The Watchtower — October 15, 1970

“The Truth Will Set You Free”

AT THE mention of freedom among many Latin Americans, names that invariably come to mind are those of “The Liberators,” Simón Bolívar and José de San Martín. They are memorialized throughout much of Latin America for their role as military commanders in liberating South America from Spanish rule in the early part of the nineteenth century.

However, in the affections of many, Bolívar and San Martín have been replaced by someone more worthy of the title “Liberator.” That someone is none other than the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who effected and is effecting a true emancipation, not by force of arms, but by means of the truth he spoke. He it is who said: “If you remain in my word, . . . you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”​—John 8:31, 32.

While Latin Americans are known the world over for their gaiety, the fact remains that many of them are enslaved to a way of life that results in great unhappiness. They need freedom from beliefs and practices that have long held them captive. Let us consider some of such beliefs and practices and at the same time see how the truth of God’s Word is effecting its work of liberation in Latin America and elsewhere.

Truth About the Dead Liberates

Many of the beliefs and practices that enslave their adherents are related to death. For example, many live in fear of purgatory, where, according to official Roman Catholic teaching, the “punishment by fire is more severe than any punishment which comes to men in this life.”

Of course, such teaching is based on the supposition that the human soul does not die. For someone to suffer after death, obviously the conscious part of him and the nervous system, which transmits the sensation of pain to the brain, would have to live on.

But, do the Holy Scriptures support the teaching of the immortal soul and, hence, the idea of purgatory? To the contrary, they teach that, “as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all,” therefore, are unable to suffer; also, that “the soul that is sinning​—it itself will die.”​—Eccl. 9:5; Ezek. 18:4.

In connection with purgatory, the Catholic church asserts “that the souls therein detained are aided by the suffrages of the faithful.” But, since the dead, being unconscious, are not able to suffer, then of what value are costly prayers in their behalf? Rather than the hope of future life being dependent on money contributions, the Bible shows it is properly based on God’s power to give life by means of a resurrection.​—John 5:28, 29.

At first, you may be surprised to see exactly what the Bible teaches in connection with the condition of the dead. That was the first reaction of a resident of Honduras who began to study his Catholic Bible. But then he became indignant toward the Catholic church for having hidden the truth of God’s Word. He immediately stopped going to mass, although he had previously attended every morning at six o’clock. Instead, he began taking his family to the meetings of Jehovah’s witnesses, where he knew the freedom-giving truth was taught.

Freedom from Worship of Images

Religious pictures and images are common sights in Latin American homes, business establishments and motor vehicles. Shedding light on the resultant enslavement is this comment in the book Fiesta Time in Latin America: “The Indians love the holy images, pray to them, believe in their miracles, and make them gifts . . . In the Andean countries Christian saints and pagan gods have become inextricably entangled.”

Although such adoration of images is fostered by the Catholic church, the Bible is unyielding in its denunciation of it. It is a direct violation of the second of the Ten Commandments, “You must not make for yourself a carved image . . . You must not bow down to them.” (Ex. 20:4, 5) In equally plain speech, the Christian apostle Paul exhorts: “Flee from idolatry.”​—1 Cor. 10:14.

Taking those words to heart, many Latin Americans are doing just that. Thus from Maracay, Venezuela, comes the report of a man who had studied four years to become a priest, but who, after only a few studies in the Bible with Jehovah’s witnesses, made a bonfire and burned every image and ‘holy’ picture he owned. After he did that it could be said of him, just as it was said of first-century Christian converts: “You turned to God from your idols to slave for a living and true God.”​—1 Thess. 1:9.

Freedom from Demon Influence

The Bible is the only book that explains the origin of the Devil and his demons and that exposes their deceptive designs. It shows how to resist them by ‘putting on the complete suit of armor from God,’ which includes “the sword of the spirit, that is, God’s word.”​—Eph. 6:11, 17.

It is to be expected, then, that where there is an absence of Bible understanding, demonism would abound. The religious situation in Latin America bears this out. Commenting on the popularity of spiritism in Haiti, for example, the book Fiesta Time in Latin America says: “Most of the population are professed Catholics, yet many of those attending early mass in the churches have come there directly from all-night voodoo ceremonies. The voodoo rites themselves show the influence of Catholicism.”

And from Brazil comes the report that “more than 67 percent of Brazil’s Catholics attend macumba or voodoo sessions.” Such a condition was blamed by the Auxiliary Bishop of Rio de Janeiro on the “superficiality of Catholic instruction in Brazil.” While Catholic instruction is too shallow to prevent such a condition from developing, Bible truth, which is “powerful by God for overturning strongly entrenched things,” can and is doing so.​—2 Cor. 10:4.

Testifying to this fact is the following experience from Venezuela. There a woman claimed she had power to communicate with the dead and foretell many things in the lives of her friends, even having the ‘voices’ of dead relatives speak through her. However, when the ‘voices’ told her to divorce her husband, she became curious to know the source of her power. So, when visited by Jehovah’s witnesses, she was told frankly and clearly about the origin of her power and that it was condemned in the Bible. (Acts 16:16; Lev. 19:31) After only a few weeks of Bible study, she had gained freedom from demon influence, a freedom that brought blessings to her entire family.

In the United States, in Montana, God’s Word has set a woman of Indian ancestry free from demonism. This woman’s family delved into demonism and she suffered many strange health problems. ‘Voices’ also told her to kill herself. After studying the Bible with the Witnesses, she was helped to get rid of objects related to false worship. She disposed of an image of a “thunder god” that she wore around her neck, and other items. After that her health immediately improved. Freed from demonism, she now says that Jehovah is stronger than her previous gods.

From our consideration of the foregoing experiences, there can be no doubt that Bible truth can unburden the mind of erroneous religious ideas and practices. But what can be said of its effect on the conduct of people? What can it do for the personality? Just how far-reaching is the freedom that Jesus indicated the truth could bring? You are invited to consider the answers to these questions in the succeeding article.

God’s Liberating Word at Work Among Believers

UNLIKE many people living in a more materialistic society, who reject all things spiritual, a lot of humble Latins have respect for God’s Word, the Holy Bible. They believe there is a certain merit or blessing in just having the Book of Books in the house. Nevertheless, there are many who fail to realize that it is to no avail to have the Bible unless they are going to become acquainted with its contents and unless that Word becomes a force for good in their lives. Who is there that buys a newspaper only to put it on the shelf without reading it? Then, why do so with the Bible, which is infinitely more valuable because of the freedom-giving truth it contains?

No, it is not enough just to accept the Bible as a sacred book. It must be put to work in the believer or be applied if it is going to set him free. That is what acceptance of God’s Word meant to those who believed in the first century, of whom the apostle Paul wrote: “When you received God’s word, which you heard from us, you accepted it, not as the word of men, but, just as it truthfully is, as the word of God, which is also at work in you believers.”​—1 Thess. 2:13.

Their acceptance of the Word of God meant more than their receiving it into their homes and viewing it as a holy writing. It also meant their receiving its message of truth into minds and hearts receptive to what it taught. That is why it had a liberating effect on them, one that resulted in changed thoughts and actions, yes, in transformed personalities.

Can it be said that the Word of God is being accepted by many Latin Americans in the same manner as it was accepted by those early Christians of whom the apostle Paul wrote commendingly? The record resoundingly answers Yes! Let us consider how they and others are putting God’s liberating Word to work in their lives.

Escaping from Sexual Immorality

Although sexual immorality is condoned in some religious circles Jesus spoke of fornication and adultery as “things defiling a man.” (Matt. 15:19, 20) And the apostle Peter spoke of Christians as “having escaped from the defilements of the world by an accurate knowledge of the Lord.”​—2 Pet. 2:20.

In spite of God’s forthright condemnation of all sexual immorality, it is very common in Catholic Latin America for a man and a woman to live together consensually, in fornication or adultery. And prostitution is so commonplace that, according to Occidente, daily newspaper of Cali, Colombia, girls between the ages of eight and fifteen are serving as prostitutes in that city.

As a consequence of such immoral living, unwanted children are born into homes already overcrowded and poverty-stricken, and at a tender age countless thousands find their way onto the streets, where they lead a life of vagrancy and crime. As a method of birth control, many resort to infanticide by abortion.

What happens, though, when God’s Word is put to work in the lives of such people? Well, from Panama comes news of a man who started studying the Bible and subsequently quit his heavy drinking, gambling, smoking and beating of his woman companion, the mother of his four daughters. Wanting to conform to God’s righteous standards, he desired to marry her. She consented; they were married, and that same week he was ordained as a Christian minister.

Or consider the effect the truth had on a devout Catholic woman whose rooming house was used for prostitution in Honduras. Upon receiving Biblical counsel, she immediately cleaned up her house and refused lodging to anyone wanting to use her premises for immoral purposes. Now respectable families frequent her rooming house and she is able to serve Jehovah acceptably as one of his witnesses.

Overcoming the Desire to Gamble

“¡Lotería para hoy!” (“Lottery for today!”) How common is that cry on the streets of Latin American cities! Of course, the man who wants to gamble is not limited to the lotteries. There are the card games, the football games, the horse and dog races, and the cockfights that he can bet on too. Though he may not have enough money to pay the rent or to buy food, clothing or medication for his family, he will still yield to the temptation to gamble.

Since it is said that ‘gambling gets in the blood,’ what could possibly be strong enough to overcome such a powerful passion? Obviously, the answer is not ‘more church influence’ because the church herself promotes gambling.

Once again, that liberating force is the Word of God at work in the individual. The truth is that gambling is extortion, has its roots in greed and laziness, and is demoralizing, often leading to other wrongs. Knowing that all these are things condemned by God, the person wanting His approval has no difficulty in deciding to rid himself of such an undesirable habit.​—1 Cor. 6:9, 10; Prov. 21:25.

One such example is of a leper living in the Palo Seco Leper Colony in Panama. He was addicted to lottery buying, but after a period of Bible study he overcame the vice and made it his resolve to do the will of God.

Another example is of a man living in British Honduras who used to gamble and sell lottery tickets. He stopped doing both, besides making vocabulary changes and other conduct adjustments, when he took up studying the Bible and began applying its teachings.

Becoming Honest in All Things

Lying is so commonplace and accepted today that many lie as if it were the proper thing to do. Even marriage counselors advocate it. Thus, in an article entitled “The Lie in Marriage,” appearing in the Colombian magazine Cromos, the author wrote: “The lie . . . is indispensable for the good functioning of marriage.” To add support to his conviction, he quoted some personality who had said: “In human relations, goodness and lies are worth more than a thousand truths.”

Related to lying is stealing, both being forms of dishonesty. Throughout much of the world very little respect is manifest for the property rights of others. People are afraid to leave their homes unattended even in daylight hours for fear someone will force entry, take everything movable, then perhaps add insult to injury by leaving a “For Rent” sign in the window.

Though the hypocritical religious organizations, by teaching and example, have had such a demoralizing effect on the masses, God’s powerful Word is now having the opposite effect on those putting it to work in their lives. They know there can be no compromising the Bible’s straightforward injunctions such as: “Do not be lying to one another,” and, “You must not steal.”​—Col. 3:9; Ex. 20:15; Eph. 4:28.

One of Jehovah’s witnesses in California had her honesty put to the test in junior high school. As she was walking down the corridor to her classroom, she saw a girl running, who unknowingly dropped her billfold. The Witness girl picked it up and tried to catch her, but with no success. She turned the billfold in to the school office, though some of the students told her she was a fool for not keeping the money. Her parents soon received a letter from the school principal, which said:

“It is very rarely that I have the opportunity to write a letter as this one. Your daughter, Debra, found a wallet on Vanguard’s school campus and turned it in to the office with five dollars inside. This kind of honesty is a fine example of her home teaching. . . . I must congratulate you on having such a fine, honest daughter . . . and then thank you as parents for teaching her to be such a good person.” As the young girl admitted, “Our family Bible study was mainly responsible for my being fair and honest in all things.”

The liberating truths of God’s Word had a great effect on a man in Zambia who used magical charms to aid him in stealing. After studying the Bible with one of Jehovah’s witnesses, this man said at the end of a study: “I would like to reveal to you, as the one representing Jehovah, the things that I have in my house.” Then he brought out an armlet and a necklace, which came from England, saying: “I use this necklace in the store where I work with you to steal goods without you seeing me. Now I repent and I will give you these things so that you may destroy them for me.” This took place after only a four-month period of study with him together with his wife.

Freedom from Sin and Death

But now to the question posed earlier: Just how far-reaching is the freedom Jesus referred to when he said, “The truth will set you free”? His succeeding words at John 8:33-36 provide us with the answer. Some of those to whom Jesus spoke on that occasion could not understand why he should speak to them about being free. Indignantly, they replied: “Never have we been slaves to anybody.” But Jesus answered them: “Every doer of sin is a slave of sin.”

It becomes apparent, then, that the freedom of which Jesus spoke included freedom from sin. This would also mean freedom from death, “for the wages sin pays is death.”​—Rom. 6:23.

There is no denying it, our dying state proves that we are slaves of sin. The fact that the so-called “Liberators” of South America, Bolívar and San Martín, are dead is proof that they, too, were slaves of sin and hence in need of the liberation that comes only by means of the sacrifice of Christ and by means of the truth he spoke.

“Pillar and Support of the Truth”

Jehovah God has lovingly made provision of the truth through His Word, the Bible. But, besides that, he has provided “the congregation of the living God, a pillar and support of the truth,” through which you can receive help to put the Bible truth to work in your life.​—1 Tim. 3:15.

All their claims notwithstanding, the facts prove that none of the religions of Christendom constitute “the congregation of the living God,” because, without exception, they are suppressing the truth instead of supporting it. That is why God has determined to cause their destruction and why he says to you: “Get out from among them.”​—2 Cor. 6:17; Rom. 1:18, 25; 2 Thess. 2:9-12.

On the other hand, the facts prove that “the congregation of the living God,” the “pillar and support of the truth,” is the Christian organization identified by the name “Jehovah’s witnesses.” Earth wide, the witnesses of Jehovah are helping hundreds of thousands to gain the liberty that only the truth can bring. This they are doing through the medium of free home Bible studies and instructive meetings where the Word of God is taught without charge. You are cordially invited to avail yourself of their services. For the address of the congregation nearest your home, please write to the address of the office of the Watch Tower Society nearest you. You will find the addresses on the inside front cover of this magazine. Thereby, you will be taking a very important step toward experiencing “the glorious freedom of the children of God.”​—Rom. 8:21.

Saving the Human Race​—in the Kingdom Way

“Let your kingdom come. Let your will take place, as in heaven, also upon earth.”​—Matt. 6:10.

1. What good news is there about man, and from what kind of authority and source?

THERE will be no exit of man from the earth. The human race will be saved to endless life on earth in happiness. Is that not good news? Yes, and it is based on the highest authority and comes from the most reliable information source!

2. (a) Why do we not mean by that the modern-day scientists? (b) What do we ask about the scientists as authority?

² By that do we mean modern twentieth-century scientists? Hardly! The scientists envision a tremendous space catastrophe within the course of some thousands of millions of years in which the earth will be subjected to singeing heat from the sun or from other fiery bodies in space, and earth’s inhabitants will be scorched and shriveled to death and the charred earth will thereafter orbit the sun as a lifeless planet. Such a long-range view of a universal disaster does not disturb the present generation of the human race. But there are also short-range views held by scientists regarding the extinction of the human race. Because of threats to the now-living generation men today have real reason to be disturbed. So from the outlook of modern-day scientists even the near future of all mankind is very foreboding. But are mere human scientists the final authority regarding such a serious matter? By all their experiments to discover new facts and truths, have the scientists at last proved authoritatively what is the purpose of man’s being here on earth?

3. Why can we cheer up and be of good hope because of the authority and news source here referred to?

³ Even the scientists cannot gainsay that only man’s Creator knows the purpose of man’s existence on earth, yes, why he created the earth itself. Only the Creator knows why he put man on the earth. Thus the Creator is the Highest Authority. As he never proves to be false, he is the most reliable news source. So we do not put ourselves in a fool’s paradise when we accept from him the good news that our human race will be saved to endless life in happiness on a beautified earth. For this reason we can cheer up and be of good hope.

4. For that reason, why may we not be unconcerned?

⁴ May we, however, for the same reason take it easy, be unconcerned? Not at all! The very subject of our discussion suggests that the human race of which we are a present part is seriously threatened with being blotted out. Its continued existence is being questioned, not by mere ordinary men, but by men of affairs, informed men of the world. Disaster impends. The moon offers no escape route. Man threatens to destroy himself, if he is left to his own devices. And his devices are most destructive in this day of advanced science.

5. What are modern-day devices by means of which man threatens to destroy himself?

⁵ Man’s devices are not just those nuclear and other weapons of modern warfare that are capable of mass killing at high rates of speed. Man’s devices include also his peacetime ways of ruining the earth, namely, by his arranging for man’s living quarters, his making foodstuffs available for human life, his distributing those food supplies, his disposing of the waste products of big industries, his exploiting of the earth’s natural resources, his spoiling of the natural environment of mankind. Warnings of world famine within a few years are not without valid foundation. The weaknesses and limited abilities of the United Nations as an organization for world peace and security are being demonstrated more and more. The repeated advices given to the nations to settle their differences and stop their rivalries within ten years or plunge into world disaster are based on sound judgment and the lessons of history. We are all personally involved.

6. Evidently, then, what are we to expect from man himself, and to what or to whom may we not look in our own behalf?

⁶ Evidently, not the scientific salvation, but the destruction of the human race is the thing to be expected from man himself. We cannot look to what scientists call “evolution of man” to save us if only it is given some millions of years in which to do so. We cannot look to all the psychologists and psychiatrists of the world to change mankind’s way of thinking and to cause men to develop a new personality so as to unite together against catastrophe. We cannot depend upon any international police force to be formed strong enough and independent and impartial enough to make the nations behave and make this earth a safe place in which to live.

7. (a) To what outside the earth and man himself can we not look in our dire need? (b) To whom could we most reasonably look, and why?

⁷ Obviously, although scientists are not willing to admit it, we are obliged to look outside of man himself and outside man’s earthly home for deliverance, if the human race is to be saved. Not, of course, to some mythical “men of Mars” to come from another planet to answer our signals of distress and to come and help us. Nor for our astronauts to set foot upon some planet beyond the moon and bring back some inhabitant thereof of superintelligence and superhumanness who can aid us before it is too late! We must look for salvation to some intelligent person outside who is real and who is bigger than all men put together, not only wise and powerful enough but also loving enough to come to our assistance in our dire need. To whom would it be more reasonable, more sane, more intelligent to look than to the Creator of the human race himself? If the human race is still alive today, surely its superior Creator must likewise be alive today.

8, 9. (a) What did the Creator not have in mind when creating the earth and putting man upon it? (b) Where and how does he say so?

⁸ The very fact that the human race is here proves that the Creator did not create our earth to be or to become a lifeless charred planet orbiting in space. He did not create the human race to destroy itself eventually or to die out and become extinct like the dodo bird. He was not working in vain and defeating himself or exposing himself to defeat when he created the earth and put man upon it. In explanation of his excellent purpose in putting mankind on this earth, he himself has declared:

⁹ “This is what Jehovah has said, the Creator of the heavens, He the true God, the Former of the earth and the Maker of it, He the One who firmly established it, who did not create it simply for nothing, who formed it even to be inhabited: ‘I am Jehovah, and there is no one else. . . . I am Jehovah, speaking what is righteous, telling what is upright.’”​—Isa. 45:18, 19.

10. (a) Who heard those words declared, and how? (b) To what extent has the book containing those words been considered of value to the human race?

¹⁰ Whoever on earth heard this God Jehovah say those words? Well, according to the facts of history a man of long ago did. He was named Isaiah the son of Amoz, and he lived at Jerusalem in the days of several kings of that famous city. He heard those divine words by means of inspiration, that is, by means of the spirit or invisible active force of God. (Isa. 1:1) What he heard and what he saw in vision, as well as historical happenings of his day, he wrote down in a book that is called by his name, the book of Isaiah. This is one of the sixty-six books found in the sacred writings of the Holy Bible. And the words quoted above are found in this book of Isaiah, chapter forty-five, verses eighteen and nineteen. The Bible containing the book of Isaiah has been considered to be of such value to the whole human race that it has already been translated into 244 languages, besides various parts of it being translated into 1,169 other languages. Even the historical figure, Jesus Christ, quoted often the words of the prophet Isaiah as being the inspired truth.

11. (a) What does that divine declaration made in Isaiah’s day indicate concerning God and man? (b) Regarding what will God take due action?

¹¹ Thus to the prophet Isaiah the God who gives his name as Jehovah declares that he did not create the earth simply for nothing but that he formed it to be inhabited. This declaration was made about thirty-three centuries after God, whose name is Jehovah, created the first parents of the human race, the first man and woman. This proves that, not only was man’s Creator still alive, but he was still interested in the earth and in its human inhabitants. He is no God who can be said to be dead because of having abandoned mankind and holding himself indifferent and aloof from the affairs of his own human creation. Clergymen of Christendom are absolutely wrong in saying that “God is dead.” He is immortal; he lives forever. To all eternity he is God. (Ps. 90:2) From man’s creation onward the Creator has kept up his interest in his human creatures and has watched the course of the human race to prevent his everlasting purpose toward mankind from being defeated. He was alive to the human situation in the prophet Isaiah’s day twenty-seven centuries ago; he is equally alive to the situation of the human race today. He will take due action.

12. (a) How will there being someone supreme be demonstrated? (b) The efforts of whom toward saving the human race will fail?

¹² The religious clergyman who was quoted in the book God Is No More as saying: “If there is a God, we can’t speak of him as a supreme being,” will shortly be proved to be badly mistaken, to his own disgrace. In direct contradiction of this clergyman the inspired prayer addressed to man’s Creator will be fulfilled, necessarily soon, in these words: “O may they be ashamed and be disturbed for all times, and may they become abashed and perish; that people may know that you, whose name is Jehovah, you alone are the Most High over all the earth.” (Ps. 83:17, 18) He never let himself be defeated during all mankind’s past history; he will not let himself be defeated in the present peril that is facing all the human race. This calls for the saving of the human race in its worst extremity. Man’s present efforts toward saving the human race are unworkable, unrealistic, and are doomed to failure. Jehovah’s way of saving his human creation is workable, realistic, and will succeed. His way of salvation is the Kingdom way.

NOT AN OUTMODED WAY

13. (a) What political fact since 1917 C.E. should not prejudice us against God’s way because of being a kingdom way? (b) Why will God’s way not be an unpopular, outmoded way?

¹³ Kingdoms as a type of government for mankind are not very popular today. There are fewer kingdoms over men today than there were in the year 1917 before the end of World War I. They have been replaced by people’s forms of government. This should not prejudice our minds and hearts against God’s way because it is the Kingdom way. Democracies have failed just as well as political kingdoms of men. Democracies as well as what kingdoms of men remain are writhing in their death throes today. The kings of Christendom have never ruled, as claimed, “By the grace of God.” Those kingdoms, like all the other kingdoms of this world, have been mere human kingdoms, humanly established. Jehovah God will use none of those kingdoms in his way of saving the human race. Thus God’s Kingdom way will not be an unpopular, outmoded way.

14. (a) What, then, is the kingdom that is God’s means of saving our race? (b) When and why was the preaching of that kingdom diminished, but why is now the time for it to be preached?

¹⁴ What, then, is the kingdom that God will use for saving the human race? It is the kingdom that was proclaimed by Jesus Christ up and down the land of Palestine nineteen centuries ago, saying: “The kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.” (Matt. 4:17, 23; 10:7) This is the same as saying: “The kingdom of God has drawn near.” (Mark 1:14, 15) The setting up of Christendom in the days of Roman Emperor Constantine in the fourth century C.E. caused the preaching of this kingdom of God to be practically not heard anymore, inasmuch as religious clergymen hailed the human kingdoms of Christendom as being component members of the kingdom of God. But the preacher Jesus Christ said that the good news of the real kingdom of God would be preached world wide down to the end of this present system of things. In his remarkable prophecy regarding the sign preceding the end of this distressed system of things he said: “This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.” (Matt. 24:14) Today that end is plainly near. True to prophecy, we hear the Kingdom preached!

15. (a) When on earth, Jesus’ preaching the nearness of God’s kingdom pointed to what important feature about it? (b) What can be said about the crushing of hopes of a kingdom in Christ’s hands at his execution on a stake?

¹⁵ The fact that so far in the past as the first century C.E. Jesus Christ preached, “The kingdom of God has drawn near,” points to an important feature of this kingdom that does not originate with men on earth. What feature? That Jesus Christ, who was then near at hand on earth, is God’s appointed one to rule in that widely preached kingdom of God. But was not any hope of God’s kingdom in the hands of Jesus Christ crushed when he died? Was he not put to death for preaching God’s kingdom, those who were calling for his execution as a seditionist saying: “This man we found subverting our nation and forbidding the paying of taxes to Caesar and saying he himself is Christ a king”? (Luke 23:1, 2) No, the hope of God’s kingdom in the hands of Jesus Christ as his appointed King was not crushed by that unjust execution of him on a stake outside Jerusalem. Why not? Because on the third day of his death Jehovah God, who can never be defeated, raised Jesus Christ from the dead to spiritual life in the heavens, clothing him with immortality as a reward. He proved his resurrection by means of appearances to his disciples.

16. What reasons are there for Jesus Christ as a ruler being called “king”?

¹⁶ Why, though, call Jesus Christ a “king” and his government a “kingdom”? Today human kings are mainly mere figureheads and serve as a symbol of the nation, whereas the real work of running the government is done by the premier or prime minister and the laws being made by the Parliament or Legislature. However, in past human history there have been kings who have ruled as “absolute monarchs,” as a one-man government. And Jesus Christ is rightly ranked as a king because he is the descendant and legal heir of an earthly king. Of course, he was the son of a greater than King David, for Jehovah God audibly, in the hearing of men, declared Jesus to be his Son. As such he was the Son of the heavenly King, for Jehovah God ranked himself as the King of his chosen people on earth. (1 Sam. 8:7; 12:12) And concerning the Most High God as being an absolute monarch, Isaiah’s prophecy, Isa chapter thirty-three, verse twenty-two, says: “Jehovah is our Judge, Jehovah is our Statute-giver, Jehovah is our King; he himself will save us.” But Jesus Christ was the one whom Jehovah God promised to raise up to David as his Permanent Heir in the kingdom.

17. (a) Because of David’s outspoken care for God’s place of worship, what arrangement was made with him? (b) What would be required of his Permanent Heir, and what would he be entitled?

¹⁷ Because of King David’s outspoken desire to build a grand temple at Jerusalem for the worship of the Most High God, Jehovah made a solemn promise or covenant with him for an everlasting kingdom. Through his prophet Nathan he said to David: “Your house and your kingdom will certainly be steadfast to time indefinite before you; your very throne will become one firmly established to time indefinite.” (2 Sam. 7:1-17) David’s son Solomon died and also his successors on the throne of Jerusalem died and did not prove to be, any one of them, a permanent heir of David, to keep David’s kingdom going on forever. It required an undying descendant of David to become his Permanent Heir in the kingdom, to fulfill God’s kingdom covenant to David. As successor to King David, this Permanent Heir would be entitled a “king.”

18, 19. (a) Whom did Jehovah pick to be the mother of David’s Permanent Heir, and how was the legal right to the kingdom to be conveyed to him? (b) Why was Gabriel sent to the prospective mother, and what did he say to her?

¹⁸ When, almost two thousand years ago, Jehovah God picked a virgin girl to become the human mother of his heavenly Son, he picked a virgin who was of the royal family of David. At the time, she was engaged to marry a man who also was of the royal family of David, and who could act as a foster father to her virgin-birth son, adopting him as the firstborn and conveying to him thereby the legal right to the kingdom of David. (Luke 3:23-31; Matt. 1:1-18) Before these two, Mary and Joseph, came together as wife and husband, God sent his angel Gabriel to Mary as a virgin to explain matters to her and gain her consent to have Almighty God make her pregnant by means of his spirit or invisible active force. In course of explanation, Gabriel said to Mary:

¹⁹ “You will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you are to call his name Jesus. This one will be great and will be called Son of the Most High; and Jehovah God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule as king over the house of Jacob forever, and there will be no end of his kingdom.”​—Luke 1:26-38; Matt. 1:18, 19; Rom. 1:3, 4.

BIRTH OF A SAVIOR

20, 21. (a) Where was David’s Permanent Heir to be born, and how was this brought about? (b) Why was an angel sent to the shepherds at Bethlehem, and what did he say to them?

²⁰ Such a declaration to Mary was an assurance that this Jesus would be the Permanent Heir of King David, in fulfillment of God’s kingdom covenant with David. Accordingly, the heavenly Son of God had his life transferred by means of God’s spirit to the womb of Mary the virgin in order that he might be born into the royal family line of David. In order to fulfill God’s prophecy in Micah 5:2, Mary and Joseph moved back to Bethlehem in the Roman province of Judea, the birthplace of David himself. David had been a shepherd at Bethlehem, and there were still shepherds there at the time of Mary’s giving birth to her miraculous firstborn Son. This event was of importance to the whole human race. It therefore deserved to be verified by eyewitnesses, members of our race. So on the night that Jesus was born in the city of David’s birth God sent his angel to announce the human birth of his Son to shepherds in the fields of Bethlehem. The glorious angel calmed the fears of the surprised shepherds by saying:

²¹ “Have no fear, for, look! I am declaring to you good news of a great joy that all the people will have, because there was born to you today a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, in David’s city. And this is a sign for you: you will find an infant bound in cloth bands and lying in a manger.”​—Luke 2:1-12.

22. (a) In what sense was the newborn child to be “Christ,” of whom was he to be Lord, and to the joy of how many people? (b) What did the army of angels say on that occasion?

²² There we have the statement of the divine purpose: This newborn Jesus was to become the Messiah or Christ, One anointed to the kingship just as his forefather David had been anointed to the kingship over God’s chosen people. Furthermore, he was to be a king greater than David had been, for he would become David’s “Lord,” in fulfillment of the prophetic Psalm 110:1, 2. He was to be also a “Savior,” and, if this did not mean that he would be a Savior of our human race, why would “all the people” be due to have a “great joy” at the good news of his birth? Already there was “great joy” in all the holy heavens at this miraculous birth of universal importance. In evidence of this we read, in a written document by a man who was alive in Jesus’ earthly days, these words: “And suddenly there came to be with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God and saying: ‘Glory in the heights above to God, and upon earth peace among men of goodwill.’”​—Luke 2:13, 14.

23, 24. (a) Among whom was this “great joy” then to begin on earth? (b) How did such ones enter into that “great joy”?

²³ Now the time had come for the “great joy” at the good news to begin on earth among men toward whom Jehovah God had goodwill. The glorious angel had told them the “good news of a great joy,” and now they had to verify the historical basis for this good news by going and becoming eyewitnesses of this birth in a manger of Bethlehem the city of David. The angel had given them the “sign” to distinguish this newborn boy from any other boys that might be born that night inside or outside of Bethlehem. Did they not want to “get involved,” or did they desire to establish the “sign” and become responsible eyewitnesses of this most important birth ever to take place on earth? The honest investigator’s account tells us the answer, saying:

²⁴ “So when the angels had departed from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another: ‘Let us by all means go clear to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which Jehovah has made known to us.’ And they went with haste and found Mary as well as Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw it, they made known the saying that had been spoken to them concerning this young child. And all that heard marveled over the things told them by the shepherds, but Mary began to preserve all these sayings, drawing conclusions in her heart. Then the shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all the things they heard and saw, just as these had been told them.”​—Luke 2:15-20.

25. (a) So what things combine to show that that was no ordinary birth for which modern-day clergymen argue? (b) How, today, can we join with those shepherds, or like whom of that time can we be?

²⁵ If that had been an ordinary birth of a boy conceived by a woman who had first had sexual relations with her husband, would that occasion have been one for God, for angels and for God-fearing men to make so much about it? Shall we join with the many clergymen of Christendom today who dispute the “sign” that the shepherds established as being true and who say that a virgin birth would have been an impossibility for Jesus? Shall we join the shepherd eyewitnesses and feel “great joy” at the established “sign” and glorify and praise God as we tell others about it, or shall we be like King Herod the Great, then ruling in Jerusalem? When, about two years later, he heard the news about Jesus’ birth, he got afraid for his own kingdom and tried to kill Jesus. He succeeded in having only the boys in Bethlehem two years old and under killed off. But the young child Jesus escaped, and King Herod was defeated in his own efforts to defeat God’s way for saving the human race by Christ the Lord.​—Matt. 2:1-23.

26. Does not Christendom share in that “great joy” at Christmastime, and what basic facts about “Christmas” must be considered?

²⁶ Surely Christendom today must be likened to those shepherds of Bethlehem, must she not? Do not her almost one thousand million church members show “great joy” and glorify and praise God each year by celebrating Christmas? History answers that those shepherds of Bethlehem did not celebrate a Christmas each year after they had visited the infant Jesus in the manger. Mary did not celebrate Christmas thereafter on the anniversary of her bringing him into this world. Jesus’ apostles and other disciples did not celebrate Christmas annually and give him a lot of gifts and wine and dine him on his birthday. Why, the Holy Bible, which tells us about his miraculous birth and which was completed about a hundred years after his birth, does not give us even the date of his birth so as to enable us to celebrate the day. The Bible does not even contain the name Christmas. It is a name made up by Christendom after her establishment in the fourth century and is celebrated on a fictitious date, on one date by Roman Catholics and Protestants and on another by Greek Orthodox.

27. How is it to be judged whether Christendom today really has “great joy” at Jesus’ birth long ago, and what bearing does Ecclesiastes 7:1, 8 have on this matter?

²⁷ What has Christendom given “all the people” to cause them to have “great joy” at the virgin birth of Jesus Christ? Is she full of “great joy” at what Jesus Christ is today and, for that reason, full of “great joy” because long ago he was born at all? For people today to have “great joy” that Jesus Christ was born long ago in Bethlehem means for them to have “great joy” at what he is today as a result of that birth. As the Holy Bible says: “A name is better than good oil, and the day of death than the day of one’s being born. Better is the end afterward of a matter than its beginning.” (Eccl. 7:1, 8) Jesus Christ is, as a person, far better today than when he was a newborn babe nineteen hundred years ago.

28. (a) For his faithfulness to a martyr’s death, how did God reward Jesus Christ? (b) What pertinent questions, therefore, arise as to Christendom in this regard?

²⁸ As a reward for faithfulness to the interests of God’s kingdom even to a martyr’s death at Jerusalem Jesus Christ was raised from the dead by Jehovah God to immortal life in heaven. God “kindly gave him the name that is above every other name, so that in the name of Jesus every knee should bend of those in heaven and those on earth and those under the ground, and every tongue should openly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil. 2:5-11) But what about Christendom, the celebrator of Christmas? Does she today bend the knee in the name of Jesus to offer submission to God as the Most High? Does Christendom, the celebrator of a birthday, openly acknowledge with her tongue that Jesus Christ is her Lord to the glory of God the Father of Christ? Twentieth-century history answers No!

29. Why does twentieth-century history answer No to those questions?

²⁹ To this day Christendom has not renounced her claim to be Christ’s kingdom. Who is it that reigns and rules in her? Not Jesus Christ, but her political kings, presidents and governors who come from some human, man-made dynasty or who have been elected to office by the common people or who have seized power by some military or political coup. The political rulers of Christendom do not yield over their sovereignty to Jesus Christ as Lord, even though their tongues may call him “Lord.” As for the people, they demand rulership of the nations for themselves, the people, and not for any king. Whether as to her political rulers or as to her peoples, Christendom does not recognize Jesus Christ in his official position today as reigning King.

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God will not use human kingdoms to save the human race; such kingdoms will be swept away by God’s kingdom, which will rule the earth forever

The Kingdom of Salvation Available Today

1. To what culmination have time and the outworking of God’s purpose moved since Jesus Christ was on earth?

TIME has not stood still since Jesus was born. Time has not stood still since he died sacrificially and was resurrected and ascended to God’s right hand in the heavens. Likewise, the outworking of God’s purpose that involves Jesus Christ has not stood still. His purpose is to have Jesus Christ as Lord to take over the absolute control of earth’s inhabitants despite the efforts of human rulers to hold onto that control. The day of death of the perfect man Jesus Christ as a ransom for mankind is now long past. The time has come for him to reign in the office of King to which he was anointed with God’s holy spirit. He has waited for a long while at God’s right hand for this time to come for him to be installed as reigning King. Now his waiting period is over!

2. Concerning the Lord’s waiting at God’s right hand, what did King David prophesy, and what did the apostle Peter say, and finally Hebrews 10:12, 13?

² Long ago King David had said under inspiration: “The utterance of Jehovah to my Lord [that is, to Christ the Lord] is: ‘Sit at my right hand until I place your enemies as a stool for your feet.’ The rod of your strength Jehovah will send out of Zion, saying: ‘Go subduing in the midst of your enemies.’” (Ps. 110:1, 2) On the festival day of Pentecost in the year 33 C.E., the Christian apostle Peter said to thousands in Jerusalem: “Let all the house of Israel know for a certainty that God made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you impaled.” (Acts 2:36) Years after, there were written to the Hebrew Christians the inspired words of Hebrews 10:12, 13: “This man offered one sacrifice for sins perpetually and sat down at the right hand of God, from then on awaiting until his enemies should be placed as a stool for his feet.” This time of waiting ended years ago.

3. (a) When did Jesus’ time of waiting in heaven end? (b) Why did Jesus not try to restore King David’s throne to Jerusalem?

³ When? In our twentieth century, in the year 1914, at the end of what Jesus Christ called “the times of the Gentiles” or “the appointed times of the nations.” He prophesied that the city of Jerusalem of his day would be destroyed and would continue to be trampled on by the Gentile nations until the end of those Gentile times for the nations to do such trampling. (Luke 21:20-24, Authorized Version; New World Translation) Even in Jesus’ days the Gentile nations as represented in the Roman World Power were trampling on what Jerusalem stood for, the kingdom of Jehovah God in the hands of the royal house of David. Before the Roman Empire, the Babylonian Empire had started the trampling by destroying Jerusalem and its temple back in 607 B.C.E., and after that the Medo-Persian Empire and then the Grecian Empire kept up the trampling until the Roman World Power took over Gentile control of Jerusalem. So Jesus Christ did not try to restore the earthly throne of King David to Jerusalem. Why should he try to do so, when he himself foretold the destruction that came upon Jerusalem by the Romans in the year 70 C.E.?

4. (a) During all those years of waiting, what was Jesus doing in heaven, and why? (b) At the end of the Gentile Times, what could Jesus expect to receive?

⁴ Jesus Christ knew that he was obliged to wait to become reigning king in the kingdom of God that he was preaching. Since he himself had brought up the subject of the “times of the Gentiles,” he knew that he had to wait at God’s right hand until those “appointed times of the nations” ended 1,844 years after Jerusalem’s second destruction in the year 70 C.E. He could not change God’s timing of world affairs, and he did not desire to do so. During all those years of waiting he would be serving as Jehovah’s High Priest and applying the lifesaving benefits of his ransom sacrifice to his faithful disciples on earth, as these make up his church or congregation. Why? Because these are to be made joint heirs or associate kings with him in God’s heavenly kingdom. (Heb. 3:1; 6:18, 19; 10:10-22; Rom. 8:16, 17) But when the 2,520 years of the Gentile Times ended in 1914, then was the due time for Jesus to expect to receive the Messianic kingdom. Where?

5. (a) Where was Jesus Christ to receive the Messianic kingdom and be enthroned? (b) By whom was he to be installed as King?

⁵ Not on earth at the site of earthly Jerusalem, which was then occupied by the Turkish Empire. But up in heaven, where the year 1914 found Jesus Christ as the Permanent Heir of the Messianic kingdom of David. He did not have to come down to earth in materialized form as a man and be enthroned and crowned as king at earthly Jerusalem in order to stop Jerusalem’s being trampled on by the Gentile nations. Why, who would install him as king there? Not the Mohammedan Turks who were then at the brink of World War I, neither the British who took old walled Jerusalem away from the Turks December 9, of 1917. No, Jesus Christ was not to be debased from God’s right hand in heaven down to an earthly material throne, to be installed therein by men. At the end of the Gentile Times around October 4/5 in 1914, Jesus Christ was in what Hebrews 12:22 calls the “city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem,” on the heavenly Mount Zion. There was the place for the glorified Jesus Christ to be installed as king, and that by the only one who could do so, the Most High God Jehovah.

6. (a) How was the trampling on “Jerusalem” made to cease in 1914 C.E.? (b) What was then due to begin regarding the Gentile nations?

⁶ At that time the Gentile nations were not disposed to stop trampling on “Jerusalem,” or what Jerusalem represented. Their engaging in World War I at that time for world domination proved that fact. But Almighty God stopped their trampling of the right to rulership that belongs to the royal descendant of King David. He made that Messianic right to rulership active by installing Jesus Christ as king in the “heavenly Jerusalem.” From then on, “Jerusalem,” in its royal Messianic sense, ceased to be trampled on by the Gentile nations. Now the time had come for those Gentile nations to be placed as a stool for the feet of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. It was the time for this Messianic king to ‘go subduing in the midst of his enemies.’​—Ps. 2:1-9; 110:1, 2.

7. (a) With whom are the Gentile nations, including those that celebrate Christmas, dealing? (b) What question as to destruction now poses itself, and who must make the choice thereon?

⁷ The Gentile nations are not now dealing with a newborn babe, whose birthday the nations of Christendom pretend to celebrate at Christmastime. They are dealing with God’s Messianic King, now installed in royal power and authorized to take action against all opposers of his reign over all the earth. This kingdom will operate for the saving of the human race, for this heavenly immortal King can give all mankind a perfect, righteous rule, whereas the Gentile nations have progressively been operating for the ultimate destruction of the human race. So the political nations must be annihilated, for the world situation as now shaping up poses the question, Either the destruction of the political nations or the destruction of the human race, which? Let God make the choice.

8. When God installed his King in the “heavenly Jerusalem” in 1914, it meant the time for what feature of Daniel’s prophecy (chapter 2) to begin to be fulfilled?

⁸ His installing of his Messianic King Jesus Christ in the “heavenly Jerusalem” in 1914 meant the beginning of the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy about a “stone” that was cut out of a symbolic “mountain,” in these words: “And as for the stone that struck the image [of world powers], it became a large mountain and filled the whole earth. And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite; forasmuch as you beheld that out of the mountain a stone was cut not by hands, and that it crushed the iron, the copper, the molded clay, the silver and the gold.”​—Dan. 2:35, 44, 45.

9. What is that Messianic Stone near to doing, and what will that mean for this system of things, according to Jesus’ prophecy?

⁹ It is now fifty-six years since that royal Messianic Stone was cut out of Jehovah’s own governmental mountain at the end of the Gentile Times in 1914 C.E. That Messianic Stone is therefore now very near hitting its target, all the political governments of the entire present system of things on earth. That will mean what Daniel 12:1 calls “a time of distress such as has not been made to occur since there came to be a nation until that time.” And Jesus Christ, in his prophecy on the “conclusion of the system of things,” made it a part of a “great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world’s beginning until now, no, nor will occur again.” And to show the dangerousness of it, he went on to say: “In fact, unless those days were cut short, no flesh would be saved; but on account of the chosen ones those days will be cut short.”​—Matt. 24:21, 22.

10. (a) Why are those words of Jesus good news for our human race? (b) Whom will God save alive through the coming “great tribulation”?

¹⁰ Ah, but are not these latter words of Jesus good news for us today who are facing this “time of distress”? Almighty God will not let this “great tribulation” go so far and continue on so long that “no flesh would be saved.” On account of his “chosen ones,” who are joint heirs with Jesus Christ in the heavenly kingdom, God will shorten the days. This will allow for human flesh to be saved. Thus the human race will be able to keep living upon the earth without interruption, without ever having no members of the human race alive on earth. In Noah’s day the human race was nearly wiped out, when only eight humans survived in the tremendous ark that Noah built to go through the global deluge. (Matt. 24:38, 39; 1 Pet. 3:20) Though the coming “great tribulation” will be the greatest world cataclysm of all times yet, the human race will be saved alive through it by the preserving of God’s “men of goodwill,” comparatively few though they may be.

11. (a) Under what will these saved ones then come? (b) What transformation is bound to follow upon earth?

¹¹ What will they then come under? The kingdoms of this world, including Christendom, will have been destroyed, crushed by the Stone of God’s Messianic kingdom. In fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy, that Royal Stone, growing to the proportions of a great mountain, will fill the whole earth. Satan the Devil, “the god of this system of things,” will have no control or place in this “mountain.” He and his demons will be both chained and confined in an abyss during the thousand-year reign of Christ. (Rev. 20:1-3, 7) Consequently, the surviving “men of goodwill” can do nothing but come under a new heavenly government, the Messianic kingdom of the Permanent Heir of King David, Jesus Christ, together with those who are joint heirs with him in the heavenly kingdom. A transformation of earthly conditions is bound to follow. A new righteous human society will be planted in it, just as after the Deluge of Noah’s day he and his family gave the human race a righteous new start. This is what the apostle Peter pointed ahead to, saying: “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.

SALVATION FOR ETERNITY

12, 13. (a) The earth will then feel the full effect of what proclamation made since 1914? (b) Those putting themselves on the side of God’s Messianic kingdom take up what thankful words of those in heaven?

¹² Thus the earth will feel the full effect of the heavenly proclamation that has been made since the end of the Gentile Times in 1914, namely: “The kingdom of the world did become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will rule as king forever and ever.” (Rev. 11:15) Not in vain will people of this present generation have taken that proclamation seriously and put themselves on the side of God’s Messianic kingdom, to gain the goodwill of that incoming government. Deeply grateful for their being saved clear through the war of God’s wrath against earthly nations, they will take up the historic words of those in heaven and say:

¹³ “We thank you, Jehovah God, the Almighty, the one who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and begun ruling as king. But the nations became wrathful, and your own wrath came, and the appointed time for the dead to be judged, and to give their reward to your slaves the prophets and to the holy ones and to those fearing your name, the small and the great, and to bring to ruin those ruining the earth.”​—Rev. 11:15-18.

14. (a) Those survivors of the great tribulation will feel already amply rewarded in what way? (b) In what condition will they not want to leave the earth, and so what will be their aim?

¹⁴ How glad God’s “men of goodwill” are going to be then that those ruiners of the earth will themselves have been brought to ruin in destruction during the “war of the great day of God the Almighty” at Har–Magedon! (Rev. 16:14-16) How glad they will be that they are among those fearing God’s name and so have served as Christian witnesses of Jehovah! They will already feel largely rewarded for fearing his name by being saved alive in the flesh through the “great tribulation,” that could never have been survived in the flesh without Jehovah’s protection! They will not be satisfied to see this earth left in any state of ruin as a result of the ruinous course of the nations. They will desire to be repairers of the earth. Paradise on earth will be their aim, for they know that that is God’s unchanged purpose as long ago stated to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. (Gen. 1:26-28) Such a paradise earth wide they will be eager to share with others, yes, with many others. With whom, then?

15. (a) With whom will the “tribulation” survivors be eager to share the Paradise earth? (b) God’s saving the human race will therefore include more than what approaching act of salvation?

¹⁵ Those who are suggested in the words of thanksgiving to Jehovah God: “Your own wrath came, and the appointed time for the dead to be judged.” Ah, “the dead”! The dead “holy ones” are, of course, raised to heavenly life to share with Jesus Christ in his kingdom over mankind. But aside from these, there are the countless human dead, including many who were fearers of God’s name, “the small and the great.” For all the human dead to be judged by a perfect, righteous heavenly Kingdom they need to be resurrected from earthly graves of the ground or water graves of the sea. Ah, yes, Jesus Christ died as a human ransom sacrifice for them all. (1 Tim. 2:5, 6) So, then, God’s purpose is to save the human race by more than saving some human flesh alive clear through the world’s “great tribulation” and into his Kingdom system of things. It is by having a resurrection of all the human dead for whom his Son Jesus Christ died as a perfect human sacrifice. Possessing all the ransom merit or value of that sacrifice, he can serve in heaven as God’s High Priest and extend to resurrected mankind the benefits of his sacrifice.

16. Those then resurrected from the dead will include what individual, because of Jesus’ promise to that one?

¹⁶ Among the dead who are to be resurrected will be the sympathetic evildoer who died on a stake alongside Jesus Christ. Remember how he said to Jesus who had a sign posted over his head, “This is the king of the Jews,” these words of hope: “Jesus, remember me when you get into your kingdom.” And, despite the contrary indications of that day, Jesus said to him: “Truly I tell you today, You will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:38-43) Then when Jesus will have come into his kingdom and begun restoring Paradise on earth, he must make good those words to that evildoer.

EARTHLY REPRESENTATIVES OF THE HEAVENLY KINGDOM

17, 18. (a) How will the appointment of human visible representatives of the Messianic kingdom differ from the coming to power of human rulers now? (b) Jesus’ authorization to appoint visible representatives of his kingdom then is stated in Psalm 45 in what words?

¹⁷ Former kings, emperors, presidents, governors and dictators on being resurrected may not expect to take over automatically and resume ruling over their onetime subjects or fellow citizens. The old system of things under the Satanic “god of this system of things” is no longer in operation. God’s new system of things under his Messianic kingdom of the heavens is fully established over all the earth. Of necessity, it will have organization of all those on earth, not, however, according to national, tribal or racial divisions of today. All earthly subjects of the Kingdom will be treated and organized as one human race, one human family, all of one flesh, and all equally ransomed by the one sacrifice of the Ransomer Jesus Christ. His invisible heavenly Kingdom will have visible, human representatives on earth, not of the people’s choice, but of his choice and appointment. His obligation and authorization to do so are set out in prophetic Psalm 45:6, 7, 16, in these words:

¹⁸ “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. In place of your forefathers there will come to be your sons, whom you will appoint as princes in all the earth.”​—Heb. 1:7-9.

19. (a) What type of rule will then hold sway? (b) to whom will visible representatives be answerable for conduct in office?

¹⁹ Nationalistic and democratic rule will be a thing of the disappointing, disillusioning past. Theocratic rule will hold sway. This will result in a unified, harmonious, just and peaceful rule. Those appointed representatives will answer for their conduct in office, not to the people, but to God’s anointed King, Jesus Christ. This One will rule in faithful expression of his foretold titles, “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace,” sustaining his peaceful government “by means of justice and by means of righteousness, from now on and to time indefinite.”​—Isa. 9:6, 7.

20. How will the meaning of his title “Eternal Father” be carried out?

²⁰ How meaningful his title is, “Eternal Father”! This is a divine guarantee that his godly government will be one imparting life​—eternal life—​to its subjects. His is a fatherly government, and his ransomed subjects become his children to feed, cure and heal them and to lift them up to human perfection so as to prove worthy to live eternally in earth’s paradise. Thus he can be their Eternal Father and they can be his eternal children.

21. (a) Thus, to what extent does God save the human race? (b) With what will God crown his course of saving of the human race in the Kingdom way?

²¹ How all this magnifies the fact that God’s saving of the human race in the Kingdom way is not a saving of our race to a renewal of life on earth temporarily. It is a saving of the human race to a never-ceasing eternity of happy godly living in a paradise home on earth. Never again will Jehovah God permit the human race to be threatened, apparently, with violent destruction. Man is here on earth to stay, and not to make an exit from this earth at any time. Never will the human race, then raised to perfection in an earthly Paradise, be lost to this terrestrial planet. Almighty God Jehovah will crown his Kingdom way of saving the human race with never-fading success, with imperishable good results. All this is good news indeed from the most reliable source. Tell out this good news far and wide. Let all those who hear you and believe lay hold of this true hope and live henceforth as God’s “men of goodwill.”

Teaching Children the Bible

A MOTHER from South Africa who is one of Jehovah’s witnesses relates this experience:

“My husband is not one of Jehovah’s witnesses and he takes no part in spiritual matters. It has, therefore, been my privilege to conduct a home Bible study with our son and daughter, doing what I can to inculcate God’s law into their minds and hearts. We have always tried to have our weekly Bible study regularly, even when on vacation.

“It has not always been easy. Often the children were tired from school and homework. And they made it obvious that they would rather be outdoors playing. Sometimes it was hard to hold their attention. They would dream, and gaze around the room, thinking of anything but what we were supposed to be studying. On many occasions I thought that it would be the last study that I would hold with my unappreciative children. But, with Jehovah’s help, I kept on trying to hold their attention and interest, never letting the study be a nag session.

“I found that one of the most important things to make our Bible studies enjoyable was good preparation on my part. Also we used the maps in the Bible. I explained the Bible accounts in such a way as to appeal to the children’s imagination, and I tried always to apply what we learned to our everyday life. We learned together to appreciate Jehovah’s great loving-kindness, his wonderful counsel and principles for living.

“Our home Bible study became a time to reason with the children on obedience, respect and morals. It was a time for them to learn how to praise our great God and glorify his name. After our regular study we would use items from the Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses, shorter articles from the Watchtower magazine or subjects in Sermon Outlines for about fifteen minutes. We considered various aspects of how God’s work is being done today. And we prepared short sermons that we could use when preaching to others.

“I can truly thank Jehovah for this great privilege of conducting a home Bible study with my children. Now my daughter has gone into the full-time preaching work and my son has been regularly declaring God’s good news for the past few years. What a blessing it is if we persevere in our home Bible studies with our children, no matter what age they may be!”

A Good Neighbor

An article specially designed for parents to read with their children

DO YOU know anyone who has a skin color different from yours? In some places the skin color of most people is black or brown. In other places almost everyone has white skin. They are born that way.

Does it make you better than someone else if you have a different skin color than he does? Should a person with black skin think that he is better than someone whose skin is white? Or should someone with white skin think he is better than a person whose skin is black? What do you think?

Some people think that the color of their skin makes them better than others. So they are not kind to people who have a different skin color. We should not be like that.

If we listen to the Great Teacher, Jesus Christ, we will be kind to everyone. It does not make any difference what nation a person may come from or what his skin color is. We ought to love people of all kinds. This is what Jesus taught. Let me tell you about it.

One day a Jew came to ask Jesus a hard question. This man thought he could ask a question that Jesus would not be able to answer. He said: ‘What must I do to live forever?’

This was an easy question for the Great Teacher. But instead of answering it himself, Jesus asked the man: ‘What does God’s law say we must do?’

The man answered: ‘The law of God says, “You must love Jehovah your God with all your heart, and you must love your neighbor as yourself.”’

Jesus said: ‘You answered right. Keep on doing this and you will get eternal life.’

But the man did not want to love everyone. So he tried to find an excuse. He asked Jesus: “Who really is my neighbor?” How would you have answered that? Who really is your neighbor?

This man may have wanted Jesus to say: ‘Your neighbors are your friends.’ But what about other people? Are they our neighbors too?

To answer the question, Jesus told a story. It was about a Jew and a Samaritan. This is how it went:

A man was going down the road from the city of Jerusalem to Jericho. This man was a Jew. As he was walking along, robbers grabbed him. They knocked him down, and took his money and his clothes. The robbers beat him up and left him beside the road half-dead.

A short time later a priest came along that road. He saw the man who was badly hurt. What did he do? What would you have done?

The priest just went over to the other side of the road. He did not even stop. He did not do anything at all to help the man.

Then another very religious man came down the road. He was a Levite, who served in the temple at Jerusalem. Would he stop to help? No. He did the very same thing as the priest. Was that the right thing to do?

Finally a Samaritan came along the road. He saw the Jew lying there badly hurt. Everyone knew that the Samaritans and the Jews did not like one another. So would this Samaritan leave the man without helping him? Would he say to himself: ‘Why should I help this Jew? He would not help me if I were hurt’? No one would expect a Samaritan to stop and help a Jew.

But the Samaritan looked at the man lying beside the road. He was moved with pity for him. He could not leave him and let him die.

So the Samaritan got off his animal. He went over to the man, and began caring for his wounds. He poured oil and wine upon them. This would help the wounds to heal. Then he bound up the wounds with a cloth.

The Samaritan gently lifted the hurt man up on his animal. Then they went slowly on down the road until they came to an inn, or a small hotel. Here the Samaritan got a place for the man to stay, and he took good care of him.

Now Jesus asked the man to whom he was talking: ‘Which one of these three men do you think was the good neighbor?’ How would you answer? Was it the priest, the Levite or the Samaritan?

The man answered: ‘The Samaritan who stopped and took care of the hurt man was the good neighbor.’

Jesus said: ‘You are right. So go your way and do the same yourself.’​—Luke 10:25-37.

Wasn’t that a fine story? It makes clear who our neighbors are. Our neighbors are not only our close friends. Our neighbors are not only persons of our own country, or persons who have the same skin color as we do. Our neighbors are people of all kinds.

Jehovah God loves all kinds of people. And Jesus said that we should be like God. Jesus said: ‘Your Father who is in heaven makes his sun rise on bad people and good people. He makes the rain fall on righteous ones and those who are not righteous. You should be good toward all, just as the Father is.’​—Matt. 5:44-48.

So if you see someone hurt, what will you do? What if the person is from a different country or has a skin color different from yours? He is still your neighbor. So you should help him. If you feel too small to help, then you can ask me to help. Or you can call a policeman, or a schoolteacher. That is being like the Samaritan man.

The Great Teacher wants us to be kind. He wants us to help others, no matter who they may be. That is why he told the story about the man who was a good neighbor.

“The desirable thing in earthling man is his loving-kindness.”​—Prov. 19:22.

Cameroon Says “No!” to Freedom of Worship

WOMEN were seized and beaten. One was assaulted so badly her breath failed five times. Some of those mistreated were sick and may not survive.

Men were beaten mercilessly until unconscious. One was given twenty strokes, then another hundred, then beaten a third time.

Hundreds were arrested on false charges. Some were kept more than a week in jail cells without toilets. Twelve were held in a cell only a little over 6 x 7 x 10 feet​—with just sixteen little holes to let air in. Some were given no food, or medical attention for wounds, for days.

These, and many similar cases have resulted from official government policy. Where? Is this brutality describing conditions in Nazi concentration camps? Were the victims vicious criminals?

No, what you are to read is a description of what has taken place recently in the African country of Cameroon. And the victims of this awful savagery? They were not criminals​—no murderers, rioters, thieves or revolutionaries. Instead, they were the most peaceful and honest citizens in the country!

All of this reached a high point described in bold headlines on the front page of La Presse du Cameroun of May 14, 1970: “By Presidential decree signed yesterday, the ASSOCIATION OF JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES BANNED IN CAMEROON.”

The newspaper continued: “By decree of the Head of State signed yesterday, the group known as Jehovah’s witnesses is officially dissolved. . . . The exercising of activities of this association is banned in the entire territory of the Federal Republic of Cameroon.”

Why did the Cameroon government take such drastic action against a religious organization known world wide for its peaceful and orderly conduct? Because the Witnesses are neutral as to political affairs and do not participate in them they were accused of being in opposition to the government.

THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

The president of the Federal Republic of Cameroon is a Moslem whose name is El Hadj Ahmadou Ahidjo. On March 28, 1970, he was elected to his third consecutive five-year term of office, obtaining 97.65 percent of the popular vote. Press comments were unanimous in declaring that the election was a great success and that those voting did so “conscientiously and in total freedom.”

But was there really freedom in Cameroon? Not for everyone. Great pressure was put on Jehovah’s witnesses by some of the members of the ruling political party, the C.N.U.​—Cameroon National Union. The Witnesses’ nonparticipation in political affairs caused resentment on the part of overzealous party members who made these Christians their special target in election campaign speeches.

For example, on March 20, a violent public attack was made against the Witnesses at “La Place de l’Indépendance” in Akonolinga by André Fouda, a senior member of the legislative assembly and an outspoken critic of Jehovah’s witnesses. A Witness who heard the entire speech quotes Mr. Fouda as saying: “If there are any ‘Maka’ (a former cannibalistic tribe) in Akonolinga, they are free to eat Jehovah’s witnesses.”

PRESSURE PUT ON THE WITNESSES

Many were the pressures that the Witnesses were subjected to in an effort to influence them at election time. The following report is from a Witness in Akonolinga:

“The Prefect, Mr. Louis Mandeng, ordered all of Jehovah’s witnesses to report to his office at 7 a.m. on March 28, election day. The Witnesses obeyed. The siren sounded, signaling the opening of the voting booths. Mr. Mandeng took the lead in his car, holding all the identity papers of the Witnesses and signaling the Witnesses to follow him to the voting booths situated some 100 meters away. When the Prefect’s purpose of forcing them to vote became evident, the Witnesses no longer followed his car but left for their homes.”

That same evening and the next day several Witnesses were arrested. The congregation’s presiding minister writes: “At nine o’clock that evening I was arrested by the Brigade Commander and slept naked that night on the cement floor of the security cell.” The presiding minister was kept in prison until April 22.

Another Witness in Akonolinga writes: “On March 23, Mr. Nicolas Voundi, the Deputy for Nyoung and Mfoumou, came to the Prefect in my presence and told him that he had told my employer not to keep another Witness and me on at the workshop. On March 25, when Mr. Mandeng returned from Yaoundé, he ordered both of us to come to his office every day, morning and afternoon.

“‘Now it is serious,’ he said. ‘I must have an answer by tomorrow at the latest. Are you or are you not going to vote? I am asking you, are you going to vote or not?’

“He struck the table with his right hand. Four times he asked me if I would vote. I remained silent. He phoned the Gendarmerie [military police] to come and get us. From the 17th to the 28th of March, the Prefect pressured us to vote. But as soon as the elections were finished on March 28, at 6 p.m., we were no longer accused of not voting. The Prefect then began accusing us of preaching against voting, that is, ‘preaching abstention.’ I spent the night with eleven other Witnesses in a cell 2.5 meters (7 1⁄2 feet) long by 2 meters (6 1⁄2 feet) wide and 3 meters (10 feet) high, with 16 little holes to let air pass.”

BRUTAL TACTICS USED

A traveling representative of Jehovah’s witnesses tells this account of his experiences: “On the evening of March 26, at 9:30 p.m., I heard a loud knock at my door. When I asked who it was, the answer came: ‘It is the Brigade Commander’ (Mr. Onguene). I opened the door and he asked me: ‘What are you doing here? . . . Let me see your identity papers.’ All my papers were in order. ‘Where is your elector’s card?’ ‘I do not have one.’ ‘Why?’ ‘Because none has yet been given me.’

“He told me to follow him to the Gendarmerie, where he ordered me to remove all my clothes except my shorts. In the cell where I slept were eight Witnesses from the congregation at Akom. The next morning I was designated, along with another Witness, to wash the commander’s car while all the others were assigned to make fences for his field of peanuts.

“On March 27, at 10:30 p.m., I was awakened by the same commander, who said: ‘Tell me if you are going to vote tomorrow because severe punishment awaits all those who do not go to vote.’ I no sooner answered than I was locked up again in the same cell. Taking all his gendarmes, he began to round up the Witnesses in their living quarters; a total of forty-five were finally arrested.

“On March 28, election day, the Witnesses had been singing in their cell. When Commander Onguene heard that we were singing in the cell at the Gendarmerie, he brought all his gendarmes and the most wicked soldier I had ever seen, who was nicknamed ‘Smasher.’ By order of the Commander, this soldier began beating us mercilessly. We were all naked except for our shorts. A blow struck me on the back of the neck and I fell unconscious for a few moments. More blows awakened me as he continued to strike. Our backs are really all marked by the blows from the stick.

“After beating us and wounding us in this manner, they would not allow us to go to the hospital. We were even deprived of water to wash ourselves, for eight days. We were given no food for two days. Following this, we were made to cut grass and clean the town. After three and a half weeks, we were put in a truck and sent to the Prefect of Dja and Lobo. En route it rained heavily and it became cold. One of the Christian sisters among us was eight months pregnant. On Sunday, April 19, the Prefect called us into his conference room and later released us.”

Some of the worst treatment meted out to Jehovah’s witnesses was in the town of Sangmélima, where eventually ninety-two Witnesses were arrested and jailed. One of the arrested Witnesses reports: “It was precisely on March 23, five days before the Presidential elections on the 28th, that two Witnesses from Messock Congregation were brought to the B.M.M. (Mixed Mobile Brigade, the most feared of police in Cameroon) at Sangmélima, accused of having organized a meeting to ‘preach abstention.’ One Witness was released because of his age, but the special pioneer F . . . was held at the B.M.M.

“The day following the elections a terrible campaign was organized to arrest all of Jehovah’s witnesses. Every day, lists of Witnesses were sent to the B.M.M. and the Witnesses, men and women, filled the five cells of the B.M.M. in Sangmélima.

“In Djoum, some Witnesses were dragged naked on the cement floor after having been beaten to the point of drawing blood. They were forced to urinate and eliminate in their cells (no toilets in the cells) for eight days before being loaded onto a truck to be transferred to Sangmélima. More than forty-five Witnesses, some with children, not to mention elderly ones hardly able to walk, were transferred. Their condition was so bad that even the authorities at the Prefecture here took pity on them and released them the following day. These Witnesses found over eighty of their Christian brothers and sisters already in jail from Sangmélima, Bengbis and Zoetélé.

“The five cells of the B.M.M. at Sangmélima were crammed full of Witnesses who were being interrogated one at a time, up to April 21. At that date, all of them were brought into the large conference hall at the Prefecture to hear a talk by the Prefect, Mr. Biscène. He warned us all to vote on June 7, otherwise we would all be arrested again.”

A special full-time minister of the Witnesses reports what happened immediately following the elections in Bertoua, where over thirty Witnesses were arrested: “All day long on Thursday, April 2, certain ones were taken one by one to the police for questioning. Early in the morning our interrogation began by the brigade commander. Realizing that he could not dictate his ideas to the first of our Christian brothers, he called the Assistant Lieutenant of the Commander of the Bertoua Company. This man, acting in a most beastly manner, ordered a gendarme to beat the Witnesses cruelly during the questioning. Most hurt were a young Witness from Belabo who is only 19 years of age (too young to vote) and another who is from Diang. In all the questions asked us, their aim was to get us to accuse the Society or one of its representatives of teaching us not to vote.

“After a whole day of such treatment we were shut up in a cell where, by order of the Lieutenant, we were to spend two days and two nights without food or water. During the night the two young men I mentioned suffered so much that they were incapable of moving.

“On Sunday, April 5, all the Witnesses from Bertoua were released. During the thirteen days that we spent at the Gendarmerie we were not fed with the exception of two small meals that the captain sent us. What is causing us to rejoice is that all are determined to endure.”

EVENTS LEADING TO BAN

Following the elections and all the cruel pressure, many efforts were made by the Witnesses to talk with government officials and to explain their Bible-based stand. These were unsuccessful.

In view of the seriousness of the situation, on April 13, three prominent members of the legal association of Jehovah’s witnesses in Douala wrote directly to President El Hadj Ahmadou Ahidjo, respectfully requesting him to use the power of his high office to stop the persecution of Jehovah’s witnesses. The Witnesses offered to send a delegation to Yaoundé, the capital, to meet with the President to present their case and provide explanations of their work and purpose.

By April 21, most of the arrested Christians were released, much to the joy of the Witnesses. However, a few days later, more arrests were carried out, though fewer in number. An uneasy calm reigned until May 13.

Then, like a bolt of lightning, news flashed throughout the country that Jehovah’s witnesses were completely banned in Cameroon. The day following this radio announcement, police arrived at the newly built Watch Tower Society’s branch headquarters in Douala. They sealed off the rooms that contained office equipment, stored literature and meeting facilities for the Witnesses.

Early Friday morning, May 15, the branch supervisor left Douala for Yaoundé to present a letter of appeal to the President and to request an audience with him. Unknown to the branch representative, an order had just been signed by the head of national security requiring all missionaries of Jehovah’s witnesses to leave the country by May 20. Returning to Douala on Saturday, May 16, the representative found the branch building guarded by two armed policemen. All members of the working staff were held under house arrest until Sunday evening, May 17. No one was allowed to leave or to enter the building. For the most part, however, the missionaries were treated by the police with kindness and respect.

During all this time, however, never once did the Witnesses receive acknowledgment of their letters to government officials. These Christians received nothing in writing. The whole thing took place in secrecy without the slightest opportunity for representatives to speak on their behalf.

On May 20, six missionaries, five Canadians and one Nigerian, were expelled from the country. By then over 335 arrests of Jehovah’s witnesses had been reported to the branch headquarters.

LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS AND MORE CRUELTY

Arrests and beatings were not limited to the Presidential elections on March 28. The June 7 legislative elections were another opportunity to attack Jehovah’s witnesses, and more arrests took place. A Witness reports from Manjo:

“On Saturday, June 6, the Sub-Prefect, Mr. Moussa Mbello, started off the campaign of arrests. One Witness was arrested the day before the elections. Women seventy-five years of age were taken to the Gendarmerie and rough-handled. Some of these were sick, and we do not know if they will survive.

“What is surprising is to see the Sub-Prefect going from house to house searching even plantations of the Witnesses to arrest them. This searching has been going on day and night. Those taking the lead in this attack are Mr. Moussa Mbello, the Sub-Prefect, and Mr. Pascal Wansi, President of the sub-section of the C.N.U.”

At Namba, immediately following the legislative elections on June 7, one woman Witness was so badly beaten that her breath failed her five times. Another fainted three times. One male Witness was beaten twenty strokes and then given a further one hundred strokes at the entrance of the Kingdom Hall. Later he was beaten a third time.

In many other towns and villages, the Witnesses were at times threatened, at times beaten and imprisoned. The same pattern of persecution was repeated at Abong Mbang, Ayos, Belabo, Diang, Bengbis, Bipindi, Dizangué, Kobdombo, Minta, Ndoum, Songmbengué, Zoetélé and countless other places in the country. Over four hundred arrests were recorded in the few weeks before and after the double elections.

Why this shameful treatment of Jehovah’s witnesses?

WHY THE BAN?

Three weeks after the legislative elections, President Ahidjo inaugurated the new party headquarters in Douala. Referring to the ban on Jehovah’s witnesses, he declared:

“It is justified by the fact that this sect has been used as a cover for a subversive movement directed from abroad and which aimed, by means of an organized campaign of defamation and denigration, at undermining the institutions adopted freely by the people of Cameroon. Such a movement is inadmissible in a country that suffered so much from subversion at the dawn of its independence.”​—La Presse du Cameroun, June 26, 1970.

But how true are such charges? Jehovah’s witnesses are known throughout the whole world as being absolutely neutral as to politics. They are also known as sincere, honest, law-abiding citizens. Consider their activity in Cameroon, for example.

For many years the Witnesses have been bringing the good news of God’s heavenly kingdom to the hospitable inhabitants of Cameroon. In 1962, a legal organization was formed and a branch office was opened in Douala to care for the expanding organization. During the eight years that followed, the good news of God’s kingdom was carried by over 12,000 Witnesses into almost every town and village in the country. People throughout the land have had opportunity to observe that the Witnesses stick to preaching God’s kingdom and do not meddle in politics and therefore could never be subversive.

Who, then, is responsible for Cameroon’s saying “No” to freedom of worship? The president of the country certainly bears much responsibility in this regard, as well as other officials. But not only political men bear responsibility. What of the clergy of other religions in Cameroon? Well, what do you think after reading comments such as that printed in La Presse of May 15, 1970, under the heading: “Why are they banned?” The writer remarked: “Obviously, this encroaching proselytism [of the Witnesses] does not please many people, much less other Christian religions whose parishioners are led astray by ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses.’”

But what does the law of Cameroon say?

THE LAW OF CAMEROON

Cameroon law does not require active participation in voting, though this was demanded of Jehovah’s witnesses. Electoral law No. 69 LF, however, does prohibit causing anyone “to abstain from voting.” And when the Witnesses did not participate at the polls, they were often accused of “preaching abstention.” But no Witness was formally charged under that law. In fact, no case was tried in court either before or immediately after the elections.

What Jehovah’s witnesses preach is, not politics, but God’s Word the Bible, and they have been doing this in Cameroon for more than twenty-five years. During the elections, the Witnesses did not campaign from door to door or anywhere else telling people not to vote. The Witnesses did not share in protest demonstrations against any political party or candidate. Jehovah’s witnesses do not preach for or against any election candidate. They do not interfere in such matters in Cameroon or anywhere else.

Why, then, do Jehovah’s witnesses themselves not vote? Because they look to God’s kingdom through Christ as the only hope of mankind. And, as Jesus Christ said to his Heavenly Father concerning his followers, “they are no part of the world, just as I am no part of the world.” (John 17:14; Jas. 4:4) The Witnesses sincerely try to follow Jesus’ example and his counsel to be “no part of the world.” Winning the approval of God and of Jesus Christ is more important to them than anything else. Yet, while they hold such views for themselves, the Witnesses also believe it would be wrong for them to hinder others from voting or to interfere with their efforts to do so. In fact, the Witnesses readily acknowledge that others are free to vote if they so desire.

The Witnesses have not acted out of harmony with the Cameroon Constitution. The well-written Constitution of Cameroon states in its first article:

“The Federal Republic of Cameroon is democratic, secular and social. It shall ensure the equality of all citizens before the law. It affirms its adherence to the fundamental freedoms set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Charter of the United Nations.”

It is evident that provision is made under the law for the protection of all citizens in Cameroon. Freedom of religion and freedom of association are firmly guaranteed in law. Yet, in effect, Cameroon has said “No!” to freedom of worship.

WITNESSES NO DANGER TO GOVERNMENTS

No government has anything to fear from Jehovah’s witnesses. Their neutrality as to politics in Cameroon does not mean that they are agents of some other government of men. The Witnesses refrain from participation in political affairs in all countries of the world, whether in America, Europe, Africa or anywhere else. Hence they are not a “subversive movement directed from abroad.”

Other governments, having wrongly been influenced to ban Jehovah’s witnesses, later acknowledged this and restored the Witnesses’ legal status. For example, in 1941 the Witnesses were banned in Australia. Later the case was heard before Mr. Justice Starke of the High Court there. After listening to argument he determined that the entire Court should consider the matter. Upon a consideration of the issues in the case, the High Court ruled, on June 14, 1943, that Jehovah’s witnesses were not engaged in any subversive enterprise and hence were no danger to the State.a In lifting the ban on the Witnesses, the Court, through Mr. Justice Williams, spoke of the “perfectly innocent principles and doctrines” advocated by the Witnesses and added:

“As the religion of Jehovah’s Witnesses is a Christian religion, the declaration that the association is an unlawful body has the effect of making the advocacy of the principles and doctrines of the Christian religion unlawful and every church service held by believers in the birth of Christ an unlawful assembly.”

The ban on Jehovah’s witnesses in Cameroon has the same effect in that land.

Furthermore, the Witnesses have not engaged in any “campaign of defamation” against the government, as has been charged. In fact, their most widely distributed Bible textbook, now being printed to the number of 30 million copies and in 60 languages, specifically teaches that it is wrong to do that. On page 158, this book, The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life, says regarding human governments: “If God permits them to rule, why should any Christian interfere with their doing so? . . . It is a good thing to show proper respect for the government.” Surely it is not against the interests of any government for Jehovah’s witnesses to teach this.

Thus the facts show that the ban on the Witnesses in Cameroon and the reasons cited for it are without valid foundation.

A LOSS TO CAMEROON

The ban on the Witnesses in Cameroon brings no benefit to the people or rulers of the country. But there is much loss to Cameroon. There is loss of reputation throughout the world by its saying “No” to freedom of worship.

There is loss of dignity to political rulers who use cruelty and brutality to force Christians to violate their Bible-trained consciences.

There is much loss of spiritual comfort and education for the people, for the Witnesses have brought these very things, also having had a share in teaching Cameroonians to read and write.

The action of banning the Witnesses has deprived honest-hearted people of Cameroon of opportunities for fruitful Bible discussions. J. P. Bayemi comments on this loss in L’Effort Camerounais of June 14, 1970:

“Let us acknowledge to their credit, at least this, that they have succeeded in their own way of taking away the monopoly that subjects concerning money, women, men or drinks had carved for themselves into conversations in the homes, neighborhoods and public places and transport, before the authorization of Jehovah’s witnesses. Ah yes! there was a time when it was extremely rare to overhear Christians discussing a Bible subject.”

Nothing can uplift the morals of a country more than the principles of God’s Word the Bible. The Witnesses put forth much effort toward the moral and spiritual development of all those who desire to have a greater knowledge of the Bible. What a loss to Cameroon now that these high moral standards cannot be freely taught by Jehovah’s witnesses!

YOU CAN SPEAK OUT

What do you think of this cruelty to peaceful Christians? Their preaching activity is banned. Even private Bible discussions are not allowed. Precious personal freedoms have been brushed aside. Jehovah’s witnesses and others throughout the world who love freedom of worship do not condone this arbitrary action by remaining silent.

If you would like to add your voice to the expressions of outrage at the action taken by the government of Cameroon against peace-loving Christians, then write to the Cameroon ambassador in your country or the one closest to it, or to the high officials in the Cameroon government listed on the preceding page.

Show your disappointment at this arbitrary action. Explain that the Witnesses do not interfere in politics anywhere and that the charges are without basis. Appeal to their respect for the dignity of man and freedom of religion guaranteed by the Constitution of Cameroon. Appeal to the officials on the basis of respect for the good name of their country and of Africa. Should not the president of Cameroon and his high officials be helped to realize that the rest of the world takes note of it when innocent Christians are cruelly abused? Should they not realize that Cameroon government officials have not made themselves more popular either with their own people or with right-hearted persons in other parts of the world by the way they have treated peace-pursuing Christians?

May your written appeal help restore a “Yes” to freedom of worship in Cameroon.

[Footnotes]

[Box on page 639]

CAMEROON GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS

His Excellency

El Hadj Ahmadou Ahidjo

Palace of the President

Yaoundé, Federal Republic of Cameroon

Honorable Salomon Tandeng Muna

B.P. 964

Yaoundé, Federal Republic of Cameroon

Mr. Enoch Kwayeb

B.P. 993

Yaoundé, Federal Republic of Cameroon

Mr. Félix Sabal Lecco

Minister of justice

B.P. 1126

Yaoundé, Federal Republic of Cameroon

Mr. Raymond Ntheppe

Minister of Foreign Office

Ministry of Foreign Office

Yaoundé, Federal Republic of Cameroon

Mr. Vroumsia Tchinaye

Minister of Information

B.P. 1054

Yaoundé, Federal Republic of Cameroon

Mr. Joseph N. Owono, Ambassador

Cameroon Embassy

1705-7 New Hampshire Ave., N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20009

Mr. Michel Njine, Ambassador

866 U.N. Plaza

New York, N.Y. 10017

Announcements

NEW FIELDS OF UNDERSTANDING

Perhaps you are already acquainted with many familiar passages of the Bible. But how much do you know about the Book itself. New fields of understanding will be opened to you by a reading of “All Scripture Is Inspired of God and Beneficial,” a book that every Bible lover should possess.

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“All Scripture Is Inspired of God and Beneficial” is available through the publishers of this magazine. Send only $1.

“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES FOR THE WEEKS

November 15: Saving the Human Race​—in the Kingdom Way, ¶1-25. Page 617. Songs to Be Used: 84, 80.

November 22: Saving the Human Race​—in the Kingdom Way, ¶26-29, also The Kingdom of Salvation Available Today. Page 623. Songs to Be Used: 74, 25.