The Watchtower — July 1, 1955

Christ’s Coming an Academic Question?

ACCORDING to Jesuit Joseph Christie, one of London’s best-known Roman Catholic preachers, “the question about our Lord coming back is interesting but academic. He has never been away. In any Catholic church you can find him, and his authentic voice goes down the ages through His teaching church.” But is that the way Jesus’ apostles and early disciples, those who had personally known him, felt about it? Did they feel that the question of his coming back was merely academic, that is, without any real practical value or application? Surely the church of which they were to be a part had Christ’s presence and he taught through them, but did that mean that for them the question of Christ’s coming again was purely an academic one?

If the question of Christ’s coming again were purely an academic one, why did the apostles evince such an interest in his return? Why did they associate it with the consummation of this system of things? And why should Jesus have taken the pains to give them the long answer as he did as recorded at Matthew 24, 25, Mark 13 and Luke 21 if he could have dismissed the subject as glibly as did Jesuit Joseph Christie?

He who views the question of Christ’s return as merely an academic one overlooks entirely the fact that Christ Jesus returns for the purpose of doing a judgment work, to reward his followers, to punish the wicked and, above all, to establish his kingdom. Those events are not merely of academic interest. And that they are associated with Christ’s return or second presence the Scriptures clearly show. Thus Paul associated Christ’s manifestation at the time of his second presence with his kingdom, and so did the prophet Daniel.—2 Tim. 4:1; Dan. 7:13, 14.

Jesus associated his return with the rewarding of his followers. Said he: “If I go my way and prepare a place for you, I am coming again and will receive you home to myself, that where I am you also may be.” And again: “Look! I am coming quickly, and the reward I give is with me, to render to each one as his work is.” Paul understood it this way, for he wrote: “I have fought the right fight, I have run the course to the finish, I have observed the faith. From this time on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me as a reward in that day, yet not only to me, but to all those who have loved his manifestation.”—John 14:3; Rev. 22:12; 2 Tim. 4:7, 8, NW.

And Christ’s second presence is also a time of separating the sheep from the goats: “When the Son of man arrives in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit down on his glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” Jesus’ illustrations of the pounds or minas and the talents drive home the same point, that when Christ returns there will be a judgment work.—Matt. 25:31, 32, 14-30; Luke 19:11-27, NW.

Further, the Scriptures also show that Christ upon his return will destroy the wicked. Thus Paul, in comforting the Thessalonian Christians who were suffering much persecution said: “This takes into account that it is righteous on God’s part to repay tribulation to those who make tribulation for you, but, to you who suffer tribulation, relief along with us at 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.” “Then, indeed, the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will annihilate by the spirit of his mouth and bring to nothing by the manifestation of his presence.”—2 Thess. 1:6-8; 2:8, NW.

In view of all that the Scriptures show Christ will accomplish at his return, the establishment of his kingdom, the rewarding of his followers, the separating of the sheep and goats and the destruction of the wicked, the question of his coming back is certainly not just an academic one. Those who so hold show that they either do not believe the Scriptures or are blind to their import—in either case being blind guides who can but lead their blind followers to the ditch of destruction.—Matt. 15:14.

Did Christ Establish the Catholic Church?

The Catholic Church claims to go back to the time of Christ and the apostles. Do the facts of history and God’s Word the Bible support that claim? If not, what are the facts regarding the origin and development of the Catholic Church?

ACCORDING to the Religious Information Bureau of the Knights of Columbus, the Roman Catholic Church, and only it, was established by Christ Jesus himself. In view of the fact that the apostle Paul instructs us to “make sure of all things; hold fast to what is right”; and that we should “let God be found true, though every man be found a liar,” let us examine those claims by the light thrown on this subject by the Christian Greek Scriptures. This should be wholly satisfactory to all holding that the Roman Catholic Church is the true church, since it also claims that “they were members of the Catholic Church who, under God’s inspiration, wrote the New Testament in its entirety.”—1 Thess. 5:21; Rom. 3:4, NW.

If Christ Jesus and his apostles did indeed establish the Roman Catholic Church, then why is it that we look in vain, from Matthew through the Apocalypse or Revelation, for any mention whatsoever of the “Holy Father,” or a pope, a college of cardinals, archbishops, metropolitans, patriarchs, monsignors, right reverends, priests, abbots, monks and nuns? The Scriptural record does tell us of Christians being organized back there, but if the structure of the Catholic Church is in line with that of the early Christians, how is it that we find absolutely no mention of it, not even a hint regarding such an elaborate system? On the contrary, Jesus said: “Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave”; and, “One is your teacher, whereas all you are brothers. Moreover, do not call anyone your father on earth, for One is your Father, the heavenly One.”—Matt. 20:27; 23:8, 9, NW.

Further, if Christ established the Roman Catholic Church, why is it that we look in vain in the Holy Bible for such expressions most current among her, such as trinity, purgatory, mass, immortal soul, lent, novenas, indulgences, penances, holy water, veneration of Mary, the Immaculate Conception, the Assumption of Mary, etc.?

On the other hand, we read much in the Bible regarding subjects seldom mentioned by the Catholic clergy, such as regards sin’s wages being death, the hope of a resurrection, a new heavens and a new earth, and, above all, the importance of Jehovah’s name.—See Romans 6:23; John 5:28, 29; Revelation 20:5, 6; 2 Peter 3:13; Psalm 83:18; John 17:4, 6; Acts 15:14.

Christ did not mix in politics. He told Pilate that his kingdom was no part of the world or else his followers would have fought to prevent his being delivered up. And said the disciple James: “Adulteresses, do you not know that the friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever, therefore, wants to be a friend of the world is constituting himself an enemy of God.” But the Catholic Church has for fifteen hundred years mixed in politics; a classic example being the shrewd, cunning and crafty Cardinal Richelieu, his example being so notorious that Roman Catholic-minded Hollywood did not dare portray him as a cardinal for fear of the wrath of the Catholic Church. Could we imagine a Peter, a John, playing the role of a Cardinal Richelieu?—John 18:36; James 4:4, NW.

Then again, ever since her inception at the time of Constantine, the Catholic Church has used force to spread her teachings. Especially notorious in this regard was Charlemagne, the first emperor to be crowned by the pope. Consider also the lives of millions lost in the futile crusades, the wanton massacring of entire cities by the crusaders, men, women and children, even as did Roman Catholic generals during the religious wars of Europe, and as was done in Paris on St. Bartholomew’s night, 1572. Consider also the diabolical tortures inflicted by the dreaded Inquisition, which are without parallel in human history. Catholic apologists, such as Gibbons in his Faith of Our Fathers, would excuse these acts by pointing to intolerance practiced by Protestant sects. But that does not prove that Christ established the Catholic Church, but merely that he also did not establish such Protestant sects!

In February, 1954, the public press headlined, “Italian Police Chisel Name Off U.S.-Financed Church,” indicating that the Catholic Church still practices intolerance. Yes, for it was Roman Catholic police, in Roman Catholic Italy (more than 99 per cent Roman Catholic, according to the Catholic Almanac), who chiseled the name of a Protestant church off its walls at the orders of Roman Catholic officials, orders that were based on a concordat signed by the Vatican and Mussolini.

Could we imagine Jesus or his apostles causing such a thing to be done? On the contrary, they showed that Christians used spiritual weapons, their sword is God’s Word, and that vengeance belongs to Jehovah and he would repay.—2 Cor. 10:4; Rom. 12:19.

IF NOT CHRIST, THEN WHO?

If Christ Jesus did not establish the Catholic Church, who did, and when and how? The apostle Paul foretold that after his death wolfish men would enter the Christian congregation and that these would “speak twisted things to draw away the disciples after themselves.”—Acts 20:29, 30, NW.

In writing the Thessalonian Christians not to expect the return of Christ in their day Paul warned that it would not come before there was an apostasy, that this apostasy or mystery of lawlessness was already at work in his day and that it would blossom out after he and others who acted as a restraint to it were out of the way. (2 Thess. 2:5, 7, 9) If such conditions began to manifest themselves while the apostles were alive, what could be expected after the apostles passed from the scene? What could? In answer to that question note what the historian Lord in his Old Roman World has to say about the gradual development of this apostasy:

“In the First Century not many wise or noble were called. . . . In the Second Century . . . It was a disgrace to be a Christian in the eye of fashion or power.” However, it was during this century that “bishops became influential, not in society, but among Christians.” This calls to mind what the apostle John had to say about one Diotrophes, “who likes to have the first place among them,” and who did not receive with respect anything John and the others with him had to say.—3 John 9.

“The Third Century,” continues Lord in his Old Roman World, “saw the church more powerful as an institution,” although “it was not until the Fourth Century—when imperial persecution had stopped; when the emperor Constantine was converted [only ostensibly, since he was not “baptized” until he lay on his deathbed]; when the Church was allied with the State, . . . that men of rank entered the Church. When Christianity became the religion of the court and of the fashionable classes, it was used to support the very evils against which it originally protested. The Church was not only impregnated with the errors of Pagan philosophy, but it adopted many of the ceremonies of oriental worship.”

Thus we see that when apostate Christianity fused itself with pagan philosophy and religion, and in the interests of worldly fame, wealth and political power it joined hands with the state, that marked the beginning of the Catholic Church as she has been known for the past sixteen centuries. Although claiming to be espoused to Christ she has had worldly paramours from the time of Constantine down to Franco, whom she allows to have a voice in the appointing of her bishops in Spain.

While the birth of the Catholic Church may be pinpointed at A.D. 325, when Constantine decided the debate on the trinity held at Nicea in favor of Athanasius and against Arius, it was not until after the year A.D. 440 that the bishop of the Roman see, Leo I, became in fact the first pope. He was the first Roman bishop able to hold undisputed sway over the other three sees into which the Christian world at that time was divided, namely, the Constantinopolitan, the Antiochian and the Alexandrian.

Upon becoming bishop of Rome, Leo I presumptuously stated: “I will revive government once more upon this earth; not by bringing back the Caesars, but by declaring a new theocracy, by making myself the vicegerent of Christ, by virtue of the promise made to Peter, whose successor I am, in order to restore law, punish crime, head off heresy, encourage genius, conserve peace, heal dissensions, protect learning; appealing to love, but ruling by fear. Who but the Church can do this? A theocracy will create a new civilization. Not a diadem, but a tiara will I wear, a symbol of universal sovereignty, before which barbarism shall flee away.”—Beacon Lights of History, Vol. III, pages 244, 245.

That some even in Paul’s day had an ambition similar to that of Leo I is apparent from Paul’s words to the Corinthians: “You men already have your fill, do you? You are rich already, are you? You have begun ruling as kings without us, have you? And I wish indeed that you had begun ruling as kings, that we also might rule with you as kings.” (1 Cor. 4:8, NW) The ambition of Leo I was fully realized by Leo III, when, on December 25, A.D. 800, he crowned Charlemagne emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the Germanic nations. Here, then, we have the gradual development of the Roman Catholic Church.

Regarding the early Christian congregation Paul expressed this concern: “I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy, for I personally promised you in marriage to one husband that I might present you as a chaste virgin to the Christ. But I am afraid that somehow, as the serpent seduced Eve by its craftiness, your minds might be corrupted away from the sincerity and the chastity that are due the Christ. For, as it is, if someone comes and preaches a Jesus other than the one we preached, or you receive a spirit other than what you received, or good news other than what you accepted, you easily put up with him.”—2 Cor. 11:2-4, NW.

Here we have it. Just as the “covering cherub” allowed his ambition to change him from an obedient spirit creature to Satan the Devil; just as the choice and pure vine of Israel allowed herself to deteriorate into a degenerate and wild vine; so, too, many of the Christian congregation, which began as a pure and chaste virgin, allowed themselves to be overreached by Satan the Devil and his world, to become unfaithful to their Lord Jesus Christ and to bring forth all manner of bad fruit, at which time they became known as the Catholic Church. So, instead of Christ, it really is Satan the Devil that is the one who established the Catholic Church.—Jer. 2:21; Ezek. 28:14-16.

“But We Can’t Do That!”

In a small town in the Eastern zone of Germany two witnesses of Jehovah came to the home of an elderly clergyman. He invited the two witnesses in. A lively discussion was had on Bible teachings. Toward the end of the discussion the record of Jehovah’s witnesses in the face of persecution was called to his attention and he was asked, ‘In the face of these facts, would it not pay to investigate conscientiously and without prejudice?’

The clergyman admitted this and then explained that he had been giving the matter some thought because only a few days ago a man visited him who had just been released from a Communist prison, and who had told him: “Believe me or not, Mr. ———, but if we hadn’t had those Jehovah’s witnesses with us in prison we would have become desperate, we wouldn’t have been able to hold out!” To which the clergyman added: “I know that God has actually raised up a people in the witnesses of Jehovah, who stand for his Name.” Then in a resigned tone he added, “But we can’t do that.” Why can Jehovah’s witnesses and why cannot such clergymen? Why?

Modern History of Jehovah’s Witnesses

Part 13—Champions of Freedom of Speech and of Worship

PREACHING Jehovah’s kingdom message through hundreds of broadcasting stations in North and South America, Europe, Africa and Australia flourished during the decade beginning with 1927. Very effectively used first were the specially enlarged NBC commercial network for the international convention at Toronto, Ontario, in 1927 and, in 1928, the much larger first special Watchtower network for that year’s international convention at Detroit, Michigan. So the Society decided to operate and for many months did operate a weekly “Watchtower network” of thirty stations for serving a multitude of listeners in Canada and the United States, broadcasting a one-hour program emanating from the studios of Watchtower station WBBR at New York city (Staten Island). Every Sunday the “Watchtower hour” included a lecture by Judge Rutherford together with introductory and concluding music by the WBBR orchestra of Bethel brothers. This weekly chain-broadcast service began November 18, 1928, and continued throughout 1929 and 1930.a

In 1931 the Society began a weekly broadcast through 250 radio stations by means of electrical transcription recordings of a series of 15-minute lectures by Judge Rutherford.b In 1932 the radio service was expanded to 340 stations broadcasting the weekly Bible lectures exposing apostate religion. By 1933 the international broadcast voice of the Society was being heard through 408 radio stations located in six continents—Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, Cuba, France, South Africa, Estonia, Uruguay, Alaska, Hawaii, Philippines and the United States. In that year alone there were transmitted 23,783 separate Bible talks.c

For Roman Catholics their pope, Pius XI, had declared 1933 as a “holy year,” to usher in an era of Catholic action designed to bring peace to the nations.

Simultaneously, in the spring of 1933, American Catholics under leadership of their cardinals, bishops and priests began a concerted nationwide campaign to ‘drive Rutherford off the air.’ By this time on the radio Rutherford’s was the best-known and most frequently heard voice in America. If the clergy were vexed by the Watch Tower Society representatives’ passing out millions of tracts in front of their church doors in the early 1900’s, now they were plagued a thousand times more by the unanswerable Bible preaching over the radio waves. Through the effective Watchtower broadcasts the ranks of the witnesses kept rapidly growing. This avenue of communication cost the Society millions of dollars, all voluntarily contributed by the brothers during years of the great American depression (1929-1935). As we now see, in retrospect, 1933 turned out to be the year when the Vatican hierarchy and Jehovah’s witnesses came to grips on the issue of freedom of speech. Catholic spokesmen vigorously used pressure and threats of boycott against radio stations to force them to refuse to hire their facilities to the witnesses.d

On April 23, 1933, Judge Rutherford personally first broadcast over a special Watchtower chain of fifty-five powerful stations his now world-famous hour lecture “Effect of Holy Year on Peace and Prosperity.” Two months later, on June 25, 1933, the same lecture in transcription was broadcast by 158 stations, for which five million printed invitations were circulated to build up a vast audience for this rebroadcast.e The reaction to the original April 23 broadcast was immediate, bitter, fiery. Certain radio managers fell victims of vigorous Catholic intimidation, refusing to carry any further Watchtower programs.

A few weeks later Catholic strong-arm tactics were further revealed at a public meeting in Plainfield, New Jersey, addressed by the Watch Tower Society’s president on the subject “Intolerance,” the official report of which follows:

“The persecution of Jehovah’s witnesses at Plainfield, N.J., provided the occasion for a public address’ being made from a theater building on Sunday, July 30, [1933] which address was broadcast by several radio stations. The speaker on this occasion was literally surrounded by firearms in the hands of sixty or more policemen who had come to the meeting uninvited and who were not either needed or wanted, but doubtless had been sent there at the instance of the Catholic hierarchy, looking for an occasion to prevent the meeting and possibly to destroy the speaker.”f

This Plainfield, New Jersey, outrage against freedom of speech and freedom of worship was going too far. In the battle of the air waves, in late 1933 and early 1934 Jehovah’s witnesses continued pressing the fight in the public interest by circulating a nationwide petition addressed to the United States Congress in Washington, vigorously protesting against Catholic intimidation and threats to free speech over the radio. To this petition 2,416,141 signatures were obtained and it was presented to Congress at Washington on January 24, 1934. Congressman McFadden, supported by others, had introduced a bill in Congress to prevent such discrimination, boycott and other threatening methods to hinder the broadcasting of programs in the public interest. The Society through its spokesmen submitted a volume of evidence in support of the petition. The net result was that Congress enacted a law placing all electrical communications under one new administrative agency, the Federal Communications Commission. This commission promptly held public hearings to enable it to make suggestions to the next session of Congress for the enactment of further laws as to broadcasting, as necessary.g On October 4, 1934, the Watch Tower Society’s president appeared personally before this new federal agency at Washington and presented facts of the activities of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy in wrongfully interfering with the broadcasting service of Jehovah’s witnesses. In spite of these public protests against wrongful interferences, the Society’s Bible broadcasts for 1934 amounted to 20,743 lectures, or a drop of 3,040 from the peak year of 1933, thus giving proof of the baneful effect of continued Catholic intimidation tactics.h

The decline in possible radio broadcasts continued, for in 1935 the total amounted to 18,287, or a decrease of 2,536 lectures over the previous year’s decline. Jehovah’s witnesses continued to press the fight for freedom of speech and worship by circulating another nationwide petition addressed to Congress, to which 2,284,128 signatures were obtained. This petition was presented to Congress in January, 1935, but was ignored.i There was then convened a national convention of Jehovah’s witnesses in Washington, D.C., which met from May 30 to June 3, 1935. Twenty thousand persons gathered for this assembly to hear Judge Rutherford’s outstanding lecture on Sunday, June 2, entitled “Government,” delivered at Washington Auditorium and simultaneously broadcast internationally. On June 3, 1935, the Society’s president filed a brief before the Federal Communications Commission, pressing for further action in defense of free speech.j

Incidentally, this Washington convention proved to be outstanding for the new flash of truth as to the “great multitude” of Revelation 7:9, proving that its members are not a secondary spiritual class destined to go to heaven but that they are an earthly group identical with the “sheep” of Matthew 25:31-46, made known in 1923, and the “Jonadab” class revealed in 1932 with the release of Vindication, Volume 3.k

Outwardly it seemed that the witnesses were losing the battle for freedom of speech. In September, 1936, still a third national petition was gathered, this time the greatest in registering protest to the Washington government at its inaction against the continued unfair practices to suppress the witnesses. In support of this final protestl 2,630,001 signatures were filed November 2, 1936, in Washington. This protest likewise went unheeded.a But the witnesses were not outwitted. Already in 1933 they took steps to develop an alternative public sound-service campaign in case they eventually should be driven off the radio. In that year the Society began the manufacturing of portable electrical transcription machines that could reproduce the 33 ¹⁄₃-rpm radio-broadcasting recordings at public and private gatherings. In 1933, 4,646 such transcription meetings were held, with a total attendance of 240,434 persons.b Sound cars also were built to cruise along the streets and in public places to sound forth literally the Kingdom message from recorded discs.c As the years of the 1930’s passed, this sound service grew to substantial proportions and proved to bring more tangible results than the radio, in that a visible audience was contacted and instructed.

Results of the non-radio sound service were so promising that, in 1934, the Society began to produce another service instrument, a portable phonograph, and to manufacture a series of 4 1⁄2-minute 78-rpm discs containing effective Bible lectures.d At first this portable phonograph was used largely in the back-call service, but finally it came to be very widely used in the initial-call house-to-house service, being played on the doorsteps of the homes. Here indeed was a new preaching medium. It figured in a big way at the 1937 Columbus (Ohio) convention attended by 25,000 on Sunday, September 18, to hear Judge Rutherford deliver his important lecture “Safety,” which at the same time was broadcast by 135 radio stations. At this convention the historic decision was announced, that the Society was voluntarily withdrawing from all commercial radio broadcasting contracts after October 31, 1937.e Instead, all of Jehovah’s witnesses would concentrate their time and funds on the more effective house-to-house work, using the portable phonograph with a wide range of more than ninety Bible lectures that would enable millions to hear and learn Bible truth. The phonograph work took on new force, as is demonstrated by the report for 1938 showing that there were 430,000 discs with lectures in sixteen languages in use on 19,600 sound machines. In 1937 there were reported 10,368,569 listeners, and for 1938, 13,070,426.f Truly a literal mighty shout was being raised among all earth’s inhabitants!

(To be continued)

[Footnotes]

[Picture on page 392]

408 STATIONS BY 1933 ▸ UNITED STATES

▸ ALASKA

▸ CANADA

▸ ARGENTINA

▸ CUBA

▸ URUGUAY

▸ PHILIPPINES

▸ AUSTRALIA

▸ FRANCE

▸ ESTONIA

▸ CHINA

▸ HAWAII

▸ SOUTH AFRICA

“The New Sects in New Zealand”

UNDER that heading Anglican Dean Chandler wrote in the Christchurch Star-Sun about what he called the new “vigorous sects.” Probably most readers could guess what group he particularly had in mind. “I received a letter,” he said, “from a reader who is much perplexed because one of her family has left her church and become a member of one of the ‘fancy religions’ bearing an American label. My correspondent is now being besieged by zealots who belong to this new sect and who display a knowledge of the Bible which far surpasses her own.”

Where had her teachers fallen short? Other statements in the article would give a clue: “Perhaps our most serious neglect is that of pastoral visitation, for as it is necessary for a shepherd to go around his flock continually, so it is necessary to find opportunity to discuss with our people vital problems that harass their minds and to rescue them from some of the heretical entanglements in which they are likely to be caught. Having said this, I am painfully conscious of my own neglect in this respect.”

Another point: “I am more than ever convinced that the printed word has got to supplement the spoken word to an ever increasing degree. If we wish our people to be strong in faith we have got to encourage them to read and study far more than they do at present. Only by that means can they be armed against the assault of those who would drag them from their moorings and leave them unanchored and tossing about on a sea of doubt and uncertainty.” Thus he admits that the church sermons have not gotten sufficient knowledge into their heads.

“By the way,” he says, “returning to the cult which I have singled out for special mention, it is interesting to note that it is a religion of the printed word, which word its devotees are required to sell, whereas Christianity, like Judaism from which it sprung, is intimately associated with buildings.” But the kind of first-century Christianity that Jesus and the apostles had was not associated with buildings, but with the people—in their homes, on the streets and in the market places.

He refers to the “danger of overemphasising the Old Testament to the detriment of the New,” while showing that too many of his people do not know a great deal about either. The solution? “Get back to the Bible.” Yet he complains about others helping the people to do that when he has fallen short. One New Zealand reader said: “These parsons complain at the progress of Jehovah’s witnesses and at the same time admit their own negligence in pastoral work. . . . Perhaps they are afraid to teach their people too much of their creeds because of the unanswerable questions the people would pose.” Those who stick to the Bible do not face this problem. Just ask Jehovah’s witnesses some Bible questions and find out for yourself!

Modern Gideons in French Equatorial Africa

GIDEON of old is primarily remembered for being used by Jehovah to bring deliverance to the Israelites from the oppressive yoke of the Midianites with his little band of three hundred warriors, each armed with only a trumpet, a pitcher in which was a light, and a war cry, “Jehovah’s sword and Gideon’s!” But before he was used to bring that deliverance he served as a witness for Jehovah’s true worship by tearing down his father’s altar for Baal worship and by cutting down the sacred pole alongside it in obedience to instructions given to him by Jehovah’s angel.

His work of destroying false worship foreshadowed a like work being done today in all parts of the earth by Jehovah’s witnesses. A literal case in point is contained in the following from Jehovah’s witnesses in French Equatorial Africa:

“The work here continues to increase. New fields open up and the persons of good will interested in the Kingdom message start to worship Jehovah in spirit and in truth. Every day the witnesses associated with the Bangui congregation are finding new ‘other sheep’ of the Lord who join themselves to the New World society.

“During the preaching from house to house, one of Jehovah’s witnesses told about the hope of the new world after Armageddon to a married couple known to ‘invoke and worship demons.’ Moved by the powerful and happy message, the couple asked the witness to return and tell them more about it. He called back and gave them a further witness on the theme: Be reconciled with the Creator your God, before it is too late. Casting knowing glances at each other, the couple then asked the witness to unburden them of their fetish gods. The witness complied, it taking three trips to carry all their idols to the river in which he threw them.

“A neighbor noting what was going on scratched the witness on the back and said to him in a whisper: ‘I want you to take our fetishes also, but my wife would be opposed. But come anyhow.’ The witness followed the neighbor into his house. The neighbor then said to his wife: ‘This man would like to get permission to throw away our fetishes; what do you think about that?’ His wife replied, ‘I have no objection.’ So the man and the witness filled a big basket with the fetishes and brought it to the river, where a large crowd was watching and who even assisted in throwing the fetishes into the river, thinking thereby to help bring woe upon the witness and the man, in that the fetishes would avenge themselves upon these. Today we have a regular Bible study with these once worshipers of fetish gods and they have dedicated their lives to Jehovah and also symbolized this by water immersion.

“In another section an old woman of sixty years, also a fetish worshiper, had been invoking the demons since her early childhood. A few months before she died her son-in-law, one of Jehovah’s witnesses, talked with her about the good news of Jehovah’s kingdom and she manifested a keen interest in the message. Though gravely ill she called the witness, who conducted a congregation Bible study in the neighborhood and told him that she had one of the most dreaded and formidable fetishes and that she was afraid to destroy it because of fear that it would bring harm to her children. She therefore said to the witness: ‘Please destroy this fetish in the name of your God Jehovah.’ The witness exhorted her and then, after the prayer, he and a group of other witnesses with pickaxes uprooted the fetish plant and the altar of the demon god, to the consternation of the neighbors all around, as they considered this fetish to be the most dangerous one in the whole country.”

Yes, today men of good will in French Equatorial Africa can say to the fetish worshipers as Joash, the father of Gideon, said to the Baal worshipers in his day: “If he is God, let him make a legal defense for himself.” (Judg. 6:31, NW) Such iconoclastic activity on the part of the witnesses of Jehovah in French Equatorial Africa resulted in an increase of 183 per cent in the number of worshipers of Jehovah during 1953 over 1952.

Part 1—Visiting Jehovah’s Witnesses in Mexico and Central America

LAST winter the president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society visited branch offices and missionary homes in Spanish-speaking countries south of Texas. Mr. Knorr left New York on November 17, pausing at Dallas. There Jehovah’s witnesses from many states had gathered at the Fair Park auditorium that evening to hear him. The 2,850 in attendance were thrilled to learn that one of the 1955 international assemblies of Jehovah’s witnesses would be held July 13-17 in the Dallas Cotton Bowl. This announcement came as a climax to his 90-minute talk based on Hebrews 10:23-25. Ever since, preparations have been under way for readying certain fairgrounds’ buildings, along with the Cotton Bowl, to handle the crowds expected to attend this “Triumphant Kingdom” assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Its program is to be carried on simultaneously in English and Spanish. For the Spanish programs a special pavilion has been arranged, and many of the countries that Mr. Knorr visited on this tour will be sending representatives to Dallas for this important gathering.

On Thursday evening (November 18) Mr. Knorr arrived by plane at Mexico’s flourishing industrial city, Monterrey (400,000 inhabitants). Here Jehovah’s witnesses of northern Mexico assembled in the first of four district meetings in the nation. “Bienvenidos” (Welcome), in large neon-lighted letters, graced the ball park used. Certainly all in attendance at this fine assembly felt welcome as they listened to the series of talks covering a wide range of subjects. In Mexico no public advertising can be done, so only those invited or Society members may attend.

One of the principal talks was “God’s Love to the Rescue in Man’s Crisis.” Attendance, 3,350. Many Mexicans present had come mile after mile on foot just to be with their brothers. No hardship was too much. The assembly was their goal. They came for the enriching blessing of Jehovah. Love for Him and for their brothers fired all, glad to be relieved from Catholic oppression. Mexicans threw the Catholic power out of their country once and then gave the stolen land back to the people. The history of the Catholic Church in Mexico is worth reading, including its torture of the Indians, the taking of their gold, silver and land. Deprived, too, of education by that ruthless, self-serving power, now they thirst for the truth and for righteousness, conscious of their spiritual need.

Immediately after this three-day assembly the branch servant of La Torre Del Vigia along with the Society’s president flew by plane to Mexico City for a second district assembly. This began Monday morning. Jehovah’s witnesses came from Vera Cruz on the east, Acapulco on the west, and as far south as the state of Chiapas on the Guatemalan border. Some attended even from California, Texas, Oklahoma and other points in the United States. Sessions were held in the Arena Coliséo, ample for the crowd of 4,006. The arena’s caretaker was surprised to see the orderliness of the crowd. It was something never before seen in this boxing and wrestling arena. A heavy screen of wire is stretched between the lower sections and the balcony to prevent broken bottles and other missiles from reaching the ring when such objects are hurled by dissatisfied spectators. Obeying God’s Word makes, not trouble-breeders, but peaceful people, and this spirit certainly was manifest at this convention.

In addition to the regular assembly sessions, a special meeting was held with circuit and district servants of Mexico. Here was a problem that needed handling, due to lack of single, mature ministers to perform circuit and district duties. So more circuits were set in Mexico and mature congregation servants chosen and appointed as circuit servants, each being assigned to visit and serve a given number of established congregations. Now every group of Jehovah’s witnesses in Mexico is being served at least twice yearly by a competent servant. Sometimes full-time circuit servants and their wives travel as far as they can in automobiles, then ride a horse or a burro two or three days to reach small congregations in mountain or desert areas. It takes devoted ministers to do such work, persons healthy and strong to carry on. The work is growing much faster in Mexico during the 1955 service year. In fact, by January, 1955, publishers numbered 11,563, to compare with the previous January’s 10,613.

A real joy it was to see the splendid progress of the witnesses of Jehovah in Mexico, as they boldly carry the good news of the Kingdom into every nook and corner of that land. Two more assemblies arranged for other districts of Mexico the president of the Society had to forego attending, to reach his next stop.

GUATEMALA

Waiting at the airport to meet the president were 250 persons. But he never got to meet them at the airport. Approaching Guatemala City from Mexico City, the plane made a landing at Tapachula in southern Mexico. On refueling and again taking off, one of the large plane’s engines caught fire. A warning bell rang! Brakes screamed, as fumes of burned rubber spread. The pilot stopped the huge craft before it got to the end of the runway. No harm, but excitement aplenty for a few moments! Then for eight hours the grounded passengers waited either at the airport or went into the city. But none could dodge the sun’s intense heat. Choosing the shade of a banana tree, N. H. Knorr there read and did some writing. Not until 8:30 p.m. another plane, flown in from Mexico City, took away all the passengers, landing an hour later at Guatemala City.

By that time the evening meeting of Jehovah’s witnesses was over. They had expected the president to speak to them, but the plane accident deprived him of the pleasure of being with them. For the Guatemala visit a very heavy schedule had been arranged. On Tuesday morning (November 30) the branch servant and the traveler were up and on their way at 5:30, flying past the beautiful peaks that surround Guatemala City, on their way to Mazatenango. Over beautiful lakes they sped; also alongside smoking mountains—which could erupt at any time—over attractive cultivated farm land and grove after grove of banana trees.

At Mazatenango only four publishers of the Kingdom awaited them. These had been enthusiastically advertising a public lecture. In the afternoon Jehovah’s witnesses and people of good will from nearby congregations converged on the Kingdom Hall, literally packing it out. Yes, 140 had jammed into that missionary home, and those that could not get in stood out on a balcony. Rapt attention they gave as the service talk was being delivered simultaneously by Brother Knorr and his Spanish interpreter.

Here, the week before, when Roman Catholics were celebrating their dogma of the “immaculate conception of Mary,” Jehovah’s witnesses were advertising the public lecture, “God’s Love to the Rescue in Man’s Crisis.” Priests, it was reported, had notified their congregations that if anyone went to hear that lecture it would be a mortal sin and would put their souls in danger of everlasting hell-fire. Not all thus warned were afraid of these false teachings, because 347 persons came to the town’s theater to hear the talk at 5:00 p.m. Since then, eight others have associated themselves with the congregation at Kingdom Hall.

The next stop was Quezaltenango. The trip was made over long, winding, narrow roads, through banana and coffee plantations, up and over mountains with blind curves and hairpin turns—and on every turn a gorgeous display of the ever-varying creation of Jehovah; from great walls of jagged rock and peaks towering into the clouds, to delicate orchids along the roadside. Here, too, as far as humans are concerned, you are in another world, for you go through village after village whose Indian inhabitants—dressed in their odd costumes, colorful shirts and trousers, women in festive dress of yellow, bright red and blue design of their style—pause to look momentarily, all busy, carrying loads on their heads or on their burros.

The station-wagon-load of travelers finally reached their destination, going through its narrow cobblestone streets, stopping briefly at a colorful market, and then on to the afternoon meeting. Forty of Jehovah’s witnesses of the local congregation attended. Here it was cool, especially in the shade, for now the gathering was high in the mountains, to compare with the previous afternoon when the travelers were on the coastal plain of the Pacific. That evening at the city hall (engaged for the public lecture at eight o’clock) 355 persons were in attendance.

Now to return to Guatemala City. By car it would take over five hours, with 12,000-foot peaks to be crossed. The driving was through the clouds and, of course, to any car driver that means fog. Then down out of the clouds to Lake Atitlan and on to Guatemala City. There was plenty of work to be done at the branch office before the meeting that night, but in the meantime the witnesses for Jehovah had carried on intensive advertising, doing magazine work with The Watchtower (La Atalaya), distributing handbills, putting on information marches and going about the city with sound cars, thoroughly advertising the eight o’clock session at the theater. Their efforts were well repaid when 1,260 attended. In the three days 1,962 persons were able to hear the public talk delivered by the president of the Society. The work in this Central American country is going on excellently. In October there were 451 publishers; in November (the month of the visit), 463; and in the first month of 1955, a new all-time peak of 505 witnesses.

Guatemala, the entire country, still is struggling to recover from its recent civil war. Recovery is slow; many are despondent because of postwar hardships. But meantime, more and more happy voices are joining the swelling chorus, hailing Jehovah’s new world and its enthroned King and announcing the good news of his kingdom.

(To be continued)

[Map on page 397]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

Dallas

MEXICO

Monterrey

Mexico City

Guatemala City

Quezaltenango

Mazatenango

Practicing True Love Every Day

TO PRACTICE true love every day we must first of all take in knowledge of Jehovah God.a Why so? Because “God is love.” That means that he is the perfect expression of unselfishness. Love is the motive that caused him to create us in the beginning and it was love that caused him to surrender the dearest treasure of his heart for us: “God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son.” As for what love really is, it is easier to tell how it works than to define it.—1 John 4:8; John 3:16, NW.

God gave Adam and Eve the gift or capacity of love in the first place, but, due to selfishness, they stunted it and so since then “the inclination of the heart of man is bad from his youth up.” To help us to practice true love every day God has given us his book that teaches love and is pervaded with it. In view of all that God has done for us it certainly is fitting that he should command us to love him and also to love our neighbor. In practicing love, however, we must be careful that our love is genuine, sincere, not hypocritical: “Let your love be without hypocrisy.” Hypocrisy makes us nothing, not something.—Gen. 8:21; Rom. 12:9, NW.

We practice true love when we “sustain with words him that is weary.” Yes, “a word in due season, how good is it!” We also practice true love when we make “public declaration of our hope,” when we gather to “consider one another to incite to love and right works.” And when we preach the good news of the Kingdom from house to house, on the streets, in the homes and whenever an opportunity presents itself. There are times when practicing true love means heeding the counsel: “Better is open rebuke than love that is hidden.” But, of course, with kindness and tact, not bluntly or caustically.—Isa. 50:4; Prov. 15:23, AS; Heb. 10:23-25, NW; Prov. 27:5, AS.

True love, however, does not limit itself to mere words but loves “in deed and truth.” For, just as “faith, if it does not have works, is dead in itself,” so also love without works is dead. “Whoever has this world’s means for supporting life and beholds his brother having need and yet shuts the door of his tender compassions upon him, in what way does the love of God remain in him?”—Jas. 2:17; 1 John 3:17, 18, NW.

Further, practicing true love every day means assisting those who are ministering to our material needs so that they can have more time for Kingdom interests. It means putting up with the weaknesses of our brothers, patiently bearing with them and aiding them to attain maturity. It means not only attending congregation meetings but being punctual, at the same time by friendly greetings making others feel welcome and loved. It also means being alert to train others each time we go forth to preach. And we practice true love when we refuse to “keep account of the injury,” and when we can say regarding reproofs: “Let the righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness; and let him reprove me, it shall be as oil upon the head.”—1 Cor. 13:5, NW; Ps. 141:5, AS.

Armageddon will not miraculously change unloving dispositions, but will wipe them out. Only true love and those who practice it will survive that battle. By practicing true love every day we shall find New World associations to be as refreshing as the dew of Mount Hermon that nightly revived Palestine’s parched vegetation during its long dry season.—Ps. 133:1-3.

[Footnotes]

Were You Baptized? How? Why?

“Look! a body of water; what prevents me from getting baptized?—Acts 8:36, NW.

1. How widespread is general knowledge of some form of baptism?

JEHOVAH’S Word, the Bible, contains an abundance of counsel on baptism. It shows baptism, immersion, to be an initial step of obedience required by the Scriptures of each one who makes a dedication to Jehovah. Why? What is its significance? What purpose does it serve? Our readers are situated in all parts of the earth and many of them have experienced some form of water “baptism” with a religious significance, and have an understanding of the meaning of the ceremony practiced in different places by different religions. Before we discuss the Scriptural meaning of baptism for Christians, it may be well for us to consider what Christian baptism is not.

2. In effect, what is the teaching that baptism is a sacrament?

² Generally speaking, in most religions of the world, both in ancient times and at this day, water baptism is considered to be a sacrament. One of the great religious wrongs done to men is this false teaching of religion that water immersion is a sacrament. It is not a sacrament as it is set out in the Scriptures. The teaching that baptism is a sacrament is in effect the teaching that the ceremony or art itself has merit and imparts grace and benefit to the one being baptized. When a person is actually baptized he is immersed in water, and the sacramental claim is made that the act of being immersed or wet by water results in amazing things for the individual thus baptized.

3. The Catholic Encyclopedia claims what concerning baptism?

³ The following information is taken from The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume II, and is here quoted to show what is claimed for the baptism ceremony. “The Decree for the Armenians” in the bull “Exultate Deo” of Pope Eugene IV: “Holy Baptism holds the first place among the sacraments, because it is the door of the spiritual life; for by it we are made members of Christ and incorporated with the Church. . . . The effect of this sacrament is the remission of all sins, original and actual; likewise of all punishment which is due from sin.” From “Etymology”: “In ecclesiastical usage, however, when the terms Baptize, Baptism are employed without a qualifying word, they are intended to signify the sacramental washing by which the soul is cleansed from sin at the same time that water is poured upon the body.”

4. In what way does the Bible contradict the false claim that baptism is a sacrament?

⁴ This water immersion with the claimed result of forgiveness of original sin thereby means that the immersed one will receive life in heaven because, according to Catholic claim, “original sin deprived the human race of an unearned right to heaven.” Viewing baptism as a sacrament obscures many truths of God’s Word. We cannot here enter into a detailed discussion of all the Scriptural doctrines involved in a consideration of the false claims made for baptism as a sacrament. However, if you have been studying God’s Word and this periodical for a time you know that remission of sins does not come to one because he gets wet with water, neither original nor subsequent sin, but that only Jehovah’s provision through Christ Jesus’ sacrifice of his perfect human life frees mankind from sin and death. (John 1:29; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 9:24-26; 1 John 2:1, 2) Neither could a dipping in water save the individuals of the corrupt old world from punishment that is due for willful sin. (John 15:19; Gal. 1:3, 4; Rev. 18:3-8) For the same reasons immersion in water does not constitute an individual a member of the church or body of Christ, the congregation.

5, 6. As what do pagan religions view baptism, and how widespread is the doctrine?

⁵ Commenting further on the matter of water baptism, The Catholic Encyclopedia states: “How natural and expressive the symbolism of exterior washing to indicate interior purification was recognized to be, is plain from the practice also of the heathen systems of religion. The use of lustral water is found among the Babylonians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Hindus and other.” It is a fact that among the heathen, pagan religions washing and baptizing in water is also viewed as a sacrament that imparts much merit. Non-Catholic authorities agree with this Catholic authority that such is the case and thus two authorities unite in proving the non-Christian claim or theory that water baptism is a sacrament to be of demon or Devil origin.

⁶ To quote from The Two Babylons by Hislop: “This doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration also is essentially Babylonian. Some may perhaps stumble at the idea of regeneration at all having been known in the Pagan world; but if they only go to India, they will find at this day, the bigoted Hindoos, who have never opened their ears to Christian instruction, as familiar with the term and the idea as ourselves. . . . We find different ancient authors bearing direct testimony both to the fact of this [Babylonian] baptism and the intention of it. . . . they who were thus baptised were, as Tertullian assures us, promised the consequence, ‘REGENERATION, and the pardon of all their perjuries.’ Our own Pagan ancestors, the worshippers of Odin, are known to have practised baptismal rites, which, taken in connection with their avowed object in practising them, show that, originally, at least, they must have believed that the natural guilt and corruption of their new-born children could be washed away by sprinkling them with water, or by plunging them, as soon as born, into lakes or rivers. Yea, on the other side of the Atlantic, in Mexico, the same doctrine of baptismal regeneration was found in full vigour among the natives, when Cortez and his warriors landed on their shores. . . . The reader has seen already how faithfully Rome has copied Pagan exorcism in connection with baptism. All the other peculiarities attending the Romish baptism, such as the use of salt, spittle, chrism, or anointing with oil, and marking the forehead with the sign of the cross, are equally Pagan.”

7. To what extent are devices of demon origin employed in today’s baptismal ceremonies of Christendom?

⁷ In today’s baptismal ceremonies of Christendom the devices of godparents, breathing on face of the candidate to exorcise evil spirits, making the sign of the cross, imposition of hands, putting blessed salt in the mouth of the candidate, touching the ears and nostrils with spittle of the priest, anointing with oil, the threefold ablution, white veil, lighted candles, these and other appendages of demon practice or devil worship, comprising the unchristian practice of the so-called sacrament of baptism have been adopted into the religions of Christendom, Roman Catholic and others as well to varying extents and different degrees. So, we do wish to point out at this juncture that Christian immersion in water has nothing to do with pagan sacraments. In itself it does not bring forgiveness of sins or passage to heaven or adoption into the body of Christ. In order to determine what Christian baptism actually signifies, we turn, not to tradition and not to paganism, but to the holy Word of God, the Bible.—Matt. 15:1-9; Mark 7:1-8.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF CHRISTIAN BAPTISM

8, 9. What fundamental truth concerning Christian baptism is essential for our understanding?

⁸ The Scripturally enjoined baptism of Christians signifies their dedication to Jehovah God; it gives evidence that they have made a dedication. In itself the immersion is not the dedication. It is a symbol of the dedication or stands for it and tells observers that the individual immersed has made a dedication. If we can see this truth that water baptism does stand for the dedication previously made by each individual, then other questions are plainly answered for us. The dedication must have been made prior to the immersion; otherwise there would be nothing for the immersion to symbolize. The immersion stands as a vivid reminder of the dedication. Christian water baptism is an outward symbol, as a testimony before witnesses, of the baptized one’s complete, unreserved and unconditional dedication and agreement to do the will of Jehovah God, the Universal Sovereign, through Christ Jesus his King. It means his past course of life is buried (as by the immersion in water) and he comes up from the water to do only God’s will and walk in newness of life thereafter.

⁹ In fact, baptism is an elementary Christian doctrine. So much so that it is classified with repentance and faith in God as being essentially an elementary necessity. “For this reason, now that we have left the elementary doctrine about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying a foundation again, namely, repentance from dead works, and faith toward God, the teaching on baptisms.” (Heb. 6:1, 2, NW) That baptism is an immersion is shown in the facts concerning Israel, because that chosen nation is declared to have been baptized into Moses. “Our forefathers . . . all got baptized into Moses [how?] by means of the cloud and of the sea.” (1 Cor. 10:1, 2, NW) This was the people who afterward “answered unanimously and said: ‘All that Jehovah has spoken we are willing to do.’” (Ex. 19:8, NW) The law under which the dedicated nation of Israel served terminated with Christ Jesus. (Rom. 10:4) He was immersed at the age of thirty in symbol of his dedication to his heavenly Father, Jehovah.

10. Corroboration of this significance of Christian immersion is found in what?

¹⁰ The significance of the immersion of Jesus shows the significance of immersion of his associates and followers and the purpose of Christian baptism today. Jesus made a solemn decision to serve God, and came to John at the river Jordan at the age of thirty, requesting John to baptize him. Jesus had no sins to be forgiven, because he was “guileless, undefiled, separated from the sinners.” (Heb. 7:26, NW) And “he committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth.” (1 Pet. 2:22, NW) Nevertheless, “Jesus also was baptized and, as he was praying, the heaven was opened up.”—Luke 3:21, NW.

11. Did the fortieth Psalm apply to Jesus at birth? When a lad of twelve years? When immersed at the age of thirty years? Why?

¹¹ The baptism performed today in obedience to Jesus’ command is also in imitation of the example he set. Therefore the meaning of his baptism adheres to the baptism of his followers today. It was a symbol that was enacted openly, showing to John that he had dedicated himself to the doing of his Father’s will as that will was revealed to him in his Father’s Word. In the tenth chapter of Hebrews Paul applies the prophecy of the fortieth Psalm 40 to Christ Jesus, stating that “when he comes into the world” the prophecy applies. There is no question about the fact of Jesus’ being immersed at the age of thirty years, because there he performed that act of public confession. He had made a dedication to Jehovah, not at the time of his birth, because he was a little baby then; not when he was twelve years of age, because he did not perform Jehovah’s work in fulfillment of the wonderful prophecies relative to the Christ between the ages of twelve and thirty. No, at twelve years of age he did not say to his heavenly Father: ‘I have come to do your will,’ and then wait until he was thirty years of age before starting it, eighteen years later. Rather, he at his maturity, his majority of thirty, dedicated himself to Jehovah, and that dedication he symbolized by water immersion.

12, 13. Does the fact that Jesus formally came to do God’s will prove his immersion was in symbol of his dedication? Explain.

¹² We know it is a dedication that Paul referred to respecting Jesus because both the fortieth Psalm that he quotes and the tenth chapter of Hebrews so state. It was a matter of Jesus’ coming to do God’s will, having God’s law in his heart. That the Almighty God recognized the baptism as a symbol of that dedication is shown by the fact that he sent his spirit upon Christ Jesus. “After being baptized Jesus immediately came up from the water; and, look! the heavens were opened up, and he saw descending like a dove God’s spirit coming upon him. Look! also, there was a voice from the heavens that said: ‘This is my Son, the beloved, whom I have approved.’” (Matt. 3:16, 17, NW) These words were not spoken of Jesus when he was born a babe or when he was twelve years old, a lad, nor while he was a carpenter for the intervening eighteen years until he was thirty years of age.

¹³ Jesus’ dedication was accepted. It was recognized by Jehovah as was his baptism. His baptism was also observed by John who administered it by dipping Jesus beneath Jordan’s waters. Jesus was not there forgiven original or deliberate sin, because he had neither. He was not inducted into the body of Christ, because he became Christ, the Head of his body. He was buried beneath the water and raised from it, buried to his previous course and raised to the doing of his Father’s will, because that is what the fortieth Psalm and the tenth chapter of Hebrews state. ‘I am come to do your will, O God. Your law is within my heart.’

14. Then for you, what is an initial act of obedience after you have made a personal dedication of yourself to Jehovah?

¹⁴ Then for you, after you have made a personal dedication to Jehovah God, the immersion or baptism in water performed by a Christian of like faith is an initial act of obedience on your part, obedience to the will of Jehovah God in accordance with his wishes for you as expressed by Christ Jesus who himself had baptism performed upon his followers and who commanded that it be continued. “They came to John and said to him: ‘Rabbi, the man that was with you across the Jordan, to whom you have borne witness, see, this one is baptizing and all are going to him.’ . . . Now, the Master became aware that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John.” (John 3:26; 4:1, NW) Jesus said: “Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit.” (Matt. 28:19, NW) Following Jesus’ ascension to heaven, baptism was performed upon Christian converts. Until A.D. 36 these new Christians were Jews, circumcised Samaritans who were related to the Jews, and those who were originally non-Jews but had been made circumcised proselytes to the Jewish religion and now were converted to Christianity. Thereafter baptism included uncircumcised non-Jews when the Christian gospel was carried to Gentiles. Regarding Saul, who became the apostle Paul, the statement is: “He [Saul] recovered sight, and he rose and was baptized.”—Acts 9:18, NW.

SINS NOT FORGIVEN BY BAPTISM

15. Were Saul’s (Paul’s) sins forgiven by means of his baptism?

¹⁵ “Rise, get baptized and wash your sins away by your calling upon his name,” are the words that the apostle Paul stated came to him at the time of his conversion. (Acts 22:16, NW) Does this show that Paul had his sins forgiven by being baptized, thus in water washing them away? That is not what Paul states. He says that he was commanded to get baptized and that the washing away of his sins was by his calling upon the name of Jehovah through Christ Jesus. His calling on him in Jesus’ name showed faithful performance of his conversion, or dedication. Was Paul’s (or Saul’s) conversion to Christianity the same as his dedication? Yes, because his conversion means his turning, a turning to follow Jesus Christ.

16, 17. (a) Does repentance follow or precede immersion? (b) What shows further that baptism symbolizes dedication?

¹⁶ This is in harmony with the fact that the One setting the pattern for Christian immersion had no sins to forgive and is also in harmony with the fact that our repentance must precede our baptism. At the time of ‘turning to God,’ says Paul, “I went bringing the message that they should repent and turn to God by doing works that befit repentance.” (Acts 26:20, NW) “I thoroughly bore witness both to Jews and to Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus.” (Acts 20:21, NW) Further showing that immersion symbolizes the complete dedication for a Christian who follows in the course marked out by Jesus we read: “In fact, to this course you were called, because even Christ suffered for you, leaving you a model for you to follow his steps closely.” (1 Pet. 2:21, NW) “Then Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If anyone wants to come after me, let him disown himself and pick up his torture stake and follow me continually.” (Matt. 16:24, NW) The same burial to one’s past course as symbolized by water immersion, and the determination to do the will of Jehovah God through Christ Jesus, that is to say, the dedication, are also referred to by Jesus in a parallel passage. “If anyone wants to come after me, let him disown himself and pick up his torture stake day after day and follow me continually.”—Luke 9:23, NW.

¹⁷ There are some scriptures that associate forgiveness of sins with an immersion, and so, in order to give consideration to them, we now refer to the baptism of John.

THE BAPTISM BY JOHN THE BAPTIST

18. What circumstances necessitated the ministry of John the immerser?

¹⁸ John the Baptist was a forerunner of Christ, announcing him, and, through his ministry, preparing some of the nation of Israel to receive Jesus when the latter began his ministry following his dedication and baptism. This was necessary because, while the nation of Israel had the law of Moses to lead them to Christ, they had transgressed that law and sinned against it. If they were to be ready to recognize and accept the Messiah when he arrived, they certainly had to have a preparatory work done in their behalf. Therefore John preached a message of repentance to the Jews and in doing so administered strong rebukes against all unrighteousness that they practiced.

19. Why did John baptize along with his preaching?

¹⁹ But why did John baptize along with his preaching? Did the baptism take away the sins of the Israelites who were immersed by him? Another question helps answer: What was the purpose of John’s preaching? It was to bring about a change of heart, a repentance, so as to prepare the Israelites for Christ. Some did respond to John’s good message, repented, confessed their sins and were publicly baptized. This is recognized by the early Christians later on who referred to it in these words: “John, in advance of the entry of that One, had preached publicly to all the people of Israel the baptism of those repenting.” (Acts 13:24, NW) And again, “John baptized with the baptism of those repenting, telling the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” (Acts 19:4, NW) We see, then, the Scriptures do not say that the baptism accomplished the forgiveness of sins, but it was performed upon those who had repented. That was the purpose of John’s teaching, and the repentance is what brought about the forgiveness of sins against the law covenant. The baptism itself was because of their repentance or was conditioned on it. It was a token of it or a picture of it and so the repentance was thus publicly signified before John and others. Public announcement was made and those persons who thus signified it were properly expected to accept the Messiah, Christ Jesus as announced by John the immerser.

20. (a) Demonstrate further the fact that John’s immersion was in symbol of previous repentance. (b) Show whether Jesus’ baptism for Christians was different from John’s or not.

²⁰ The modern versions of the Christian Greek Scriptures (often called the New Testament) verify this point further, as observe the following renderings of John’s own words at Matthew 3:11: “I, on the one hand, baptize you with water because of your repentance.” (NW) “I am baptizing you in water in token of your repentance.” (AT) “I am baptizing you in water to picture your repentance.” (C. B. Williams) At Luke 3:3 we read that John the Baptist went “preaching baptism of those repenting for forgiveness of sins.” (NW) “Preaching a baptism conditioned on repentance.” (Williams) “Announcing a baptism whereby men repented, to have their sins forgiven.” (Knox) It was because of the very fact that John baptized persons in symbol of the repentance that they had made, repentance for sins against the Law, that he could not understand why Jesus came to him to be immersed, because Jesus had no sins against the Law. Yet to him Jesus stated: “Let it be, this time, for in that way it is suitable for us to carry out all that is righteous.” (Matt. 3:15, NW) Further proof that Jesus’ baptism and Christian immersion is not the same as that performed by John the Baptist is in the account at Acts 19:1-5 (NW): “In the course of events, while Apollos was in Corinth, Paul went through the inland parts and came down to Ephesus, and found some disciples, and he said to them: ‘Did you receive holy spirit when you became believers?’ They said to him: ‘Why, we have never heard whether there is a holy spirit.’ And he said: ‘In what, then, were you baptized?’ They said: ‘In John’s baptism.’ Paul said: ‘John baptized with the baptism of those repenting, telling the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.’ On hearing this, they got baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.”

21. What remains for consideration concerning baptized ones?

²¹ So Jesus set a pattern starting something new, not a baptism for remission of sins nor in symbol of repentance but the Christian immersion in symbol of the individual’s dedication, even such as Jesus himself thereby symbolized. See the following article concerning Christian requirements today for baptism and of baptized ones.

Christian Baptism for the New World Society

“We will walk in his [Jehovah’s] paths.”—Mic. 4:2, AS.

1. Should each one now making a dedication to Jehovah be immersed? Does this include the “other sheep” of the Lord?

IN THIS and the preceding issue of The Watchtower much has been set out concerning dedication to Jehovah and baptism in symbol thereof. Here the discussion is further developed. On the basis of what has gone before, should the “other sheep” of the Lord Jesus be baptized? (John 10:16) The answer to this question is, Yes. All who make a dedication to do God’s will should be immersed in evidence thereof, and this includes those who find themselves thereafter members of the Lord’s “other sheep,” the “great crowd,” the class with earthly hopes of everlasting life. (Rev. 7:9) They wish to carry out all that is righteous. Immersion for them is proper to that end, even as stated by Jesus concerning his baptism, at Matthew 3:15. That these worshipers of Jehovah now being gathered make a dedication individually is proved by, among other scriptures, the ancient prophecy of Micah. “Many nations shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” (Mic. 4:1-5, AS) That shows devotion to God, dedication, to “walk in his paths.” It is necessary here to observe the matter of procedure to enable us to be certain that we perform baptism in the proper way.

SPRINKLE, POUR OR DIP?

2. What forms of application of water are advocated in orthodox religions today?

² A common orthodox view of baptism is as expressed here: “By the present authorized ritual of the Latin Church, baptism must be performed by a laving of the head of the candidate. It is pointed out that “water must flow, not merely touch.” Further “the very word ‘baptize’, as we have seen, means a washing. Three forms of ablution have prevailed among Christians, and the Church holds them all to be valid because they fulfill the requisite signification of the baptismal laving. These forms are immersion, infusion, and aspersion. The most ancient form usually employed was unquestionably immersion. . . . In the Latin Church, immersion seems to have prevailed until the twelfth century.”—The Catholic Encyclopedia.

3. Does the word “baptize” mean “to wash”? What does it mean?

³ Orthodoxy allows the carrying of the washing idea to such an extreme that it can be performed upon unborn babes! The question does arise, then, as to the propriety of pouring or sprinkling in contrast with immersing or dipping, and so it must be observed that the pattern Jesus set was that of immersion. The meaning of baptize is not to wash, but rather to immerse or to dip. This is proved by the Scriptures in all references to Christian water baptism and also in other uses of the word “baptize.” Sprinkling or pouring may meet the requirements of orthodox religion that views baptism as a sacrament (which it is not), because it lays emphasis upon its doctrine of washing. However, the Bible shows the significance of the Christian baptism to be a symbol of dedication, burial to one’s former course and a raising to doing the will of Jehovah. Only immersion could thus symbolize it.

4. In what way do “death” and “buried” prove the meaning of the word “baptize”?

⁴ It is important to observe that our word “baptism” is from the Greek báptisma meaning immersion, dipping, submerging. In the case of the Christian baptism in symbol of dedication it means an immersion in water. In the Bible are also many references made to immersion and dipping that do not refer to the Christian baptism in water in symbol of dedication. For instance, we would not think of a person’s being just slightly sprinkled with death, and yet, in Romans 6:3, 4, Paul speaks of Christians’ being baptized into the death of Christ Jesus and also being buried in his baptism. When one is literally buried he is not sprinkled with a little bit of dirt nor does he have a little dirt poured on him, but he is covered with it. So it is in going down in the death of Christ Jesus.

5. How do other scriptures confront us with the fact that the Bible teaches only total immersion?

⁵ We have observed how Jesus was immersed in the Jordan and in John 3:23 it is pointed out that there was a great quantity of water where John the immerser was doing his baptizing. Observe, too, the action of an early Christian convert. “‘Look! a body of water; what prevents me from getting baptized?’ . . . they both went down into the water, . . . and he baptized him. When they had come up out of the water, . . . he went traveling.” (Acts 8:36, 38, 39, NW) Many more Bible examples can be cited. One is a reference to the scripture at Exodus 12:22 (NW): “And you must take a bunch of hyssop and dip it into the blood in a basin.” The word “dip” referring to the immersing of the bunch of hyssop into the blood in the basin is translated in the Greek Septuagint Version by the Greek word baptein, meaning “immerse” or “baptize.” (NW, footnote) We are confronted with the fact that the Scriptures teach baptism by total immersion, and with the further fact that the practice of sprinkling and pouring in religious “baptism” is an invention of men and is not authorized by the Bible. The Catholic Encyclopedia states that the Bible is not the sole authority but that tradition in the matter of the so-called “sacraments” must be relied upon. Of course, they must rely upon tradition for support in this issue, because the Word of God does not support them.

6. While “baptize” always means immersion, is it sometimes used in the Bible with reference to other than water immersion?

⁶ The word “baptize” is also used with reference to immersion in God’s holy spirit through Christ Jesus of those who are called to be members of the body of Christ. (Acts 1:5; 2:1-4, 32, 33, NW) The word “baptize” is also used, not with reference to the immersion in water in symbol of dedication, but with reference to being made a member of the body of Christ, “immersed” in him as such. (1 Cor. 12:12, 13; Gal. 3:27, 28; Eph. 4:4, 5) In regard to being plunged into Christ’s death, the word “baptize” is used at Mark 10:38, 39; Luke 12:50; Romans 6:3, 4; 1 Corinthians 15:29, and Colossians 2:12. So, not every time that the word “baptize” is found in the Bible does it refer to water immersion of Christians. It is necessary for us to know what the passage of Scripture is discussing, what the context is showing and the point that is being made. That is the way we read any publication. We must not allow ourselves to be misled by human tradition from the teachings of God’s Word. Note too that overwhelming fiery destruction from Jehovah upon his enemies is represented as a baptism with fire.—Matt. 3:11, 12; Luke 3:16, 17, NW.

7. To summarize at this point, what about dedication and baptism?

⁷ It is hoped that the discussion of the matter of dedication and baptism to this point has been made clear. To summarize: You should make a dedication to Jehovah God. You should symbolize that dedication by the act of obedience of being baptized in water before witnesses of others of Jehovah’s people. Now, after dedication, what is required?

REQUIREMENTS

8. Repeat Jesus’ words at Matthew 28:19, 20. Are they a sacramental formula? What do they show?

⁸ Some say that Jesus’ words at Matthew 28:19, 20 are a formula to be repeated in substance at the time of immersion and that the repetition of these very words accomplishes some sacramental purpose. That is not the case. Rather, these words of instruction by Jesus to his disciples show what is now required of dedicated ones and what can be expected of them. The words are: “Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you.”—NW.

9. Being ‘baptized in the name of the Father’ shows what as to the one to whom the dedication has been made?

⁹ “In the name of the Father,” most certainly, because the dedication itself is to the Father, Jehovah God. To be baptized in his name means to have made a dedication to him, to be baptized in symbol of that dedication in full recognition of his office, supremacy and his authority as the Most High. As expressed by our Leader: “I am come . . . to do your will, O God.” (Heb. 10:7, NW) The dedicated one approaches Jehovah through Christ Jesus, and “he that approaches God must believe that he is and that he becomes the rewarder of those earnestly seeking him.” (Heb. 11:6, NW) Jesus himself stated: “Father, let your name be sanctified.” “I have come in the name of my Father.” “The works which I am doing in the name of my Father, these bear witness about me.”—Luke 11:2; John 5:43; John 10:25, NW.

10. The Father requires what of one baptized in his name?

¹⁰ It is expected of the dedicated one that he will uphold the cause of the Father, the cause of true worship, will preach in honor of the Word and name of Jehovah God, will fully bear his responsibilities as a minister, a preacher in the field service from house to house, and otherwise participate fully in the activities of the New World society, to advance the proclamation of the Kingdom and uphold the true worship of Jehovah. The dedicated one must be a house-to-house witness as was Christ Jesus and the apostles to the extent of his ability, and must otherwise be a witness and announcer of the theocratic kingdom of righteousness. It is God’s will that the dedicated one continually study his Word, that such one preach his word and that such one progress in righteousness. The dedicated one is in a personal relationship to God; his integrity to Jehovah must follow.

11. One ‘baptized in the name of the Father’ will do what respecting the New World society organization?

¹¹ Even as the love of righteousness was an essential precedent to his turning to Jehovah in the first place, so the love of righteousness must continue with him to keep him in the way of integrity, faithful to his dedication vows. That means that he will keep the New World society clean, upright and at unity. He will take care of difficulties between himself and any other individual in the New World society in a Scriptural way, will do no wrong that affects the congregation and its service, and will accept private reproof, and, if given, public reproof from his fellow servants in the New World society, the theocratic organization. He will not engage in doctrinal uncleanness, in moral uncleanness or in troublemaking. He will, in all of these and in other matters, private and ministerial, endeavor to conform to the will of the heavenly Father in whose name he has been baptized and to whom his dedication has been made.

12. The Son has what name?

¹² “Baptizing them in the name . . . of the Son.” The very act of baptism is following the example set by the Son who thus symbolized his dedication to Jehovah. He is the proper one to follow because, as his heavenly Father states: “Behold, I have given him for a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander to the peoples.” (Isa. 55:4, AS) “God exalted him to a superior position and kindly gave him the name that is above every other name, so that in the name of Jesus every knee should bend of those in heaven and those on earth and those under the ground, and every tongue should openly confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil. 2:9-11, NW) This high office Christ Jesus fills, and to be baptized in his name is in recognition of this, appreciating the authority that he exercises by Jehovah’s appointment. As stated at Revelation 19:16 (NW): “He has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.”

13. Being ‘baptized in the name of the Son’ means what?

¹³ The salvation for which we hope and in which we trust and for which he eventually officiates in our behalf in priestly office is dependent upon him as Jehovah’s great provision. Such point is made by Paul when he wrote: “He became responsible for everlasting salvation to all those obeying him, because he has been specifically called by God a high priest after the likeness of Melchizedek.” (Heb. 5:9, 10, NW) His name is called King of kings, Lord of lords, the High Priest after the likeness of Melchizedek, and also, “his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isa. 9:6, AS) To be immersed in the name of this great One, therefore, shows that the dedication to Jehovah is not without recognition of the Son but is in appreciation of the fact that our relationship to Jehovah God is through the Son, Christ Jesus, and we confess his lordship to the glory of God the Father. We have seen that, not getting wet with water, but the sacrifice of Christ, is the basis of our salvation and forgiveness of sins. “This man is for a certainty the savior of the world.” “He is a propitiatory sacrifice for our sins, yet not for ours only but also for the whole world’s.” (John 4:42; 1 John 2:2, NW) So we gladly recognize the office of authority, even the “name” of the Son.

14. Why ‘baptized in the name of the holy spirit’?

¹⁴ “Go . . . baptizing them in the name of . . . the holy spirit.” What is the holy spirit? It is the active force of God, through which he accomplishes his purposes. God’s Word itself was provided through his power under inspiration of his spirit and has been preserved by such, and this we must recognize. Being baptized in the name of the holy spirit, therefore, is in recognition of the function and purpose of God’s holy and righteous active force. This acts upon his people, and walking in accordance with it means walking in accordance with righteousness, because it is truly a holy spirit. (Gal. 5:16-26; Eph. 5:18, NW) It is required of us that we so do. As stated, “he who is sowing with a view to the spirit will reap everlasting life from the spirit.” (Gal. 6:8, NW) Of the dedicated one it is required that he engage in Christian warfare faithfully, loyally, without throwing down the weapons, without seeking furlough or release, joyful in the opportunity to uphold Jehovah’s side of every controversy. Of the spirit we have a great sword that we must wield, as it is stated: “Accept . . . the sword of the spirit, that is, God’s word.”—Eph. 6:17, NW.

15. Is denominationalism a Christian principle?

¹⁵ A Christian, therefore, cannot be baptized in the name of the one actually doing the immersing or in the name of any man, nor in the name of any organization, but in the name of the Father, the Son and the holy spirit. This shows, among other things, that Christianity is not a denominational affair, that sects have nothing to do with it. “Does the Christ exist divided? Paul was not impaled for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I am thankful I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name.”—1 Cor. 1:13-15, NW.

16. Should one be urged into being baptized?

¹⁶ With the blessed divine requirements to be met by dedicated servants of God in mind, we can see that the decision of dedication must be one of free will, and that it is not to be urged upon anyone. We “beg” persons to “become reconciled to God,” but each must finally decide for himself what, if anything, he is going to do in response to the truth. (2 Cor. 5:20, NW) The way the apostle Paul put it in his first letter to the Corinthians is: “For Christ dispatched me, not to go baptizing, but to go declaring the good news, not with wisdom of speech, that the torture stake of the Christ should not be made useless.”—1 Cor. 1:17, NW.

17. What about infant baptism?

¹⁷ This rules out infant baptism because infants cannot make this vital decision. Faith is the basis of the turning to Jehovah. Faith is, in turn, based upon knowledge of God and acceptance of his Word of truth. “‘Anyone that calls upon the name of Jehovah will be saved’. However, how will they call upon him in whom they have not put faith? How, in turn, will they put faith in him of whom they have not heard?” (Rom. 10:13, 14, NW) Baptism is not a sacrament but is a symbol of dedication. Therefore, baptism of infants or small children under the age of responsibility is unchristian and should not be indulged in. Dedication follows a training period. The training must continue. Baptism follows dedication, and training must continue thereafter. The orthodox Roman Catholic provision for the “baptism” of unborn babes is as ridiculous as it is pagan. The argument that infant baptism is necessary is based upon the false premise that baptism is a sacrament, as has been previously discussed.

18. In what manner is public expression made to show baptismal qualifications?

¹⁸ Who are eligible for baptism? Those who at the time of coming to be immersed can stand and say, aloud before the witnesses present, “Yes” to each of the following questions. (1) Have you recognized yourself before Jehovah God as a sinner who needs salvation, and have you acknowledged to him that this salvation proceeds from him the Father through his Son Christ Jesus? (2) On the basis of this faith in God and in his provision for salvation have you dedicated yourself unreservedly to God to do his will henceforth as he reveals it to you through Christ Jesus and through the Bible under the enlightenment of the holy spirit?

19. What about immersion of children?

¹⁹ Can children answer Yes to these questions? Some of them can, if they have understanding; some cannot, because they do not understand. It is up to the parent to guide the child in pure worship, and then the individual child must, upon reaching an age of accountability, decide whether to make a dedication or not, and, if a dedication is made, the child should be baptized in symbol of it. But the child should not be baptized if there is no dedication by him.

20. State when baptism is proper for a dedicated person who was previously sprinkled or immersed.

²⁰ Someone may say, I was baptized, immersed or sprinkled or had water poured upon me in the past, but I knew nothing of the import of it as contained in the foregoing questions and the foregoing discussion. Should I be baptized again? In such a case, the answer is Yes, if, since coming to the knowledge of the truth, you have made a dedication to do Jehovah’s will, and if you had not previously made a dedication, and if the previous baptism was therefore not in symbol of a dedication. Even though the individual may know he has made a dedication in the past, if he was only sprinkled or had water poured upon him in some religious ceremony, he has not been baptized and is still due to perform the symbol of Christian baptism before witnesses in evidence of the dedication that he has made.

21. At an assembly for baptism, what are some things to be observed?

²¹ When the candidates assemble for the purpose of immersion, it is well for a dedicated, immersed, qualified minister to address them for a few minutes, perhaps twenty-five minutes or so, reviewing the essentials relative to dedication and baptism. Of course, the candidates must make a dedication before they come to the place of immersion, and they already understand what the ceremony is about, but the review is spiritually beneficial, because it puts the minds of all in the proper frame and centers the attention and heart upon the important symbolism being undertaken. After the discussion and after the candidates have stood and in audible voice answered Yes to the two questions so that those other persons may witness their claim of dedication, it is appropriate that a few brief remarks be made relative to Jehovah’s blessing upon them and the support and comfort of Jehovah through his Word, his spirit, his organization and his people in the New World society. Then all assembled should bow in prayer, asking Jehovah’s blessing upon the occasion and upon those to be immersed in particular, that his will might be done then and in the days to come. Then those who are already dedicated but not yet baptized can take advantage of the provision for immersion in symbol of the dedication.

22. Outline the appropriate conduct at the place of baptism.

²² Thereafter those who are to perform the immersion and those who are to be immersed and others who may be assisting in the services or observing them go to the place of immersion. This may be the seaside, a lake or river or other body of water or an indoor pool, and, if circumstances necessitate, a smaller vessel or tank of water, but, in any event, large enough to provide for complete immersion. There at the place of baptism, on that occasion, it would be inappropriate for any to indulge in play, because it is a serious and solemn occasion. Jesus was praying when he went to baptism. He did not jump in and take a swim and otherwise disturb and act inappropriately. So, do not jump into the pool or tank or stream and swim about, waiting for the candidates to get ready, but let all act with decorum and keep the mind upon what is being done and the reason for it and thus help the candidates do the same thing. In their baptism they are going on record before men, including their brothers, that they are dedicated to Jehovah God. “Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few. When thou makest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou vowest. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thy hands?”—Eccl. 5:2, 4-6, AS.

23. What are the facts concerning Christian baptism as an ordination ceremony?

²³ The New World society is dear to the hearts of God’s dedicated people and they see to it that they associate with it intimately, participate in its activity and support it in every way in loyalty and love. Hence the time of baptism may be taken as the time of Christian ordination. This act of obedience following sincere dedication is evidence before men of the course of action the individual has marked out and it relates to his ordination by God. Its date should be observed as such by each one. It is authoritative because of being done at God’s commands. It is solemn because of what it represents. It is recognized by the New World society and its instruments, by Jehovah’s witnesses and by their servant, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. For purposes of record, baptism or immersion by Jehovah’s witnesses is a valid ceremony of ordination for Jehovah’s witnesses within the meaning of the law. The best proof that one can have that he is thereafter a faithful minister is the same to which the apostle Paul pointed as his letters of recommendation, namely, individuals who due to one’s efforts have, in turn, dedicated themselves to Jehovah God.—2 Cor. 3:1-3, NW.

24. (a) In what way is Jehovah’s worship expanded and the New World society built up? (b) What should you consider wisely?

²⁴ Such is the way the worship of Jehovah expands. This is the way the New World society is built up. You are having a share in this ministry, or you can have a part in it. Consider wisely the blessed future that the Bible opens up to you as a certainty through devotion and faithfulness to the righteous God and his high principles. Be wise. May Jehovah through Christ Jesus bless you as you determine to serve the Most High. With you as a dedicated, baptized, faithful servant of the true God, we share your practice of clean worship in mutual joy now.

“No-Bingo Collection”

Recently the New York Times (February 14, 1955) told about a Roman Catholic parish in Rockaway Beach, Queens, that passed out to its parishioners envelopes for a “No-Bingo Collection.” Brilliantly printed on the envelopes were the numbered squares of a bingo card. “We regret that this is necessary because the politicians have closed down our bingo game,” an announcement said. “Inasmuch as 80 per cent of the yearly cost of running our parish school was defrayed by receipts of the weekly bingo game, we ask everyone to be generous so that we will be able to meet the bills for running the school.” Thinking people cannot help but question the practice of financing either schools or churches by gambling. Two logical questions are: What are we to think of an institution built on the rotten foundation of gambling? What does this teach the young?

Questions From Readers

● Psalm 110:1 speaks of Christ sitting at Jehovah’s right hand, but Ps 110 verse 5 refers to Jehovah as being at Christ’s right hand, “Lord” there meaning Jehovah, according to the book What Has Religion Done for Mankind? page 100. If Christ is at Jehovah’s right hand, would that not mean that Jehovah is at Christ’s left?—R. C., Australia.

Psalm 110 views Jehovah as speaking to Christ, Jehovah being referred to in the third person and Christ in the second person. Ps 110 Verse 1 (AS) reads: “Jehovah saith unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand.” Ps 110 Verse 5 states: “The Lord at thy right hand will strike through kings in the day of his wrath.” “Thou” and “thy” refer to Christ, so “Lord” in Ps 110 verse 5 refers to the Lord Jehovah. Hence the psalm does first speak of Christ as at Jehovah’s right hand, then later refers to Jehovah as being at Christ’s right hand.

However, being at the right hand does not necessarily mean literal location, any more than do Jesus’ illustrative words mean the sheep are now literally always located at his right and the goats literally at the left. It is no more literal than is the sitting position mentioned at Psalm 110:1. Jesus did not literally sit from the time of his resurrection and ascension to heaven until 1914, when he stood up as the enthroned King. The sitting position merely meant that he was inactive as far as assuming the kingly duties is concerned. Also, the right-hand position is not necessarily to be viewed as literal, but symbolical. The right side indicates the place of preference, of excellence, of favor and approval. The left-hand position, as in the illustration of the sheep and goats, is the side of disapproval and disfavor. Ecclesiastes 10:2 expresses the sense, when it says: “A wise man’s heart is at his right hand; but a fool’s heart at his left.” Or, “The wise man’s mind makes for his success; the fool’s mind makes for his failure.” (AT) Here the right represents success, the left failure. It would be absurd to try to apply this text to the literal heart position, for it is to the left, whether the person is wise or a fool. Following this rule of excellence of the right hand, the aged Jacob laid his right hand upon Joseph’s younger son Ephraim and gave him the superior farewell blessing, while he laid his left hand upon the older boy Manasseh and gave him an inferior blessing. (Gen. 48:14-20) In harmony with this, Christ Jesus himself is prophetically pictured as saying to his heavenly Father: “In thy presence is fulness of joy; in thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”—Ps. 16:11, AS.

Therefore, when we do not try to take a literal view of matters there is no difficulty in Jehovah and Christ’s being at each other’s right hand, as shown at Psalm 110:1, 5. Each has the position of preference and excellence with the other.

● At Romans 7:9 Paul talks as though he once lived before the law covenant existed, and that he was living when it started. Since that was centuries before his lifetime, how are Paul’s words to be understood?—D. S., United States.

Paul’s argument is that the law, by making sin known, made the sinfulness of men manifest. It convicted them as being sinners, and sin merited death. So the law brought sin to life and made those under the law deserving of death. An imperfect man, unable to keep the law perfectly, was convicted as a sinner and worthy of death. It is in this setting that Paul wrote, at Romans 7:9 (NW): “I was once alive apart from law; but when the commandment arrived, sin came to life again, but I died.” Before the law was given he speaks of himself as alive, but when the law came into effect it brought sin to life and it convicted him to death.

But how could this be true in the case of the apostle Paul? The law covenant went into effect fifteen centuries before he was born. He was not “alive apart from law” or living when the law arrived. However, Paul was a fleshly descendant of Abraham, to whom God said: “In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” (Gen. 22:18) Abraham was God’s friend and was justified in God’s sight because of his faith. While yet unborn in the loins of Abraham, Paul had a hope of life through faith. But 330 years after Abraham died, the law covenant was added to the divine promise made to Abraham. This law covenant made it plainly appear that Abraham’s fleshly descendants, the twelve tribes of Israel, were sinners and transgressors. Paul was born under this law covenant, and he being unable to justify himself to life by the works of the law covenant, his hope of life by it died.

So he lived apart from the law, before its arrival, only in the figurative sense of being in the loins of his forefather Abraham. This is the same as when the Bible speaks of Levi paying tithes to Melchizedek, though Levi did not live until long after the time of Melchizedek. But Levi’s forefather Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek on one occasion, and hence Paul wrote: “And, if I may use the expression, through Abraham even Levi who receives tithes has paid tithes, for he was still in the loins of his forefather when Melchizedek met him [and received tithes from Abraham].” (Heb. 7:9, 10, NW) Thus the Bible itself provides the sense in which Paul lived apart from the law or before its arrival.—See The Watchtower, November 1, 1945, page 332.

Archaeology and the Word “Covenant”

ONE of the outstanding words in the Hebrew Scriptures is the word b^erith, which appears at least 279 times, 82 of which are in the five books of Moses. B^erith has been translated variously as “covenant,” “confederacy,” “league,” and some suggest “arrangement.” So far the New World Translation of the Hebrew Scriptures has consistently translated this Hebrew word as “covenant” although there is one notable exception where, instead of a literal translation “owners of a covenant,” two Hebrew words are translated by the one word “confederates,” which is derived from the Latin word foederis, meaning “of a covenant, compact or agreement.”—Gen. 14:13, marginal reading.

Jehovah’s witnesses for the past seventy years have attached the strictest sense to this word b^erith, accepting its meaning as referring to a covenant compact, a legal contract in the modern completest sense, a binding agreement between two parties where one or both are legally bound to fulfill certain terms or obligations. However, most religious expounders have taken a milder view of the Bible’s use of b^erith, watering down its force by claiming that it was used mostly as a comparison with the sense of denoting certain relations between God and man, expressions merely of will (unilateral or one-sided covenants) or announcements of new arrangements.

Biblical archaeology has now come to the vindication of Jehovah’s witnesses in their stricter understanding of b^erith. In 1927 some fifteen cuneiform tablets were found at the ancient non-Israelitish city of Qatna, southeast of Hamath, which latter place is named in the Bible as being located on the northern boundary of the Promised Land. (Josh. 13:5) These Qatna documents or tablets appear to have been written about two hundred years after Moses’ time. It was not until 1950 that the French Assyriologist M. J. Bottéro completed publishing their transcriptions and translations. The American Schools of Oriental Research gives the following report of two of these tablets containing the first non-Biblical occurrences of this important Bible word’s being used legally even by Israel’s neighbors shortly after Moses’ day.

“The contents of the two tablets are simple. Tablet A contains a list of names . . . Tablet B is a ration list, with rations of barley meal, etc., payable to men bearing similar names. Both tablets were written by the same man, Kida son of Akbite, whose name also appears in the first list, indicating that he wrote the tablet on behalf of the group of men in question. List A is thus a compact in which the men in question, together with their scribe, agree to enter someone’s service or to carry out certain obligations. List B, written by the same scribe, then illustrates the nature of the compact; the men were to receive specified rations in return for their services. Needless to say, we have here an extremely interesting new point for biblical scholars since the Israelite concept of b^erith, ‘covenant,’ was a central theme in Yahwist theology. Here we have the first published extra-biblical occurrence of the word from early times—not later than the first third of the fourteenth century B.C.”a

So in the future one can use the Bible word translated “covenant” with full assurance it had an ancient meaning comparable to our modern legal word “contract.”

[Footnotes]

Announcements

PRACTICING TRUE LOVE EVERY DAY—1 John 3:18, NW.

All who are in harmonious union with Jehovah God and Christ Jesus practice true love every day. They want to do good to all and seek the best way in which this can be done. To share lovingly with others the very best they have, Jehovah’s witnesses continually go to the homes of people to tell them of Jehovah’s loving arrangements for life in a righteous unending new world of his making. To aid all interested persons during July they will present a Bible study aid book and a booklet for the very small contribution of 50c. Practice true love every day of the month by telling others things you know about Jehovah’s loving arrangements to rescue mankind at this time of their crisis.

THE ASSEMBLIES ARE UNDER WAY!

By the time you read this the June 22-26 “Triumphant Kingdom” assembly of Jehovah’s witnesses in Chicago should be well under way if not already concluded. It will have provided great blessings for thousands of earnest, sincere servants of Jehovah. You did not attend at Chicago? Then there are four more North American assemblies that you still may attend: in Empire Stadium, Vancouver, British Columbia, June 29–July 3; in Wrigley Field, Los Angeles, California, July 6-10; in the Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas, July 13-17; and in Yankee Stadium, New York, July 20-24. Take full advantage of the program and spiritual information that will be provided. Go with a determination to learn all you can, to retain as much as possible and to return home filled to overflowing with good information for others who could not go. Now is the time! The assemblies are under way. What arrangements have you made to take full advantage of them?

“NEW HEAVENS AND A NEW EARTH”

God’s promise to create new heavens and a new earth is wonderfully developed in the 384-page book “New Heavens and a New Earth”. It shows that the meaning of this phrase is not literal, but figurative, depicting for us the conditions that will soon prevail on earth and in the unseen heavenly organization that God has purposed for the blessing of all the willing and obedient of humankind. The book gives ample proof that the realization of the promised “new heavens and a new earth” blessings are near at hand “even at the doors.” This fine book and the 32-page booklet “Christendom or Christianity—Which One Is ‘the Light of the World’?” are available on the small contribution of 50c. Write for your copies today.

“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES FOR THE WEEKS

August 7: Were You Baptized? How? Why? Page 401.

August 14: Christian Baptism for the New World Society. Page 407.

Check Your Memory

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

✔What disproves the claim that Bible writers were Roman Catholic? P. 389, ¶1.

✔Who was the first pope? P. 390, ¶7.

✔When the Watchtower broadcast 23,783 radio Bible talks on six continents? P. 392, ¶2.

✔What other preaching work proved even more fruitful than the radio? P. 394, ¶4.

✔What effect the Kingdom message has upon fetish worshipers in Africa? P. 396, ¶4.

✔What things are involved in practicing true Christian love today? P. 400, ¶5.

✔Whether baptism, as set out in the Scriptures, is a “sacrament”? P. 401, ¶2.

✔How practices of demon origin are employed in “Christian” baptisms today? P. 402, ¶7.

✔What baptism really signifies? P. 403, ¶8.

✔Whether baptism can be by sprinkling or pouring, or only by dipping? P. 407, ¶3.

✔How right baptism is “in the name of the Father”? P. 409, ¶9.

✔How right baptism is “in the name . . . of the Son”? P. 410, ¶13.

✔Whether Psalm 110:1, 5 confuses whether Jehovah or Christ is at the right hand? P. 414, ¶4.