The Watchtower — February 15, 1955

Wanted: Robot Minds for Today

GOD did not create man with a robot mind. But the masses of people today often act as if they were mental robots. Why? Because of fear. In Communist countries there is fear of death. In the West there is fear of Communists and fear of losing prestige. Where there is fear people seek the reassurance of conformity. The result is the machine mind. Nonconforming minds, if not regarded as “security risks,” are at least subjected to mounting popular disfavor. In the news of late has been the name of Dr. Albert Einstein, the man who may have peered more deeply into the secrets of the universe than any other living man. For long Dr. Einstein was a unanimous shining hero. But Dr. Einstein’s latest pronouncement, in particular, displeased the public mind; yet it gave thinking persons a sad commentary on what is called the “free world.”

Said Dr. Einstein: “If I would be a young man again and had to decide how to make my living, I would not try to become a scientist or scholar or teacher. I would rather choose to be a plumber or a peddler in the hope to find that modest degree of independence still available under present circumstances.”—New York Times, November 10, 1954.

Many other men with keen minds have pointed out the danger that lies in the tyranny of robot minds. President James R. Killian, Jr., of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently deplored “what sometimes seems to be a preoccupation with security procedures and policies at the expense of scientific progress.” The president of the National Academy of Sciences, Detlev W. Bronk, said that “exploitation of fear and misunderstanding by those who seek selfish or unwholesome ends are creating an environment unsuitable for the furtherance of science.” On this same point the New York Times Magazine of April 25, 1954, commented: “The scientist should not be singled out and ‘cabin’d, cribb’d, confined.’ Especially not the scientist. If he is, he may not flourish.”

But there was more to the matter than just that of scientists’ not flourishing. Declared the executive committee of the Federation of American Scientists: “The danger lies in the discouragement of independent minded men, including many scientists, from lending their talents to government.” (Science News Letter for June 12, 1954) And mathematician John von Neumann of the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study, who was just appointed to the Atomic Energy Commission, declared: “Very many people who have some trivial blot way back in their past do not know whether they can take a chance on getting into sensitive work.” Dr. von Neumann admitted that the security system as now applied could well result “in thought control.”—Time, November 1, 1954.

Showing that the present security system was indeed producing injurious results, Dr. Vannevar Bush, president of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, said in Science News Letter for November 6, 1954: “I met a week ago a man who was a member of the scientific committee that is advisory to the Security Council, and he said to me, ‘Well, we have practically stopped working. It is quite impossible to accomplish anything in this atmosphere.’ Now that is the sort of reaction I would get out of three out of four scientists today. . . . The basic fact is that this country has been going through a wave of hysteria. When people are afraid they do strange things. One of their immediate responses is a tendency to abandon their liberties.”

So the scientists are not alone in their plight. As Dr. Einstein indicated, the scholar and teacher are feeling the python of conformity constricting their freedom. Thus not all the pronouncements exposing the state of mental freedom today have come from scientists. Writers, teachers, lawyers, statesmen and other intellectuals have decried the persistent demand for robot minds. Adlai Stevenson recently declared: “Even conformity—thought control—has reappeared in our land just at a time when we are exhorting the world to stand fast against the tyrannies of Soviet fascism. And it looks as though we are in more danger nowadays of exploitation of the mind than the body, of becoming mental robots than economic slaves.”—Look, November 16, 1954.

This is the age of fear. As Harold E. Talbott, secretary of the air force, put it, we are “living in an atmosphere of menace unprecedented in the history of mankind.” (New York Times, November 12, 1954) This unprecedented fear has spawned the age of conformity, the age of thought control, the age of robot minds. Man is now seized by such a mind-benumbing fear that he dares not even try to wake up the robot minds. In his recent book An Almanac of Liberty, Justice William O. Douglas of the United States Supreme Court said: “Those who speak out against the neurosis that has seized us in mid twentieth century risk much. But if they stay silent they are unworthy of their inheritance. . . . If a few sick minds can transfer their psychosis to the whole community, anyone can readily become a victim of the calumny and lies which the modern hunt for heresy has produced.”

Why is the world so sick that even the “free world” enslaves itself in a tyranny of hysteria, fear and robot minds? Because the whole earth is being misled by a superhuman sick mind, Satan the Devil. This is a fact that is kept from the people. But the Bible is clear: “Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth.” So not only Communist countries but the entire earth is under the fiendish influence of this master wicked spirit. Those who value their life must wake up their mental faculties. This is the time for clear thinking, not apathy. Wrote the apostle Peter: “I am arousing your clear thinking faculties.” And what does clear thinking reveal? This: a new world is at hand.—Rev. 12:9; 2 Pet. 3:1, NW.

For the “last days” of Satan’s world Jesus foretold the sign of men’s becoming “faint out of fear.” Men “faint out of fear” readily become robot minds. True Christians will wake up their minds to see that the end of this age of fear and thought control is near. The great war of Armageddon impends. At that battle Christ the King will wipe out Satan and his hordes of robot minds. A new government will control the earth. It will be one government for all the people. The king of that new world, Christ Jesus, will not allow fear or robot minds to mar the peace of a paradise earth.—Luke 21:26, NW.

How Does Christ Come the Second Time?

Christ Jesus promised that he would come again. The fact that many have been disappointed as to his return does not prove that he will never come but merely that they lacked understanding. How will Christ come again? and when? and why?

CHRIST’S apostles confidently expected him to return, to come a second time. That is why they asked him, “What will be the sign of your presence and of the consummation of the system of things?” While professed Christians are generally agreed that Christ will come again they widely differ as to how he will come.—Matt. 24:3, NW.

This was very apparent at the meeting of the World Council of Churches held at Evanston, Illinois, in the latter half of August, 1954. In discussing the meeting’s theme, “Christ—the Hope of the World,” some insisted that Christ would come literally, in the same human body he had while on earth, at which time he would destroy the wicked and deliver his followers. Others held that Christ comes through man’s applying the Christian principles to his problems of disease, hunger, slavery and the like. What does the Bible have to say on how Christ will come again?

To appreciate the truth regarding how Christ comes again we must first of all appreciate how he came the first time and why he came in that way. He came in a way that was unique, for he had a prehuman existence. The Scriptural testimony is unequivocal in this regard. Said he: “No man has ascended into heaven but he that descended from heaven.” “Before Abraham came into existence, I have been.” “Father, glorify me alongside yourself with the glory which I had alongside you before the world was.”—John 3:13; 8:58; 17:5, NW.

While on earth Jesus was not part human and part spirit. No, “he emptied himself and took a slave’s form and came to be in the likeness of men.” He did not clothe himself with flesh, but “the Word became flesh,” we are told; he “was produced out of a woman.”—Phil. 2:7; John 1:14; Gal. 4:4, NW.

And why did the Word become flesh? First of all, that he might preach the truth to humankind. He said that he came forth for the purpose of preaching and told Pilate: “For this purpose I have been born and for this purpose I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.” Secondly, he also became flesh to demonstrate that a perfect human creature could prove faithful under test: “He learned obedience from the things he suffered.” And finally, he was produced out of a woman so that he could give his soul or life as “a ransom in exchange for many.” All mankind had come under condemnation because of the sin of a perfect man; only the sacrifice of a perfect life could relieve mankind of the condemnation of sin and death.—John 18:37; Heb. 5:8, 9; Matt. 20:28, NW.

HOW WILL CHRIST COME AGAIN?

Should we expect Christ to come again in a human body? No. Why not? Among other reasons, because he accomplished the threefold purpose for which, as we have just seen, he became flesh, and so he no longer needs a human body. Not only that, but having sacrificed his human life as a ransom, to take it back would be to cancel the ransoming of the human race. Besides, we are plainly told of his “being put to death in the flesh, but being made alive in the spirit.” Also, that in contrast with the first Adam, who was “out of the earth and made of dust,” Christ Jesus as “the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” He ascended to heaven, something no human could do, for “flesh and blood cannot inherit God’s kingdom.” ‘He is now the reflection of his Father’s glory and the exact representation of his Father’s being.’—1 Pet. 3:18; 1 Cor. 15:47, 45, 50; Heb. 1:3, NW.

Some point to Jesus’ appearances after his resurrection and the fact that the tomb was empty as proof that Jesus still has his human body and that we are therefore to expect him to come again as a human creature. However, note that Mary did not recognize Jesus; she thought him to be the gardener until he called “Mary!” in the old familiar way. The two disciples on the way to Emmaus thought him to be a stranger. And after certain apostles had gone back into the fishing business and Jesus appeared to them on the shore, what caused them to realize it was Jesus was not his appearance but the miraculous draught of fishes. Only to satisfy doubting Thomas did Jesus appear in a form similar to that which he had before he died.—John 20:1-29, NW.

Nor do the angels’ words, that Jesus would “come thus in the same manner,” require that he come in a fleshly body. The angels said that Jesus would come, not in the same form, but in the same manner. His manner was quiet and unobserved except by his immediate followers. So his return would at first be observed only by his followers who had faith in him.—Acts 1:11, NW.

But what about Revelation 1:7 (NW), which reads: “Look! he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him”? In view of the fact that the Bible often makes reference to sight in a figurative sense and in view of the physical impossibility of everyone on earth literally seeing Jesus were he to come in a human body, we must conclude that figurative sight is here referred to; especially in view of Jesus’ plain statement: “a little longer and the world will behold me no more.”—John 14:19, NW.

Yes, and when we further consider the glorious and powerful things that Christ will accomplish at his second coming it becomes even more apparent that he would not return as a human. For a human to lead the spiritual forces involved in carrying out Jehovah’s purposes during Christ’s second presence would be even more incongruous and unthinkable than for a general on a donkey to be at the head of a vast fleet of armored tanks as they charge into battle or for an admiral to use a sailboat to lead a flotilla of superdreadnoughts in an assault. Christ Jesus comes again for the purpose of judging and executing judgment and, as the Head of mighty spirit forces, he is the mightiest and most glorious of them all.—Rev. 19:11-15.

Not only are we not to look for Christ to be visible to human eyes when he comes again but we should not even think of his leaving heaven and coming within the confines of earth’s atmosphere for him to be present. He returns or “visits” the earth as did Jehovah in times past, by turning his attention to things of earth. Thus Jehovah did not literally come down or “visit” (King James Version) the Israelites while they were in Egypt or at the time of the birth of John the Baptist; rather, he “turned his attention” to them. Likewise, when he began to call out a people from the nations for his name he did not literally “visit” but “turned his attention to the nations.” (Ex. 4:31; Luke 1:68; Acts 15:14, NW) See also An American Translation and Moffatt.

THE TIME OF CHRIST’S SECOND PRESENCE

The Scriptures indicate three features to follow Christ’s second coming and use three Greek words to refer to them: his parousia, or presence; his epiphaneia, or “manifestation”; and his apokalypsis, or “revelation.” Many Scriptures speak of the act of Christ’s second “coming” (eʹlevsis), such as Acts 7:52; but the Christian Greek Scriptures speak also many times of his second presence (par·ou·sía), his being invisibly here, not his being on the way.

In answer to his apostles’ question as to the sign of his second parousia or presence Jesus did not tell them to look in the sky but gave them a composite sign by which they could tell he was present. All the physical facts indicate that this sign has been seen since 1914. Has it not been since that year that we have seen warfare, earthquakes, pestilences and famine to an unprecedented extent? And have we not since then seen persecution of Christians in all nations and the preaching of the good news of God’s kingdom in all the inhabited earth?—Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21.

Additionally, Bible chronology, based on Daniel’s prophecy regarding the “seven times,” when viewed in the light of God’s measuring rule of a “day for a year,” corroborates 1914 as the time for the coming of him “whose right it is,” namely, Christ Jesus.—Dan. 4:1-37; Ezek. 4:6; 21:27.

All these facts regarding Christ’s second presence expose the fallacy of the teaching that Christ comes again in that man applies Christ’s principles to his problems. Jesus told us to expect just the opposite: his parousia would be marked by “increasing of lawlessness,” and it would be a question as to whether he found “faith on the earth.” And Paul foretold that the last days would be “critical times hard to deal with.” For Christ’s return to wait upon man’s applying his principles would mean for Christ never to come.—Matt. 24:12; Luke 18:8; 2 Tim. 3:1, NW.

FEATURES OF CHRIST’S PRESENCE

Having noted how Christ comes, as an invisible spirit and by his turning his attention to the affairs of earth, and that his presence began in 1914, by what actions has he shown that he has turned his attention to the affairs of earth? Revelation 11:15-18 and Re 12:1-12 show that Jehovah began to rule by means of his Son, Christ Jesus, when the nations became angry, namely, in 1914, and that thereafter followed a war in heaven resulting in Satan and his demons’ being cast out. From the time Jesus ascended into heaven he patiently waited until 1914 to begin ruling thus in the midst of his enemies.—Ps. 110:1-6; Heb. 10:13.

Having cleared his enemies out of heaven Christ next turned his attention to his followers on earth, both those sleeping in death and those living, to proceed with his epiphaneia, or “manifestation.” The physical facts indicate that, just as Christ came to the Jewish temple three and a half years after he came as the Messiah, so in 1918, three and a half years after his presence began, he came to his spiritual temple for judging and rewarding. That meant a resurrection and the giving of the “crown of righteousness” to Paul and “all those who have loved his manifestation,” and who were asleep in death, and it meant Jehovah’s favor and increased privileges of Kingdom service for those Christians still living and who had been found faithful.—2 Tim. 4:8, NW.

Since then Christ has been supervising a work of dividing the “sheep” from the “goats” even as he foretold, a work of educating the sheeplike ones so that they can seek Jehovah, righteousness and meekness and thus be hidden in the day of his anger. This feature of Christ’s presence is really a time of favor for his followers on earth and will continue until the time for his apokalypsis, or his revealing, the “revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with his powerful angels in a flaming fire, as he brings due punishment upon those who do not know God and those who do not obey the good news about our Lord Jesus.” Other scriptures refer to this “revelation” as Armageddon, “the war of the great day of God the Almighty.”—2 Thess. 1:7, 8; Rev. 16:14, 16, NW.

Following the destruction of all the visible enemies of righteousness and the abyssing of Satan and his demons at Armageddon, the thousand-year reign of Christ will begin. He, together with his body or bride, will, as the seed of Abraham, bless all the families of the earth and will continue to rule until even death is destroyed and there is no more pain, outcry or mourning and God’s will is done on earth as in heaven. With that God’s purpose for Christ’s second presence will have been fully accomplished. To sum up: We have seen that Jesus came the first time as a human to bear witness to the truth, to prove his integrity under test and to give his life a ransom for man, and that he really was flesh and blood; that he was raised from the dead as a spirit; that he could not have inherited heaven had he remained a human nor, much less, as such, accomplish the glorious purposes of his second presence; that he came as an invisible spirit and in the sense that he directed his attention to earth’s affairs, and that after his second coming three features appear, the first, the parousia, or presence, beginning in 1914. Those who are wise will take advantage of his present manifestation of favor before his revelation in fiery destruction upon his enemies at Armageddon

Hay for the Vulture

As late as the nineteenth century it was generally asserted that birds of prey were gifted with a keen sense of smell and thus were able to search out their food at a distance. But experiments by Audubon showed otherwise. One time he procured the skin of a deer. Stuffing it full of hay, he placed it in the middle of a field, laying it down to resemble a dead animal. In a few minutes a hungry vulture appeared. Unsuspiciously, the bird proceeded to attack the “carcass,” as usual, in the most vulnerable points. Failing in this, the vulture, with much exertion, tore open the seams, earnestly intent on getting at the succulent “flesh.” Finding that his efforts led to no other result than the pulling out of huge quantities of hay, the vexed vulture, with some reluctance, gave up and took flight to search elsewhere for dinner. And so Audubon proved that it was not smell but sight by which the vulture hunted.

But Bible readers, without knowledge of Audubon’s experiments or any others, have always known the truth of the matter. For Job 39:27-29 (AT) says: “Does the vulture fly high at your command, when he sets his nest aloft? He occupies the cliff and makes a lodging upon the peak of the cliff and the rocky hold. Thence he searches for food; his eyes look afar off.” The careful, literal translation of verse 29 by Rotherham reads: “He searcheth out food, far away his eyes do pierce.”

Modern History of Jehovah’s Witnesses

Part 4—Going on the Offensive

IN 1894 twenty part-time Watch Tower representatives were trained and sent out week ends from the Pittsburgh head office to conduct public meetings and to build up new “ecclesias.”a This practice was changed in 1897 by confining such visitation service to three full-time representatives known as “pilgrims,” who traveled on set route from congregation to congregation, spending one or two days with each group to bring spiritual refreshment.b As the number of congregations or classes of Bible students increased, more pilgrims were sent on the road to maintain organizational contact. In 1905 there were 25;c by 1917 there were 93 serving in this way as forerunners of the Society’s present-day earth-wide “circuit servant” arrangement.d Since no record was kept of the number of interested persons comprising the respective individual groups in those early times, the only indication we have is from their annual Memorial reports sent to the Pittsburgh headquarters. In 1899, for example, there was an incomplete report from 339 congregations reporting 2,501 participants.e In 1900 it is recorded that 280 groups (being only two thirds of the entire number) reported 2,600 attendants at the annual Memorial service.f Increases in number of associates were mounting fast, the 1902 Memorial report showing that in only 175 congregations the total attendance exceeded 4,700, representing an individual-congregation average of more than twice that for the preceding year.g Finally, by 1903 there were over 20,000 Watch Tower subscribers—an impressively sizable society standing in defense of truth.h

Clergy opposition to the Watch Tower Society gradually became increasingly manifest as thousands upon thousands of Bible tracts and pamphlets were constantly being distributed farther from the Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) fountainhead. No longer were the Society’s representatives permitted to speak from church pulpits as in the 1870’s. Among the Protestant clergy, in 1846, a sort of preachers’ union, officially called the “Evangelical Alliance,” had been organized for limiting recognition of ordination to those of the major sects already operating theological schools. Its members began to ridicule C. T. Russell, president of the Watch Tower Society, objecting particularly to his being designated “Pastor,” and certain unscrupulous newspapers were used as tools to concoct and spread scandalous lies about Russell’s private differences with his wife. Like their Pharisaical prototypes who had defamed Jesus by calling in question his authority and the legitimacy of his birth, so these modern apostate leaders of religion stooped to attack the person when pained by the sound Biblical information that was being published.i

Something new was started that stimulated the dissemination of Bible truth through tract distribution. It was destined to take the clergy by storm. Zion’s Watch Tower for April 15, 1899, proposed what was called “Volunteer Service.” Volunteers were called from all the Christians who attended the Society’s meetings, to undertake a mass free distribution of 300,000 copies of the new booklet The Bible vs. Evolution to people as they left the Protestant churches on Sundays.

“The preferable plan of operations is for the friends who will so engage in each city or village to lay out a program which will insure that no congregation be omitted and that none be served twice. All large congregations require at least two or three for proper rapid service as they come out. And generally the effect is better if the distributors locate half a block away from the church building in each direction in which the people go.”—Pages 93, 94.

In the United States, Canada and Europe this work was taken up enthusiastically by thousands of volunteers. The first year 948,459 tracts were so delivered.j Then for years afterward such organized tract-distribution or volunteer work was kept up, especially on Sundays, being expanded in time to include house-to-house distributing, placing the tracts under home doors Sunday mornings. Two or more times each year new tracts were released and these so delivered by the millions to church attenders. Now a flood was reaching even to the church doors, overflowing the religious pastures.k The hostile reaction of the clergy became more intense. They tried repeatedly to have the publishers arrested for standing on the street distributing free tracts, as though sidewalk approaches to churches were indeed specially ‘consecrated’ ground. Legal counsel was rendered from time to time because of interference by public officials who were trying, at instance of the clergy, to ‘frame mischief by law’ to discourage and hamper or entirely suppress such street distribution of tracts.l

On March 10, 1903, a spokesman for the Pittsburgh ministerial alliance, Dr. E. L. Eaton, minister of the North Avenue Methodist Episcopal church, formally offered to C. T. Russell a six-day debate on agreed Biblical subjects. (Later it appeared that this was a subtle attempt on the part of the associated clergy publicly to discredit Russell’s scholarship and teaching.) Within two days Russell in good faith accepted the offer, and the debates were finally held in the fall at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Hall before packed-out audiences.

(1) Sunday afternoon, October 18, Eaton debated affirmatively, that the Bible teaches that divine grace for salvation has been exercised since man’s fall and that there will be no probation after death. Russell Scripturally denied. (2) Tuesday evening, October 20, Russell affirmed that the Bible clearly teaches that the souls of the dead are unconscious while their bodies are in the grave. Eaton denied. (3) Thursday evening, October 22, Eaton affirmed that the Bible teaches that all of the saved will become spirit creatures, and after the General Judgment will enter heaven. Russell denied. (4) Tuesday evening, October 27, Russell, affirming that the Bible teaches that only the “saints” of this Gospel age will share in the “First Resurrection,” also held that vast multitudes will be saved in and by the subsequent resurrection. Eaton denied. (5) Thursday, October 29, Russell affirmed that the Bible teaches that the object of both the second coming of Christ and the Millennium is the blessing of all the families of earth. Eaton denied. (6) Lastly, on Sunday, November 1, with Eaton affirming that the Bible teaches that the divine penalty for sin eventually to be inflicted upon the incorrigible, will consist of inconceivably great sufferings, eternal in duration, Russell vigorously denied this hell-fire doctrine.a

Interesting side lights: During the debates several of the local clergy were on the platform with Dr. Eaton to give him textual and moral support, while Russell, alone, stood his ground as a sort of Daniel in a lions’ den. On the whole, Russell came off victorious for each of the six debates and especially the last one, on “hell.” It is reported that one of the attending clergymen, acknowledging that victory, came up to Russell after the last debate, saying, “I am glad to see you turn the hose on hell and put out the fire.”b Soon after this exposure of the false doctrines of the “Babylonish” church systems quite a number of Eaton’s Methodist congregation became Bible students. Other debate challenges were accepted, but at the last minute the opposition would get afraid and call off the engagements.c However, within twelve years after the Eaton-Russell debates of 1903 two other major duels between Watch Tower Society representatives and leading religious groups did take place. L. S. White of the Disciples denomination engaged with Russell for six debates February 23-28, 1908, at Cincinnati, Ohio, attended by thousands, to observe easy victory again for Russell.d The Baptists’ challenge for a debate series in Los Angeles, California, was undertaken by J. F. Rutherford on behalf of the Watch Tower Society against Rev. J. H. Troy. This was before a total audience of 12,000 (an estimated ten thousand being turned away) for four nights in April, 1915, at the Trinity Auditorium.e This too turned out to be a signal victory for the Watch Tower Society’s spokesman standing in defense of Bible truth.

During 1905, 1906 and 1907 Russell toured the entire United States and Canada, conducting a series of one-day conventions. His public lecture was the famous “To Hell and Back,” one which he gave before packed houses in nearly every large city of both countries.f In this striking lecture he took his audience on a humorous, witty, imaginary trip to hell and back, which proved to be a devastating exposé of the false doctrine of hell-fire. Before the Eaton-Russell debates Russell and a party made a second tour of Europe in 1903, establishing a branch of the Society in Germany at Barmen-Elberfeld. Then in 1904 another branch of the Society was set up in Australia.g By this time seeds of truth were falling into good soil in South Africa,h Japani and the British West Indies, where a convention was held in Kingston, Jamaica, attended by 400, and with 600 at the Sunday public meeting.j

For the American field the largest convention to that time was held at Put-in-Bay, Ohio, August 29 to September 7, 1908, with an estimated peak attendance of 4,800.k In this period from 1890 to 1908 the literature continued to be distributed by the millions, and there were now more than 30,000 Watch Tower subscribers, thousands of whom shared in this organized continuing effort to bring Bible truth to eager Christians. To such a helping hand was given to come out of Babylon and become devoted servants of Almighty God and Christ Jesus. Despite the Protestant “lion’s” angry attempts to destroy the Samson-like Society, the members of its ranks, energized by Jehovah’s spirit, were operating ever stronger.

(To be continued)

[Footnotes]

Welcome to the Witnesses!

Jehovah’s witnesses enjoyed warm welcomes in their world-wide series of district assemblies held during the past year. In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, when parking was a problem the witnesses were granted the right to park without time limit in all nonmeter two-hour-limit time zones. They merely had to put up something in their car to identify it as belonging to one who was attending the assembly. Businessmen of Dunfermline, Scotland, freely loaned lumber, tables, food and equipment and even donated some of it to the assembly. In El Paso, Texas, the witnesses discovered that rental rates for cafeteria equipment were exorbitant. So they appealed to the commanding general at Fort Bliss, who kindly loaned equipment to the brothers. The officers that the assembly’s officials dealt with appeared to be more than glad to accommodate them, due to the nature of the witnesses’ work and the purpose of the assembly. Then, after the newspapers had reported on the assemblies, the following letter was written to and published in the Charleston, South Carolina, News and Courier:

“In a day and age where it is near impossible to find fair and unprejudiced reporting, it is refreshing to find a newspaper so inclined. I refer specifically to The News and Courier of July 29 and subsequent editions covering the regional convention in Charleston of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Your editorial of July 29 entitled ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’ and your subsequent coverage of that event shows that not only are you fair and unbiased, but that you are not afraid to print the facts even though such facts may not be pleasing to majority groups.

“Today with the world on the brink of a disaster, second to none in all recorded history, it may very well be that some minority group such as Jehovah’s Witnesses will give us the key to circumventing that disaster. The majority groups appear to be unable to do so. I commend you and your entire editorial and reporting staff for your unbiased, frank, and outspoken approach to news coverage.

W. L. Poindexter

(Commander, U.S. Navy)

USS Shannon, Charleston Naval Shipyard.”

Praisers, Young and Old

“This good news of the kingdom will be preached,” said Jesus, and a great part of that joyful preaching work is done by the full-time pioneer ministers of Jehovah’s witnesses. At this past summer’s district assembly in San Antonio, Texas, one eleven-year-old vacation pioneer told of thirty-three young publishers from eight to fifteen years of age who entered that service from just one congregation. As he spoke a parade started across the field—yes, the thirty-two others walked in front of the platform. This youngster was followed by a 78-year-old publisher, active in the service for forty years, who described her joys in serving as a vacation pioneer, and reported how the youngsters had broken down prejudice and paved the way for many back-calls and home Bible studies. Many thousands of such people today are living examples of the psalmist’s words: “Both young men and virgins; old men and children: let them praise the name of Jehovah.”—Ps. 148:12, 13, AS.

Recipe for Happiness

YOU want to be happy, do you not? Almost everyone does. In fact, we spend most of our time and energy seeking happiness and life. So why should we not want to be happy? This happiness we desire, not only for ourselves, but for others as well. Why, then, is there not more happiness in the world? The world is obviously miserable. It is not happy. Life without happiness is not really life at all. Mankind’s continuous search, therefore, is for life and happiness. Where shall we look to find it? What shall we do to get it? Will fame or riches bring us happiness?

Many have erroneously concluded that by becoming rich they would be thoroughly happy, all their troubles would fly away. Not so, however. Paul the apostle counsels: “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.” How true! Is not this what we see in the world?—1 Tim. 6:9, 10, NW.

A mad scramble for wealth has led to much crime, jealousy, greed, selfishness and competition. Some have gambled fortunes for greater fortunes only to gain misery. Others have fallen victim to crime and corruption. Still others lie, steal, rob, bribe, cheat, blackmail and murder only to find themselves without either wealth or happiness. Most of these turn out to be miserable people stricken with guilty consciences, deep in debt, or paying for their crimes in penitentiaries. Others live in constant fear of being apprehended. They are forever hiding or running away. Wealth acquired in this manner has not brought happiness to anyone.

Those who have been fortunate to acquire riches through proper means are quick to testify that money is not everything in life, that, alone, it does not bring happiness. Money cannot buy good health or security. It cannot buy life. A rich young man inquired of Jesus: “Teacher, what good must I do in order to get everlasting life?” Jesus told him to “observe the commandments continually.” The young man replied: “‘I have kept all these; what yet am I lacking?’ Jesus said to him: ‘If you want to be complete, go sell your belongings and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven, and come be my follower.’ When the young man heard this saying, he went away grieved, for he was holding many possessions. But Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Truly I say to you that it will be a difficult thing for a rich man to get into the kingdom of the heavens. Again I say to you, It is easier for a camel to get through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to get into the kingdom of God.’” This young man’s wealth did not bring him happiness. It was cause for his grief, instead. His wealth ensnared him.—Matt. 19:16-24, NW.

Happiness is acquired by obtaining something more valuable than silver or gold, and that valuable thing is an accurate knowledge of God’s Word the Bible. Note what the wise man stated on this point: “Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.” The things that bring lasting happiness, then, are wisdom, understanding and knowledge of God’s purposes. These give one hope, joy and comfort. They enable us to see the world for what it is, why all these woes have come upon it and what the outcome will be. Knowledge of God gives one a purpose in life, a goal, something to work for. It is this that makes us happy. Gaining this knowledge through study and applying it in our everyday life means more than happiness. It means that we have God’s approval, which in turn means everlasting life. Said Jesus: “This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ.”—Prov. 3:13-18; John 17:3, NW.

Happiness, then, comes about by proper knowledge, by right thinking, and by fixing our minds on the sure Word and promises of Almighty God. That is why Paul advises those who would be happy to think on these things: “Whatever things are true, whatever things are of serious concern, whatever things are righteous, whatever things are chaste, whatever things are lovable, whatever things are well spoken of, whatever virtue there is and whatever praiseworthy thing there is, continue considering these things. The things which you learned as well as accepted and heard and saw in connection with me, practice these; and the God of peace will be with you.”—Phil. 4:8, 9, NW.

We have all these good things embodied in God’s Word the Bible. The remedy outlined in the Scriptures is sure. It waits on us to apply it. Do so and be happy. Find even greater happiness by giving this recipe to others. For as Jesus said: “There is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving.”—Acts 20:35, NW.

A Big Bang!

After extolling Annie Oakley (an American whose name is synonymous with good marksmanship) for her skill with a gun and suggesting that her portrait hang in every theological school in the land, Simeon Stylites says, in the November 17 issue of Christian Century: “Her portrait would surely be an inspiration to young preachers to learn to hit a mark. So many of them are rather tentative in that respect. Their verbal shots are high, wide and handsome. Handsome, certainly, but too high for their audience, and too wide of the mark, away off to the side of the interests of the hearers. It is a lot easier to hit the sky than to hit a rabbit. And many speakers of every sort are content to shoot at the sky. With some preachers every Sunday is Ascension Sunday as they soar up into the stratosphere. They remind one of the boy showing his father his air-rifle shots. ‘What are you shooting at, son?’ the father asked. ‘Oh, nothing,’ the boy replied, ‘but wasn’t it a big bang?’”

Can Clergymen Bestow Blessings?

YEAR in, year out, the public press shows the clergy of Christendom blessing persons, animals and inanimate objects. Thus it was front-page news that “Colorful Rites Mark Blessing of Shrimp Fleet,” at Biloxi, Mississippi. And at Benton Harbor, Michigan, Protestant, Catholic and Jewish “Pastors Bless Blossoms of an Apple Orchard.” Other dispatches tell of certain Lutheran ministers blessing farm fields in Pennsylvania and Catholic priests blessing the tobacco crops of Kentucky. Over in England “Abbot Blesses Silkworm Eggs” in an annual ceremony at Farnborough, which, since 1951, includes “all stages of silk production.”

During World War II the press published many pictures showing the clergy blessing troops and guns. Peace has come but the blessing of guns and troops continues on, such as when a Catholic priest blessed the guns of Chicago policemen and when the pope, on March 19, 1954, blessed some 50,000 members of Italy’s crack Alpine troops.

The blessing of motorized vehicles comes in for special attention, it seems, the pope himself blessing both motor scooters and trailer trucks. Each year thousands of autos line up along the coliseum in Rome on the day devoted to St. Francesca Romana, patron saint of automobiles and their drivers, for blessings by Catholic priests. In Bavarian Germany farm tractors now line up for the priestly blessings, while New England has its annual “Blessing of the Motorcycles.”

Then again we read of the pope’s blessing gems valued at $100,000 for a certain shrine in Brooklyn. A Brooklyn clergyman blesses the tools of home and occupation of his flock, such as basting spoon, dish towels, paint brush, broom, trowel and stenographers’ notebooks. In Ireland there is an annual ceremony for the blessing of the throats.

The blessing of pets is featured in the press because of the human-interest appeal. Thus we see pictures of dogs and even ponies right inside the Holy Trinity church, Hereford, England, for a blessing by the vicar. Another picture entitled “Bless My Turkey” shows a group of Mexican peasants, their animals and pets, with a little lad in the foreground, on his knees, begging the priests to invoke a blessing upon his turkey. Once a year, we are told, these Catholic priests travel throughout the countryside “to administer the Blessing of San Antonio de Abad, Patron Saint of animals. . . . Nor are the dead animals forgotten.”

And neither are fox hounds nor the circus animals overlooked. Clergymen are shown performing the ancient rituals of blessing the fox hounds as the opening ceremony of the fox hunting season. A British vicar blesses the circus animals while a United States priest bestows his blessing on the world’s largest circus train as it starts on tour.

Is there any evidence that such blessings actually bring results? Who would be so credulous as to substitute the pope’s blessing for insurance on his motor vehicle, or to seek a reduction in the life insurance rate for a prized pet because it had been blessed by a priest? In fact, time and again, an account of blessing is accompanied by news of a mishap, as when the Tampa, Florida, Morning Tribune, March 26, 1954, published a picture showing a priest blessing a circus train and right beneath it an article bearing the headline: “Death and Brawl Mar Departure of Circus.”

Nor is there any Scriptural basis for all this blessing of silkworm eggs, throats, circus animals, scooters and guns. Nowhere do we read that either Jesus or any of his apostles or disciples blessed sheep or goats, oxcarts or fishing boats. He blessed his Father’s name, he blessed the bread and wine at the Last Supper, and he blessed the little children brought to him by fond parents.

Actually all such requests for blessings are just so many selfish prayers which God does not answer. Nor is it in the power of the clergy of either Christendom or heathendom to bestow blessings. All such have refused to give honor to Jehovah’s name and because of this Jehovah will not bestow his favor on their blessings but will turn such blessings into a curse. The United Nations organization is a case in point.—Mal. 2:1, 2; Jas. 4:3.

The blessings the clergy bestow have neither Scriptural nor other evidence to prove them of value, but rest only on tradition and the superstitious reverence accorded to them by their credulous flocks. Enlightened Christians will not look to clergy who ignore Jehovah for any blessings.

Only One Right Religion

“Now I exhort you, brothers, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you should all speak in agreement, and that there should not be divisions among you, but that you may be fitly united in the same mind and in the same line of thought. Does the Christ exist divided?”—1 Cor. 1:10, 13, NW.

1. What frauds illustrate the contamination of spiritual food supplies?

IF YOU pay for wheat will you settle for straw? If you buy wine will you accept water? Or if you thirst for water will you be satisfied with mud? What if someone came to prove that you were being defrauded in these ways? Would you be angry with him or with the one who was cheating you? Because you have regard for your money you would listen to the proof and put a stop to the swindling, despite the hurt it might give your pride to acknowledge you had been deceived. Under these symbolisms the Bible reveals that many persons who think they are getting nourishing spiritual provisions are actually receiving worthless adulterated supplies. If someone could prove you were being so defrauded would you listen or would you flare up in anger at him? Because you have a higher regard for your life than for your money you should all the more willingly heed the proof to halt the spiritual swindling, despite the hurt it might bring to your pride. Wise ones squelch such pride before it leads them to destruction.—Prov. 16:18.

2. How does the illustration of wheat and straw fit Christendom?

² In ancient Israel the threshing floors were preferably on hilltops exposed to every wind, and there the farmers would bring their sheaves of grain to be trampled by oxen and then thrown high into the air with the winnowing shovel. The heavy kernels of wheat fell back onto the threshing floor, but the wind would catch and blow to one side the straw and chaff, where it could be burned if that were desired. (Matt. 3:12) False prophets dreamed up lies and told them in Jehovah’s name in an effort to discredit the truth, and these lying dreamers were likened to straw that was separated from the wheat of truth and burned: “The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the straw to the wheat? saith Jehovah. Is not my word like fire? saith Jehovah.” (Jer. 23:28, 29, AS) Today the religions of Christendom mix into Jehovah’s Word the dreams of their false teachings, and the followers of and contributors to these religions consume, as it were, straw instead of spiritual wheat. If we examine religious teachings on a high plane of intelligence, above pride and prejudice and quarrelsomeness, the errors will be swept aside by Jehovah’s spirit and eliminated by his Word.—Acts 2:2-4.

3. How and why does Christendom adulterate the vine of Jehovah’s Word?

³ In ancient Israel dishonest wine merchants would add water to their wine to make it go farther and bring greater financial returns. Jehovah mentioned this when scoring Israel for its religious backsliding into false worship: “Thy wine merchants mix the wine with water.” (Isa. 1:22, LXX) The apostle Paul used this as a figure of religious leaders that mixed in with Jehovah’s Word ear-tickling philosophies and traditions in order to advance their own selfish ends: “We are not peddlers of the word of God as many men are.” Or, “We are not those who commercialize or make gain of the word of God.” Or, “We are not adulterators of the word of God.” Farther on Paul said: “We have renounced the underhanded things of which to be ashamed, not walking in craftiness neither adulterating the word of God, but by making the truth manifest recommending ourselves to every human conscience in the sight of God.” (2 Cor. 2:17, margin; 2 Co 4:2, NW) Today Christendom’s religions mix in modern philosophies to make their preaching go farther, to make it gain a hearing among a wider, more varied audience, and thereby draw support from more persons. But you can recognize this as a spiritually fraudulent mixture when you taste in comparison the pure Word of God and experience the unadulterated joy that it brings.—Isa. 25:6.

4. What illustration shows how Christendom’s clergy cause disease and famine, spiritually speaking?

⁴ In ancient Israel shepherding was a principal occupation, and because of a general familiarity with flocks they were often used by Jehovah as symbols of people. The nation of Israel claimed to be God’s flock and looked to him as its Great Shepherd. But just as strong fat sheep might push and crowd out those that were diseased and lean, so Jehovah took note of the powerful religious leaders in Israel that abused and scattered those they caused to be spiritually diseased and undernourished. Of this Jehovah says, using sheep as a figure: “Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; and to drink of clear water, that you must foul the rest with your feet? And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet, and drink what you have fouled with your feet?” (Ezek. 34:18, 19, RS) The religious leaders in Christendom today are in a strong position of power to determine what their flocks get in the way of spiritual food and drink. Yet after they trample the Bible with higher criticism and foul its clear waters of truth with pagan teachings there is little of value left for the supporters of these religious systems, and it is little wonder that they are spiritually diseased and famished. But if any yet in these systems are Jehovah’s other sheep they can turn to the Bible and settle out the muddying falsehoods and restore clarity and palatability to the Bible’s waters of truth.—Amos 8:11; Eph. 5:26; Rev. 22:1.

THE BAD SPOILS THE GOOD

5. What argument is false, and what examples demonstrate this?

⁵ But there is good in all religions and hence all have some value, it is argued. Would you like to eat bread that is full of straw, or sip wine that is adulterated with water, or drink water that has dirt mixed in? Does not the straw spoil good wheat, and the water ruin good wine, and the dirt muddy clear water? That is the force of these illustrations, that good is ruined when bad is added, and Jehovah’s Word uses them to show that good spiritual food is spoiled when mixed with falsehood. Some declare the truth that Jesus is the ransom, then nullify its requirements by preaching the lie of universal salvation. Others rightly speak of the hope of a resurrection to life, yet make it void by claiming each one has a soul that never dies. Some acknowledge Jehovah God as the Almighty, but spoil that truth by adding that two others are equal to him. Still others correctly quote that the wages of sin is death, then contradictingly teach that sinners will suffer eternal torment. Those are but a few of the many ways that fundamentalist religions in Christendom spoil Bible truth by adding pagan traditions, and thereby bring themselves within the censure of Jesus’ words: “Adroitly you set aside the commandment of God in order to retain your tradition.”—Mark 7:9, NW.

6. What scriptures warn against what practices of modernist religions?

⁶ Modernist religions are even more flagrant in setting aside the Bible by their flair for the scientific, the psychological, the philosophical. While occasionally giving a token recognition and lip service to the Bible, they replace the wisdom of God with philosophy, the peace of God with psychology, the creation of God with evolution. Infatuated with worldly wisdom, they are heedless of the divine warning: “Look out: perhaps there may be some man that will carry you off as his prey through the philosophy and empty deception according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary things of the world and not according to Christ.” Blinded by showy knowledge, they are the victims of contradicting falsities: “Guard what is laid up in trust with you, turning away from the empty speeches that violate what is holy and from the contradictions of the falsely called ‘knowledge’. For making a show of such knowledge some have deviated from the faith.”—Col. 2:8; 1 Tim. 6:20, 21, NW.

DOCTRINAL PURITY VITAL

7. What do both fundamentalist and modernist religions do to give a favor of truth to their lies?

⁷ In Jeremiah’s time false prophets appropriated Jehovah’s words to quote and mingle with their lies to impart a flavor of truth to their mixture, to further the acceptance of their falsehoods by tying in some truth. Jehovah disapproved: “Behold, I am against the prophets, saith Jehovah, that steal my words every one from his neighbor.” (Jer. 23:30, AS) Both fundamentalist and modernist religions of today do the same thing, slanting and bending certain texts seemingly to support their pagan teachings or philosophical theorizings. Thus they give a Scriptural flavor to the deceptive speeches by which they tickle the ears of those that do not actually want the unadulterated truth of Jehovah’s Word. This twisting of Scripture paves a broad way to destruction, as the apostle Peter said: “In them, however, are some things hard to understand, the meaning of which the untaught and unsteady are twisting, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.” (2 Pet. 3:16, NW) The apostle Paul warned that in time the Christian flock would be split into many sects by those who would twist things to fit their private interpretations, and admonished responsible ones to guard against such sectarianism: “Pay attention to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the holy spirit has appointed you overseers, to shepherd the congregation of God, which he purchased with the blood of his own [Son]. I know that after my going away oppressive wolves will enter in among you and will not treat the flock with tenderness, and from among you yourselves men will rise and speak twisted things to draw away the disciples after themselves.”—Acts 20:28-30, NW.

8. What do champions of interfaith claim, but how does the Bible dispute them?

⁸ It was the introduction of various false doctrines that gave rise to many different sects and cults, each claiming to be the true faith. It will only be the removal of these falsehoods and the return to unadulterated Bible truth that can unite professing Christians. Because of the seeming impossibility to resolve these doctrinal differences, those championing interfaith today say there can be a uniting in an organizational way without agreement in beliefs. They contend that it is organizational oneness rather than doctrinal unity that counts. But the Bible differs with them. It stresses the need for accurate knowledge and purity of belief, and commands that there be no mixing of the true and the false. The true faith is to have no interfaith with false religions: “Do not become unevenly yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership do righteousness and lawlessness have? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?” Jesus warned the disciples against the false teachings of the Jewish religionists and spoke of their doctrine as yeast. Hence the warning: “A little yeast ferments the whole lump.” (2 Cor. 6:14; Gal. 5:9; Matt. 16:5-12, NW) Zeal for God must be “according to accurate knowledge,” and without it Jehovah’s people are destroyed.—Rom. 10:2, NW; Hos. 4:6.

9. What will be overturned, what will collapse, but what will stand?

⁹ Though doctrines may have been entrenched beliefs for centuries, if they are in opposition to the Bible they must be overturned so that thinking can be brought into conformity with God and Christ: “The weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but powerful by God for overturning strongly entrenched things. For we are overturning reasonings and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are bringing every thought into captivity to make it obedient to the Christ.” Any religion not solidly based on obedience to God’s Word will collapse, as Jesus illustrated: “Therefore everyone that hears these sayings of mine and does them will be likened to a discreet man, who built his house upon the rock-mass. And the rain poured down and the floods came and the winds blew and lashed against that house, but it did not cave in, for it had been founded upon the rock-mass. Furthermore, everyone hearing these sayings of mine and not doing them will be likened to a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. And the rain poured down and the floods came and the winds blew and struck against that house and it caved in, and its collapse was great.” Since knowledge must be accurate, free of polluting falsehoods, the counsel is: “Pay constant attention to yourself and to your teaching. Stay by these things, for by doing this you will save both yourself and those who listen to you.”—2 Cor. 10:4, 5; Matt. 7:24-27; 1 Tim. 4:16, NW.

“ONE FAITH”

10. Concerning the Bible and different religions, what is illogical and what is logical and Scriptural?

¹⁰ There are many different religions teaching many conflicting doctrines. Obviously not all of them are right. Only doctrine supported by God’s Word is true and harmonious. If a religion’s teachings are not built on Christ’s words they will collapse; if its reasonings are in opposition to God they will be overturned; if its tenets are a mixture of true and false the whole is spoiled. It is illogical to think that Jehovah’s unified Word supports many different and conflicting faiths; it is logical to believe it is the rock foundation for just one true faith. The Scriptures confirm this logical conclusion, limiting true worship to one faith instead of many: “One body there is, and one spirit, even as you were called in the one hope to which you were called; one Lord, ONE FAITH, one baptism; one God and Father of all persons, who is over all and through all and in all.” The way to life is a narrow road with room for but one faith, not a broad highway with many lanes for travel by many faiths of diverse views: “Go in through the narrow gate; because broad and spacious is the road leading off into destruction, and many are the ones going in through it; whereas narrow is the gate and cramped the road leading off into life, and few are the ones finding it.”—Eph. 4:4-6; Matt. 7:13, 14, NW.

11. What several scriptures rule out any divine approval for many faiths with conflicting doctrines?

¹¹ True Christians have one mental attitude and speak as with one mouth: “Now may the God who supplies endurance and comfort grant you to have among yourselves the same mental attitude that Christ Jesus had, that with one accord you may with one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Does this not rule out many faiths with conflicting attitudes and expressions? Christ’s mind was not divided, his tongue did not utter contradicting words, nor is his one true church splintered with divisions: “Now I exhort you, brothers, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you should all speak in agreement, and that there should not be divisions among you, but that you may be fitly united in the same mind and in the same line of thought. Does the Christ exist divided?” Christians are told to avoid “those who create divisions” and to reject “a man that promotes a sect.” (Rom. 15:5, 6; 1 Cor. 1:10, 13; Rom. 16:17; Titus 3:10, NW) The many faiths of today came from those who created divisions and promoted sects, except the one that has held true to the early Christian teaching in the Bible. Now will Jehovah associate with the divisions he told Christians to avoid, or accept the sects he commanded Christians to reject? He is not so inconsistent! He does not change. He still holds to the one true faith established by his Son Christ Jesus and to its set of doctrines expounded in his Word, the Bible. How to identify that true faith from among the hundreds existing today is the undertaking of the article starting on the next page.

[Pictures on page 113]

WRONG RELIGION

RIGHT RELIGION

Bible

Wine

Holy Bible

Wine

Those Who Hear Teach Others

An outstanding characteristic of true Christianity, yet one that is very frequently missing in modern-day religions, is that those who learn will themselves go out and teach others. This was especially evident at the district assemblies of Jehovah’s witnesses held world-wide last year. In Korea many speakers who could competently edify their brothers had never even been before microphones before. In Indonesia the missionaries in attendance reported being heartened at seeing so many of the local brothers able to deliver the assembly speeches and giving good, mature counsel. And in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia, when an African brother gave the baptism discourse in Cishona another translated it into Cinyanja, and a third rendered it into English for the benefit of the European brothers present. Not the missionaries, but the African brothers themselves handled such duties. Thus, in following the principle of early Christianity, the truths are committed “to faithful men” who, in turn, become “adequately qualified to teach others,” and are zealous in doing so.—2 Tim. 2:2, NW.

Choosing the One Right Religion

“To the law rather, and to the testimony. And if they speak not according to this word, they shall not have the morning light.”—Isa. 8:20, Dy.

1. What procedure simplifies the task of finding the right religion from among the hundreds in Christendom?

“HOW am I to know which is the right religion? There are hundreds of different religions and each one claims to be the right one. I don’t have time to study every religion in order to choose the right one. It would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack!” Thus do some answer in substance when Jehovah’s witnesses call on them at their doors. Though their attitude is understandable, the problem is not so formidable as they resignedly think. It is a matter of proper procedure. To find a needle in a haystack one need not pick up and examine each straw. Probing with a powerful magnet that would clutch the needle but reject the straw would hasten success. Or a fire would quickly consume the straw while leaving behind the needle. Similarly, to find the right religion one need not exhaustively examine each one of the hundreds of religions. The Bible will serve as a figurative magnet to which the true religion will adhere while the haystack of false ones is rejected And has not the previous article shown Jehovah’s Word to be like a fire that consumes the straws of falsehood while leaving the purified truth? Hence the proper procedure is not to inspect every straw or every religion, but to study the Bible and let it make manifest the truth while destroying the falsehood. That is the method this article will employ to choose the one right religion.

2. How do we know that this is a Scriptural procedure?

² The method comes with the highest recommendation. When Israel became entangled with false religions Jehovah made the appeal to them: “Come now, and let us reason together.” And what was to be the basis for this reasoning that would put Israel on the narrow road of true worship? Was it to listen to all the false voices that sought Israel’s ear? No, but “to the law rather, and to the testimony. And if they speak not according to this word, they shall not have the morning light.” (Isa. 1:18; 8:20, Dy) Jehovah’s law and testimony are recorded in the Bible, and if religions do not speak in accord with that Word they have no light of truth, and they will never see the dawning light of Jehovah’s new world of righteousness now near at hand. So by this divinely recommended method we turn to an examination of a few doctrines to see whether they and the religions that teach them will adhere to the Bible like a needle to a magnet or will be consumed like straw in a flame.

3. On what chart shall we base our study, and is it adequate?

³ The magazine Awake! in its issue of November 8, 1952, published a chart of religions in the United States that showed their views on some of the principal doctrines. While the listing may not be exhaustive, it is very adequate for all practical purposes inasmuch as it includes all the religions that could be located by checking several different books on denominations. It includes groups whose numbers range from nine to twenty-three million. And even if there are some small independent groups meeting in homes or small halls that are not included, it is almost certain that their doctrinal beliefs are reflected by those in the chart and that in this way even these unknown handfuls of worshipers are covered by the elimination that follows. Hence if we base our study on the 251 religions that the chart was able to give sufficient information on as to their beliefs, it is highly improbable that we shall be overlooking any denominations. So now “to the law rather, and to the testimony” of the Bible, to see which of the 251 denominations speaks according to that Word and which does not.

THE TRINITY DOCTRINE

4. What disproves the teaching that Jehovah and Christ and holy spirit combine to become the one Almighty God, and in what sense are God and Christ one?

⁴ Of the 251 religions at least 214 of them believe in the trinity. That doctrine claims that Jehovah God and Christ Jesus and the holy spirit are three persons combined to make one God, and that these three are coeternal and coequal. Jehovah alone is the one Almighty God, not a third of a god needing two others to make a whole: “Jehovah our God is one Jehovah.” “It is I who am God, and there is no other—The God, and there is none like me.” (Deut. 6:4, NW; Isa. 46:9, AT) “God” means a mighty one, and men are called gods, Satan is called a god, and Christ Jesus is called a god; but Jehovah is The God, the Almighty God. (Ps. 82:6; 2 Cor. 4:4; Isa. 9:6; John 1:1, NW) Others can be one with him only in the sense of being at unity with him in belief or purpose or work. In this way Jesus and Jehovah are one and all anointed followers are one with them. And if Jesus and the holy spirit are one, why is sin against Jesus forgivable but sin against the holy spirit unforgivable? Scripturally, the holy spirit is not a person but is Jehovah’s invisible active force.—John 10:30; 17:20-23; 1 Cor. 3:8; Matt. 12:31, 32.

5. What disproves the contention that Jehovah and Christ are coeternal?

⁵ Are Jehovah and Christ coeternal? Of Jehovah it is written: “Even from eternity to eternity thou art God.” He is called “the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity” and “the king of eternity.” (Ps. 90:2; Isa. 57:15; Jer. 10:10, Da) Hence he was not born, was not created, had no beginning. But this is not true of Christ Jesus, for he is called “the firstborn of all creation,” “the beginning of the creation by God.” As the Logos or Word he was the first one created by Jehovah God and the only one directly created by God, for thereafter he was used by Jehovah to create all other things, and was the one to whom Jehovah spoke at Genesis 1:26 when he said: “Let us make man in our image.”—Col. 1:15, 16; Rev. 3:14, NW.

6. What scriptures prove that Jehovah and Christ are not coequal at any time?

⁶ And what about their being coequal? Jesus did not think so, for he said: “The Father is greater than I am.” Trinitarians will argue that this was true only of Jesus in the flesh. Yet before he became flesh, when he existed in God’s form or in spirit form, he “gave no consideration to a seizure, namely, that he should be equal to God. No, but he emptied himself and took a slave’s form and came to be in the likeness of men.” Instead of raising himself to seize equality with God, as Satan tried to do, Christ went the opposite direction and lowered himself to the likeness of men. And after his resurrection as a spirit creature and at the end of the thousand-year reign “when all things will have been subjected to him, then the Son himself will also subject himself to the one who subjected all things to him, that God may be all things to everyone.” Hence before and during and after his earthly sojourn Christ was and is beneath Jehovah.—John 14:28; Phil. 2:6, 7;1 Cor. 15:28, NW; Isa. 14:12-15.

7. To believe the trinity results in what absurdities? and what additional texts show Christ is not equal to Jehovah?

⁷ When Jehovah raised Jesus from death as a glorious spirit creature he rewarded him with a higher position than Christ left when he went to earth: “God exalted him to a superior position.” If he was equal to God before he came to earth, yet got a still higher position when he returned to heaven, that would make him higher than Jehovah God! Another absurdity is the trinitarian claim that Jesus when on earth was God in the flesh and that when he ascended to heaven he did so in a fleshly body. Jesus in the flesh was “made a little lower than angels,” and if he was also God in the flesh that made God lower than angels, and if the ascension was in the flesh that makes both God and Christ lower than angels right now! Flesh and blood, however, cannot inherit the heavenly kingdom. (Phil. 2:9; Heb. 2:9; 1 Cor. 15:50, NW) Man is not equal to Christ: “The head of every man is the Christ.” Christ is not equal to God: “The head of the Christ is God.” Jehovah blessed Christ: “Now without any dispute, the less is blessed by the greater.” Jehovah sent him: “A slave is not greater than his master, nor is one that is sent forth greater than the one that sent him.”—1 Cor. 11:3; Heb. 7:7; John 13:16, NW; Ps. 21:1, 6; John 17:3.

8. Why is the holy spirit no third person of a trinity, and what shows it is not equal to either Jehovah or Christ?

⁸ As for the holy spirit, it is not a person but is Jehovah’s invisible active force. Sometimes the Scriptures attribute personality to things not persons and use personal pronouns to refer to them, such as Zion and Jerusalem. This is sometimes done with the holy spirit, but at other times it is referred to as “it,” which would not be done if it were a person. Moreover, how could a person be poured out upon a hundred and twenty persons, as the spirit was at Pentecost? And how could it thereafter be poured out upon thousands more, as the holy spirit was? (John 16:13-15; 14:15-17; Acts 1:15; 2:1-4, NW) Nor can the holy spirit claim equality with either God or Christ, for God is spoken of as sending it and Christ is spoken of as sending it, and we have learned that those who do the sending are greater than what is sent.—John 14:26; 15:26.

9. (a) Why is the King James rendering of 1 John 5:7 no help to trinitarians? (b) Disproving trinity eliminates how many religions, leaving how many?

⁹ Only one text in the King James Bible can be construed as saying God and Christ and the holy spirit are one, and that is 1 John 5:7: “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” Even this could logically mean no more than oneness in purpose and effort. However, these words do not appear in the reliable and oldest manuscripts of the Greek Scriptures, and modern versions of the Bible either leave them out altogether or have a footnote acknowledging their absence from the oldest manuscripts. Hence by going ‘to the law and to the testimony’ of Jehovah’s Word we find that the doctrine of trinity is false, that the religions that teach it are mixing falsehood in with Jehovah’s truth, that they thereby adulterate and make impure and invalid Jehovah’s Word as handled by them. Failing to purge this falsehood from their creed, they eliminate themselves from consideration as the one right religion. Thus by disproving one doctrine, the trinity, we remove from the 251 religions the 214 that teach it. Religions remaining, 37.

IMMORTALITY OF THE HUMAN SOUL

10. What is a soul, and what are considered to be earthly souls?

¹⁰ Of the 37 religions remaining 18 believe in the inherent immortality of the human soul. Does the Bible support them or eliminate them? There is not a scripture in the Bible that says man has an immortal soul. An earthly soul is a living, breathing, sentient creature, animal or human. It does not have a soul separate and distinct from the body, but can be said to have soul only in the sense that it has life. This definition includes animals as souls, which is contrary to the immortal-soul teaching but is in agreement with the Bible. Prior to man souls were created: “Let the waters swarm forth a swarm of living souls.” “And God proceeded to create the great sea monsters and every living soul that glides.” Man was made a living soul, not an immortal one: “Then Jehovah God proceeded to form the man out of dust from the ground and to blow into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man came to be a living soul.” Men and animals are lumped together as souls, when a required tax was “one soul out of five hundred, of humankind and of the herd and of the asses and of the flock.” Also, “In case a man should strike any soul of mankind fatally, he should be put to death without fail. And the fatal striker of the soul of a domestic animal should make compensation for it, soul for soul.”—Gen. 1:20, 21; 2:7; Num. 31:28; Lev. 24:17, 18, NW.

11. How does the Bible clash with religions that teach immortality of the human soul?

¹¹ Notice that in the last-quoted scripture it speaks of both animal and human souls being fatally struck, proving the soul can be killed. Jehovah warned man that if he disobeyed he would die; it was Satan who said he would not die. (Gen. 2:17; 3:4) Religions teaching immortal soul say wicked sinners suffer eternal torment, but the Bible disagrees with them: “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” “The wages sin pays is death.” Rather than immortal souls soaring heavenward or plunging into a fiery lake, it is a case of mortal human souls landing in the grave: “What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave?” Only by a resurrection can dead souls in the grave live again: “God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave.” It was by Jehovah’s resurrection power that the soul or life of Christ was rescued from death, for even his soul died, as foretold: “He hath poured out his soul unto death.”—Ezek. 18:4; Rom. 6:23, NW; Ps. 89:48; 49:15; Isa. 53:12.

12. (a) What is the condition of a dead soul, animal or human? (b) With soul immortality disproved, how does our elimination process stand?

¹² These dead souls in the grave are completely inactive and unconscious, and hence it is utterly impossible for them to be enjoying bliss or suffering torment: “For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” (Eccl. 9:5, 10; Ps. 146:3, 4) Both men and animals are souls that die alike: “As regardeth the destiny of the sons of men and the destiny of beasts one fate have they, as dieth the one so dieth the other, and one spirit have they all, and the pre-eminence of man over beast is nothing, for all were vanity: all go unto one place, all came from the dust, and all return to the dust.” (Eccl. 3:19, 20, Ro) The only difference is that man may hope for a resurrection from the dead. The majority raised from the dead will come forth as human souls, flesh-and-blood creatures, and mortal. A comparatively few are raised as immortal spirit creatures, and of them it is written: “This which is mortal must put on immortality.” (1 Cor. 15:53, NW) If they already possessed immortality they would not have to put it on, would they? Clearly the Bible rules out as false the religions teaching immortality of the soul, and thereby eliminates 18 of our remaining 37 religions, leaving 19.

NOT UNDER THE LAW

13. What scriptures prove we are not now under the Law?

¹³ Of these 19 religions 6 of them believe Jehovah’s servants are still under all or part of the Mosaic law. But the purpose of the Law was accomplished with the coming of Christ: “Consequently, the Law has become our tutor leading to Christ, that we might be declared righteous due to faith. But now that this faith has arrived, we are no longer under a tutor.” Other scriptures state: “By works of law no flesh will be declared righteous before him.” “You are not under law but under undeserved kindness.” “Christ by purchase released us from the curse of the Law.” “If you are being led by spirit, you are not under law.” “By means of his flesh he abolished the hatred, the Law of commandments consisting in decrees.” “Certainly, then, there occurs a setting aside of the preceding commandment on account of its weakness and ineffectiveness. For the Law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in besides of a better hope did, through which we are drawing near to God.” Jehovah God “blotted out the handwritten document against us which consisted of decrees and which was in opposition to us, and He has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the torture stake.”—Gal. 3:24, 25; Rom. 3:20; 6:14; Gal. 3:13; 5:18; Eph. 2:15; Heb. 7:18, 19; Col. 2:14, NW.

14. (a) How do some argue concerning the Law, but what texts blast their argument? (b) How does the elimination now stand?

¹⁴ It is futile to argue, as some do, that the law here set aside is the ceremonial law and not the Ten Commandments. They have no Scriptural authority for their arbitrary division of the Law into two parts, and claiming that texts that speak of the Law as passing away refer to the ceremonial law but not the Ten Commandments. Two verses after it speaks of Jehovah blotting out the Law “by nailing it to the torture stake,” we read: “Therefore let no man judge you in eating and drinking or in respect of a feast day or of an observance of the new moon or of a sabbath.” The law set aside included sabbath observance, which was the Fourth of the Ten Commandments. (Col. 2:16, NW) After saying “now we have been discharged from the Law,” the apostle Paul quotes as an example of that nullified Law: “You must not covet.” That was the Tenth of the Ten Commandments. Also, Paul explains that Christians are under a new covenant, no longer under the law “which was engraved in letters in stones.” They are under the spirit, the guiding principles of which are inscribed, “not on stone tablets, but on fleshly tablets, on hearts.” (Rom. 7:6, 7; 2 Cor. 3:7, 3, NW) So Christians are not under the law written “on stone tablets.” What was written on stone tablets? A so-called ceremonial law? Or all the Law? No, only the Ten Commandments! Though Christians are not under any of the Mosaic law, they are under the guidance of the holy spirit, and its standards and requirements are higher. The 6 of our remaining 19 religions that are erected on the belief that we are under all or part of the Law are built on sand and must collapse. Only 13 now remain.

NO PERSONAL DEVIL?

15. How do some explain away the Devil, but what refutes their position?

¹⁵ Of the 13 religions left 3 of them do not believe in a personal Devil. They do not believe that any such wicked spirit creature exists. They say the Devil is not a person but is a symbol for flesh-and-blood temptations, the temptations common to fallen man with his inherent weaknesses. However, the Bible speaks of Satan as a spirit creature, that he was perfect and upright before his rebellion, that after it he became known as Satan, Devil, Serpent and Dragon. He converses with Jehovah in heaven and afflicts Job on earth. He quarreled with Michael over the body of Moses. A principle of error or personification of wickedness could not do such things. (Ezek. 28:14, 15; Isa. 14:12-15; Rev. 12:9; Job 1:6-19; 2:1-7; Jude 9) Revelation chapter 12 tells of a war in heaven wherein Michael ousted Satan from heaven. If Satan is fleshly temptations he would never have been there, for flesh and blood is not there to be tempted. (1 Cor. 15:50) Believers in this doctrine say the heavens here are the political heavens or rulers of earth, and that Satan’s being ousted is when evil is purged from human governments. But that cannot be so, for that would bring joy to men, whereas the hurling of Satan from heaven meant woe for them: “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.”—Rev. 12:12, NW.

16. (a) What proves Satan is not an abstract force of evil or fleshly temptations? (b) What false basis do these religions have, and their elimination leaves how many on our list?

¹⁶ How could an abstract force of evil expel itself from a person? Jesus and the Jews had no such abstractions in mind when they were discussing the demons and the ruler of the demons, Satan. (Matt. 12:24-27) To say that when we entertain a sinful thought we have a devil in us, or that when another person makes a temptation for us he is a devil to us, is to say our fight is solely against blood and flesh. That is wrong, for specific distinction is made between fleshly temptations and assaults by invisible Devil and demons: “Stand firm against the machinations of the Devil; because we have a fight, not against blood and flesh, but against . . . the wicked spirit forces in the heavenly places.” (Eph. 6:11, 12, NW) This is a specific denial that the struggle is solely with fleshly temptations. These religionists contend there is no personal Devil, to avoid the appearance that Jehovah created a wicked spirit creature. They fail to understand he was created perfect but turned bad, being a free moral agent. According to their reasoning, they should not believe in a personal Adam, since he was wicked. Created perfect, he turned bad himself, as did the Devil. So their refusal to believe in a personal Devil is not on Scriptural ground but is based on their own view of propriety, a view that is itself inconsistent and erroneous. The dropping of the 3 religions that believe this from the 13 that remained leaves 10 religions.

AUTHORITY EQUAL TO OR ABOVE THE BIBLE?

17. Are supposed authorities equal to or above the Bible needed to complete the Christian’s equipment?

¹⁷ Four of these 10 religions say there are authorities equal to or above the Bible when it comes to religious guidance. Since it is by going ‘to the law and to the testimony’ that we are choosing the right religion, we must see if the Bible allows for this view. Beyond oral or written words that may clarify or magnify Jehovah’s Word, that may give background to it or history in fulfillment of it or otherwise deepen our understanding of it, we do not need more than the Bible. When understood it provides complete equipment for Christian service: “All Scripture is inspired of God . . . that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work.” The Bible is Jehovah’s true, inspired Word. What other authority can be above him or even equal to him?—2 Tim. 3:16, 17, NW.

18. How do religions that add to the Bible trespass, and their elimination leaves how many?

¹⁸ Jehovah warned: “You must not add to the word that I am commanding you, neither must you take away from it.” But the Jews did add to it, building up their religious tradition that supposedly explained and enriched it, yet actually contradicted it, as Jesus told them: “Why is it you also overstep the commandment of God because of your tradition? . . . You have made the word of God invalid because of your tradition.” About them Jesus added: “They teach commands of men as doctrines.” By accepting tradition that voids the Bible they actually reject God’s Word, with the foretold result: “They have rejected the word of Jehovah; and what manner of wisdom is in them?” Instead of proving themselves wise they prove themselves liars: “Add not to his words, lest he call you to account, and you be proved a liar.” Paul pointed out the divine rule: “Do not go beyond the things that are written.” (Deut. 4:2; Matt. 15:3, 6, 9, NW; Jer. 8:9, AS; Prov. 30:6, AT; 1 Cor. 4:6, NW) But these 4 religions of the 10 left violate this rule by going beyond the things written, and we are Scripturally supported in discarding them. Only 6 remain.

INDECISIVE RELIGIONS

19. What view, disproved by what scriptures, eliminates all but one religion?

¹⁹ Of these 6 religions 5 have no uniform doctrinal views, but say each member believes as he wishes. Instead of showing “oneness in the faith” they have an internal babel of private interpretations. How can members of such a religion “all speak in agreement” and “be fitly united in the same mind and in the same line of thought”? (1 Cor. 1:10, NW) Such an indecisive religion is like the doubting man: “Let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from Jehovah; he is an indecisive man, unsteady in all his ways.” The Bible’s Author is not unsteady, his Word is not indecisive, the right religion is not riddled by doubts. The true religion is not as Israel once was: “You must not do the same as all that we are doing here today, each one whatever is right in his own eyes.” Soldiers of Christ have a message of clarity and conviction, not one of vagueness and confusion: “If the bugle sounds an indistinct call, who will get ready for battle?” (Jas. 1:7, 8; Deut. 12:8; 1 Cor. 14:8, NW) Special provisions assure proper training and maturing of Christians, “until we all attain to the oneness in the faith and in the accurate knowledge of the Son of God, to a full-grown man, to the measure of growth that belongs to the fullness of the Christ; in order that we should no longer be babes, tossed about as by waves and carried hither and thither by every wind of teaching.” (Eph. 4:13, 14, NW) Indecisive religions embracing differing beliefs have not attained “accurate knowledge” or “oneness in the faith” and cannot expect to receive approval from Jehovah. Their wavering eliminates these 5 and only 1 religion out of the original 251 remains.

THE ONE RIGHT RELIGION

20. What right religion remains, and why is it not conceited to say so?

²⁰ That remaining one right religion is that of Jehovah’s witnesses. It is not conceited for us to say that. Of course we believe we are right. Every Catholic, every Baptist, every Methodist, every Anglican, everyone of whatever religion should think his religion is the right religion. It is not conceit to think so; it would be hypocrisy to think otherwise, to claim to believe what we actually do not believe. But our belief should have solid basis, not on religious leaders, not on religious systems, but on the Bible. We should make sure that our religion speaks according ‘to the law and the testimony’ before we cling to it: “Make sure of all things; hold fast to what is right.” If we learn that our religion is teaching what is not right, we should let go of that religion. The above elimination dropped religions on the basis of one false doctrine only, but actually each of those false ones falls on many counts. The foregoing is only a foretaste of evidence; further Scriptural investigation will provide overwhelming confirmation.—1 Thess. 5:21, NW.

21. What figurative expressions show false doctrine must he removed?

²¹ The unsightly buildings of religious falsehood must be pulled down to prevent their blocking the view of attractive truth. They must have no standing in our mind but must give way to new structures of truth. The right religion must root out the false and plant the true, just as Jeremiah was commissioned “to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.” False beliefs are stumblingstones in the pathway to truth, and to return to true worship it is necessary to “grade up the highway, clear it of stones.” Jehovah’s Word is “like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces,” and with it we must shatter the stumblingstones that might trip us as we endeavor to walk with God. The primary application of the text about clearing out the stones is to the return to true worship by the anointed remnant after Christ came to the temple in 1918, but the principle may be applied to the removal of religious falsehoods that now stumble the incoming other sheep. So if the trinity stumbles any from seeing Jehovah is supreme over all, or if soul immortality blinds any to the text that says the soul dies, or if additions to the Bible trip us into believing the Bible is incomplete and unfinished, or if any other false religious teaching blocks our grasp of the truth, we can apply the Bible like a hammer to smash these obstructions.—Jer. 1:10; Isa. 62:10, AT; Jer. 23:29.

22. Will sincerity alone save one, and what illustrates your answer?

²² Some will here inject the belief that if one is sincere in his religion he will be saved, regardless of which religion it is. Is this belief true? It may seem plausible to some, but “to the law rather, and to the testimony.” The Bible testifies on this point: “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Prov. 14:12) Sincerity is essential, but sincerity alone is insufficient. To illustrate, if three children at the blackboard add two and two and one gets three and one gets four and the other one gets five, will the teacher approve all three? Will she pass them if they say they were sincere in their answers? Rather, will she not send the two who were wrong back to their textbook for more study? And if these two are really sincere, will they not show it by further study, until they learn the right answer, and gain the teacher’s approval? Jehovah has provided a Textbook, the Bible. He tells us to study it, to learn the right answers, to give those answers to others. What about those who refuse to study the Bible and learn the right answers, but accept just any religion and complacently say their sincerity will save them? Are they really sincere? Rather, are they not lazy instead? A teacher will not pass a student that refuses to study to learn what is right. Jehovah will not approve those who deliberately remain ignorant of his truth now that it is being made clear, notwithstanding their inconsistent claims of sincerity.

23. How will persons really sincere respond to Jehovah’s witnesses?

²³ Jehovah has a teaching organization in the earth today. Sincere truth-seekers should listen to it. Not only should they learn what is false to clear it out, but they should learn what is true to put in its place. After false religions are ousted one should become filled with the true religion, for his protection and salvation. (Matt. 12:43-45) Jehovah’s witnesses are anxious to help any sincere persons searching for the truth. When Jehovah’s witnesses locate sincere ones by going from door to door with the truth, they offer to conduct Bible studies in the homes, without charge or obligation. They use the Bible to prove not only what is false but what is true. It is a case of setting aside pride and prejudice and with an open mind going ‘to the law and to the testimony’ and reasoning together. Sincere ones will do this. All the more so if they sincerely believe they are right, for they will want to help the one calling on them to see the right. They will either be helping or be helped. Truly sincere ones will be happy in either case.

24. How do some act foolishly in picking their religion?

²⁴ To intelligently choose the right religion will require some personal study. Those who wish to be doctors, chemists, engineers and educators must study for years. Those who sincerely desire to be real Christians must also study. It is not of less importance; it is more important than anything else. Not only do most persons fail to choose the right religion, but they actually do not choose any religion themselves. Their religion is chosen for them by their parents or by their friends, or because of social reasons or because of business advantage. When they thus leave the choice to chance it is like reaching into a grab bag of 251 religions and expecting to pull out the right one while blindfolded. You think it is foolhardy to play the game of Russian roulette where one bullet is put in a revolver’s chamber with five left empty and the cylinder is spun, and, without knowing where the bullet is, to hold the gun to the head and pull the trigger? You are correct; it is a game for fools. Even so, your chances are five out of six. But to pick a religion at random is to gamble with your chances for eternal life, and your chances of grabbing the right one are, in our examination here, only one out of 251! How much more foolish!

25. What course will sincere persons desiring to please Jehovah now follow?

²⁵ There is no need to take a chance. Jehovah has provided his Word, the Bible. Study it. Prove what is false and reject it. Prove what is true and hold it fast. Separate the straw from the wheat. Identify the wine that has been adulterated. Settle out the muddying, beclouding falsehoods so that only clear waters of truth remain. By studying the Bible, learning the truth, associating with Jehovah’s people, and serving and praising your Creator, “taste and see that Jehovah is good.” Turn a hearing ear to Jehovah’s invitation: “Ho! everyone that is thirsty, come to the waters, and he that has no money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy grain without money, and wine and milk without price! Why should you spend money for what is not bread, and your earnings for what does not satisfy? If you but listen to me, you shall eat what is good, and shall delight yourselves with rich nourishment.” Rather than be undernourished by and eventually die with false religions, be spiritually strong with the right religion. “Choose life in order that you may keep alive, you and your offspring, by loving Jehovah your God, by listening to his voice and by sticking to him, for he is your life and the length of your days.”—Ps. 34:8, AS; Isa. 55:1, 2, AT; Deut. 30:19, 20, NW.

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GOD’S WORD

No Personal Devil

Immortal Soul

Trinity

Questions From Readers

● Paul said that one Christian brother should not go to court against another Christian brother, but should take the case to mature ones of the congregation for decision. But what if one is defrauding another so as to bring extreme hardship upon the victim, yet the offender will not abide by the decision of the congregational representatives?—G. S., United States.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “Does any one of you that has a case against the other dare to go to court before unrighteous men, and not before the holy ones? Or do you not know that the holy ones will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you unfit to try very trivial matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? Why, then, not things of this life? If, then, you do have matters of this life to be tried, is it the men looked down upon in the congregation that you put in as judges? I am speaking to move you to shame. Is it true that there is not one wise man among you that will be able to judge between his brothers, but brother goes to court with brother, and that before unbelievers? Really, then, it means altogether a defeat for you that you are having lawsuits with one another. Why do you not rather let yourselves be wronged? Why do you not rather let yourselves be defrauded? To the contrary, you wrong and defraud, and your brothers at that.”—1 Cor. 6:1-8, NW.

If Christian brothers are in a controversy over financial matters that are of such serious proportions that a lawsuit might be considered, they should take their difficulty to mature brothers of the congregation for a judgment between them rather than go to a worldly court and let the world see them squabbling over money matters. That would hurt the reputation of the Christian organization, publicly airing such matters and indicating to the world that the Christian spirit is not present. Rather than bring such reproach upon the organization, Paul argues that it would be better to be defrauded. If brothers are going to judge the world and angels, when associated with Christ Jesus in heaven, can they not judge trivial matters among themselves, without having to call in unbelievers, men looked down upon by the congregation, to settle their difficulties? To have to go out into the world and get such men to judge matters instead of settling it within the congregation would certainly be a mocking defeat for the congregation. Better to be defrauded than let that happen!

But suppose the case has been brought before the representatives of the congregation and one of the disputants has been definitely proved in the wrong, shown guilty of working an injurious fraud against a brother, and yet this guilty one will not accept the decision of the congregation and will not repay the amount taken? When the evidence is clear and convincing the congregation cannot ignore it, but must disfellowship the one who is a thief. In this connection Paul said a thief, among other offenders, would not inherit God’s kingdom; neither does he have any right to be in the Christian congregation on earth. (1 Cor. 6:9, 10) So when the evidence is conclusive and the offender shows no repentance and no inclination to repay, he should be disfellowshiped.

Now the disfellowshiped thief is on the outside of the congregation. He is no longer a brother. He is no longer involved in Paul’s instructions at 1 Corinthians 6:1-6. For the wronged one still within the congregation to now take the defrauder to court would be no violation of Paul’s counsel, for it would not now be a case of brother going to court against brother, which is what Paul was forbidding. Whether the wronged one would want to, or whether it would be worth the time and trouble and expense of a court case for him to do so, is another matter and one that he must individually decide for himself. The congregation’s role in the matter ends with the disfellowshiping action.

The procedure of calling in mature brothers to render decisions when difficulties divide brothers as is here advised by Paul coincides with the counsel Jesus gave: “Moreover, if your brother commits a sin, go lay bare his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take along with you one or two more, in order that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every matter may be established. If he does not listen to them, speak to the congregation. If he does not listen even to the congregation, let him be to you just as a man of the nations and as a tax collector.” (Matt. 18:15-17, NW) If the sin is serious and cannot be overlooked, try to settle it with the sinning brother first. If this is not successful, take two or three others. If this fails, call in the representatives of the congregation. If the sinning one, faced with proof of his guilt, shows no repentance for a very grievous trespass and rebels against the congregation’s decision, then he is disfellowshiped to become “as a man of the nations and as a tax collector.” He is put out of the congregation. This is the logical end of the theocratic procedure launched when the congregation was called in to consider the case, both in the instruction given by Jesus and in that given by Paul.

Announcements

WHICH ONES WILL YOU ATTEND?

The 1953 assembly of Jehovah’s witnesses in Yankee Stadium, New York, had an attendance of 165,829 persons—an amazing increase of 46,000 per cent in the mere 60 years since 360 persons had attended Jehovah’s witnesses’ first modern convention in Chicago in 1893. Why such tremendous growth? Among the many reasons are the facts that this is the time for the restoration of pure worship earth-wide; that such assemblies are outstandingly strengthening to the Christian, and that they are specifically commanded by Jehovah God. There still is time for you to plan to attend one or more of the series of assemblies that will be held not just in North America but also throughout Europe this year. You will be strengthened and encouraged by the zeal of your brothers in other lands, and you can provide that same encouragement for them. Plan now as to which of the following assemblies you will attend:

Chicago, Illinois June 22-26

Vancouver, B.C., Canada June 29 - July 3

Los Angeles, California July 6-10

Dallas, Texas July 13-17

New York, New York July 20-24

London, England July 27-31

Paris, France August 3-7

Rome, Italy August 5-7

Nuremberg, Germany August 10-14

Stockholm, Sweden August 17-21

The Hague, Netherlands August 17-21

BEING THE RIGHT KIND OF MINISTERS

The qualifications of the right kind of ministers are set forth in the Holy Scriptures. Faith, knowledge, diligence, love and endurance are basic requirements. The “right kind of minister of Christ Jesus, one nourished with the words of the faith and of the right teaching” goes to the people, looking for those who are mild-tempered and teachable. (1 Tim. 4:6, NW) He makes diligent effort to help all who have an appreciation of Bible truth and want to obtain a knowledge by preaching to them orally and endeavoring to leave printed Bible sermons to assist interested ones further. In this regard a foremost instrument used by the right kind of ministers today is the Watchtower magazine. A year’s subscription for it with three booklets containing printed Bible sermons will be offered by the right kind of ministers engaged in house-to-house preaching during March for $1, the annual rate. Will you join with the Lord in his work as a right kind of minister?

PRECIOUS POSSESSIONS

The Word of God is one of man’s most precious possessions. Without it we would not know of God’s purposes for mankind, nor what he would have us do to please and serve him. This was pointed out by his Son, who said: “This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ.” (John 17:3, NW) To gain knowledge that leads to life requires study of this precious possession. And when studying and reading the Bible, naturally one desires to absorb all the information that he can, realizing how essential it is for everlasting life. Have you obtained the modern-language New World Translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, Volume I (Genesis to Ruth), and the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures? You will find them precious possessions, enabling you to read and study your Bible with greater understanding. Cloth-bound editions are available at $1.50 each; leather-bound de luxe editions at $5 each. Send for yours now.

“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES FOR THE WEEKS

March 20: Only One Right Religion, and Choosing the One Right Religion, ¶1-9. Page 112.

March 27: Choosing the One Right Religion, ¶10-25. Page 120.

Check Your Memory

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

✔ Why so many people today act as if they were mental robots? P. 99, ¶1.

✔ Why the world’s mind is so sick? P. 100, ¶4.

✔ What the two religious views of Christ’s second coming are? P. 101, ¶2.

✔ Why we should not expect Christ to come again in a human body? P. 101, ¶6.

✔ What sign marked Christ’s second presence? P. 103, ¶2.

✔ Who the forerunners of Jehovah’s witnesses’ circuit servants were? P. 105, ¶1.

✔ How the Watch Tower’s early tract distribution grew to great proportions? P. 106, ¶3.

✔ Why a clergyman said C. T. Russell turned “the hose on hell and put out the fire”? P. 107, ¶1.

✔ Why money does not bring thorough happiness? P. 109, ¶2.

✔ How true happiness is acquired? P. 110, ¶1.

✔ Whether evidence shows that blessings by priests bring results? P. 111, ¶7.

✔ How adulteration of truth ruins the value of many religions? P. 113, ¶5.

✔ Why not all the religions can possibly be right? P. 115, ¶10.

✔ How one can determine which religion really is right? P. 117, ¶1.

✔ What absurdities are accepted by believers of the trinity doctrine? P. 119, ¶7.

✔ Where and how the Bible disproves the immortal soul doctrine? P. 120, ¶11.

✔ What proves that the Devil is not just a symbol of evil, but actually exists? P. 122, ¶15.

✔ Why sincerity alone is not sufficient in religion, but right doctrines are so vital? P. 124, ¶22.

✔ Whether a disfellowshiped person could he taken to court? P. 127, ¶1.