Authorities estimate that if current trends persist, by 2030, the annual death toll from smoking will climb to more than 8,000,000. And they predict that smoking will have taken 1,000,000,000 lives by the end of the 21st century.

Tobacco’s victims are not just the smokers. Included are the surviving family members, who suffer emotional and financial loss, as well as the 600,000 nonsmokers who die each year from breathing secondhand smoke. The burden spreads to everyone in the form of rising health-care costs.

Unlike epidemics that send doctors racing to discover a cure, this scourge is eminently curable; the solution is well-known. Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization, stated: “The tobacco epidemic is entirely man-made, and it can be turned around through the concerted efforts of governments and civil society.”

International response to combat this health crisis has been unprecedented. As of August 2012, some 175 countries have agreed to take measures to curb tobacco use.a However, powerful forces keep the pandemic raging. Each year, the tobacco industry spends billions of dollars on advertising to attract new customers, especially among women and young adults living in developing countries. The addictive nature of tobacco almost ensures that casualties will remain high among the one billion smokers already hooked. Unless current users quit, the death toll will climb sharply over the next four decades.

Advertising and addiction keep many trapped in a habit they wish they could break. That was the experience of Naoko. She began smoking as a teen. Copying the way the habit was portrayed in the media made her feel sophisticated. Despite seeing both of her parents die from lung cancer, she continued smoking, even while raising her two daughters. “I was concerned about getting lung cancer and worried about my children’s health,” she admits, “but I still couldn’t quit. I thought I would never stop smoking.”

Yet, Naoko did stop. She found the motivation to overcome her smoking habit in the same source that has helped millions remain free of tobacco. What is that source? Please read on.

Naoko, mentioned in the opening article, said of her victory over smoking, “I was able to change my life because of learning the truth about God’s qualities and purpose.” What she learned is found in the Bible. Even though the Bible never mentions tobacco, it helps us to understand how God views smoking.a For many, that knowledge provided the incentive they needed to resist or quit the habit. (2 Timothy 3:16, 17) Let us consider three well-known harmful effects of smoking and see what the Bible says about them.

SMOKING IS ADDICTIVE

Tobacco contains one of the most addictive drugs known​—nicotine. It acts as a stimulant as well as a depressant. Smoking delivers nicotine to the brain quickly and repeatedly. Since each puff supplies a single dose of nicotine, the average one-pack-a-day smoker inhales the equivalent of about 200 doses a day, a higher dosage than in any other drug use. Such frequent dosing makes nicotine uniquely addictive. Once hooked, a smoker experiences withdrawal symptoms if his craving for nicotine is not satisfied.

The Bible helps us to have the correct view of the matter when it says: “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey?” (Romans 6:16) When an individual’s thinking and actions are dominated by a craving for tobacco, he soon becomes a slave to a degrading practice. However, God, whose name is Jehovah, wants us to be free, not only from practices that harm our body but also from those that corrupt our spirit, that is, our dominant mental inclination. (Psalm 83:18; 2 Corinthians 7:1) Thus, as a person grows in appreciation and respect for Jehovah, he recognizes that Jehovah deserves his best and that he cannot give God his best while remaining enslaved to a lethal habit. That realization helps to give a person the will to resist hurtful desires.

Olaf, who lives in Germany, overcame a 16-year addiction to cigarettes that began when he was 12. “The first cigarette seemed like a harmless snowball,” he said. “But over the years it amounted to a huge avalanche. One time when I ran out of cigarettes, I was so frustrated that I collected all the stubs from an ashtray, scraped the tobacco together, and rolled a cigarette with a scrap of newspaper. In hindsight, I can see that it was really shameful.” How did he break the degrading habit of smoking? “The crucial factor was the desire to please Jehovah,” he said. “Jehovah’s love for mankind and the hope he provides gave me the strength to break this addiction once and for all.”

SMOKING DAMAGES THE BODY

“Smoking cigarettes . . . has been scientifically proven to harm nearly every organ in the body and to increase morbidity and mortality,” says The Tobacco Atlas. It is well-known that smoking causes noncommunicable diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and lung ailments. But according to the World Health Organization (WHO), smoking is also a major cause of death from communicable diseases, such as tuberculosis.

Through his Word, the Bible, Jehovah God teaches us to have a proper view of our life, our body, and our faculties. His Son, Jesus, pointed to this when he said: “You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind.” (Matthew 22:37) Clearly, God wants us to make good use of our life and body and to treat them with respect. As we learn about Jehovah and his promises, we come to love and value all that he has done for us. This motivates us to keep free from anything that defiles our body.

Jayavanth, a physician in India, smoked for 38 years. He said: “I learned about the dangers of smoking through medical journals. I knew it was wrong, and I advised my patients to give up the habit. But I could not quit it myself, despite trying five or six times.” What helped him finally to stop? He relates: “I quit smoking as a result of having a Bible study. The desire to please Jehovah motivated me to quit the habit straight away.”

SMOKING HARMS OTHERS

Exhaled smoke and smoke that comes from smoldering tobacco are toxic. Inhaling such secondhand smoke can cause cancer and other diseases, and each year it kills 600,000 nonsmokers, mostly women and children. A report by WHO warns: “There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.”

According to Jesus, love of neighbor​—our family, friends, and others around us—​is second only to love of God. “You must love your neighbor as yourself,” he said. (Matthew 22:39) If we pursue a habit that hurts those close to us, we are not showing neighborly love. Genuine love moves us to follow the Bible’s admonition: “Let each one keep seeking, not his own advantage, but that of the other person.”​—1 Corinthians 10:24.

Armen, who lives in Armenia, recalls: “Because they were affected by it, my family begged me to quit smoking. But I didn’t want to admit that it could have a bad effect on them.” He explains what changed his view: “My knowledge of the Bible and love for Jehovah helped me to quit smoking and admit that it was harmful not only to me but also to those around me.”

SMOKING EXTINGUISHED FOR GOOD!

Bible knowledge helped Olaf, Jayavanth, and Armen to break free from a degrading habit that was hurting them and others. They succeeded not simply because they knew that smoking is harmful but because they came to love Jehovah and desired to please him. The vital role of love is emphasized at 1 John 5:3, which states: “This is what the love of God means, that we observe his commandments; and yet his commandments are not burdensome.” Of course, following Bible principles will not always be easy, but when a person is moved by strong love for God, obedience will not be a burden.

Through a global educational campaign, Jehovah God is now helping millions of people to break free or keep free from enslavement to tobacco. (1 Timothy 2:3, 4) Very soon, by means of his Kingdom​—a heavenly government under his Son, Jesus Christ—​Jehovah will eliminate the greedy commercial system that is responsible for enslaving millions to tobacco. He will extinguish the smoking epidemic for good and raise obedient humankind to perfection in body and mind.​—Isaiah 33:24; Revelation 19:11, 15.

If you are struggling to quit smoking, take heart. By learning to love Jehovah and to appreciate his view of smoking, you too can find the motivation you need to succeed. Jehovah’s Witnesses will be happy to provide you with practical, one-on-one assistance to learn and apply Bible principles. Be assured that if you want Jehovah’s help to break free from tobacco addiction, he will supply the power and strength you need.​—Philippians 4:13.

THE tourists were hungry. Visiting the historical sites of the old city of Bethlehem had given them a hearty appetite, and they wanted to try something typical. One of them spotted a restaurant offering falafel​—tasty ground chickpeas, tomatoes, onions, and other vegetables served with pita bread. The delicious snack gave them fresh energy to continue their tour.

Unknown to these visitors, eating that unpretentious pita bread was possibly the most historical experience they had that day. The name Bethlehem means “House of Bread,” and bread has been baked in the area for thousands of years. (Ruth 1:22; 2:14) Pita bread is today one of the typical breads of Bethlehem.

Nearly four thousand years ago, not far south of Bethlehem, Abraham’s wife, Sarah, made freshly baked “loaves of bread” to feed three unexpected visitors. (Genesis 18:6) The “fine flour” that Sarah used may have come from emmer wheat or from barley. Sarah had to prepare this bread quickly and probably baked the dough on hot stones.​—1 Kings 19:6.

Abraham’s family prepared and baked their own bread, as this account indicates. Their nomadic lifestyle meant that Sarah and her servants likely could not bake bread in the type of ovens commonly used in Ur, Sarah’s hometown. She prepared fine flour from local grain. This would have been a laborious task done by using a portable hand mill and possibly a mortar and pestle.

Four centuries later, the Mosaic Law stipulated that a hand mill could not be taken as security for a loan, since it was “someone’s livelihood.” (Deuteronomy 24:6) God viewed a hand mill as vital because without it, a family could not make their daily bread.​—See the box “Daily Grinding and Baking in Bible Times.”

BREAD TO SUSTAIN THE HEART OF MORTAL MAN

The Scriptures refer to bread some 350 times, and Bible writers often used bread as a synonym for food. Jesus showed that those who serve God can confidently pray: “Give us today our bread for this day.” (Matthew 6:11) Here, “bread” represents food in general, and Jesus hereby shows that we can rely on God to provide our daily sustenance.​—Psalm 37:25.

There is, however, something more important than bread, or food. “Man must live, not on bread alone, but on every word that comes from Jehovah’s mouth,” Jesus said. (Matthew 4:4) His statement referred to a time when the Israelites depended totally on what God provided for them. This began not long after their departure from Egypt. About a month had gone by since they entered the Sinai Desert, and their food supplies were running low. Alarmed at the prospect of starving to death in that arid wilderness, they bitterly complained: “We were eating bread to satisfaction” in Egypt.​—Exodus 16:1-3.

Doubtless, the bread in Egypt was tasty. In Moses’ time, professional bakers offered the Egyptians an ample variety of breads and cakes. But Jehovah had no intention of leaving his people without bread of any kind. “Here I am raining down bread for you from the heavens,” he promised. Sure enough, this bread from heaven appeared in the early morning, “a fine, flaky substance” that looked somewhat like dew or frost. “What is it?” the Israelites asked the first time they saw it. “It is the bread that Jehovah has given you for food,” Moses explained. They called it manna,a and this bread sustained them for the next 40 years.​—Exodus 16:4, 13-15, 31.

At first, the miraculous manna must have impressed the Israelites. It tasted like “flat cakes with honey,” and there was ample provision for everyone. (Exodus 16:18) But as time went by, they began to miss the variety of foods they had eaten in Egypt. “We see nothing at all except this manna,” they grumbled. (Numbers 11:6) Later they fumed: “We have come to hate this contemptible bread.” (Numbers 21:5) The “bread from heaven” ultimately became distasteful and repulsive to them.​—Psalm 105:40.

THE BREAD OF LIFE

Clearly, bread, like so many other things, can easily be taken for granted. But the Bible refers to a very special sort of bread that should not be disparaged. This bread, which Jesus compared to the manna that the Israelites had so ungraciously rejected, could offer everlasting benefits.

“I am the bread of life,” Jesus told his listeners. “Your forefathers ate the manna in the wilderness and yet they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that anyone may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live forever; and for a fact, the bread that I will give is my flesh in behalf of the life of the world.”​—John 6:48-51.

Many of Jesus’ listeners did not understand his figurative use of the words “bread” and “flesh.” Yet, the illustration was most fitting. Literal bread gave the Jews daily sustenance, just as the manna had sustained the Israelites for 40 years in the wilderness. Although the manna was a gift from God, it did not impart everlasting life. Jesus’ sacrifice, on the other hand, offers just such a prize to those who exercise faith in him. He is truly “the bread of life.”

Perhaps when you feel hungry, you reach for a piece of bread. And you might also give thanks to God for your “daily bread.” (Matthew 6:11, The New English Bible) While we do appreciate a tasty provision, may we never forget the value of “the bread of life,” Jesus Christ.

How can we show that unlike the ungrateful Israelites of Moses’ day, we do not take for granted this priceless bread? “If you love me, you will observe my commandments,” Jesus said. (John 14:15) By observing the commandments of Jesus, we have the prospect of eating bread to our delight for all eternity.​—Deuteronomy 12:7.

SOME time ago, an intriguing headline appeared in The Chosun Ilbo, a Korean newspaper. It asked: “‘Wonderful Shim Cheong,’ Who Knew Nothing About Jesus​—Did She Go to Hell?”

The headline was provocative because Shim Cheong is a beloved young woman in a Korean folktale who sacrifices her life to help her blind father. Over the years, much praise has been accorded her. In fact, in Korea, Shim Cheong has come to be regarded as the model of a devoted daughter.

To many, the idea that such a person would be punished in hellfire just because she was not a baptized Christian seemed unfair, even offensive. After all, the story was supposed to have taken place long before the message about the Christ was introduced in her village.

The article included an interview with a clergyman. He was asked if those who died without having an opportunity to learn about Jesus had all been condemned to hellfire. The answer? “We do not know. We just assume that there must be a way of Divine Providence [for such people].”

A REQUIREMENT FOR SALVATION

The New Catholic Encyclopedia states: “Baptism is necessary for salvation. As Christ himself said, unless one is born again of water and the Holy Spirit, one cannot enter the Kingdom of God (Jn 3.5).” Because of this, some believe that those who died unbaptized are thrown into hellfire or suffer in some other way after death.

There are many others, however, who consider such a belief absurd. Millions of people have died in ignorance of the Bible. Do they deserve eternal torment? What does the Bible say on the matter?

HOPE PROMISED IN THE BIBLE

The Bible clearly shows that God does not disregard people who lived without knowledge of his requirements. Acts 17:30 assures us: “God has overlooked the times of such ignorance.” What hope, then, does the Bible hold out for those who died without having an opportunity to learn about God?

The answer can be found in what Jesus told one of the criminals who died alongside him. The man said to Jesus: “Remember me when you get into your Kingdom.” What was Jesus’ reply? “Truly I tell you today, you will be with me in Paradise.”​—Luke 23:39-43.

Was Jesus promising that the man would enter into heaven? No. The man had not been “born again” from water and spirit, which was a prerequisite for entering the Kingdom of the heavens. (John 3:3-6) Rather, Jesus was promising that the criminal would live again, in Paradise. Being a Jew, the man was likely familiar with the earthly Paradise​—the garden of Eden—​described in the first book of the Bible. (Genesis 2:8) Jesus’ promise gave him the assured hope of a resurrection to Paradise when it is reestablished on earth.

In fact, the Bible promises “a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Acts 24:15) “The unrighteous” are those who did not meet God’s righteous standards because they were ignorant of God’s will. Jesus will resurrect the unrighteous criminal who spoke with him, as well as millions, perhaps billions, of others who died in ignorance. Then, in the Paradise earth, they will be taught God’s requirements, and they will have the opportunity to prove that they love God by obeying his commandments.

WHEN THE UNRIGHTEOUS ARE RESURRECTED

When the unrighteous are resurrected, will they be judged on the basis of their past actions? No. Romans 6:7 states: “The one who has died has been acquitted from his sin.” The unrighteous will have paid for their sins by dying. Thus, they will be judged on the basis of what they do after their resurrection, not what they did in ignorance before they died. How will they benefit?

After resurrection, the unrighteous will have opportunity to learn God’s laws, which will be revealed when symbolic scrolls are opened. They will then be judged “according to their deeds,” that is, whether they obey God’s laws or not. (Revelation 20:12, 13) For many of the unrighteous, this will be, not a second chance, but their first real opportunity to gain eternal life on earth by learning and doing God’s will.

This Bible teaching has helped many to regain their faith in God. Yeong Sug was one of them. She was raised as a devout Catholic. Members of her family were priests. Hoping to be a nun, she joined a convent. Later, she left because she was disappointed by what she saw going on there. What is more, she could not accept the doctrine of hellfire because she felt that to torture people in a fiery hell would be neither just nor loving.

Then, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses showed Yeong Sug these words from the Bible: “The living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing at all, nor do they have any more reward.” (Ecclesiastes 9:5) The Witness helped her to realize that her ancestors are not being tormented in hellfire. Rather, they are asleep in death, awaiting a resurrection.

Knowing that many people have never heard the truth from the Bible, Yeong Sug took to heart Jesus’ words found at Matthew 24:14: “This good news of the Kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” She now participates in preaching the good news and sharing her wonderful Bible-based hope with others.

“GOD IS NOT PARTIAL”

“God is not partial,” the Bible tells us, “but in every nation the man who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” (Acts 10:34, 35) This is the perfect justice that all of us can expect of God, who “loves righteousness and justice.”​—Psalm 33:5.

“WHAT is truth?” That was the question that Pontius Pilate, Roman governor of Judea in the first century, asked of Jesus, who was on trial before the governor. (John 18:38) Pilate, of course, was not really seeking the truth. If anything, his question revealed his skeptical or cynical attitude. Apparently, to Pilate truth was whatever a person might choose or was taught to believe; there was really no way to determine what is truth. Many today feel the same way.

Churchgoers in 16th-century Europe faced the dilemma of what to believe as truth. Raised to believe in the supremacy of the pope and in other teachings of the church, they were confronted with new ideas spread by the Reformation, which was sweeping through Europe at the time. What should they believe? How would they decide what is truth?

During that period, there were, among many others, three men who were determined to seek out the truth.a How did they go about identifying what was true and what was false? And what did they find? Let us see.

“LET THE BIBLE . . . ALWAYS RULE SUPREME”

Wolfgang Capito was a young man with deep religious convictions. A student of medicine, law, and theology, Capito became a parish priest in 1512 and then chaplain to the archbishop of Mainz.

At first, Capito tried to soften the zeal of Reformers who preached a message contrary to Catholic dogma. Soon, however, Capito himself began to advocate reform. What did he do? When confronted with various teachings, Capito believed that “the best source with which to judge their preaching was the Bible, for only it was certain,” writes historian James M. Kittelson. Capito thus concluded that the church teachings on transubstantiation and the veneration of saints were unscriptural. (See the box “See Whether These Things Were So.”) Abandoning his prominent post with the archbishop in 1523, Capito settled in the city of Strasbourg, a center of religious reform at the time.

The Capito home in Strasbourg became a place where religious dissenters met and no doubt discussed many religious matters and Bible teachings. Though some Reformers still promoted the Trinity doctrine, Capito’s writings, according to the book The Radical Reformation, reflect “reticence on the doctrine of the Trinity.” Why? Capito was impressed by the way that Spanish theologian Michael Servetus appealed to Bible texts to disprove the Trinity.b

Denial of the Trinity could bring fatal consequences, so Capito was cautious about declaring his feelings openly. However, his writings suggest that he had privately questioned the Trinity doctrine even before he met Servetus. A Catholic priest later wrote that Capito and his associates “proceeded to discuss in their private capacity, and without appeal,​—the profoundest mysteries of religion; [and] rejected that of the most Holy Trinity.” A century later, Capito was listed first among prominent anti-Trinitarian writers.

Capito believed that the Bible was the source of truth. “Let the Bible and the law of Christ always rule supreme in theology,” he stated. According to Dr. Kittelson, Capito “insisted that the chief failing of the scholastic theologians lay in their neglect of the Scriptures.”

This earnest desire to learn the truth from God’s Word was shared by Martin Cellarius (also known as Martin Borrhaus), a young man who stayed at the Capito home in 1526.

“KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUE GOD”

Born in 1499, Cellarius was a diligent student of theology and philosophy. He accepted a teaching post in Wittenberg, Germany. Since Wittenberg was the cradle of the Reformation, Cellarius soon became acquainted with Martin Luther and others who wanted to reform church teaching. How could Cellarius distinguish mere human ideas from Scriptural truth?

According to the book Teaching the Reformation, Cellarius believed that true understanding results “from the assiduous reading of Scripture, from frequent comparison of Scripture with itself, and from prayer joined with repentance.” What did Cellarius find in his examination of the Bible?

In July 1527, Cellarius published his findings in a book entitled On the Works of God. He wrote that church sacraments, such as transubstantiation, were purely symbolic. According to Professor Robin Barnes, Cellarius’ book also “put forward an interpretation of scriptural prophecies in which a coming period of general calamity and suffering would be followed by a universal renovation and fulfillment.”​—2 Peter 3:10-13.

Especially noteworthy were Cellarius’ brief remarks regarding the nature of Jesus Christ. Although he did not directly contradict the Trinity, Cellarius distinguished the “Heavenly Father” from “his Son Jesus Christ” and wrote that Jesus was one of many gods and sons of the almighty God.​—John 10:34, 35.

In his book Antitrinitarian Biography (1850), Robert Wallace noted that Cellarius’ writings did not follow the Trinitarian orthodoxy common in the 16th century.c Several scholars thus conclude that Cellarius must have rejected the Trinity. He has been described as one of God’s instruments “in inculcating a knowledge of the true God and of Christ.”

HOPE OF A RESTITUTION

In about 1527, Wittenberg also became home to theologian Johannes Campanus, considered to be one of the greatest scholars of his day. Although at the center of religious reform, Campanus became dissatisfied with the teachings of Martin Luther. Why?

Campanus objected to the ideas of both transubstantiation and consubstantiation.d According to author André Séguenny, Campanus believed that “the Bread as a substance remains always bread, but as a sacrament, it represents symbolically the flesh of the Christ.” At the 1529 Marburg Colloquy, a meeting held to discuss these very questions, Campanus was not permitted to share what he had learned from the Scriptures. Thereafter, he was shunned by his fellow Reformers in Wittenberg.

The Reformers were especially upset by Campanus’ beliefs about the Father, the Son, and the holy spirit. In his 1532 book Restitution, Campanus taught that Jesus and his Father are two distinct persons. The Father and Son “are one,” he explained, only as a husband and wife are said to be “one flesh”​—united, yet still two persons. (John 10:30; Matthew 19:5) Campanus noted that the Scriptures use the same illustration to show that the Father has authority over the Son: “The head of a woman is the man; in turn, the head of the Christ is God.”​—1 Corinthians 11:3.

What about the holy spirit? Again, Campanus appealed to the Bible, writing: “With no Scripture may it be adduced that the Holy Spirit is the third person . . . The spirit of God is taken in an operative sense, in that He prepares and carries out all things through his spiritual power and activity.”​—Genesis 1:2.

Luther called Campanus a blasphemer and an adversary of God’s Son. Another Reformer called for Campanus’ execution. Yet, Campanus was undeterred. According to The Radical Reformation, “Campanus was convinced that the loss of this originally apostolic and biblical understanding of the Godhead and of man accounted for the fall of the Church.”

It was never Campanus’ intention to organize a religious group. He had sought in vain for truth, he said, “among the sects and all the heretics.” So he hoped that the Catholic Church, by means of a restitution, would reinstate true Christian teaching. Eventually, however, Catholic authorities arrested Campanus, and he may have spent upwards of 20 years in prison. Historians believe that he died in about 1575.

“MAKE SURE OF ALL THINGS”

Diligent study of the Bible enabled Capito, Cellarius, Campanus, and others to distinguish truth from error. Even though not all of the conclusions reached by these truth seekers were in full harmony with the Bible, these men humbly searched the Scriptures and treasured the truth that they learned.

The apostle Paul urged his fellow Christians: “Make sure of all things; hold fast to what is fine.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21) To help you in your search for truth, Jehovah’s Witnesses have published a book with the appropriate title What Does the Bible Really Teach?

Does our planet exist for a purpose?

Our planet is ideally suited to host life. It has abundant water, which is essential for life. The earth’s tilt, rotation, and orbit are all just right to prevent the oceans from freezing over or boiling away. And the earth’s atmosphere and magnetic field protect it from deadly radiation. The interdependent web of plant and animal life on earth is simply amazing. Consequently, many people have concluded that our planet was designed for a purpose.​—Read Isaiah 45:18.

But you may wonder, ‘Is suffering and injustice part of that purpose?’​—Read Deuteronomy 32:4, 5.

Will earth’s purpose be accomplished?

The earth was designed to be a happy home for people who respect one another and love their Creator. Thus, human life has a higher purpose than plant or animal life. We can understand who our Creator is and admire and imitate his love and justice.​—Read Ecclesiastes 12:13; Micah 6:8.

Our Maker can accomplish all that he purposes to do. So we can be sure that he will do away with suffering and injustice and make our planet a perfectly happy home for mankind.​—Read Psalm 37:11, 29; Isaiah 55:11.