The Watchtower — August 1, 1996

Is the Soul Immortal?

QUIETLY, friends and family file by the open casket. They gaze at the body, that of a 17-year-old boy. His friends from school hardly recognize him. Chemotherapy has thinned his hair; cancer has caused him to lose a lot of weight. Can this really be their friend? Just weeks before, he was so full of ideas, of questions, of energy—of life! The boy’s mother tearfully repeats over and over: “Tommy’s happier now. God wanted Tommy in heaven with him.”

This heartbroken mother finds some measure of hope and solace in the idea that somehow her son still lives. In church she has been taught that the soul is immortal, that it is the seat of personality, thoughts, memories—the “self.” Her son’s soul, she believes, has not died at all; a living spirit being, it left his body at death and went to heaven to be with God and the angels.

In a time of tragedy, the human heart clings desperately to any ray of hope, so it is not hard to see why this belief holds much appeal. Consider, for instance, the way theologian J. Paterson-Smyth expresses himself in The Gospel of the Hereafter: “Death is a very small thing in comparison with what comes after it—that wonderful, wonderful, wonderful world into which Death ushers us.”

Around the world and in many religions and cultures, people believe that man has an undying soul within him, a conscious spirit that continues to live after the body dies. The belief is all but universal in Christendom’s thousands of religions and sects. It is an official doctrine in Judaism too. Hindus believe that the atman, or soul, was created at the beginning of time, is imprisoned in the body at birth, and moves on at death to another body in a continuous cycle of reincarnations. Muslims believe that the soul comes into being with the body and lives on after the body dies. Other faiths—the African animist, the Shinto, even the Buddhist in a way—teach variations on this same theme.

Some Troubling Questions

While the notion of an immortal soul has undeniable and nearly universal appeal, it nonetheless raises some disturbing questions. For example, people wonder where the soul of a loved one goes if that one has led a less than exemplary life. Will he be reincarnated as some lower form of life? Or is he sent to purgatory, where he will be cleansed by some fiery process until deemed worthy to go to heaven? Worse yet, is he to be tortured forever in a burning hell? Or is he, as many animist religions teach, a spirit who must be appeased?

Such concepts create burdensome prospects for the living. Are we to appease the spirits of our dead loved ones lest they wreak vengeance on us? Are we supposed to help them get out of some terrible purgatory? Or are we simply to shudder in helpless horror at the thought of their suffering in hell? Or are we to treat some living animals as though they carried the souls of deceased humans?

The questions that arise concerning God himself are scarcely more comforting. For instance, many parents, like the mother mentioned at the outset, are at first comforted by the notion that God “took” their child’s immortal soul to heaven to be with him. For many, though, it is only a matter of time before they begin wondering what kind of God would inflict some hideous illness on an innocent child, ripping that precious one away from heartbroken parents simply to move the child to heaven ahead of schedule. Where is the justice, the love, the mercy, in such a God? Some even question the wisdom of such a God. Why, they ask, would a wise God put all these souls on the earth to begin with if all of them are supposed to end up in heaven anyway? Would that not mean that the creation of the earth was really an enormous waste?—Compare Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 103:8; Isaiah 45:18; 1 John 4:8.

Clearly, then, the doctrine of the immortality of the human soul, in whatever form the doctrine is taught, brings up puzzling questions, even inconsistencies. Why? Much of the trouble has to do with the origins of this teaching. You may find it enlightening to explore these roots briefly; and you may be surprised to learn what the Bible itself says about the soul. It offers a far better hope for life after death than the world’s religions commonly teach.

A Better Hope for the Soul

THE Roman soldiers had not expected this. As they stormed into the mountain fortress of Masada, the last stronghold of the Jewish rebel forces, they braced themselves for the onslaught of their enemies, for the shouts of warriors, for the screams of women and children. Instead they heard only crackling flames. As they explored the burning citadel, the Romans learned the awful truth: their enemies—some 960 people—were already dead! Systematically, the Jewish warriors had slaughtered their own families, then one another. The last man had killed himself.a What had led them to this ghastly mass murder and suicide?

According to the contemporary historian Josephus, an important factor was the belief in the immortal soul. Eleazar Ben Jair, the leader of the Zealots in Masada, had first tried to persuade his men that suicide would be more honorable than death or slavery at Roman hands. Seeing them hesitate, he launched into an impassioned speech about the soul. He told them that the body was a mere encumbrance, a prison for the soul. “But when, freed from the weight that drags it down to earth and is hung about it,” he continued, “the soul returns to its own place, then in truth it partakes of a blessed power and an utterly unfettered strength, remaining as invisible to human eyes as God Himself.”

The response? Josephus reports that after Eleazar had spoken in this vein at length, “all his listeners cut him short and full of uncontrollable enthusiasm made haste to do the deed.” Josephus adds: “As if possessed they rushed off, everyone anxious to be quicker than the next man, . . . so irresistible a desire had seized them to slaughter their wives, their children, and themselves.”

This grim example serves to illustrate just how profoundly the doctrine of the immortal soul can alter the normal human view of death. Believers are taught to see death, not as man’s worst enemy, but as a mere gateway that frees the soul to enjoy a higher existence. But why did those Jewish Zealots believe this way? Many would assume that their holy writings, the Hebrew Scriptures, teach that man has a conscious spirit within him, a soul that escapes to live on after death. Is that really so?

The Soul in the Hebrew Scriptures

In a word, no. Right in the very first book of the Bible, Genesis, we are told that the soul is not something you have, it is something you are. We read of the creation of Adam, the first human being: “The man came to be a living soul.” (Genesis 2:7) The Hebrew word used here for soul, neʹphesh, occurs well over 700 times in the Hebrew Scriptures, never once conveying the idea of a separate, ethereal, spiritual part of man. On the contrary, the soul is tangible, concrete, physical.

Look up the following cited texts in your own copy of the Bible, for the Hebrew word neʹphesh is found in each of them. They clearly show that the soul can face risk, danger, and even be kidnapped (Deuteronomy 24:7; Judges 9:17; 1 Samuel 19:11); touch things (Job 6:7); be locked up in irons (Psalm 105:18); crave to eat, be afflicted by fasting, and faint from hunger and thirst; and suffer from a wasting disease or even insomnia as a result of grief. (Deuteronomy 12:20; Psalm 35:13; 69:10; 106:15; 107:9; 119:28) In other words, because your soul is you, your very self, your soul can experience anything you can experience.b

Does that mean, then, that the soul can actually die? Yes. Far from being immortal, human souls are spoken of in the Hebrew Scriptures as being “cut off,” or executed, for wrongdoing, being struck fatally, murdered, destroyed, and torn to pieces. (Exodus 31:14; Deuteronomy 19:6; 22:26; Psalm 7:2) “The soul that is sinning—it itself will die,” says Ezekiel 18:4. Clearly, death is the common end of human souls, since all of us sin. (Psalm 51:5) The first man, Adam, was told that the penalty for sin was death—not transfer to the spirit realm and immortality. (Genesis 2:17) And when he sinned, the sentence was pronounced: “For dust you are and to dust you will return.” (Genesis 3:19) When Adam and Eve died, they simply became what the Bible often refers to as ‘dead souls’ or ‘deceased souls.’—Numbers 5:2; 6:6.

Little wonder that The Encyclopedia Americana says of the soul in the Hebrew Scriptures: “The Old Testament concept of man is that of a unity, not a union of soul and body.” It adds: “Nefesh . . . is never conceived of as operating separately from the body.”

So, what did faithful Jews believe death to be? Simply put, they believed that death is the opposite of life. Psalm 146:4 tells what happens when the spirit, or life-force, leaves a human being: “His spirit goes out, he goes back to his ground; in that day his thoughts do perish.”c Similarly, King Solomon wrote that the dead “are conscious of nothing at all.”—Ecclesiastes 9:5.

Why, then, were many first-century Jews, such as the Zealots at Masada, so convinced of the immortality of the soul?

The Greek Influence

The Jews got this idea, not from the Bible, but from the Greeks. Between the seventh and fifth centuries B.C.E., the concept seems to have made its way from mysterious Greek religious cults to Greek philosophy. The idea of an afterlife where bad souls would receive painful retribution had long held great appeal, and the notion took shape and spread. Philosophers debated endlessly on the precise nature of the soul. Homer claimed that the soul flitted off at the time of death, making an audible buzzing, chirping, or rustling sound. Epicurus said that the soul actually had mass and was, therefore, an infinitesimal body.d

But perhaps the greatest proponent of the immortal soul was the Greek philosopher Plato, of the fourth century B.C.E. His description of the death of his teacher, Socrates, reveals convictions much like those of the Zealots of Masada centuries later. As scholar Oscar Cullmann puts it, “Plato shows us how Socrates goes to his death in complete peace and composure. The death of Socrates is a beautiful death. Nothing is seen here of death’s terror. Socrates cannot fear death, since indeed it sets us free from the body. . . . Death is the soul’s great friend. So he teaches; and so, in wonderful harmony with his teaching, he dies.”

It was evidently during the Maccabean period, in the second century before Christ, that Jews began to assimilate this teaching from the Greeks. In the first century C.E., Josephus tells us that the Pharisees and the Essenes—powerful Jewish religious groups—espoused this doctrine. Some poetry that was probably composed in that era reflects the same belief.

What, though, of Jesus Christ? Did he and his followers likewise teach this idea from Greek religion?

The Early Christians’ View of the Soul

The first-century Christians did not view the soul as the Greeks did. Consider, for example, the death of Jesus’ friend Lazarus. If Lazarus had had an immortal soul that flitted off, free and happy, at the time of death, would not the account in John chapter 11 read very differently? Surely Jesus would have told his followers if Lazarus was alive and well and conscious in heaven; on the contrary, he echoed the Hebrew Scriptures and told them that Lazarus was asleep, unconscious. (Joh 11 Verse 11) Surely Jesus would have rejoiced if his friend was enjoying a wonderful new existence; instead, we find him weeping publicly over this death. (Joh 11 Verse 35) Surely, if Lazarus’ soul had been in heaven, reveling in blissful immortality, Jesus would never have been so cruel as to summon him back to live a few more years in the “prison” of an imperfect physical body amid sick and dying mankind.

Did Lazarus return from death with glowing tales of his marvelous four days as a liberated, disembodied spirit being? No, he did not. Believers in the immortal soul will respond that this was because the man’s experience was too awesome for words. But that argument fails to convince; after all, could not Lazarus still have told his loved ones at least that much—that he had had an experience too marvelous to describe? Instead, Lazarus said nothing about any experiences he had had while dead. Think of it—silent on the one subject that is the focus of more human curiosity than any other: what death is like! That silence can be explained in only one way. There was nothing to tell. The dead are asleep, unconscious.

So, does the Bible present death as the friend of the soul, a mere rite of passage between stages of existence? No! To true Christians such as the apostle Paul, death was no friend; it was “the last enemy.” (1 Corinthians 15:26) Christians see death, not as natural, but as horrible, as unnatural, for it is a direct result of sin and rebellion against God. (Romans 5:12; 6:23) It was never part of God’s original purpose for mankind.

However, true Christians are not without hope when it comes to the death of the soul. The resurrection of Lazarus is one of many Bible accounts that graphically show us the true, Scriptural hope for dead souls—resurrection. The Bible teaches about two different types of resurrection. For the vast majority of mankind who are asleep in the grave, whether righteous or unrighteous, there is the hope of resurrection to eternal life in Paradise here on earth. (Luke 23:43; John 5:28, 29; Acts 24:15) For a small group to whom Jesus referred as his “little flock,” there is a resurrection to immortal life as spirit beings in heaven. These, who include Christ’s apostles, will rule with Christ Jesus over mankind and restore them to perfection.—Luke 12:32; 1 Corinthians 15:53, 54; Revelation 20:6.

Why, then, do we find the churches of Christendom teaching, not the resurrection, but the immortality of the human soul? Consider the answer provided by theologian Werner Jaeger in The Harvard Theological Review back in 1959: “The most important fact in the history of Christian doctrine was that the father of Christian theology, Origen, was a Platonic philosopher at the school of Alexandria. He built into Christian doctrine the whole cosmic drama of the soul, which he took from Plato.” So the church did just what the Jews had done centuries earlier! They forsook Biblical teachings in favor of Greek philosophy.

The Doctrine’s Real Origins

Now some may ask, in defense of the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, Why is the same doctrine taught, in one form or another, by so many of the world’s religions? The Scriptures offer a sound reason why this teaching is so prevalent in the religious communities of this world.

The Bible tells us that “the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one” and specifically identifies Satan as “the ruler of this world.” (1 John 5:19; John 12:31) Obviously, the world’s religions have not been immune from Satan’s influence. On the contrary, they have contributed greatly to the trouble and strife in today’s world. And on the matter of the soul, they seem to reflect Satan’s mind all too clearly. How so?

Remember the first lie ever told. God had told Adam and Eve that death would result if they sinned against him. But Satan assured Eve: “You positively will not die.” (Genesis 3:4) Of course, Adam and Eve did die; they returned to the dust as God had said. Satan, “the father of the lie,” never forsook his first falsehood. (John 8:44) In countless religions that deviate from Bible doctrine or ignore it outright, the same idea is still purveyed: ‘You positively will not die. Your body may perish, but your soul will live on, forever—like God!’ Interestingly, Satan had also told Eve that she would be “like God”!—Genesis 3:5.

How much better to have a hope that is based, not on lies or human philosophies, but on truth. How much better to be confident that our dead loved ones are unconscious in the grave rather than to worry about the whereabouts of some immortal soul! This sleep of the dead need not terrify or depress us. In a way, we may view the dead as being in a safe resting place. Why safe? Because the Bible assures us that the dead whom Jehovah loves are living in a special sense. (Luke 20:38) They are living in his memory. That is a profoundly comforting thought because his memory has no limits. He is eager to bring countless millions of beloved humans to life and give them the opportunity to live forever on a paradise earth.—Compare Job 14:14, 15.

The glorious day of the resurrection will come, as all of Jehovah’s promises must be fulfilled. (Isaiah 55:10, 11) Just think of this prophecy coming to pass: “But thy dead live, their bodies will rise again. They that sleep in the earth will awake and shout for joy; for thy dew is a dew of sparkling light, and the earth will bring those long dead to birth again.” (Isaiah 26:19, The New English Bible) So the dead who are sleeping in the grave are as safe as a baby in its mother’s womb. They are soon to be “born,” brought back to life on a paradise earth!

What hope could be better than that?

[Footnotes]

[Picture on page 7]

The Jewish Zealots at Masada believed that death would free their souls

Kingdom Proclaimers Report

‘A Large Door Leading to Activity Has Been Opened’ in Cuba

THE apostle Paul was an outstanding preacher of the good news of God’s Kingdom. He used every opportunity to share with others the Creator’s promises of everlasting life for obedient mankind. While visiting ancient Ephesus, Paul recognized a new set of circumstances that would allow him to assist even more people. He said: “I am remaining in Ephesus . . . , for a large door that leads to activity has been opened to me.”—1 Corinthians 16:8, 9.

Jehovah’s Witnesses in Cuba also find themselves in a new set of circumstances. Although not yet officially registered, the Witnesses are now able to share their Bible hope with fellow countrymen openly. Recently the government of Cuba expressed serious interest in allowing various religious groups to function freely. President Castro has publicly mentioned Jehovah’s Witnesses as a religious group with which the Cuban government now enjoys an improved relationship.

This new situation has opened “a large door that leads to activity” for the Witnesses. For example, Jehovah’s Witnesses recently opened an office in Cuba, which helps them to coordinate their preaching work in that country. More than 65,000 Witnesses are helping people to study and understand the Bible. They use Bible literature, such as the Watchtower and Awake! magazines. Many righteously inclined Cubans are benefiting from studying the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The Witnesses are also holding regular meetings in small groups throughout the island. Sometimes they even enjoy the privilege of holding larger assemblies in groups of some 150. They truly appreciate the permission they have received from the Cuban authorities, which gives them the opportunity of gathering with their spiritual brothers and sisters, singing praises to God, and praying together.

Recently the “Godly Fear” District Convention was held more than 1,000 times during the course of just three weekends. One report states that “order, discipline, and peace” were evident at every convention. The authorities congratulated the Witnesses on this point.

Worldwide, genuine Christians strive to fulfill their God-given command to preach the good news of God’s Kingdom. At the same time, they strive to maintain a peaceful relationship with governmental authorities. (Titus 3:1) Jehovah’s Witnesses follow the counsel of the apostle Paul, who wrote: “I therefore exhort, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, offerings of thanks, be made concerning all sorts of men, concerning kings and all those who are in high station; in order that we may go on leading a calm and quiet life with full godly devotion and seriousness.”—1 Timothy 2:1, 2.

‘You Must Be Holy Because I Am Holy’

“You should prove yourselves holy, because I Jehovah your God am holy.”—LEVITICUS 19:2.

1. Who are some people considered by the world to be holy?

MOST of the major religions of the world have those whom they consider to be holy. Mother Teresa of Indian fame is often viewed as holy because of her dedication to the poor. The pope is called the “Holy Father.” The founder of the modern Catholic movement Opus Dei, José María Escrivá, is viewed by some Catholics as a “model for holiness.” Hinduism has its swamis, or holy men. Gandhi was revered as a holy man. Buddhism has its holy monks, and Islam its holy prophet. But what exactly does it mean to be holy?

2, 3. (a) What do the words “holy” and “holiness” mean? (b) What are some questions that need to be answered?

² The word “holy” has been defined as being “1. . . . associated with a divine power; sacred. 2. Regarded with or worthy of worship or veneration . . . 3. Living according to a strict or highly moral religious or spiritual system . . . 4. Specified or set apart for a religious purpose.” In the Biblical context, holiness means “religious cleanness or purity; sacredness.” According to the Bible reference work Insight on the Scriptures, “the original Hebrew [word] qoʹdhesh conveys the thought of separateness, exclusiveness, or sanctification to God, . . . a state of being set aside to the service of God.”a

³ The nation of Israel was commanded to be holy. God’s Law stated: “I am Jehovah your God; and you must sanctify yourselves and you must prove yourselves holy, because I am holy.” Who was the Source of holiness? How could imperfect Israelites become holy? And what lessons can we find for ourselves today in Jehovah’s call to holiness?—Leviticus 11:44.

How Israel Related to the Source of Holiness

4. How was Jehovah’s holiness exemplified in Israel?

⁴ Everything related to Israel’s worship of Jehovah God was to be considered holy and treated as such. Why was that? Because Jehovah himself is the origin and source of holiness. Moses’ account of the preparation of the holy tabernacle and the vestments and decorations concludes with the words: “Finally they made the shining plate, the holy sign of dedication, out of pure gold and inscribed upon it an inscription with the engravings of a seal: ‘Holiness belongs to Jehovah.’” This shining plate of pure gold was fixed to the high priest’s turban, and it signified that he was set apart to a service of special holiness. As they witnessed this inscribed sign flashing in the sunlight, the Israelites were regularly reminded of Jehovah’s holiness.—Exodus 28:36; 29:6; 39:30.

5. How could imperfect Israelites be considered holy?

⁵ But how could the Israelites become holy? Only by their close relationship with Jehovah and their pure worship of him. They needed accurate knowledge of “the Most Holy One” in order to worship him in holiness, in physical and spiritual cleanness. (Proverbs 2:1-6; 9:10) The Israelites therefore had to worship God with a pure motive and a pure heart. Any hypocritical form of worship would be repugnant to Jehovah.—Proverbs 21:27.

Why Jehovah Denounced Israel

6. How did the Jews in Malachi’s day treat Jehovah’s table?

⁶ This was clearly illustrated when the Israelites were halfheartedly bringing shoddy, defective sacrifices to the temple. Through his prophet Malachi, Jehovah denounced their inferior offerings: “‘No delight do I have in you,’ Jehovah of armies has said, ‘and in the gift offering from your hand I take no pleasure.’ . . . ‘But you men are profaning me by your saying, “The table of Jehovah is something polluted, and its fruit is something to be despised, its food.” And you have said, “Look! What a weariness!” and you have caused a sniffing at it,’ Jehovah of armies has said. ‘And you have brought something torn away, and the lame one, and the sick one; yes, you have brought it as a gift. Can I take pleasure in it at your hand?’ Jehovah has said.”—Malachi 1:10, 12, 13.

7. What unholy actions were the Jews taking in the fifth century B.C.E.?

⁷ Malachi was used by God to denounce the false practices of the Jews, probably during the fifth century B.C.E. The priests were setting a poor example, and their conduct was by no means holy. The people, following that lead, were slack in their principles, even to the point of divorcing their wives, possibly so that they could take younger pagan wives. Malachi wrote: “‘Jehovah himself has borne witness between you and the wife of your youth, with whom you yourself have dealt treacherously,b although she is your partner and the wife of your covenant. . . . And you people must guard yourselves respecting your spirit, and with the wife of your youth may no one deal treacherously. For he has hated a divorcing,’ Jehovah the God of Israel has said.”—Malachi 2:14-16.

8. How have some in the Christian congregation been affected by the modern view of divorce?

⁸ In modern times, in many countries where divorce is easily obtained, the divorce rate has soared. Even the Christian congregation has been affected. Instead of seeking the help of the elders to overcome obstacles and try to make their marriage succeed, some have too quickly cast it aside. Often the children are left to pay a high emotional price.—Matthew 19:8, 9.

9, 10. How should we reflect on our worship of Jehovah?

⁹ As we saw above, in view of the deplorable spiritual condition in Malachi’s day, Jehovah roundly condemned Judah’s shallow worship and showed that he would accept only pure worship. Should this not make us reflect on the quality of our worship of Jehovah God, the Sovereign Lord of the universe, the Source of true holiness? Are we really offering to God holy service? Do we keep ourselves in a spiritually clean condition?

¹⁰ This does not mean that we have to be perfect, which is impossible, or that we should compare ourselves to others. But it does mean that each Christian should be rendering to God worship that is his or her best within the individual’s circumstances. This refers to the quality of our worship. Our sacred service should be our best—holy service. How is that accomplished?—Luke 16:10; Galatians 6:3, 4.

Pure Hearts Lead to Pure Worship

11, 12. From where does unholy conduct emanate?

¹¹ Jesus clearly taught that what is in the heart will become evident by what a person says and does. Jesus said to the self-righteous, yet unholy, Pharisees: “Offspring of vipers, how can you speak good things, when you are wicked? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” Later he showed that wicked actions spring from wicked thoughts in the heart, or inner person. He said: “The things proceeding out of the mouth come out of the heart, and those things defile a man. For example, out of the heart come wicked reasonings, murders, adulteries, fornications, thieveries, false testimonies, blasphemies. These are the things defiling a man.”—Matthew 12:34; 15:18-20.

¹² This helps us to understand that unholy actions are not just spontaneous or without a prior basis. They are the result of defiling thoughts that have been lurking in the heart—secret desires and maybe fantasies. That is why Jesus could say: “You heard that it was said, ‘You must not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone that keeps on looking at a woman so as to have a passion for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” In other words, fornication and adultery have already taken root in the heart before any action takes place. Then, given the right circumstances, the unholy thoughts become unholy conduct. Fornication, adultery, sodomy, thievery, blasphemies, and apostasy become some of the evident results.—Matthew 5:27, 28; Galatians 5:19-21.

13. What are some examples of how unholy thoughts can lead to unholy acts?

¹³ This can be illustrated in various ways. In some countries, casinos are springing up like mushrooms, thus increasing the opportunity to gamble. One might be tempted to resort to this pseudosolution to try to solve one’s financial problems. Specious reasoning might induce a brother to reject or dilute his Bible principles.c In another case, easy access to pornography, whether through TV, videos, computers, or books, could lead a Christian into unholy conduct. He needs only to neglect his spiritual armor, and before he knows it, he has fallen into immorality. But in most cases the slide into sin starts in the mind. Yes, in situations like these, James’ words are fulfilled: “Each one is tried by being drawn out and enticed by his own desire. Then the desire, when it has become fertile, gives birth to sin.”—James 1:14, 15; Ephesians 6:11-18.

14. How have many recovered from their unholy conduct?

¹⁴ Happily, many Christians who sin in weakness show true repentance, and the elders are able to restore such ones spiritually. Even many who are disfellowshipped because of lack of repentance eventually come to their senses and are reestablished in the congregation. They come to realize how easily Satan overtook them when they allowed unholy thoughts to take root in the heart.—Galatians 6:1; 2 Timothy 2:24-26; 1 Peter 5:8, 9.

The Challenge—To Face Our Weaknesses

15. (a) Why must we face up to our weaknesses? (b) What can help us to acknowledge our weaknesses?

¹⁵ We must make an effort to know our own heart objectively. Are we willing to face up to our weaknesses, acknowledge them, and then work at conquering them? Are we willing to ask an honest friend how we could improve, and then listen to the advice? To remain holy we must overcome our shortcomings. Why? Because Satan knows our weaknesses. He will use his subtle machinations to provoke us into sin and unholy conduct. By his crafty acts, he tries to separate us from God’s love so that we are no longer sanctified and useful for Jehovah’s worship.—Jeremiah 17:9; Ephesians 6:11; James 1:19.

16. What conflict did Paul have?

¹⁶ The apostle Paul had his own trials and tests, as he testified in his letter to the Romans: “I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, there dwells nothing good; for ability to wish is present with me, but ability to work out what is fine is not present. For the good that I wish I do not do, but the bad that I do not wish is what I practice. . . . I really delight in the law of God according to the man I am within, but I behold in my members another law warring against the law of my mind and leading me captive to sin’s law that is in my members.”—Romans 7:18-23.

17. How did Paul come out victorious in his struggle with weaknesses?

¹⁷ Now the vital point in Paul’s case is that he acknowledged his weaknesses. In spite of them, he could say: “I really delight in the law of God according to the [spiritual] man I am within.” Paul loved what was good and hated what was bad. But he still had a fight on his hands, the same fight that all of us have—against Satan, the world, and the flesh. So how can we win the battle to remain holy, separated from this world and its thinking?—2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 6:12.

How Can We Remain Holy?

18. How can we remain holy?

¹⁸ Holiness is not achieved by taking the line of least resistance or by being self-indulgent. That kind of person will always make excuses for his conduct and try to place the blame elsewhere. Perhaps we need to learn to become responsible for our actions and not be like some who allege that fate stacked the deck against them because of family background or genetics. The root of the matter lies in the heart of the individual. Does he or she love righteousness? yearn for holiness? desire God’s blessing? The psalmist made the need for holiness clear when he said: “Turn away from what is bad, and do what is good; seek to find peace, and pursue it.” The apostle Paul wrote: “Let your love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is wicked, cling to what is good.”—Psalm 34:14; 97:10; Romans 12:9.

19, 20. (a) How can we build up our mind? (b) What does effective personal study entail?

¹⁹ We can “cling to what is good” if we view matters from Jehovah’s standpoint and if we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:16) How is this accomplished? By regular study and meditation on God’s Word. How often this counsel has been given! But do we take it seriously enough? For example, do you really study this magazine, checking Bible texts, before you come to the meeting? By study we do not mean just underlining a few phrases in each paragraph. A study article can be scanned and underlined in about 15 minutes. Does that mean that we have studied the article? Actually, it might take an hour or two to study and absorb the spiritual benefit that each article presents.

²⁰ Perhaps we need to discipline ourselves to turn away from the TV for a few hours each week and really concentrate on our personal holiness. Our regular study builds us up spiritually, actuating the mind to make right decisions—decisions that lead to “holy acts of conduct.”—2 Peter 3:11; Ephesians 4:23; 5:15, 16.

21. What question remains to be answered?

²¹ The question now is, In what further fields of activity and conduct can we as Christians be holy, even as Jehovah is holy? The following article will present some food for thought.

[Footnotes]

Do You Remember?

◻ How was the Source of holiness identified in Israel?

◻ In what ways was Israelite worship unholy in Malachi’s day?

◻ Where does unholy conduct start?

◻ To be holy, what must we recognize?

◻ How can we remain holy?

“Become Holy Yourselves in All Your Conduct”

“In accord with the Holy One who called you, do you also become holy yourselves in all your conduct, because it is written: ‘You must be holy, because I am holy.’”—1 PETER 1:15, 16.

1. Why did Peter call on Christians to be holy?

WHY did the apostle Peter give the above counsel? Because he saw the need for each Christian to guard his thoughts and actions in order to keep them in line with Jehovah’s holiness. Thus, he preceded the above words by saying: “Brace up your minds for activity, keep your senses completely . . . As obedient children, quit being fashioned according to the desires you formerly had in your ignorance.”—1 Peter 1:13, 14.

2. Why were our desires unholy before we learned the truth?

² Our former desires were unholy. Why? Because many of us followed a worldly course of action before we accepted the Christian truth. Peter knew this when he plainly wrote: “The time that has passed by is sufficient for you to have worked out the will of the nations when you proceeded in deeds of loose conduct, lusts, excesses with wine, revelries, drinking matches, and illegal idolatries.” Of course, Peter did not name unholy acts peculiar to our modern world, since they were then unknown.—1 Peter 4:3, 4.

3, 4. (a) How can we counteract wrong desires? (b) Do Christians have to be unemotional? Explain.

³ Did you notice that these desires are those that appeal to the flesh, to the senses, and to the emotions? When we allow these to take over, then our thoughts and actions very easily become unholy. This illustrates the need to let the power of reason control our actions. Paul expressed it this way: “Consequently I entreat you by the compassions of God, brothers, to present your bodies a sacrifice living, holy, acceptable to God, a sacred service with your power of reason.”—Romans 12:1, 2.

⁴ To present to God a holy sacrifice, we must let the power of reason, not the emotions, dominate. How many have been swept into immorality because they allowed their feelings to control their conduct! That does not mean that our emotions have to be suppressed; otherwise, how could we express joy in Jehovah’s service? However, if we want to produce the fruitage of the spirit rather than the works of the flesh, then we must make our minds over to Christ’s way of thinking.—Galatians 5:22, 23; Philippians 2:5.

Holy Life, Holy Price

5. Why was Peter conscious of the need for holiness?

⁵ Why was Peter so conscious of the need for Christian holiness? Because he was well aware of the holy price that had been paid to redeem obedient humankind. He wrote: “You know that it was not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, that you were delivered from your fruitless form of conduct received by tradition from your forefathers. But it was with precious blood, like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb, even Christ’s.” (1 Peter 1:18, 19) Yes, the Source of holiness, Jehovah God, had sent his only-begotten Son, “the Holy One,” to earth to pay the ransom that would allow people to have a good relationship with God.—John 3:16; 6:69; Exodus 28:36; Matthew 20:28.

6. (a) Why is it not easy for us to pursue holy conduct? (b) What can help us to keep our conduct holy?

⁶ However, we have to recognize that it is not easy to lead a holy life while in the midst of Satan’s corrupt world. He lays snares for true Christians, who are trying to survive in his system of things. (Ephesians 6:12; 1 Timothy 6:9, 10) The pressures of secular work, of family opposition, of ridicule at school, and of peer pressure make strong spirituality essential for one to retain holiness. That emphasizes the vital role of our personal study and our regular attendance at Christian meetings. Paul counseled Timothy: “Keep holding the pattern of healthful words that you heard from me with the faith and love that are in connection with Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 1:13) We hear those health-giving words at our Kingdom Hall and in our private study of the Bible. They can help us to be holy in our conduct on a daily basis in many different settings.

Holy Conduct in the Family

7. How should holiness affect our family life?

⁷ When Peter quoted Leviticus 11:44, he used the Greek word haʹgi·os, which means “separated from sin and therefore consecrated to God, sacred.” (An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, by W. E. Vine) How should this affect us in our Christian family life? It must certainly mean that our family life should be based on love, for “God is love.” (1 John 4:8) Self-sacrificing love is the oil that lubricates the relationships between spouses and between parents and children.—1 Corinthians 13:4-8; Ephesians 5:28, 29, 33; 6:4; Colossians 3:18, 21.

8, 9. (a) What situation sometimes develops in a Christian home? (b) What sound counsel does the Bible give on this matter?

⁸ We might think that expressing such love would be automatic in a Christian family. Yet, it has to be admitted that love does not always reign to the degree it should in some Christian homes. It might appear to do so at the Kingdom Hall, but how easily our holiness might diminish in the domestic setting. Then we might suddenly forget that the wife is still our Christian sister or that the husband is still the same brother (and perhaps a ministerial servant or an elder) that appeared to be respected at the Kingdom Hall. Nerves get on edge, and heated arguments can develop. A double standard could even creep into our lives. It is no longer a Christlike husband and wife relationship but just a man and a woman in contention. They forget that there should be a holy atmosphere in the home. Perhaps they begin to sound like worldly people. How easily a nasty, cutting remark can then proceed from the mouth!—Proverbs 12:18; compare Acts 15:37-39.

⁹ However, Paul counsels: “Let a rotten saying [Greek, loʹgos sa·prosʹ, “defiling speech,” therefore unholy] not proceed out of your mouth, but whatever saying is good for building up as the need may be, that it may impart what is favorable to the hearers.” And that refers to all the hearers in the home, including the children.—Ephesians 4:29; James 3:8-10.

10. How does counsel on holiness apply to children?

¹⁰ Now this guideline on holiness applies equally to the children in a Christian family. How easy it is for them to come home from school and start imitating the rebellious and disrespectful talk of their worldly peers! Children, do not gravitate to the attitudes shown by the uncouth boys who insulted Jehovah’s prophet and who have their foul-mouthed, blasphemous parallels today. (2 Kings 2:23, 24) Your speech should not be defiled by the crude street language of people too lazy or inconsiderate to use decent words. As Christians, our speech should be holy, pleasant, upbuilding, kind, and “seasoned with salt.” It should distinguish us as different from other people.—Colossians 3:8-10; 4:6.

Holiness and Our Unbelieving Family Members

11. Why does being holy not mean being self-righteous?

¹¹ While we conscientiously try to practice holiness, we should not appear to be superior and self-righteous, especially when dealing with unbelieving family members. Our kind Christian conduct should at least help them to see that we are different in a positive way, that we do know how to show love and compassion, even as did the good Samaritan of Jesus’ illustration.—Luke 10:30-37.

12. How can Christian spouses make the truth more appealing to their mates?

¹² Peter emphasized the importance of a proper attitude toward our unbelieving family members when he wrote to Christian wives: “In like manner, you wives, be in subjection to your own husbands, in order that, if any are not obedient to the word, they may be won without a word through the conduct of their wives, because of having been eyewitnesses of your chaste conduct together with deep respect.” A Christian wife (or husband for that matter) can make the truth more appealing to an unbelieving mate if her conduct is chaste, considerate, and respectful. This means that there should be flexibility in the theocratic schedule so that the unbelieving spouse is not snubbed or left out.a—1 Peter 3:1, 2.

13. How can elders and ministerial servants sometimes help unbelieving husbands to appreciate the truth?

¹³ Elders and ministerial servants can sometimes help by getting to know the unbelieving husband on a social level. In this way he may see that Witnesses are normal, decent people with a wide range of interests, including subjects other than the Bible. In one case, an elder took an interest in a husband’s fishing hobby. It was enough to break the ice. That husband eventually became a baptized brother. In another case, an unbelieving husband was fascinated by canaries. The elders were not defeated. One of them studied the subject so that the next time he met the man, he could open a conversation on that husband’s pet subject! Being holy, therefore, does not mean being straitlaced or having a one-track mind.—1 Corinthians 9:20-23.

How Can We Be Holy in the Congregation?

14. (a) What is one of Satan’s methods for undermining the congregation? (b) How can we resist Satan’s snare?

¹⁴ Satan the Devil is a slanderer, for the Greek name for Devil, di·aʹbo·los, means “accuser” or “slanderer.” Slander is one of his specialties, and he tries to use it in the congregation. His favorite method is gossip. Do we allow ourselves to be his dupes in this unholy conduct? How could that be? By initiating it, by repeating it, or by listening to it. The wise proverb states: “A man of intrigues keeps sending forth contention, and a slanderer is separating those familiar with one another.” (Proverbs 16:28) What is the antidote to gossip and slander? We should make sure that our speech is always upbuilding and based on love. If we look for the virtues rather than the supposed vices of our brothers, our conversation will always be pleasant and spiritual. Remember that criticism is easy. And the person who gossips to you about others may also gossip to others about you!—1 Timothy 5:13; Titus 2:3.

15. What Christlike qualities will help to keep all in the congregation holy?

¹⁵ In order to keep the congregation holy, all of us need to have the mind of Christ, and we know that his dominant quality is love. Thus, Paul counseled the Colossians to be compassionate like Christ: “Accordingly, as God’s chosen ones, holy and loved, clothe yourselves with the tender affections of compassion, kindness, lowliness of mind, mildness, and long-suffering . . . , forgiving one another freely . . . Besides all these things, clothe yourselves with love, for it is a perfect bond of union.” Then he added: “Also, let the peace of the Christ control in your hearts.” Surely with this forgiving spirit, we can maintain the unity and the holiness of the congregation.—Colossians 3:12-15.

Does Our Holiness Show in Our Neighborhood?

16. Why should our holy worship be happy worship?

¹⁶ What about our neighbors? How do they view us? Do we radiate the joy of the truth, or do we make it look like a burden? If we are holy even as Jehovah is holy, then it should be evident in our speech and in our conduct. It should be clear that our holy worship is happy worship. Why is that? Because Jehovah our God is a happy God, who wants his worshipers to be joyful. Thus, the psalmist could say about Jehovah’s people in ancient times: “Happy is the people whose God is Jehovah!” Do we reflect that happiness? Do our children also manifest contentment in being among Jehovah’s people at the Kingdom Hall and at assemblies?—Psalm 89:15, 16; 144:15b.

17. What can we do in a practical way to show balanced holiness?

¹⁷ We can also show our balanced holiness by our spirit of cooperation and neighborly kindness. Sometimes it is necessary for neighbors to pull together, perhaps to clean up the neighborhood or, as in some countries, to help improve the roads and highways. In this regard, our holiness can be evident in how we care for our gardens, yards, or other property. If we leave garbage lying around or have an untidy or unkempt yard, perhaps even with old broken-down vehicles for all to see, can we say that we are treating our neighbors with respect?—Revelation 11:18.

Holiness at Work and at School

18. (a) What is a predicament for Christians today? (b) How can we be different from the world?

¹⁸ The apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in the unholy city of Corinth: “In my letter I wrote you to quit mixing in company with fornicators, not meaning entirely with the fornicators of this world or the greedy persons and extortioners or idolaters. Otherwise, you would actually have to get out of the world.” (1 Corinthians 5:9, 10) This is a predicament for Christians, who must mix on a daily basis with immoral or amoral people. This is a great test of integrity, especially in cultures where sexual harassment, corruption, and dishonesty are encouraged or condoned. In this setting we cannot afford to lower our standards so as to appear “normal” to those around us. Rather, our kind but different Christian conduct should make us stand out to discerning people, to those who recognize their spiritual need and who are looking for something better.—Matthew 5:3; 1 Peter 3:16, 17.

19. (a) What tests do you children have at school? (b) What can parents do to support their children and their holy conduct?

¹⁹ Likewise, there are many tests facing our children at school. Do you parents visit the school your children attend? Do you know what kind of atmosphere prevails there? Do you have a rapport with the teachers? Why are these questions important? Because in many urban areas of the world, schools have become jungles of violence, drugs, and sex. How can your children keep their integrity and their conduct holy if they do not get the full sympathetic support of their parents? Rightly Paul counseled parents: “You fathers, do not be exasperating your children, so that they do not become downhearted.” (Colossians 3:21) One way to exasperate children is to fail to understand their daily problems and tests. Preparation for the temptations at school begins in the spiritual atmosphere of a Christian home.—Deuteronomy 6:6-9; Proverbs 22:6.

20. Why is holiness essential for all of us?

²⁰ In conclusion, why is holiness essential for all of us? Because it serves as a protection against the inroads of Satan’s world and thinking. It is a blessing now and will be in the future. It helps to guarantee us the life that will be the real life in the new world of righteousness. It helps us to be balanced, approachable, communicative Christians—not relentless fanatics. In short, it makes us Christlike.—1 Timothy 6:19.

[Footnote]

Do You Remember?

◻ Why did Peter see the need to counsel Christians on holiness?

◻ Why is it not easy to lead a holy life?

◻ What can all of us do to improve holiness in the family?

◻ For the congregation to remain holy, what unholy conduct should we avoid?

◻ How can we remain holy at work and at school?

[Pictures on page 16, 17]

As Jehovah’s Witnesses, we should be joyful in serving God and in other activities

Keeping Eyes and Heart Fixed on the Prize

AS TOLD BY EDITH MICHAEL

In the early 1930’s, we were living outside St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A., when one of Jehovah’s Witnesses called. Just then the clothesline broke, sending Mom’s sparkling white clothes into the mud. She accepted the books offered, just so the woman would leave, and put them on a shelf, forgetting about them.

THOSE were depression years, and Dad was laid off from work. One day he asked if there was anything in the house to read. Mom told him about the books. He began reading them, and after a while he exclaimed: “Mother, this is the truth!”

“Oh, it’s just some religion that wants money like all the rest of them,” she replied. However, Dad urged her to sit down and look up the scriptures with him. When she did, she too was convinced. Afterward they began looking for the Witnesses and discovered that they met in a rented hall near the center of St. Louis, a hall that was also used for dances and other functions.

Dad and Mom took me along—I was about three—and found the hall, but there was a dance going on. Dad learned when meetings were held, and we returned. We also began attending a weekly Bible study near where we lived. It was held at the home of the woman who had first called on us. “Why don’t you bring your boys too?” she asked. Mother was ashamed to say that they had no shoes. When she finally did, shoes were provided, and my brothers started attending the meetings with us.

Mother was given a preaching territory near our home, and she began in the house-to-house ministry. I went along, hiding behind her. Before she learned to drive, we would walk about a mile to catch a bus that took us to the meetings in St. Louis. Even when there was ice and snow, we never missed meetings.

In 1934, Mom and Dad were baptized. I too wanted to get baptized, and I kept insisting until Mother asked an older Witness to talk with me about it. He asked many questions in a manner that I could understand. Then he told my parents that I should not be prevented from being baptized; it might harm my spiritual growth. So I was baptized the following summer, when I was still six.

I loved the booklet Home and Happiness, which I kept with me at all times, even keeping it under my pillow while I slept. Over and over, I begged Mother to read it to me, until I knew it by heart. Its back had a picture of a little girl in Paradise with a lion. I said that I was the little girl. That picture has helped me to keep my eyes on the prize of life in God’s new world.

I was very shy, but even though I might be trembling, I always answered questions at the congregation Watchtower Study.

Sad to say, Dad feared that he would lose his job, so he quit associating with the Witnesses. My brothers did also.

Full-Time Ministry

Mother had pioneers, or full-time ministers, park their trailer in our backyard, and after school I joined them in the ministry. Soon I wanted to pioneer, but Dad opposed this, believing that I should have more secular education. Mother finally convinced him to permit me to pioneer. So in June 1943, when I was 14, I began the full-time ministry. To contribute to household expenses, I did part-time secular work, and at times I worked full-time. Yet I reached the monthly goal of 150 hours in the preaching work.

In time I found a pioneer partner, Dorothy Craden, who had started pioneering in January 1943, when she was 17. She had been a devout Catholic, but after six months of Bible study, she was baptized. For many years she was a source of encouragement and strength to me, and I was to her. We became closer than sisters.

Beginning in 1945, we pioneered together in small towns in Missouri where there were no congregations. In Bowling Green we fixed up a meeting hall; Mother came and helped us. Then we called at all the homes in town each week and invited the people to a public talk that we arranged for brothers from St. Louis to come and give. We had a weekly attendance of between 40 and 50. Later we did the same in Louisiana, where we rented a Masonic temple. To cover the cost of renting the halls, we put out contribution boxes, and each week all expenses were met.

Next we went to Mexico, Missouri, where we rented a storefront. We fixed it up for the small congregation there to use. The building had adjoining rooms in which we lived. We also helped arrange for public talks in Mexico. Then we went to the state capital, Jefferson City, where each weekday morning we contacted public officials in their offices. We lived in a room above the Kingdom Hall with Stella Willie, who was like a mother to us.

From there the three of us went to the towns of Festus and Crystal City, which were close to each other. We lived in a converted chicken coop behind the house of an interested family. Since there were no baptized men, we conducted all the meetings. For part-time work, we sold cosmetics. We had little materially. In fact, we could not afford to have the holes in our shoes fixed, so each morning we put fresh cardboard in them, and at night we each washed out our only dress.

Early in 1948, when I was 19, Dorothy and I received invitations to the 12th class of the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead for missionaries. After the five-month course, the one hundred students graduated on February 6, 1949. It was a very happy time. My parents had moved to California, and Mother came all the way from there to be present.

On to Our Assignment

Twenty-eight graduates were assigned to Italy—six, including Dorothy and me, to the city of Milan. On March 4, 1949, we left New York on the Italian ship Vulcania. The trip took 11 days, and the rough seas made most of us seasick. Brother Benanti came to the seaport of Genoa to meet us and take us back to Milan by train.

When we arrived at the missionary home in Milan, we found flowers that a young Italian girl had put in each of our rooms. Years later this girl, Maria Merafina, went to Gilead, returned to Italy, and she and I served in a missionary home together!

The morning after we got to Milan, we looked out the bathroom window. On the street in back was a large bombed-out apartment building. An American bomber had accidentally dropped a bomb that killed all 80 families living there. Another time a factory was missed and the bombs hit a school and killed 500 children. So the people were not too happy with Americans.

People were tired of war. Many said that if another war started, they would not go to bomb shelters but would stay at home and turn on the gas and die there. We assured them that we were there to represent, not the United States or any other man-made government, but the Kingdom of God, which would end all wars and the suffering they bring.

In the big city of Milan, the lone congregation of about 20 or so met in the missionary home. There were no preaching territories made up as yet, so we started witnessing in a large apartment building. At the first door, we met Mr. Giandinotti, who wanted his wife to leave the church, so he accepted one of our publications. Mrs. Giandinotti was a sincere woman, full of questions. “I’ll be glad when you learn Italian,” she said, “so you can teach me the Bible.”

The ceilings in their apartment were high and the light was dim, so she would put her chair on the table at night to be near the light to read the Bible. “If I study the Bible with you,” she asked, “can I still go to church?” We told her that it was up to her. She went to church Sunday mornings and came to our meetings in the afternoons. Then one day she said, “I’m not going to church anymore.”

“Why?” we asked.

“Because they are not teaching the Bible, and I have found the truth by studying the Bible with you.” She was baptized and studied with many women who went to church every day. Later she told us that if we had told her not to go to church, she would have stopped studying and would probably never have learned the truth.

New Assignments

In time Dorothy and I, along with four other missionaries, were assigned to the Italian city of Trieste, which was then occupied by British and American troops. There were only about ten Witnesses, but this number grew. We preached in Trieste for three years, and when we left, there were 40 Kingdom publishers, 10 of whom were pioneers.

Our next assignment was the city of Verona, where there was no congregation. But when the church put pressure on the secular authorities, we were forced to leave. Dorothy and I were assigned to Rome. There we rented a furnished room, and we worked territory close to the Vatican. It was while we were there that Dorothy went to Lebanon to marry John Chimiklis. We had been together almost 12 years, and I really missed her.

In 1955 a new missionary home in another part of Rome was opened on a street called New Appian Way. One of the four in the home was Maria Merafina, the girl who had put flowers in our rooms the night we arrived in Milan. A new congregation was formed in this area of the city. After the international convention in Rome that summer, I was privileged to attend the convention in Nuremberg, Germany. What a thrill to meet those who had endured so much under Hitler’s regime!

Back to the States

In 1956, because of health problems, I returned to the United States on sick leave. But I never took my eyes off the prize of serving Jehovah now and endlessly in his new world. I planned on returning to Italy. However, I met Orville Michael, who served at the world headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Brooklyn, New York. We were married after the 1958 international convention in New York City.

Shortly afterward we moved to Front Royal, Virginia, where we enjoyed serving with a small congregation. We lived in a tiny apartment behind the Kingdom Hall. Finally, in March 1960 it became necessary to return to Brooklyn to find secular work in order to pay our bills. We worked nights in different banks so that we could stay in full-time service.

While we were in Brooklyn, my dad died, and my husband’s mother had a slight stroke. So we decided to move to Oregon to be near our mothers. We both found part-time secular work and continued in the pioneer ministry there. In the fall of 1964, we and our mothers drove across country to attend the annual meeting of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

During our visit to Rhode Island, we were encouraged by a circuit overseer, Arlen Meier, and his wife to move to the state capital, Providence, where the need for Kingdom publishers was greater. Our mothers urged us to accept this new assignment, so upon returning to Oregon, we sold most of our household items and moved.

To Gilead School Again

During the summer of 1965, we attended a convention at Yankee Stadium. There we applied for Gilead School as a married couple. About a month later, we were surprised to receive applications, which had to be returned in 30 days. I was concerned about going to a faraway country since Mother was not in good health. But she encouraged me: “Fill out those applications. You know you should always accept any privilege of service that Jehovah offers!”

That settled it. We completed the applications and sent them in. What a surprise it was to receive invitations to the 42nd class, which began on April 25, 1966! Gilead School was then located in Brooklyn, New York. Less than five months later, 106 of us graduated on September 11, 1966.

Assigned to Argentina

Two days after graduation, we were on our way to Argentina on Peruvian Airlines. When we arrived in Buenos Aires, the branch overseer, Charles Eisenhower, met us at the airport. He helped us through customs and then took us to the branch. We had one day to get unpacked and settled; then our Spanish classes started. We studied Spanish 11 hours a day for the first month. The second month, we studied the language four hours a day and began sharing in the field ministry.

We were in Buenos Aires for five months and then were assigned to Rosario, a large city about four hours north by train. After serving there for 15 months, we were sent farther north to Santiago del Estero, a city in a hot desert province. While we were there, in January 1973, my mother died. I had not seen her in four years. What helped sustain me in my grief was the sure hope of the resurrection as well as the knowledge that I was serving where Mother would want me to be.—John 5:28, 29; Acts 24:15.

The people in Santiago del Estero were friendly, and Bible studies were easy to start. When we arrived in 1968, there were about 20 or 30 attending meetings, but eight years later there were over a hundred in our congregation. In addition, there were two new congregations of between 25 and 50 publishers in nearby towns.

Returning Again to the States

Because of health problems, in 1976 we were assigned back to the United States as special pioneers—to Fayetteville, North Carolina. There were many Spanish-speaking people there from Central and South America, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and even Spain. We had many Bible studies, and in time a Spanish congregation was started. We spent almost eight years in that assignment.

However, we needed to be closer to my mother-in-law, who was quite elderly and disabled. She lived in Portland, Oregon, so we received a new assignment to the Spanish congregation in Vancouver, Washington, which is not far from Portland. The congregation was small when we arrived in December 1983, but we are seeing many new ones.

In June 1996, I completed 53 years of full-time service, and my husband completed 55 years on January 1, 1996. During these many years, I have had the privilege of helping hundreds come to a knowledge of the truth of God’s Word and dedicate their lives to Jehovah. Many of these now serve as elders and full-time ministers.

At times I am asked if I miss not having had children. The fact is, Jehovah has blessed me with many spiritual children and grandchildren. Yes, my life has been rich and full in Jehovah’s service. I can relate to Jephthah’s daughter, who spent her life in temple service and never had children because of her great privilege of service.—Judges 11:38-40.

I still remember making my dedication to Jehovah when but a little girl. The picture of Paradise is just as vivid in my mind now as it was then. My eyes and heart are still fixed on the prize of endless life in God’s new world. Yes, my desire is to serve Jehovah, not for just some 50 years, but forever—under his Kingdom rule.

[Picture on page 23]

Dorothy Craden, with hands on my shoulders, and fellow pioneers in 1943

[Picture on page 23]

In Rome, Italy, with fellow missionaries in 1953

[Picture on page 25]

With my husband

Michael Faraday—Scientist and Man of Faith

“Father of Electricity.” “Greatest experimental scientist ever.” These are two descriptions of Michael Faraday, born in 1791 in England, whose discovery of electromagnetic induction led to the development of electric motors and power generation.

FARADAY lectured extensively on chemistry and physics at the Royal Institution in London. His lectures to popularize science helped young people grasp complicated concepts. He received accolades from numerous universities. Yet he shunned publicity. He was a deeply religious man, happiest in the privacy of his three-room apartment and in the company of his family and fellow believers. Faraday belonged to what he described as “a very small and despised sect of Christians, known . . . as Sandemanians.” Who were they? What did they believe? And how did this affect Faraday?

The Sandemanians

“The initial connection between the Faraday family and the Sandemanian church was sealed by Michael Faraday’s grandparents,” notes Geoffrey Cantor, author of Michael Faraday: Sandemanian and Scientist. They associated with the followers of an itinerant nonconformist minister whose associates espoused the Sandemanians’ beliefs.

Robert Sandeman (1718-71) was a university student in Edinburgh, studying mathematics, Greek, and other languages when one day he listened to ex-Presbyterian minister John Glass preach. What he heard caused him to quit the university, return home to Perth, and join Glass and his associates.

In the 1720’s, John Glass had begun to doubt some teachings of the Church of Scotland. His study of God’s Word led him to conclude that the Biblical nation of Israel typified a spiritual nation whose citizens came from many nationalities. Nowhere did he find justification for a separate church for each nation.

No longer at ease in his church at Tealing, outside Dundee, Scotland, Glass withdrew from the Church of Scotland and organized his own meetings. About a hundred people joined him, and from the start, they felt the need to maintain unity in their ranks. They decided to follow Christ’s instructions, recorded at Matthew chapter 18, verses 15 to 17, to settle any differences they might have. Later they held weekly meetings where those of like faith assembled for prayer and exhortation.

When a sizable number of people regularly began to attend the meetings of the different groups, responsible men were needed to supervise their worship. But who qualified? John Glass and his associates paid particular attention to what the apostle Paul wrote on this subject. (1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9) They found no mention of a university education or of the need to understand Hebrew and Greek. So after prayerful reflection on the Scriptural guidelines, they appointed qualified men to become elders. Those loyal to the Church of Scotland considered it “little short of blasphemy” for uneducated men “bred to the loom, the needle, or the plough” to pretend to understand the Bible and preach its message. When, in 1733, Glass and his fellow believers built their own meeting hall in the town of Perth, the local clergy attempted to pressure the magistrates to run them out of town. They failed, and the movement grew.

Robert Sandeman married Glass’ eldest daughter and, at the age of 26, became an elder in the Perth congregation of Glassites. His duties as an elder weighed so heavily on him that he decided to devote all his time to pastoral work. Later, after his wife had died, Robert “cheerfully consented to serve the Lord wherever his lot might be cast,” notes a biographical sketch.

Sandemanianism Spreads

Sandeman zealously expanded his ministry from Scotland into England, where new groups of fellow believers grew. At the time, controversy reigned among English Calvinists. Some of them believed that they were predestined for salvation. Sandeman, on the other hand, sided with those who held that faith was a necessary prerequisite. In support of this view, he published a book that was reprinted four times and also appeared in two American editions. According to Geoffrey Cantor, the publication of this volume was “the single most important event that raised the [Sandemanian] sect above its rather parochial Scottish beginnings.”

In 1764, Sandeman, accompanied by other Glassite elders, journeyed to America, a visit that provoked much controversy and opposition. Nevertheless, it resulted in the establishment of a group of like-minded Christians in Danbury, Connecticut.a There, in 1771, Sandeman died.

Faraday’s Religious Beliefs

Young Michael absorbed the Sandemanian teachings of his parents. He learned that Sandemanians kept themselves separate from those who did not practice what the Bible taught. For example, they refused to participate in the Anglican marriage service, preferring to limit their wedding ceremonies to what was legally necessary.

Subjection to governments, yet neutrality in politics, characterized the Sandemanians. Though respected members of the community, they rarely accepted civic positions. But in the few cases where they did, they avoided party politics. Maintaining this position brought reproach upon them. (Compare John 17:14.) Sandemanians held that God’s heavenly Kingdom is the perfect arrangement for government. They viewed politics as “a trivial, sordid game bereft of morality,” notes Cantor.

Though separate from others, they did not assume Pharisaic attitudes. They declared: “We judge it absolutely necessary to avoid the Spirit and Practice of the ancient Pharisees, in making more Sins or Duties than the Scripture has made; and in making void the divine Precepts by human Traditions or logical Evasions.”

They adopted the Scriptural practice of disfellowshipping any of their number who became a drunkard, an extortioner, a fornicator, or who practiced other serious sins. If the sinner truly repented, they tried to restore him. Otherwise, they followed the Scriptural injunction to “remove the wicked man.”—1 Corinthians 5:5, 11, 13.

The Sandemanians obeyed the Biblical command to abstain from blood. (Acts 15:29) John Glass had argued that God’s people are under obligation to obey the restriction on blood just as God had commanded the first humans to abstain from eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and bad. (Genesis 2:16, 17) Disobedience to the command regarding blood was tantamount to a rejection of the proper use of Christ’s blood, namely atonement from sin. Glass concluded: “This prohibition of blood-eating was always, and still is of the greatest and highest importance.”

The Sandemanians’ reasoning on the Scriptures helped them avoid many pitfalls. For example, in the matter of entertainment, they looked to Christ’s instructions as guidelines. “We dare not make Laws where Christ has made none,” they said, “nor dispense with any he has given us. Therefore, as we cannot find where Diversion, public or private, is forbidden; we account any Amusement lawful, that is not connected with Circumstances really sinful.”

Although the Sandemanians thus held many views that were accurately based on Scripture, they did not grasp the importance of the very activity that characterizes true Christians, namely, that each should preach the Kingdom good news to others. (Matthew 24:14) Yet, their meetings were open to all, and there they endeavored to give all who asked them a reason for their hope.—1 Peter 3:15.

How did this pattern of beliefs affect scientist Michael Faraday?

Faraday the Sandemanian

Honored, feted, held in high esteem for his remarkable discoveries, Michael Faraday lived a simple life. When famous people died and those in public life were expected to attend their funerals, Faraday was a notable absentee, his conscience not allowing him to attend and become involved in a Church of England service.

As a scientist Faraday stuck closely to what he could demonstrate to be facts. He thus avoided close association with learned men who put forward their own hypotheses and took sides on issues. As he once told an audience, ‘a fundamental fact never fails us, its evidence is always true.’ He portrayed science as dependent ‘upon carefully observed facts.’ Concluding one presentation on the basic forces of nature, Faraday encouraged his audience to contemplate “Him who hath wrought them.” Then he quoted the Christian apostle Paul: “The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead.”—Romans 1:20, King James Version.

What set Faraday apart as so different from many other scientists was his desire to learn from God’s inspired Book as well as from the book of nature. “Through his Sandemanianism he discovered the way to live in obedience with God’s moral law and with the promise of eternal life,” Cantor observes. “Through his science he came into close contact with the physical laws that God had chosen to govern the universe.” Faraday believed that “the absolute authority of the Bible could not be undermined by science, but science, if practised in a truly Christian way, can illuminate God’s other book.”

Faraday humbly rejected many of the honors that others wanted to bestow upon him. He consistently expressed disinterest in a knighthood. He wished to remain ‘plain Mister Faraday.’ He devoted much time to his activities as an elder, including traveling regularly from the capital to a Norfolk village to care for a small group of like-minded believers living there.

Michael Faraday died on August 25, 1867, and was buried in Highgate cemetery in north London. Biographer John Thomas tells us that Faraday “bequeathed to posterity a greater body of pure scientific achievement than any other physical scientist, and the practical consequences of his discoveries have profoundly influenced the nature of civilised life.” Faraday’s widow, Sarah, wrote: “I can only point to the New Testament as being his guide & rule; for he considered it as the Word of God . . . equally binding on Christians at the present day as when written”—eloquent testimony to an eminent scientist who devoutly lived by his faith.

[Footnote]

[Box on page 29]

Installed as lecturer at Britain’s Royal Institution, Michael Faraday popularized science in a way even youngsters could understand. His advice to fellow lecturers contains practical suggestions that modern-day Christians who teach publicly do well to consider.

◻ “The utterance should not be rapid and hurried, and consequently unintelligible, but slow and deliberate.”

◻ A speaker should endeavor to raise the interest of his audience “at the commencement of the lecture and by a series of imperceptible gradations, unnoticed by the company, keep it alive as long as the subject demands it.”

◻ “A lecturer falls deeply beneath the dignity of his character when he descends so low as to angle for claps and ask for commendation.”

◻ On the use of an outline: “I always find myself obliged . . . to draw up a plan of [the subject] on paper and fill in the parts by recalling them to mind, either by association or otherwise. . . . I have a series of major and minor head[ing]s in order, and from these I work out my subject matters.”

[Picture Credit Line on page 26]

Both pictures: By courtesy of the Royal Institution

Questions From Readers

Does Jesus now know the timing of Armageddon?

It seems quite reasonable to believe that he does.

Some might wonder why the question even arises. Likely it is because of Jesus’ comment found at Matthew 24:36: “Concerning that day and hour nobody knows, neither the angels of the heavens nor the Son, but only the Father.” Note the phrase “nor the Son.”

This verse is part of Jesus’ reply to the apostles’ question: “When will these things be, and what will be the sign of your presence and of the conclusion of the system of things?” (Matthew 24:3) In his now famous prophecy about evidences making up “the sign,” he foretold wars, food shortages, earthquakes, persecution of true Christians, and other things on earth that would indicate his presence. By this sign his followers could recognize that the end was near. He illustrated this proximity with the time when a fig tree begins to put out leaves, indicating that summer was near. He added: “Likewise also you, when you see all these things, know that he is near at the doors.”—Matthew 24:33.

But Jesus did not say precisely when the end would come. Rather, he stated what we read at Matthew 24:36. That is the reading in the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, and many modern Bibles read similarly. Yet, some older versions do not contain “nor the Son.”

For example, the Catholic Douay Version reads: “But of that day and hour no one knoweth, not the angels of heaven, but the Father alone.” The King James Version reads similarly. Why is “nor [or, neither] the Son” omitted, though it is found at Mark 13:32? Because back at the beginning of the 17th century when those two versions were prepared, the manuscripts the translators worked from did not contain the expression. In the meantime, though, many older Greek manuscripts have come to light. These, which are much closer to the time of Matthew’s original text, contain “nor the Son” at Matthew 24:36.

Interestingly, the Catholic Jerusalem Bible includes the phrase, with a footnote saying that the Latin Vulgate omitted the expression “probably for theological reasons.” Why, of course! Translators or copyists who believed in the Trinity might be tempted to omit a phrase that indicated that Jesus lacked knowledge that his Father had. How could Jesus not know a certain fact if both he and his Father were parts of a triune God?

Similarly, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, by B. M. Metzger, says: “The words ‘neither the Son’ are lacking in the majority of the [manuscript] witnesses of Matthew, including the later Byzantine text. On the other hand, the best representatives of the Alexandrian, the Western, and the Caesarean types of text contain the phrase. The omission of the words because of the doctrinal difficulty they present is more probable than their addition by assimilation to” Mark 13:32.—Italics ours.

Those “best representatives” of earlier manuscripts support the reading that sets out a reasonable progression as to knowledge. The angels did not know the hour of the end; nor did the Son; but only the Father. And this is consistent with Jesus’ words found at Matthew 20:23, where he admitted that he did not have authority to grant prominent places in the Kingdom, but the Father did.

Hence, Jesus’ own words show that on earth he did not know the date for ‘the end of the world.’ Has he learned it since?

Revelation 6:2 describes Jesus as seated on a white horse and going forth “conquering and to complete his conquest.” Next comes horsemen representing wars, famines, and plagues, such as we have experienced since World War I began in 1914. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that in 1914, Jesus was enthroned as King of God’s heavenly Kingdom, the one to lead in the coming battle against wickedness on earth. (Revelation 6:3-8; 19:11-16) Since Jesus has now been empowered as the one to conquer in God’s name, it seems reasonable that his Father has told him when the end will come, when he will “complete his conquest.”

We on earth have not been told that date, so Jesus’ words still apply to us: “Keep looking, keep awake, for you do not know when the appointed time is. . . . What I say to you I say to all, Keep on the watch.”—Mark 13:33-37.

“I Am Not Dreaming, Am I?”

The following report comes from Malawi concerning one of the historic “Joyful Praisers” District Conventions of Jehovah’s Witnesses held there during the summer of 1995.

“ALONG a main road, about halfway up the western shore of Lake Malawi, a sign has been posted for the first time in 29 years. It reads, ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses District Convention.’

“A huge truck is parked beside the sign, and from its trailer emerge more than 200 delegates from the town of Mzuzu. They have brought bundles of clothes, blankets, pots, buckets, food, firewood, and Bibles to join about 3,000 of their brothers and sisters from other locations.

“While we are greeting the brothers coming off the truck, George Chikako, 63, arrives, pushing his bicycle through the sand, having ridden for two days from Nkhotakota. Over the years, Brother Chikako served four prison sentences as a result of his refusal to compromise Bible principles. His cousin died from beatings he received while incarcerated. ‘I am not dreaming, am I?’ Brother Chikako asks. ‘This convention is being held in broad daylight, and these people are singing Kingdom songs aloud! All this time, we have had to meet in the darkness of night, whisper Kingdom songs, and rub our hands together for applause. Now we are meeting openly, and the people are surprised to see that we are so many when they thought we were just a few!’

“The convention location is fenced with grass and loosely covered with reeds to provide shade. Small grass huts and open-air dormitories were built to house the delegates. The night air is filled with the sound of beautiful melodious voices that are no longer muted by fear of persecution.

“How fitting that the convention has as its theme ‘Joyful Praisers’!”

[Credit Line]

Mountain High Maps® Copyright © 1995 Digital Wisdom, Inc.

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