The Watchtower — March 1, 1963

Mildness Is Wisdom

HOW pleasant is a mild breeze, a mild winter or a mild spring! And even more so is a mild answer, a mild disposition or a mild manner of handling a difficult situation. Yes, while mildness is said to be best defined by telling what it is not—not harsh, not sharp, not caustic, not irritating, and so forth—mildness also is “that which induces a feeling of quiet measured beauty or serenity.”

Mildness is wisdom. Why? First of all, because Jehovah God sets great store by it, it is of great value in his eyes, even as his Word shows. Mildness is shown to be a “fruitage of the spirit,” even as are love, faith and self-control. Christians are commanded to pursue “mildness of temper,” along with righteousness, godly devotion, faith and love. And Christian women in particular are counseled to put on “the incorruptible apparel of the quiet and mild spirit, which is of great value in the eyes of God.”—Gal. 5:22, 23; 1 Tim. 6:11; 1 Pet. 3:4.

Mildness manifests wisdom also because it benefits others. It is an expression of empathy, of the ability to put oneself in another’s shoes, as it were. It shows consideration, love. It is a quality that was manifested by the ancient patriarchs, such as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, by Moses and, in particular, by Jesus Christ. Most fittingly Jesus called: “Come to me, all you who are toiling and loaded down, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you and become my disciples, for I am mild-tempered and lowly in heart, and you will find refreshment for your souls. For my yoke is kindly and my load is light.” In the same vein the apostle Paul wrote: “I . . . entreat you by the mildness and kindness of the Christ.”—Matt. 11:28-30; 2 Cor. 10:1.

Further, mildness is wisdom in that it benefits us ourselves. Are we not told, “Happy are the mild-tempered ones, since they will inherit the earth”? (Matt. 5:5) But mildness is rewarding even before God rewards it. We reap what we sow; others repay us in kind. If we are mild with them, they are mild with us. There is wisdom in making the very tone of our voice mild. A mild voice attracts, a harsh voice repels. Persons often are judged by their voices, especially over the telephone. The wise man tells us: “By patience a commander is induced, and a mild tongue itself can break a bone.”—Prov. 25:15.

Why, mildness is even good for our physical health! It keeps us from having “nerves,” ulcers, as well as saving us from many an embarrassing situation that could cause us to lose sleep.

Mildness, however, is not the easy way. It requires self-control; it takes thoughtfulness and consideration, unselfishness, thinking about others and not just ourselves. It also takes humility. Frequently the Scriptures associate mildness with lowliness of mind. The proud are not likely to be mild.

Especially does it show wisdom to exercise mildness when meeting up with those who are not mild. “An answer, when mild, turns away rage.” When others demand of the Christian a reason for his hope, he may not respond in kind but must do so “with a mild temper and deep respect.”—Prov. 15:1; 1 Pet. 3:15.

When it is necessary to give reproof it is easy to overlook mildness. But even here mildness is wisdom. That is why the counsel is given: “Even though a man takes some false step before he is aware of it, you who have spiritual qualifications try to restore such a man in a spirit of mildness, as you each keep an eye on yourself, for fear you also may be tempted.” Yes, “a slave of the Lord does not need to fight, but needs to be gentle toward all, qualified to teach, keeping himself restrained under evil, instructing with mildness those not favorably disposed.” How easy to be harsh with erring ones, with those not favorably disposed! What understanding of human nature, what divine wisdom such counsel shows!—Gal. 6:1; 2 Tim. 2:24, 25.

Not that we are always to be mild. There is a time for everything, and so also a time to be severe and administer a stinging rebuke, as Jesus did when repeatedly calling the religious leaders of his day, “Hypocrites!” That mildness is not suited for just every occasion the apostle Paul also shows by his words to the materialistic Christians at Corinth: “What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and mildness of spirit?” But the times not to be mild should be the exception, should be carefully weighed, and based on principle. Jesus even manifested mildness in dealing with Peter after he had denied his Master three times.—Matt. 23:13, 29; 1 Cor. 4:21; John 21:15-19.

If we were unduly harsh and it turns out that we were mistaken, how much more difficult to retract our statement than it would be if we had been mild! Besides, undue harshness may cause the erring one to become bitter and hard, worsening him. That was not the purpose of our rebuke, was it? By tempering the rebuke with mildness, by understatement, it is more likely to benefit the erring one than if we administered “all he had coming to him.” Besides, with such harshness goes the tendency to play havoc with the truth, to exaggerate. Mildness helps one to remain calm, think clearly, give due regard for the truth.

Truly, not without good reason does the Word of God so highly and so frequently recommend mildness to us. “Walk . . . with complete lowliness of mind and mildness, with long-suffering, putting up with one another in love.” “Clothe yourselves with the tender affections of compassion, kindness, lowliness of mind, mildness, and long-suffering.”—Eph. 4:1, 2; Col. 3:12.

We cannot escape it. Mildness is wisdom. By both precept and example God’s Word recommends mildness to us. Jehovah God requires it. It makes things easier, more pleasant for others. It does the same for us. So, “who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show out of his fine conduct his works with a meekness [or mildness] that belongs to wisdom.”—Jas. 3:13.

After Armageddon—A Righteous New World

Armageddon will cleanse the earth of all unrighteousness. But what ensures that the post-Armageddon new world will be forever righteous?

IT SEEMS incredible to many persons that there could ever be a righteous world. How could the inhabitants of such a world be kept in the way of righteousness? What assurance is there that the government would not turn corrupt and oppress the people? Judging merely by the record of secular history, many persons find little reason to hope for a righteous new world. Being doubtful, they may turn agnostic, as did the American lawyer Robert G. Ingersoll, who took a look at past governments and said:

“A government founded upon anything except liberty and justice cannot stand. All the wrecks on either side of the stream of time, all the wrecks of the great cities, and all the nations that have passed away—all are a warning that no nation founded upon injustice can stand. From the sand-enshrouded Egypt, from the marble wilderness of Athens, and from every fallen, crumbling stone of the once mighty Rome, comes a wail as it were, the cry that no nation founded upon injustice can permanently stand.”a

Thus even persons who lack faith in God’s Holy Word, the Bible, tend to recognize that a righteous government is the prime, all-essential requirement for a righteous world. If doubting or agnostic persons would go to the Bible and thoroughly examine God’s promises and see how he has lived up to them in the past, they would find assurance that a righteous new world not only is possible but also is certain.

ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS ROOTED OUT

Before such a world could come in, it is obvious that all unrighteousness must be uprooted, eradicated, so that no corrupting influences remain. Almighty God will do this at “the war of the great day of God the Almighty.” That will be a great day, the foretold “day of wrath and of the revealing of God’s righteous judgment,” and, as the apostle Peter calls it, “the day of judgment and of destruction of the ungodly men.” This will be a thorough job of exterminating wickedness, as Peter goes on to assure us: “Jehovah’s day will come as a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a hissing noise, but the elements being intensely hot will be dissolved, and earth and the works in it will be discovered.”—Rev. 16:14; Rom. 2:5; 2 Pet. 3:7, 10.

Armageddon, then, will be a time when this earth or human society will be exposed as unrighteous. No unrighteousness will be concealed from God’s eyes so as to go unpunished, for the word of prophecy says: “Look! Jehovah is coming forth from his place to call to account the error of the inhabitant of the land against him, and the land will certainly expose her bloodshed.” (Isa. 26:21) So all unrighteousness will be discovered and punished by Jehovah’s heavenly executioners under the battle command of the King Jesus Christ, of whom it is prophetically written:

“Gird your sword upon your thigh, O mighty one, with your dignity and your splendor. And in your splendor go on to success; ride in the cause of truth and humility and righteousness, and your right hand will instruct you in fear-inspiring things. Your arrows are sharp—under you peoples keep falling—in the heart of the enemies of the king.”—Ps. 45:3-5.

At Armageddon the King Jesus Christ takes his sword, with which to cut down and destroy the nations that are ruining the earth. Besides girding upon him this executioner’s authority pictured by the sword, he girds upon himself dignity and splendor, going forth in the glorious role of Jehovah’s King and Vindicator. God’s Warrior-King rides to the “war of the great day of God the Almighty” in the cause of truth, to establish the truth of all of God’s written Word. He rides his symbolic war mount to Armageddon to vindicate Jehovah’s universal sovereignty and sanctify the divine name—the greatest act of righteousness. He rides on to victory also in the cause of establishing righteousness in all the universe. The book of Revelation pictures the King riding a white horse and having a bow with which to shoot arrows at all his enemies. (Rev. 6:1, 2; 19:11-16) This skilled Archer does not miss his targets, so as to kill off righteous persons; but he speeds his arrows of destruction to the heart of all those who oppose God’s righteous new world. No enemies of righteousness will survive the King’s victorious ride that ensures the triumphant entry of a righteous new world.

RIGHTEOUS RULER AND GOVERNMENT

After describing the King’s Armageddon ride in the cause of righteousness, the inspired psalmist gives us assurance that the government of the new world will never be corrupted, since it is written concerning its Ruler: “God is your throne to time indefinite, even forever; the scepter of your kingship is a scepter of uprightness. You have loved righteousness and you hate wickedness. That is why God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of exultation more than your partners.”—Ps. 45:6, 7; Heb. 1:8, 9.

Jesus Christ was anointed with the “oil of exultation” when he was installed in his heavenly throne as King A.D. 1914, in fulfillment of Bible prophecies, as this journal has often explained. That was a time of exultation for Jesus Christ, a most refreshing experience after he had waited for nineteen centuries at God’s right hand. Having been ushered into the joy of being Jehovah’s reigning King over all the universe, he will never abuse his power. The scepter of his kingship is one of uprightness, one in which there will never be the least bit of crookedness. Jesus proved his love for righteousness and his hatred for wickedness when he was on the earth, proving it even down to death in faithfulness to God. But now he has been raised from the dead and placed in a responsible position where he can fight for righteousness and enforce it with all the needed power in heaven and on earth. Moreover, he does not change, since “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, and forever.”—Heb. 13:8.

In view of this assurance from God, let all persons who have longed for a righteous government look to Jehovah’s King, rejoicing in the knowledge that he will never turn to crookedness and oppression. The kingdom of God in the hands of Jesus Christ will be the righteous “new heavens” of that new world, and God’s promise will be fulfilled, just as the apostle Peter declared after he described the uncovering and punishing of all unrighteousness: “But there are new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according to his promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell.”—2 Pet. 3:13.

That righteousness will dwell securely in God’s new world is further assured by the fact that Jesus Christ the King will also be the Judge. Concerning this Judge the apostle Paul wrote: “He [God] has set a day in which he purposes to judge the inhabited earth in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and he has furnished a guarantee to all men in that he has resurrected him from the dead.” (Acts 17:31) Jehovah’s raising Jesus Christ from the dead is assurance that all the inhabitants of the new world will be judged righteously, including all those who come back to life in what Jesus called “a resurrection of judgment.” (John 5:28, 29) God’s Judge and King will not judge from outward appearance or by rumor and gossip but he will have the spirit of wisdom that comes from Jehovah God. Moreover, he has the fear of Jehovah; thus the prophet Isaiah gave this description of the One appointed by God to rule and judge the righteous new world:

“Upon him the spirit of Jehovah must settle down, the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and of mightiness, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Jehovah; and there will be enjoyment by him in the fear of Jehovah. And he will not judge by any mere appearance to his eyes, nor reprove simply according to the thing heard by his ears. And with righteousness he must judge the lowly ones, and with uprightness he must give reproof in behalf of the meek ones of the earth.”—Isa. 11:2-4.

Truly Jesus Christ is the ideal Ruler and Judge, for he rules in the fear of Jehovah. What blessings that means for obedient mankind! This blessed time is referred to by King David of old, who, in his last words, said: “The God of Israel said, to me the Rock of Israel spoke, ‘When one ruling over mankind is righteous, ruling in the fear of God, then it is as the light of morning, when the sun shines forth, a morning without clouds. From brightness, from rain, there is grass out of the earth.’” (2 Sam. 23:3, 4) Jehovah thus compares the God-fearing ruler to the influence of sunshine on a cloudless morning after rain, in refreshing and invigorating the growing verdure of the earth, so that tender grass springs out of the ground. Refreshing, then, will be the atmosphere of the new world. Nothing obnoxious, nothing smacking of injustice will mar life in a new world under such a Jehovah-fearing King; hence the psalmist paints this beautiful word picture of that glorious time:

“May he plead the cause of your people with righteousness and of your afflicted ones with judicial decision. He will descend like the rain upon the mown grass, like copious showers that wet the earth. In his days the righteous one will sprout, and the abundance of peace until the moon is no more.”—Ps. 72:2, 6, 7.

INHABITANTS TO STAY RIGHTEOUS

Not only will the government of the new world stay righteous, but the inhabitants must also keep to the way of righteousness. They will. None will live in that new world who do not love truth and righteousness and who do not stay in line with principles of uprightness. All must learn God’s righteousness, as foretold at Isaiah 26:9: “With my soul I have desired you in the night; yes, with my spirit within me I keep looking for you; because, when there are judgments from you for the earth, righteousness is what the inhabitants of the productive land will certainly learn.” (Isa. 26:9) By keeping in the way of righteousness, the inhabitants of God’s new world will receive bountiful blessings. Their own salvation will be assured: “O you heavens, cause a dripping from above; and let the cloudy skies themselves trickle with righteousness. Let the earth open up, and let it be fruitful with salvation, and let it cause righteousness itself to spring up at the same time. I myself, Jehovah, have created it.”—Isa. 45:8.

To live in God’s righteous new world and be in line for a salvation to everlasting life in perfect health, one cannot wait till after Armageddon to learn righteousness. He must begin now, obeying the command of Jesus Christ: “Keep on, then, seeking first the kingdom and his righteousness.” (Matt. 6:33) We have to get in line, then, with God’s righteousness now by familiarizing ourselves with the way he wants us to live. We cannot fool God by putting on a mere outward appearance of uprightness, such as that of the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. Jesus knew what was really in their hearts: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you resemble whitewashed graves, which outwardly indeed appear beautiful but inside are full of dead men’s bones and of every sort of uncleanness. In that way you also, outwardly indeed, appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”—Matt. 23:27, 28.

So we cannot hide a lawless heart with a cloak of outward righteousness; God sees what we are to the core. We must remember that God’s spirit of counsel and of wisdom and knowledge is upon the Judge and King, Jesus Christ, that he is backed up by the Supreme Sovereign of the universe, the Examiner of hearts: “All hearts Jehovah is searching, and every inclination of the thoughts he is discerning.” “The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but Jehovah is the examiner of hearts.” (1 Chron. 28:9; Prov. 17:3) This Examiner of hearts does not need any mechanical instruments, such as an X-ray machine. He can easily determine what a person is at the core, what his innermost thoughts are. Thus Jehovah searches out the heart and he determines if one has a good heart, if his thoughts and motives are righteous. Since no unrighteousness will go undiscovered and unpunished at Armageddon, now is the time to begin living for the righteous new world.

This divine examination of hearts, moreover, ensures that the new world will stay forever righteous. Jehovah is interested in a person’s heart condition because he is concerned with justifying creatures to everlasting life in that new world. If someone with an unrighteous heart were granted the right to live forever, then some kind of crookedness or rebellion would crop up in the future. But Jehovah determines whether one’s heart is firmly established in rectitude; then God knows that such a person is worthy of the gift of everlasting life.

Such, then, is the hope for all lovers of what is right. Look to God’s King, Jesus Christ, and to his heavenly kingdom. Show your faith by taking all necessary steps now to live for the righteous new world. Let the New World society of Jehovah’s witnesses help you. They are interested in your enjoying the blessings foretold at Psalm 85:10, 11: “As for loving-kindness and trueness, they have met each other; righteousness and peace—they have kissed each other. Trueness itself will sprout out of the very earth, and righteousness itself will look down from the very heavens.”

[Footnotes]

The Ten Plagues on Egypt

1) water to blood, 2) frogs, 3) dust to gnats, 4) gadflies, 5) pestilence, 6) boils, 7) hailstorm, 8) locusts, 9) darkness and 10) death of the firstborn.—Exodus chaps. 7-12.

The General Priesthood—Christendom’s Forgotten Doctrine

“You are ‘ . . . a royal priesthood, a holy nation.’”—1 Pet. 2:9.

1. Why can the teaching of the general priesthood be called a forgotten and neglected doctrine?

THE Christian doctrine of the “general priesthood” is probably not one of those you learned about in school or Sunday school. In fact, to a great many this will be the first time they ever heard about it. It has, for good reasons, been Christendom’s forgotten and neglected doctrine. For centuries it was hardly mentioned from the pulpits, the young people did not learn about it during their preparations for confirmation, the students of theology found only a page or two about it in their voluminous dogmatics, and the layman could find very little or nothing about it in the religious sections of bookstores and libraries. Still, the first Christians knew it and lived it.

2. What change have the last years brought relative to the attention given to the general priesthood?

² The last years have seen a change in this respect. In theological circles worldwide, the old doctrine of the general priesthood has been taken out, dusted off and put uppermost on the agenda together with such important subjects as the nature and unity of the Christian church. “Today,” says a professor of theology, “there is hardly another subject that has been taken up with so much energy and seriousness both in the Roman Catholic Church, which is taking the lead, and the Evangelical Churches.” What, then, is the general priesthood? To put it short: It is the Biblical teaching that every spirit-begotten Christian is a priest. To understand the full scope of this doctrine, some historical background will be a help.

3. (a) What is a priest? (b) What is the Levitical priesthood? (c) What were the two basic priestly duties of such Levites?

³ A priest is a minister of God. In the nation of Israel a priesthood was provided for by law. “The priests the sons of Levi must approach, because they are the ones Jehovah your God has chosen to minister to him.” That is why that priesthood is often referred to as the Levitical priesthood. Its official services were twofold, and Moses summed them up by the words: “Let them instruct Jacob in your judicial decisions and Israel in your law. Let them render up incense before your nostrils and a whole offering on your altar.” So when the Levites were “teaching in Judah, and with them there was the book of Jehovah’s law; and they kept going around through all the cities of Judah and teaching among the people,” they were ministers of God; and when the Levite sons of Aaron offered the sacrifices of incense, grain and animals on Jehovah’s altar in behalf of the people, they were ministers of God.—Deut. 21:5; 33:10; 2 Chron. 17:9; Mal. 2:7; Leviticus chaps. 1-7 and Le 16.

4. (a) What was foreshadowed by the animal sacrifices of the Levitical priesthood? (b) Why did the Levitical priesthood come to an end, and how did Jehovah show this?

⁴ In the letter to the Hebrews it is explained how this Levitical priesthood with its high priest, sacrifices, teaching and ceremonies in connection with the temple service, as well as the temple itself with all its features, were a type of something greater to come. Most of the sacrifices, and especially what took place on the atonement day, were pictures of the great sacrifice of Christ Jesus in giving his life as an atonement for man. Consequently, when Jesus died, was resurrected and ascended to heaven and the value of his life was accepted by Jehovah God in heaven as a ransom, the Levitical priesthood had played its prophetic part for the last time. That this was so was shown by the fact that the moment Jesus died, the big curtain in the temple that separated the two rooms called the “holy” and the “most holy” was miraculously rent from top to bottom. By rending that curtain, Jehovah showed that the atonement sacrifices offered by the Jewish high priest were no longer of value and thus there was no need for the services of the Levitical priesthood anymore, because that house or temple was now abandoned.—Matt. 27:51; 23:38; Heb. 9:1-15.

5. How was an actual stop made to the services of the Levitical priesthood?

⁵ Not understanding this, however, the Levitical priesthood continued to serve also after the death of Jesus and to bring its sacrifices of animals into the temple, but it was without any legal basis; the law covenant had no value in God’s sight anymore, and in the year 70 when the Romans conquered Jerusalem, God showed how superfluous they had become by putting an end to their priesthood also de facto. It was killed or dispersed and its temple destroyed, and another Levitical priesthood can never be reconstructed, because no Jew today is able to say from which of the tribes of Israel he originates.—Col. 2:14.

A NEW PRIESTHOOD

6, 7. Did the removal of the Levitical priesthood show that there should be no priesthood at all on earth thereafter? Prove your answer.

⁶ By putting the Levitical class of priests so absolutely out of existence, did God want to show that there was no need for a priesthood on earth anymore? Not at all! All that had happened was that a type, a picture or symbol had been removed, as the time for the antitype, the real thing, had come. So when the Levite priests rejected Jesus as God’s high priest, although of another order, and when they refused to acknowledge that their time was up and refused to enter into greater privileges, they had to be removed by force.—Heb. 10:1.

⁷ Paul comments on the change in priesthood and its legal basis, the law, with the words: “If, then, perfection were really through the Levitical priesthood, (for with it as a feature the people were given the Law,) what further need would there be for another priest to arise according to the manner of Melchizedek and not said to be according to the manner of Aaron? For since the priesthood is being changed, there comes to be of necessity a change also of the law.” The high priest of that new priesthood according to the manner of Melchizedek, rather than Aaron, is Christ Jesus, and as such he has underpriests on earth.—Heb. 7:11, 12.

8. Who took the place of the Levitical priesthood in God’s arrangement? Prove it.

⁸ Who are those underpriests? Who was going to be the antitype to the Levitical priesthood? In chapters 7 to 10 of his letter to the Hebrews, Paul first draws the parallels between Aaron, the high priest of the old covenant, and Christ Jesus as the High Priest of the new covenant. Then in chapter 10 he turns to the underpriests, the Levites, and their services and shows how they would be followed by a priesthood that would bring no animal sacrifices, and says: “Therefore, brothers, since we have boldness for the way of entry into the holy place by the blood of Jesus, which he inaugurated for us as a new and living way through the curtain, that is, his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with true hearts in the full assurance of faith, having had our hearts sprinkled from a wicked conscience and our bodies bathed with clean water.” By saying “let us approach with true hearts . . . and our bodies bathed with clean water,” alluding to the Levitical cleansing ceremonies, Paul calls on his Christian brothers to enter upon the succession to the Levitical priesthood. It is, therefore, the Christian congregation that stands identified as a new priesthood, God’s new class of earthly ministers offering up spiritual sacrifices of praises and good works.—Heb. 10:19-22; 13:15, 16; Lev. 16:4; Num. 8:6, 7.

PARALLELS

9. How can it be said that the Christian is a minister like the Levite priest?

⁹ There are numerous parallels between the old and the new priesthood to confirm their relationship. The Christian is a minister of the Word of God just as the Levite priest was. “God . . . gave us the ministry of the reconciliation, namely, that God was by means of Christ reconciling a world to himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses, and he committed the word of the reconciliation to us. We are therefore ambassadors substituting for Christ, as though God were making entreaty through us. As substitutes for Christ we beg: ‘Become reconciled to God.’”—2 Cor. 5:18-20.

10. How does Peter show the parallel between the Levitical and the Christian priesthood?

¹⁰ It is, however, the apostle Peter, who, pointing to the parallels, directly calls the Christian congregation a priesthood. Making a comparison with the literal temple and the literal sacrifices of the Levitical priesthood, Peter explains to his fellow Christians: “You yourselves also as living stones are being built up a spiritual house for the purpose of a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. . . . you are ‘a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for special possession, that you should declare abroad the excellencies’ of the one that called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. For you were once not a people, but are now God’s people.”—1 Pet. 2:5, 9, 10.

11. (a) What are the “spiritual sacrifices” mentioned in 1 Peter 2:5? (b) What are the priestly duties for Christians mentioned in Hebrews 10:23-25?

¹¹ That those “spiritual sacrifices” offered by the Christian priesthood first of all are a ‘declaring abroad of the excellencies’ of God is corroborated by Paul, who calls them “the fruit of lips which make public declaration to his name,” in Hebrews 13:15, and he adds: “Moreover, do not forget the doing of good and the sharing of things with others, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” Note also how Paul, after having identified the new priesthood under Christ Jesus in Hebrews chapter 10, goes on in Heb 10 verses 23-25 and mentions at least three distinct priestly duties of that new priesthood: “Let us hold fast the public declaration of our hope without wavering, for he is faithful that promised. And let us consider one another to incite to love and fine works, not forsaking the gathering of ourselves together, as some have the custom, but encouraging one another, and all the more so as you behold the day drawing near.”—Rom. 12:1.

A DIFFERENCE

12. Why is the Levitical priesthood called a “special” priesthood?

¹² In one respect, however, there is a difference between the two priesthoods. The Levitical priesthood was not what is known as a “general” but, rather, a so-called “special” priesthood. There was nothing general about it. The office of priest was restricted by birth and sex, confined as it was to the male members of the tribe of Levi, the office of a sacrificing priest even being confined to the family of Aaron, the first high priest. By law the priesthood was put in a class or an order by itself, not only in regard to office, but also in other matters. The Levites received no inheritance in the land, and special provisions were made for their livelihood. Their tribe was not counted among the twelve tribes of Israel after it was set aside for priestly duties; the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph, made the number full. The Levites were thus a special class or state or order within the Jewish society. There was a definite distinction between priesthood and people. Israel’s was a “special” priesthood.—Num. 8:14; 18:20-24.

13. (a) What is a “general” priesthood? (b) According to Peter, is the Christian priesthood a general or a special priesthood? How does Peter support your answer?

¹³ Not so with the new priesthood. Peter says: “You are ‘ . . . a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for special possession.’” He calls the Christian priesthood a nation. It is the new “Israel of God.” Priesthood and nation are identical. There is no division into “priesthood” and “people” within that nation. Every member of that nation is a priest. That is a “general” priesthood.—Gal. 6:16.

14. Give further proofs of the fact that the Christian priesthood is a general one.

¹⁴ The idea that there is no distinction between Christians is not new. We meet it in the picture of the Christian as a member of the body of Christ, in which “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor freeman, there is neither male nor female”; and we have it in the sonship of God that the Christian attains to and by virtue of which each Christian has direct access to his heavenly Father through the High Priest, Jesus Christ, with no man as a mediator or priest, because Jesus Christ is the Mediator himself.—Gal. 3:28; 4:5-7; Heb. 4:16; 1 Tim. 2:5.

ORIGIN OF GENERAL PRIESTHOOD

15. Who instituted the general character of the Christian priesthood? How?

¹⁵ It was Jehovah God himself who very forcefully established the general priesthood in the Christian congregation from its very beginning. On the day of Pentecost he poured out his spirit on the first ones who became members of the congregation. By receiving that spirit they were anointed to be underpriests and were helped to start performing their priestly duties right then and there, because under its influence they began offering up spiritual sacrifices by preaching about God and his purposes. Notice, God did not choose a few of those about 120 persons present to be a clergy or priesthood to do the preaching and the rest to be the listeners or laity, but “they all became filled with holy spirit and started to speak . . . about the magnificent things of God.”—Acts 2:4, 11.

16. How did Jesus prepare his followers for the duties of the general priesthood even before the day of Pentecost?

¹⁶ It is evident in many ways that the teaching of the general priesthood was understood and practiced in the early congregation. They were called upon to follow in the footsteps of their High Priest, Christ Jesus, and during his ministry on earth he not only performed the duties of the new high priest himself, but he made the priestly duties general by teaching his followers to do the same.—Luke 10:1-12.

17-19. How do we know that the missionary commission given by Jesus and recorded at Matthew 28:19 was not only for the eleven apostles?

¹⁷ Some call attention to the fact that when Jesus, for instance, gave the famous missionary commission, as recorded in Matthew 28:19, only the eleven apostles were present, and they therefore contend it was given to the apostles alone. But it is also understood that “upward of five hundred brothers” were there also. (1 Cor. 15:6) It is true that the apostles more than anybody else were busy establishing new congregations in many countries, but they were certainly not alone in that work. Everybody was helping. When Paul came to Rome for the first time, it was not to establish a congregation, for there was already a congregation there, and the brothers came out to meet him before he entered the city.—Rom. 1:8, 13; Acts 28:14-16.

¹⁸ The apostles themselves did not understand the missionary commandment to be for them alone. Notice Paul’s commending words to the brothers at Thessalonica: “The fact is, not only has the word of Jehovah sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith toward God has spread abroad, so that we do not need to say anything.”—1 Thess. 1:8.

¹⁹ Titus and Timothy were teachers, but they were teachers of teachers; they were not ministers who were sent to teach a laity. Paul wrote Timothy: “The things you heard from me with the support of many witnesses, these things commit to faithful men, who, in turn, will be adequately qualified to teach others.” (2 Tim. 2:2) This is in harmony with what we read in Revelation 22:17: “The spirit and the bride keep on saying: ‘Come!’ And let anyone hearing say: ‘Come!’” When the Hebrews were slow in making progress to the point of actively participating in the general priesthood’s duties, Paul was disappointed: “For, indeed, although you ought to be teachers in view of the time, you again need someone to teach you from the beginning the elementary things of the sacred pronouncements of God.” No laity was tolerated in that congregation.—Heb. 5:12.

20. How does history confirm the general priesthood of the early church?

²⁰ History confirms the same. Danish professor Hal Koch says in his Church History: “Only in the days of the apostles and the decades immediately thereafter, do we hear of real missionaries, occupied with the dissemination of Christianity as their task and vocation. Otherwise, it was quite ordinary Christians, merchants, workmen, slaves and whatever social positions there were, who drew new members to the congregation.” There is no doubt about it: The general priesthood was a characteristic feature of the early Christian church; every member was a priest who considered it his duty to preach and teach about God inside and outside the congregation, and they were supported by the spirit of God poured out on them. There was no laity in that church. How did it, then, ever come about that the churches of Christendom today hardly know anything but a pulpit-preaching clergy and a passive laity?

A DEVILISH CHANGE

21. Did the congregational servants of the early church make up a priesthood?

²¹ Since the early Christian congregation was a working organization, it was necessary to appoint some of the members to special services. To be appointed to such service position, one had to be a mature, older man or so-called “elder” (Greek: presbýteros). From among the older men, congregation overseers (Greek: epískopoi) and their assistants or ministerial servants (Greek: diákonoi) were selected. Because of what we have just seen about the general priesthood within the early church, they were not appointed to make up a priesthood; they were simply the servants of their Christian brothers.—Acts 6:1-7; Titus 1:5; 1 Pet. 5:2, 3; Matt. 20:25-28.

22. How did congregational servants later get to make up a priesthood?

²² Paul, however, prophesied truthfully: “After my going away oppressive wolves will enter in among you and will not treat the flock with tenderness, and from among you yourselves men will rise and speak twisted things to draw away the disciples after themselves.” One of the sad consequences of this rise to oppressive power of selfish men was the complete loss of the general priesthood. According to church history, during the second century the servants in the congregations were slowly but surely elevated to form a special priesthood. The congregational overseers or epískopoi put on the garb of a bishop, the elders or presbýteroi were changed from just being the mature, older men from among whom the servants could be selected, to be in the office of a priest, and the ministerial servants or assistants were made our day’s deacons. Men took to themselves positions by which they became a hierarchy that for centuries exercised a harsh spiritual and secular rule, lording it over a laity.—Acts 20:29, 30.

23. (a) What makes the Catholic clergy an outstanding example of a so-called Christian clergy that has changed from the general to the special priesthood? (b) Why was this change devilish?

²³ The priesthood of the Roman Catholic Church is a striking example of this. Not only does this priesthood make up a distinct, separate class elevated over the laity in power, education and appearance, imitating the arrangement of a special priesthood, but it has built literal temple buildings with literal altars and dressed its members in special garments to distinguish them from the common church member. To make the return to the special priesthood complete, it claims to possess by special consecration the power to call Christ Jesus down on its altars at will, to sacrifice his literal flesh and blood in the Roman Catholic mass. The switch from the general back to the special priesthood could hardly have been more perfectly made, if a Christian appearance was still to be maintained. By depriving the members of the church of their right to be God’s active servants preaching his Word, by maiming them into a body of ignorant, often illiterate, churchgoers, the clergy quenched the spirit of God in the church and stripped it of its original dynamic force for spreading the good news and thus stripped it of the right kind of regeneration, by which the truth about God and Christ should conquer the world. That change was devilish.

The General Priesthood Today

“I shall pour out my spirit on every sort of flesh, and your sons and your daughters will certainly prophesy. As for your old men, dreams they will dream. As for your young men, visions they will see. And even on the menservants and on the maidservants in those days I shall pour out my spirit.”—Joel 2:28, 29.

1, 2. Who is taking the lead in Christendom’s present drive for reviving the general priesthood, and what are the motives?

FOR centuries theologians in Christendom have known that the church organizations they upheld by having a special priesthood were unchristian, unbiblical; but not until this twentieth century have they started doing something about it. Now they talk much about the “general priesthood.” Strange as it may seem, considering her hierarchical structure, it was the Roman Catholic Church that took the lead in Christendom’s present campaign to put back to work that same “laity” that it so carefully had kept inactive for centuries.

² Let it be noted, however, that her motives for doing so are not so much a desire to see a change in church organization back to the general priesthood of the early church as it is a dire necessity due to a fatal shortage of Roman Catholic men who want to become priests.a This shortage threatens to frustrate the Catholic bid for world power, and therefore the Catholic laity must now be made active. That is the reason for talking about the general priesthood in a church that otherwise could not be interested in reminding anybody of that old doctrine.

3. According to Pope Pius XII, is there one general apostolate for all Catholics to share in, and will the laity acquire equality with the priesthood by participating in the apostolate?

³ To the Second World Congress of the Lay Apostolate held at Rome, Italy, in 1957, Pope Pius XII explained that within the Catholic church there are two apostolates: a ‘hierarchical apostolate’ and an ‘apostolate of the laity.’ The pope raised the question: “Does the layman entrusted with the teaching of religion, by the very fact that he has received a mission canonica (an ecclesiastical mandate) to teach, and whose teaching may perhaps constitute his only professional activity, pass from the lay apostolate to the ‘hierarchical apostolate’?” The answer was No. The actual power to teach is vested in the pope and bishops alone. “All others, whether priests or laymen, collaborate in the measure in which ecclesiastical authority trusts them to teach accurately and to guide the faithful.”b

4. How general is the priesthood in which the Roman Catholic laity is called on to participate?

⁴ In other words, in spite of all the talking about the general priesthood, we should not expect to see the Catholic church from now on abolish her orders and supply her laity everywhere with Bibles and study aids, so that every Catholic can fulfill his duty as a Christian preaching the Word of God to others. According to Pope Pius XII, “all Christians are not called to the lay apostolate in the strict sense.”c Only a select specially trained minority of the laity will be used for this, and such top-rank lay ministers the church is willing to pay a salary of up to $12,000 a year.d That, it could be argued, does not leave much of the generality.

5. Why do you think the pope is speaking of the laity as sharing in the apostolate in a “less correct sense of the term”? What are they expected to do?

⁵ What, then, will all the millions of Catholics do who are not ‘trusted to teach accurately’ the Catholic faith, but who are nevertheless called on to share in the “general priesthood”? Whereas they are “not called to lay apostolate in the strict sense,” they are encouraged to participate in an “apostolate of prayer and of personal example as an apostolate in the wider and less correct sense of the term.” Why it is called an apostolate in a “less correct sense of the term” is evident when looked at more closely. For these millions of Catholics there is no offering up of spiritual sacrifices to God in the form of ‘fruits of lips making public declaration to his name’ to identify them with the early church, no privileges of service along the principles of the general priesthood. Their work in the world is, according to Pope Pius XII, to form Catholic cells in workshops, to enter into public, economic, social and political life, to join trade union movements and cooperative associations of producers and consumers as well as international organizations like UNESCO, so as “to impart to it the mark of Christ.”e

6. What does the Catholic program, referred to as practicing a general priesthood, remind one of, and what has it been used to in the past?

⁶ All this smacks more of infiltration as used by certain political movements than of the work performed by the hard-preaching members of the early Christian general priesthood. The most important branch of the Catholic layman movement is the so-called Catholic Action, a semireligious movement that has often been used by the church the same way the Nazis used their SA-troops in Germany under Hitler, as, for instance, when Catholic Action in the years just before and during World War II in the United States and other countries was used by the church violently to break up religious meetings of Jehovah’s witnesses because she did not like the facts told at such meetings.f

7. (a) How well does the Catholic laity respond to the call to participate in the lay apostolate of the church? (b) Can it truthfully be said that there is no general priesthood within the Catholic church? What is lacking?

⁷ In spite of all efforts, there are lamentations because of poor results. Said S. E. Mgr. Valerian Gracias, archbishop of Bombay: “How explain the apathy of the vast majority who with their intellectual and moral gifts could have been active and powerful participators in the apostolate of the hierarchy, but unfortunately are not? Each man today, in the language of St. Paul, is seeking his own and not what is Christ’s. There is no fire in their hearts, but only dying embers. Most Catholics entertain the notion that the Church is a kind of society to which one just belongs; the idea of the Church being a living organism is foreign to their minds.”g All this goes to prove that the so-called general priesthood of the Roman Catholic Church is nothing of the kind, and that God has not added his spirit to her efforts.—Acts 1:8.

8. Do the Greek Orthodox churches share in Christendom’s present discussion of the general priesthood?

⁸ The Greek Orthodox churches are almost as hierarchical in their structure as the Roman Catholic Church, but, contrary to the latter, they have abstained from talking about the general priesthood to any great extent.

PROTESTANTISM AND THE GENERAL PRIESTHOOD

9. (a) How was attention called to the general priesthood after it had disappeared for centuries? (b) How did Luther explain the general priesthood?

⁹ It was reformer Luther who brought the teaching of the general priesthood back into daylight. He was a keen Bible student and soon saw how far the Catholic church had removed herself from the early church by her special priesthood, and in his fight against the papacy he made diligent use of what he had found. “We were all consecrated to be priests at our baptism,” he emphasized, and he mocked the pope for thinking he could make priests out of already baptized Christians by an ordination ceremony. “That the pope or the bishop anoints, tonsures, ordains, consecrates and dresses a person differently from the laity,” he said, “may well make a hypocrite or a fool out of him, but it will never make him a Christian or a spiritual man.”h

10. (a) What did Luther consider the principal duty of the Christian? (b) What did Luther do after rediscovering the doctrine of the general priesthood? What were the results?

¹⁰ Then Luther, with great zeal, set out to practice the general priesthood in his newly formed church, teaching that the most important work of a Christian, a work that incorporates all the other priestly duties, is to “teach the Word of God.”i In this he suffered defeat, however. He had to learn that the common people had been spiritually so neglected by the Catholic church that the general priesthood and its duties were beyond their apprehension. Luther’s work in this respect was never followed up by his successors. It faded out.

11. Who else have tried to practice the general priesthood? With what results?

¹¹ Already such pre-Reformation movements as the Waldenses in Central Europe and the Lollards of Britain had tried to live up to the general priesthood. After the “reformation” a movement in Germany known as “Pietism” and our generation’s Oxford movement have to some extent tried to do the same, but all these efforts were evidently without the support of God’s holy spirit, because they all came to nothing, and even within the Lutheran church today the situation has not changed since Luther’s time: The doctrine of the Christian general priesthood is recognized in theory, but not practiced.

12. (a) How do some Protestant clergymen claim to have a general priesthood in their churches? What are the facts? (b) How is it evident that, for instance, the Lutheran State churches of Denmark and Sweden do not have a general priesthood?

¹² Nevertheless, many nonepiscopal Protestant clergymen, including Lutherans, claim they have the general priesthood and that their ministers are just servants taken out of the flock for a special task. In theory, it is said, any member of the congregation could function as such, just as the settlers in America chose the most suitable layman among them to be their minister, wherever they settled, until they could get a “real” minister, or just as sea captains are often considered ministers to their crew and passengers. The fact is, however, that the Protestant churches, including the Lutheran, have a special priesthood. The fact is that ordinarily nobody can preach or perform ceremonies in their churches without a special ordination. Normally, nobody gets ordained without special academic training, and they dress differently from the rest, at least when officiating. Any exceptions are so rare that they only emphasize the rule. In Protestant churches it is not as in the early church, where, according to Norwegian professor Hallesby, “all ceremonies of the church could be performed by any Christian.”j Therefore, honest Protestant ministers, whose churches teach the general priesthood, admit that they actually do have a special priesthood.k

FRUITLESS ATTEMPTS

13, 14. How do we know that Protestant Christendom is not content with its present situation relative to the general priesthood?

¹³ This so pitifully fell short of imitating the early Christians in living up to the doctrine of the general priesthood, that the knowledge of what ought to be done and the inability to do it could, of course, only prey on any church calling itself Christian. Therefore, when the World Council of Churches was founded in Amsterdam in 1948, it was equipped with a “Department on the Laity,” the aim of which is “to keep before the churches their responsibility for helping the laity to be the Church in the world.”l

¹⁴ In the reports from the assembly of the Council in Amsterdam we read: “We need to rethink what it means to speak of the Church as ‘a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people’ (1 Peter ii, 9), and as the ‘Body of Christ’ (Ephesians iv, 16) to which every member contributes in his measure.”a And in the reports from its assembly at Evanston, U.S.A., in 1954: “The phrase ‘the ministry of the laity’ expresses the privilege of the whole Church to share in Christ’s ministry to the world. We must understand anew the implication of the fact that we are all baptized; that, as Christ came to minister so must all Christians become ministers of His saving purpose.”b Finally, Protestantism is awakening to what it means to be a Christian, that it should have the general priesthood, that it does not have it, and that something ought to be done about it.

15. (a) How does the Protestant laity in general respond to the call for a general priesthood? (b) What does practicing the general priesthood require?

¹⁵ Just like the Catholic church, the Protestant clergymen everywhere complain about lack of progress in their efforts toward realizing the general priesthood. “Laymen who voluntarily and free of charge participate in the Christian preaching work are for example far fewer than some decades ago. Christians that participate by free, spontaneous testimony and in prayer are also on the decrease. It is often difficult to find people who are willing to take responsibility and carry burdens,” complains a Norwegian minister commenting on the situation in his country,c which brings to mind Romans 9:16: “So, then, it depends, not upon the one wishing nor upon the one running, but upon God.” What Christendom needs to be able to practice the general priesthood is nothing less than what it took in the early church—an outpouring of the spirit.

THE GENERAL PRIESTHOOD PRACTICED—A SIGN OF THE SPIRIT

16. What proves that Joel’s prophecy has been fulfilled on Jehovah’s witnesses?

¹⁶ When Peter on the day of Pentecost explained about the first outpouring of the holy spirit, he quoted the prophet Joel, saying: “‘And in the last days,’ God says, ‘I shall pour out some of my spirit upon every sort of flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy and your young men will see visions and your old men will dream dreams; and even upon my men slaves and upon my women slaves I will pour out some of my spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.’” The outpouring of the spirit in Peter’s day was only temporary and a small-scale fulfillment of that prophecy. In these last days of this old system of things, the promised, final, lasting and full-scale outpouring of the spirit has been fulfilled on Jehovah’s witnesses and not on Christendom’s Catholic and Protestant churches. The proof is that Jehovah’s witnesses not only understand and acknowledge the Biblical teaching of the general priesthood, but they are also able to practice it.—Acts 2:17, 18.

17. Since when have Jehovah’s modern witnesses had the right understanding of the general priesthood?

¹⁷ From the earliest beginning of their modern history, Jehovah’s witnesses have had the right understanding of that doctrine, as shown by an article published under the heading “The Royal Priesthood” in the very first issue of their official journal Zion’s Watch Tower (now The Watchtower) of July, 1879. After referring to the four key scriptures of the Christian Greek Scriptures about the general priesthood (1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 1:5, 6; 5:10; 20:6) the article says: “The above scriptures clearly teach that a part, at least, of our work in the future will be to officiate as the priests of God. As the work of a priest is one of intercession and of instruction in righteousness, they as clearly prove that the glorious work of evangelization will go on . . . through the ‘age of the ages’. . . . We . . . shall go forth a royal priesthood, according to the order of Melchisedec, fully prepared to sympathize with the nations, to lead them to the paths of righteousness, and to encourage them in the way of life.”

18. When did the Witnesses start practicing the general priesthood to the fullest extent? How was this shown?

¹⁸ Looking back on their history, however, it is observed that, although the Witnesses understood the importance of every Christian being an active public teacher of God’s Word since 1879, it was not until 1919, and in particular 1922, that they found the courage and strength to organize and practice the general priesthood to the fullest extent according to the methods of the early church. From then on the endeavor was made to get every member of the congregation preaching from house to house, not merely by distributing free Bible tracts, but by direct personal speech to each householder and offering Bible magazines, books and booklets on a nominal contribution. Since then all of Jehovah’s witnesses, young men and old men, young women and old women as well as children, have ‘prophesied.’ To help them accomplish the enormous ministerial work of preaching the good news of God’s kingdom to all the world, they have been given a “great crowd” of people of goodwill who are desirous of assisting the anointed royal priesthood in its temple service, just as the Nethinim and Gibeonites were happy to assist the Levitical priesthood.—Luke 8:1; Acts 17:17; 20:20; Rev. 7:9, 10.

19. How is the general priesthood seen in the congregations of Jehovah’s witnesses?

¹⁹ Also in the congregational life of Jehovah’s witnesses, we notice the general priesthood. Although in every congregation a number of its members are appointed to do special services, such as having oversight, taking care of statistics, literature and money, assigning territories for the preaching work and presiding at Bible studies, corresponding to the pattern of the early church, these members are servants of their brothers and not a clergy, and the rest are not a laity. At the congregational meetings all present participate in the oral discussions. Because he is a minister, any competent male member is called on to perform funerals, baptisms and weddings, and to conduct the service in annual commemoration of the Lord’s death. After appropriate training, given to everybody, all qualified males are assigned to teach and preach from the platform, which is possible because the subjects to be taught in a congregation of all ministers are so manifold and varied that there are assignments for all degrees of teaching and preaching ability. Thus, as in the early church, ‘all ceremonies are performed by any Christian.’—Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 2:12; Eph. 4:11-13.

20. Why do Jehovah’s witnesses meet more often than others, and how does their meeting attendance compare with that of other churches in general?

²⁰ It is evident that with every member a public teacher, the demand for instruction and meetings is much larger than where this is not the case. Therefore, Jehovah’s witnesses have five regular, weekly congregational meetings of an hour each, with an average attendance worldwide of about 75 percent of all associated members, as contrasted with the one-time-a-week churchgoers and the generally low meeting attendance complained about in most other churches.

21. Why are the meetings of Jehovah’s witnesses different from those of other churches?

²¹ Most of the meetings of Jehovah’s witnesses are different from the so-called divine services and meetings held in Christendom’s church buildings, because they must meet the demand of a general priesthood. Besides the Sunday sermon, to which the public is also specially invited, and two weekly Bible studies, the Witnesses conduct two meetings a week with the special purpose of educating and training themselves for their ministerial services to one another and to the public.

22. What meetings are specially designed to assist in practicing the general priesthood?

²² One of them is the Service Meeting. Here Jehovah’s witnesses discuss ways and means by which the congregation can most efficiently shoulder the obligation of preaching regularly to every household in its assigned territory and studying the Bible with interested persons. The other meeting is the Theocratic Ministry School, which provides the individual Witness with his personal training as a public minister of the good news. Men, women and children are enrolled. The school program includes instruction lectures, student assignments of public Bible reading, sermons and house-to-house ministry, followed by instructive counsel by a school servant. All meetings are free, and the public is welcome.

23. What conclusions can be drawn from the fact that Jehovah’s witnesses are able to practice the general priesthood worldwide?

²³ Making every member of a religious organization, by count 989,192 in 189 countries, public praisers of God is something to take note of. They were not social workers or literal singers in the streets, but ministers following in the footsteps of Christ Jesus, preaching and teaching from house to house and in the homes in apostolic style, regardless of age, sex, language, race and worldly education; and this is an achievement no man or organization may take credit for. Worldwide Jehovah’s witnesses spent 142,046,679 hours in house-to-house preaching in the year 1962. Christendom’s fruitless attempts to do the same in spite of great desire and effort testify to that. It is the result of the power of God’s spirit and is evidence of the fact, not only that we are living in the “last days” referred to by Joel, but also that the congregation practicing the much-desired general priesthood has received God’s spirit and is the one he uses on earth to represent him among the nations. Why not get better acquainted with Jehovah’s witnesses? You can find them in all parts of the world. You are welcome to attend their Bible study meetings at their Kingdom Halls.

[Footnotes]

According to Danish law of 1947 governing the Danish Lutheran State church, it is not permitted a layman to preach in the church during the ordinary divine services. (Lovbekendtgørelse nr. 456 af 23/9 1947, § 2, stk. 3.) A modification of said law considered by the Danish parliament during 1961 will only permit a layman to speak on such occasions provided the minister himself speaks on the day’s text. (Kristeligt Dagblad 15, 16/4 1961)

The Lutheran Swedish State church even has apostolic succession.

“Lost Its Faith”

“Protestantism,” The Church Herald says, “has lost its faith—not all Protestants, to be sure, but so many of them that the gasoline in the tank is half water. You can’t run a car that way. You can’t run a church that way.”—The Reader’s Digest, September, 1962, p. 50.

Give Christian Counsel Skillfully

IN THESE critical times mature Christians frequently are asked such questions as these: “My son is rebellious; how can I control him?” “I have committed a sin; what shall I do?” “My husband does not give us enough money for food and clothes. Would it be wrong for me to get a job?” “Our daughter wants to marry out of the faith. Shall we give our consent?” “I was too young to understand what I was doing. Should I be rebaptized?” These are typical problems that bring inquiries for Christian advice.

Those who are asked to give counsel in such matters know it is a serious responsibility. It is also an obligation that must be skillfully met. God’s Word repeatedly points out this obligation to mature Christians and particularly to those who occupy positions of oversight in the congregation. For instance, in Paul’s letters we read: “We, though, who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those not strong, and not to be pleasing ourselves.” “Brothers, even though a man takes some false step before he is aware of it, you who have spiritual qualifications try to restore such a man in a spirit of mildness.” “Keep comforting one another and building one another up.” “Speak consolingly to the depressed souls, support the weak, be long-suffering toward all.”—Rom. 15:1; Gal. 6:1; 1 Thess. 5:11, 14.

To meet this obligation skillfully the mature Christian need not concern himself with studies in psychology, as so many seminary students are doing. There is as much confusion and disagreement among psychologists and psychiatrists as there is among Christendom’s religious sects. Far better is it to know nothing of such secular wisdom than to adulterate or slight God’s Word because of it.—2 Cor. 4:2.

WHAT THE COUNSELOR NEEDS

To give Christian counsel skillfully the counselor must have implicit faith in the Bible as the divine revelation that is “beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness.” (2 Tim. 3:16) That is the first requirement. Next comes a good knowledge of Bible principles and Bible counsel on specific matters. The counselor must appreciate that the inspired Scriptures are the basic organization instructions for Jehovah’s people. His obligation is to uphold Jehovah’s sovereignty and righteous laws at all times. To do this effectively the skillful counselor will need maturity, understanding, good judgment and balance. In addition, the Christian counselor should be producing the fruits of God’s spirit in his own life. These are love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, mildness and self-control.—Gal. 5:22, 23.

The Christian who counsels should take no pleasure or pride in finding fault, but should rejoice at finding the truth of a matter. He needs to be approachable and tactful at all times, yet never will he compromise Christian principles so as not to hurt feelings. He must show no partiality. He is not a boss, a crank or an extremist. (Mark 10:42-44; 1 Pet. 5:3) The Christian principles that he recommends to others must be practiced by him himself in an exemplary way. Then he is in position to counsel with authority and confidence, knowing that Bible principles really work.—1 Tim. 4:12.

In order to give skillful counsel the mature Christian also needs to listen. He must remember that there is “a time to keep quiet and a time to speak.” (Eccl. 3:7) Listening comes first, as the proverb says: “When anyone is replying to a matter before he hears it, that is foolishness on his part and a humiliation.” (Prov. 18:13) This should not prove too difficult, since one troubled enough to seek counsel usually is very willing to talk. Encourage him to do so. Listen and get the problem well in mind. Indicate that you are not there to criticize but to help. Let him feel that you appreciate your own limitations and shortcomings, that you are no superman. This will aid the one hesitant to talk and he will unburden his problem more freely.

By use of questions the facts are sometimes brought to light and the disturbed one sees his problem more objectively. They also enable the counselor to see beneath the surface and so better appreciate what counsel will do the most good. Inquire whether the perplexed one has done any research in the Bible for a solution to his problem. Has he looked for counsel in the Watch Tower publications? Has he applied the counsel found there to his own case or reached any conclusion? By asking questions you may help him see the point that needs improvement on his part without your pointing to it directly. If he states the problem and the obvious answer himself he may be more inclined to see the correctness of the remedy, for he has had a part in identifying the trouble and prescribing the cure.

You will find that at times all that is necessary is a sympathetic ear while the distressed one shares his burden with you. It may be a trial that has to be endured or a situation that cannot be altered this side of God’s new world. But it will be your privilege to give encouragement and advice on how to make the burden as light as possible. Point out Jehovah’s love and Jesus’ invitation to cast our burdens on him. Help the troubled one draw comfort and strength from Bible promises.—2 Cor. 1:3-7; 2 Thess. 3:13.

WHAT PRINCIPLE IS INVOLVED?

To give skillful advice, as the problem unfolds you must ask yourself: What Scriptural principle is involved? What Bible principle has been ignored or violated? What principle should be extended to fit this particular case? What Scriptural counsel has not been followed? Encourage application of that counsel and obedience to that overlooked principle. This should be done with kindness, understanding, tact and love. (1 Thess. 2:7, 8) At times the remedy consists of simply taking a practical view of the matter, but often this is something difficult for the one whose problem it is.

It is possible that the inquirer has become self-deceived—something very easy to do. The Bible takes note of this when it says: “The heart is more treacherous than anything else and is desperate. Who can know it?” “All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but Jehovah is making an estimate of spirits.” (Jer. 17:9; Prov. 16:2) The counselor cannot go along with the deception. He cannot be swayed by sentiment. Point out the Scriptural counsel without fear. On occasion firmness may be required. If so, and a reproof is in order, administer it with kindness, entreating the offender as you would your father, mother, brother or sister, as the case may be.—Eccl. 7:5; 1 Tim. 5:1, 2.

The Christian overseer may be approached by one troubled by a dispute with someone or complaining about having been offended. First, see exactly what the offense is supposed to be. If the matter was really trivial, you may be able to help him see that, so ending the matter. If not, ask if the procedure Jesus established for settling disputes has been followed. (Matt. 18:15-17) Has he personally endeavored to come to an understanding with the other person? The disagreement probably can be settled in this way before it becomes a problem that requires the overseer’s attention.

Very often the one seeking counsel could have found it in the publications of the Watch Tower Society, such as the Watchtower magazine. For example, a Christian may ask if he and his family are Scripturally free to have any kind of association with a close relative that has been disfellowshiped. The counselor should give him a clear answer and make sure the principle is understood. Then encourage the inquirer to take the Watch Tower Publications Index and look under the main heading “Disfellowshiping.” There he will find an entry, “association with disfellowshiped,” followed by references to certain issues of The Watchtower. Supplements to the Index should always be checked for the latest information. Invite the inquirer to do the suggested reading as background to the answer you have given him. This will give him much helpful information. Invite him to report back to you what he has learned. This will help him to exercise his powers of discernment, so necessary to bearing his own load of responsibility as a Christian. It is one way of aiding the congregation to attain maturity and oneness in the faith.—Eph. 4:13, 14.

When a married Christian seeks advice on a marriage problem involving an unbelieving mate, the counselor should not overlook the possibility that the dedicated Christian may be failing to apply Bible principles in the marriage. (Luke 6:41, 42) The friction existing may be due to unwise actions on both sides. The question method can be used to determine if a Bible principle has been ignored. Has the Christian wife fully recognized the family headship of the unbelieving husband? Is she forgetting to show deep respect, and instead treating him as though he were a disfellowshiped person? Has she respected his freedom of worship in his own home? As a Christian woman, has her real adornment been “the incorruptible apparel of the quiet and mild spirit, which is of great value in the eyes of God”? (1 Pet. 3:4) If the husband is the believer, has he fulfilled his responsibility as family head, providing for his own and loving his wife as his own body? Has he copied the example of Jehovah and Christ, or has he been overbearing and inconsiderate?

Again, in addition to giving oral counsel, the overseer can show the inquirer how to locate helpful advice in the Index under the main heading “Marriage.” There you will find such entries as “divided household,” “husband’s role” and “wife’s role.” Note the cross-references to “Husband” and “Wife,” where more information is listed under such entries as “consideration for wife,” “unbelieving wife,” “love for husband” and “subjection to husband.” Those who do not have the Watch Tower Publications Index in their language can use the indexes and the Table of Contents in the other books of the Watchtower Society. Here is counsel that deserves more than a casual listening to; it deserves prayerful study!

Incidentally, marriage counsel is usually more effective when the congregation overseer or other mature counselor can speak to man and wife together—perhaps after separate inquiries have been made and individual views presented. Invite the unbelieving mate to come to the discussion. Be willing to hear both sides of the story. Use the question method to help them see where both can contribute more to the success of the union.

LOOK FOR THOSE IN NEED OF HELP

At Isaiah 1:26 Jehovah promised: “I will bring back again judges for you as at the first, and counselors for you as at the start.” That promise has been kept in appointing overseers in the Christian congregation today. (Acts 20:28) As one of these overseers you will want to look for Christians who are spiritually sick, weak or strayed from the flock. (Ezek. 34:1-16) This searching has good results, as verified by the comment an outsider made about Jehovah’s witnesses: “These people are really good Christians; their brother has not been going with them these days, so they came to strengthen him, and now look how happy he has become. If our priests had been doing the same thing we might not have gotten lost from the church. I am going to look into this religion more fully.”

As a Christian counselor you must always remember that “a righteous man’s supplication, when it is at work, has much force.” (Jas. 5:16) Pray with the troubled one in addition to applying the soothing counsel of God’s Word. Ask Jehovah to give that person his holy spirit, with wisdom to apply Bible principles and strength to endure what cannot be quickly remedied. (Jas. 1:5; Phil. 4:13) In particular should the counselor be aware of situations requiring the application of Christian love. It is difficult to imagine a problem that would not be helped by greater love of God and neighbor. Love never fails.—1 Cor. 13:4-8.

An extremely difficult problem may require that you take the matter under consideration. Either the circuit servant, if he is visiting the congregation, or the Society’s branch office may be appealed to for assistance. You may need time to do some additional research locally. In this connection it is important to remember that when you prescribe a schedule of Bible study, meeting attendance and regular field ministry for others, the same formula is also necessary for you. Pay constant attention to your study and ministry. (1 Tim. 4:15, 16) Keep up to date on the increasing understanding of God’s Word.—Prov. 4:18.

By doing these things you will be able to give Christian counsel skillfully. To Jehovah’s people needing comfort and advice you will “prove to be like a hiding place from the wind and a place of concealment from the rainstorm, like streams of water in a waterless country, like the shadow of a heavy crag in an exhausted land.”—Isa. 32:2.

Guard Against Abusive Speech and Obscene Jesting

IN RECENT years profanity and obscene jesting have become, if not popular, at least the accepted thing in the world. The common expression is that “everyone does it,” thereby implying that there is nothing wrong with vile speech so long as the majority indulge in it. It is well to be on guard against such false reasoning, lest one be ensnared into imitating the riffraff of the world in their use of filthy words, obscene jesting and dirty-joke-telling.—Eph. 4:19; 5:3, 5; Col. 3:5.

Christians, especially, should feel this obligation, because they are called to be lights in a dark world. They are commissioned to hold forth words of life and hope. They are commanded to ‘let their light shine before men, that others may see their fine works and give glory to their Father who is in the heavens.’ (Matt. 5:14, 16) Their speech should, therefore, be of the very highest caliber at all times.

Jesus gave another reason for speech control when he said: “I tell you that every unprofitable saying that men speak, they will render an account concerning it on Judgment Day; for by your words you will be declared righteous, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matt. 12:36, 37) Therefore, to stand in a favorable position before God, one must guard against using abusive speech, dirty-joke-telling and obscene jesting.

Jesus’ apostle Paul also stressed this point. After counseling Christians against imitating the unprofitable, immoral ways of the world, Paul, showed the need for discarding the old personality for a new personality, one created according to God’s will. After saying this, he says: “Let a rotten saying not proceed out of your mouth, but whatever saying is good for building up as the need may be . . . Let all malicious bitterness and anger and wrath and screaming and abusive speech be taken away from you . . . Let fornication and uncleanness of every kind or greediness not even be mentioned among you, just as it befits holy people; neither shameful conduct nor foolish talking nor obscene jesting, things which are not becoming, but rather the giving of thanks. For you know this, recognizing it for yourselves, that no fornicator or unclean person or greedy person—which means being an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of the Christ and of God. . . . Therefore do not become partakers with them; for you were once darkness, but you are now light in connection with the Lord. Go on walking as children of light.” (Eph. 4:2–5:8) This is timely advice for this day and age.

This may not always be easy to do, especially so if you have to work with people who are habitually inclined to use filthy speech. But a Christian is encouraged to put up a strong fight for the faith. He must buttress his mind against speech contamination by not excusing profanity, as some do, or even allowing filthy expressions to enter his mind. For example, recently an automobile mechanic reached under the hood of a stalled vehicle to make an adjustment. The wrench slipped. His hand banged against the hot steel block. For the next few moments the air was charged with a flow of rage and profanity, as the repairman raced about spewing out verbal filth. A few onlookers were amused, while others excused the man for his behavior because of what had taken place. But a Christian must not find excuses for language that defames God’s name and debauches creatures, no matter what the reason. There is no excuse for profanity.

Perhaps it would not be half so alarming if all profanity were confined to garages and indulged in only by those who banged their thumbs and hands. But alas! such is not the case. Almost everywhere one hears foul language. In factories and offices, in sports arenas, theaters and college dormitories filthy speech gushes forth day after day. Persons in all classes, from managers, lawyers and congressmen to soldiers, sailors, women, children, church members and preachers, have been guilty of using profanity. It has become just another aspect of the general pattern of this modern age, its profane thinking and profane living. Christians, however, must be no part of it.

Unfortunately some with good religious training have allowed themselves to be swept along with the current of the world. They mimic its “smart” manner of speech, enjoy its dirty jokes and obscene jesting. Others like to imitate “beatniks” and Hollywood “starlets” in their uninhibited and peculiar habits. These persons seem to want to be identified with the world and at the same time be a part of God’s organization. This, of course, can never be. “Friendship with the world is enmity with God.” Christians are counseled to be “without spot from the world.” (Jas. 4:4; 1:27) The command is: “Touch nothing unclean; . . . keep yourselves clean, you who are carrying the utensils of Jehovah.” (Isa. 52:11) This also applies to being clean in one’s speech.

PROFANITY IN LITERATURE

There are persons who would rather be found dead than be caught talking to some barroom tramp. Still, many of these very same people will for hours keep company with a book filled with degenerate characters whose lives and language may be far more degrading than any tramp’s.

There are scores of such trashy books published each year, any one of which, a few decades ago, would have landed the publisher and writer in prison. These publications are frank both in their use of the “four-letter words” and in their description of vice and perversion. Persons responsible for them say they are merely supplying what the public is demanding. They say that if the people do not want such publications, all they have to do is stop buying them and a reformation would be rapid. How true! But alas! as the prophet of old declared: ‘The people love to have it so.’ (Jer. 5:30, 31) The bookshelves reflect the age. At least one critic has maintained that it is “a sign of the changing times.”

But why would a Christian want to keep company with such questionable publications that are admittedly debauching an entire society? There is no good reason why anyone should want to wade in the filth of the world. “‘Quit touching the unclean thing’; ‘and I will take you in.’ ‘And I shall be a father to you, and you will be sons and daughters to me,’ says Jehovah the Almighty.”—2 Cor. 6:17, 18.

That is not to say that Christians do not appreciate frankness. A certain amount of frankness is refreshing. Jesus was frank in his speech, but he was never vulgar or lewd. The Bible is frank reading, but it is not degrading. To the contrary, it is inspiring and upbuilding. A Christian is called upon to speak out frankly so that hypocrisy and falsehood might be exposed and swept away. But he does not have to resort to filth to accomplish his work. The truth is what sets men free.—Matt. 23:13-36; John 8:32.

PROTECT YOUR CHILD FROM SMUT

If your child uses filthy language, ask yourself, “Is the language in the home wholesome and clean?” “Do his friends use decent speech?” “What books does he read?” Children are not born with a vocabulary of curse words. These they learn from their surroundings.

Today, more than ever, young impressionable minds are under attack by a most vicious and subtle enemy—the smut peddler. In 1959 the United States Post Office Department reported that sex-filth peddlers were shipping at least 50,000,000 items of obscene matter through the mails, raking in more than $500,000,000 a year. These peddlers are aiming their wares largely, if not exclusively, at teen-agers! Millions of children, some eight and eleven years old, have been reached with literature described by a Senate subcommittee as “wanton, depraved, nauseating, despicable, demoralizing, destructive and capable of poisoning any mind at any age.” Authorities state that in the United States one school-age child out of every eighteen is the target of the purveyors of such unbelievable filth.

Such printed matter corrupts more than one’s speech. According to J. Edgar Hoover, FBI chief, there has been a startling rise in juvenile sex crimes since 1955, which, significantly enough, parallels the increase in salacious literature. There has also been a rise in perversions among juveniles and an increase in venereal disease, and over half the cases are among teen-agers and young adults—an unthinkable condition twenty years ago.

PROTECTION—HOW? WHERE?

Only by guarding the mind can children and adults be protected from such pollution. Speech originates in the mind. It is what fills the mind that ultimately comes out of the mouth. Clean thoughts will produce clean speech; filthy thoughts, filthy speech. People who use obscene speech think obscene things. Their minds are filled with the obscene filth flooding the world. It is as simple as that. For the speech to be clean the mind must be safeguarded against all impure intrusions.

It is becoming to man and woman to regulate their thoughts, words and actions in such a way that they may not think or speak anything concerning God and his purposes but with the greatest sense of appreciation, sobriety and reverence, that in meditating on his words no opinion may be formed that is dishonorable to Him. Such regulated thoughts and expressions are as beautiful as apples of gold in silver carvings. However, when thoughts and speech are not controlled, not only do they become ugly, but death and destruction are often their fruitage.—Prov. 15:4; 25:11; 18:21.

Profanity and obscene jesting cannot be cured for long by emptiness, that is, by simply saying, “I’m not going to swear anymore,” or, “I’m not going to engage in obscene jesting anymore.” Mere negative prohibitions are not enough. Mere censorship of smut literature is not going to shut the doors effectively against infiltration of evil thoughts into the mind. Wrong thinking must be driven out with truth and reason. Truth must take the place where corruption once kept house. Jesus pointed this out in one of his illustrations. He said that a house swept clean of unclean spirits and then left empty will soon become worse than before. The house must be filled with the holy spirit of God as a protection against demonic invasion.—Matt. 12:43-45.

When the mind of a child or an adult is turned to truth as found in the Word of God, the Bible, and is kept tuned in on it by asking, seeking and knocking, it has the active force of God, that is, God’s holy spirit working on it, building it up, making it new. Paul brought this fact to the attention of the Ephesians, saying: “You should be made new in the force actuating your mind.” This would result to those who “heard him [Christ] and were taught by means of him, just as truth is in Jesus.” So it is not just any truth that can supply a protective force against forces that influence the mind. Only those truths embodied in the principles of Christianity can provide that protection.—Eph. 4:20-24.

To fill the mind with these truths, these thoughts of God, means the Bible must be studied. It means its truths must be pondered over, its promises meditated upon. It means getting rid of old-world ideas and making God’s thoughts our thoughts. Paul counsels: “Quit being fashioned after this system of things, but be transformed by making your mind over, that you may prove to yourselves the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Rom. 12:2) This can be done, Paul says, if you “keep your minds fixed on the things above, not on the things upon the earth.” (Col. 3:2) Also, he says: “Keep walking by spirit and you will carry out no fleshly desire at all.” (Gal. 5:16) Then he admonishes Christians to dwell on virtuous and praiseworthy things. “The things that you learned as well as accepted and heard and saw in connection with me,” he says, “practice these; and the God of peace will be with you.”—Phil. 4:8, 9.

The way to a clean mind and a wholesome tongue begins with truth fed into the mind. It depends on what we read, look at, listen to, dwell on, whether the mind will be affected for good or bad. If we fix in the mind thoughts patterned according to the healthful teachings of God’s Word, then words of life will flow forth.—Jas. 3:1-18.

This means we must watch our associations. Pick good, clean associates, whether they be people in reality, or those on films, characters in novels, or those imagined, because they can drastically affect your thinking. Bad associations will corrupt useful habits and spoil clean speech.—1 Cor. 15:33.

The best of association is that to be enjoyed with God in prayer. When the temptation arises to misuse the tongue, pray. One cannot imagine using foul speech while praying to God. On one occasion Jesus counseled his disciples: “Carry on prayer, that you do not enter into temptation.” (Luke 22:40, 46) Pray also when in temptation that you may not succumb. To your Christian conscience may God always be so vividly present that you will never say or do anything that will displease him.—1 Pet. 3:10-12.

Why Youths Turn Delinquent

✔ Today delinquent youths do not come only from underprivileged families, but from the upper classes as well. But why? What is wrong? A young attorney throws light on the situation when he notes the religious attitudes of these families. “Most of these boys we call ‘middle-class delinquents’ are from families who no longer follow their religious beliefs, except procedurally,” he observed. “They have lost the firm foundation of the Commandments. They have lost their personal grip on all religious ethics and they have not yet developed any humanitarian or secular ethics. They’re in between. They’re in a no-man’s land and a no-God’s land and their children don’t know what to believe.”

Courageous like the Lion Among Nations

NOT without good reason is the lion frequently used as a symbol in the Scriptures. He is a most powerful animal, well termed the king of beasts by reason of his regal demeanor. Among the things various authorities have related about him are these: He has no enemies (and so has none to fear), is friendly and sociable, moving in prides rather than by two’s or in herds; he kills only for food and not for pleasure, one or two kills a month usually satisfying him; he is not inclined to fight over spoils with fellow lions, and at times will even lie back to back with antelopes or other like creatures.

Jacob, in prophesying about his fourth son Judah, likened him to a lion. (Gen. 49:9) Jesus Christ, the most illustrious of Judah’s descendants, is referred to as “the Lion that is of the tribe of Judah.” (Rev. 5:5) The righteous are said to be “like a young lion that is confident.” (Prov. 28:1) Most fittingly, therefore, Jehovah’s people on earth are repeatedly likened to the lion in one respect or another.

In both the prophecies of Joel and Revelation God’s people are represented as locusts that have the teeth of lions. (Joel 1:6; Rev. 9:8) Of particular interest to God’s ministers at this time is the prophecy at Micah 5:8,a on which their service theme for the month of March is based: “The remaining ones of Jacob [Israel] must become among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of a forest, like a maned young lion among droves of sheep, which, when it actually passes through, certainly both tramples down and tears in pieces; and there is no deliverer.”

In view of the lion’s fearlessness and courage he is indeed a fitting symbol of God’s servants. Their king, Jesus Christ, certainly had courage while on earth. Nor is there any question about the fact that since 1919 the remaining ones of Christ’s anointed followers have been like a lion among nations. They have fearlessly obeyed Jehovah’s command through Christ to preach this good news of his established kingdom in all the earth as a witness to all nations.

Divine prophecy indicates that this group of anointed Christians, together with their companions, the great crowd of “other sheep,” will continue to display courage like the lion among the nations. But what about each individual reading these lines? Will you manifest like courage? The nations are opposed to God’s kingdom and to all those who preach it. It takes courage to stand for one’s convictions, especially when they are as unpopular as are those of Jehovah’s servants.

To have this courage you will need to study God’s Word and take its admonition to heart. More than that, you will need to associate at the congregational meetings with others who are striving to cultivate this same degree of courage. That of itself takes courage—to associate openly with a group of people that are often contemptuously referred to as a sect, a cult or a “bunch of fanatics.” But your very associating with them will strengthen your faith and courage. Then it will take still more courage to share in making known to others the things you have learned. Of course, help will be extended to you, but you will have to put forth the effort to learn and to grow in courage.

Throughout the world opposition to Jehovah God and his kingdom is increasing as nationalism gets ever stronger. As foretold, in the near future Gog of Magog will make an all-out attack upon those who serve Jehovah and announce his kingdom. (Ezek. 38:1–39:4) To face this ferocious foe with all his many maneuvers and his great numbers and to do so fearlessly, God’s people will need courage as they never needed it before. No fainthearted ones will survive then; only those who are courageous will. What great need there is to grow strong in courage now so that one will be able to stand then!

Shortly God’s people will enter into the great day of Jehovah known as Armageddon. It will prove to be a fear-inspiring day, because Jehovah’s judgments will be directed against his foes. But all those on Jehovah’s side at that time ‘will be lifting their hand high above their adversaries, and all their enemies will be cut off.’—Mic. 5:9.

Victory awaits and beckons God’s people onward in the preaching of his kingdom under the leadership of the courageous “Lion of the Tribe of Judah.” Sharing that victory will mean for them everlasting life in God’s new world, a reward for their having been courageous like the lion among nations.

[Footnotes]

Nathanael—An Apostle?

AMONG the many distinctive bits of information that John recorded for us in his Gospel are his references to Nathanael. None of the other Gospel writers, known as the synoptists, mention the name; yet he appears prominently in John, chapter one, and in chapter twenty-one he is mentioned with the apostles of Jesus on the shores of the Sea of Tiberias or the Sea of Galilee. Who was Nathanael?

John introduces Nathanael at the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry, right after Jesus had called Philip to be his follower: “Now Philip was from Bethsaida, from the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael,” apparently at once looking up his special friend to impart to him the good news: “‘We have found the one of whom Moses, in the Law, and the Prophets wrote, Jesus, the son of Joseph, from Nazareth.’ But Nathanael said to him: ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ Philip said to him: ‘Come and see.’”

It seems that Jesus recognized Nathanael first, saying to him: “See, an Israelite for a certainty, in whom there is no deceit.” This greeting caused Nathanael to wonder and to say: “‘How does it come that you know me?’ Jesus in answer said to him: ‘Before Philip called you, while you were under the fig tree, I saw you.’ Nathanael answered him: ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are King of Israel.’ Jesus in answer said to him: ‘Because I told you I saw you underneath the fig tree do you believe? You will see things greater than these.’”—John 1:43-50.

Nathanael must have been an outstanding Israelite for Jesus to address him thus. That he was well versed in the Scriptures also appears from Philip’s remark to him.

Nathanael is best known for his question, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” After all, he may have reasoned, the city of Nazareth was not mentioned in his Scriptures. But he was openminded, as seen in his willingness to “come and see.” And upon seeing and hearing for himself Nathanael at once confessed, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are King of Israel”—no doubt being among the first to do so.

It is noteworthy that, when telling of those who were with Jesus on the shores of the Sea of Tiberias on one post-resurrection morning, John only mentions Nathanael in the midst of four others who are apostles, and he adds that Nathanael was “from Cana of Galilee.” It was from Galilee that eleven of Jesus’ apostles came, and, remember, it was early in his ministry, when he was calling those who became his apostles, that Jesus met Nathanael.—John 21:2.

If Nathanael was indeed an apostle, then under what name do the other Gospel writers list him, since they do not mention a Nathanael? All the evidence points to Bartholomew—a view shared by nearly all the leading English Bible reference works. Why so? From John’s record it appears that Philip and Nathanael were close friends, and it is meaningful that the other Gospel writers always list Philip and Bartholomew together when naming the twelve. Further, we find that just as they do not mention Nathanael, neither does John mention Bartholomew.—Matt. 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:14.

Then how do we account for the two names, Nathanael and Bartholomew? Nathanael is evidently his proper name, the one given to him by his parents, whereas Bartholomew is the one by which he usually was called. Why? Because Bartholomew literally means “son of Tolmai.” This is in keeping with the way Jesus addressed Peter on occasion, either as “Simon son of Jonah” or “Simon son of John.” Also, note how the record introduces the traveling companion of Paul: “Joseph, who was surnamed Barnabas [or bar of Nabas] by the apostles, which means, when translated, ‘Son of Comfort.’” Nor may we overlook the fact that Matthew was also known as Levi and Thomas as Didymus or The Twin.—Matt. 16:17; John 21:15; Acts 4:36.

Thus it is evident that Nathanael was an apostle, the one appearing in all the lists of the apostles, including the one at Acts 1:13, as Bartholomew.

Questions From Readers

● What accounts for the change in rendering of Ephesians 5:13 in the New World Translation, from the 1950 edition, which said: “Everything that makes manifest is light,” to the 1961 edition, which reads: “Everything that is being made manifest is light”?—R. J. S., United States.

In Ephesians 5:13 the expression “that makes manifest” as found in the 1950 edition of the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures, or the expression “that is being made manifest” as found in the 1961 edition of the complete New World Translation, is a rendering of the participial form of the Greek word, which in the active voice means “to make manifest.” However, this Greek participle in Ephesians 5:13 is not in the active voice form, but is in the form that can be either in the Greek middle voice or in the Greek passive voice. The 1950 edition took it to be in the middle voice of the Greek participle, the same as the Authorized or King James Version, which reads similarly. In the middle voice this verb would mean to make manifest for itself, and as the “Critical and Exegetical Handbook to the Epistle to the Galatians and to the Ephesians” by Dr. Meyer shows, the treating of the Greek verbal participle as being in the middle voice has resulted in such translations as, “For that is light which makes all things manifest,” or, “For everything that makes other things manifest is light.” This idea seems to be that adhered to by Monsignor Ronald A. Knox’s The New Testament in English, for he renders the expression, “only light shews up.” This also seems to be the idea of Hugh J. Schonfield’s The Authentic New Testament, for he renders the expression, “since all visibility is due to light.” Accordingly, the 1950 New World Translation edition has good support.

However, in the 1961 New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures the translation committee showed its preference for understanding the Greek verbal participial form to represent the passive voice instead of the middle voice. With this understanding there is much agreement on the part of other modern Bible translators. For instance, Moffatt’s translation reads: “For anything that is illuminated turns into light.” An American Translation by Smith-Goodspeed reads: “Anything that is made visible is light.” The New English Bible, released in 1961, reads: “Everything thus illumined is all light.” The Revised Standard Version, published in 1952, reads: “Anything that becomes visible is light.” George Lamsa’s Bible translation from the Aramaic reads: “Anything that is made manifest is light.” The Roman Catholic Confraternity Bible reads: “All that is made manifest is light.” Correspondingly, the 1961 New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures reads: “Everything that is being made manifest is light.”

Of course, as the apostle Paul shows in the context, the unfruitful works that belong to darkness want to remain hidden and obscured and away from the light. They do not choose to manifest themselves publicly to the open view of everybody. On the other hand, those things that belong to the light offer themselves to be manifested to everybody for what they are, and this without shame or reproof. As Jesus said in John 3:21: “He that does what is true comes to the light, in order that his works may be made manifest as having been worked in harmony with God.”

However, the primary thought of Ephesians 5:13 appears to be that those who participate in these unfruitful works of the darkness do not recognize them for sin. They have not been exposed to these perpetrators as being sins. However, in course of time along comes the light of Christian truth and it shines upon these unfruitful works that belong to the darkness. It exposes the real nature of them and makes very clear and plain that such works belong to the darkness and are sinful and are so shameful that those things that take place in secret by these perpetrators do not deserve to be related, or recounted or described, so as to put bad ideas in the hearts and minds of those who hear the accounts of these things. However, when, because of necessity and unavoidability, such shameful things are exposed by the light of Christian truth, then they stand revealed as sinful. This revelation of the sinfulness of these things is therefore a flash of light. It is an illumination and these things in their sinfulness become light to us. The sinfulness of these things is what is the light, not the shameful works in themselves. So these things that are reproved and made manifest are seen by Christians in their true light, namely, as things condemned by God and to be avoided and shunned by Christians.

● In the case of an accident involving dedicated Christians, would it be proper for one to enter a legal suit against a fellow Christian in order to claim the benefits of insurance that he has?—E. G., United States.

If this is the only means by which the one who sustained injury can get the compensation provided by the insurance, it would not be improper; it is up to him to decide whether he wants to take the matter to court or not. This is not the type of situation that the apostle Paul was discussing when he wrote about law suits, as recorded in 1 Corinthians 6:1-8. He was discussing instances in which persons who claimed to be Christian brothers were at odds with each other. The one felt that he had been defrauded by the other. But the apostle wisely showed that Christians ought to be able to settle matters privately, if not directly between the individuals concerned, then with the aid of other mature ones in the congregation.

However, when there is no such animosity between members of the congregation and the legal suit is simply a procedural arrangement required in order to obtain compensation from the insurance company, the situation is quite different. The course to be taken becomes a matter for personal decision.

● Why did the disciples of John the Baptist call him Rabbi, when Jesus plainly said: “You, do not you be called Rabbi”?—C. W., United States.

Not only did John’s disciples call him “Rabbi,” as shown at John 3:26, but Jesus’ disciples also called Jesus “Rabbi,” as shown in the inquiry recorded at John 1:38, which says: “They said to him: ‘Rabbi, (which means, when translated, Teacher,) where are you staying?’” It is clear from this text that Rabbi means teacher. John, who had been commissioned by Jehovah as a prophet to make ready the ways of Jehovah and to give knowledge of salvation to His people, was such a teacher, and his disciples recognized that fact.—Luke 1:76-79.

Of course, at John’s death he ceased to be a teacher, and it was after John had died that Jesus made clear to his disciples that he was now their teacher and that they were not to make distinctions among themselves by designating certain ones by the title Rabbi. “Do not you be called Rabbi, for one is your teacher, whereas all you are brothers.”—Matt. 23:8.

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“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES FOR THE WEEKS

April 14: The General Priesthood—Christendom’s Forgotten Doctrine. Page 137.

April 21: The General Priesthood Today. Page 143.