The Watchtower — April 15, 1980

Page Two

OUR COVER: After keeping Christian integrity through about 18 years in prisons, Harald and Elsa Abt continue faithful in full-time service to Jehovah​—a splendid example to all. See pages 6 to 15

Who Needs Pain?

THE young woman was intelligent and seemingly normal. Yet she was different from others. As a university student, she amazed Canadian neurological experts. Even when needles were placed in her flesh, or when she was given electrical shocks, this woman felt no pain.

“Then,” reported Science Digest, “on Aug. 28, 1955, she was admitted to a hospital, suffering from a massive infection; for the first time in her life, she actually felt pain and was given analgesics to soothe it. She died two days later, at age 29, and an autopsy revealed a completely normal brain and nervous system.”​—July 1978, p. 35.

PHYSICAL PAIN CAN BE BENEFICIAL

Earth wide there may be hundreds, or even thousands, of persons insensitive to physical pain. Reflecting on the suffering you may experience from backaches, injuries and the like, possibly you are thinking that it would be a blessing if you could not feel physical pain. In effect, you may say, ‘Who needs pain?’

But what if you sprained your ankle? Suppose you fell and fractured your arm. Or what if you had a serious infection? Obviously, it would be good to have the sensation of physical pain so that you could respond to it and remedial steps could be taken without delay. For that matter, ability to feel pain (as when you inadvertently touch a hot object) can result in action that prevents serious injury. Actually, immunity to pain could imperil your life. Pain can benefit you.

PAIN THAT NOBODY DESIRES

Yes, the ability to sense physical pain can be beneficial. But what about mental and emotional pain? Often these types are far more persistent and excruciating. Medicine, therapy or surgery may reduce or remove physical pain. However, emotional and mental pain can be totally debilitating and may keep a person in great distress for years.

Adversity certainly is a cause of emotional pain. Sensitive, kindhearted persons often find it very distressing to see fellow humans suffer, perhaps due to poverty, hunger and malnutrition. And, of course, it is extremely painful to experience such hardships and privations ourselves.

Oppression also results in emotional and mental pain. For example, oppressors may create a climate of great fear. That in itself can cause distress, to say nothing of the harsh day-to-day problems facing the oppressed.

Illness can be another cause of emotional pain, even for an individual who is not ailing personally. Is it not intensely painful to observe a loved one slowly succumbing to a terminal sickness? Especially is this so if the victim is experiencing acute physical pain.

Death of a beloved family member or friend can also result in great emotional pain. Israelite King David gave evidence of such inward pain due to his son’s death, for the grieving father cried out: “My son Absalom! Absalom my son, my son!”​—2 Sam. 19:4.

No normal person yearns for emotional and mental pain. And surely nobody desires great physical pain. Who wants to suffer? But, then, who can do anything about the pain that has become so much a part of human life?

Coming​—A World Without Pain

“I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea is no more. I saw also the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God and prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: ‘Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them. And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.’”​—Rev. 21:1-4.

FEELING physical pain can alert a person to injury that might otherwise go unnoticed for some time. Indeed, there are occasions when sensitivity to such pain can be lifesaving. Yet the Word of God promises a world without pain. The Christian apostle John was divinely inspired to write:

“I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea is no more. I saw also the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God and prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: ‘Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them. And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.’”​—Rev. 21:1-4.

There it is​—a promise from God that ‘pain will be no more.’ What could this possibly mean? How will it affect humankind?

SOMETHING NEW AHEAD OF US

Such questions need to be answered. But those words recorded 19 centuries ago say much more. They indicate that there is something new ahead of us. Briefly consider what this prophecy means.

The foretold “new heaven” is the heavenly kingdom of Jesus Christ. Associated with him in rulership are his “joint heirs,” designated here as the “New Jerusalem.” (Rom. 8:14-17) The promised “new earth” is not a different earthly globe. Rather, it is a new unified and righteous human society subject to Christ’s kingdom.​—Compare Psalm 96:1; Ecclesiastes 1:4.

Replaced will be the ‘former heaven and earth,’ the previous system filled with tears, death, mourning, outcry and distressing pain. And whereas the literal watery seas will remain, the symbolic “sea” of restless, ungodly peoples will no longer exist.

DEVELOPMENTS UNDER KINGDOM RULE

What grand developments are ahead! Under Kingdom rule, God “will wipe out every tear” from human eyes. This does not mean, of course, that tear ducts no longer will release their natural fluid​—something that is physically beneficial. Nor will tears of joy be eliminated, for the earth will be filled with rejoicing.

Mourning and outcries for various distressing reasons gradually will be removed during the 1,000-year reign of Jesus Christ. (Rev. 20:6) As a result, tears of sorrow will cease to flow from human eyes. But what about the removal of pain​—something also foretold?

THE PAIN THAT WILL VANISH

The ability to sense physical pain can be beneficial. In fact, it is essential to human life. Hence, God’s promise that there will be no more pain could not mean that earthly subjects of Kingdom rule will become insensitive to all pain.

Rather, this promise that ‘pain will be no more’ indicates that mental, emotional and severe physical pain will vanish. Such pain has resulted from sin and imperfection. (Rom. 5:12; 8:21, 22) How will it ‘be no more’? In the sense that its causes will be eliminated.

CAUSES OF PAIN REMOVED

Consider just some of the blessings to be enjoyed by mankind under Kingdom rule. Perhaps you can mentally place yourself among the throngs certain to enjoy the world without pain that is before us. What would it be like to live on earth after the following causes of pain have been removed?

Adversity will be gone, and with it the emotional pain it causes. Poverty​—certainly one of the manifestations of adversity in so many cases—​will not exist. How can we be sure? Well, would Almighty God, to whom all earth’s gold and silver belong, be powerless to eliminate poverty? (Hag. 2:8) Unquestionably, the Sovereign Lord Jehovah can and will remove that cause of pain.

Under Kingdom rule pain-producing hunger and malnutrition will be eliminated. “If I were hungry,” says Jehovah, “I would not say it to you; for to me the productive land and its fullness belong.” (Ps. 50:12) Moreover, God’s Word gives the assurance: “There will come to be plenty of grain on the earth; on the top of the mountains there will be an overflow.” (Ps. 72:16) And surely the Maker of mankind can and will see to the unselfish distribution of earth’s abundant food supplies, bringing to a permanent end the pain resulting from hunger.

Oppression, another cause of mental and emotional pain, will also be eliminated. In words that will find complete fulfillment under the rule of Jesus Christ, we are assured: “He will deliver the poor one crying for help, also the afflicted one and whoever has no helper. He will feel sorry for the lowly one and the poor one, and the souls of the poor ones he will save. From oppression and from violence he will redeem their soul, and their blood will be precious in his eyes.” (Ps. 72:12-14) Can there be any doubt that the pain of oppression will then be past?

Illness, still another cause of mental and emotional pain, will never shatter the tranquillity and happiness of godly families under Kingdom rule. Jehovah God has the power to remove sicknesses. (Ex. 15:26; 23:25; Deut. 7:15) His prophet Isaiah wrote of a time when “no resident will say: ‘I am sick.’” (Isa. 33:24) Removing all physical, mental and emotional pain will pose no insurmountable problem for the Divine Physician.

Death​—the great pain-producing enemy of mankind—​“will be no more” when the divine will is done fully in heaven and on earth. (1 Cor. 15:26; Rev. 21:4; Matt. 6:9, 10) Mourning, outcry and pain certainly will be out of place when joyful resurrections replace sad burials and ‘death and Hades give up those dead in them.’​—John 5:28, 29; Rev. 20:13.

YOURS​—IF YOU WANT IT

Yes, a world without pain is coming. It can be yours in that such a hope can be your possession. The absence of pain associated with adversity, oppression, illness and death will be among the many blessings then to be realized by obedient, God-fearing mankind.

Can people now living embrace this hope with utmost confidence? Yes, for a world without pain has been promised by the only One capable of bringing it about​—Jehovah, “the Most High over all the earth.”​—Ps. 83:18.

Faith in God Sustained Me

As told by Harald Abt

IN SEPTEMBER 1940 I was sent to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Germany. The SS (Hitler’s Blackshirts/ Elite Guard) officers gave me a “warm” reception; I was beaten repeatedly and threatened. Pointing to the chimney of the nearby crematorium, one officer warned: “You will be ascending there to your Jehovah within 14 days if you stick to your faith.”

I was then taken to where my Christian brothers, Jehovah’s Witnesses, were kept. I was ordered to squat with my arms stretched in front of me. For four hours I had to maintain that awkward position. How glad I was at 6 p.m. to see the Witnesses coming back from their hard day of work!

These Witnesses​—earlier there were some 400 of them—​told me that about 130 of their brothers had died due to inhuman treatment the previous winter. Had this frightened the survivors? No, they were determined, as I was, too, to maintain loyalty to God.

But before telling more about my nearly five years in the Sachsenhausen and Buchenwald concentration camps, let me describe briefly how it was that I was sent there.

CHRISTIANS IN TROUBLOUS TIMES

I was born in southern Poland, in a part that formerly belonged to Austria; so I grew up speaking Polish as well as German. In 1931, at the age of 19, I entered the Polytechnical Institute in Danzig (Polish, Gdansk), then a German-speaking ‘Free City’ on the Baltic Sea. There in 1934 I met Elsa, a young woman who was to affect my life deeply.

In 1936, while I was preparing for my final examinations, Elsa began going to the meetings of Jehovah’s Witnesses. These were held in secret, since some Witnesses had already been arrested. I let Elsa know that I thought it foolish for her to get involved with such people. But she eventually persuaded me to go along to a meeting. Rather than being able to find fault, I was impressed by the Bible knowledge the Witnesses had.

When I finished my studies at the university, there weren’t any good job opportunities in Poland. So I considered going to Germany to get work. But Elsa said: “If you go, then you can go without me.” Jehovah’s Witnesses were being persecuted severely in Germany, and Elsa didn’t want to expose herself unnecessarily to that. This made me think, and so I started studying the Bible more regularly. In June 1938 we were married. Then early in 1939 both Elsa and I were baptized, thus symbolizing our dedication to Jehovah God.

In the meantime, I had obtained a good job as an engineer in the administration of the port of Danzig. We had a nicely furnished apartment, and it was used for Bible meetings. About this time, our Bible literature, which was sent from the Polish branch of the Watch Tower Society in Lodz, was being intercepted in Danzig. Convinced that I had to try to do something, I wrote to our Christian brothers in Lodz, suggesting that they deliver the literature to an address just outside of Danzig. There Elsa and I would pick it up and smuggle it into the city.

Elsa was pregnant at the time, and sometimes she had 100 Watchtower magazines tied around her, beneath her clothes. Once a customs officer jokingly said: “Boy, you are going to have triplets, I’m sure!” But she was never searched. We continued smuggling literature until Germany attacked Poland September 1, 1939, after which our freedom to move in and out of Danzig was restricted. Our daughter Jutta was born on September 24.

HONOR TO HITLER?

After the Polish garrison surrendered to the Germans, I was able to return to work. My greeting, “Good morning,” caused fellow workers to stare at me; now everyone was supposed to say, “Heil Hitler.”

I asked to speak to the assistant director of the port and explained that I was a Christian and couldn’t say that greeting. “Well, I am a Christian, too,” he responded. I said, though, that I was a Christian in a strict sense, and did not feel it proper to give such glory to a man. I was fired on the spot and was told that I would be imprisoned if I would not “Heil” Hitler.

Later in that month of September, after the German armies conquered Poland, Hitler came to Danzig. He gave a fiery victory speech in the main square, near the building where we lived. Everyone was supposed to have a flag hanging out the window, but no flag was displayed from our floor!

For our safety, the brothers suggested that we move to eastern Poland. That meant, though, leaving all our possessions. With just a suitcase, a baby carriage and Jutta bundled in a pillow, we made the long trip in December. The trains were jammed and irregular.

Finally, we reached the house in Lodz where the branch office was. The sister who opened the door saw the motionless child in Elsa’s arms and ran from the door crying. After some moments she returned, saw the baby move and shouted: “Oh! She lives! She lives!” Only then did she invite us in. Many children had frozen to death in the transports; so she thought that Jutta, too, was dead.

ARRESTED AND IMPRISONED

That sister’s husband was already in prison. It was a hard winter for us. We didn’t have any coal to heat the house or to cook what little food we had. Finally, I was able to get a job. But one day in July 1940 the Gestapo (the Nazi secret police) found us at the house, while they were looking for someone else. Elsa and I were ordered to report to the Gestapo office.

The following morning I went to work, gathered together my personal things, and told my boss that I had to see the Gestapo and wouldn’t be back. “Oh, this is silly,” he replied. “You’ll be back at 12 o’clock. Don’t worry.” A few minutes later I met Elsa in front of the Gestapo office, and we went upstairs together.

“Please sit down,” the officer said. “We know why you are here.” He then reminded us that Poland was under the rule of the Third Reich (Nazi Germany), and of what had happened to Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany. “If you continue to speak about your faith,” he said, “you will be sent to a concentration camp.”

He then went to a typewriter and started typing. Coming back, he handed me the paper. It said in part: ‘I, Harald Abt, promise to cease talking about the kingdom of God.’ I told him: “I’m sorry, I can’t sign that.”

After being told how stupid I was for refusing to sign, I was taken away. Elsa was questioned further. In the course of the interrogation, she mentioned that we had a 10-month-old baby at home. “Nobody else can feed the child,” Elsa said, “because I breast-feed her.” Concerned about the baby, the officer said: “I’ll make it short then.”

The statement he hurriedly drew up was different from the one I had refused to sign. It simply said that Elsa was aware that if she continued to follow her religion she would be sent to a concentration camp. Elsa felt she could sign that, as she was aware of this. But after signing it she became frightened. Why? Because if she was released I might think that she had compromised her faith. So when she left the office, she called out loudly to me at the far end of the hall: “I didn’t compromise! I didn’t compromise!”

After I was held for a few weeks, I was sent to a prison in Berlin and from there shipped off to Sachsenhausen.

LIFE IN SACHSENHAUSEN

After the “warm” reception, SS officers took us to get our prison clothing. Our hair was shaved off. Then we got our numbers assigned​—I was 32,771. A violet triangle, the identification of Jehovah’s Witnesses, was given to me to sew on my clothes. The rest were identified by triangles of other colors​—political prisoners wore red, Jews yellow, criminals green, homosexuals pink, and so forth. I was the only Witness in this group.

Jehovah’s Witnesses were assigned to a barracks by themselves. The barracks of Sachsenhausen were situated in a half circle around the big roll-call square. On the gable end of the barracks facing the square there was a saying written that went something like this: ‘There is a way to freedom: Faithfulness, industriousness, work and love for the Fatherland.’ On each barracks there was a word or two of this saying. The word LOVE was on the Witnesses’ barracks. It was here that I squatted in the cold for four hours.

These huge barracks​—there were more than 60 of them—​were each divided into two sleeping areas. In the middle there were the dining area, toilets and wash facilities. The sleeping quarters on either side were unheated; the beds were three tiers high. In the winter the temperature would get down to -18 degrees Celsius (-4° F), and we had only two thin blankets. The air exhaled by the breathing men condensed on the ceiling and then the water dripped down and froze on the blankets of the men sleeping on the top tier.

Mostly, our meals consisted of turnips in the form of soup, at times with horse heads boiled in it. Occasionally, we had fish soup that smelled so bad that the whole camp stank! At night we were given some bread. Since breakfast consisted only of some imitation coffee, I always saved a little bread to eat in the morning, because I was sensitive to hunger pains.

We had to get up at six in the morning, make our beds, get washed and dressed; then we had to go to the square for the roll call and march off to work. Much of the work was done outside the camp. My first assignment was building roads. Later, because of my engineering training, I was given the technical oversight of the building of new workshops.

Many SS officers were cruel, often just looking for ways to torment us. Sometimes one would come during the time we were at work and search for dust in the barracks. Usually he was able to find some on the rafters, which is not surprising since there were about 80 straw beds in one room. When we came home from work, he would announce: “I found dust in your barracks this morning, so you are not going to get any lunch today.” Then they would take off the lids, so that everyone could smell the food, and take the kettles away. Any complaint would result in the death penalty.

You were never sure of your life in Sachsenhausen. If you attracted the attention of the guards in some small way, it could mean punishment. A person might be forced to stand in front of the barracks all day in the freezing cold of winter. If he developed a fever​—many got pneumonia—​and couldn’t go to work, the SS guard might say: “Oh, he has a fever! Very well, let him stand out in the cold then and cool off.” Such treatment killed many.

Others were killed this way: They were ordered to sit in a large bowl of cold water in the dead of winter, and a jet of cold water was pointed in the area of their heart. Because of such inhuman treatment, we never knew whether we would survive to the following spring.

Many have asked me, “Weren’t you afraid?” No, when you are in such a situation, you develop a strength through your faith. Jehovah helps you out. At the dining tables, when others were out of earshot, we would pray together and even sing in low tones. For example, when we heard that one of our brothers had died through brutality or privation, we sang a song with a fighting spirit. Our attitude was: Stay strong! Be courageous! We knew we might soon die, too, and wanted to express firm determination to keep faithful.

SPIRITUAL FEEDING AND PREACHING

Things improved a bit for us in 1942. A new commandant of the camp took over, and we had a little more freedom. We were no longer forced to work on Sundays. Also, about that time seven issues of The Watchtower were smuggled in that dealt with the prophecies of Daniel. And we obtained a few Bibles, too. So on Sunday afternoons we would crowd together in one wing of the barracks for Bible study; there would be about 200 of us. A few would be posted outside to signal if any SS guard approached. These were very memorable, faith-strengthening meetings for me.

‘Smuggled Watchtowers?’ you might wonder. That in itself is a story of faith and courage. Some Witness prisoners worked outside the camp and came in contact with brothers who had not yet been arrested. Thus they could secretly get some literature to smuggle back into the camp. Brother Seliger, who was like our overseer in the camp, worked in the prison infirmary, and he would hide the smuggled Bible literature behind a tile in the bathroom there.

In time, however, it was discovered how well organized we were. Also, some Bibles were found in our barracks. So about 80 brothers were put in a work brigade and sent away from Sachsenhausen. The remaining Witnesses were dispersed into the many different barracks of the camp. Though this broke up our large meetings, it provided many more opportunities to preach to fellow prisoners.

Quite a few young Russians, Ukrainians and Polish men responded and became Witnesses. Some were secretly baptized right in the camp​—in the bathtub in the camp infirmary. I remember especially two young Ukrainian men. One day they heard a brother whistling a Kingdom song, and asked about it. “This is a religious melody,” the brother said. They were very impressed to learn that people were put in the camp because of their religious convictions. After the liberation, one of these young men took the lead in the witnessing work in a part of eastern Poland. He was killed by foes of Jehovah’s Witnesses while on his way to conduct a Christian meeting.

One day in 1944, while marching in with my work brigade for the noon meal, I saw my brothers standing in the courtyard. Recognized as a Witness, I was told to join them. Somehow the SS had learned about our secret mail service in and out of the camp (and from one camp to another), as well as how we would meet in small groups of two or three in the roll-call square and discuss a daily Bible text. We were ordered to stop this illegal activity, but we stood unitedly in our determination to continue strengthening one another spiritually. When Brother Seliger, who was a chief link in the secret mail service, was asked if he was going to continue preaching in the camp, he said: “Yes, that is exactly what I am going to do, and not only I, but also all my brothers.” The spirit of faith and courage that Jehovah’s Witnesses had clearly was not broken, and the Nazis again saw that there was nothing they could do to break our integrity to God.

BUCHENWALD AND LIBERATION

Toward the end of October 1944 I was sent to the Buchenwald concentration camp, along with a brigade of building experts. We were to rebuild some workshops that American planes had bombed. The brothers in Buchenwald soon got in touch with me and welcomed me to share spiritual fellowship with them. Here I was number 76,667.

By early 1945 it was evident that the Nazi regime was nearing collapse. When English fighter planes flew over the camp they greeted us by tilting their wings from side to side, trying to encourage us. The final two weeks or so before our liberation, prisoners didn’t even go out to work anymore.

On Wednesday, April 11, 1945, we gathered to hear a brother give a talk covering all the Scripture yeartexts from 1933, when Hitler came to power, to 1945. As the meeting progressed, we could hear the sound of battle drawing closer. Then, right in the middle of the talk, a prisoner opened the door wide and shouted: “We are free! We are free!” There was chaos in the camp, but we said a prayer of thanks to Jehovah and continued our meeting.

There were still over 20,000 prisoners in Buchenwald. The SS guards took off their uniforms and tried to escape, while many prisoners took vengeance on them. Later a prisoner told me how he had plunged a knife into the belly of an SS man. But, of course, Jehovah’s Witnesses took no part in the violence.

It was about a month later that I finally found Elsa. She had survived life in Auschwitz and other concentration camps. In August 1945 we returned home and found our daughter with some brothers who had taken care of her. By then she was nearly six years old and didn’t recognize us.

NEVER COMPROMISING

After liberation from occupation by the German army, Poland became a People’s Republic. Right away Elsa and I applied for work at the Watch Tower Society’s branch office in Lodz. For five years we worked there, rejoicing to see the number of Jehovah’s Witnesses grow from around 2,000 in 1945 to about 18,000 in 1950. Over the years since 1950, we have continued to serve in various assignments given us by Jehovah’s organization, determined always to be strong in faith.

In all, I have spent 14 years of my life in concentration camps and prisons because of my faith in God. I have been asked: “Was your wife a help to you in enduring all of this?” She has been indeed! I knew from the beginning that she would never compromise her faith, and this knowledge helped sustain me. I knew that she would rather see me dead on a stretcher than know that I was free because of having compromised. It is a real help to have a stalwart partner like this. Elsa endured many hardships during her years in German concentration camps, and I’m sure that reading some of her experiences will be encouraging to you.

[Picture on page 9]

Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp

SS Barracks

Roll-Call Square

Gas Chamber

Cell Building

Isolation

Delousing Station

Place of Execution

Maintaining Faith Along with My Husband

As told by Elsa Abt

WHILE he was in Sachsenhausen, Harald was occasionally permitted to write a letter of just five lines. There was stamped on it: ‘Because he continues to be a stubborn Bible Student, the privilege to carry on normal correspondence has been denied.’ That stamp was always an encouragement to me, for it showed that my husband was remaining firm in the faith.

One day in May 1942 I returned from work and found the Gestapo waiting for me. They searched the house, then ordered me to get my coat and go with them. Our little daughter, Jutta, went up to one of the Gestapo, an unusually tall man. Tugging his pant leg, she said: “Please leave my mommy here!” Since he did not react, she went around to the other side of his legs and pleaded: “Please leave my mommy here!” This made him uncomfortable, so he sternly said: “Take this child away! Take her bed, too, and her clothes!” She was given to another family in the building, the door was sealed, and I was taken to Gestapo headquarters.

There I saw many other Witnesses who had been arrested that day. We had been betrayed by a person who had pretended to be a Witness and who had won our confidence. When the Gestapo questioned us about the whereabouts of our mimeograph machine and the identity of the one taking the lead in carrying on the underground preaching work, I pretended not to know anything. We were then thrown into prison.

Our unshakable faith frustrated the Gestapo. Once, during an interrogation, an officer came toward me with clenched fists. “What are we going to do with you people?” he exclaimed. “If we arrest you, you don’t care. If we send you to prison, you don’t care one bit. If we send you to the concentration camp, it doesn’t worry you. When we sentence you to death, you just stand there unconcerned. What are we going to do with you?”

After six months in prison, I, along with 11 other Christian sisters, was sent to Auschwitz, the infamous extermination camp.

DIFFERENT AND RESPECTED

First, we were taken to Birkenau, one of Auschwitz’ subsidiary camps. When one SS officer found out that we were there because we were Bible Students, he said: “If I were you, I would sign the paper and go home.”

“If I had wanted to sign, I could have done so before,” I responded.

“But you will die here,” he warned. I told him: “I am prepared for that.”

Later we had to have our pictures taken, and were to fill out forms and questionnaires. While waiting in a line that passed through the medical center, two doctors, also prisoners, were observing the arrivals. One doctor had been in the camp much longer than the other. I overheard the older one say to the younger: “You can always recognize the Bible Students.”

“Oh, yes?” the younger doctor replied, a little incredulous. “Well, then, show me in this group which one is a Bible Student.” I was just then moving past them in the line, and they could not see my violet triangle. Yet, pointing to me, the older doctor said: “This is a Bible Student.” The younger one came around, looked at my triangle and exclaimed: “You are right! How did you know?”

“Well, these people look different,” he said. “You can just tell them apart.”

It was true. We did look different. We walked upright, not stooped down, depressed. Our gaze was always straight ahead; we looked at the other person openly and freely. We were there as witnesses for Jehovah’s name. That is why we had a different bearing, and others recognized that.

We 12 sisters were in Birkenau only a few days. Then we were taken to Auschwitz to work in the homes of the SS officers. They wanted only Jehovah’s Witnesses for that; they were afraid to have others working in their homes. They knew that we would not try to poison them; we were honest and wouldn’t steal or try to escape.

LIFE AND DEATH IN AUSCHWITZ

For some time we all lived within the concentration camp, along with other prisoners, in the basement of a large brick house. The time came to give us our work assignments. “Who wants to work where?” we were asked. But we did not speak up. “Oh, you are so proud,” the woman overseer said.

“No, we are not proud,” my girl friend answered, “but wherever you put us, we shall work there.” And this was always our policy. We did not want to choose our work place, for we were praying to Jehovah for his guidance. If we were put in a place that turned out to be difficult, we could then turn and ask: “Jehovah, now please help us.”

My assignment was to work for an SS official who lived outside the camp. My job was to clean his house, help his wife with the cooking, care for their child and shop in town​—only Jehovah’s Witnesses were trusted to leave the camp without guards. Of course, we always wore the striped prison uniform. After a while we were allowed to live where we worked, instead of returning to the camp at night. I slept in the SS officer’s basement.

But we were not really considered persons. For example, when the SS officer called me to his office, I had to stand at the door and say: “Custody Prisoner Number 24,402 asks permission to enter.” And after receiving his instructions, I was supposed to say: “Custody Prisoner Number 24,402 requests to leave.” Our names were never used.

As in other camps, spiritual food in the form of The Watchtower and other publications regularly found its way into Auschwitz. I even received letters from Harald. This is how regular communications were established with Witnesses from outside:

Some of our group, including my friend Gertrud Ott, were assigned to work in a hotel where the families of SS men lived. One day Gertrud was washing windows when a couple of women walked by, and, without looking up, one said, “We are Jehovah’s Witnesses too.” Later, when they came back, Gertrud said to them: “Go to the bathroom.” There they met and talked, and from then on they arranged other such meetings to smuggle in precious Bible literature and other communications.

We were thankful to Jehovah for his guidance and protection during those years in Auschwitz, especially since we knew that the most horrible things imaginable were happening. Whole shipments of Jews were arriving and being sent straight to the gas chambers! I once nursed a woman overseer at the camp who had worked in the gas chambers, and she told me what was going on there.

“People are herded into a room,” she explained, “and on the door to the next room is a sign, ‘To the Bathroom.’ They are told to undress. Entirely naked they go into the ‘bathroom.’ The door is locked behind them. But gas, instead of water, comes out of the shower heads.” What she had seen there had affected her emotionally, to the extent that she had become physically ill.

TO OTHER CAMPS AND LIBERATION

Beginning in January 1945, Germany suffered defeat after defeat on the eastern front. In an effort to evacuate the concentration camps, many of us were moved from one camp to another. After marching two nights and two days toward the Gross-Rosen camp, several sisters were too exhausted to continue. What a relief when on the third night we were finally permitted to lie down in a crowded barn! The only food we had on the whole trip was the little bread we had been able to take along. None of us felt we could survive another day’s march. But then something happened that was so extraordinary that I shall never forget it.

As we started out the next day, an SS doctor for whom I had once worked saw us, and he began shouting: “Bible Students out! Bible Students out!” Then he told me: “Make sure that we have all of you.” So 40 of us sisters were taken to a station and arrangements were made to transport us by train. It seemed like a miracle to us.

The trains were overcrowded, and three of us somehow missed the stop, going on to Breslau (Polish, Wroclaw). We got off there and were given directions to get to the camp. When we arrived at the gate, the guards laughed and laughed and finally said: “Only Jehovah’s Witnesses would come here of their own accord.” But we knew it would have meant trouble for our sisters if we hadn’t returned to the camp.

We were in Gross-Rosen only two weeks, and then we were transported to the Mauthausen camp near Linz in Austria. Conditions there were dreadful. Just too many people were herded together. Food was scarce, and we didn’t even have straw to sleep on, only wooden boards. After a short time we were on the move again, to the Bergen-Belsen camp, near Hannover, Germany. One of our sisters died en route. Due to the wretched conditions in this camp, many of our sisters who had survived the transport up until this point now died.

About 25 from our group were taken to yet another camp, a secret one, called Dora-Nordhausen. Originally this was a camp for men only, but recently some prostitutes had been taken there. However, the camp commandant made it clear to the woman overseer that we were of a different sort. We had it better at Dora-Nordhausen. A brother worked in the prisoners’ kitchen, and he saw to it that we had some decent food to eat.

By then the end of the war was near. Arrangements were made to transport us to a place near Hamburg. For the trip I was given a can of meat and some bread, but the men did not receive anything. A Polish brother was very sick; so I gave him my food ration. Later, he told me that this had saved his life. En route, we met the American soldiers, and we were freed. The SS men put on the civilian clothes they had brought along, hid their weapons and fled. The war was ending!

When Harald and I found each other about a month later, it was so extraordinary. We just hugged each other for the longest time​—it had been five long years since we had been separated.

MORE TRIALS AND BLESSINGS

When we returned home we found this message on the door: “Jutta Abt lives here. Her parents are in the concentration camp.” How good it was to be home​—and safe! Especially was it satisfying to know that we had been faithful to Jehovah.

My years in German concentration camps taught me an outstanding lesson. It is, how greatly Jehovah’s spirit can strengthen you when you are under extreme trial! Before I was arrested, I had read a sister’s letter that said that under severe trial Jehovah’s spirit causes a calmness to come over you. I thought that she must have been exaggerating a bit. But when I went through trials myself, I knew that what she had said was true. It really happens that way. It’s hard to imagine it, if you have not experienced it. Yet it really happened to me. Jehovah helps.

What helped me in my separation from my daughter was Jehovah’s instruction to Abraham to sacrifice his son. (Gen. 22:1-19) Jehovah did not really want him to kill Isaac, but he wanted to see Abraham’s obedience. In my case, I thought, Jehovah does not require that I sacrifice my child, only that I leave her. This is nothing in comparison to what was asked of Abraham. Jutta has remained faithful to Jehovah all these many years, for which we are very happy.

The faithfulness of my husband has always been a joy and a strength to me. I just have to love and respect him for such faithfulness to Jehovah. And we have been richly rewarded as a result.

God’s Word Is Alive

A Maiden’s Unswerving Love

THERE is something truly beautiful about an unswerving love between a man and a woman. When that love endures despite tremendous pressures from other sources to break up such deep affection, even the emotions of observers are stirred.

Take the case of an Oriental girl from Shunem, or Shulem. She falls in love with a handsome shepherd. In an effort to protect the Shulammite from temptation, her brothers stop her from accepting her lover’s invitation to take a walk with him on a delightful spring day. They appoint her to guard the vineyards against the depredations of little foxes.​—Song of Sol. 1:6; 2:8-15.

During this time King Solomon comes in regal splendor to camp near the home of the Shulammite. This leads to his noticing her while she attends to her duties. On account of her beauty, she finds herself being brought into the camp of the king and is faced with his wooing.​—Song of Sol. 6:11, 12; 1:2-4.

Is the Shulammite impressed? Does she waver in her love? No. Unashamedly she voices her longing for her beloved shepherd. But Solomon is unwilling to let her depart, continuing to pour out verbal expressions of love and promising to have exquisite ornaments made for her. The Shulammite, however, speaks of her undying love for her shepherd. Later, the shepherd gets in touch with her, and both enjoy exchanging words of endearment.​—Song of Sol. 1:7-17; 2:1, 2.

On returning to Jerusalem, King Solomon takes the Shulammite along. Here in the city, the shepherd finds a way to see her. (Song of Sol. 3:6-11; 4:1-5) Solomon, after the failure of all his efforts to win the Shulammite’s love, finally permits her to return home. (Song of Sol. 8:5a) What a triumph for the Shulammite!

This country girl certainly stands out as a noble example of constancy in love, a love that could not be diverted. Such is the love that genuine members of Christ’s spiritual bride, as well as his “other sheep,” have for their “fine shepherd.”​—Compare John 10:14, 16; 2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:25-32.

‘A Love As Strong As Death’

“Love is as strong as death is . . . Its blazings are the blazings of a fire, the flame of Jah.”​—Song of Sol. 8:6.

1, 2. How did the first marriage come about, and why would the husband and wife cling to each other?

IT WAS their happy wedding day. And it took place in paradise. What could be more joyful? Jehovah had caused the first man, Adam, to fall into a deep sleep. Then God had taken one of the man’s ribs, had closed up the wound and had used the rib as a base in forming the first woman.

² When that perfect, beautiful helper and complement was brought to Adam, he was delighted​—but not beyond words. So moved was he that he broke out in poetic expression, saying: “This is at last bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. This one will be called Woman, because from man this one was taken.” (Gen. 2:20-23) We are not told how the woman felt on that wedding day, although later it was said of the sinful and imperfect wife: “Your craving will be for your husband.” (Gen. 3:16) So, surely in her perfection the first woman, Eve, must have been pleased with her mate. Because she was taken from the man’s very body, they would cling to each other. As God put matters: “That is why a man will leave his father and his mother and he must stick to his wife and they must become one flesh.”​—Gen. 2:24; Matt. 19:4, 5.

3. Why was marriage not merely a formal arrangement devoid of emotion?

³ Marriage, instituted by the Creator in the garden of Eden, was designed as a permanent bond of union. It provided for companionship and mutual help, and its basic purpose​—reproducing and nurturing members of the human family—​was a delightful prospect. (Gen. 1:27, 28; Matt. 19:6-9) But marriage was not to be merely some formal arrangement devoid of emotion. Humans were created with the capacity to express love​—in the case of wedlock, the deep affection for a person of the opposite sex that constitutes the emotional incentive to matrimonial union, as well as the warm attachment that solidifies a family.

4. In view of today’s marital problems, what questions might be asked regarding love and wedlock?

⁴ Marriage in paradise may seem quite idealistic today. After all, in imperfect human society, many families are disintegrating. So often, natural affection seems to wane and marriage ties are severed. Hence, a person may wonder, Is deep, enduring love really possible between those united in wedlock? Or is it naïve to think that mutual love and respect can be lasting?

“LOVE IS AS STRONG AS DEATH”

5. Briefly, what are the contents of the Song of Solomon, and what does this Bible book reveal as to love between a man and a woman?

⁵ True love between a man and a woman can be exceedingly strong, firm, unyielding. How well this was shown in a poetic book of the Holy Scriptures, one composed some 3,000 years ago by wise King Solomon of Israel! Termed The Song of Solomon, it tells of the unswerving love that existed between a shepherd and a country girl from the village of Shunem (Shulem). This “superlative song” also reveals that, with all his splendor and riches, the king was unable to capture the love of that beautiful Shulammite.​—Song of Sol. 1:1-14; 8:4.

6. Why is The Song of Solomon of encouragement to members of Jesus Christ’s “bride,” or spirit-begotten congregation?

⁶ This “superlative song” illustrates the beauty of constant and enduring love. Such unswerving love is reflected in the relationship of Jesus Christ with his “bride,” or spirit-begotten congregation. (Eph. 5:25-32; Rev. 21:2, 9) Hence, The Song of Solomon can well encourage those professing to be of that “bride” to remain faithful to their heavenly Bridegroom. (2 Cor. 11:2) Yet this inspired book ‘speaks volumes’ about the chaste affection that can exist between a godly man and woman.

7. Unmarried persons devoted to Jehovah should consider what factors when seeking a marriage mate?

⁷ To illustrate: The Song of Solomon clearly indicates that it is not possible to have romantic love for just anyone. For instance, the Shulammite felt no attraction for King Solomon, and she said: “I have put you under oath, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the female gazelles or by the hinds of the field, that you try not to awaken or arouse love in me until it feels inclined.” (Song of Sol. 2:7; 3:5) How wise it is, then, for an unmarried person patiently to await the appearance of an individual that he or she can truly love! And for those devoted to Jehovah, this prospective marriage mate should be a man or a woman similarly dedicated and faithful to God. (Deut. 7:3, 4; Ezra 9:1-15; 1 Cor. 7:39) Then the worship of Jehovah will be of utmost importance to both mates. They will be able to face life together in marital and spiritual unity, without which there would be a saddening void.

8. How had the Shulammite proved to be like a wall, not a door?

⁸ Before marrying a fellow believer, however, chastity must be maintained by a person desiring divine approval. The brothers of the Shulammite maiden were concerned about her virtue, even while she was quite young. In earlier years, one of the girl’s brothers had said of her: “We have a little sister that does not have any breasts. What shall we do for our sister on the day that she will be spoken for [in wedlock]?” Another brother replied: “If she should be a wall, we shall build upon her a battlement of silver; but if she should be a door, we shall block her up with a cedar plank.” King Solomon had sought to win the Shulammite’s affection, but she had not proved to be unsteady in love and virtue, like a pivoting door that had to be barred shut with a plank to prevent its swinging open to some unwanted or unwholesome person. She had not yielded to the enticements of a king, but had stood like a wall against all material attractions, had proved her stature and could now be recognized as a mature woman of virtuous principles. (Song of Sol. 8:8-10) A fine example for unmarried godly women today!

9. The Shulammite was viewed in what way by the shepherd who loved her?

⁹ The humble Shulammite was self-effacing, but in the eyes of the shepherd who loved her she was someone special. “A mere saffron of the coastal plain I am, a lily of the low plains,” she remarked. Not so to the shepherd, who replied: “Like a lily among thorny weeds, so is my girl companion among the daughters.” (Song of Sol. 2:1, 2) This was not mere infatuation. The girl served Jehovah, was capable and comely, and had much to recommend her. In this, is there not an indication that unmarried Christian girls learn to shoulder the responsibilities of women, while also striving to enhance their spirituality?

10. How did the Shulammite esteem the shepherd?

¹⁰ But note how the Shulammite esteemed the shepherd. “Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest,” she said, “so is my dear one among the sons.” (Song of Sol. 2:3) He was not just another of the many trees in a forest. Her shepherd was devoted to Jehovah, had desirable traits and abilities, and surely must have been a spiritually inclined young man. (Compare 1 Corinthians 2:6-16.) Yes, to the beautiful Shulammite he was “like an apple tree among the trees of the forest.” Should not an unmarried Christian man apply himself so that he might someday be viewed in that way by his beloved sweetheart?

11. In keeping with the words of the Shulammite, how is genuine love comparable to death and Sheol?

¹¹ There is no doubt that wholehearted love is what the Shulammite and the young man felt for each other. The girl surely expressed matters well when telling her cherished shepherd: “Place me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; because love is as strong as death is, insistence on exclusive devotion is as unyielding as Sheol is. Its blazings are the blazings of a fire, the flame of Jah [Jehovah]. Many waters themselves are not able to extinguish love, nor can rivers themselves wash it away. If a man [like Solomon] would give all the valuable things of his house for love, persons would positively despise them.” (Song of Sol. 8:6, 7) How true! Love cannot be bought with material things. But genuine love is as strong as death, which unfailingly claims the lives of condemned mankind. Yes, and in its insistence on exclusive devotion, such love is as unyielding as Sheol, or gravedom, is in demanding their bodies. But what about “the flame of Jah”? A Bible scholar once said, “loving flames kindled in the human heart emanate from Jehovah,” the God of love who put this splendid capacity within humans. (1 John 4:8) Indeed, true love is unfailing, loyal, lasting. (Compare 1 Corinthians 13:8.) How wise for those considering wedlock to wait and work for ‘a love as strong as death’!

HOW LOVE GROWS

12. What experiences or factors in life can cause love to grow between a husband and his wife?

¹² Yet love can grow as the lives of a husband and wife become more and more entwined. At the mature age of 40, Isaac was no infatuated youngster when he took, not a mere girl, but the “young woman” Rebekah as his wife. “And he fell in love with her,” we are told. (Gen. 24:57-67) As the years pass, godly marriage mates share spiritual things with each other. They unitedly face life’s trials and problems. Their mutual endeavors build up cherished memories that draw them closer together. Even simple things​—perhaps pleasant conversations as they walk together through the woods and fields—​become memorable. Why, the beautiful Shulammite yearned to stroll through the countryside with her shepherd! (Song of Sol. 2:8-14) And, once married, they must have done this often.

13. Why does a husband have reason to love “a capable wife”?

¹³ But, of course, love also grows for other sound reasons. “A capable wife is a crown to her owner,” her husband, who surely has reason to love her. (Prov. 12:4) In the words of King Lemuel (possibly those of Solomon), “a capable wife” is more precious than highly prized ornaments fashioned from colorful corals. She is trustworthy and rewards her husband “with good, and not bad, all the days of her life.” (Prov. 31:1, 10-12) With willing hands she may make warm garments for her family. (Prov. 31:13, 19, 21-24) She is just as conscientious about seeing that the household has wholesome food. (Pr 31 Vss. 14, 15) Many aspects of household management can safely be entrusted to her, for she is industrious and truly capable. (Pr 31 Vss. 16-18, 27) Such a woman speaks with kindness, is generous and is a doer of good even to individuals outside the household. (Pr 31 Vss. 20, 26) So, if the physical loveliness of a God-fearing wife fades somewhat with the passing years, her inner beauty grows and endears her to her loved ones. “Charm may be false, and prettiness may be vain,” observes Lemuel, “but the woman that fears Jehovah is the one that procures praise for herself.”​—Prov. 31:30; 1 Pet. 3:3, 4.

14. What traits of a godly husband prompt a Christian wife to respect him deeply?

¹⁴ On the other hand, the godly husband fully shoulders his responsibilities of headship, but not as a tyrant. (Gen. 3:16; Mal. 2:14-16; 1 Cor. 11:3) He keeps loving his wife and shows this in various ways. For instance, he does not become bitterly angry with her. (Col. 3:19) He works hard to provide the physical and spiritual necessities of his wife and others near and dear. (1 Tim. 5:8) Indeed, the godly husband exercises toward his wife the same kind of loving care that Jesus Christ shows for His congregation. (Eph. 5:25-32) What Christian wife would not deeply respect such a husband?

15. By maintaining Biblical standards for marriage, what kind of relationship will the husband and wife enjoy?

¹⁵ Maintaining the standards just cited will require constant effort, application of the Scriptures and prayerful reliance upon Jehovah. But in the matrimonial climate thus produced love is sure to grow. The husband will not have to demand respect. It will come naturally from his well-treated and spiritually inclined wife. Nor will she have to complain, ‘You do not love me!’ What Christian husband could help but love a capable and godly wife? (Contrast Judges 14:15-17 with Ruth 3:11.) In such a household, with each mate playing the proper Scriptural role, it will not be difficult to heed the apostolic counsel: “Let each one of you [husbands] individually so love his wife as he does himself; on the other hand, the wife should have deep respect for her husband.”​—Eph. 5:33.

“REJOICE WITH THE WIFE OF YOUR YOUTH”

16. How does Proverbs chapter 5 urge fidelity to a person’s marriage mate?

¹⁶ Marriage was intended to bring joy to humans. But if this is to be experienced and marital love is to abide, there must be fidelity to a person’s mate. In figurative language, the Scriptures use the expression “water source” to denote a source of sexual satisfaction, something that is not to be sought outside wedlock. Of course, the love between husband and wife properly includes the conjugal relationship, but all those outside a marital union must be excluded from its intimacies. Fittingly, the husband is told: “Drink water out of your own cistern . . . Should your springs be scattered out of doors . . . ? Let them prove to be for you alone, and not for strangers with you. Let your water source prove to be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of your youth, a lovable hind and a charming mountain goat [possibly alluding to gracefulness]. . . . With her love may you be in an ecstasy constantly.”​—Prov. 5:15-23; 7:6-23.

17. Tender regard for each other will have what effect on those united in wedlock?

¹⁷ Those united in wedlock are Scripturally obligated to render to each other the marital due. This is one way to express deep love, and when it is the natural result of heartfelt affection within the marital union, it might be likened to a beautiful painting. How vital, then, that godly mates avoid ruining the scene, that they shun practices that would defile the marriage bed! (Heb. 13:4) Tender regard for each other in such intimate matters will help to prevent a painful marriage breakup and will also serve as a protection against succumbing to immorality.​—1 Cor. 7:1-5.

18. While seeking to fulfill his wife’s emotional and related needs, of what should the godly husband be aware?

¹⁸ So, then, the godly husband will considerately seek to fulfill his wife’s emotional and related needs, but with the restraint that befits an individual having God’s spirit and displaying its fruit of self-control. (Gal. 5:22, 23) By taking into consideration her physical and biological limitations, as did Jehovah in the Law given to Israel, the Christian husband will act “according to knowledge,” assigning his wife “honor as to a weaker vessel, the feminine one.”​—Lev. 18:19; 20:18; 1 Pet. 3:7.

19. (a) It is a blessing to raise children in what type of domestic environment? (b) Children require what kind of discipline?

¹⁹ In time, the marital union may result in children, “an inheritance from Jehovah.” (Ps. 127:3) It is a blessing when they are raised in a domestic environment marked by strong love between their parents and high regard for spiritual things. True, young ones will need counsel and correction, “but the one loving [his child] is he that does look for him with discipline.” (Prov. 13:24) Great benefits will result when Bible-based parental discipline is administered in love.

IMITATE THE SHULAMMITE IN EXCLUSIVE DEVOTION

20. The love between any man and woman is surpassed by what love and devotion?

²⁰ The Shulammite’s love for her shepherd was “as strong as death,” and the love of godly persons united in wedlock today can be that deep. But that maiden also said: “Insistence on exclusive devotion is as unyielding as Sheol is.” (Song of Sol. 8:6) Jesus’ love for the body of his anointed followers surpasses that existing between any man and woman, and the devotion of that congregation to Christ is as unyielding as Sheol. Yet Jesus lovingly died not only for those who will become his heavenly “bride” but also for his “other sheep,” now represented by a “great crowd” having blessed prospects of eternal life on earth.​—John 10:16; Rev. 7:9.

21. (a) The Shulammite set what noteworthy example? (b) How are we benefited by meditating on what Jesus has done for us?

²¹ For all these servants of Jehovah, the Shulammite set an especially noteworthy example of exclusive devotion. By meditating on what Jesus has done for us through his ransom sacrifice, and by considering his loving expressions and promises, our love for him grows. This, in turn, protects us from selfish, materialistic, unspiritual pursuits. It also strengthens our bond with Jehovah, the God who made it possible for humans to have ‘a love as strong as death.’

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The Creator designed marriage to be a permanent union

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True love between a man and a woman can be exceedingly strong

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“And he fell in love with her”

Love​—The “Surpassing Way”

“I show you a surpassing way.”​—1 Cor. 12:31.

1. With what advice did an elderly historian sum up his study of human events?

“LOVE one another.” A 92-year-old historian summed up his long study of human events by giving that short piece of advice. “My final lesson of history,” stated Will Durant, “is the same as that of Jesus. . . . just try it. Love is the most practical thing in the world.”

2. In giving his followers “a new commandment,” what did Jesus Christ say?

² On the last night of his earthly life, Jesus Christ told his followers: “I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love among yourselves.” (John 13:34, 35) What, then, would be the main identifying quality of Jesus’ true followers? Clearly, they would love one another, would have outstanding love among themselves. But how was this “a new commandment”? How were they to love one another as Jesus had loved them?

AS JESUS LOVED HIS DISCIPLES

3. Jesus’ commandment on love was “new” in what respect?

³ Shortly before giving the “new commandment,” Jesus humbly washed the feet of his apostles. His action on that occasion shows Christians that they should serve their fellow believers lovingly, even by performing humble tasks in their behalf. (John 13:1-16) But that was not all there was to the “new commandment.” That commandment on love was “new” in that it went further than the law given to the Israelites through Moses, under which Jesus and his disciples were at that time. That law specified: “You must love your fellow [or neighbor] as yourself.” (Lev. 19:18; Matt. 22:39) It called for neighbor love, but not for self-sacrificing love that would go even to the point of giving one’s life for a fellow human.

4. How did Jesus show the kind of love called for by the “new commandment”?

⁴ “No one has love greater than this,” said Jesus, “that someone should surrender his soul in behalf of his friends.” (John 15:13) Yet, that is what Jesus did in giving his life as a ransom in behalf of imperfect, sinful and dying mankind. (Matt. 20:28; John 3:16; 10:14-18; Rom. 5:12; 6:23) In fact, Jesus’ earthly life and his death both exemplified the love called for by this “new commandment.” Under Christ’s direction, the Christian is not to do good just when the occasion arises, but is to take the initiative in aiding others spiritually and otherwise.

5. What is one of the greatest expressions of love?

⁵ Yes, the follower of Jesus Christ is to work actively for the good of his neighbor. And what is one of the greatest expressions of love? Why, it is preaching to others and teaching them the “good news,” for this can result in their attaining eternal life! For that matter, the Christian must ‘impart, not only the good news of God, but also his own soul’ in working with and aiding those who accept this message. (1 Thess. 2:8) Indeed, he should be ready to surrender his soul, or life, in their behalf.​—1 John 3:16.

6. To what extent were Jesus’ followers to love him?

⁶ Acting in love, Jesus did not follow the course of least resistance. Rather, ‘the reproaches of those reproaching God fell upon him,” and he steadfastly followed a path of greatest resistance by Satan and his agents. (Rom. 15:3) So life was not going to be easy for Christ’s true followers. For that matter, Jesus indicated that they were to love him more than their closest relatives and even more than their own souls. (Luke 14:25-27) Certainly, Jesus’ disciples would have to love their associates in Jehovah’s service and would need to bear spiritual fruitage, even in the face of intense persecution.​—Mark 10:29, 30; John 15:8.

PAUL POINTS TO “A SURPASSING WAY”

7, 8. What was the “surpassing way” mentioned by the apostle Paul at 1 Corinthians 12:31, and it surpassed what?

⁷ The Christian apostle Paul emphasized the importance of love when writing to fellow believers in Corinth. In those days, copies of the Scriptures were few in number, and knowledge thereof chiefly was conveyed by word of mouth. So miraculous gifts of the spirit (special knowledge, speaking in tongues, and so forth) were vital for the congregation. “Yet,” wrote Paul, “I show you a surpassing way.” (1 Cor. 12:4-11, 27-31) What was this “surpassing way”?

⁸ It was the way of love, and its import was highlighted in these words: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels [spirits having their own language] but do not have love, I have become a sounding piece of brass or a clashing cymbal [for shallowness]. And if I have the gift of prophesying and am acquainted with all the sacred secrets and all knowledge, and if I have all the faith so as to transplant mountains [either mountainous obstacles or literal mountains, if that be God’s will], but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my belongings to feed others, and if I hand over my body, that I may boast, but do not have love, I am not profited at all.”​—1 Cor. 13:1-3; Mark 11:23.

9. If we do not live according to the “surpassing way” of love, what is true of our efforts in God’s service?

⁹ Yes, even acts that might otherwise be of value become “dead works” if the motivation for them is not love for God and neighbor. (Matt. 22:37-39; Heb. 6:1) “Loving labor” is essential. (1 Thess. 1:2, 3) All our efforts and sacrifices in God’s service amount to nothing if we do not live according to the “surpassing way” of love. Not all early Christians could perform powerful works, heal, speak in tongues and translate under the influence of God’s spirit. (1 Cor. 12:29, 30) But all of them could display love, a fruit of Jehovah’s holy spirit that all Christians should cultivate.​—Gal. 5:22; 1 John 4:16.

MODELS OF LOVE FOR US TO IMITATE

10. How has Jehovah set us an example in displaying love?

¹⁰ Both Jehovah God and his Son Jesus Christ have set us examples in displaying love. Consider this: Physical creation is a manifestation of God’s love, for it gives abundant evidence of care for the health, pleasure and welfare of mankind. Humans were not created merely to exist. They usually can taste food, smell fragrant flowers, note the various colors and beauties of creation, enjoy the company of fellowmen and laugh at the antics of playful animals, to say nothing of the many other delights of living. (Ps. 139:14) Manifestations of Jehovah’s unselfish giving in love include the making of man in His image and likeness, with the capacity for love and spirituality. (Gen. 1:26, 27) The provision of a paradise home and the sure promise of a restored earthly paradise also show God’s love, as does his revelation of himself to mankind through his inspired Word and holy spirit. (Luke 23:43; 1 Cor. 2:10-13) And, of course, Jehovah’s love also is shown by his providing for mankind’s redemption from sin and resulting death.​—Rom. 5:7, 8.

11, 12. God’s Son has displayed love for mankind in what ways?

¹¹ God’s Son had a fondness for mankind even during his prehuman existence. Under the figure of wisdom personified, he is identified as God’s “master worker” who served with gladness and said: “The things I was fond of were with the sons of men.” (Prov. 8:30, 31; John 1:1, 14) So, with mankind’s need of redemption in mind, Jehovah chose one especially fond of mankind​—His only-begotten Son, who “emptied himself and took a slave’s form and came to be in the likeness of men.” (Phil. 2:5-7) Yes, God’s Son displayed self-sacrificing love in becoming a man.

¹² Love also was evident in Jesus Christ’s teaching and tender regard for others. When he saw a great crowd, “he felt pity for them, and he cured their sick ones.” “Because they were as sheep without a shepherd,” Jesus was moved with pity and “started to teach them many things.” (Matt. 14:14; Mark 6:34) Of course, Jesus Christ displayed surpassing love by dying on a stake to provide “a ransom in exchange for many.” (Matt. 20:28; Phil. 2:8) In this and many other ways, both Jehovah and Jesus furnish models of love for Christians to imitate.​—John 13:34; 1 John 4:10.

“HAVE INTENSE LOVE” FOR FELLOW BELIEVERS

13. (a) Peter urged fellow believers to have what kind of love for one another, and is there evidence that such love existed among them? (b) What effect does love have on present-day Christians?

¹³ Love is reflected in willingness to give of oneself and is basic to godly life. (Ps. 110:3) The apostle Peter urged fellow worshipers of Jehovah to “have intense love for one another.” (1 Pet. 4:8) That such love existed among early Christians is shown by their expressions, for they were known to refer to or address one another with endearing words​—“my beloved children,” “the beloved, whom I truly love,” and so forth. (1 Cor. 4:14; 3 John 1) Similar love among true Christians today is encouraging, sustaining one during trials. It “builds up.” (1 Cor. 8:1) Despite adversity and persecution, we are not friendless in a loveless world. Christians know that their spiritual brothers and sisters really love them, and this “perfect bond of union” helps them to face the future with confidence.​—Col. 3:14.

14. (a) How does Paul epitomize love at 1 Corinthians 13:4-8? (b) What questions may aid a Christian to display love in keeping with Paul’s words?

¹⁴ But the question is, How well are we personally displaying love for fellow believers? The apostle Paul’s divinely inspired epitome of love aids us in testing the quality of our love for one another. Please read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. Then take time to reflect on those words in the light of the following questions:

Am I “long-suffering and kind,” showing patient forbearance in unfavorable circumstances?

Do I shun jealousy, as when I am passed over and another brother is given certain privileges in the congregation?

Am I humble instead of bragging about what Jehovah may have permitted me to accomplish in his service?

Do I “behave indecently,” in manners or in the way I treat certain fellow Christians?

Do I ‘look for my own interests,’ as in the relatively small matter of pushing ahead of others at Christian assemblies?

As an elder, for instance, do I “become provoked” just because others fail to respond promptly to Scriptural counsel?

Do I ‘keep account of injuries,’ offenses of years ago, or do I forgive my brothers and sisters in the faith, even as I desire forgiveness?

By my conversation, do I show that I shun worldly unrighteousness, rejoicing, rather, in truth?

Do I ‘bear all things,’ not expecting perfection from imperfect fellow Christians?

Am I a person ‘believing all things,’ not unjustly imputing bad motives to fellow believers?

Do I ‘hope all things,’ really hoping in everything in God’s Word and are my hopes truly founded upon it?

Have I the kind of love for God that will enable me to ‘endure all things,’ including persecution as a Christian?

Questions such as these may well aid the Christian in his efforts to display love.

15. Love has prompted Jehovah’s people to do what for needy fellow worshipers?

¹⁵ Numerous, indeed, are the ways of showing love for fellow believers. For example, love prompts us to aid them materially when there is such a need. (Jas. 2:14-17) Accordingly, Jehovah’s people helped needy fellow worshipers in war-ravaged lands after World War II. During a two-and-a-half-year worldwide relief campaign, love was displayed as witnesses of Jehovah in the United States, Canada, Switzerland, Sweden and other countries donated clothing and money to purchase food for Christians in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, China, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, the Philippine Republic, Poland and Romania. Moreover, through the years, Jehovah’s Witnesses have gladly furnished material aid, as needed, when their fellow believers have been the victims of natural disasters.

16. What effect should Christian love have on appointed elders in the congregation?

¹⁶ Christian love also makes appointed congregational elders approachable, understanding. This should be the case if they imitate the ways of Jehovah, of whom it is said: “As the heavens are higher than the earth, his loving-kindness is superior toward those fearing him.” (Ps. 103:10-14) A humble, loving attitude moves Christian overseers to make diligent efforts to aid fellow believers spiritually.

17. In what ways might love be shown for elderly or infirm Christians?

¹⁷ However, Christian love will prompt all godly persons, not just appointed elders, to be cooperative and helpful in dealing with fellow worshipers of Jehovah. For instance, love may move us to do the shopping for elderly or infirm Christians. It may prompt us to read the Bible and Christian publications to them, if necessary. Yes, and there may be opportunities to help them with housework, to accompany them in God’s service, and to have pleasant association with them at other times. In various ways, love will motivate us to do good to others​—young or old—​without being asked to do so.

PRACTICE LOVE FOR FAMILY AND NEIGHBORS

18. To show love, do we need rules covering every aspect of life?

¹⁸ The apostle Paul wrote: “Do not you people be owing anybody a single thing, except to love one another.” (Rom. 13:8) Indeed, Christians do owe others love. But to exercise this quality we do not need rules covering every aspect of life. Loving words and deeds are suggested to us by human conscience and by godly wisdom based on the Scriptures. (Rom. 2:14, 15) Generally, then, as Christians we know whether we have been loving in a certain situation. Nevertheless, it is one thing to know we should show love and quite another to practice it.

19. What will help us to show love within the family, and in what ways may it be displayed?

¹⁹ Within the family, we may at times be inclined to be short-tempered, unloving. Why? Because we know family members well and may have less patience with them than we do with others. Yet, the same basic Bible principles apply within the household as in our dealings with other individuals, such as those in the local Christian congregation. Certainly, we can and should prayerfully seek Jehovah’s aid in practicing love for members of our family. In this we will be helped if we remember that Jehovah God is pleased when husbands show love for their wives “as their own bodies,” when women love their husbands and children, and when children display love for their parents, obeying them. (Eph. 5:28; 6:1-3; Titus 2:4) Even grown children can show love for their aged parents, not by ignoring them but by caring for them spiritually and materially as the need may exist. Godly devotion includes shouldering this responsibility. And, of course, it is a display of love when Christian husbands make sure that their families are cared for in spiritual and material ways.​—Compare Proverbs 19:26; 1 Timothy 5:4, 8.

20. How can love of neighbor be shown, especially by Christians?

²⁰ Love of neighbor can be shown by acts of human kindness in varying circumstances. The residents of Malta treated the apostle Paul and other shipwreck victims with “extraordinary human kindness.” (Acts 28:1, 2) The consciences of those pagan islanders prompted them to act that way. How much more should the Scripturally trained consciences of Christians move them to show neighbor love! It is that love of neighbor that especially moves us to share the “good news” with them. We could do nothing finer or more loving than aid them to gain a good standing with Jehovah.​—1 Tim. 1:8-11.

ABOVE ALL, SHOW LOVE FOR GOD

21, 22. (a) What is a principal way of showing our love for Jehovah? (b) So what questions can we ask ourselves and what determination should be ours as “lovers of Jehovah”?

²¹ Truly, one of the greatest expressions of love for fellow humans consists of teaching them the “good news,” thus aiding them to attain a good standing with Jehovah God. And for the Christian, this activity is a principal way of showing love for the One who deserves it the most​—our loving God, Jehovah. His Son said: “You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole strength and with your whole mind.”​—Luke 10:27.

²² Are we ‘continuing steadfast as seeing the invisible One’? (Heb. 11:27) Do we bear his peerless name, Jehovah, as his faithful witnesses? Is it our heartfelt delight to speak of him and his purposes? In fact, is that not a basic reason for our existence as the congregation of his people? Indeed, it is! Under the influence of his holy spirit, we can continue to pursue the “surpassing way” of love with fellow humans. But, above all else, may we fearlessly declare the praises of our God, loving what is good and rejoicing in him as integrity-keeping “lovers of Jehovah.”​—Ps. 97:10-12.

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Jesus’ humble act shows we should lovingly serve others

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Physical creation is a manifestation of God’s love

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Seek Jehovah’s aid in showing love within the family circle

Insight on the News

‘World Is Dancing Energy’

● Of what is our universe made? Attempts to answer this question have produced the science of particle physics, which studies the ultimate “particles” that form atoms. Some conclusions of this science were recently summarized in a “Science Digest Special” magazine issue. “If there is any ultimate stuff of the universe, it is pure energy,” says the article, “but subatomic particles are not ‘made of’ energy, they ARE energy. . . . According to particle physics, the world is fundamentally dancing energy.” Governing this energy, and “limiting the forms that it can take,” explains the magazine, “are a set of conservation laws.”

This agrees nicely with the Bible’s description of God as the Source of all energy. He may well have used his energy in creating the stuff of the universe, evidently by ordaining “conservation laws” to govern the energy.​—Isa. 40:26.

Biblical ‘70 Years’ Reaffirmed

● Great strides in lengthening the human life-span do not mean that such improvements will continue, according to an official of America’s national Center for Disease Control. He pointed out that, although the average life-span since 1900 has increased by 25 years, life expectancy for middle-aged adults increased only about four years during the same period, rising from 69 to 73 years in all. The 25-year increase in the average for all ages “was achieved by reducing the risk of dying during infancy and childhood through environmental sanitation, immunization and improved nutrition,” he said. “The highly touted lengthening of life span for Americans is largely due to prevention, not cure.” He indicated that any future increases in the life-span would be slow in coming and would require public habit changes, such as elimination of smoking, overdrinking, stress and hard living.

Thus, human age limitations stated by the inspired psalmist over 3,000 years ago remain accurate: “Seventy years is the span of our life, eighty if our strength holds.” The only Source of any meaningful extension of life is the Author of life, Jehovah God, who will grant, not just a few years, but “eternal life” to those who truly know and serve him.​—Ps. 90:10; John 17:3, “New English Bible.”

“Strange Irony”

● Connecticut’s “Hartford Courant,” America’s oldest continuously published newspaper, recently commented editorially on a Supreme Court appeal involving one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, noting that the Court has a “tradition” of protecting the Witnesses “from arbitrary actions directed at them.”

“With that tradition a part of American legal history,” comments the editorial, “we are disappointed that the justices refused to hear the appeal of a Chicago kindergarten teacher who was fired for refusing to teach certain patriotic symbolism . . . the firing of a teacher for adherence to an honestly held religious conviction​—a conviction that is not dangerous or bizarre—​deserves high court scrutiny.”

The “Courant” also observed: “The civil liberties question to be resolved involves more than religious freedom. What a strange irony it would be for schoolchildren to learn that Old Glory can be used to force the performance of repugnant acts on any American citizen, whatever the benign intent.”

“Their First Allegiance”

● News columnist Steve Mitchell of “The Post” in Palm Beach, Florida, recently observed that Jehovah’s Witnesses are “one of the most persecuted religious sects in the world” because, for example, they do not salute the flag of any nation. “This is not a popular stand,” he said, “but at least this nation was founded on religious freedom. Or that was the way it was supposed to be, remember?”

Mitchell also observed: “They pay their taxes. They are some of the most honest citizens in the Republic. But their first allegiance is to God, not country. While I do not agree with their beliefs, I strongly feel that their right to exercise them is a big part of what this country is all about.”

Do You Remember?

Have you read recent issues of The Watchtower carefully? If so, you will doubtless recall these points:

● What explains the remarkable friendship of Jonathan and David?

Jonathan, though heir apparent to the throne, accepted David as Jehovah’s choice for the kingship and loved him for his fine qualities.​—11/15 pp. 9-11.

● On what basis can people of all nationalities become spiritual Israelites?

This is on the basis of Jesus’ “corresponding ransom,” making it possible for them to be taken into the new covenant, of which Jesus Christ is the mediator. (1 Tim. 2:5, 6)​—11/15 p. 26.

● How can a person attain peace with God?

He must recognize himself as a sinner, acknowledging that he has no power within himself to prove pleasing to the Creator. Then, to gain forgiveness of sins, he needs to repent and accept the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. After that, it is a matter of continuing to walk in harmony with the cleansing that a person has received through Christ’s sacrifice.​—12/1 pp. 7, 8.

● What does Jehovah God require of those who will gain everlasting life?

He requires that we manifest genuine faith in the fact that Jesus Christ took upon himself the full penalty for sin and is now “both Lord and Christ,” the promised Messianic King. (Acts 2:36) Such faith is demonstrated by sharing the “good news” with others, maintaining upright conduct and being willing to respond to the needs of fellow humans.​—12/15 pp. 7, 8.

● What might we be able to do to help bereaved fellow believers?

We may give them a hearing ear, showing that we care about them. A telephone call, a visit or an invitation to a meal can be encouraging. There may be opportunities to arrange for times to discuss comforting thoughts from the Scriptures. It may be that we can give of our time in helping them with essential affairs of life while they are caring for official or financial formalities. The circumstance may call for providing monetary help.​—1/1 pp. 25-27.

● Why could John the Baptizer proclaim, “The kingdom of the heavens has drawn near”?​—Matt. 3:2.

This was because Jesus Christ, the King-designate, was on the scene.​—1/15 p. 12.

● What happened to Ebed-melech because of his coming to the aid of Jehovah’s prophet Jeremiah, and what encouragement can be drawn from this?

Ebed-melech was promised his “soul as a spoil.” (Jer. 39:18) This meant that his soul or life would not fall prey to the Babylonian conquerors of Jerusalem. Like a person who rejoices over spoil, he could rejoice over retaining possession of his life. Similarly, a “great crowd” will be spared alive at the approaching “war of the great day of God the Almighty.” (Rev. 7:9-15; 16:14)​—2/1 pp. 26-28.

● What was pictured by the waving of the barley sheaf on Nisan 16?

This pictured the resurrection of Jesus Christ, “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep in death.” (1 Cor. 15:20)​—2/15 p. 9.

● When did the antitypical festival of booths begin, and when will it end?

This antitypical festival had its beginning when the Christian congregation came into existence on Pentecost 33 C.E. The joy of the congregation, however, did not continue, as an apostasy occurred. In modern times, Jehovah’s Witnesses entered a period of great joy from 1919 C.E. onward, thus resuming the antitypical festival of booths. Not until the completion of Christ’s 1,000-year reign does the antitypical festival come to its end.​—2/15 p. 22.

Questions From Readers

● In 1 Corinthians 7:36-38 the New World Translation mentions a man’s giving “his own virginity” in marriage. Most other versions use such phrases as “his virgin daughter” or “his partner in celibacy.” Why do Bibles differ so much in this passage?

Any Christian interested in marriage and/​or singleness is rightly interested in these meaningful verses, which in the New World Translation read:

“But if anyone thinks he is behaving improperly toward his virginity, if that is past the bloom of youth, and this is the way it should take place, let him do what he wants; he does not sin. Let them marry. But if anyone stands settled in his heart, having no necessity, but has authority over his own will and has made this decision in his own heart, to keep his own virginity, he will do well. Consequently he also that gives his virginity in marriage does well, but he that does not give it in marriage will do better.”​—1 Cor. 7:36-38.

Many Bible scholars admit having difficulty in understanding and properly translating the Greek text of this passage. According to Dr. A. Marshall’s Interlinear Greek-English New Testament, the literal Greek of 1Co 7 verse 36 begins: “But if anyone to behave dishonourably toward the virgin of him thinks, . . .” The main problem involves the phrase “the virgin of him.” What did the apostle Paul mean by that? Bible commentaries often bring up three possibilities, which are reflected in the various renderings in many popular Bibles. Briefly considering these three views will aid us to appreciate the point of this passage.

One: Some say that these verses refer to a father’s or guardian’s authority to give a girl in marriage or to forbid her marrying. To convey this idea, certain translations add the word “daughter,” as does the New American Standard Bible. There are, though, difficulties with this view. First, the passage nowhere actually speaks of a daughter, father or guardian. Furthermore, 1Co 7 verse 37 shows that what was in question was a man’s authority over his own will. So why should we conclude that Paul recommended that a woman remain celibate just because her father was not distracted because of sexual passion?

Two: Others feel that Paul was counseling a man about whether to marry his fiancée or not. Hence, the Revised Standard Version reads: “If any one thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his betrothed, if his passions are strong, . . .” The fact is, though, that in the original text these verses do not mention a ‘betrothed woman’ or “fiancée.” Further, this approach puts all the emphasis on the man. But does it seem consistent with Christianity that Paul would be concerned with only the man, showing no interest at all in the needs and feelings of the woman, whom Peter calls the “weaker vessel”?​—1 Pet. 3:7.

Three: Yet others say that 1 Corinthians 7:36-38 involves Christian couples who were living together but celibately, who had renounced sex relations for spiritual reasons. Hence, the translation by Moffatt says: “If any man considers that he is not behaving properly to the maid who is his spiritual bride, . . .” And The New English Bible speaks of his “partner in celibacy.”

However, such an interpretation conflicts with what the apostle advised earlier in 1 Corinthians chapter seven. Paul had mentioned, in verses three through five, the possibility of a couple’s temporarily abstaining from sexual relations by mutual agreement. But he said that later they should come together again so that they would not fall into temptation. Also, if Paul was referring to married couples living celibately, why would he recommend their marrying if passion suggested the need for that?

If these three views, reflected in many popular Bibles, do not seem to harmonize with Paul’s words in Greek, or with Christianity, is there a more suitable rendering that conveys the proper sense?

As noted, the principal difficulty involves the phrase “the virgin of him.” In this regard, an Emphatic Diaglott footnote says: “Parthenos, commonly translated virgin, has been rendered as meaning also a state of virginity or celibacy.” Dr. G. R. Berry gives the Greek-English interlinear reading as follows: “behaves unseemly to virginity his.” This would mean that the “virgin” referred to is not that of some other person, but is one’s own virginity. Long before the New World Translation appeared, some English versions conveyed this understanding. J. N. Darby’s translation is: “But if any one think that he behaves unseemly to his virginity, . . . let him do what he will, he does not sin.” (See also the Bible by J. B. Rotherham.) Such a rendering fits both the Greek text and Paul’s earlier words encouraging singleness.​—1 Cor. 7:29-35.

So, at 1 Corinthians 7:36-38 Paul urges persons to consider their own needs. Is one past the time when sexual interest first became strong?a If so, and if he or she still feels it would be better to marry, there is no sin in doing so. But the Christian who is able to make room for singleness will have fewer distractions and more freedom to serve the Lord.

[Footnotes]

World Destruction First​—Then World Peace

How will world destruction come? What will be included in the destruction? Will humans bring it about? Or is it God’s purpose to do so?

Read the chapter with the above title in the 192-page book True Peace and Security​—From What Source? Learn how you can survive and how world peace will then be made secure. To receive this valuable book postpaid, send only 50 cents (U.S.) to Watchtower, 117 Adams St., Brooklyn, N.Y., 11201.

“Out of the Mouth of Babes”

Who is Jehovah?

Then who is Jesus?

What do Jehovah’s Witnesses believe?

ON ONE occasion during Jesus Christ’s earthly ministry, boys hailed him as “the Son of David.” This greatly displeased the Jewish chief priests and scribes. In response to his indignant opposers, Jesus asked: “Did you never read this, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings you have furnished praise’?” (Matt. 21:15, 16; Ps. 8:2) To this day, many youngsters are praising Jehovah God and Jesus Christ. Often they do so by giving a Scriptural witness at school.

IN THE Netherlands, eight-year-old Marina was invited to give an informal talk in the classroom. The teacher granted her permission to speak about Jehovah. Desiring to get all the children involved, Marina wrote some questions for the class on the blackboard. Among these were such queries as “Who is Jehovah?” “Then who is Jesus?” and “What do Jehovah’s Witnesses believe?” Marina and Ritchie, the son of another Witness, answered the questions posed by their fellow students.

MARINA arrived home that day virtually bubbling over with enthusiasm. Also, after school she and Ritchie visited all the parents of their classmates, and in this way they placed 21 copies of the book “Listening to the Great Teacher,” a Bible study aid especially designed for parents to read with their young children. In fact, this book had helped these praisers of Jehovah themselves to learn much about God’s Word and his purposes.