The Watchtower — May 15, 1956

Why Are the Clergy Discouraged?

MANY honest-hearted clergymen are becoming discouraged. A surprising number are even quitting their jobs. But why? Do not clergymen enjoy great prestige? Do not most of the clergy enjoy financial security? Are not the clergy enjoying the greatest religious boom in history?

True, but not all is well. This is seen in the results of a survey made not long ago among the Protestant clergy. To “find out how ministers function as pastors of churches in the United States,” the survey sponsors, the Russell Sage Foundation and the Union Theological Seminary, sent detailed questionnaires to 1,600 ministers. The sponsors received replies from 1,150 ministers in forty-seven states. The ministers represented twenty-two Protestant denominations. This is what the survey found: (1) Churches are becoming more like social centers than places of worship. (2) Today’s preacher is not so much preacher as he is organizer, counselor, promoter, financier, psychologist, administrator, socialite and entertainer. The role of being a preacher, said a spokesman for the survey, is one of “declining importance.”—New York Times, April 4, 1955.

What does this mean? That the clergy are doing almost everything except preaching the pure truths of the Bible. Has this getting away from Bible preaching been beneficial for the clergy? Financially, yes. But some ministers are honest with themselves. Thus one minister who sent in his survey questionnaire commented: “In addition to the matters covered in the questionnaire, I would like to mention the fact that I feel that there are a good many ministers who feel rather lost. I’m among them. We simply cannot see where we are going in the church. Our churches are successful. We gain more members, we have more at church, we have bigger budgets, we have more activities, we have better Sunday school materials, and so on. But we can’t see that we are making much of a difference in our communities or in the lives of the individual members of our communities. This disturbs me.”—New York Times, April 5, 1955.

If “a good many” Protestant clergymen feel lost because they are not making much difference in the lives of their parishioners, what of honest-hearted Catholic priests? As we look about North and South America and Europe, do we see Catholic priests making much difference in the lives of their parishioners? Are a good number of them also discouraged?

In 1948 a priest who spent fifteen years in the Franciscan order quit the Catholic Church. According to an Associated Press report of January 22, 1954, such as that which appeared in the Bergen (New Jersey) Evening Record of that date, ex-priest Emmett McLoughlin said: “The number of priests quitting the priesthood is kept as secret as possible.” Why? The news report continued: “McLoughlin, who left the priesthood in 1948 and now is superintendent of Memorial Hospital, Phoenix, Arizona, said 30 percent of all Roman priests leave Rome and that as many as 75 percent might quit if it were not for fear of hell, fear of family, fear of the public, and fear of destitution, deprivation, and insecurity.”

If Catholics were surprised at a statement asserting that 75 percent of all priests might quit Rome if it were not for their fears, and if Protestants were surprised that “a good many ministers” felt lost, they were still hardly as surprised as many Jewish persons last year when a rabbi with twenty-six years’ service resigned from the pulpit of Greater Miami’s oldest synagogue. In the Miami Herald of February 26, 1955, Rabbi Max Shapiro told his story. He explained his reasons for quitting his job by asking questions:

“Why then, after two thirds of my active life, and after 26 years of apparent ‘successful’ ministry, did I resign? There are three questions an honest minister asks of himself and of his congregation: ‘Do I reach the individuals whom I seek to reach?’ ‘Do I guide the people who need guidance?’ ‘Do I touch the lives I seek to touch?’ The minister finds it very difficult to give an affirmative answer.”

Explaining how the preaching role has been relegated to the background, Rabbi Shapiro went on to say: “Does the minister have nothing more offered to him than an opportunity to keep busy running from place to place, assume various offices, lend his name to all organizations and movements?” Of the ministry Rabbi Shapiro asked: “Does it offer him nothing more than a rushing to banquets, visiting the ‘elite,’ flattering the rich, and ‘playing’ to audiences who come to be entertained, not uplifted—and thus acquiring for himself a ‘big’ name and the favorable attentions generally reserved for ‘lights’ in the theater, politics or sports?

“There are many times in the life of a minister when he wonders whether he should go on. Many of my colleagues stated: ‘I wish I had your courage to quit.’”

Were it not for fear, then, there would be a mass quitting among the clergy. Honest-hearted clergymen are discouraged. Why? Because they are doing virtually nothing to change the lives of their parishioners, to make them live according to Bible principles. And why are they such failures? It must be that the religion they represent is not the true religion of the Bible! In the book Protestant—Catholic—Jew, published last year, author Will Herberg finds today’s religions, whether Protestant, Catholic or Jewish, not faithful to what he calls the Biblical true faith.

But we do not need Mr. Herberg’s book to discern this fact. It is the quality of people that a religion produces that is the key test to whether a religion is true or false. Look about Christendom. Then read the Bible. God’s Word says: “They publicly declare they know God, but they disown him by their works.”—Titus 1:16, NW.

True religion changes peoples’ lives. It produces right works, right conduct, right action. It inspires and encourages people. It holds forth God’s new world of righteousness as mankind’s only hope. It is the purpose of the Watchtower magazine to aid you in the practice of this true religion.

Is the Queenship of Mary Scriptural?

Why is Mary nowhere referred to in the Bible as a queen? Upon what is her queenship said to be based? Answers to these questions will aid you to render exclusive devotion to One to whom it is due.

STEP by step the Roman Catholic Church has elevated Mary to where she now stands in a position of equality with God in that church and performs the functions of both Jesus Christ and the holy spirit. The queenship of Mary is not determined by any reference to the Bible or to Christ. It is founded solely upon the traditions and authority of the Roman Catholic Church.

When one inquires for the factual basis in Scripture or in history for the doctrines of the immaculate conception and the bodily assumption of Mary, which doctrines have opened the way for the acclamation of Mary in our day, the common reply given is a part of a famed theological epigram: “Potuit, decuit, ergo fecit—God could do it; it was fitting that He should do it; therefore He actually did it,” that is, did the things the above dogmas affirm, namely, keep Mary free from Adamic sin, spare her body from the corrupting power of death, raise her fleshly body, blood and all, into the courts of heaven itself, without having it undergo any change.

A far greater authority than the medieval Franciscan tradition, the apostle Paul, boldly declares that none of the above doctrines have any basis in fact. Paul says: “Through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because they had all sinned.” Paul did not exclude Mary, a fleshly descendant of Adam, from this rule. Paul does, however, exclude Jesus Christ, because Jesus was not the son of Joseph, a descendant of the man Adam. Jesus was a Son of God, born not from a fleshly will or from man’s will, but from God.—Rom. 5:12; Heb. 7:26; Luke 1:34, 35, NW.

As for the assumption dogma, Paul argues that no one, not Mary nor even Jesus himself, can take his physical, human body with him to heaven. “Flesh and blood cannot inherit God’s kingdom.”—1 Cor. 15:44, 50, NW.

Despite the unscripturalness of these dogmas, the Roman Catholic pope Pius XII energetically builds upon these sandy traditional foundations. In the autumn of 1954 he elevated Mary to new glory and new heights by symbolically crowning her the reigning queen of heaven and of all creation. He also proclaimed that every May 31 should be set aside as a special feast day to the queenship of Mary. Mary is being hailed by such titles as “Queen of all hearts,” “Queen of Peace,” “Queen of the Universe,” “Queen of Heaven and Earth,” “Mistress of all creation,” plus such popular designations as “Mother of the United Nations,” “Mother of America,” “Mother of the Atomic Age,” “Our Lady of Television,” “Queen of Education” and “Queen of the Home.”

MARY MADE EQUAL TO GOD AND CHRIST

Roman Catholic theologians represent Mary as coredeemer and comediatrix with Christ. She is seen performing many functions that, in the Christian Greek Scriptures, are exclusively associated with Jesus Christ and the holy spirit. Nations are being urged to call upon Mary in their hour of danger, difficulties and doubts. The attention and devotion given to Mary in the Roman Catholic world now equal, even exceed, that given to Jesus Christ.

The activities of Jesus Christ are being removed farther away from direct contact with human life by Catholic authorities. Christ is being regarded as living aloof from mankind. He is no longer seen as the only One who intercedes before God in behalf of fallen humankind. Mary now is pictured as the copartner and cointercessor, transmitting prayers from earth to God. In fact, in all that has to do with salvation, with the achievement of human welfare and the establishment of peace on earth, Mary figures as prominently as does Jesus Christ.

Note how an official Catholic publication, Our Sunday Visitor, bestows honor upon Mary and equates her work with that of Jesus Christ, the holy spirit and God himself: “The name Mary is said to mean ‘Star of the Sea.’ Mary is set in the heavens as a bright star in the blackness of night, as a beacon in the storm that threatens to engulf civilization. Mary is a teacher given us by God to correct His erring children, to set our feet in the path of justice.” “Mary manifests herself in a special manner as the bright Morning Star and the Seat of Wisdom.” Place “an unwavering confidence in Mary.” “In danger, in difficulties, in doubts, think of Mary. Call upon Mary.” “Never let her name be absent from your lips or absent from your heart. If you would obtain the help of her prayers, do not neglect to follow the example of her conduct. If you follow her, you will not stray; if you pray to her, you need not despair. If you think of her, you will not err; sustained by her, you will never fail; protected by her, you need not fear; guided by her, you will walk unwearied. If she smiles upon you, you will succeed.” The pope expressed firm confidence that through Mary “mankind will little by little progress along this way of salvation and she will guide the rulers of nations and the hearts of their peoples toward concord and charity.”—Our Sunday Visitor, October 17, 1954.

If Mary performs the above functions, what is there left for God and Christ to do? If Mary intercedes, directs and teaches mankind, what is the assigned work of the holy spirit? If Mary occupies the foremost position in our hearts, what place does God occupy? Does not the elevation of Mary obscure the headship and activities of Christ over his church? Does not it minimize his earnest and undying concern for the members of his church body and for all who call upon him in spirit and in truth? Is not all this glorifying of Mary unscriptural?

THE BIBLE DETHRONES MARY

The Roman Catholic Church hails Mary as “a bright star in the blackness of night, as a beacon in the storm that threatens to engulf civilization,” whereas the Bible says that Jesus is “the root and the offspring of David, and the bright morning star.” Instead of Mary’s being the beacon light, Jesus is hailed as “the light of men”—“the light of the world.” The prophet Isaiah foretold that Christ would be raised “a signal over the peoples.” While Mary is nowhere referred to in the Scriptures as “teacher,” Jesus is frequently called by that title. Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, said to Jesus: “Rabbi, we know that you as a teacher have come from God.” Jesus, in fact, counseled: “Do not you be called ‘Rabbi’, for 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. Neither be called ‘leaders’, for your Leader is one, the Christ.”—Rev. 22:16; John 1:4; 8:12, NW; Isa. 62:10, AT; John 3:2; Matt. 23:8-10, NW.

The inspired Scriptures declare that Jehovah the Almighty God and his Son Christ Jesus, the holy spirit and Word of truth are to be helpers, teachers, educators, directors and counselors in God’s organization. But nowhere is Mary mentioned as such. Isaiah stated: “And all thy children shall be taught of Jehovah; and great shall be the peace of thy children.” Regarding God’s Word the psalmist wrote: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and light unto my path.” Of the holy spirit Jesus said: “I will request the Father and he will give you another helper to be with you forever, the spirit of the truth, which the world cannot receive.” “But the helper, the holy spirit which the Father will send in my name, that one will teach you all things and bring back to your minds all the things I told you.”—Isa. 54:13; Ps. 119:105, AS; John 14:16, 17, 26, NW.

Catholic theologians call Mary “the Seat of Wisdom”; the Bible says: “Jehovah giveth wisdom; out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.” Catholics are directed to call upon Mary in their hour of danger, difficulty and doubts; God’s Word tells us that “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble”; that “Jehovah is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him; he also will hear their cry, and will save them.” Catholics look to Mary “to subdue violence beneath her foot,” but God’s Word assures us: “The God who gives peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly.”—Prov. 2:6, 7; Ps. 46:1-3; 145:18, 19, AS; Rom. 16:20, NW.

NO MENTION OF MARY BY APOSTLES

The elevated position that Mary holds in the Catholic world is certainly not in accord with the Scriptures. When examining what the Bible record has to say about Mary, we are amazed at the scarcity of comment. Only one mention is made of her outside the Gospels. Neither the apostle Paul, nor the apostle Peter, nor Judas, the servant of Jesus, nor James, the brother of Jesus, make so much as one single mention of her in all their inspired writings. Mary is conspicuous by her absence of mention. Paul makes frequent references to faithful women, but never mentions Mary. Why such silence? There can be only one answer. The exalted offices of queen of the universe, queen of heaven and all creation, are purely man-made and have no basis in fact. Mary’s pre-eminence was “among women” only, because the Messiah was to be born of her: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!”—Luke 1:28, 42, NW.

But the apostles were not alone in their silence. Jesus himself very carefully refrained from giving any special attention to his earthly relatives, never once granting to them any pre-eminence, but always emphasizing his personal relationship with his Father. “Whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.” The earliest account of Jesus as a child begins with his saying to his parents: “Did you not know that I must be in the house of my Father?” And his last words were: “Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.” There are at least 150 Scriptural references in which Jesus is mentioned in close association with his Father, but there is absolutely not one reference where Jesus expresses any affiliation with his mother. There is not one single instance where he addresses her as “mother.” He invariably refers to her as “woman.” “What have I to do with you, woman?” “Woman, see! your son!”—Matt. 12:46-50; Luke 8:21; 2:49; 23:46; John 2:4; 19:26, NW.

Nowhere in the Bible is Mary seen as a mediatrix or intercessor, or as a co-worker with Jesus in the role of human salvation. Jesus stands alone in these offices, saying: “Apart from me you can do nothing at all. If anyone does not remain in union with me, he is cast out as a branch and is dried up, and men gather those branches up and pitch them into the fire and they are burned. If you remain in union with me and my sayings remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will take place for you.” “No matter what you ask the Father in my name he might give it to you.” Instead of God’s servants’ performing “all their actions ‘through Mary, with Mary, in Mary, and for Mary,’” as taught by the Roman Catholic Church, the inspired Paul extols God’s mercy and wisdom, and says: “Because from him and by him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.”—John 15:5-7, 16; Rom. 11:33-36, NW.

PAGAN BACKGROUND EXPOSED

Mary’s exaltation is part of a deliberately planned and carefully executed scheme on the part of the Roman Catholic Church to revive the ancient form of worship of the queen of heaven, as was practiced in the pagan nations of ancient Babylon, Egypt and Rome; and also in the unfaithful ancient nation of Israel. Herodotus, from personal knowledge, testifies that in ancient Egypt the “queen of heaven” was “the greatest and most worshipped of all the divinities.” The historian Alexander Hislop writes that according to the Chaldean doctrine, Semiramis, the mother and later the wife of Nimrod, when exalted to divinity under the name of the queen of heaven, came to be worshiped as “the Holy Spirit incarnate.” Nonnus, speaking of the Babylonian queen of heaven, calls her “the hope of the whole world.” She is also referred to as “mistress of all creation.” Hislop further says that it was this same goddess who was worshiped at Ephesus, whom Demetrius, the silversmith, characterized as the goddess whom “the whole province of Asia and the inhabited earth worships.” All of these titles, which were once applied to pagan goddesses, are now attributed to Mary.—Acts 19:27, NW.

The ancient nation of Israel fell victim to this form of idolatry. Instead of to Mary, the Hebrew women offered cakes in the streets of Jerusalem to the Babylonian goddess, Astarte. They burned incense to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her. The people openly defied God and his Word to carry out their wicked practices. For their willful wickedness God reduced them to slaves and completely devastated the land. Will God react differently today? He says of himself: “I, Jehovah, change not.”—Jer. 44:15-19; Mal. 3:6, AS.

Aside from Babylonian paganism and Catholic tradition, there is absolutely no authority whatsoever for the present worship of Mary or any other woman as the queen of heaven. It would be well, therefore, to heed the apostle Paul’s advice: “Look out: perhaps there may be some man that will carry you off as his prey through the philosophy and empty deception according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary things of the world and not according to Christ.” “Even if we or an angel out of heaven,” says the apostle, “were to declare to you as good news something beyond what we declared to you as good news, let him be accursed.” Because as the apostle Peter sums up regarding Christ Jesus: “There is no salvation in anyone else, for there is not another name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must get saved.” Let these inspired words of God, not the traditions of men, guide you in your worship.—Col. 2:8; Gal. 1:8; Acts 4:12, NW.

The Great Pyramid of Giza

Product of the true worship or the false?

THE Great Pyramid of Giza is one of “the seven wonders of the ancient world.” It is the largest of nine pyramids found in Giza, in the valley of the Nile. The Great Pyramid is 486 feet high, or about the height of a modern 40-story building, and each of its four sides is 764 feet long; its base covers thirteen acres. The ratio of its height to the perimeter of its base is the same as that of the radius of a circle to its circumference, a most remarkable feature according to some mathematicians and astronomers. Its four sides line up perfectly with the four directions of the compass.

The date that Herodotus gives for its building would make the Great Pyramid about three thousand years old today, but others insist that he is mistaken and that it was built about four thousand years ago. According to Herodotus and Manetho (Egyptian historian of the third century before Christ), the Great Pyramid was built by Cheops, one of the Shepherd kings who invaded Egypt and easily subdued it, closed all the temples and then compelled one and all to labor for them. “A hundred thousand men laboured constantly and were relieved every three months by a fresh lot. It took ten years’ oppression of the people to make the causeway for the conveyance of the stones, a work not much inferior, in my judgment, to the pyramid itself.” This causeway was three fifths of a mile long, sixty feet wide and reached a height of forty-eight feet, was “built of polished stone, and [was] covered with carvings of animals. . . . The Pyramid itself took twenty years to build.” The two lesser pyramids of Giza, Herodotus tells us, were built by Cheops’ brother and son.

There has been much speculation as to the reason why these pyramids of Giza were built, and in particular why the Great Pyramid was built. Some have disposed of the problem by claiming that it was built solely as a tomb for Cheops, but is it reasonable that a ruler would direct all the resources of a land such as Egypt toward the building of a tomb, and that for thirty years? Others have concluded that it was built to house royal treasure, but the cost involved in building such a structure far exceeded all the value of whatever treasure a king might want to place in it! Others have ventured the opinion that it was built to serve as a temple, but that likewise does not seem to be the right explanation, as its smooth and slanting sides made access to its entrances very difficult.

Because none of these theories fully and satisfactorily explain the purpose of building the Great Pyramid, others have developed the hypothesis that it was built under divine inspiration; that perhaps Melchizedek was its builder and that God provided it as a witness in stone to corroborate the Bible. Such men as John Taylor of London, Professor Smyth and Dr. Edgar of Scotland advocated the theorya that the measurements of the Great Pyramid and particularly the measurements of its internal passageways and chambers, were full of Scriptural meaning.

What are the facts? Is the Great Pyramid truly a witness to Jehovah? Was it built by his true worshipers to corroborate the Bible, or was it built by the devotees of pagan religions?

NOT OF DIVINE ORIGIN

First of all let us note that since God’s Word is a ‘lamp to our feet and a light to our path,’ and was furnished so that we might “be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work,” there is no unfulfilled need that the Great Pyramid with its measurements would serve.—Ps. 119:105; 2 Tim. 3:15-17, NW.

Jehovah God used some forty writers over a period of sixteen centuries to provide us with his Word. Is it reasonable to conclude that even before Moses began to write the Pentateuch God caused a massive structure to be built that was to corroborate his Word? Rather, is it not an insult to God to hold that he felt it necessary to corroborate his inspired Word by some mute edifice? And that its meaning should be hidden from man for several thousand years and revealed only at a time when the structure had been robbed of all its external beauty?

Further, is it reasonable to hold that God would direct the construction of a building covering thirteen acres of ground, consisting of 90 million cubic feet of quarried stone, with stones as much as thirty feet long and estimated to weigh as much as 880 tons each, when all such work had to be done by slave labor? The very fact that the memory of the invading Shepherd kings who constructed these pyramids was so detested by the Egyptians for generations afterward would certainly put the building of the pyramids in the class of Pharaoh’s building program rather than that of King Solomon.

Besides, if the Great Pyramid were built at God’s command should we not expect to find some reference to its construction in God’s Word, the Bible? The Bible tells us of the building of Solomon’s temple and that built under the direction of Governor Zerubbabel; also of the building of a water aqueduct by King Hezekiah, yes and also of the building of the tower of Babel, but not a word about any of the pyramids. Relevant to this argument also is the fact that none of the structures described in God’s Word employ the design of a pyramid.

The fact also cannot be gainsaid that none of the measurements given in the Great Pyramid throw light on the all-important issue of universal sovereignty or why God has permitted evil. Remarkable as some of its measurements seem to appear, it also cannot be denied that these have led to false hopes resulting in disappointments and none of them serve any purpose in magnifying the name of Jehovah and preaching “this good news of the kingdom,” nor are those who put so much store by the Great Pyramid sharing in such preaching work. If there are facts about the Great Pyramid that cannot be explained solely on the basis of human wisdom, then in view of all the foregoing we have no alternative but to conclude that it must have been accomplished by means of demon power rather than by the active force of Jehovah God.

THE ALTAR TO JEHOVAH

One Scripture text that has been used in times past to support the position that the Great Pyramid is of divine origin reads: “In that day shall there be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to Jehovah. And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto Jehovah of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they shall cry unto Jehovah because of oppressors, and he will send them a saviour, and a defender, and he will deliver them.” By an ingenious set of lines an attempt was made to show how the Great Pyramid was both in the midst of the land of Egypt and at the same time at its border. But no literal structure could literally be both in the midst and at the border of a literal land.—Isa. 19:19, 20, AS.

However, the Bible does use the term Egypt in a figurative sense, as at Revelation 11:7, 8 (NW) where the condition of God’s servants in 1918 and 1919 is described as follows: “And when they have finished their witnessing, the wild beast that ascends out of the abyss will make war with them and conquer them and kill them. And their corpses will be on the broad way of the great city which is in a spiritual sense called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was also impaled.”

The term “altar” as used in the above scripture means a place of sacrifice, and today God’s people are offering sacrifices to Jehovah in the midst of antitypical Egypt, Satan’s world. They are also serving as a pillar, as a monument or witness to Jehovah. While it would be impossible for a literal structure to be both in the midst and at the border of a literal land, this can be true in a figurative sense. The witnesses of Jehovah are today found in the midst of or throughout modern Egypt, that is, Satan’s world; and yet in another sense it can be said that they are also at its border in that they are standing at its edge, ready to pass over into the new world after the battle of Armageddon. That they are to serve as witnesses is stated time and again in the Scriptures: “Ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah, . . . and I am God.” And as for their being a sign, note the words of the Greater Isaiah, Christ Jesus, in which he refers to his followers as children given him: “Behold, I and the children whom Jehovah hath given me are for signs and for wonders.”—Isa. 43:10-12; 8:18, AS; Heb. 2:13.

Regardless of how interesting, fascinating or intriguing the mathematical, chronological and astronomical implications of the Great Pyramid of Egypt might be, they fade into insignificance when compared with the great work Jehovah is having done today by his altar in the midst of Egypt and his pillar at the border. What the people need today is not just an implied corroboration of Bible chronology but the truth regarding the great issue to be settled, Who rules supreme, Jehovah God or Satan the Devil? They need to see the clear line of demarcation that exists between God’s organization and that of the Devil, and they must be shown the urgency of seeking Jehovah, righteousness and meekness before it is too late.—Zeph. 2:1-3.

Since all the evidence points to the fact that the Great Pyramid was not constructed at God’s direction, for Christians to take it seriously would be tantamount to going down to Egypt for help. (Isa. 31:1) Not by means of a pagan slave-labor-built pile of stone but by means of his Word, his organization and his active force, his holy spirit, Jehovah God is training his dedicated servants for the ministry.

THE LIKELY MOTIVE

There remains but one question. Since it is clear that the Great Pyramid was not built at the direction of Jehovah, and since it appears that it was not built solely to serve as a tomb nor as a storehouse for treasure nor as a temple for pagan worship, can any satisfactory explanation be given of Cheops’ motive for having it built?

Yes, there is one theory that has much to recommend it and that is based on the prominence that the Great Pyramid gives to the sciences of mathematics and astronomy. It is known that in ancient times astronomy and astrology were considered as one. And from Scriptural and secular history it is apparent that the Chaldeans excelled in both. And it further appears that Cheops and those with him, who conquered Egypt with apparently so little effort, came from Chaldea. Therefore, in view of “the mysterious influence which astrologers ascribe to special numbers, figures, positions, and so forth, the care with which the Great Pyramid was so proportioned as to indicate particular astronomical and mathematical relations is at once explained.”

And further, when we consider that “the Chaldeans from the earliest times pursued the study of alchemy in connection with astrology,” by which they hoped to discover the ‘philosopher’s stone,’ and by which in turn they believed they would be able to transmute base metals to gold and silver and at the same time discover the secret of life, then we can find a justification for the building of the Great Pyramid, as a monument erected to astrology with the hope of discovering the fundamental secrets of life and all matter.—The Great Pyramid, R. A. Proctor.

Thus, this most logical explanation of all as to the reasons underlying the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza would indicate that it certainly was not built by those engaging in the true worship of Jehovah God but by those devoted to astrology, a manifestation of Devil religion, and was built in furtherance of such religion.

[Footnotes]

Not Too Young to ‘Listen and Learn’

That children at an early age can listen and learn is apparent from the following heart-warming experience told by a missionary in Korea: “About two months ago three little boys (ages about 5, 7 and 9) began attending our meetings. They came every time and soon all three had their own Bible and Watchtower. As each scripture was cited they would bury their little noses in their Bible and follow along. At first none of the brothers seemed to know anything about them. I tried several times to talk to them but just couldn’t get a response. Finally we learned the circumstances. The boys’ parents had been killed during the war and since that time they have been shifting mostly for themselves. They live together in a tiny place and the eldest is the ‘mother.’ They are handsome youngsters but don’t look like children at all. This is common here where so many have been robbed of their babyhood by the war. Last Thursday evening the seven-year-old one gave his first talk at the theocratic ministry school. He looked spick and span, as neat as a pin, and the other two appeared very proud of him. He read like a bullet, as is typical here, and to hear the words of life come from that dear little heart brought a tear or two. After the meeting I spoke to the three of them and told them how pleased Jehovah was to welcome them to his ‘family,’ and for the first time I saw them smile.”

Language and Its Purpose

LANGUAGE is a gift of the great Creator, the Giver of “every good gift and every perfect present.” Even the great American lexicographer, Noah Webster, declared: “Language as well as the faculty of speech was the immediate gift of God.” Use it well.—Jas. 1:17, NW.

Jehovah expresses his will through the spoken word. With him it is inherent, alive, exerting awesome power, fulfilling his purposes. His word never returns to him void. “God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend.” “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth,” says Jehovah. “It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”—Job 37:5; Isaiah 55:11.

Speech when properly used reflects the beauty and glory of its Maker, Jehovah. “Like apples of gold in a setting of carved silver is a word that is aptly spoken.” “An apt utterance is a joy to a man; and a word in season—how good it is!” In creating creatures of different stations in life, God granted them the gift of speech. The Logos became God’s spokesman, capable of perfectly conveying the thoughts and purposes of Jehovah to all creation. Angels became messengers, with vocal powers to sing and to communicate with man and God. On earth the inspired Record shows that the first man Adam was made with a fine set of vocal organs and a tongue of far greater agility and flexibility than that of the other creatures on earth created before him. Though it be true that the cries of the lower animals are language in so far as they give expression to their state of mind, and that they have a vocal means of communication, yet such ability could not compare with man’s far-surpassing ability to articulate speech, to divide sounds up into syllables and words and by arrangement or combination of these to have a vocabulary and speak distinctly and connectedly.—Prov. 25:11; 15:23, AT.

Rather than his learning to speak by imitating the animals, beginning with grunts and growls, as is taught by evolution, the facts as set down in the book of Genesis are that Adam made almost immediate use of his powers of speech by bestowing names upon the various animal creations. This took the quality of reasoning, the exercise of reflection, thinking and judging, the inner action of the mind and the outward expression in words. The naming of animal creation took a sizable vocabulary. This was in essence an intelligence test.

Also, when Adam took Eve to himself as wife, he spoke out intelligently, saying: “This is at last bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. This one will be called Woman, because from man this one was taken.” While language has changed, man to this very day says in substance the same thing when he selects a wife for himself. Eve, too, was endowed with the same power of expression as Adam, namely, to speak, using words and phrases; a language to express their mutual ideas and fellowship. They knew that language is for the purpose of exchanging thoughts, a means of communication of a message or a commandment, to converse with each other. Eve was well equipped for this purpose. This made her an ideal helper, a complement of the man. She was also equipped to pass this wonderful gift to her offspring.—Gen. 2:23, NW.

SPEECH A SOCIAL ACTIVITY

Language is not instinctive with humankind, as communication is with the lower animals. The art of speech must be taught him. With humans, then, speech is progressive. Instinct differs from intelligence in that intelligence resides essentially in the variability of the means it uses, whereas instinct is invariably an inherent force of law. A. W. Holmes said: “A goose flies by a chart which the Royal Geographical Society could not mend.” Colton declared: “Though reason is progressive, instinct is stationary. Five thousand years have added no improvement to the hive of a bee, or the house of a beaver,” and, we might add, to the language of the wild. But with humankind language has changed.

With humankind speech is a social activity. Man cannot live without the cooperation of his fellow men. The chief purpose of speech among men is to secure this co-operation and thus achieve some form of self-realization, to accomplish his desires and to be a reflecting glory to the Creator. Eve showed that she fully understood this basic truth, when she said to the serpent: “Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat. But as for eating of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You must not eat from it, no, you must not touch it for fear you may die.’” This command was first given to her husband Adam, and using speech Adam communicated the law perfectly to his wife, which she by her own expression showed she understood. The communicative process is completed only when the speaker gets a response by word, look, gesture or even silence (for silence is sometimes eloquent), which will enable him to judge the attitude of the listener and hence the degree of his own success or failure. “Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.” Eve by her expression demonstrated that she fully understood the reason for speech.—Gen. 3:2, 3; 2:16, 17, NW; Prov. 17:28.

ONE VOCABULARY

For over 1700 years after man’s creation it could still be said: “Now all the earth continued to be of one language and of one set of words [or, “one vocabulary,” margin].” Confusion of languages came as a result of an act of God. It was Jehovah’s reply to a God-defying people, who endeavored to establish a union of mankind, a world government with headquarters at Babel. The Scriptural account of this reads: “And Jehovah proceeded to go down to see the city and the tower that the sons of men had built. After that Jehovah said: ‘Look! They are one people and there is one language for them all, and this is what they start to do. Why, now there is nothing that they may scheme to do that will be unattainable for them. Come now! Let us go down and there confuse their language that they may not listen to one another’s language.’ Accordingly Jehovah scattered them from there over all the surface of the earth, and they gradually left off building the city. That is why its name was called Babel, because there Jehovah had confused the language of all the earth and Jehovah had scattered them from there over all the surface of the earth.”—Gen. 11:1, 5-9, NW.

After the breakup at Babel men began to drift to all parts of the earth. Because men were not bound together by close communication ties, differences of speech, even among those of the same language group, would quickly crop out, dialects would spring up, and eventually new languages would be born, similar to and yet distinct from the parent language. Restless factors kept the world’s tongues in a fairly constant state of change. Distance or physical barriers, wars and conquests, perhaps climate, an effort to eliminate more difficult sounds or sound combinations, and a desire to imitate prominent or popular persons—all these have played their part, until today the babel of tongues has reached an incredible figure of 2,796 tongues; some spoken by millions, others by only a few hundred.

While the reputable English language contains some 700,000 words, the language of the Aranta tribe in the interior of Australia is limited to 400 to 500 words. This tiny vocabulary is not due to lack of intelligence on the part of its speakers. Apparently extreme isolation has enabled them to get along with this vocabulary.

PURE LANGUAGE

Language is unquestionably a barrier but not necessarily a divisive force. Unity can be attained despite the language barrier through the practice of the “pure language.” The pure language is the perfect understanding of Jehovah’s purposes as recorded in his Word the Bible, and as that purpose was revealed by Jesus Christ. Pure language is truth free from all religious adulteration. It was given to Adam and Eve, but was perverted shortly thereafter when the serpent, the Devil, spoke for a selfish purpose to lead man to creature worship. Since that day only a few have learned the pure language.

The prophet Joel foretold the time when the holy spirit of God would be poured out on all flesh, enabling people of good will to learn and to speak the language that does lead to life. That time came A.D. 33. Men and women learned that the pure language was the speech of the pure worship of Almighty God, Jehovah. The spirit of God empowered them on this occasion to speak in different languages and those gathered at Jerusalem were able to understand the good news of the Kingdom. The apostle Peter, using his powers of speech to speak forth the pure language, climaxed his discourse with these words: “And then anyone that calls upon the name of Jehovah will be saved.”—Acts 2:1-21, NW.

Now, in these days of the complete and final fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy, there exists among those who live in hope of a new world a language that is truly international, surmounting all barriers and being spoken by persons of many, many tongues. It is pure and not difficult to acquire if the student is sincere. It was foretold at Zephaniah 3:9 (AS): “For then will I turn to the peoples a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of Jehovah, to serve him with one consent.”

This pure language is being spoken today by Jehovah’s people in all nations, uniting them in bonds of love and Christian brotherhood, despite their native tongues. It unites them in giving testimony to Jehovah’s name and kingdom. Thus, even though Jehovah’s witnesses are scattered over the face of the earth in more than 159 lands, yet through the power of God’s spirit and the pure language they are united as one New World society. Worldly barriers are no obstacle to them.

Learn the pure language, for not only will it help you to communicate and make friends with peoples of all nations, but it will bring life to you and your listeners; and, most important of all, you will be using speech for its intended purpose, that of giving glory to Jehovah’s name.

Youth in the New World Society

“I give you good counsel, turn not from my teaching. . . . attend to what I say, bend your ear to my words; never lose sight of them, but fix them in your mind; to those who find them, they are life.”—Prov. 4:2, 20-22, Mo.

1. What determines the good qualities of youth in the New World society?

TODAY’S youth is tomorrow’s manhood. Therefore the quality and maturity of the manhood of tomorrow are dependent upon education and training that are given youth today. One of youth’s training centers should be the home, with Christian parents as the teachers. Mature teachers in the Christian home will use as the leading textbook God’s Word the Bible, and such background will furnish the proper background for youth today in preparation for a proper place in the New World society.

2. What factors are involved in teaching and rearing children?

² Teaching and training in the world generally are as varied as the teachers and their traditions and philosophies. As a result, what a variety of mental food is presented for consumption, particularly for the younger generation! “We are what we eat,” some authorities theorize. Our minds become what we feed them. Since the mind directs or influences the person, immediately we sense how important is a proper mental diet. The mind is fed by the educational systems, in the home and in the Christian congregation directly by hearing the spoken word. There is also the indirect way, vitally important, and that is by example, because even the ten-year-old patterns himself so much after parents, teachers and other influences to which he may be subjected or exposed. To follow the proper pattern is illustrated by the Master Teacher’s saying: “I set the pattern for you, that, just as I did to you, you should do also.” However, in contrast with this many pattern themselves according to events of the past or the conduct of more than just an individual, perhaps after a group; or possibly after an educational system with any of a variety of special philosophies, or after the national or local political pattern, or even the policies of commercial organizations their associates are affiliated with or are influenced by. So that improper patterns might be shunned, it is written: “Now these things went on befalling them as examples and they were written for a warning to us upon whom the accomplished ends of the systems of things have arrived.”—John 13:15; 1 Cor. 10:11; 1 Tim. 6:20, 21, NW.

3. What governs physical growth? Why is spiritual food more important?

³ Man was endowed with the ability to procreate his own kind. It was purposed that in the process of development within a certain number of years the offspring would develop physically, this requiring about twenty years. This majority is reached if normal good food is supplied. Of course, a stronger body is developed if exercised or trained by hard work. But such success in itself develops only up to a certain point and is spoken of only in an incidental way by the apostle Paul when he stated: “Bodily training is beneficial for a little.” Since such has little bearing, the more important sustenance, mental food, and its value and effect should be considered for youth in the New World society. This is especially so in view of Paul’s stronger words to young Timothy: “Godly devotion is beneficial for all things, as it holds promise of the life now and that which is to come.”—1 Tim. 4:8, NW.

EARLY TRAINING

4. Why is it important to start training children at a very tender age? And why can they not be permitted to make their own decisions?

⁴ The first training that a child receives during its first ten years, in most cases, is from its parents or its immediate guardians. The child is given a number of do’s and don’t’s at first, and is gradually made familiar with elementary terms that affect it. Often this training is treated lightly, parents sometimes thinking that a child is too young. Whether parents admit it or not, the very young mind can take in much information, and it is during this period that many lasting traits are established. Frequently the child is shrewd enough even to train parents to wait upon it and to have its own way. This is not the Christian way, however, as parents are told: “Train up a child in the way he should go.” The child is imperfect and sinful (not innocent and sinless as some of the clergy would lead many to believe) and needs its steps directed to a righteous course. The child’s own choice often would lead it in an erroneous and selfish way. Jeremiah of old aptly confessed: “I know, O [Jehovah], that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.” How true that is especially of man as a child!—Prov. 22:6; Jer. 10:23, RS.

5. (a) Why is real discipline so imperative? (b) By example show what happens when parents are lax in the enforcement of their commands.

⁵ As an illustration of child rule in the home, this occurred in a Christian home. The child pleaded and raised a fuss about a certain type of food it wanted and did this in a demanding way. The mother yielded and prepared the food. When the food was set before the child he decided he did not want it after all. The mother coaxed, but when the child feigned illness the mother took the food away. Under his breath the child was heard to say: “Well, I really got out of that one!” In this instance there was no discipline and the child was developing the trait of selfishness and was becoming self-centered. Parents may not always realize it, but children test them too. An instance to show this occurred when a four-year-old boy, when his food was set before him, threw it on the floor when the mother stepped out of the room. A mild scolding resulted, whereupon the mother placed more food before him. This was treated similarly in the absence of the mother. It was explained to him that some day he would be grown and would have children of his own, and, when asked what he would do if his child threw his food on the floor, he unhesitatingly responded: “I would whip him.” He knew what was right and that proper corrective measures should have been administered. From an educational viewpoint he must have been somewhat disappointed in his parents. Children in similar circumstances could not look to their parents as a proper example of rearing children. Training is not just a matter of presenting information for the mind, but it is also a matter of living up to it. “Mere words will never train a slave; he understands, but he will not obey.” “He who pampers his servant from childhood will in the end gain nothing but ingratitude.” It is not that children do not know better; often they know what is right and proper, but they will not always perform this unless disciplined. To support further the thought that the obeying of a command is not left to a child’s discretion, it is of interest to notice what Jehovah stated concerning Abraham: “For I have become acquainted with him in order that he may command his sons and his household after him so that they shall keep Jehovah’s way to do righteousness.” There was never any thought that the child would decide the matter, but the parent made decisions for the child.—Prov. 29:18, 19, Mo; Pr 29:21, AT; Gen. 18:19, NW.

6. Why is much time required on the part of parents to train children properly?

⁶ Noting that it was so vitally important 3800 years ago that the parents instruct children, we can see how much more so it is true in the twentieth century when parental oversight is lax and delinquency rampant. Truly, then, Christian parents should spend time teaching and molding the young minds with proper knowledge and then administering proper discipline, if necessary, that will help them to carry out what they have learned. Learning to do what they have been told, and properly doing it and continuing to do it—this will be easier as the building, so to speak, takes shape. Not only that, it will strengthen the mind of the child to discern between right and wrong and so fortify the mind against false doctrine and contamination of erroneous secular training in the schools and other contacts. It is also well to have ingrained in the child’s mind the counsel given by Paul when he stated: “Do not be misled. Bad associations spoil useful habits.”—1 Cor. 15:33, NW.

7. How may parents be helpful to the children when they go to school?

⁷ Some parents feel that with all the delinquency and corruption in the public school system, it might be better not to send their children to the public schools. However, when a child continually receives right parental and theocratic training during the formative years by regular meeting attendance and sharing in the ministry school and door-to-door witnessing, he will be able to ‘withstand the fiery missiles of the Devil’ in school or anywhere else. While in school he can shun the extracurricular activities that are so detrimental to him. This is particularly true when we observe that contemporaries in school often resort to unfair tactics in games and use foul and scurrilous language in their associations with others. Close contact with such ones would be a temptation to follow a like course and adopt similar practices. We are admonished by Paul: “Let a rotten saying not proceed out of your mouth, but whatever saying is good for building up as the need may be, that it may impart what is favorable to the hearers. Let all malicious bitterness and anger and wrath and screaming and abusive speech be taken away from you along with all injuriousness.”—Eph. 4:29, 31, NW.

8, 9. Why is strong faith essential to the young minister while in school? What will enhance it?

⁸ The youthful mind can be strong and can demonstrate this by resisting the false attractions of the world whether in school or out of school. We have observed how many youthful ministers have undergone persecution without ever a thought of wavering. Many are of the same mental attitude as was Timothy, of whom Paul wrote: “I recollect the faith which is in you without any hypocrisy, and which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, but which I am confident is also in you.” Timothy’s later course of preaching and steadfastness in the ministry certainly confirms Paul’s opinion in this regard. We can also notice that the genuine strength of faith was conditioned by the good foundation of Timothy’s early instruction. Similar Christian education now is the responsibility of the parents and then the same strong manifestation of faith may be expected from the children. When the foundation therefor is well laid, the mental attitude of the child will, of his own choice, be aimed at and directed on what has been foremost in the mind of the parents. If this has been the full-time ministry, he will likewise direct and select his educational courses while in school so that the quality of his ministry will be enhanced.—2 Tim. 1:5, NW.

⁹ Selection of trades that lend themselves to part-time work in order to maintain oneself as Paul did in the full-time ministry will be kept in mind. With such a well-planned beginning a child need not be like the unstable and skeptical youth of the world with his unhappy and unsteady future, wondering where he can put his trust. He will be of the same frame of mind as was the psalmist: “Happy are they who live uprightly, living by the Eternal’s law!” For those who live by Jehovah’s law, showing respect for it, there will be no fear and uncertainty. The youthful minister can have joy and peace, as shown in the sixth verse of the same psalm: “No shame befalls me when I heed thy commands.” And, “I will obey thee: never do thou forsake me.” Herein lies a petition on the part of the one that receives instruction that he may obey even more. In further admonition the psalmist continues: “How can a young man keep life clean?” Truly such a question is in the mind of those upright ones who desire to keep themselves separate from the corruption and delinquency of this world. The answer is given: “By keeping to thy word. I store thy word within my heart, to keep myself from sinning against thee.” If the teaching principles outlined in schools were in conformity and harmony with this, children would be of the same frame of mind toward what is right and toward school rules. Today, however, many children, and youths generally, have little respect for school authorities because there is no enforcement of rules and there is lack of high principles.—Acts 18:3, 4, NW; Ps. 119:1, 6, 8, 9, 11, Mo.

PRESENT-DAY DELINQUENCY

10. What happens in schools when there is no discipline? Why?

¹⁰ But what happens to a teen-age boy or girl when adherence to God’s laws is not stressed as a part of early training? Look about and see! There are saddened parents, perplexed educators and civil authorities whose rod of discipline is held back by false ideas, allowing for increasing delinquency and juvenile crime of every sort. Because God’s Word is not the sole authority and guide for training, responsible authorities are divided on the manner of what discipline to use, with many psychologists going so far as to state that to discipline a child is to show hatred for it. The results of these divided opinions our newspaper headlines summarize every day, recording the deeds of modern undisciplined children. But God’s Word plainly says: “The rod of correction gives wisdom; but a child who is left to himself brings disgrace on his mother.” “Chastise your son, while there is still hope of him, and do not let him run to ruin.”—Prov. 29:15, AT; Pr 19:18, Mo.

11. What will result when idleness is permitted?

¹¹ A haphazard and slipshod manner of educating children results in their having an improperly trained mind, a mind that tends toward idleness. Parents are responsible for this when they fail to guide their children aright and keep them busy. Solomon wrote: “When hands are slack, the roof will leak,” showing that slothfulness in thinking and in action leads to a condition of ruin, contrary to God’s admonition that we consider the busy ant as a proper pattern. Busy children do not get into mischief. Every school child’s notebook may well have copied in full on its first page the Bible verses about the busy ant.—Eccl. 10:18; Prov. 6:6-8, Mo.

12, 13. (a) What has contributed to delinquency in the schools today? (b) How does folly manifest itself?

¹² Let us now look further at undisciplined youth. Often, today, fourteen-year-old boys are held in high esteem by other teen-age hoodlums when the roughest, toughest one of them all is able to reign over them in their gang, imitating grownup mobsters, as the boys (and sometimes girls among them) mimic the older hoodlums as they step out in the night to rob, rape, murder and terrorize. They resort to and become slaves of dope to the extent of being unable to see even a glimmer of hope for a better life. What a picture of gloom! Instead of being trained for righteousness, such youngsters become trained for sin. All this can be traced back to the comic-book fad in kindergarten days, to the radio, TV and movie crime-thrillers that consume nearly every school-free waking moment of such delinquents. After thus learning about the many kinds of crime they brazenly step out into a sin-laden world to practice what has been ‘preached’ to them.

¹³ Truly it can be seen that “foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child,” thus indicating to us that folly is a natural tendency of youth and, when not removed by the parents or responsible ones, such folly increases and the results are that “even a child is known by what he does.”—Prov. 22:15, AS; Pr 20:11, Mo.

PROPER CHRISTIAN TRAINING

14. (a) What will be the attitude and conduct of the Christian-trained youth? (b) Is Jehovah cognizant of young children? How does he use them?

¹⁴ Contrast this with a Christian-trained young man or woman who has a pure outlook and a solid hope instilled by the sure Word of God. The result of such is righteousness, peace, health and, above all, the sensible desire to serve the righteous God, Jehovah. It is pleasing to Jehovah that young men and women volunteer their lives in service to him, free from crime and sin and all the unrighteous deeds practiced by the youth of the world, having in mind living only clean and upright lives to his praise. In Jesus’ day when some foolishly tried to prevent such righteousness-loving children from coming to him he rebuked those who would prevent them, saying: “Let the young children come to me, do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such kind of persons. Truly I say to you, Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a young child will by no means enter into it.” He “took the children into his arms and began blessing them, laying his hands upon them.” This provided for them an opportunity for genuine happiness. They were free to come to Jesus and he unhesitatingly invited them to do so. He said concerning them: “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings you have furnished praise.”—Mark 10:14-16; Matt. 21:16, NW.

15. Under what conditions and at what age are dedication and baptism proper for a child?

¹⁵ His invitation to them to sing Jehovah’s praises meant too that it was proper for them to make a dedication to do Jehovah’s will. Faithful children today want to serve Jehovah lovingly and loyally and to follow in the same way that their devoted parents are going. Some may ask, then, Would it be proper for me in my early teens to make such a dedication vow and symbolize this by water immersion? Since many children are baptized each year at circuit assemblies and other conventions of Jehovah’s people, can it be said that this is the proper course for these young ministers to take? Of course, if they do not know in their own mind what they are doing, then they are not ready to take this vital and important step. The definite age as to when baptism or dedication is appropriate cannot be designated. If a child has sufficient knowledge of Almighty God, Jehovah, and his righteous purposes and adheres faithfully to the upright principles set down in his Word, if the child has reached the age of accountability and desires to make a dedication to Jehovah, it is in order for him to do so and it is then proper to take the step of baptism by water. Taking this essential and direct step toward life, the young minister will not be found in the position of the unrighteous. Dedication is an essential step and necessary to gain the approval of Jehovah God. Take note of the wise counsel of Solomon in this respect: “Remember also thy Creator in the days of thy youth, before the evil days come. . . . Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.”—Eccl. 12:1, 13, 14, AS.

16. What responsibility falls on the shoulders of youth?

¹⁶ So, then, as parents, let us take heed to God’s Word. As children, take heed willingly, gladly to obey! Even before you are twenty-one, try always to show good sense and strength and keep your guard up. You boys of seventeen and eighteen, remember that you are now entering manhood; you must make right decisions. You are becoming tomorrow’s men and each of you can be ready as a man today.

Careful Living Helps Avoid Life’s Pitfalls

“Banish wayward words; . . . keep a clear path before you, . . . spurn not the Eternal’s schooling, never be weary of his discipline.”—Prov. 4:24, 26; 3:11, Mo.

1. What questions arise relative to cultivating good habits for children?

MANY parents argue that they have tried everything to apply the admonition of Jehovah in training their children to understand their proper place in the New World society, but to no avail. Have you? Have you tried habit, for instance? How about the good habit of discussing the daily Bible text each morning? Can you picture what a firm groove that would imbed in the child’s mind and how it would help to keep before the child the purposes of God? Then, too, how about having a regular Bible study right in the home for the benefit of the entire family? Does your family study The Watchtower together some evening before the meeting? This also can become a good habit for children and parents alike, resulting in much joy to all. How about the regular habit of meeting attendance? Being present at every Watchtower study can become such a strong habit that it will not be jeopardized by light excuses for staying away from this important meeting. Other congregation meetings also are important and should be included in the weekly budget of time and become good habits. Humans are habit-forming; so why not cultivate good habits very early in life?

2. (a) What is required of children while attending meetings? (b) What example do we have illustrating proper discipline at meetings on the part of parents, and what is the reaction on the part of the child when given chastisement?

² Just having our children with us at the meetings, however, is not adequate. Here they will be expected to pay attention and not play, draw pictures or have side attractions. They should be taught that there is a time for things other than play. It may require the rod of correction to impress the necessity for being quiet and paying attention, but, when properly applied, such measures need not be repeated often. Sometimes a young boy of five or six will begin to get restless in the meeting and start fussing, disturbing many. His father, sitting beside him, will try to quiet him. He continues fussing and the father starts to get up to take the boy out. The boy does not want to go—he has been outside with his daddy before and has lost every round. So now junior becomes quiet for the rest of the meeting. Thus we see that when discipline is firmly and kindly applied so as to be remembered, it will be beneficial. Kind application may not always be soft application. Such discipline is not an indication of hatred on the part of parents, because an obedient child is generally very fond of a father and mother who mete out discipline in the proper way. Most of us have observed how children respect parents who enforce their words—with penalties, if necessary—and do not let their words die as mere idle threats. Most persons have respect for one who makes his word good, and that includes children. Children, be admonished therefore: “Be obedient to your parents in union with the Lord, for this is righteous: ‘Honor your father and mother’; which is the first command with a promise.” And, too, you parents who love your children, reprove the children for their good even as ‘those whom Jehovah loves he disciplines, as in fact he scourges everyone whom he receives as a son.’ Discipline is not pleasant at the time, but corrects for righteousness.—Eph. 6:1, 2; Heb. 12:6, 11, NW.

3. How may good manners be included in the cultivation of good habits?

³ Good habits include good manners. Christians should have the best of manners. Parents who display good manners in their daily contact with their children and fellow man will have children who display the same good manners. We are admonished: “Maintain your conduct right among the nations, that, in the thing in which they are speaking against you as evildoers, they may as a result of your right works of which they are eyewitnesses glorify God in the day for his inspection. For the Lord’s sake subject yourselves to every human creation.” This good conduct is, in essence, good manners. It is a politeness that stems from a love of God and neighbor.—1 Pet. 2:12, 13, NW.

4, 5. (a) How is Christ Jesus the proper example of good manners? (b) How should good manners be exercised?

⁴ Parents and children alike can benefit by following the perfect example set by the perfect gentleman, Christ Jesus. He practiced the rule of good manners: ‘Do to others as you would have them do to you.’ However, his good manners did not come from some rule book written by men, but sprang from a sincere heart and by his cultivating good habits and putting into practice from youth the righteous principles of Almighty God, especially His law of love.—Matt. 7:12; Luke 6:31, NW.

⁵ Well-mannered parents set the proper example by being courteous to all, under all conditions. They are respectful to their inferiors (children, the mentally ill, less fortunate ones, etc.), as well as to their equals (their brothers) and those regarded as superiors (servants in special capacity, rulers, kings and governors). Some think good manners are a coat that you put on when you go out to visit people. But a truly well-mannered person is one who behaves properly all the time. The place to teach and to learn the best of manners is in the Christian home.

6, 7. (a) What pitfalls confront youth that may be detrimental if youth is not curbed? (b) What Scriptural counsel is given as to right conduct?

⁶ Often young people are quick to belittle or mock parents or other grown-up men and women, shunning their sound counsel. This is true when they take as their standards the dealings of this world. In following such a course often gossip is resorted to, to undermine and belittle the older and more mature servants of Jehovah. Do you use the malicious instrument of gossip? If you refrain from this practice early in life, it is not likely that you will adopt it later in life. Failing to show proper respect, therefore, is nothing more than a brazen display of rebellion, and it must be avoided by every youthful minister as well as those older and mature in Jehovah’s service. The Scriptural admonition given by the apostle Paul is appropriate for youth and, of course, not to be overlooked by parents: “Only behave in a manner worthy of the good news about the Christ, . . . fighting side by side for the faith of the good news.” “In harmony with that you well know how, as a father does his children, we kept exhorting each one of you, and consoling and bearing witness to you, to the end that you should go on walking worthily of God who is calling you to his kingdom and glory.”—Phil. 1:27; 1 Thess. 2:11, 12, NW.

⁷ By following such a course Christian children will avoid the pitfalls common to undisciplined youth. One who fails to take sound counsel is likened to one who is void of understanding and easily overreached and enticed. The Preacher, Solomon, illustrated how succumbing to temptation leads to a disastrous end: “I looked . . . and I beheld among the simple ones, . . . a young man void of understanding.” He continues, “And he is enticed to follow her, like an ox moving to the slaughter, like a dog cajoled to the muzzle, like a bird fluttering straight into the net—never dreaming its life is in danger, till its heart is pierced by an arrow.” “Now, my son, listen to me, attend to what I say: never let yourself swerve to her ways, never wander on her paths; her house is the road to the grave, it leads down to the chambers of death.” Rather than this, allow your path to be lighted by God’s Word and thus avoid the snares of the Devil. In earnest prayer petition Jehovah: “Oh rescue me, save me, . . . for thou art my hope, O Lord, I have trusted thee from youth, . . . Thou hast been teaching it from my youth. . . . My lips shall ring with joy and praise, even the life which thou hast saved.”—Prov. 7:6, 7, AS; Prov. 7:21-25, 27, Mo; Ps. 71:2, 5, 17, 23, Mo.

WARNING OF IDOLATROUS PRACTICES

8. What happens when idolatrous schemes are not recognized and shunned?

⁸ All Jehovah’s servants today must be alert to the wiles of the Devil. All should be aware and have the ability to recognize the subtle schemes of idolatry and concealed snares that may deliver one into the clutches of the adversary. Lack of heed to God’s Word victimized the children of Israel. Bad associations corrupt good morals, of youth and adults alike. That is why the Israelites were exhorted by Jehovah, who said concerning violent reproachers: “They should not dwell in your land, that they may not cause you to sin against me. In case you should serve their gods, it would become a snare to you.”—Ex. 23:33; Deut. 7:16, NW.

9, 10. Why should children be alerted to snares of idolatry?

⁹ Christian children of the King would consider it unimaginable to follow the course of false religion. But what about the many other shrouded contrivances of false worship that call for us to be equally vigilant? Satan is the god of this system of things and is therefore the god of false worship of any kind, and there are many varieties. ‘You are servants of the one you obey.’—Matt. 6:24; Luke 16:13; Rom. 6:16, NW.

¹⁰ For instance, we often see grown-up men and women glorifying science and medicine. We observe them turning to every form of creature worship. Children too idolize, just as their parents do. Even eighteen-year-old boys and girls glory and revel in senseless entertainment many hours and when left to themselves become worshipers of self-satisfying pleasures, just as the pleasure-mad parents, whose example they witness. This is as the apostle Paul foretold: They will be “lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God.” Some merely glorify movie stars and kings of jazz. Others, taught to revel in deeper sins, glorify crime and sex and become intoxicated with these idol practices of this corrupt world. Deadly bait are all such injurious practices when permitted to seep into the heart and mind of youth, weakening the strong and ensnaring the weak, breaking down the walls of protection provided by the sure Word of God. Death is the penalty for worshiping false gods of any kind. This would include the serving of creatures in a worshipful way; loving pleasure to the extreme and setting one’s affections on those things that would turn us from the true worship of Almighty God. So, then, can even those who are still under twenty-one ignore the sound advice, “Little children, guard yourselves from idols”?—2 Tim. 3:1-4; 1 John 5:21, NW.

LOVE AND DESIRE FOR WEALTH ENSNARE

11. What are some forms of idolatry that are extremely subtle in overreaching youth? What penalty would result?

¹¹ Money, too, has become an idol of this age. Those of this present system of things have become money-mad, and are at a point where they will stoop to any unscrupulous means to attain it. This insatiable desire has become responsible for much of the thievery and many of the other crimes of the twentieth century. Resorting to these crimes is in violation of Jehovah’s right principles as given in his Word, and is not compatible with Christian living. Any person guilty of such crimes would have no place in the New World society. In fact, if one persisted in continuing to share in these wrongdoings it could lead to disfellowshiping from the Christian congregation, regardless of age.

12. (a) How and why has the “love of money” become such a snare to people? (b) How should Christians evaluate the proper position of money and its use in their lives? In their children’s lives?

¹² Inasmuch as the gaining of wealth is the main objective of many grownups of this system of things, children undoubtedly will show the same passion for accumulating money or its equivalent. Hence, again, we see the importance of the proper molding of the minds of the youths in the New World society. While it is true that money is a defense and a convenient commodity to possess, yet the Christian parents should instill in the minds of children true values as emphasized in the Scriptures, namely: ‘Knowledge does more good than money, it safeguards a man’s life.’ Since children will be of the same understanding in this respect as the parents, theocratic parents will have the proper perspective in accumulating wealth, being sure that it is always in subjection to the important thing in one’s life, the ministry. Money should be a means to an end, rather than an objective in life. We can readily observe from this that parents can do severe injury to children if they are too liberal with allowances, giving them too much to spend. Children need to be restrained in this regard for their own good. It may be advantageous for the schoolboy to have a part-time job, earning his own money and thereby learning its actual evaluation and how to handle it judiciously.

13. How valuable are true riches? What sober thought should all have of monetary wealth?

¹³ How much more important are the riches that one lays up for himself in heaven! The Scriptures emphasize in Proverbs: “She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.” In contrast, Paul wrote to Timothy: “The love of money is a root of all sorts of injurious things, and by reaching out for this love some have been led astray from the faith and have stabbed themselves all over with many pains.” It is not the possession of money that is necessarily evil, but the relative concern and esteem one places upon its possession as an achievement.—Prov. 3:18, AS; 1 Tim. 6:10, NW.

ADVANCED EDUCATION

14. Why should extreme care and thoughtfulness be exercised relative to an individual’s deciding whether to seek education beyond high school or not?

¹⁴ Since the love of money and the advent of materialism have a strong influence on young and old alike, they play an influential part in the decisions made by youth as to their future course of life. Many Christian children see their contemporary graduating classmates planning to enter college, usually with the intent of becoming successful by obtaining either a good position in life or some degree of prominence, which are both measures of success today. But can this be viewed as a course of wisdom directed from a theocratic viewpoint? Frequently the question arises in the mind of youth: “Would it be proper for me to enter college? Will the broadening of my education enhance my capabilities later as a theocratic minister?” Whether a person should or should not seek such higher education is dependent on the individual and what he desires to gain from life, present and future. Up to this point he has been successfully guided by theocratic parents in harmony with godly principles—he is a successful young minister. Now, again, as many times before, he comes to a point in life where he must make a decision, and here too the parents can come to the fore as counselors. Being a sincere young Christian minister, he wants to make a right decision. He must decide whether his ambitions are toward the popular trend of materialism or not—whether he desires to get ahead in the world, to attain a high position and honor and esteem of men which a college education subsequently leads to. In making his decision he must bear in mind the question: How will this affect my position in the New World society and my relationship toward Jehovah God? College is too often a tool of the old world and is shaped so as to be used later in accomplishing its ideologies and to enhance success according to old-world standards. It follows, too, then, that such a course could turn one’s mind away from theocratic education and principles. It would therefore be necessary for one to consider whether he is strong enough to practically divorce himself from theocratic association for at least four years while filling the mind with old-world thoughts and principles.

15. Is the acquiring of scientific knowledge or other courses detrimental? What is liable to bend thinking in the wrong direction?

¹⁵ It is not the acquiring of true scientific knowledge or that on many other subjects, which is in full accord with the Word of God, that is detrimental, but rather the vehicle in which it is conveyed is often saturated with the ideas of men conflicting with God’s thoughts, such as the evolution theory as to the origin of man and other theories and hypotheses that are not compatible with the Bible. Taking in knowledge of pure mathematical science, physics, chemistry, engineering, history, etc., is very commendable and necessary for advancing and improving standards for people to enjoy in this the twentieth century, and this may well continue into the new world when done in harmony with God’s right standards. However, as transmitted to the students through modern unprincipled political ideologies, and therefore questionable, through the unscrupulous commercial methods, and through the allied doctrines of modern Christendom, it may have an adverse effect on the student’s mind.

16. What should students particularly avoid?

¹⁶ One of the greatest risks would be the temptation to share in the many and varied campus activities, including wild parties and the like that could easily lead to weakening the moral standards required of Christians. The same would also be true of so many other extracurricular attractions that would jeopardize the integrity of God-fearing youth. No one is to submit himself to unnecessary circumstances that would lead one into the snares of the ever wily foe, Satan.

17. (a) Why is the contamination of school courses with philosophies of men dangerous? (b) What further questions confront the person contemplating the pursuit of higher education?

¹⁷ When one realizes that the doctrine of evolution and other philosophies of men contrary to the Word of God are a part of higher education, he must consider whether he possesses adequate resistance to withstand the influence of erroneous teachings. Would it not be true that such information would be replacing the good and healthful information of God’s Word that one had gained earlier in life under the direction of theocratic parents? It is highly improbable that one would be strong enough to separate himself from theocratic association and service to Almighty God for such a period of time and still expect to remain in the truth. Finally, and extremely important, what would one select for a profession that would tend to enhance one’s ministry?

18. What type of wisdom is likely to be gained, and what may be its effect?

¹⁸ In pursuing a course of higher education, one would acquire wisdom. But after what fashion? Bear in mind that the institutions of this system of things promulgate their ideas and may easily lead one into submission and cause one to measure success according to their standards, since “the sons of this system of things are wiser in a practical way . . . than the sons of the light are.” Today they pride themselves on being very ‘practical-minded.’ And the lesson for us? “Also I say to you, Make friends for yourselves by means of the unrighteous riches, so that, when such fail, they may receive you into the everlasting dwelling-places.”—Luke 16:8, 9, NW.

19, 20. (a) For the young Christian minister who seeks higher education, what risks are involved? (b) Why would we not expect it to have God’s approval?

¹⁹ We are admonished to ‘remain separate from the world,’ and yet we would be filling our minds with the principles of this world. We are counseled not to miss meetings, yet this would unquestionably result. We are strongly urged to ‘study to show ourselves approved unto God’; in the old world we would be studying to gain ‘wisdom’ and approval of men. ‘Be doers of the Word and not hearers only,’ we are taught; but by following the course of higher education we would have little time to be hearers or doers of the Word of God.

²⁰ God’s approval is upon no part of the old world, and that includes its institutions of learning that promulgate its philosophies. Such ‘wisdom’ adds nothing to the stature of an individual as a minister of Jehovah, because that is not its intended purpose, nor is it designed with this objective.

21. What constitutes constructive Christian education, and of what value is it?

²¹ Constructive education and training are spoken of by Paul in his words addressed to the Ephesians, including assignments for this purpose: “And he gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as missionaries, some as shepherds and teachers, with a view to the training of the holy ones for ministerial work, for the building up of the body of the Christ, until we all attain to the oneness in the faith and in the accurate knowledge of the Son of God, to a full-grown man, to the measure of growth that belongs to the fullness of the Christ.” Why this? “In order that we should no longer be babes, tossed about as by waves and carried hither and thither by every wind of teaching by means of the trickery of men, by means of craftiness in contriving error. But speaking the truth, let us by love grow up in all things . . . that you no longer go on walking just as the nations also walk in the unprofitableness of their minds.” “Go on walking as children of light, . . . and quit sharing with them in the unfruitful works which belong to the darkness.” Is present higher education under old-world standards compatible with these words of the apostle? The two are no more miscible than oil and water.—Eph. 4:11-17; 5:8, 11, NW.

22. (a) What is the vocation of a dedicated young man or woman? (b) What must be the relative position of other interests in life? What may be his most cherished goal?

²² When a person dedicates his life to Jehovah, his lifetime vocation is that of being a minister and everything else not only gives way to it but is molded to accomplish the requirements laid upon a minister by Jehovah. He will not permit his attentions to be divided by any other pursuits or desires. This being the case, how much more profitably could the young man or woman spend the corresponding or equivalent four years or more in the full-time preaching; perhaps even going to Gilead and then participating in the missionary service or other special assignments, or even sharing in Bethel service. Then full heed would be given to the expert advice: “Pay constant attention to yourself and to your teaching. Stay by these things, for by doing this you will save both yourself and those who listen to you.”—1 Tim. 4:16, NW.

23. What common error of judgment is frequently made by youth today?

²³ Today many young people are of the frame of mind that they are to judge as to what is right and what is wrong. Often we hear the expression, “I am doing what is right”; “I am doing good, I am not hurting anyone.” Appropriately, then, the question might be proposed, According to what standards? Seemingly it is a course that is right in their own eyes, just as it was in the days of Israel when there was no king. This accounts for much of the confusion of today, and here again we find youth has adopted the same pattern. Even in the immature state of youth, they are making up their minds as to what is right or not, and the results are obvious.

MORAL STANDARDS AND CONTEMPLATION OF MARRIAGE

24. (a) What other subjects of instruction come within the scope of parental duty? Why? (b) What is so important regarding eligibility for a marriage partner?

²⁴ When it comes to making decisions perhaps the most trying years of youth are the teens, when girls enter womanhood and boys begin taking on the characteristics of manhood. This opens up an entirely new view of life to them. So far the parents should have had the complete confidence of the children, and this should continue. Young men and women should be able to continue to bring to father and mother their questions about life and the meaning of the changes they are experiencing. They expect correct answers. Youth is entitled to learn more than just the casual explanations of life by listening to stories about the birds and bees and flowers! Now they are entitled to continue receiving instructions in the fundamentals of life too. Parents are the God-appointed ones to give this vital information. Youth expects it and is entitled to it from you, fathers and mothers. This includes proper conduct toward the opposite sex. Likewise, it includes respect for the moral code established, not by man, but by Jehovah God. When children reach these years of life and subsequently think of marriage, the parents should again properly fill the role of instructor so the son or the daughter will understand what is required in the proper selection of a mate. Jehovah’s rules on this matter are clear, beginning with what constitutes eligibility for marriage. Parents should be just as concerned as was Abraham when he selected a marriage partner for his son Isaac. On this matter Isaac had respect for his God-fearing father. Although he lived among Canaanites and their young women, none of these could be considered for Isaac, because they were not in covenant relationship with Jehovah. Paul passes the same wholesome information on to Christians, saying: ‘Marry only in the Lord.’ How can separation from the world be maintained when one selects a mate from the world and then lives so intimately as husband and wife?—Gen. 24:3, 4, 37; 1 Cor. 7:39, NW.

25. (a) Why is singleness so highly regarded in the Scriptures? Under what conditions? (b) What practices must be avoided?

²⁵ Since the Bible stresses the importance of singleness, that is even a better course. Paul explains: “The single man is anxious for the things of the Lord, how he may gain the Lord’s approval. But the married man is anxious for the things of the world, how he may gain the approval of his wife, and he is divided.” One who chooses this better course of singleness must bear in mind that along with it chastity is required. If it is impossible for a young man or a woman to live a continent life, Paul advises: “But if they do not have self-control [gift of singleness], let them marry, for it is better to marry than to be inflamed with passion.” (1 Cor. 7:32-34, 9, NW) Such young people in their teens or older are prospective Christian children of the King, Christ Jesus, and their behavior toward the opposite sex must be clean and above reproach. Just because those in the world revel in drinking sprees, heavy necking and petting, this is no reason for any of Jehovah’s servants, young or old, to let their guard down and fall into a similar course of degradation. The end of such conduct should be kept in mind. Excessive drinking and overeating leads to dulled senses and a lack of resistance to temptation. Petting arouses the sex impulses. Such desires improperly carried too far lead to gross immorality. God-fearing persons cannot carry on as the godless world does. Certainly parents have a solemn obligation to bring up their children with a clear understanding of these fundamentals of life as well as to warn them of the pitfalls.

26. How should a young Christian view marriage?

²⁶ By the time of majority youth should have a clear understanding of marriage and what it means. The fact that one third of the marriages today end up in divorce on every kind of grounds should not mean that marriage should be taken lightly, as observed in this modern age. Divorcing mates on grounds other than adultery and marrying another still constitutes a violation of God’s covenant on marriage and could not have God’s approval. “No fornicator or unclean person . . . has any inheritance in the kingdom of the Christ and of God.” It is important that young men and women be acquainted with these facts of life in order to share in marriage in conformity with God’s will. They will realize that married Christians stay married and have proper respect for the Scriptural arrangement: “Let marriage be honorable among all, and the marriage bed be without defilement, for God will judge fornicators and adulterers.”—Eph. 5:5; 1 Cor. 6:9, 13; Heb. 13:4, NW.

CONCLUSION

27. What opportunities are set before parents that bring joy to their hearts?

²⁷ Parents have wonderful opportunities today to rear children that meet God’s standards and have his approval. No heritage can be greater than this. Nothing could possibly bring greater happiness to a successful parent than to witness children growing to manhood and womanhood sharing in the service of Almighty God.

28. What will be the cherished ambition or goal of the young minister, and what may be his position in the New World society?

²⁸ Youths properly instructed, trained and disciplined truly have a place in the New World society at this time. They are indeed a glory to parents, to the congregation and, above all, to Jehovah and His obedient and faithful King-Son, Christ Jesus. Young ministers will shun all practices and instructions tending to attract their attention to old-world materialism, earthly successes and desires, which are nothing more than ensnaring pitfalls of the adversary. Instead, the most cherished ambition of young people either single or married could be that of Bethel service in Brooklyn or at one of the Watch Tower branches, the full-time service as a Gilead graduate in missionary or other assignments or in the full-time pioneer ministry ranks. Being a Christian minister of Jehovah is the grandest position that today’s youth can occupy or be trained for. It is the course that leads to endless life, can be a channel through which others will receive such life and, best of all, wins the blessings of the living God, Jehovah. You young ministers of today, then, do become tomorrow’s mature, loyal, faithful servants and representatives of Jehovah’s New World society, to his praise!

Strip off the old personality with its practices.—Col. 3:9, NW.

False Shepherds Wail

THE clergy of Christendom have arrogated to themselves the role of shepherds of their flocks. Neglecting to feed the sheep, they wail when they note Jehovah’s true shepherds feeding the sheeplike ones, for it means a spoiling of their pastures. An illustration of this is the following experience that took place in a town in New York state the latter part of 1955.

The wife had been studying with Jehovah’s witnesses intermittently for some time, but the husband only for a few weeks, when they wrote their Lutheran pastor that they wanted to become Jehovah’s witnesses. Thereupon he made a call and for two hours vainly tried to make them change their minds. At his instance a meeting was arranged with the witnesses and the subject of the trinity was discussed.

At its conclusion the husband said to his pastor: “Mr. B————, the first round goes to the witnesses. I never really knew what the trinity was, and now that I do, I know it doesn’t make sense.” The pastor replied: “Of course it doesn’t make sense. But when the Bible doesn’t make sense, neither should we.”

It was agreed to have another discussion the following week on the subject of hell. However, he later phoned saying he would not be able to keep the appointment but would be glad to come the next week and bring a friend along. In the meantime the witnesses, by means of a Lutheran Cyclopedia, posted themselves on just what the Lutheran theologians did teach on various religious subjects. The following week the pastor came with not just one friend, but two, both of whom were also clergymen, one of whom seemed to have more authority than the others.

During the discussion of hell the question came up as to whether or not hell’s fire was literal. The one with more authority stressed that it was literal, hell was a hot place. When he was shown that the Lutheran Cyclopedia held that the fire was not literal he became very angry and endeavored to deny that he had said it was really hot in hell.

Next the subject of the end of the world came up. The clergymen held that it would be literally destroyed and cited as proof 2 Peter 3:10. As the witnesses had found that Lutheran dogmaticians disagreed with one another on the subject, some, such as Gerhardt, Quenstedt and Calov, holding that the earth would be literally destroyed, whereas others, such as Luther himself and Brenz, held that only the form of this earth would pass away, the clergymen were asked with which group they agreed. “With Luther, of course!” was the reply.

When it was pointed out that Luther did not believe the literal earth would be destroyed and that Lutheran theologians were divided on the subject, they insisted that their Cyclopedia, said no such things, and upon being shown in black and white they endeavored to misconstrue the plain statements. Clearly they had not been aware of this disagreement among their own theologians. One of them, losing his temper, leaned across the table and shouted that it was ridiculous for ignorant laymen to tell them what they believed, etc.

The husband countered by saying that the beliefs of Jehovah’s witnesses made more sense. At this point one of the clergymen sneered: “You, with your stupid, lousy little minds, must jam all the scriptures together so they make sense. That is the most stupid and lousy doctrine I ever heard.”

In the course of the evening’s discussion the clergymen said that God was frustrated because all are not going to be saved even though he would like them to be. When the time came for them to leave the one seemingly with more authority got up and said: “I just have this to say, this has been the most disgusting, most disappointing night of my life, and if I had known it would be like this I would never have come.” After some further remarks on the subject of hell the other two clergymen also left.

The couple rejoiced over the victory the truth had gained. Since then they are having an ever-increasing share in preaching the good news of the Kingdom and are feeding regularly at Jehovah’s table spread for them at the local Kingdom Hall.

“Hark, the cry of the shepherds, and the wail of the lords of the flock! For the LORD is despoiling their pasture.” Truly those prophetic words of Jeremiah, written some twenty-five centuries ago, are finding fulfillment in our day.—Jer. 25:36, RS.

Questions From Readers

● In the Revised Standard Version of the Holy Bible, published in America in 1952, the divine name Jehovah does not appear at all, not even in the translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. According to the Preface of this 1952 Version the word “Lord” has been used instead of God’s name. Would it therefore be right for us to read the name “Jehovah” wherever the word “Lord” occurs in connection with God that thus God’s name might be put in its proper place?

No, it would not be right to do so. Why not? For this reason: In the Revised Standard Version, the same as in the Authorized or King James Version, the divine name Jehovah has been substituted for by the title “LORD” printed in all capital letters or by the other title “GOD” printed in all capital letters. Where the titles “Lord” or “God” do not occur in all capital letters, then it does not translate the divine name Jehovah. For example, in chapter one of Genesis the title God occurs many times, but it does not translate the divine name in the Hebrew and hence “God” has only an initial capital letter and the other letters are small or in lower case. In the Hebrew text the divine name Jehovah begins to occur first in chapter two of Genesis, and there the Revised Standard Version renders it by the title “LORD” in all capital letters. However, in Genesis 15:2 we find the expression “Lord GOD” with the title “GOD” in all capital letters but not so the title “Lord.” This is because the title “GOD” translates the divine name Jehovah but the title “Lord” does not do so here.

In Genesis 15:2 the word “Lord” applies to Jehovah all right but it translates the Hebrew word pronounced “Ad·o·nāʹī” or “Ad·o·nīʹ.” This Hebrew word means “Master” or “Lord” and is applied only to Jehovah God. So it describes Jehovah God as being Master or Lord. Hence in the Hebrew text the Hebrew expression for “Lord GOD” is “Ad·o·nīʹ Ye·ho·wihʹ.” The American Standard Version and the New World Translation translate this expression into English as “Lord Jehovah.” In the Hebrew Scriptures this expression “Ad·o·nīʹ Ye·ho·wihʹ” or “Lord Jehovah” occurs over three hundred times, beginning with Genesis 15:2. In the one prophetic book of Ezekiel alone this expression “Lord Jehovah” occurs 214 times, beginning with Ezekiel 2:4. In all of these hundreds of cases the Revised Standard Version and the Authorized or King James Version use the word “GOD” in all capitals instead of Jehovah, because it would be foolish to translate this Hebrew expression “the Lord LORD.”

So, aside from the name Jehovah there is a special title, Ad·onāʹī or Ad·onīʹ, which applies to God alone, and which describes him as Lord or Master. In places in the accepted Hebrew text the title Ad·onīʹ occurs by itself, as at Psalms 68:32 and Ps 136:3, and hence the word “Lord” properly appears in the English.

There is another Hebrew expression that applies exclusively to Jehovah, namely, ha-A·dōnʹ. This expression is properly translated “the Lord” in English. It occurs a limited number of times, namely, at Exodus 23:17; 34:23; Isaiah 1:24; 3:1; 10:16, 33; 19:4; Micah 4:13 and Malachi 3:1. It would be improper, therefore, for anyone when reading these verses to substitute the divine name Jehovah for the title “the Lord.”

Also in Hebrew the expression for “Lord Jehovah” is not the same as the expression for “Jehovah God.” This fact is hidden in many translations of the Bible because the translators try to hide the divine name by using instead the word “LORD” in some places and the word “GOD” in other places. The New World Translation does away with all this confusion of thought by rendering the divine name Jehovah where it appears in the Hebrew and by rendering the title Lord or The Lord where it appears in the Hebrew text.

When the Watch Tower publications quote the Bible from any translation that hides the divine name by substituting “the LORD” or “GOD” for it, our publications will sometimes insert the name “Jehovah” in brackets after “the LORD” or “GOD” in order to identify who is meant. Likewise when anyone reads aloud to others from a Bible version that does not use the divine name, it would be honest and proper to read the Bible verse or verses just the way the translators of that version rendered the text, and after reading the words “the LORD” or “GOD” the reader could make the comment that this expression means Jehovah or is Jehovah in the original Hebrew text. In that way a writer or a reader cannot be accused of misquoting or misrepresenting any translation that conceals the divine name by substitute words.

Announcements

USING THE SPIRITUAL SWORD AGAINST WICKED SPIRITS

In Ephesians 6:12 (NW) we are forewarned that “we have a fight, not against blood and flesh, but . . . against the wicked spirit forces in the heavenly places.” We cannot directly engage the wicked spirit forces in combat, for they are invisible to us. But we can counteract their attacks upon ourselves and others by the use of the “sword of the spirit,” as directed in Eph 6 verse 17. The weapon, the Word of God, is mighty for the gaining of a victory over Satan and his spirit forces of wickedness. The more widely the Word of God is circulated the more good-will persons will have opportunity to learn of God’s provisions for them to be secure from attacks of the demons. In June Jehovah’s witnesses will use the spiritual sword by calling on people everywhere and offering them a valuable Bible study aid book and booklet on a contribution of 50c.

SELECT YOUR OWN BIBLE READING

Who selects your spiritual diet for you? Do you rely upon others to determine what you should believe or what you should read for Bible instruction? Compare the matter for a moment with your physical diet. When you go into the butcher shop you do not ask the butcher to give you anything that he thinks suitable, even though he may know better than you what he has or more about the animal that the cut is taken from. You consider what is available and make your own selection, having in mind the needs of your family. How much more important is your spiritual welfare than mere physical strength! Jesus said bread alone does not give life. God’s Word does. That puts Bible study first. But how can you make a selection? Do as the approved ones in Paul’s day did who “received the word with the greatest readiness of mind, carefully examining the Scriptures daily as to whether these things were so.” (Acts 17:11, NW) Take the Bible study aid “Let God Be True” and determine from your own Bible what you can receive in much needed strength for our times. Send 50c for your copy and receive a free booklet as well.

“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES FOR THE WEEKS

June 24: Youth in the New World Society, and Careful Living Helps Avoid Life’s Pitfalls, ¶1-5. Page 304.

July 1: Careful Living Helps Avoid Life’s Pit falls, ¶6-28. Page 311.

Check Your Memory

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

✔ Where today’s clergymen really have fallen short? P. 292, ¶6.

✔ How the apostle Paul disproved the popular religious view regarding Mary? P. 293, ¶3.

✔ How men have tried to put Mary in a position that really belongs only to Jesus? P. 294, ¶5.

✔ Whether the apostles worshiped Mary? P. 295, ¶3.

✔ When and how the Great Pyramid of Giza was built? P. 297, ¶2.

✔ What, most likely, was the real purpose of the pyramids? P. 300, ¶2.

✔ Whether man’s first speech was in grunts and growls like that of the animals? P. 301, ¶4.

✔ Why worldly barriers do not divide Jehovah’s witnesses? P. 303, ¶6.

✔ Why the training of children should start at a very tender age? P. 305, ¶4.

✔ What will enable a child to overcome the delinquency and corruption encountered at school? P. 306, ¶7.

✔ What good home habits can be of lifelong value to your child? P. 309, ¶1.

✔ What your children are expected to do during congregational meetings? P. 310, ¶2.

✔ What dangers youths face in today’s higher education? P. 314, ¶17.

✔ What fundamentals regarding petting, morals and the like you should teach your child? P. 316, ¶25.

✔ How some Bible translations hide God’s true name? P. 319, ¶6.