister was later shot by the Japanese dictators because he dared to be an active Christian.

Then the Japanese rulers left and the Chinese government came. Jehovah’s witnesses of Taiwan, 300 strong, rejoiced. At last, will it be religious freedom? But their hopes were short-lived. Local Chinese police took up the false records left by the Japanese dictators and apparently believed them, and the oppression continued. Eight applications for recognition of the Christian organization of Jehovah’s witnesses dragged through government departments; eight times these were turned down.

However, changes were taking place on Taiwan. The Nationalist government, linked now so closely with the democracies of the West, was imbibing Western ideas. President Chiang himself admitted he had made mistakes on the mainland and that an honest endeavor would be made to correct these. Steps were taken to establish enlightened government in Taiwan. Cruelties and injustices, common to many Oriental countries, were gradually eliminated. And at last there came a reconsideration of the case of Jehovah’s witnesses, with finally, at the ninth attempt, the registration of their organization on Taiwan.

Jehovah’s faithful witnesses of Taiwan have been busy for eighteen years fighting for this recognition. And they are busy now. Doing what? Building the twenty-eight Kingdom Halls that are necessary in order to hold meetings legally under the wartime conditions in Taiwan. It is expected that by the time you read these words those Kingdom Halls will be completed and the 1,782 active ministers of Jehovah’s witnesses in Taiwan, together with many others of good will, will be meeting together for worship of Jehovah God. Further, they will continue to proclaim Christ’s kingdom of the new world and to proclaim by their law-abiding course of action that the government has not misplaced confidence in granting them full freedom of worship.

That an enlightened Formosa has shown kindness to Jehovah’s witnesses is to her credit and a source of great joy to Jehovah’s witnesses. Congratulations, Formosa!

Questions From Readers

● The book What Has Religion Done for Mankind? says, on page 251, that when Jesus told the truth in Nazareth “the religious people there in that synagogue rioted and rushed him out of town and tried to stone him to death,” and cites Luke 4:16-30 as proof. But Luke 4:29 (NW) says: “They rose up and hurried him outside the city, and they led him to the brow of the mountain upon which their city had been built, in order to throw him down headlong.” Since the scripture says they tried to throw him over the hill, why does the book say that they tried to stone him to death?—N. S., United States.

The Bible does not describe in detail the process of stoning. It does show, however, that the place of execution was to be outside the city and that the witnesses threw the first stone upon the doomed one. (Lev. 24:14; Num. 15:36; Deut. 13:9, 10; 17:5-7; Acts 7:57-59) Jewish tradition adds the information that the victim was first thrown over the brow of a hill or precipice and thereafter was pelted with stones until dead. Now, with this understanding of the process of execution by stoning, it is apparent that when the Jews of Nazareth “hurried him outside the city, and they led him to the brow of the mountain upon which their city had been built, in order to throw him down headlong,” they were following the procedure of stoning, and that had they succeeded in pushing him over the hill they would have finished the execution by pelting him with stones. “The Photo-Drama of Creation” had a motion picture of Stephen being stoned in this way.

● A report persists in circulating that there is a destructive electrical ring descending toward the earth, and that, when it hits, life not miraculously preserved by Jehovah will be wiped out. Did not the Awake! magazine comment on this some years ago?—W. S., United States.

Yes, the Awake! of July 8, 1952, in its article entitled “Our Atmosphere, Man’s Stairway to the Stars,” had a subheading called “Does Electrical Ring Threaten Us?” It pointed out that while there are electrical layers in the ionosphere, the harmful radiations are prevented from reaching earth by the ozone layer. Nor is there any danger that the ozone layer will be destroyed, leaving us vulnerable to this bombardment, because the ultraviolet rays that, along with cosmic rays, cause the electrical layers of the ionosphere also create this ozone layer by their action on the oxygen in the earth’s atmosphere. In other words, the rays create the roadblock. As long as the rays are there the preventive layer will be there.

So it seems that the electrical layers above us offer nowhere near the threat that the idle rumors about them do, which are parroted about without any scientific basis. Certainly it is worse than fruitless to occupy our time spreading such rumors when that time is urgently needed to preach the unquestionable warnings of Jehovah’s Word. So we should use our time to preach about what we know, based on God’s sure Word, rather than preaching pseudoscientific hearsay that is advanced by those who yearn to be sensational.

Jehovah’s Witnesses—the New World Society

A new book by this name has been published by Vantage Press of New York city. Written in newsy reporter style by Marley Cole, it presents for the first time in book form authentic information on the history, activities and doctrinal views of Jehovah’s witnesses. Much of the material was gathered by personal interviews with witnesses, some of them being officials of the Society. Frequently in the news is something about the religion of President Eisenhower’s parents. This book gives the facts often overlooked or concealed, with documentary proof that they were Jehovah’s witnesses for many years. You will be interested in reading this 229-page book and seeing its many fine photographs. It is $2.95 a copy, and may be had at your local bookstore or from the Watchtower Society, 117 Adams Street, Brooklyn 1, N. Y.

Announcements

SANCTIFIED FOR THEOCRATIC WARFARE

Jehovah’s witnesses are engaged in a spiritual fight. It is a spiritual warfare to which they are sanctified, being enlisted in a spiritual army and engaged in a sacred conflict. They must, accordingly, partake of the pure truth, render acceptable worship, practice clean living and keep themselves and their surroundings clean. Their “camp” must be holy so that God may see nothing indecent in them, defiling them, in which case he would turn away from them. (Deut. 23:14, NW) Having godly conditions exist among them is essential to their work of bringing the truth to others, commending it by their own righteous and clean course of action. During September Jehovah’s witnesses will present from house to house a book and a booklet on a contribution of 50c. All persons of good will are invited to share in this privileged service.

A MAGAZINE PUBLISHING PLAIN TRUTH

Would you like to obtain a magazine that is not afraid to publish plain truth? If so, we invite you to subscribe for Awake! This 32-page magazine, published the eighth and twenty-second of each month, is devoted to publishing news and information of world import, gained from world-wide sources. Its leading articles, without compromise toward commercialism, politics and religion, present the straight facts, fearlessly publish the plain truth. It answers the rousing call for fearless information, not because we have entered the atomic age, but because the world is fast asleep near the brink of that universal war Scripturally called “Armageddon.” Lovers of life need to be awakened to the real sense of the news and the pressing issues upon which to decide. That is the purpose of Awake! A year’s subscription of 24 issues is only $1. Subscribe today!

“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES FOR THE WEEKS

September 18: Gossip Can Destroy You! and You Can Crush Gossip! ¶1-3. Page 496.

September 25: You Can Crush Gossip! ¶4-20. Page 502.

Check Your Memory

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

✔ What is far better than trying to “keep up with the Joneses”? P. 483, ¶1.

✔ What is so shocking about the world’s present fear of the future? P. 485, ¶3.

✔ How it is that most people fear the wrong things today? P. 486, ¶6.

✔ How to overcome fear now? P. 487, ¶4.

✔ Whether the courts approved Christians’ defending their meeting against a “religious” riot in Madison Square Garden? P. 489, ¶2.

✔ When and how the name “Kingdom Hall” began to be applied to Jehovah’s witnesses’ meeting places? P. 491, ¶2.

✔ What wonderful increase has occurred in Kingdom preaching in Panama? P. 493, ¶2.

✔ How new publishers in Colombia are quickly prepared for full-time ministry? P. 495, ¶1.

✔ Who originated gossip? P. 496, ¶1.

✔ How you can determine what is proper and improper talk? P. 497, ¶6.

✔ Whether the gossiper who unknowingly spreads lies is responsible for them? P. 499, ¶11.

✔ Why people stoop to gossiping? P. 502, ¶4.

✔ Why gossip is cowardly? P. 504, ¶8.

✔ Whether it is all right to listen to gossip? P. 505, ¶11.

✔ What one quality will abolish gossip? P. 506, ¶13.

✔ What, instead of gossip, is the right thing with which to fill our minds? P. 508, ¶19.

✔ What outstanding example of integrity was set by the first native Taiwanese witness of Jehovah? P. 510, ¶4.

✔ Whether a destructive electrical ring now seriously threatens earth? P. 511, ¶4.