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Counted Worthy to Be Guided to Fountains of Waters of Life | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2008047 | Counted Worthy to Be Guided to Fountains of Waters of Life
“The Lamb . . . will shepherd them, and will guide them to fountains of waters of life.”—REV. 7:17.
1. How does God’s Word identify anointed Christians, and what responsibility did Jesus give them?
GOD’S WORD identifies anointed Christians who are caring for Christ’s interests on earth as “the faithful and discreet slave.” When Christ inspected the “slave” in 1918, he found those anointed ones on earth to be faithful in providing spiritual “food at the proper time.” Hence, Jesus, the Master, was pleased thereafter to appoint them “over all his belongings.” (Read Matthew 24:45-47.) In this way, before receiving a heavenly inheritance, anointed ones serve other worshippers of Jehovah here on earth.
2. Describe Jesus’ belongings.
2 A master has authority over his belongings, or possessions, and he can use them as he chooses. The belongings of Jesus Christ, Jehovah’s enthroned King, embrace all Kingdom interests on earth. That includes “a great crowd” seen by the apostle John in vision. John describes the great crowd as follows: “Look! a great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes; and there were palm branches in their hands.”—Rev. 7:9.
3, 4. How are those of the great crowd highly privileged?
3 Members of that great crowd are among those referred to by Jesus as his “other sheep.” (John 10:16) Their hope is to live forever on a paradise earth. They are confident that Jesus “will guide them to fountains of waters of life” and that “God will wipe out every tear from their eyes.” With that in mind, they have “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Rev. 7:14, 17) They exercise faith in Jesus’ sacrifice, and thus in God’s eyes they have ‘white robes.’ They are declared righteous as friends of God, like Abraham.
4 Moreover, since the growing great crowd of other sheep are viewed by God as righteous, they can hope to survive the destruction of this system of things at the great tribulation. (Jas. 2:23-26) They can draw close to Jehovah, and as a group, they have the wonderful prospect of surviving Armageddon. (Jas. 4:8; Rev. 7:15) They are not independent but willing to serve under the direction of the heavenly King and his anointed brothers on earth.
5. How do those of the great crowd support Christ’s anointed brothers?
5 Anointed Christians have met and will continue to meet severe opposition from Satan’s world. Nevertheless, they can rely on the support of their companions of the great crowd. While anointed Christians are now few in number, the great crowd yearly increases by hundreds of thousands. The anointed are unable to oversee personally each of the some 100,000 Christian congregations throughout the world. Thus, one aspect of the support that the anointed receive from the other sheep is that qualified men of the great crowd serve as congregation elders. They help care for the millions of Christians now entrusted to “the faithful and discreet slave.”
6. How was the support of anointed Christians by their other sheep companions prophesied?
6 The willing support given to anointed Christians by their companions of the other sheep was foretold by the prophet Isaiah. He wrote: “This is what Jehovah has said: ‘The unpaid laborers of Egypt and the merchants of Ethiopia and the Sabeans, tall men, will themselves come over even to you, and yours they will become. Behind you they will walk.’” (Isa. 45:14) In a symbolic way, Christians with an earthly hope today walk behind the anointed slave class and its Governing Body, following their leadership. As “unpaid laborers,” the other sheep willingly and wholeheartedly expend their strength and their resources in support of the worldwide preaching work that Christ assigned to his anointed followers on earth.—Acts 1:8; Rev. 12:17.
7. For what is the great crowd being trained?
7 As they lend their support to their anointed brothers, members of the great crowd are being trained as the foundation of the new human society that will exist after Armageddon. That foundation must be solid and stable, and its members must be willing and able to carry out the direction of the Master. Each Christian is being given the opportunity to demonstrate that he can be used by the King, Christ Jesus. By exercising faith and displaying loyalty now, he shows that he will respond well when the King gives him directions in the new world.
The Great Crowd Prove Their Faith
8, 9. How are those of the great crowd proving their faith?
8 The other sheep companions of the congregation of anointed Christians prove their faith in various ways. First, they support the anointed in proclaiming the good news of God’s Kingdom. (Matt. 24:14; 28:19, 20) Second, they willingly submit themselves to the direction provided by the Governing Body.—Heb. 13:17; read Zechariah 8:23.
9 Third, members of the great crowd support their anointed brothers by living in harmony with Jehovah’s righteous principles. They strive to cultivate “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, mildness, self-control.” (Gal. 5:22, 23) Today, displaying such qualities, rather than producing “the works of the flesh,” may not be popular. Still, members of the great crowd are determined to avoid “fornication, uncleanness, loose conduct, idolatry, practice of spiritism, enmities, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, outputions, divisions, sects, envies, drunken bouts, revelries, and things like these.”—Gal. 5:19-21.
10. What is the determination of members of the great crowd?
10 Since we are imperfect, it can be a challenge to produce spiritual fruitage, avoid the works of the flesh, and resist the pressure exerted by Satan’s world. Nevertheless, we are determined not to allow discouragement resulting from personal weaknesses, temporary failures, or physical limitations to affect the strength of our faith or diminish our love for Jehovah. We know that Jehovah will do as he has promised—preserve the great crowd alive through the great tribulation.
11. What tactics has Satan used in his efforts to weaken the faith of Christians?
11 All the same, we are constantly on guard because we know that our real enemy is the Devil, and he does not give up easily. (Read 1 Peter 5:8.) He has tried to use apostates and others to convince us that the teachings we follow are false. But that tactic has usually failed. Similarly, although persecution has sometimes slowed down the preaching work, often it has served only to strengthen the faith of those persecuted. Hence, Satan increasingly uses a method that he likely feels will offer a greater chance of weakening our faith. He exploits feelings of discouragement. First-century Christians were warned about this danger when they were told: “Consider closely the one [Christ] who has endured such contrary talk by sinners against their own interests.” Why? “That you may not get tired and give out in your souls.”—Heb. 12:3.
12. How does the Bible’s counsel strengthen those who are discouraged?
12 Have you ever felt like giving up? Do you at times feel that you are a failure? If so, do not allow Satan to use those feelings to hinder you from serving Jehovah. In-depth Bible study, fervent prayer, and regular meeting attendance and association with those of like faith will strengthen you and keep you from ‘giving out in your soul.’ Jehovah has promised to help those serving him to regain power, and his promise is sure. (Read Isaiah 40:30, 31.) Keep your eye on Kingdom service. Avoid time-consuming distractions, and focus on helping others. Then you will be strengthened to endure despite discouragement.—Gal. 6:1, 2.
Out of the Tribulation and Into a New World
13. What task awaits those who survive Armageddon?
13 After Armageddon, multitudes of unrighteous resurrected ones will need instruction in Jehovah’s ways. (Acts 24:15) They will need to learn about Jesus’ ransom sacrifice; more than that, they must be taught to exercise faith in that sacrifice in order to receive its benefits. They will need to reject previously held false religious ideas and to abandon their former way of life. They must learn to put on the new personality that identifies true Christians. (Eph. 4:22-24; Col. 3:9, 10) Those of the other sheep who survive to that time will have much work to do. What a joy it will be to perform such service to Jehovah, free of the pressures and distractions of the present wicked world!
14, 15. Describe the interchange that will take place between survivors of the great tribulation and resurrected righteous ones.
14 Faithful servants of Jehovah who died prior to Jesus’ earthly ministry will also have much to learn at that time. They will learn the identity of the promised Messiah, whom they longed for but never got to see. In their former lives, they already indicated their willingness to be instructed by Jehovah. Imagine what a joy and privilege it will be to help them—for example, to explain to Daniel the fulfillment of the prophecies he wrote down but did not understand!—Dan. 12:8, 9.
15 Of course, while the resurrected ones will have much to learn from us, we will have many questions to ask them. They can fill us in on events that are mentioned in the Bible but not described in detail. Think how thrilling it will be to learn personal details about Jesus from his cousin John the Baptist! The things we learn from such faithful witnesses will doubtless give us an even greater appreciation of God’s Word than we have at present. Faithful servants of Jehovah who have died—including those of the great crowd who die during the time of the end—will come forth to “a better resurrection.” They began their service to Jehovah in a world dominated by Satan. What a joy it will be for them to continue their service under the much more favorable circumstances of the new world!—Heb. 11:35; 1 John 5:19.
16. According to prophecy, how will Judgment Day proceed?
16 At some point during Judgment Day, scrolls will be opened. Along with the Bible, they will form the basis for judging all alive as to their worthiness to gain everlasting life. (Read Revelation 20:12, 13.) By the end of Judgment Day, each individual will have had ample opportunity to show where he stands on the issue of universal sovereignty. Will he uphold the Kingdom arrangement and allow the Lamb to guide him to “fountains of waters of life”? Or will he resist, refusing to subject himself to God’s Kingdom? (Rev. 7:17; Isa. 65:20) By then, all on earth will have had an opportunity to make a personal decision, unhampered by inherited sin or a wicked environment. No one will be able to question the rightfulness of Jehovah’s final judgment. Only the wicked will be everlastingly destroyed.—Rev. 20:14, 15.
17, 18. With what joyful anticipation do anointed Christians and the other sheep view Judgment Day?
17 Anointed Christians today, having been counted worthy to receive a Kingdom, eagerly look forward to ruling during Judgment Day. What a grand privilege will be theirs! The very prospect motivates them to follow the counsel that Peter gave to their first-century brothers: “Do your utmost to make the calling and choosing of you sure for yourselves; for if you keep on doing these things you will by no means ever fail. In fact, thus there will be richly supplied to you the entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”—2 Pet. 1:10, 11.
18 The other sheep rejoice with their anointed brothers. They are determined to support them. As friends of God today, they are motivated to do their utmost in God’s service. During Judgment Day, they will be thrilled to support wholeheartedly God’s arrangements as Jesus guides them to fountains of waters of life. Then—at last—they will be counted worthy to be Jehovah’s earthly servants for all eternity!—Rom. 8:20, 21; Rev. 21:1-7.
Do You Remember?
• What do Jesus’ belongings include?
• How do those of the great crowd support their anointed brothers?
• What privileges and prospect do those of the great crowd enjoy?
• How do you view Judgment Day?
[Picture on page 25]
Those of the great crowd have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb
[Picture on page 27]
What do you hope to learn from resurrected faithful ones? |
Is the Battle Being Won? | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/101996002 | Is the Battle Being Won?
“LOOK after this planet, it’s the only one we have.” This was the dramatic appeal of Prince Philip of Britain, president of the World Wide Fund for Nature.
Thousands of years earlier, the psalmist wrote: “As regards the heavens, to Jehovah the heavens belong, but the earth he has given to the sons of men.” (Psalm 115:16) God has given us the earth as our home, and we must look after it. That is what ecology is all about.
Literally the word “ecology” means “a study of home.”a One definition given by The American Heritage Dictionary is “the study of the detrimental effects of modern civilization on the environment, with a view toward prevention or reversal through conservation.” Simply put, ecology means discovering what damage man has done and then finding ways to fix it. Neither is an easy task.
Three Home Truths of Ecology
Barry Commoner, biologist, in his book Making Peace With the Planet, suggests three simple laws of ecology that help explain why the earth is so vulnerable to abuse.
Everything is connected to everything else. Just as a bad tooth can affect our whole body, so damage to one particular natural resource can trigger a whole chain of environmental problems.
For example, during the last 40 years, 50 percent of Nepal’s Himalayan forests have been cut down either for firewood or for timber products. Once stripped of trees, the soil of the mountain slopes was soon washed away when the monsoon rains arrived. Without topsoil, new trees could not easily take hold, and many mountains became barren. Because of deforestation, Nepal is now losing millions of tons of topsoil every year. And the problems are not confined to Nepal.
In Bangladesh the torrential rains, which were once soaked up by the trees, rush unimpeded down the denuded mountains and on toward the coast, where they produce catastrophic floods. In times past, Bangladesh had serious flooding once every 50 years; now it is every 4 years or less.
In other parts of the world, deforestation has led to desertification and changes in local climate. Forests are only one natural resource that man is exploiting. As ecologists still know relatively little about the interlocking parts of our vast ecosystem, a problem may not be noticed until severe damage has already been done. This is true in the case of waste disposal, which well illustrates the second law of ecology.
Everything has to go somewhere. Imagine what a typical home would look like if there were no disposal of garbage. Our planet is just such a closed system—all our waste must end up somewhere around the earthly home. The partial destruction of the ozone layer shows that even apparently harmless gases, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), do not merely disappear into thin air. CFCs are just one of hundreds of potentially hazardous substances that are being released into the sky, the rivers, and the oceans.
True, some products—termed “biodegradable”—can in time be broken down and absorbed by natural processes, but others cannot. The beaches of the world are littered with plastic containers that will be lying around for decades to come. Less visible is industry’s toxic waste, which is usually buried somewhere. Although out of sight, there is no guarantee that it will always be out of mind. It can still seep into underground water supplies and pose grave health risks to man and animals. “We don’t know what to do with all the chemicals produced by modern industry,” admitted a Hungarian scientist at Budapest’s Institute of Hydrology. “We can’t even keep track of them.”
The most menacing garbage of all is radioactive waste, a by-product of nuclear power stations. Thousands of tons of nuclear waste is stored in temporary sites, although some has already been dumped in the oceans. Despite years of scientific research, no solution has yet been found for safe, permanent storage or disposal, and none is in the offing. No one knows when these ecological time bombs might explode. The problem will certainly not go away—the waste will be radioactive for centuries or millenniums to come, or until God takes action. (Revelation 11:18) Man’s disregard for the matter of waste disposal is also a reminder of the third law of ecology.
Let nature take its course. In other words, man needs to cooperate with natural systems rather than try to bypass them with something he thinks is better. Certain pesticides are a case in point. When first introduced, they enabled farmers to control weeds and practically eliminate destructive pests. Bumper crops seemed guaranteed. But then things went wrong. Weeds and insects proved resistant to one pesticide after another, and it became apparent that the pesticides were poisoning the insects’ natural predators, the wildlife, and even man himself. Maybe you have been affected by pesticide poisoning. Then you are one of at least a million victims worldwide.
The final irony is the growing evidence that pesticides may not even improve crop yields in the long run. In the United States, insects now devour a greater share of the harvest than they did before the pesticide revolution. Likewise, the International Rice Research Institute, based in the Philippines, has found that pesticides no longer improve rice yields in Southeast Asia. In fact, an Indonesian government-sponsored program that does not rely so heavily on pesticides has achieved a 15-percent increase in rice production since 1987 despite a 65-percent decrease in the use of pesticides. Notwithstanding, every year the world’s farmers still use pesticides extensively.
The three laws of ecology outlined above help explain why things are going wrong. Other important questions are, How much damage has already been done, and can it be fixed?
How Much Damage Has Been Done?
The accompanying world map (see pages 8-9) highlights some principal environmental problems and where they are most critical. Obviously, when loss of habitat or other factors cause the extermination of a plant or an animal species, man cannot repair the damage. Other damage—such as the deterioration of the ozone layer—has already been done. What about ongoing environmental degradation? Is progress being made in halting it or at least in slowing it down?
Two of the most important gauges of ecological damage are agriculture and fishing. Why? Because their productivity depends on a healthy environment and because our lives depend on a reliable food supply.
Both sectors are showing signs of deterioration. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has calculated that the fishing fleets of the world cannot catch more than 100 million tons of fish without seriously threatening fish stocks. That total was surpassed in 1989, and sure enough, the following year the worldwide catch fell by four million tons. The decline of some fishing banks has been precipitous. In the northeastern Atlantic, for example, the catch has dropped 32 percent over the last 20 years. The main problems are overfishing, pollution of the oceans, and destruction of spawning grounds.
This alarming trend is mirrored in crop production. During the ’60’s and ’70’s, improved strains of crops as well as irrigation and the extensive use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers boosted world grain production considerably. Now, pesticides and fertilizers are losing their effectiveness, and water shortages and pollution also contribute to leaner harvests.
Although there are nearly 100 million extra mouths to feed each year, during the last decade there has been a decrease in the total amount of cultivated land. And this arable land is losing its fertility. The Worldwatch Institute estimates that erosion has deprived farmers of 500 billion tons of topsoil during the last 20 years. Inevitably, food production has begun to decline. The report State of the World 1993 comments that “the 6-percent decline in grain output per person between 1984 and 1992 [is] perhaps the most disturbing economic trend in the world today.”
Clearly, the lives of millions of people are already at risk as a result of man’s neglect of the environment.
Can Man Handle the Problems?
Even though man now understands something about what is going wrong, it is not easy to fix. The first difficulty is that it would require big money—at least $600 billion a year—to implement the comprehensive proposals put forward at the Earth Summit in 1992. Real sacrifices would also be necessary—sacrifices such as wasting less and recycling more, conserving water and energy, using public rather than private transport, and, most difficult of all, thinking in terms of the planet rather than one’s own backyard. John Cairns, Jr., chairman of a U.S. committee for restoring the aquatic ecosystems, put the problem in a nutshell: “I’m optimistic about what we can do. I’m pessimistic about what we will do.”
The sheer cost of a wholesale cleanup is such that most countries prefer to put off the day of reckoning. At a time of economic crisis, environmental measures are viewed as a threat to jobs or a brake on the economy. Lip service is cheaper than action. The book Caring for the Earth describes the response so far as being like “thunderstorms of rhetoric followed by droughts of inaction.” But despite this foot-dragging, couldn’t new technology—if given time—find a painless cure for the planet’s ills? Apparently not.
In a joint statement, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society of London frankly admitted: “If current predictions of population growth prove accurate and patterns of human activity on the planet remain unchanged, science and technology may not be able to prevent either irreversible degradation of the environment or continued poverty for much of the world.”
The scary problem of nuclear waste with nowhere to go is a reminder that science is not omnipotent. For 40 years scientists have been searching for safe sites to store high-level radioactive waste permanently. The quest is proving so difficult that some countries, such as Italy and Argentina, have concluded that they won’t have a site ready until the year 2040 at the earliest. Germany, the most optimistic country in this field, hopes to finalize plans by the year 2008.
Why is nuclear waste such a problem? “No scientist or engineer can give an absolute guarantee that radioactive waste will not someday leak in dangerous quantities from even the best of repositories,” explains geologist Konrad Krauskopf. But despite early warnings about the difficulty of waste disposal, governments and the nuclear industry blithely pressed forward, assuming that the technology of tomorrow would come up with a solution. That tomorrow never came.
If technology doesn’t have a quick fix for the environmental crisis, what other options are left? Will necessity finally force the nations to work together to protect the planet?
[Footnote]
a From the Greek oiʹkos (house, home) and lo·giʹa (study).
[Box on page 7]
The Search for Renewable Energy Sources
Most of us take energy for granted—until there is a blackout or an increase in oil prices. Energy consumption, however, is one of the greatest causes of pollution. Most of the energy used comes from the burning of wood or fossil fuels, a process that dumps millions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and decimates the world’s forests.
Nuclear energy, another option, is becoming more and more unpopular because of the danger of accidents and the difficulty of storing radioactive waste. Other alternatives are known as renewable energy sources, since they harness naturally occurring energy sources that are freely available. There are five principal types.
Solar energy. This can easily be tapped for heating, and in some countries, such as Israel, many houses have solar panels for heating water. Using the sun to produce electricity is more difficult, but modern photovoltaic cells are already providing electricity in rural areas and are becoming more economical.
Wind power. Gigantic windmills now dot the horizon in several windy parts of the world. The electricity supplied by this eolian energy, as it is called, has steadily fallen in price and now costs less in some areas than traditional energy supplies.
Hydroelectricity. Already 20 percent of the world’s electricity comes from hydroelectric plants, but unfortunately most of the promising sites in developed countries are already exploited. Enormous dams can also do considerable ecological damage. A better prospect, especially in developing countries, seems to be that of building many smaller hydroelectric plants.
Geothermal energy. Some countries, particularly Iceland and New Zealand, have been able to plug into the “hot-water system” beneath their feet. Underground volcanic activity heats water, which can be used to heat houses and generate electricity. Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Philippines, and the United States have also developed this natural energy source to some extent.
Tidal power. The ocean tides are being used in some countries, such as Britain, France, and Russia, to generate electricity. However, there are few sites around the world that lend themselves to providing this supply of energy at an economical cost.
[Box/Pictures on page 8, 9]
Some of the World’s Major Environmental Problems
Destruction of forests. Three quarters of the temperate forests and half of the tropical forests of the world have already been lost, and the rate of deforestation has increased alarmingly during the past decade. Latest estimates put the destruction of tropical forests at between 60,000 [150,000] and 80,000 [200,000 sq km] square miles every year, about the size of Uruguay.
Toxic wastes. Half the 70,000 chemicals currently manufactured are classified as toxic. The United States alone produces 240 million tons of toxic wastes every year. Lack of data makes it impossible to calculate the worldwide total. Additionally, by the year 2000, there will be nearly 200,000 tons of radioactive waste stored in temporary sites.
Land degradation. A third of the world’s surface area is threatened by desertification. In some parts of Africa, the Sahara Desert has advanced 200 miles [350 km] in just 20 years. Already the livelihood of millions of people is being threatened.
Water scarcity. About two billion people live in areas where there is a chronic shortage of water. Aggravating the shortage is the drying up of thousands of wells due to the sinking levels of the aquifers on which they depend.
Species in danger of extinction. Although the figures are somewhat conjectural, scientists estimate that between 500,000 and 1,000,000 species of animals, plants, and insects will have been exterminated by the year 2000.
Atmospheric contamination. A United Nations study in the early 1980’s found that one billion people live in urban areas that are exposed daily to health-threatening levels of soot particles or poisonous gases, such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and carbon monoxide. The rapid growth of cities in the last decade has undoubtedly made this problem worse. Furthermore, 24 billion tons of carbon dioxide is being pumped into the atmosphere annually, and it is feared that this “greenhouse gas” may produce a global warming.
[Map]
(For fully formatted text, see publication)
Deforestation
Toxic wastes
Atmospheric pollution
Water scarcity
Species endangered
Land degradation
[Credit Lines]
Mountain High Maps™ copyright© 1993 Digital Wisdom, Inc.
Photo: Hutchings, Godo-Foto
Photo: Mora, Godo-Foto |
Isaiah’s Prophecy II (ip-2)
2001 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/ip-2 | Chapter Fifteen
The Barren Woman Rejoices
Isaiah 54:1-17
1. Why did Sarah long to bear children, and what was her experience in this regard?
SARAH longed to bear children. Sadly, she was barren, and that pained her greatly. In her day, barrenness was viewed as a reproach, but there was more to Sarah’s pain than that. She yearned to see God’s promise to her husband fulfilled. Abraham was to father a seed that would be a blessing to all families of the earth. (Genesis 12:1-3) However, decades after God had made that promise, there was still no child. Sarah grew old and remained childless. At times, she may have wondered if her hopes had been in vain. One day, though, her despair turned to joy!
2. Why should the prophecy recorded in Isaiah chapter 54 interest us?
2 Sarah’s plight helps us to understand the prophecy recorded in Isaiah chapter 54. There Jerusalem is addressed as if she were a barren woman who comes to know the great joy of having many children. By picturing his ancient people collectively as his wife, Jehovah shows his tender feelings toward them. Moreover, this chapter of Isaiah helps us to unravel a crucial aspect of what the Bible calls a “sacred secret.” (Romans 16:25, 26) The identity of the “woman” and her experiences foretold in this prophecy shed important light on pure worship today.
The “Woman” Identified
3. Why will the barren “woman” have reason to rejoice?
3 Chapter 54 opens on a happy note: “‘Cry out joyfully, you barren woman that did not give birth! Become cheerful with a joyful outcry and cry shrilly, you that had no childbirth pains, for the sons of the desolated one are more numerous than the sons of the woman with a husbandly owner,’ Jehovah has said.” (Isaiah 54:1) How thrilled Isaiah must be to speak these words! And what comfort their fulfillment will bring to the Jews exiled in Babylon! At that time Jerusalem will still be lying desolate. From a human standpoint, there will seem to be no hope that she will ever again be populated, just as a barren woman could not normally hope to bear children in her old age. But this “woman” has a great blessing in her future—she will become fertile. Jerusalem will be beside herself with joy. She will again teem with “sons,” or inhabitants.
4. (a) How does the apostle Paul help us see that Isaiah chapter 54 must have a fulfillment greater than that in 537 B.C.E.? (b) What is “Jerusalem above”?
4 Isaiah may not know it, but his prophecy will have more than one fulfillment. The apostle Paul quotes from Isaiah chapter 54 and explains that the “woman” signifies something far more important than the earthly city of Jerusalem. He writes: “The Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.” (Galatians 4:26) What is this “Jerusalem above”? Clearly not the city of Jerusalem in the Promised Land. That city is earthly, not “above” in the heavenly realm. “Jerusalem above” is God’s heavenly “woman,” his organization of mighty spirit creatures.
5. In the symbolic drama outlined at Galatians 4:22-31, who is pictured by (a) Abraham? (b) Sarah? (c) Isaac? (d) Hagar? (e) Ishmael?
5 How, though, can Jehovah have two symbolic women—one heavenly and the other earthly? Is there some inconsistency here? Not at all. The apostle Paul shows that the answer lies in the prophetic picture provided by Abraham’s family. (Galatians 4:22-31; see “The Family of Abraham—A Prophetic Picture,” on page 218.) Sarah, “the free woman” and Abraham’s wife, pictures Jehovah’s wifelike organization of spirit creatures. Hagar, a slave girl and Abraham’s secondary wife, or concubine, pictures earthly Jerusalem.
6. In what sense did God’s heavenly organization undergo a long period of barrenness?
6 With that background, we begin to see the profound significance of Isaiah 54:1. After decades of barrenness, Sarah bore Isaac when she was 90 years old. Similarly, Jehovah’s heavenly organization went through a long period of barrenness. Way back in Eden, Jehovah promised that his “woman” would produce the “seed.” (Genesis 3:15) Over 2,000 years later, Jehovah made his covenant with Abraham regarding the Seed of promise. But God’s heavenly “woman” had to wait many, many more centuries before producing that Seed. Still, the time came when the children of this once “barren woman” were more numerous than those of fleshly Israel. The illustration of the barren woman helps us to see why the angels were so eager to witness the arrival of the foretold Seed. (1 Peter 1:12) When did that finally happen?
7. When did “Jerusalem above” have occasion to rejoice, as foretold at Isaiah 54:1, and why do you so answer?
7 Jesus’ birth as a human child was certainly an occasion for rejoicing among the angels. (Luke 2:9-14) But that was not the event foretold at Isaiah 54:1. Only when Jesus was begotten with holy spirit in 29 C.E. did he become a spiritual son of “Jerusalem above,” publicly acknowledged by God himself as his “Son, the beloved.” (Mark 1:10, 11; Hebrews 1:5; 5:4, 5) It was then that God’s heavenly “woman” had cause for rejoicing, in fulfillment of Isaiah 54:1. At last she had produced the promised Seed, the Messiah! Her centuries of barrenness were over. That, however, was not the end of her rejoicing.
Numerous Sons for the Barren Woman
8. Why did God’s heavenly “woman” have reason to rejoice after producing the promised Seed?
8 After Jesus’ death and subsequent resurrection, God’s heavenly “woman” rejoiced to receive this favored Son back as “the firstborn from the dead.” (Colossians 1:18) Then she began to produce more spiritual sons. At Pentecost 33 C.E., about 120 of Jesus’ followers were anointed with holy spirit, thereby being adopted as Christ’s joint heirs. Later that day a further 3,000 were added. (John 1:12; Acts 1:13-15; 2:1-4, 41; Romans 8:14-16) This body of sons continued to grow. During the early centuries of Christendom’s apostasy, the growth slowed to a trickle. However, that was to change in the 20th century.
9, 10. What would the instruction to ‘make the place of the tent more spacious’ mean to a tent-dwelling woman in ancient times, and why is this a time of joy for such a woman?
9 Isaiah goes on to prophesy about a period of remarkable growth: “Make the place of your tent more spacious. And let them stretch out the tent cloths of your grand tabernacle. Do not hold back. Lengthen out your tent cords, and make those tent pins of yours strong. For to the right and to the left you will break forth, and your own offspring will take possession even of nations, and they will inhabit even the desolated cities. Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame; and do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disappointed. For you will forget even the shame of your time of youth, and the reproach of your continuous widowhood you will remember no more.”—Isaiah 54:2-4.
10 Here Jerusalem is addressed as if she were a wife and mother dwelling in tents, just like Sarah. When blessed with a growing family, it is time for such a mother to see to the expansion of her home. She needs to put up longer tent cloths and cords and secure the tent pins in their new positions. This is happy work for her, and at such a busy time, she may easily forget the years she spent wondering anxiously whether she would ever bear children to carry on the family line.
11. (a) How was God’s heavenly “woman” blessed in 1914? (See footnote.) (b) From 1919 onward, what blessing have the anointed on earth experienced?
11 Earthly Jerusalem was blessed with such a time of renewal after the Babylonian exile. “Jerusalem above” has been even more blessed.a Particularly since 1919, her anointed “offspring” have flourished in their newly restored spiritual condition. (Isaiah 61:4; 66:8) They ‘took possession of nations’ in that they spread abroad into many lands to seek out all those who would join their spiritual family. As a result, explosive growth occurred in the gathering of the anointed sons. Their final number of 144,000 appeared to be filled sometime in the mid-1930’s. (Revelation 14:3) At that time the focus of the preaching work ceased to be the gathering of the anointed. Still, expansion did not stop with the anointed.
12. In addition to the anointed, who have been gathered into the Christian congregation since the 1930’s?
12 Jesus himself foretold that besides his “little flock” of anointed brothers, he would have “other sheep” that must be brought into the sheepfold of true Christians. (Luke 12:32; John 10:16) Though not among the anointed sons of “Jerusalem above,” these faithful companions of the anointed fill an important and long-prophesied role. (Zechariah 8:23) From the 1930’s until today, a “great crowd” of them have been gathered, resulting in unprecedented expansion of the Christian congregation. (Revelation 7:9, 10) Today that great crowd numbers well into the millions. All this expansion has created an urgent need for more Kingdom Halls, Assembly Halls, and branch complexes. Isaiah’s words seem ever more apt. What a privilege to be part of that foretold expansion!
A Mother Who Cares for Her Offspring
13, 14. (a) What apparent difficulty is seen in connection with some of the expressions directed to God’s heavenly “woman”? (b) What insights can we gain from God’s illustrative use of family relationships?
13 We have seen that in the greater fulfillment, the “woman” of the prophecy represents Jehovah’s heavenly organization. But after reading Isaiah 54:4, we may wonder how that organization of spirit creatures has ever suffered shame or reproach. The ensuing verses say that God’s “woman” will be rejected, afflicted, and subjected to attack. She will even provoke God’s indignation. How can such things apply to an organization of perfect spirit creatures who have never sinned? The answer lies in the nature of family.
14 Jehovah uses family relationships—husband and wife, mother and children—to convey profound spiritual truths because such symbols are meaningful to humans. Regardless of the extent or quality of our own family experiences, we likely have an idea of what a good marriage or a good parent-child relationship ought to be. How vividly, then, Jehovah teaches us that he has a warm, intimate, and trusting relationship with his vast throngs of spirit servants! And how impressively he teaches us that his heavenly organization cares for its spirit-anointed offspring on earth! When the human servants suffer, the faithful heavenly servants, “Jerusalem above,” suffer. Similarly, Jesus said: “To the extent that you did it to one of the least of these my [spirit-anointed] brothers, you did it to me.”—Matthew 25:40.
15, 16. What is the initial fulfillment of Isaiah 54:5, 6, and what is the greater fulfillment?
15 Not surprisingly, then, much of what is said to Jehovah’s heavenly “woman” reflects the experiences of her children on earth. Consider these words: “‘Your Grand Maker is your husbandly owner, Jehovah of armies being his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Repurchaser. The God of the whole earth he will be called. For Jehovah called you as if you were a wife left entirely and hurt in spirit, and as a wife of the time of youth who was then rejected,’ your God has said.”—Isaiah 54:5, 6.
16 Who is the wife here addressed? In the initial fulfillment, it is Jerusalem, representing God’s people. During their 70-year exile in Babylon, they will feel as if Jehovah has rejected them and left them entirely. In the greater fulfillment, the words refer to “Jerusalem above” and her experience of finally producing the “seed” in fulfillment of Genesis 3:15.
Momentary Discipline, Eternal Blessings
17. (a) How will earthly Jerusalem experience “a flood” of divine indignation? (b) What “flood” did the sons of “Jerusalem above” experience?
17 The prophecy continues: “‘For a little moment I left you entirely, but with great mercies I shall collect you together. With a flood of indignation I concealed my face from you for but a moment, but with loving-kindness to time indefinite I will have mercy upon you,’ your Repurchaser, Jehovah, has said.” (Isaiah 54:7, 8) Earthly Jerusalem is inundated by “a flood” of God’s indignation when the Babylonian forces attack in 607 B.C.E. Her 70 years in exile might seem a long time. Still, such trials last “for but a moment” when compared with the eternal blessings in store for those who respond well to the discipline. Similarly, the anointed sons of “Jerusalem above” felt as if they had been overwhelmed by “a flood” of divine wrath when Jehovah allowed them to come under attack by political elements at the instigation of Babylon the Great. But how brief that disciplinary measure later seemed, in contrast with the era of spiritual blessings that have followed since 1919!
18. What important principle can be discerned regarding Jehovah’s wrath against his people, and how might this affect us personally?
18 These verses express another great truth—God’s wrath is fleeting, but his mercy lasts forever. His anger blazes against wrongdoing, but it is always controlled, always purposeful. And if we accept Jehovah’s discipline, his anger lasts “for but a moment,” then subsides. It is replaced by his “great mercies”—his forgiveness and his loving-kindness. These last “to time indefinite.” When we commit a sin, then, we should never hesitate to repent and seek to make amends with God. If the sin is of a serious nature, we should approach the congregation elders immediately. (James 5:14) True, discipline may be needed, and that can be hard to take. (Hebrews 12:11) But it will be brief when compared with the eternal blessings that flow from receiving the forgiveness of Jehovah God!
19, 20. (a) What is the rainbow covenant, and how is it relevant to the exiles in Babylon? (b) The “covenant of peace” affords what assurance to anointed Christians today?
19 Jehovah now offers his people comforting reassurance: “‘This is just as the days of Noah to me. Just as I have sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more pass over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not become indignant toward you nor rebuke you. For the mountains themselves may be removed, and the very hills may stagger, but my loving-kindness itself will not be removed from you, nor will my covenant of peace itself stagger,’ Jehovah, the One having mercy upon you, has said.” (Isaiah 54:9, 10) After the Deluge, God made a covenant—sometimes known as the rainbow covenant—with Noah and every other living soul. Jehovah promised that no more would he bring destruction upon the earth by means of a global flood. (Genesis 9:8-17) What does that mean to Isaiah and his people?
20 It is comforting to know that the punishment they must suffer—the 70-year exile in Babylon—will occur only once. When it is over, it will happen no more. Thereafter, God’s “covenant of peace” will be in effect. The Hebrew word for “peace” conveys not just the absence of war but also well-being of every kind. On God’s part this covenant is permanent. Sooner will the hills and mountains vanish than his loving-kindness toward his faithful people end. Sadly, his earthly nation will ultimately fail to live up to their side of the covenant and will shatter their own peace by rejecting the Messiah. The sons of “Jerusalem above,” however, fared much better. Once their difficult period of discipline was over, they were assured of divine protection.
The Spiritual Security of God’s People
21, 22. (a) Why is “Jerusalem above” said to be afflicted and tempest-tossed? (b) What would the blessed condition of God’s heavenly “woman” signify regarding her “offspring” on earth?
21 Jehovah goes on to foretell security for his faithful people: “O woman afflicted, tempest-tossed, uncomforted, here I am laying with hard mortar your stones, and I will lay your foundation with sapphires. And I will make your battlements of rubies, and your gates of fiery glowing stones, and all your boundaries of delightsome stones. And all your sons will be persons taught by Jehovah, and the peace of your sons will be abundant. You will prove to be firmly established in righteousness itself. You will be far away from oppression—for you will fear none—and from anything terrifying, for it will not come near you. If anyone should at all make an attack, it will not be at my orders. Whoever is making an attack upon you will fall even on account of you.”—Isaiah 54:11-15.
22 Of course, Jehovah’s “woman” in the spirit realm has never been directly afflicted or tempest-tossed. But she suffered when her anointed “offspring” on earth suffered, especially when they were in spiritual captivity during the 1918-19 period. Conversely, when the heavenly “woman” is exalted, this reflects a similar state prevailing among her offspring. Consider, then, the glowing description of “Jerusalem above.” The precious stones on the gates, the costly “hard mortar,” the foundations, and even the boundaries suggest, as one reference work notes, “beauty, magnificence, purity, strength, and solidity.” What would lead anointed Christians to such a secure and blessed condition?
23. (a) Being “taught by Jehovah” has had what effect upon anointed Christians in the last days? (b) In what sense have God’s people been blessed with “boundaries of delightsome stones”?
23 Verse 13 of Isaiah chapter 54 provides the key—all will be “taught by Jehovah.” Jesus himself applied the words of this verse to his anointed followers. (John 6:45) The prophet Daniel foretold that during this “time of the end,” the anointed would be blessed with an abundance of true knowledge and spiritual insight. (Daniel 12:3, 4) Such insight has enabled them to spearhead the greatest educational campaign in history, spreading divine teaching in all the earth. (Matthew 24:14) At the same time, such insight has helped them to see the difference between true religion and false. Isaiah 54:12 mentions “boundaries of delightsome stones.” Since 1919, Jehovah has given the anointed an ever clearer understanding of the boundaries—the lines of spiritual demarcation—setting them apart from false religion and ungodly elements of the world. (Ezekiel 44:23; John 17:14; James 1:27) They are thus set apart as God’s own people.—1 Peter 2:9.
24. How may we ensure that we are taught by Jehovah?
24 Thus, each of us does well to ask himself, ‘Am I being taught by Jehovah?’ We do not receive such teaching automatically. We must put forth effort. If we read God’s Word regularly and meditate upon it and if we take in instruction by reading the Bible-based literature published by “the faithful and discreet slave” and by preparing for and attending Christian meetings, we will indeed be taught by Jehovah. (Matthew 24:45-47) If we endeavor to apply what we learn and remain spiritually awake and watchful, divine teaching will set us apart as different from those in this godless world. (1 Peter 5:8, 9) Better still, it will help us “draw close to God.”—James 1:22-25; 4:8.
25. What does God’s promise of peace mean for his people in modern times?
25 Isaiah’s prophecy also shows that the anointed are blessed with abundant peace. Does this mean that they are never under attack? No, but God gives the assurance that he will neither order such attacks nor allow them to succeed. We read: “‘Look! I myself have created the craftsman, the one blowing upon the fire of charcoal and bringing forth a weapon as his workmanship. I myself, too, have created the ruinous man for wrecking work. Any weapon whatever that will be formed against you will have no success, and any tongue at all that will rise up against you in the judgment you will condemn. This is the hereditary possession of the servants of Jehovah, and their righteousness is from me,’ is the utterance of Jehovah.”—Isaiah 54:16, 17.
26. Why is it reassuring to know that Jehovah is the Creator of all mankind?
26 For the second time in this chapter of Isaiah, Jehovah reminds his servants that he is the Creator. Earlier, he tells his symbolic wife that he is her “Grand Maker.” Now he says that he is the Creator of all mankind. Verse 16 describes a metalworker blowing on the coals of his forge as he creates his weapons of destruction and a warrior, a “ruinous man for wrecking work.” Such men might present a frightening picture to fellow humans, but how can they possibly hope to prevail against their own Creator? So today, even when the most powerful forces of this world attack Jehovah’s people, they will have no chance of ultimate success. How can that be?
27, 28. Of what can we be sure during these troubled times, and why do we know that Satan’s attacks against us will prove ineffective?
27 The time for ruinous attack against God’s people and their worship with spirit and truth has passed. (John 4:23, 24) Jehovah allowed Babylon the Great to make one attack that proved temporarily successful. For a brief moment, “Jerusalem above” saw her offspring brought to near silence as the preaching work on earth ground to a virtual halt. Never again! Now she exults over her sons, for they are, in a spiritual sense, unconquerable. (John 16:33; 1 John 5:4) Oh, there have been weapons of attack formed against them, and there will be more. (Revelation 12:17) But these have not and will not succeed. Satan possesses no weapon that can quell the faith and burning zeal of the anointed and their companions. This spiritual peace is “the hereditary possession of the servants of Jehovah,” so no one can forcibly take it away from them.—Psalm 118:6; Romans 8:38, 39.
28 No, nothing that Satan’s world can do will ever put a stop to the work and enduring clean worship of God by his dedicated servants. The anointed offspring of “Jerusalem above” have taken great comfort in that assurance. Members of the great crowd do the same. The more we come to know about Jehovah’s heavenly organization and its dealings with his worshipers on earth, the stronger our faith will be. As long as our faith is strong, Satan’s weapons will prove to be futile in the fight against us!
[Footnote]
a According to Revelation 12:1-17, God’s “woman” was greatly blessed by giving birth to a most important “offspring”—not an individual spirit son, but the Messianic Kingdom in heaven. This birth occurred in 1914. (See Revelation—Its Grand Climax At Hand!, pages 177-86.) Isaiah’s prophecy focuses on the joy she feels as a result of God’s blessing on her anointed sons on earth.
[Box on page 218, 219]
The Family of Abraham—A Prophetic Picture
The apostle Paul explained that the family of Abraham serves as a symbolic drama, a prophetic picture of Jehovah’s relationship with his heavenly organization and with the earthly nation of Israel under the Mosaic Law covenant.—Galatians 4:22-31.
Abraham, as family head, represents Jehovah God. Abraham’s willingness to offer up his dear son Isaac as a sacrifice foreshadows Jehovah’s willingness to offer up his own beloved Son as a sacrifice for mankind’s sins.—Genesis 22:1-13; John 3:16.
Sarah pictures God’s heavenly “wife,” his organization of spirit beings. That heavenly organization is aptly described as Jehovah’s wife, for she is intimately associated with Jehovah, is subservient to his headship, and is fully cooperative in fulfilling his purposes. She is also called “Jerusalem above.” (Galatians 4:26) The same “woman” is mentioned at Genesis 3:15, and she is depicted in vision at Revelation 12:1-6, 13-17.
Isaac typifies the spiritual Seed of God’s woman. Primarily, this is Jesus Christ. However, the seed also came to include Christ’s anointed brothers, who are adopted as spiritual sons and become joint heirs with Christ.—Romans 8:15-17; Galatians 3:16, 29.
Hagar, Abraham’s secondary wife, or concubine, was a slave. She aptly pictures earthly Jerusalem, where the Mosaic Law code held sway, exposing all of its adherents as slaves to sin and death. Paul said that “Hagar means Sinai, a mountain in Arabia,” because the Law covenant was established there.—Galatians 3:10, 13; 4:25.
Ishmael, Hagar’s son, pictures the first-century Jews, the sons of Jerusalem still enslaved to the Mosaic Law. As Ishmael persecuted Isaac, so those Jews persecuted the Christians, who were anointed sons of the figurative Sarah, the “Jerusalem above.” And just as Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael away, Jehovah ultimately cast off Jerusalem and her rebellious sons.—Matthew 23:37, 38.
[Picture on page 220]
After his baptism, Jesus was anointed with holy spirit, and Isaiah 54:1 began to have its most important fulfillment
[Picture on page 225]
Jehovah concealed his face from Jerusalem “for but a moment”
[Pictures on page 231]
Can the warrior and the metalworker prevail against their Creator? |
DORINA CAPARELLI | LIFE STORY
Despite My Shyness, I Would Do It All Again! | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/502400105 | DORINA CAPARELLI | LIFE STORY
Despite My Shyness, I Would Do It All Again!
I have always been very shy. That is why it makes me chuckle when I think of some of the exciting adventures I have had serving Jehovah.
I was born in 1934 in Pescara, a city on the central east coast of Italy by the Adriatic Sea. I was the youngest of four girls. Father chose to name us in alphabetical order starting with “A,” which is why my name begins with “D.”
Father had always been interested in spiritual things. He first came into contact with Jehovah’s Witnesses in July 1943 when a man named Liberato Ricci, who was associating with the Witnesses, spoke to him about the Bible and lent him a copy of The Watchtower. Before long, Father began zealously talking to others about the things he was learning. Mother also accepted the truth. Despite being illiterate, she too shared her newfound hope with others, reciting Bible verses that she had memorized.
Our little home became a hub of activity. We had our Christian meetings there. And even though we had only two bedrooms, we provided accommodations for traveling overseers and pioneers.
My two oldest sisters showed little interest in the Bible and eventually left home to get married. But my sister Cesira and I loved listening to Father read the Bible. We also enjoyed the stirring talks given by the brothers who visited our little group.
I often accompanied my father and others in the ministry, but I was so shy that it took me months to work up the courage to say anything to householders. Still, my love for Jehovah grew, and I was baptized in July 1950. A brother gave the baptism talk at our home, and then we went to the sea for the baptism. The following year, a married couple serving as special pioneers were assigned to our area, and I often went preaching with them. The more time I spent in the ministry, the easier it became. How I grew to love this wonderful privilege of service!
A Decision That Changed My Life
Our first circuit overseer was Piero Gatti.a He encouraged me not only to pioneer but also to move where there was a greater need for Kingdom proclaimers—something I had not even thought about. In our area, it was customary for girls to stay at home until they got married. So in March 1952, I started pioneering from home. I did not then realize how that decision would shape the rest of my life.
About that time, a young sister named Anna also wanted to start pioneering. She came to live with us so that we could go witnessing together. In 1954, the two of us were assigned to serve as special pioneers in Perugia, a city about 250 kilometers (155 mi) away, where there were no Witnesses.
Anna, Father, and I just before we left for Perugia
What an adventure that was! I was just 20 years old, and the only time I had ever left my hometown was to go with my parents to a convention. Now I felt as if I were going to the other side of the world! Father was a little apprehensive about Anna and me living on our own, so he came to help us find accommodations. We rented a room that doubled as a Kingdom Hall. For a while, though, we were the only ones at the meetings. Still, we had a great time preaching in Perugia and the nearby towns and villages, and our efforts began to bear fruit. About a year later, a brother moved to Perugia, and he conducted the meetings for us. By the time we left for our next assignment in 1957, a small congregation had been formed.
With a circuit overseer’s wife and Anna near the medieval Fontana (Fountain) Maggiore in Perugia, 1954
Our next assignment was in a small city called Terni, in central Italy. We were excited to preach in Terni because there were already many interested ones in the area. But we had challenges as well. Although the Fascist regime officially ended in 1943, some authorities continued their efforts to stop Jehovah’s Witnesses from spreading the Bible’s message and demanded that we have a license to preach from door to door.
It was not unusual for Jehovah’s Witnesses to be followed by the police. Sometimes we could lose them by mingling in a crowd, but not always. I was stopped and arrested twice. The first time, I was preaching with the circuit overseer. The police arrested us and took us to the police station, where they charged us with preaching without legal authorization and fined us. We refused to pay the fine; we were not breaking any laws. My heart was thumping so hard that I could almost hear it! I was very grateful to Jehovah that I was not alone. The reassuring words of Isaiah 41:13 came to my mind: “Do not be afraid. I will help you.” We were released, and when the case went to trial, the judge dismissed it. My second arrest was about six months later. That time, I was alone. But again I was acquitted.
More Opportunities to Serve Jehovah
I remember being particularly excited about a convention held in 1954 in Naples, in southern Italy. After arriving there, I volunteered to help clean the venue, and I was assigned to work near the platform. There I noticed a handsome young attendant named Antonio Caparelli, a pioneer from Libya. His family had moved there from Italy in the late 1930’s.
Antonio on the motorbike he used in Libya
On our wedding day
Antonio was energetic and courageous. He traveled far into the Libyan Desert on his motorcycle to preach to Italians living there. We wrote to each other occasionally. Early in 1959, however, he returned to Italy. He spent a few months at Bethel in Rome before being assigned to serve as a special pioneer in the city of Viterbo, in central Italy. Our relationship blossomed, and we got married on September 29, 1959. I joined Antonio in Viterbo.
We needed a place to stay and to hold meetings. Eventually, we rented a ground-floor room that was like a little shop with a tiny bathroom at the back. We put our bed in the corner and blocked it off with a screen. That was the bedroom. The rest of the space was either our living area or the Kingdom Hall, depending on the day. The room was not ideal, and I would not have chosen to live there alone. But I was happy because Antonio and I were together.
In front of the screen that separated our “bedroom”
In 1961, Antonio was appointed to serve as a circuit overseer. First, however, he had to attend a month-long school for congregation servants, or overseers. That meant that I had to stay on my own for a month. I must admit that I felt sorry for myself, especially in the evenings when I was alone in our little room. Still, I was happy that Antonio was being used by Jehovah. I kept myself busy as well, so the time passed quickly.
The circuit work meant a lot of traveling. We went from Veneto, a region in northern Italy, to Sicily, in the south. At first we did not have a car, so we used public transport. On one occasion, after a rather bumpy bus ride in rural Sicily, we were greeted at the bus stop by brothers who brought a donkey along to carry our baggage. Antonio was wearing a suit and tie, and I was wearing a meeting dress. Seeing us walking with farmers alongside a donkey that was carrying our suitcases and typewriter must have been a rather comical sight.
The brothers generously shared whatever they had, even when that was very little. Some houses had no bathroom or running water. On one occasion we stayed in a room that had not been used for several years. During the night I wriggled around so much in my sleep that Antonio woke me up. When we lifted up the sheets, we saw, to our horror, that the mattress was swarming with insects! There was little we could do about it in the middle of the night. We simply brushed off as many insects as we could and tried to go back to sleep.
With Antonio in the circuit work in the 1960’s
Yet, these inconveniences were not what I found the most challenging. My biggest obstacle was my shyness. When we visited a congregation for the first time, I found it hard to make new friends. But I really wanted to be encouraging and to help the sisters, so I made a special effort. With Jehovah’s help, by the end of the week, I always felt much more at home. It was a real privilege to work with the brothers and sisters and to see their generosity, faithfulness, and love for Jehovah.
In 1977, after a few years in the circuit and district work,b we were invited to Bethel in Rome to help make preparations for the 1978 “Victorious Faith” International Convention. After just a few months, we became members of the Bethel family. Soon thereafter, Antonio was assigned to serve on the Branch Committee.
Bethel was a new experience for me, and again my shyness sometimes prevented me from feeling completely at ease. But with Jehovah’s blessing and the help of other Bethelites, I soon considered Bethel my home.
Facing New Challenges
In the following years, we faced a new challenge—health problems. In 1984, Antonio had heart surgery, and about ten years later, he had more health problems. Then, in 1999, he learned that he had a malignant tumor. He had always been a dynamic person, but he was unable to conquer this terrible disease. Seeing him get progressively weaker broke my heart. I prayed fervently to Jehovah, asking for the strength to help me support my dear husband. Also, I often read the Psalms. These gave me a measure of comfort when I felt anxious. Antonio died on March 18, 1999. We had been married for almost 40 years.
It is incredible how lonely you can feel even when you are surrounded by people. To be sure, I received much love and comfort from fellow Bethelites and the brothers and sisters we had come to know in the traveling work. Even so, the terrible void in my heart, especially when I went back to my empty Bethel room in the evening, hurt in a way that words cannot describe. Prayer, study, and time helped me to heal. Eventually, in fact, recalling the life I had shared with Antonio even became pleasurable again. I still like to reflect on the things we did together, confident that Antonio is in Jehovah’s memory and that I will see him again in the resurrection.
I have had many assignments at Bethel, my present one being in the sewing shop. It makes me very happy to do work that benefits my enlarged family. I also try to keep busy in the ministry. Of course, I cannot do as much as I did in the past, but I still enjoy sharing the Kingdom good news—a privilege that I fell in love with when I was a girl. That is why I like to encourage young ones to pioneer. I know how exciting that work can be.
“It makes me very happy to do work that benefits my enlarged family”
When I look back on almost 70 years of full-time service, I see how much Jehovah has helped and blessed me. I am still shy, so I know that in my own strength, I would never have been able to do the things I have done. I have been to faraway places, seen and experienced many enriching things, and met people who have inspired me. I can say without a doubt that I would do it all again.
a Piero Gatti’s life story, “I Feared Death—Now I Await ‘Life in Abundance,’” is in the July 15, 2011, issue of The Watchtower.
b A district overseer served a number of circuits that made up a district. |
Return to Jehovah (rj)
2015 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/library/r1/lp-e/all-publications/brochures-and-booklets/return-to-jehovah-rj | PART FOUR
Guilt—“Cleanse Me From My Sin”
“My new job improved our family’s standard of living, but it also led me into all sorts of questionable activities. I began to celebrate holidays, to participate in political events, and even to attend church. I was inactive as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses for 40 years. The more time that went by, the more I thought I was beyond Jehovah’s forgiveness. I felt that I couldn’t forgive myself. After all, I knew the truth before I headed down the wrong path.”—Martha.
GUILT can be a crushing burden. “My errors loom over my head,” King David wrote. “Like a heavy burden, they are too much for me to bear.” (Psalm 38:4) Some Christians have become overwhelmed by excessive sadness, convinced that Jehovah could never forgive them. (2 Corinthians 2:7) Is that conclusion right? Even if you have committed grievous sins, are you so far removed from Jehovah that he will never forgive you? No, you are not!
“Let Us Set Matters Straight Between Us”
Jehovah does not abandon repentant sinners. In fact, he reaches out to them! In the parable of the prodigal son, Jesus compared Jehovah to a loving father whose son abandoned his family and pursued a debauched life. In time, the son decided to return home. “While [the son] was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him and was moved with pity, and he ran and embraced him and tenderly kissed him.” (Luke 15:11-20) Do you wish to draw closer to Jehovah but feel that you are “still a long way off” from him? Like the father in Jesus’ illustration, Jehovah is moved with tender compassion for you. He is eager to welcome you back.
But what if you believe that your sins are too serious or too numerous for Jehovah to forgive? Please consider Jehovah’s invitation recorded at Isaiah 1:18: “‘Come, now, and let us set matters straight between us,’ says Jehovah. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be made as white as snow.’” Yes, even sins that seem as indelible as scarlet dye on a white garment are not beyond Jehovah’s forgiveness.
Jehovah does not want you to keep suffering with a guilty conscience. How, then, can you experience the relief that comes from God’s forgiveness and a clean conscience? Consider two steps that King David took. First, he said: “I will confess my transgressions to Jehovah.” (Psalm 32:5) Remember, Jehovah has already invited you to approach him in prayer and to “set matters straight” with him. Accept that invitation. Confess your sins to Jehovah, and share your feelings with him. From personal experience, David could confidently pray: “Cleanse me from my sin. . . . A heart broken and crushed, O God, you will not reject.”—Psalm 51:2, 17.
Second, David received help from God’s appointed representative, the prophet Nathan. (2 Samuel 12:13) Today, Jehovah has provided congregation elders who have been trained to help repentant sinners restore their friendship with Jehovah. When you approach the elders, they will use the Scriptures and offer heartfelt prayers to soothe your heart, lessen or remove your negative feelings, and help you to heal spiritually.—James 5:14-16.
Jehovah wants you to experience the relief of a clean conscience
“Happy Is the One Whose Transgression Is Pardoned”
Admittedly, you may feel that confessing your sins to Jehovah God and approaching the elders would be among the most difficult things you could do. David evidently had similar feelings. He “kept silent” for some time about his sins. (Psalm 32:3) Afterward, however, he appreciated the benefits of confessing his sins and correcting his course.
A major benefit was that David regained his joy. He wrote: “Happy is the one whose transgression is pardoned, whose sin is forgiven.” (Psalm 32:1, footnote) He also prayed: “O Jehovah, open my lips, so that my mouth may declare your praise.” (Psalm 51:15) Relieved of his guilt and grateful for God’s forgiveness, David was motivated to tell others about Jehovah.
Jehovah wants you to experience the relief of a clean conscience. And he wants you to tell others about him and his purposes, not with feelings of guilt, but with sincerity and deep joy. (Psalm 65:1-4) Remember his invitation “to get your sins blotted out, so that seasons of refreshing may come from Jehovah himself.”—Acts 3:19.
That is what happened to Martha. She relates: “My son kept sending me the Watchtower and Awake! magazines. Little by little, I became reacquainted with Jehovah. The hardest part of coming back was asking forgiveness for all the sins I had committed. But finally, I approached God in prayer and asked him to forgive me. It’s hard to believe that 40 years went by before I returned to Jehovah. I am living proof that even after many years, someone can be given another chance to serve God and be back in his love.” |
Homeless Children—Who Is to Blame? | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/101990001 | Homeless Children—Who Is to Blame?
By Awake! correspondent in Brazil
ONE night Francisco takes his wife and children to the local pizzeria. In the parking lot, a shabbily dressed boy offers to guard Francisco’s car while the family enjoys the meal. When Francisco and his family leave the restaurant, the boy eagerly thrusts out his hand to receive a few coins for his service. Late into the night on the city streets, children like him struggle to earn a living. They are not in a hurry to leave, since the street is their home.
HOMELESS children are looked upon as the outcasts of society and have been tagged “nobody’s children” or “throwaway kids.” Their number is staggering and frightful—perhaps 40 million. An exact figure, though, is hard to come by. Unfortunately, however, all experts agree that the problem is increasing worldwide, especially in Latin America. The sight of homeless children huddled in doorways or begging for money is so pitiful that society turns them into cold statistics on a casualty list, shrugs, and moves on. But society can no longer afford to do that. According to UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund), 60 percent of the homeless between 8 and 17 years of age use hallucinatory substances, 40 percent use alcoholic beverages, 16 percent are drug addicts, and 92 percent use tobacco. And since they have no marketable skills, they often survive by begging, stealing, or prostitution. Growing up as “nobody’s children,” they are in danger of becoming outlaws, and outlaws are a threat to the security of any community.
The Brazilian newspaper O Estado de São Paulo reported concerning a gang of homeless children: “They have no family, no relatives, and no hope for the future. They live each day as if it were the last. . . . The children . . . do not lose any time: They take, in seconds, a teenager’s wristwatch, jerk off the neck chain of a woman, attack an aged man’s pocket. And they also lose no time in disappearing in the crowds. . . . Sexual intercourse starts at an early age among the . . . minors. Eleven-year-old girls and 12-year-old boys come together and then break up the romance in one or two months, with the same ease with which it started.”
Why They Live on the Streets
It is not easy to help homeless children. One report showed that 30 percent of the street children were so scared that they refused to give to authorities any information about their background, not even their names. But why do they live on the streets? Could it be the desire to be independent? This was the case with one Brazilian youth who said that he would not go home again because his father would not let him do what he wanted. However, according to the Mexican newspaper El Universal, the main reason for the high number of street children is abandonment by their fathers. Thus, marital breakdown can be blamed as a major cause for the rise in the number of street urchins.
In addition, some parents are irresponsible in caring for their offspring, beating them, sexually abusing them, throwing them out, or just ignoring them. As a result, the abused or neglected child often feels that he is better off by himself, even on the streets.
Yet, children need loving care and guidance. This was well expressed by James Grant, UNICEF’s executive director. Quoted in an editorial of the Latin America Daily Post eninputd “Kids and Tomorrow,” he states: “By the age of three or four years, 90 percent of a person’s brain cells are already instructioned and physical development is advanced to the point where the pattern is set for the rest of a person’s life. Those early years therefore cry out for protection, both to defend the child’s right to develop to its full potential and to invest in the development of people so that they can more fully contribute to the well-being of their families and their nations.”
Thus, observers are worried, blaming the economy, the governments, or the public for homeless children. The same editorial continued: “Neither the humanitarian nor the economic case for ‘investing in children’ has made much progress. . . . ‘Economic adjustment’ has often meant that subsidies on food and everyday necessities have been cut back. . . . Coming on top of rising unemployment and falling real wages, such cut-backs have meant that the heaviest burden of recession has been passed on to those who are least able to sustain it—the poorest families and their children.”
Without doubt, the poor economy in many countries is another reason for the increasing number of street children. Parents will push their children into the streets to earn whatever they can, however they can. Why, though, is it so hard to solve the problem of homeless children? |
Divine Rulership (dn)
1972 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/library/r1/lp-e/all-publications/brochures-and-booklets/divine-rulership-dn | input Page/Publishers’ Page
Divine Rulership—The Only Hope of All Mankind
HOW has the mounting world trouble affected you, our reader? Has it caused you to lose all hope for a brighter tomorrow? It has not affected us in that way. You may wonder why not. Well, it is because we have a hope that is solidly based. In fact, the growing world trouble makes us all the more confident that we have an unfailing hope, the best hope. Our desire is to share it with you. This explains why we are publishing this booklet. It presents in print the public address that features the chain of Divine Rulership Assemblies that is encircling all the earth. May your reading it bolster, if not even rekindle, hope within your heart.
—THE PUBLISHER |
Sing Praises (ssb)
1984 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/Ssb | Song 109
Life Everlasting Is Promised
(Psalm 37:29)
1. Life everlasting is promised
By God Almighty, supreme,
Here on this earth in perfection.
All this is no mere dream.
(Chorus)
2. True is the promise God made us,
Soon to be grandly fulfilled:
‘Meek ones the earth will inherit.’
This is what God has willed.
(Chorus)
3. Our God, Jehovah, assures us
That he will make all things new.
Down from the heavens will trickle
His rich blessings, like dew.
(Chorus)
4. Jesus has fully confirmed it;
Paradise will be restored.
Then, in the new earth, Jehovah
Will be ever adored.
(CHORUS)
We can live forever.
It’s worth all endeavor.
God’s promise is faithful.
His Word will come true. |
Creation (ce)
1985 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/ce | Chapter 14
The Human Miracle
1. What fact about the brain would seem to present a major problem for it?
OF ALL the marvelous things on earth, none is more astounding than the human brain. For example, every second some 100 million bits of information pour into the brain from the various senses. But how can it avoid being hopelessly buried by this avalanche? If we can think about only one thing at a time, how does the mind cope with these millions of simultaneous messages? Obviously, the mind not only survives the barrage but handles it with ease.
2, 3. In what two ways does the brain cope with this problem?
2 How it does so is only one of the many wonders of the human brain. Two factors are involved. First, in the brain stem there is a network of nerves the size of your little finger. This network is called the reticular formation. It acts as a kind of traffic control center, monitoring the millions of messages coming into the brain, sifting out the trivial and selecting the essential for attention by the cerebral cortex. Each second this little network of nerves permits only a few hundred, at most, to enter the conscious mind.
3 Second, a further pinpointing of our attention seems to come about by waves that sweep the brain 8 to 12 times per second. These waves cause periods of high sensitivity, during which the brain notes the stronger signals and acts upon them. It is believed that by means of these waves the brain scans itself, in this way focusing on the essentials. Thus an amazing flurry of activity is going on in our heads every second!
Something “to Wonder At”
4. In spite of intensive scientific research to understand the brain, what still remains true?
4 In recent years scientists have made tremendous strides in studies of the brain. Even so, what they have learned is nothing compared to what remains unknown. One researcher said that, after thousands of years of speculation and recent decades of intensive scientific research, our brains, along with the universe, remain “essentially mysterious.”1 Certainly the human brain is easily the most mysterious part of the human miracle—“miracle” meaning something “to wonder at.”
5. What fact about the development of the human brain in a growing infant shows the gulf between it and the brains of animals?
5 The wonder begins in the womb. Three weeks after conception brain cells start forming. They grow in spurts, at times up to 250,000 cells a minute. After birth the brain continues growing and forming its network of connections. The gulf separating the human brain from that of any animal quickly manifests itself: “The brain of the human infant, unlike that of any other animal, triples in size during its first year,” states the book The Universe Within.2 In time, about 100 billion nerve cells, called neurons, as well as other types of cells, are packed into a human brain, although it makes up only 2 percent of the body’s weight.
6. How do nerve signals flow from neuron to neuron?
6 The key brain cells—the neurons—do not actually touch one another. They are separated by synapses, tiny spaces less than one millionth of an inch across. These gaps are bridged by chemicals called neurotransmitters, 30 of which are known, but the brain may possess many more. These chemical signals are received at one end of the neuron by a maze of tiny filaments called dendrites. The signals are then transmitted at the other end of the neuron by a nerve fiber called an axon. In the neurons the signals are electrical, but across the gaps they are chemical. Thus the transmission of nerve signals is electrochemical in nature. Each impulse is of the same strength, but the intensity of the signal depends upon the frequency of the impulses, which may be as high as one thousand a second.
7. What feature of the brain has the Bible commented on, and what have scientists learned that agrees with this?
7 It is not certain just what physiological changes take place in the brain when we learn. But experimental evidence suggests that as we learn, especially in early life, better connections are formed, and more of the chemicals bridging the gaps between neurons are released. Continued use strengthens the connections, and thus learning is reinforced. “Pathways that are often activated together are strengthened in some way,” reports Scientific American.3 Interesting on this point is the Bible’s comment that deeper matters are more easily understood by mature people “who through use have their perceptive powers trained.” (Hebrews 5:14) Research has revealed that unused mental powers fade away. Thus the brain, like a muscle, is strengthened by use and weakened by disuse.
8. What is one of the great unresolved issues concerning the brain?
8 The vast numbers of microscopic nerve fibers making these connections within the brain are often referred to as its “wiring.” They are precisely placed within a maze of staggering complexity. But how they are placed in the exact spots called for by the “wiring diagrams” is a mystery. “Undoubtedly the most important unresolved issue in the development of the brain,” one scientist said, “is the question of how neurons make specific patterns of connections. . . . Most of the connections seem to be precisely established at an early stage of development.”4 Another researcher adds that these specifically mapped-out areas of the brain “are common throughout the nervous system, and how this precise wiring is laid down remains one of the great unsolved problems.”5
9. How many connections do scientists estimate exist within the brain, and what does one authority say as to its capacity?
9 The number of these connections is astronomical! Each neuron may have thousands of connections with other neurons. Not only are there connections between neurons, but there are also microcircuits that are set up directly between the dendrites themselves. “These ‘microcircuits,’” says one neurologist, “add a totally new dimension to our already mind-boggling conception of how the brain works.”6 Some researchers believe that the “billions upon billions of nerve cells in the human brain make perhaps as many as a quadrillion connections.”7 With what capacity? Carl Sagan states that the brain could hold information that “would fill some twenty million volumes, as many as in the world’s largest libraries.”8
10. (a) In what ways does man’s cerebral cortex differ from that of animals, and with what advantages to man? (b) What did one researcher say about this?
10 It is the cerebral cortex of the brain that sets man far apart from any animal. It is less than a quarter of an inch thick, and it forms a fissured mold snug against the skull. If laid out, the cortex would measure about two and a half square feet, with some ten thousand miles of connecting fibers per cubic inch. The human cortex not only is far bigger than that of any animal, but it also has a much larger uncommitted area. That is to say, it is not committed to handling the physical functions of the body but is free for the higher mental processes that separate people from animals. “We are not just smarter apes,” one researcher said. Our minds “make us qualitatively different from all other forms of life.”9
Our Far Greater Capability
11. How does the human brain give man a flexibility in learning that animals do not have?
11 “What distinguishes the human brain,” a scientist said, “is the variety of more specialized activities it is capable of learning.”10 Computer science uses the term “hardwired” to refer to built-in characteristics based on fixed circuitry, in contrast to functions put into a computer by a programmer. “Applied to human beings,” one authority writes, “hard wiring refers to innate abilities or, at least, predispositions.”11 In people there are many built-in capacities for learning, but not the learning itself. Animals, by contrast, have hardwired instinctive wisdom, but limited capacities to learn new things.
12. In contrast to animals, with what capability are human brains preprogrammed, and what freedom does this grant people?
12 The Universe Within notes that the most intelligent animal “never develops a mind like that of a human being. For it lacks what we have: preprogramming of our neural equipment that enables us to form concepts out of what we see, language out of what we hear, and thoughts out of our experiences.” But we must, by input from our surroundings, program the brain, otherwise, as the book states, “nothing resembling the human mind would develop . . . Without that immense infusion of experience, scarcely a trace of intellect would appear.”12 So the capability that is built into the human brain enables us to construct the human intellect. And, unlike animals, we have the free will to program our intellects as we choose, based on our own knowledge, values, opportunities and goals.
Language Unique to Humans
13, 14. (a) What example of preprogramming leaves great flexibility for people to program into their intellect whatever they choose? (b) In view of this, what did one noted linguist say about animals and language?
13 An outstanding example of hardwired capabilities with great flexibility for programming by us is language. Specialists agree that “the human brain is genetically programmed for language development,”13 and that speech “can be explained only on the basis of an innate language-processing capacity within our brain.”14 Unlike the rigidity that is displayed in the instinctive behavior of animals, however, there is tremendous flexibility in a human’s use of this hardwired capacity for language.
14 A specific language is not hardwired into our brains, but we are preprogrammed with the capacity for learning languages. If two languages are spoken in the home, a child can learn both. If exposed to a third language, the child can learn it also. One girl was exposed to a number of languages from babyhood. By the time she was five she spoke eight fluently. In view of such innate abilities it is no surprise that a linguist said that chimpanzee experiments with sign language “actually prove that chimps are incapable of even the most rudimentary forms of human language.”15
15. What does science show relative to the most ancient languages?
15 Could such an amazing ability have evolved from the grunts and growls of animals? Studies of the most ancient languages rule out any such evolution of language. One specialist said that “there are no primitive languages.”16 Anthropologist Ashley Montagu agreed that so-called primitive languages “are often a great deal more complex and more efficient than the languages of the so-called higher civilizations.”17
16. What do some researchers say about the origin of language, yet to whom is it no mystery?
16 One neurologist concludes: “The more we attempt to investigate the mechanism of language, the more mysterious the process becomes.”18 Another researcher says: “At present the origin of syntactic speech remains a mystery.”19 And a third states: “The power of speech, moving men and nations as no other force, uniquely sets humans apart from animals. Yet, the origins of language remain one of the brain’s most baffling mysteries.”20 It is no mystery, however, to those who see in it the hand of a Creator who “hardwired” areas in the brain for language capabilities.
Things Only Creation Can Explain
17. (a) What fact about the brain presents evolution with an inexplicable problem? (b) What would make it logical for man to have such a tremendous brain capacity?
17 The Encyclopædia Britannica states that man’s brain “is endowed with considerably more potential than is realizable in the course of one person’s lifetime.”21 It also has been stated that the human brain could take any load of learning and memory put on it now, and a billion times that! But why would evolution produce such an excess? “This is, in fact, the only example in existence where a species was provided with an organ that it still has not learned how to use,” admitted one scientist. He then asked: “How can this be reconciled with evolution’s most fundamental thesis: Natural selection proceeds in small steps, each of which must confer on its bearer a minimal, but nonetheless measurable, advantage?” He added that the human brain’s development “remains the most inexplicable aspect of evolution.”22 Since the evolutionary process would not produce and pass on such excessive never-to-be-used brain capacity, is it not more reasonable to conclude that man, with the capacity for endless learning, was designed to live forever?
18. What was one scientist’s summation of the human brain, and what shows its capabilities?
18 Carl Sagan, amazed that the human brain could hold information that “would fill some twenty million volumes,” stated: “The brain is a very big place in a very small space.”23 And what happens in this small space defies human understanding. For example, imagine what must be going on in the brain of a pianist playing a difficult musical composition, with all fingers flying over the keys. What an astonishing sense of movement his brain must have, to order the fingers to strike the right keys at the right time with the right force to match the notes in his head! And if he hits a wrong note, the brain immediately lets him know about it! All this incredibly complex operation has been programmed into his brain by years of practice. But it is made possible only because musical capability was preprogrammed into the human brain from birth.
19. What explains the intellectual qualities and other marvelous abilities possessed by the human brain?
19 No animal brain ever conceived such things, much less is able to do them. Nor does any evolutionary theory provide an explanation. Is it not evident that man’s intellectual qualities mirror those of a Supreme Intellect? This harmonizes with Genesis 1:27, which states: “God proceeded to create the man in his image.” The animals were not created in God’s image. That is why they do not have the capabilities man has. Though animals do amazing things by predetermined, rigid instincts, they are no match at all for humans with their flexibility in thinking and acting and their ability to continually build on previous knowledge.
20. In what way is man’s altruism inconsistent with evolution?
20 The human capacity for altruism—unselfish giving—creates another problem for evolution. As one evolutionist noted: “Anything that has evolved by natural selection should be selfish.” And many humans are selfish, of course. But as he later acknowledged: “It is possible that yet another unique quality of man is a capacity for genuine, disinterested, true altruism.”24 Another scientist added: “Altruism is built into us.”25 Only in humans is it practiced with an awareness of the cost, or sacrifice, that may be involved.
Appreciating the Human Miracle
21. What abilities and qualities of man remove him far beyond any animal?
21 Just consider: Man originates abstract thinking, consciously sets goals, makes plans to reach them, initiates work to carry them out and finds satisfaction in their accomplishment. Created with an eye for beauty, an ear for music, a flair for art, an urge to learn, an insatiable curiosity, and an imagination that invents and creates—man finds joy and fulfillment in exercising these gifts. He is challenged by problems, and delights in using his mental and physical powers to solve them. A moral sense to determine right and wrong and a conscience to prick him when he strays—these too man has. He finds happiness in giving, and joy in loving and being loved. All such activities enhance his pleasure in living and give purpose and meaning to his life.
22. What contemplations make man feel his smallness and cause him to grope for understanding?
22 A human can contemplate the plants and animals, the grandeur of the mountains and oceans around him, the vastness of the starry heavens above him, and feel his smallness. He is aware of time and eternity, wonders how he got here and where he is going, and gropes to understand what is behind it all. No animal entertains such thoughts. But a human seeks the whys and wherefores of things. All of this results from his being endowed with an awesome brain and his bearing the “image” of the One who made him.
23. How did David give credit for his origin, and what did he say about his formation in the womb?
23 With amazing insight, the ancient psalmist David gave credit to the One who designed the brain and whom he considered to be responsible for the miracle of human birth. He said: “I shall laud you because in a fear-inspiring way I am wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, as my soul is very well aware. My bones were not hidden from you when I was made in secret, when I was woven in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw even the embryo of me, and in your book all its parts were down in writing.”—Psalm 139:14-16.
24. What scientific discoveries make David’s words all the more amazing?
24 Truly, it can be said that the fertilized egg in the mother’s womb contains all the parts of the emerging human body “down in writing.” The heart, the lungs, the kidneys, the eyes and ears, the arms and legs, and the awesome brain—these and all the other parts of the body were ‘written down’ in the genetic code of the fertilized egg in the mother’s womb. Contained in this code are internal timetables for the appearance of these parts, each one in its proper order. This fact was recorded in the Bible nearly three thousand years before modern science ever discovered the genetic code!
25. To what conclusion does all of this lead?
25 Is not the existence of man with his amazing brain truly a miracle, a cause for wonderment? Is it not also evident that such a miracle can be accounted for only by creation, not evolution?
[Blurb on page 168]
How can the brain cope with 100 million messages pouring into it every second?
[Blurb on page 169]
The brain scans itself about every tenth of a second to focus on the essentials
[Blurb on page 169]
Our brains remain “essentially mysterious”
[Blurb on page 173]
“We are not just smarter apes.” Our minds “make us qualitatively different from all other forms of life”
[Blurb on page 175]
“The origins of language remain one of the brain’s most baffling mysteries”
[Blurb on page 175]
The human brain’s development “remains the most inexplicable aspect of evolution”
[Blurb on page 177]
Man’s awesome brain bears the “image” of the One who made him
[Box/Picture on page 171]
THE HUMAN BRAIN—An ‘Unsolved Mystery’?
“The human brain is the most marvelous and mysterious object in the whole universe.”—Anthropologist Henry F. Osborna
“How does the brain produce thoughts? That is the central question and we have still no answer to it.”—Physiologist Charles Sherringtonb
“In spite of the steady accumulation of detailed knowledge how the human brain works is still profoundly mysterious.”—Biologist Francis Crickc
“Anyone who speaks of a computer as an ‘electronic brain’ has never seen a brain.”—Science editor Dr. Irving S. Bengelsdorfd
“Our active memories hold several billion times more information than a large contemporary research computer.”—Science writer Morton Hunte
“Since the brain is different and immeasurably more complicated than anything else in the known universe, we may have to change some of our most ardently held ideas before we’re able to fathom the brain’s mysterious structure.”—Neurologist Richard M. Restakf
Regarding the huge gulf between humans and animals, Alfred R. Wallace, the ‘co-discoverer of evolution,’ wrote to Darwin: “Natural selection could only have endowed the savage with a brain a little superior to that of the ape, whereas he possesses one very little inferior to that of an average member of our learned society.” Darwin, upset by this admission, replied: “I hope you have not murdered completely your own and my child”g
To say that the human brain evolved from that of any animal is to defy reason and the facts. Far more logical is this conclusion: “I am left with no choice but to acknowledge the existence of a Superior Intellect, responsible for the design and development of the incredible brain-mind relationship—something far beyond man’s capacity to understand. . . . I have to believe all this had an intelligent beginning, that Someone made it happen.”—Neurosurgeon Dr. Robert J. Whiteh
[Diagram on page 170]
(For fully formatted text, see publication)
The brain, like a muscle, is strengthened by use and weakened by disuse
Dendrites
Neuron
Axon
Synapse
Neuron
Axon
[Picture on page 172]
The brain could hold information that “would fill some twenty million volumes”
[Pictures on page 174]
The brain of a child is preprogrammed to learn complicated languages quickly, but “chimps are incapable of even the most rudimentary forms of human language”
[Picture on page 176]
Humans have capabilities far beyond those of any animal
[Picture on page 178]
“In your book all its parts were down in writing” |
Ministry School (be)
2002 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/be | Guidelines for School Overseers
IN EACH congregation, an elder is appointed to be the Theocratic Ministry School overseer. If you have been entrusted with this responsibility, your enthusiasm for the school and your personal interest in the progress of each student can be significant factors in what the school accomplishes locally.
An important part of your assignment is to preside at your congregation’s weekly Theocratic Ministry School. Keep in mind that in addition to the students who have assignments on any given occasion, others are in attendance. Handle the school in such a way that the entire congregation receives motivating, practical reminders related to at least one of the objectives of the school that are mentioned on pages 5 to 8 of this textbook.
Take an interest in all students, whether they are scheduled to handle reading assignments, to give demonstration-style presentations, or to deliver talks. Help them to view what they are doing not merely as an assignment but as an opportunity to make progress in their service to Jehovah. The effort that they personally put forth is, of course, a key factor in their progress. But it is also important that you show kind interest, help them to understand the value of the points of counsel, and explain how to apply such counsel. To that end, listen carefully to each talk so that you can provide valuable observations.
Be sure to start and end the school on time. Set a good example by keeping your own comments within the time allotted for them. If a student talk runs overtime, you or an assistant should give a signal. The student should complete his sentence and leave the platform. If some other part of the program runs overtime, shorten your own comments, and then discuss the matter with the brother after the meeting.
When you are present, you should conduct the school. If on occasion you are not able to be present, another elder previously designated by the body of elders should care for the school. If you need help with preparing schedules, writing out and distributing assignment slips, or arranging for substitutions on the program, a ministerial servant assigned by the body of elders may assist with these things.
Enrolling Students. Encourage all publishers to enroll in the school. Others who are actively associating with the congregation may enroll if they agree with the teachings of the Bible and their life is in harmony with Christian principles. When someone expresses a desire to enroll, warmly commend him. If the person is not yet a publisher, you as the school overseer should discuss with him the requirements for enrollment in the school, preferably doing so in the presence of the one who is conducting a Bible study with him (or in the presence of a believing parent). These requirements are the same as for a person to become an unbaptized publisher. They are found on pages 97 to 99 of Organized to Accomplish Our Ministry. Keep an up-to-date list of all who are enrolled in the school.
Using the Counsel Form. The counsel form for each student is in his personal copy of the textbook, on pages 79 to 81. As indicated by the color coding, any counsel point from 1 to 17 may be used when a student is given a reading assignment. For demonstration-style presentations, any counsel point except 7, 52, and 53 may be used. Counsel for talks includes all the points except 7, 18, and 30.
When a point of counsel is assigned, the school overseer should see that a penciled entry is made under “Date Assigned” in the space provided next to that point on the counsel form in the student’s book. After the student cares for his assignment, privately ask whether he did the exercise(s) shown at the end of the discussion of the counsel point. If so, a check mark should be put in the box on the form. If you are recommending that he continue to work on the same point of counsel, no additional note is needed on the counsel form; simply do not fill in the blank for “Date Completed.” That should be marked only when he is ready to move on to another point. Additionally, on page 82 of the student’s book, to the left of the setting that was used, the date should be noted following each student talk. There is space on the counsel form and on the list of settings to allow for each one to be used twice. Students should have their books with them during the program.
Assign just one point of speech counsel at a time. Normally, it is best to cover the counsel points in the order that they are listed. However, if some students show outstanding ability, you may encourage them to study and apply certain lessons on their own. Then you can work with them on those points that you believe will contribute most to their development as effective speakers and teachers.
Even if a student has been enrolled in the school for many years, he can benefit greatly from studying and applying each lesson. To help students with specific needs, you may select certain speech qualities for them to work on instead of going through the counsel form in a routine manner.
Giving Counsel. When giving counsel, make good use of Bible examples and principles. Students should sense that the counsel given and the spirit in which it is offered are governed by the lofty principles of God’s Word.
Keep in mind that you are a ‘fellow worker’ with your brothers and sisters. (2 Cor. 1:24) Like them, you need to keep applying yourself to improve as a speaker and teacher. Personally study the book Benefit From Theocratic Ministry School Education, apply its counsel, and set a good example for others to do the same.
As you do so, make it your aim to assist students to become good readers, capable speakers, and effective teachers. To that end, endeavor to provide whatever help is needed so that the students understand what the various speech qualities are, why these are important, and how to cultivate them. This textbook is laid out in a form that will help you to do that. However, more is often needed on your part than simply reading the words in the book. Discuss the idea that they express and how to apply it.
If a student did well on a certain point, commend him. Briefly state what made it effective or why what he did is important. If he could beneficially give further attention to a certain matter, be sure that he understands why. Discuss how to go about it. Be specific, and at the same time, be kind.
Realize that for many, getting up to give a presentation before a group is very difficult. If a person feels that he did not do well, he may wonder whether he should keep on trying. Imitate Jesus, who did not crush a “bruised reed” or extinguish a “smoldering flaxen wick.” (Matt. 12:20) Take into account the emotional state of the student. When offering counsel, be guided by whether the student is relatively new or is a seasoned publisher. Warm and genuine commendation can strengthen people to keep on doing their best.
Treat each student in a dignified manner. Romans 12:10 tells us: “In showing honor to one another take the lead.” What appropriate advice for a counselor in the Theocratic Ministry School! If the student is older than you, carefully apply the direction given at 1 Timothy 5:1, 2. Regardless of a person’s age, however, when counsel that involves making adjustments in his way of doing things is offered in a kind manner, it is often more readily accepted.—Prov. 25:11.
When counseling, keep before the student the objective of the training. That objective is not simply to do well enough to be commended and to be told to go on to the next point of counsel. The goal is not to be a speaker and a teacher who will be admired by others. (Prov. 25:27) Our desire is to use our gift of speech to praise Jehovah and to help others to get to know and love him. Our training is to equip us to care effectively for the work outlined at Matthew 24:14 and 28:19, 20. Baptized brothers who qualify may in time be invited to share in caring for “the flock of God” as public speakers and teachers.—1 Pet. 5:2, 3.
Suggest that students read the textbook discussion of their next point of counsel within a few days after it is assigned. Encourage them to apply what they learn in preparing their parts for the school, in daily conversation, in commenting at meetings, and in the field service.
Making Assignments. This should ordinarily be done at least three weeks in advance. All such assignments should be made in written form if possible.
Parts that involve instructing the congregation should be assigned to elders, preferably to those who will handle such parts effectively, and to ministerial servants who are good teachers.
In determining which student talks to assign to brothers and which ones to sisters, follow the instructions provided with the school schedule. If there are few brothers but many sisters who give student talks, be careful to allow the brothers sufficient opportunity to give talks that involve more than reading.
Consider the circumstances of individuals when making assignments. Is it necessary to assign a certain elder or ministerial servant to speak on the school on the same night that he is on the Service Meeting or the same week that he has a public talk in the congregation? Is it necessary to assign a certain sister to give a presentation on the same night as one of her young children, whom she may need to help? Especially in the case of a young one or a student who is not yet baptized, is the subject suitable? Check to be sure that the assignment is suitable for the counsel point on which the student is working.
For assignments given to sisters, the student will usually select her own setting in harmony with the instructions on pages 78 and 82. One assistant should be assigned, but an additional assistant may be used. If a student requests an assistant who will be particularly well suited to portray a certain setting, consideration should be shown for that request.
Auxiliary Classes. If there are more than 50 students enrolled, you may want to consider use of auxiliary locations for parts handled by students. According to local need, this arrangement might be used for all student presentations or just for the last two.
Each auxiliary class should have a qualified counselor, preferably an elder. Where necessary, a well-qualified ministerial servant may fill in. Approval for these counselors should be given by the body of elders. Work in close cooperation with them so that there is effective follow-up with students regardless of the location of their next presentation.
Special Reading Class. If the body of elders determines that a number of individuals in the congregation need basic reading instruction in the language spoken in the congregation, you may make arrangements for this in conjunction with the Theocratic Ministry School. This instruction may involve basic literacy skills, or its objective may be reading improvement.
Such classes do not have to be held at the same time that student talks in the Theocratic Ministry School are being given. In order to provide sufficient help, more time may be necessary than would be possible during the school. The local elders may determine what is needed and when to have such instruction given. According to the need, arrangements may be made for group instruction or for one-on-one tutoring.
A qualified teacher is needed. Preferably, the assignment should be given to a brother who is a good reader and who is well acquainted with the language. If a brother is not available, the elders may ask a capable, exemplary sister to help. She should wear a head covering when instructing the class.—1 Cor. 11:3-10; 1 Tim. 2:11, 12.
The booklet Apply Yourself to Reading and Writing has been made available in many languages. It is designed to teach basic literacy skills. Other instruction material may also be used, depending on the level of reading ability of those enrolled. When the students have progressed sufficiently, they should be encouraged to share in the regular Theocratic Ministry School program.
As Theocratic Ministry School overseer, you can do much to benefit the congregation. Prepare well, and in harmony with the counsel at Romans 12:6-8, care for your assignment as a precious trust from God. |
Pathway (ph)
2010 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/library/r1/lp-e/all-publications/brochures-and-booklets/pathway-ph | Table of outputs
3 We All Need Guidance and Direction
5 The Search for Practical Guidance
8 A Book That Is Extraordinary
11 Promises That We Can Trust
14 Getting to Know the Originator of All Things
17 A God of Love and Justice
21 A God Full of Wisdom and Great in Power
24 An End to All Problems
27 Peace and Happiness Soon!
31 To Find Out More |
Sing Praises (ssb)
1984 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/Ssb | Song 66
The Power of Kindness
(Romans 2:4)
1. How thankful we to God should be,
Who loving-kindness shows
To undeserving fallen men,
As ev’ry Christian knows!
Though he’s so great and powerful,
He shows exceeding thoughtfulness.
His kindness both draws us to him
And moves to faithfulness.
2. As Jesus daily taught the truth,
He was both calm and meek,
With kindness taught the lowly ones,
Was mindful of the weak.
His teaching gently, lovingly,
Refreshed and blessed the weary soul,
Caused sinful men to turn to God
With hearts and minds made whole.
3. Such kindness God’s Word shows to be
A fruit that we must bear
If we would be like God and Christ
And Kingdom blessings share.
When faced with problems that perplex,
Quite likely we will often find
That their solution simply lies
In being mild and kind.
4. What good we ministers can do
If we appreciate
That Christian kindness has a force
That lasting is and great!
Not only are receivers blessed
But even more are those who give.
Through kindness we bring praise to God,
By whom we move and live. |
Bible Teach (bh)
2014 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/bh | What Does the Bible Really Teach? |
“Kingdom Come” (kc)
1981 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/kc | Chapter 18
The Kingdom Triumphant!
1. (a) What is the reason for having confidence in mankind’s future? (b) What will Armageddon mean for ruiners of the earth?
WILL mankind be destroyed off this earth? No. And the Kingdom is the reason why. For it is the “King of kings and Lord of lords,” the enthroned Jesus, who goes into action at the Kingdom’s ‘coming,’ to crush Satan’s earthly organization and its oppressive systems. At Armageddon, those would-be ruiners of the earth will themselves be brought to ruin.—Revelation 11:15, 18; 14:19, 20; 19:11-16.
2, 3. (a) What warning does Zephaniah’s prophecy sound? (b) What is required for survival?
2 Our God, Jehovah, has warned us to keep wide awake to what he is about to accomplish at Armageddon.
“‘Therefore keep yourselves in expectation of me,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘till the day of my rising up to the booty, for my judicial decision is to gather nations, for me to collect together kingdoms, in order to pour out upon them my denunciation, all my burning anger; for by the fire of my zeal all the earth will be devoured.’”
But there will be survivors, many of them! And Jehovah is already preparing them, as described by these further words of the same prophecy:
“For then I shall give to peoples the change to a pure language, in order for them all to call upon the name of Jehovah, in order to serve him shoulder to shoulder.”—Zephaniah 3:8, 9.
3 Will you be one of those survivors? Yes, if you “call upon the name of Jehovah.” How may you do this? By making the change to a “pure language”—taking into your heart the cleansing good news of God’s kingdom, and acting upon it. (Mark 13:10) Exercising faith in God’s provision through Christ, you must do as Peter admonished his own people 19 centuries ago: “Repent, therefore, and turn around so as to get your sins blotted out, that seasons of refreshing may come from the person of Jehovah.”—Acts 3:19.
4, 5. (a) How may you come to enjoy intimacy with Jehovah? (b) How may you respond to the “pure language”?
4 Like Jesus, you must show yourself to be no part of Satan’s world. (John 17:14, 16) By dedicating yourself to Jehovah through Christ and undergoing water baptism in symbol thereof, you may enter into a very intimate relationship with Jehovah God. (1 Peter 3:21) This intimacy you should seek always to cultivate, as you serve God “shoulder to shoulder” with all of his organized people on earth. According to your opportunity, you will want to share with these in making known “this good news of the kingdom” to all who will listen.—Matthew 24:14; Romans 10:10-18; Hebrews 13:15.
5 Are you one who is thus responding to the “pure language” of Bible truth? Then place your implicit trust in Jehovah. “As a mighty One, he will save.”—Zephaniah 3:17; Isaiah 12:2-5.
6. What fine counsel did John give, and what should this encourage us to do?
6 As you cultivate love for Jehovah and his righteousness, you also need to live in harmony with Bible principles. The apostle John gave this fine counsel:
“Do not be loving either the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him; because everything in the world—the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the showy display of one’s means of life—does not originate with the Father, but originates with the world. Furthermore, the world is passing away and so is its desire, but he that does the will of God remains forever.” (1 John 2:15-17)
“Forever”! Does that not make it worth while to do God’s will zealously during the final days of Satan’s wicked system? Does it not encourage us in these “last days” to keep close to Jehovah’s organization, as represented on earth by the “faithful and discreet slave”?—Matthew 24:45-47.
A MONUMENTAL WORK
7. After Armageddon, what will remain?
7 As the smoke of Armageddon’s battle clears, Jehovah’s visible organization will still be here, ready for use in whatever way he directs. And may we be counted worthy, also, to be here individually!—Zephaniah 2:3; Psalm 25:8, 9, 20.
8. (a) What will then be needed to accomplish God’s work? (b) How will God’s people have been prepared?
8 God’s people will need to keep organized under the Kingdom government in order to accomplish the monumental work of beautifying the cleansed earth, transforming our globe into a veritable “garden of God.” (Compare Ezekiel 31:8.) Do you also want to share in that work? A willing spirit and God-given energy will be needed to perform that task—the same kind of zeal that Jehovah’s Witnesses now show in ‘preaching this good news of the kingdom in all the earth.’ All will need to be real workers after the example of the King, who said: “My Father has kept working until now, and I keep working.”—John 5:17; 4:34.
9. (a) What kind of work will there be? (b) What indicates this will be no drudgery?
9 No doubt housing projects will flourish earth wide—not the constructing of ugly city blocks of tenements, but the landscaping of beautiful family residences in paradisaic surroundings. Yes, there will be much work to do, but it will be joyful, interesting work, a rewarding work concerning which King Solomon said, “There is nothing better” than that “every man should eat and indeed drink and see good for all his hard work.”—Ecclesiastes 3:12, 13; compare Isaiah 65:17, 21-25.
10. What does Revelation 21:1-4 show as to conditions then?
10 Under what conditions will the Lord’s “other sheep” carry out their work? (John 10:16) Revelation chapter 21 tells us what we may expect. It describes “a new heaven and a new earth.” No longer do corrupt human systems of government hold control in society, for “the former heaven and the former earth” have passed away. Also, the Devil and his subtle influence have been removed. No longer is there a confused “sea” of humanity, tossed to and fro as they pursue godlessness. Instead, a stable human society, the “new earth,” will provide a firm basis for doing God’s will. There you may follow out loyally the directives of the “new heaven,” comprised of the King and his “bride” of 144,000 members. In its capacity as “the holy city, New Jerusalem,” this royal “bride” will ‘come down from heaven’ in that it turns attention to the reconstruction work to be done on earth. And with what happy results! As John relates:
“Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them. And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.”—Revelation 21:1-4.
11. (a) What grand prospects await the millions of survivors? (b) How will God populate the earth?
11 Notice that there is embodied in that promise the grand prospect that “death will be no more.” It is expected that millions will find salvation through the “great tribulation” to enter into the blessings of the “new earth.” (Revelation 7:9, 14) Yet thousands of millions, billions, will ultimately enjoy life here under the Kingdom. Why do we say “billions”? After the flood of Noah’s day, Jehovah gave to the righteous survivors a mandate, saying: “Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth.” This suggests the joyful prospect of human marriage and the bringing forth of children in righteousness for at least a time after Armageddon. (Genesis 9:1, 7; 10:1-32; Matthew 24:37) However, that will not be God’s principal way of ‘filling the earth’ with mankind at that time. How, then, will God populate our globe, thus accomplishing his original purpose? (Genesis 1:28; Isaiah 45:18) It will be by repeating, billions of times over, his great miracle of the resurrection.
“GOD . . . OF THE LIVING”
12. What teaching of Jesus astounded the crowds?
12 On one occasion, Jesus answered his opposers, saying:
“As regards the resurrection of the dead, did you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob’? He is the God, not of the dead, but of the living.”
From God’s standpoint, those faithful men were as good as alive, and would be resurrected. The crowds were astounded at that teaching.—Matthew 22:31-33; Luke 20:37, 38.
13. What may be expected with regard to faithful “other sheep” who have died?
13 It is reasonable to expect that such faithful ones who endured persecution “that they might attain a better resurrection,” along with integrity-keeping ones of the “other sheep” who today may die before Armageddon, would experience an early resurrection into the “new earth.” Perhaps you yourself have lost dear ones in death, even faithful servants of God. What a joy to welcome these back from the dead, and to tell them of Jehovah’s great act of vindication!—Hebrews 11:35.
14. What marvelous hope is described at John 5:28, 29 and Revelation 20:11-13?
14 However, what of the others of mankind who have died down through almost 6,000 years of history? Jesus says: “Do not marvel at this, because the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice and come out.” (John 5:28, 29) “The dead, the great and the small,” will come forth from the grave to stand before God’s judgment throne.—Revelation 20:11-13.
15. Why will the judgment time not be fearsome?
15 Will that be a fearsome time for the resurrected ones? Religious pictures of the Last Judgment notwithstanding, it will be a most joyous time. For those resurrected ones will not be judged according to their wrong deeds of former times, but, rather, according to their willingness to live up to the righteous requirements for life in the realm of God’s kingdom. (Compare Romans 6:7.) And every effort will be made to help them along the pathway to complete reconciliation with God. The greatest educational program of all time will be carried forward under the Kingdom organization.
16. (a) What are the “scrolls”? (b) Why will education be far superior in the “new earth”?
16 “Scrolls” will be opened. These will be instructions published to help resurrected humans to perform those “deeds” that will qualify them for everlasting life. (Revelation 20:12) The educational facilities and programs in the “new earth,” being directed by Jehovah and his Messianic King, will be far advanced in comparison with anything Satan’s world has ever offered.
BLESSINGS FOR THE “GREAT CROWD”
17. On surviving into that “new earth,” what will you need to do?
17 However, if you are one of the “great crowd” of Armageddon survivors, where will you fit into this picture? The apostle Paul said: “Just as in Adam all are dying, so also in the Christ all will be made alive.” (1 Corinthians 15:22) You, too, will need the benefit of Christ’s ransom, which he will use in raising mankind to perfection during his 1,000-year reign. You, too, will need to avail yourself of the education in the millennial “scrolls,” in order loyally to perform the “deeds” that will lead to your name’s being written in “the scroll of life.”
18. What Kingdom program should bring special joy?
18 Today, your imperfect human brain is capable of absorbing and retaining only a fraction of its full potential. Perhaps you have been heard to exclaim, ‘If only I could remember!’ How thankful you should be for Christ’s sacrifice! For, as part of the Kingdom’s program for uplifting mankind not only will bodily aches and pains be removed but that marvelous creation—your human mind—will be perfected for studying out and retaining information, reasoning upon it and, above all, worshipfully appreciating the grand qualities of our God, Jehovah. Language barriers, which resulted from the confusion of tongues at the tower of Babel, will be removed, and all mankind will be taught one language so as to worship Jehovah together in unity, as suggested in Zephaniah 3:9.
19. In what joy will the Kingdom’s subjects share?
19 Perfect human hearts, also, will be motivated by love of God and neighbor. There is no wonder that the Sovereign Lord Jehovah addressed these words to his appreciative people:
“Here I am creating new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be called to mind, neither will they come up into the heart. But exult, you people, and be joyful forever in what I am creating. For here I am creating [New] Jerusalem a cause for joyfulness and her people a cause for exultation. And I will be joyful in Jerusalem and exult in my people; and no more will there be heard in her the sound of weeping or the sound of a plaintive cry.” (Isaiah 65:17-19)
The radiant joy and exultation of the 144,000 corulers of Christ in his kingdom will be reflected to the billions of the Kingdom’s subjects on earth as these advance toward human perfection.
JEHOVAH’S NAME FOREVER SANCTIFIED
20. (a) Why will the 1,000 years pass quickly? (b) How did David bless Jehovah? (c) Are you moved to similar expressions of praise?
20 A thousand years will pass, just like one day from Jehovah’s standpoint, and how brief a time it will seem also to humankind, so busily occupied in constructive works! (2 Peter 3:8) We can anticipate, too, that there will be relaxation time for happy associations and healthful exercise, the enjoyment of music and other worthwhile arts, and always arrangements for worship of our Grand Creator. All will want to bless Jehovah, as did David in making arrangements for temple worship, saying:
“Yours, O Jehovah, are the greatness and the mightiness and the beauty and the excellency and the dignity; for everything in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Jehovah, the One also lifting yourself up as head over all. The riches and the glory are on account of you, and you are dominating everything; and in your hand there are power and mightiness, and in your hand is ability to make great and to give strength to all. And now, O our God, we are thanking you and praising your beauteous name.”—1 Chronicles 29:11-13.
21. (a) How will Christ conclude his millennial reign? (b) What will the Kingdom have accomplished?
21 In harmony with this magnificent expression of praise, the One greater than David, Christ Jesus, will conclude his millennial reign of peace and reconstruction by doing what the apostle Paul foretold:
“Next, the end, when he hands over the kingdom to his God and Father, when he has brought to nothing all [opposing] government and all authority and power.”
Once and for all, God-rule will have been shown to be the right kind of government, sufficiently powerful to bring everlasting benefits to worshipers of Jehovah. Under the Kingdom’s benevolent rule, Adamic death will have been removed and all mankind made alive “in the Christ.” Thus, the billions who then live on earth will have been “set free from enslavement to corruption and have the glorious freedom of the children of God.”—Romans 8:21; 1 Corinthians 15:22-28.
22. (a) What short season of testing will follow? (b) What final act of vindication will Jesus perform?
22 For a short season, Satan will be released from the abyss, to test the perfected world of mankind regarding its loyalty to Jehovah’s kingship. An indefinite number may choose to follow the Devil, but judgment will be executed swiftly upon them. The “seed” of God’s “woman,” Christ Jesus, will perform his final act of vindication by crushing the head of the original Serpent, annihilating him and his brood as completely as by fire that lasts “day and night forever and ever.” The great issue raised in Eden as to Jehovah’s rightful sovereignty over his creatures will have been tried and settled for all time!—Revelation 20:7-10; Genesis 3:15.
23. (a) Reflection on God’s promises should cause us to do what? (b) Why should we want to see ‘God’s kingdom come’?
23 When we reflect on the marvelous promises of the “King of eternity,” our Grand Creator, the Sovereign Lord Jehovah, are we not moved in thankfulness to praise his name? Are we not moved, as were some on the day of Pentecost, to speak about “the magnificent things of God,” about his “King of kings” and the Messianic Kingdom? (Acts 2:11; Revelation 15:3; 19:16) Are we not moved to pray to our heavenly Father, “LET YOUR KINGDOM COME”? (Matthew 6:9, 10) Yes, “COME,” to destroy Satan’s works and organization out of the earth! Yes, “COME,” to provide for all mankind the right kind of government! Yes, “COME,” to bring in the glorious millennial reign for the restoration of paradise, the resurrecting of the dead and the uplifting of all willing mankind to human perfection! Yes, “COME,” that Jehovah’s matchless name may be sanctified for all eternity!
[Picture on page 180, 181]
In the new earth, children brought forth in righteousness will experience none of the woes that plague families today |
Why They “Scrape” the Sky | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/101984010 | Why They “Scrape” the Sky
DO YOU know which is the highest building in your town or city? In your country? In the world? It probably is a skyscraper. Skyscrapers are now a worldwide phenomenon. Tourist hotels scrape the skies of hundreds of popular beach resorts. Cities vie for the distinction of having the tallest skyscraper. But here’s a question that affects all of us: Are skyscrapers really beneficial to our life-style?
To satisfy your curiosity on one question, where would you expect to find the world’s tallest structure? In the United States of America? Or maybe Russia? In fact, the answer is Canada. It is the Canadian National Tower in Toronto. At 1,821 feet,a it is the tallest freestanding structure in the world. But, of course, it is a tower, not a habitable building in the normal sense of the word. In that case, which is the highest building or skyscraper in the world?
For that we have to go to the United States. But to which city? To New York, perhaps? No. To Chicago, where the Sears Tower reaches a height of 1,454 feet. Although it tops the New York World Trade Center by more than a hundred feet, both giants contain the same number of floors—110!
Speaking of heights, have you noticed how many people are fascinated by altitude? So much so that many of the highest buildings in the world have special elevator service for the tourists. And here is a question to ponder: If Elisha Graves Otis had not invented the world’s first safe elevator in 1853, would skyscrapers have become practical?
Why Have Tall Buildings?
Man’s fascination with heights goes away back into history. For example, the oldest extant historical record tells us that in the third millennium before our Common Era men got together on a valley plain in the land of Shinar, Mesopotamia, and said: “Come on! Let us build ourselves a city and also a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a celebrated name for ourselves, for fear we may be scattered over all the surface of the earth.” (Genesis 11:1-4) In effect, they wanted a tower that would “scrape the sky”—a “heavens” scraper! The result was the famous Tower of Babel.
Did you notice the motive for building that tower of long ago? “Let us make a celebrated name for ourselves.” Yes, they associated a tall building with making a reputation for themselves. In a way, they were thinking like modern-day publicity agents and commercial magnates. Why so? Because a 20th-century tendency is to think that ‘biggest is best’—and if you can have your name attached to it, even better.
In this respect, note what Frank W. Woolworth, international chain-store owner, said with regard to New York City’s 60-story Woolworth Building, constructed in 1913. (At 792 feet it was the tallest building in the world.) “I wanted to build something bigger than any other merchant ever had. The Woolworth Building is the result.” At the same time, he made an even greater name for himself as a businessman. However, in 1930 his “tower” was superseded in the skyscraper league by the 77-story Chrysler Building, rising to a height of 1,046 feet. The Chrysler reign was soon cut short by a yet higher structure, the 1,250-foot-high Empire State Building, completed in New York City in 1931.
Two major factors have influenced the worldwide proliferation of skyscrapers: the desire to exploit to the maximum the limited ground space; and on some occasions the psychological need of the financial backers to glorify themselves. As writer James C. Giblin stated: “Skyscraper design in New York was also influenced by the ambitions and desires of the people who financed the buildings. These real-estate developers, industrialists, and merchants wanted their names connected with magnificent-looking buildings that would proclaim their wealth and power to everyone who looked up at them.”
What Inspired the Architects?
From where did the modern architects get their inspiration? Mr. Giblin continues: “[They] thought that the best way to satisfy their clients was to borrow design ideas for their skyscrapers from the temples of the ancient Greeks and Romans, and from the great Gothic cathedrals of Western Europe. Those structures had been built as monuments to emperors or gods; why not use them as models for skyscraper monuments to 20th-century millionaires?”
Curiously, several modern skyscrapers have been called cathedrals. For example, the Woolworth Building, an outstanding example of modern Gothic architecture, was called by a clergyman the Cathedral of Commerce. The University of Pittsburgh skyscraper, also of Gothic style, is known as the Cathedral of Learning. And author Giblin suggests that the 36-story skyscraper of the Chicago Tribune newspaper could also rightly be called the Cathedral of Journalism.
Where Was the First Modern Skyscraper?
Where and when was the first modern skyscraper built? Since the most famous skyscraper horizon is Manhattan, it would be natural to think that New York was the first city to have a skyscraper. However, there are three North American cities that contend for that “honor”—New York, Chicago and Minneapolis. Which can rightly claim the crown?
If the definition of a skyscraper were any building over ten floors high, then New York would win with the Equitable Life Assurance Society Building, erected during 1868-70. But to architects and engineers a skyscraper is not just a building that “scrapes the sky.” The true skyscraper is based on an iron or steel framework, which was the revolutionary design innovation of the 19th century. That permitted buildings capable of sustaining great height and weight. Therefore, which city wins the accolade?
The authoritative answer is given in Space, Time and Architecture by the Swiss art historian Sigfried Giedion: “It is well known that the first skyscraper actually built . . . along modern principles of construction was the ten-story building of the Home Insurance Company of Chicago (1883-85).” Yes, Chicago was the first city to have a genuine skyscraper.
Now there appears to be a running feud between Chicago and New York as to which will have the tallest building in the world. For a long time, New York held that distinction. Then in 1974 it lost it to Chicago’s Sears Tower. But for how long? Will someone finance the construction of a yet taller skyscraper in New York? If so, what will be the motive? Will another skyscraper actually benefit New York?
Are Skyscrapers Beneficial to Man?
This leads to more far-reaching questions. Do skyscrapers and high-rise buildings really favor the man in the street? Is it conducive to good human relations to have so many people crammed into such limited areas? What about the strain on public transportation systems and the city’s sanitation facilities? Fire hazards are another factor to be taken into account.
Serious doubts are being raised about the overall efficacy of skyscrapers, especially by persons concerned about the threat to the environment and ecology. As Lewis Mumford put it: “Actually, the skyscraper, from first to last, has been largely an obstacle to intelligent city planning and architectural progress. Its chief use has been to overcrowd the land for private financial advantage, at no matter what cost to the municipality, and to provide a costly means of publicity and advertisement.” So the question is valid, Why “scrape” the sky?
[Footnotes]
a One foot = 0.305 meter.
[Picture on page 26]
Two former world-input holders—the 60-story Woolworth Building (1913) and the 110-story World Trade Center (1970), New York City |
ANCIENT WISDOM FOR MODERN LIVING
Do Not Be Anxious | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2016008 | ANCIENT WISDOM FOR MODERN LIVING
Do Not Be Anxious
BIBLE PRINCIPLE: “Stop being anxious about your lives.”—Matthew 6:25.
What does it mean? Jesus spoke those words in his Sermon on the Mount. According to one Bible dictionary, the Greek verb rendered “to be anxious” can refer to “the natural reaction of man to poverty, hunger and other troubles which befall him in his daily life.” Anxiety often involves being worried about things that may take place in the future. It is normal and proper to be concerned about our material needs and the welfare of our loved ones. (Philippians 2:20) But when Jesus said, “never be anxious,” he was advising his followers to avoid undue worry—an excessive fear of tomorrow that can take the joy out of living today.—Matthew 6:31, 34.
Is it practical today? We are wise to heed Jesus’ advice. Why? Some reference works suggest that when people worry a great deal, their sympathetic nervous system is in a constant state of activation and that this condition “is associated with medical problems that include ulcers, heart disease, and asthma.”
Jesus gave a compelling reason for avoiding undue anxiety: It is pointless. “Who of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his life span?” asked Jesus. (Matthew 6:27) Focusing on our worries will not extend our life by even a fraction of a second, let alone improve it. Besides, things often do not turn out as we feared. One scholar put it this way: “Worry about the future is wasted effort, and the future of reality is seldom as bad as the future of our fears.”
How can we avoid anxiety? First, trust in God. If God provides food for birds and clothes flowers with beauty, will he not provide the necessities of life for humans who make his worship a priority in their life? (Matthew 6:25, 26, 28-30) Second, take one day at a time. “Never be anxious about the next day,” said Jesus, “for the next day will have its own anxieties.” Would you not agree that “each day has enough of its own troubles”?—Matthew 6:34.
By heeding Jesus’ wise advice, we can spare ourselves physical harm. More than that, we will find an inner calm—what the Bible calls “the peace of God.”—Philippians 4:6, 7. |
Worship God (wt)
2002 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/wt | Chapter Two
Magnify Jehovah as the Only True God
1. Who is the only true God?
THE Bible says that although there are many who are viewed as gods, “there is actually to us one God the Father.” (1 Corinthians 8:5, 6) That “one God” is Jehovah, the Creator of all things. (Deuteronomy 6:4; Revelation 4:11) Jesus referred to him as “my God and your God.” (John 20:17) He agreed with Moses, who had earlier stated: “Jehovah is the true God; there is no other besides him.” (Deuteronomy 4:35) Jehovah is far superior to any objects of worship, such as idols, deified humans, or his enemy Satan the Devil, “the god of this system of things.” (2 Corinthians 4:3, 4) In contrast to all of these, Jehovah is, as Jesus called him, “the only true God.”—John 17:3.
2. As we learn about God, how should our lives be affected?
2 Appreciative people who learn about God’s heartwarming qualities, as well as what he has done and will yet do for us, are drawn to him. As their love for Jehovah grows, they feel impelled to magnify him. How? One way is by telling others about him. “With the mouth one makes public declaration for salvation,” states Romans 10:10. Another way is by imitating him in word and deed. “Become imitators of God, as beloved children,” says Ephesians 5:1. To do so more fully, we need to know Jehovah as he truly is.
3. What are God’s main qualities?
3 Throughout the Bible, there are many statements that identify God’s outstanding qualities. His four main attributes are wisdom, justice, power, and love. ‘With him there is wisdom.’ (Job 12:13) “All his ways are justice.” (Deuteronomy 32:4) He is “vigorous in power.” (Isaiah 40:26) “God is love.” (1 John 4:8) However, of God’s four main qualities, which is the most outstanding, the one that more than any other identifies what kind of God he is?
“God Is Love”
4. Which of God’s qualities was fundamental to his creating the universe and all living things?
4 Consider what motivated Jehovah to create the universe and intelligent spirit and human creatures. Was it his wisdom or power? No, for while God used those, they were not the motivating forces. And his justice did not require that he share the gift of life. Rather, God’s great love prompted him to share the joys of intelligent existence with others. Love moved him to purpose that obedient mankind should live forever in Paradise. (Genesis 1:28; 2:15) Love caused him to arrange for the lifting of the condemnation that Adam’s transgression brought upon mankind.
5. According to the Bible, Jehovah is the personification of which quality, and why?
5 Thus, of all of God’s qualities, the most outstanding is his love. It is his essence, or nature. As important as his wisdom, justice, and power are, the Bible never says that Jehovah is any of those. But it does say that he is love. Yes, Jehovah is the personification of love. This is love guided by principle, not emotion. God’s love is governed by the principles of truth and righteousness. It is the highest form of love, as exemplified in Jehovah God himself. Such love is an expression of complete unselfishness and is always accompanied by tangible evidence of action.
6. What makes it possible for us to imitate God, even though he is superior to us?
6 It is this wonderful quality of love that enables us to imitate such a God. As lowly, imperfect, mistake-prone humans, we may think that we could never do so successfully. But here is another example of Jehovah’s great love: He recognizes our limitations and does not require perfection of us. He knows that we are far from perfect now. (Psalm 51:5) That is why Psalm 130:3, 4 says: “If errors were what you watch, O Jah, O Jehovah, who could stand? For there is the true forgiveness with you.” Yes, Jehovah is “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in loving-kindness.” (Exodus 34:6) “You, O Jehovah, are good and ready to forgive.” (Psalm 86:5) How comforting! How refreshing it is to serve this marvelous God and to experience his loving, merciful care!
7. How can Jehovah’s love be seen in his works of creation?
7 Jehovah’s love can also be seen in his works of creation. Think of the many good things Jehovah has provided for our enjoyment, such as beautiful mountains, forests, lakes, and oceans. He has given us food in amazing variety to delight our taste and sustain us. Too, Jehovah has provided a vast array of beautiful and fragrant flowers as well as the fascinating animal creation. He made things that would give humans pleasure, even though he did not have to. True, living in this wicked world in our present imperfect condition, we cannot enjoy his creation to the full. (Romans 8:22) But just imagine what Jehovah will do for us in Paradise! The psalmist assures us: “You are opening your hand and satisfying the [proper] desire of every living thing.”—Psalm 145:16.
8. What is the most outstanding example of Jehovah’s love for us?
8 What is the most outstanding example of Jehovah’s love for humankind? The Bible explains: “God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, in order that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) Was it because of man’s goodness that Jehovah did this? Romans 5:8 answers: “God recommends his own love to us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Yes, God sent his perfect Son to earth to give his life as a ransom sacrifice to redeem us from the condemnation of sin and death. (Matthew 20:28) This opened the way for people who love God to gain everlasting life. Thankfully, God’s love extends to all who want to do his will, for the Bible tells us: “God is not partial, but in every nation the man that fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him.”—Acts 10:34, 35.
9. How should we be influenced by the fact that Jehovah has given his Son as a ransom for us?
9 How should the fact that Jehovah has given his Son as a ransom for us, opening the way to everlasting life, influence how we use our lives now? It should deepen our love for the true God, Jehovah. At the same time, it should make us want to listen to Jesus, who represents God. “[Jesus] died for all that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died for them.” (2 Corinthians 5:15) What a pleasure it is to follow in Jesus’ footsteps, for he was exemplary in imitating Jehovah’s love and compassion! This is shown by what Jesus said to humble ones: “Come to me, all you who are toiling and loaded down, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am mild-tempered and lowly in heart, and you will find refreshment for your souls. For my yoke is kindly and my load is light.”—Matthew 11:28-30.
Showing Love for Others
10. What are some ways we can show love for fellow Christians?
10 How can we show that we have the kind of love for fellow Christians that Jehovah and Jesus have for us? Notice the many ways we can do this: “Love is long-suffering and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, does not get puffed up, does not behave indecently, does not look for its own interests, does not become provoked. It does not keep account of the injury. It does not rejoice over unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.”—1 Corinthians 13:4-8; 1 John 3:14-18; 4:7-12.
11. For whom else should we show love, and how?
11 For whom else should we show love, and how? Jesus said: “Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19, 20) This involves sharing the good news of God’s incoming paradisaic new world with those who are not yet our fellow Christians. Jesus clearly showed that our love should not be limited to those sharing our beliefs, for he said: “If you love [only] those loving you, what reward do you have? Are not also the tax collectors doing the same thing? And if you greet your brothers only, what extraordinary thing are you doing? Are not also the people of the nations doing the same thing?”—Matthew 5:46, 47; 24:14; Galatians 6:10.
“Walk in the Name of Jehovah”
12. Why can God’s name apply only to him?
12 Another important aspect of magnifying the true God is knowing, using, and teaching others his unique name, Jehovah. The psalmist expressed this heartfelt wish: “That people may know that you, whose name is Jehovah, you alone are the Most High over all the earth.” (Psalm 83:18) The name Jehovah means “He Causes to Become.” He is the Great Purposer, always bringing his purposes to a successful conclusion. And only the true God can rightly bear that name, for humans can never be sure that their efforts will succeed. (James 4:13, 14) Jehovah alone can say that his word “will have certain success” in that for which he sends it. (Isaiah 55:11) Many are thrilled when they first see God’s name in their Bibles and learn what it means. (Exodus 6:3) But they will be benefited by this knowledge only if they “walk in the name of Jehovah . . . forever.”—Micah 4:5.
13. What is involved in knowing Jehovah’s name and walking in his name?
13 Regarding God’s name, Psalm 9:10 states: “Those knowing your name will trust in you.” This involves more than just knowing of the name Jehovah, which does not automatically mean trusting in him. Knowing God’s name means appreciating the kind of God that Jehovah is, respecting his authority, obeying his commands, trusting him in all things. (Proverbs 3:5, 6) Similarly, walking in the name of Jehovah implies being dedicated to him and representing him as one of his worshipers, truly using our life in harmony with God’s will. (Luke 10:27) Are you doing that?
14. If we are going to serve Jehovah forever, what is needed besides a sense of duty?
14 If we are going to serve Jehovah eternally, more than a sense of duty must impel us. The apostle Paul urged Timothy, who had been serving Jehovah for many years: “Be training yourself with godly devotion as your aim.” (1 Timothy 4:7) Devotion comes from a heart filled with appreciation for the person to whom the devotion is directed. “Godly devotion” expresses profound reverence for Jehovah personally. It manifests loving attachment to him because of unbounded esteem for him and his ways. It causes us to want everyone to hold his name in high regard. We must cultivate godly devotion in our lives if we would walk in the name of Jehovah, the only true God, forever.—Psalm 37:4; 2 Peter 3:11.
15. How can we give God our exclusive devotion?
15 To serve God acceptably, we must give him undivided worship, since he is “a God exacting exclusive devotion.” (Exodus 20:5) We cannot love God and at the same time love the wicked world, of which Satan is god. (James 4:4; 1 John 2:15-17) Jehovah knows exactly what kind of person each of us is trying to be. (Jeremiah 17:10) If we truly love righteousness, he sees that and will help us endure our daily trials. Backing us up with his powerful holy spirit, he will enable us to triumph over the wickedness so rampant in this world. (2 Corinthians 4:7) He will also help us maintain our strong hope of everlasting life on a paradise earth. What a glorious prospect that is! We should deeply appreciate it and willingly serve the true God, Jehovah, who makes it possible.
16. What should you want to do, along with millions of others?
16 Millions of people earth wide have gladly accepted the invitation of the psalmist who wrote: “O magnify Jehovah with me, you people, and let us exalt his name together.” (Psalm 34:3) Jehovah invites you to be among the growing multitudes in all nations who are doing this.
Review Discussion
• What kind of person is Jehovah? How are we benefited by getting a clear understanding of his qualities?
• How can we help other people to learn the truth about God?
• What is involved in knowing Jehovah’s name and walking in his name?
[Pictures on page 14]
Jehovah, in his great love, ‘will open his hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing’ |
Sing Praises (ssb)
1984 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/Ssb | Song 70
Be Like Jeremiah
(Jeremiah 1:7, 18)
1. In service of God’s Kingdom,
There is joy beyond compare.
While rendering such service,
We have God’s own loving care.
But as the Bible warns us
—And the Bible’s words are true—
Besides the joys of serving God,
We will have some perils too.
2. Remember Jeremiah,
Who was called when young in years
To take up sacred service,
How Jehovah stilled his fears?
‘Though they will fight against you,
Using all their wicked pow’r,
They’ll not prevail against you, for
You will be a mighty tow’r.’
3. For years then Jeremiah
Proved Jehovah to be true.
He had success in service,
Though he had some perils too.
Let’s be like Jeremiah,
Trust in God implicitly.
Do bold and fearless witnessing
To Jehovah’s sov’reignty. |
School Guidebook (sg)
1992 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/sg | Study 11
Using Good Speech Every Day
1. What will make our speech pleasurable to Jehovah?
1 “Let the sayings of my mouth . . . become pleasurable before you, O Jehovah.” (Ps. 19:14) For this to be true in our case, we need to speak about right things and in a manner that befits a servant of God. We want our speech to prove that we are faithful servants of God every day, not merely when we are at the Kingdom Hall or out in the field ministry. Then the language we use in our homes, at work, at school, will reflect favorably on our ministry.—2 Cor. 6:3.
2, 3. Why are our manner of speaking and choice of words important?
2 Our manner of speaking is important. This includes even our facial expression and tone of voice. Our happiness as Jehovah’s servants should show on our faces. A friendly manner and a warm smile attract people. While the Bible truths about which we speak are serious, they are also heartwarming. So be enthusiastic! A “deadpan” expression does not fit our message of hope.
3 As you familiarize yourself with good speech you will realize that words and expressions have “personality.” They can be bitter or sweet, soft or hard, friendly or hostile, upbuilding or demoralizing. Selecting the right word or expression, then, is vitally important. Particularly is this so when words of truth, the good news of the Kingdom, are involved.
4. How can we enlarge our vocabulary?
4 Enlarging your vocabulary. There is no lack of words that can be used in praising Jehovah, as a glance at any dictionary will show. But the question is, How well do you use the reservoir of words available? When reading do you look up words that you do not fully understand, or perhaps mark them to look up when you finish the article? This will help you to increase your vocabulary. You will find, also, that there are many words that you recognize but do not use in everyday speech. Make a conscious effort to use them when appropriate. It is surely in your interest as a Christian minister or student to keep cultivating the ability to speak well.
5, 6. What will aid us to learn to use words properly?
5 Learn to use the right word. Two words may have similar but slightly different meanings, for use under different circumstances. If you take note of this you will avoid offending your listeners, and improve the clarity of your speech. Reference to a good dictionary is helpful. Some dictionaries list under each word both its synonyms (words of similar, though not identical, meaning) and antonyms (words of somewhat opposite meaning). Thus you find not only varied expressions for the same idea, but also different shades of meaning. This is very helpful when you are seeking the right word for the right circumstances. Use of the right word also keeps you from being needlessly wordy, and helps you to get to the point. Wordiness tends to bury thoughts. So practice expressing yourself in few words. When you do it well, then begin to vary your expression with descriptive words that add color and meaning.
6 As you enlarge your vocabulary, do not think only in terms of new words, but consider words that have particular characteristics: verbs that express vigor; adjectives that convey color; transitional expressions that help to avoid monotony; expressions that show warmth and have a note of kindness. In reading the Society’s publications you can note a wide variety of words and phrases from which to choose.
7, 8. Of what dangers in connection with an enlarged vocabulary should we be aware?
7 The purpose of an enlarged vocabulary, of course, is not to show off. Our objective is to convey information, not to make a personal impression on our hearers. Our viewpoint should be identical with that expressed by the apostle Paul: “In a congregation I would rather speak five words with my mind, that I might also instruct others verbally, than ten thousand words in a [foreign] tongue.” (1 Cor. 14:9, 19) If one’s speech is too difficult to be understood it might just as well be in a foreign tongue. Similarly, it is wise to avoid being needlessly technical with those who will not value the details. Even in ordinary conversation we should not try to impress listeners by complex speech and long words. It is more important that our listeners grasp what we have to say. Remember, according to Proverbs 15:2, “the tongue of wise ones does good with knowledge.” The choice of good words, words easily understood, helps make our speech refreshing and stimulating rather than dull and uninteresting.—Col. 4:6.
8 It is important also to learn to say words correctly. Pronounce them properly. You can check a dictionary, and also observe how others pronounce certain words. This will help you to avoid carelessness in pronunciation. Other dangers to be avoided in everyday speech are slurring of words and dropping the endings of words. Do not talk through your teeth. Use good diction. Open your mouth to enunciate distinctly.
9-12. What kind of speech should we avoid, and why?
9 Language to avoid. God’s Word guides us as to what kind of speech to avoid in our everyday life. The apostle Paul counsels us, for example, to avoid “things which are not becoming,” such as “obscene jesting.” (Eph. 5:3, 4) We should avoid words and expressions that are obscene and vulgar. Paul also wrote: “Let a rotten saying 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.” (Eph. 4:29) So Christians ought to avoid curse words and rough speech. Some persons think that such language makes what they say emphatic. But there are plenty of good words that are forceful. There is no need to imitate the coarse speech of such people when we talk to them. Simple language may be helpful, but it should be clean and correct.
10 Also to be avoided are certain expressions and modes of speech that clash with grammatical usage. Such speech is often used by worldly entertainers or popularized in modern songs. People tend to imitate these. But it is not good for Christians to adopt such speech patterns. To do so would identify us with the world and its way of life. Drug peddlers and others whose whole pattern of life is criminal or immoral often have their own vocabulary, using words in a way not readily apparent to the casual listener. But our standard of speech should not be affected by such worldly influences.—Rom. 12:2.
11 Christians must be careful to avoid irreverent language. Some persons use the terms “God” and “Lord,” also “Jesus” and “Christ,” simply to add emphasis to speech, or as a substitute for a curse word. Other words such as “gosh,” “golly,” “gee” are simply euphemisms, derived from “God” and “Jesus,” and are therefore also objectionable as interjections.—Ex. 20:7; Matt. 5:34-37.
12 What people say and do may irritate us at times. Even so, it would be inappropriate for a Christian to reply with angry or abusive speech. Says the apostle: “Really put them all away from you, wrath, anger, badness, abusive speech, and obscene talk out of your mouth.” (Col. 3:8) So although the speech of others irritates you, the wise course is to control your spirit.—Prov. 14:29; Jas. 3:11.
13-16. What will help us to improve our grammar and our speech habits?
13 Proper grammar. Some persons may realize that their grammar is not the best. Perhaps they grew up in another country or lacked opportunities for much school education when they were younger. They should not be discouraged; rather, they should make a genuine effort to improve, doing so for the sake of the good news. There are beneficial steps that can be taken. For instance, family reading offers opportunities to make such corrections. Much that we know about grammar we learn by hearing others speak. So listen carefully when mature, well-educated brothers speak. When you read the Bible and the Society’s publications, be conscious of the sentence structure and the form of words used in various situations. Model your own speech in harmony with these good examples.
14 Younger ones should take advantage of the opportunity to learn good grammar and diction while attending school. As long as you are unsure of the reason for this or that grammatical rule, seek further information from your teacher. You have good reason to persevere, for you do want to be an effective minister of the good news.
15 Strive to use good speech every day. One who indulges in sloppy speech habits in his everyday conversations cannot expect to be able to speak well on special occasions. It takes practice. But if you use speech of good quality in the ordinary circumstances of life, then it will come easily and naturally to you when on the platform or when witnessing to others about God’s truth.
16 Practicing good speech every day helps to fill our minds and hearts with delightful words with which we can express our appreciation of Jehovah’s grand purposes by his kingdom. Then we shall experience the truth of Jesus’ words at Luke 6:45: “A good man brings forth good out of the good treasure of his heart.” |
Life on Earth (le)
1982 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/library/r1/lp-e/all-publications/brochures-and-booklets/life-on-earth-le | outputs
Pictures
1-7 Who Created You?
8-14 Why Does Man Die?
15-17 What Is Death?
18-21 God Destroys a Bad World
22-28 Will God Destroy Bad People Again?
29-34 Jehovah Gives Us a Savior
35-40 How We Are Saved from Sin and Death
41-49 A Heavenly King Brings Blessings to Earth
50-76 What Should You Do? |
Sing Praises (ssb)
1984 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/Ssb | Song 19
Joyful All Day Long
(Psalm 32:11)
1. Come rejoice! Leap for joy!
In God’s favor we do bask.
Joyful be, all day long,
As we take on ev’ry task.
There is nothing lacking. We have God’s backing.
What more from him do we now need to ask?
We have peace, inner calm,
And outputment that are deep.
Self-sufficient we are;
Close to God we strive to keep.
Full of exultation, no deviation,
With heartfelt joy much fruitage we now reap.
2. Kingdom truth set us free.
For this reason we rejoice.
God’s own Son gives command,
And we listen to his voice.
With his blood he bought us. Indeed, he taught us.
Our God, through him, did fix on us his choice.
Now his Kingdom is here,
Bringing joy beyond compare.
He has raised up a steward
And placed us in his care.
We are now enlightened; our hope is brightened.
This hope with all mankind we seek to share.
3. It’s a source of great joy
To be preaching to mankind.
O the joy that we have
When the sheeplike ones we find!
As we love our brothers and welcome others,
We have the peace of being of one mind.
All day long, great our joy
As the Kingdom we make known.
A great crowd has appeared.
Look and see how it has grown!
May Jehovah lead us and ever feed us.
To him we render praise, as God alone. |
Look! Jehovah’s Approved Servant | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2009043 | Look! Jehovah’s Approved Servant
“Look! My servant, . . . whom my soul has approved!”—ISA. 42:1.
1. What are Jehovah’s people encouraged to do, particularly as the Memorial approaches, and why?
AS THE time to commemorate Christ’s death approaches, God’s people do well to follow the apostle Paul’s counsel to “look intently at the Chief Agent and Perfecter of our faith, Jesus.” Paul added: “Indeed, consider closely the one who has endured such contrary talk by sinners against their own interests, that you may not get tired and give out in your souls.” (Heb. 12:2, 3) Looking closely at Christ’s course of faithfulness, which culminated in his sacrifice, will help both anointed Christians and their other sheep companions to continue serving Jehovah faithfully and to avoid ‘giving out in their souls.’—Compare Galatians 6:9.
2. What can we learn from the prophecies of Isaiah that relate to God’s Son?
2 Through the prophet Isaiah, Jehovah inspired a series of prophecies directly related to his Son. These prophecies will help us to “look intently at the Chief Agent and Perfecter of our faith,” Christ Jesus.a They shed light on his personality, his sufferings, and his exaltation as our King and Redeemer. They will enhance our understanding of the Memorial, which we will be commemorating this year on Thursday, April 9, after sundown.
The Servant Identified
3, 4. (a) In the book of Isaiah, what does the word “servant” designate? (b) How does the Bible itself identify the Servant mentioned in Isaiah chapters 42, 49, 50, 52, and 53?
3 The word “servant” occurs many times in the book of Isaiah. It occasionally designates the prophet himself. (Isa. 20:3; 44:26) Sometimes it is applied to the whole nation of Israel, or Jacob. (Isa. 41:8, 9; 44:1, 2, 21) But what of the outstanding prophecies regarding the Servant recorded in Isaiah chapters 42, 49, 50, 52, and 53? The Christian Greek Scriptures leave us in no doubt as to the identity of the Servant of Jehovah described in those chapters. Interestingly, the Ethiopian official mentioned in the book of Acts was reading one of these prophecies when Philip the evangelizer was directed by the spirit to approach him. The official, having read the Bible passage that we now find at Isaiah 53:7, 8, asked Philip: “I beg you, About whom does the prophet say this? About himself or about some other man?” Philip lost no time in explaining that Isaiah spoke about the Messiah, Jesus.—Acts 8:26-35.
4 While Jesus was yet a babe, a righteous man named Simeon declared under the power of the holy spirit that “the young child Jesus” would become “a light for removing the veil from the nations,” as foretold at Isaiah 42:6 and 49:6. (Luke 2:25-32) Furthermore, the humiliating treatment meted out to Jesus on the night of his trial was foretold in the prophecy of Isaiah 50:6-9. (Matt. 26:67; Luke 22:63) After Pentecost 33 C.E., the apostle Peter clearly identified Jesus as Jehovah’s “Servant.” (Isa. 52:13; 53:11; read Acts 3:13, 26.) What can we learn from these Messianic prophecies?
Jehovah Trains His Servant
5. What training did the Servant receive?
5 One of Isaiah’s prophecies about God’s Servant sheds light on the intimate relationship between Jehovah and his firstborn Son during the Son’s prehuman existence. (Read Isaiah 50:4-9.) The Servant himself reveals that Jehovah continually trained him, saying: “He awakens my ear to hear like the taught ones [“disciples,” ftn.].” (Isa. 50:4) During all that time, Jehovah’s Servant listened to his Father and learned from him, becoming a submissive disciple. What a unique privilege to be taught by the Creator of the universe!
6. How did the Servant indicate his perfect submission to his Father?
6 In this prophecy, the Servant speaks of his Father as “the Sovereign Lord Jehovah.” This shows that the Servant had learned the fundamental truth of Jehovah’s universal sovereignty. Indicating his perfect submission to his Father, he stated: “The Sovereign Lord Jehovah himself has opened my ear, and I, for my part, was not rebellious. I did not turn in the opposite direction.” (Isa. 50:5) He “came to be beside [Jehovah] as a master worker” in the creation of the material universe and man. This “master worker” was “glad before [Jehovah] all the time, being glad at the productive land of his earth, and the things [God’s Son] was fond of were with the sons of men.”—Prov. 8:22-31.
7. What shows that the Servant had confidence in his Father’s support during his trials?
7 This training received by the Servant and his fondness for mankind stood him in good stead when he came to earth and faced severe opposition. He continued to delight to do his Father’s will, even in the face of bitter persecution. (Ps. 40:8; Matt. 26:42; John 6:38) Throughout his trials on earth, Jesus was confident of his Father’s approval and support. As was foretold in Isaiah’s prophecy, Jesus was able to say: “The One declaring me righteous is near. Who can contend with me? . . . Look! The Sovereign Lord Jehovah himself will help me.” (Isa. 50:8, 9) Jehovah certainly did help his faithful Servant throughout his ministry on earth, as another prophecy of Isaiah shows.
The Servant’s Ministry on Earth
8. What proves that Jesus was Jehovah’s “chosen one,” as foretold at Isaiah 42:1?
8 The Bible record tells what happened when Jesus was baptized in 29 C.E.: “The holy spirit . . . came down upon him, and a voice came out of heaven: ‘You are my Son, the beloved; I have approved you.’” (Luke 3:21, 22) Jehovah thus clearly identified his “chosen one,” mentioned in Isaiah’s prophecy. (Read Isaiah 42:1-7.) During his earthly ministry, Jesus fulfilled this prophecy in a remarkable way. In his Gospel account, Matthew quoted the words found at Isaiah 42:1-4 and applied them to Jesus.—Matt. 12:15-21.
9, 10. (a) How did Jesus fulfill Isaiah 42:3 during his ministry? (b) How did Christ “bring forth justice” while on earth, and when is it that he “sets justice in the earth”?
9 The common people among the Jews were despised by the Jewish religious leaders. (John 7:47-49) The people were treated roughly and could be compared to ‘crushed reeds’ or ‘flaxen wicks’ when they are at their last flicker. Jesus, however, showed compassion for the poor and afflicted. (Matt. 9:35, 36) He offered such ones a kind invitation, saying: “Come to me, all you who are toiling and loaded down, and I will refresh you.” (Matt. 11:28) Furthermore, Jesus ‘brought forth justice’ by teaching Jehovah’s standards of right and wrong. (Isa. 42:3) He further showed that God’s Law needed to be applied with reasonableness and mercy. (Matt. 23:23) Jesus also displayed justice by preaching without prejudice to both rich and poor.—Matt. 11:5; Luke 18:18-23.
10 Isaiah’s prophecy also predicts that Jehovah’s “chosen one” “sets justice in the earth.” (Isa. 42:4) This he will shortly do when as King of the Messianic Kingdom, he destroys all political kingdoms and replaces them with his own righteous rule. He will usher in a new world, where “righteousness is to dwell.”—2 Pet. 3:13; Dan. 2:44.
“A Light” and “a Covenant”
11. In what sense was Jesus “a light of the nations” in the first century, and how is he such up to the present day?
11 In fulfillment of Isaiah 42:6, Jesus did indeed prove to be “a light of the nations.” During his earthly ministry, he brought spiritual light primarily to the Jews. (Matt. 15:24; Acts 3:26) But Jesus stated: “I am the light of the world.” (John 8:12) He became a light both to the Jews and to the nations not only by bringing spiritual enlightenment but also by offering his perfect human life as a ransom for all mankind. (Matt. 20:28) After his resurrection, he commissioned his disciples to be witnesses of him “to the most distant part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) During their ministry, Paul and Barnabas quoted the expression “light of the nations” and applied it to the preaching work they were accomplishing among non-Jews. (Acts 13:46-48; compare Isaiah 49:6.) That work is still being pursued as Jesus’ anointed brothers on earth and their companions spread spiritual light and help people to put faith in Jesus, the “light of the nations.”
12. How has Jehovah given his Servant “as a covenant of the people”?
12 In that same prophecy, Jehovah told his chosen Servant: “I shall safeguard you and give you as a covenant of the people.” (Isa. 42:6) Satan put forth persistent efforts to destroy Jesus and prevent Jesus from completing his ministry on earth, but Jehovah safeguarded him until the appointed time for him to die. (Matt. 2:13; John 7:30) Then Jehovah resurrected Jesus and gave him as “a covenant,” or pledge, to people on earth. That solemn promise provided assurance that God’s faithful Servant would continue as “a light of the nations,” liberating those in spiritual darkness.—Read Isaiah 49:8, 9.b
13. In what way did Jesus deliver “those sitting in darkness” during his earthly ministry, and how does he continue to do so?
13 In harmony with this pledge, Jehovah’s chosen Servant would “open the blind eyes,” “bring forth out of the dungeon the prisoner,” and deliver “those sitting in darkness.” (Isa. 42:7) During his earthly ministry, Jesus did this by exposing false religious traditions and preaching the good news of the Kingdom. (Matt. 15:3; Luke 8:1) He thus delivered from spiritual bondage Jews who became his disciples. (John 8:31, 32) In a similar way, Jesus has brought spiritual deliverance to millions of non-Jews. He has commissioned his followers to “go . . . and make disciples of people of all the nations,” promising that he will be with his followers “until the conclusion of the system of things.” (Matt. 28:19, 20) From his heavenly position, Christ Jesus is overseeing the global preaching work.
Jehovah Elevated the “Servant”
14, 15. Why and how did Jehovah elevate his Servant?
14 In yet another prophecy regarding his Messianic Servant, Jehovah states: “Look! My servant will act with insight. He will be in high station and will certainly be elevated and exalted very much.” (Isa. 52:13) In view of his Son’s loyal submission to His sovereignty and his faithfulness under the most extreme test, Jehovah elevated him.
15 The apostle Peter wrote of Jesus: “He is at God’s right hand, for he went his way to heaven; and angels and authorities and powers were made subject to him.” (1 Pet. 3:22) Similarly, the apostle Paul wrote: “He humbled himself and became obedient as far as death, yes, death on a torture stake. For this very reason also God exalted him to a superior position and kindly gave him the name that is above every other name, so that in the name of Jesus every knee should bend of those in heaven and those on earth and those under the ground, and every tongue should openly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”—Phil. 2:8-11.
16. How was Jesus “exalted very much” in 1914, and what has he accomplished since then?
16 In 1914, Jehovah elevated Jesus even further. He was “exalted very much” when Jehovah enthroned him as King of the Messianic Kingdom. (Ps. 2:6; Dan. 7:13, 14) Since then, Christ has gone forth “subduing in the midst of [his] enemies.” (Ps. 110:2) He first subdued Satan and his demons, hurling them down to the vicinity of the earth. (Rev. 12:7-12) Then, acting as the Greater Cyrus, Christ delivered the remnant of his anointed brothers on earth from the grip of “Babylon the Great.” (Rev. 18:2; Isa. 44:28) He has headed a worldwide preaching work that has resulted in the ingathering of “the remaining ones” of his spiritual brothers and then of millions of “other sheep,” the loyal companions of the “little flock.”—Rev. 12:17; John 10:16; Luke 12:32.
17. What have we learned thus far by studying Isaiah’s prophecies regarding the “servant”?
17 The study of these remarkable prophecies in the book of Isaiah has surely increased our appreciation for our King and Redeemer, Christ Jesus. His filial submission during his earthly ministry reflected the training he received at his Father’s side before coming to earth. He has proved himself to be the “light of the nations” by his own ministry and by the preaching work he has overseen up until this very day. As we shall next see, another prophecy regarding the Messianic Servant reveals that he would suffer and pour out his life for our benefit, matters we should “consider closely” as the Memorial of his death approaches.—Heb. 12:2, 3.
[Footnotes]
a You can find these prophecies at Isaiah 42:1-7; 49:1-12; 50:4-9; and 52:13–53:12.
b For a discussion of the prophecy at Isaiah 49:1-12, see Isaiah’s Prophecy—Light for All Mankind II, pages 136-145.
By Way of Review
• Who is the “servant” mentioned in Isaiah’s prophecies, and how do we know?
• What training did the Servant receive from Jehovah?
• How is Jesus “a light of the nations”?
• How was the Servant elevated?
[Picture on page 21]
Philip clearly identified the “servant” mentioned by Isaiah as Jesus, the Messiah
[Picture on page 23]
As Jehovah’s chosen Servant, Jesus showed compassion for the poor and afflicted
[Picture on page 24]
Jesus was exalted by his Father and enthroned as King of the Messianic Kingdom |
Young People Ask, Volume 2 (yp2)
2008 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/yp2 | CHAPTER 32
How Can I Have a Good Time?
Mark the following statements true or false.
According to the Bible . . .
It’s always wrong to take part in sports.
□ True □ False
All movies and TV shows are a bad influence.
□ True □ False
Any sort of dancing is condemned.
□ True □ False
YOU’VE worked hard all week. School is over. Your chores are completed. And you still have some energy to burn, one of the blessings of being young. (Proverbs 20:29) Now all you want to do is have some fun.
Your peers may feel that the Bible is anti-fun, that it restricts you from enjoying yourself. But is that true? Let’s consider the true-or-false statements listed on the preceding page and see what the Bible really says about having a good time.
● It’s always wrong to take part in sports.
False. The Bible says that “bodily training is beneficial.” (1 Timothy 4:8) The original Greek expression for “training” that Paul used here means ‘training as a gymnast’ and carries the idea of exercise. Today there are numerous sports—such as skating, cycling, jogging, tennis, baseball, soccer, and volleyball, to name just a few—that can be both good exercise and fun.
Does this mean that there’s no need for caution? Well, consider the context of the verse quoted above. When writing to the young man Timothy, the apostle Paul said: “Bodily training is beneficial for a little; but godly devotion is beneficial for all things, as it holds promise of the life now and that which is to come.” Paul’s words remind us that our first priority should always be to please God. You can ensure that godly devotion is your top priority—even when choosing a sport—by asking yourself the following three questions:
1. What degree of risk is involved in the sport? Don’t simply rely on hearsay or on the enthusiastic reports of other youths. Get the facts. For example, find out the following: Just what is the accident rate for this particular sport? What safety precautions are taken? What training and equipment are needed to play this sport safely? While there are incidental risks in virtually any activity, is the primary objective of this sport to defy injury or death?
Life is a gift from God, and God’s Law given to the Israelites imposed serious penalties if a life was taken accidentally. (Exodus 21:29; Numbers 35:22-25) God’s people were thereby encouraged to be safety conscious. (Deuteronomy 22:8) Christians today likewise have an obligation to show respect for life.
2. Will the sport provide good association? If you have some athletic ability, your peers and teachers might exert pressure on you to join a school team. You may feel a strong urge to accept the offer. A Christian youth named Mark says, “I feel it’s just not fair that my parents won’t let me join the school team.” But instead of attempting to coax your parents into accepting your viewpoint, consider the following facts: Practice sessions and games are usually scheduled outside of normal school hours. If you do well, you’ll be encouraged to devote more time to the sport. If you don’t do so well, you’ll feel pressure to spend more time in practice. In addition, teammates often form close bonds of friendship as they revel in the highs of victory and share the despair of defeat.
Now ask yourself: ‘Will spending my personal time in an activity that could result in close bonds of friendship with youths who don’t share my spiritual standards be a good influence on me?’ (1 Corinthians 15:33) ‘What price am I willing to pay just to play on a particular team?’
3. How much time and money will the sport consume? The Bible instructs us to “make sure of the more important things.” (Philippians 1:10) To help you apply this advice, ask yourself: ‘Will playing this sport eat into time that I’ve allocated for schoolwork or spiritual activities? What is the total monetary cost of the sport? Does my budget allow for this expense?’ Answering these questions will help you to keep your priorities in order.
● All movies and TV shows are a bad influence.
False. The Bible commands Christians to “hold fast to what is fine” and to “abstain from every form of wickedness.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21, 22) Not all movies and TV shows conflict with that standard.a
Certainly, going to a movie can be a fun way to spend time with friends. A South African girl named Leigh says, “If I’m keen on seeing a certain movie, I phone one of my friends, and we spread the word to our other friends.” Usually this group attends an early showing of the movie. Afterward, their parents pick them up, and together all of them eat out.
Movies and TV may be modern inventions, but they’re really just new expressions of an ancient tradition—that of storytelling. Jesus was a master at reaching peoples’ hearts by means of stories. For example, his parable about the neighborly Samaritan stirs feelings of empathy and teaches profound moral lessons.—Luke 10:29-37.
Today moviemakers also teach lessons that mold people’s moral perceptions. They try to make viewers identify with the characters portrayed—even when the hero is a criminal or a sadistic, power-hungry person. If you aren’t careful, you may find yourself rooting for a criminal, mentally justifying his immoral or cruel acts! How can you avoid this trap?
When choosing a movie or a TV show, ask yourself: ‘Will this program encourage me to be tenderly compassionate?’ (Ephesians 4:32) ‘Or will it coax me into rejoicing over another’s disaster?’ (Proverbs 17:5) ‘Will it make it difficult for me to “hate what is bad”?’ (Psalm 97:10) ‘Will I, in effect, be aligning myself with “evildoers”?’—Psalm 26:4, 5.
Movie reviews and advertisements can give you some idea of the output of a movie. But don’t naively put “faith in every word.” (Proverbs 14:15) Why not? A movie review merely reflects another person’s opinion. And an advertisement may deliberately conceal the fact that a movie has offensive scenes. A teenager named Connie says, “I’ve found that knowing who the principal actors are in the movie often gives you some idea of what the movie is likely to portray.”
Christian peers who share your Bible-based values may know if a certain film is acceptable. But remember, people tend to tell you what they really enjoyed about a movie. Why not ask what’s bad about it? Be specific. For example, inquire as to whether there are scenes of violence, sex, or demon possession. Your parents are also a good source of advice. Says young Vanessa: “I consult my parents. If they think it’s all right for me to watch, I’ll go see it.”
Don’t take the matter of choosing a movie or a TV program lightly. Why? Because the entertainment you select opens a window to your heart, revealing what values you treasure. (Luke 6:45) Your choices tell much about the kind of association you delight in, the type of language you condone, the sexual morals you tolerate. So be selective!
● Any sort of dancing is condemned.
False. When the Israelites crossed the Red Sea and escaped the Egyptian army, Miriam led the women in a celebratory dance. (Exodus 15:20) Also, in Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son, the rejoicing that occurred over the son’s return included “a music concert and dancing.”—Luke 15:25.
The same is true today. In many cultures dancing is enjoyed by both young and old when family and friends gather together. However, there’s a need for caution. While the Bible doesn’t condemn modest social gatherings, it does warn against “revelries,” or “wild parties.” (Galatians 5:19-21; Byington) The prophet Isaiah wrote: “Woe to those who are getting up early in the morning that they may seek just intoxicating liquor, who are lingering till late in the evening darkness so that wine itself inflames them! And there must prove to be harp and stringed instrument, tambourine and flute, and wine at their feasts; but the activity of Jehovah they do not look at.”—Isaiah 5:11, 12.
Those gatherings featured the use of “intoxicating liquor” and wild music. They started early and lasted well into the evening. Note, too, the attitudes of the revelers—they behaved as if God did not exist! Little wonder, then, that God condemned such gatherings.
If you’re invited to attend a party where there will be dancing, ask yourself such questions as: ‘Who will be going? What kind of reputation do they have? Who is taking responsibility for the event? What supervision will there be? Do my parents approve of my attending the party? What type of dancing will be featured?’ Many dance styles are designed solely to arouse sexual desire. Would engaging in or just watching such dancing help you to “flee from fornication”?—1 Corinthians 6:18.
What if you’re invited to go dancing at a nightclub? Consider the comments of a youth named Shawn who before becoming a Christian would often hang out at dance clubs. He recalls: “The music is usually debasing, the dancing is usually highly immoral, and a great majority of the people who go there have a motive.” That motive, says Shawn, is to leave the club with someone to have sex. After studying the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses, Shawn had a change of heart. His opinion? “Those clubs are not the place for Christians.”
Why Stay Alert?
When do you think a soldier is more vulnerable to an attack—when he’s on the battlefield or when he’s relaxing with his companions? Really, it’s when he’s relaxing that his defenses are down and he’s most vulnerable. Similarly, when you’re at school or at work, your spiritual defenses are up. You’re alert to possible danger. It’s later when you relax with your friends that you’re most vulnerable to an attack on your moral standards.
Some of your peers may ridicule you for sticking to the Bible’s high moral standards when it comes to having a good time. Pressure may even come from youths who have been raised by Christian parents. But such youths have had their consciences seared. (1 Timothy 4:2) They may accuse you of being unbalanced or self-righteous. Rather than give in to peer pressure, however, “hold a good conscience.”—1 Peter 3:16.
What really counts isn’t what your peers think of you but what Jehovah thinks of you! And if your friends hassle you for following your conscience, it’s time to find some new friends. (Proverbs 13:20) Remember, you are the ultimate guardian of your moral standards—even when you’re having a good time.—Proverbs 4:23.
READ MORE ABOUT THIS TOPIC IN VOLUME 1, CHAPTER 37
IN OUR NEXT CHAPTERPornography is more prevalent and easier to access than ever. How can you avoid this snare?
[Footnote]
a For more information, see Volume 1, chapter 36.
KEY SCRIPTURE
“Rejoice, young man, in your youth, . . . and walk in the ways of your heart and in the things seen by your eyes. But know that on account of all these the true God will bring you into judgment.”—Ecclesiastes 11:9.
TIP
Ask your parents if they would be willing to schedule regular times each month when you can turn off the TV and have fun together as a family.
DID YOU KNOW . . . ?
Dancing and music were an important part of true worship for the Israelites.—Psalm 150:4.
ACTION PLAN!
If I’m invited to join an after-school sports team, I will say ․․․․․
If a movie that I’m watching with my friends is objectionable, I will ․․․․․
What I would like to ask my parent(s) about this subject is ․․․․․
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
● Why should Christians avoid high-risk sports?
● How can you determine if a movie is suitable?
● How would you define what is an acceptable style of dancing?
[Blurb on page 269]
“I love to dance, but I’ve learned the value of listening to my parents’ advice. I don’t let dancing become the big thing in my life.”—Tina
[Picture on page 268]
A soldier is vulnerable to an attack when his guard is down—and you are vulnerable to an attack on your morals when you’re relaxing |
Revelation Climax (re)
1988 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/re | Chapter 14
The Magnificence of Jehovah’s Celestial Throne
Vision 2—Revelation 4:1–5:14
Subject: Awesome happenings before God’s throne of judgment
Time of fulfillment: This vision features events taking place from 1914 until the end of the Millennium and beyond, when every creature that is in heaven and on earth will praise Jehovah.—Revelation 5:13
1. Why should we be keenly interested in the visions John shares with us?
JOHN begins to share with us further soul-stirring visions. By inspiration he is still in the Lord’s day. So, what he describes has deep meaning for us who are actually living in that day. By means of these visions, Jehovah lifts the veil of invisibility on heavenly realities and gives us his own view of his judgments to be executed on earth. Moreover, whether we have a heavenly or an earthly hope, these revelations help us to see our place in Jehovah’s purpose. All of us, therefore, should continue to be keenly interested in John’s expression: “Happy is he who reads aloud and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and who observe the things written in it.”—Revelation 1:3.
2. What experience does John now have?
2 What John next beholds surpasses anything presented by video to modern man! He writes: “After these things I saw, and, look! an opened door in heaven, and the first voice that I heard was as of a trumpet, speaking with me, saying: ‘Come on up here, and I shall show you the things that must take place.’” (Revelation 4:1) John in vision penetrates the invisible heavens of Jehovah’s presence, exalted far above physical outer space as explored by human astronauts, even far above the galaxies of the material universe. As though by entering an opened door, John is invited to feast his eyes on a breathtaking panorama of the ultimate spirit heavens where Jehovah himself is enthroned. (Psalm 11:4; Isaiah 66:1) What a privilege!
3. What does the voice “as of a trumpet” bring to mind, and who is undoubtedly the Source of it?
3 The Bible does not identify this “first voice.” Like Jesus’ strong voice heard earlier, it has a commanding trumpetlike sound. (Revelation 1:10, 11) It brings to mind the penetrating horn blast that signaled Jehovah’s presence at Mount Sinai. (Exodus 19:18-20) Undoubtedly, Jehovah is the majestic Source of the summons. (Revelation 1:1) He has opened the door so that John, in vision, can enter the most holy location in all the vast realm of Jehovah’s sovereignty.
Jehovah’s Resplendent Presence
4. (a) What meaning does John’s vision have for anointed Christians? (b) What meaning does the vision have for those whose hope it is to live forever on earth?
4 What does John see? Listen, as he now shares with us his grand experience: “After these things I immediately came to be in the power of the spirit: and, look! a throne was in its position in heaven, and there is one seated upon the throne.” (Revelation 4:2) In an instant of time, John is spiritually transported by God’s active force to the very throne of Jehovah. How thrilling for John! Here he is given a dazzling preview of those very heavens wherein he and other anointed Christians have reserved for them “an incorruptible and undefiled and unfading inheritance.” (1 Peter 1:3-5; Philippians 3:20) For those whose hope it is to live forever on earth, John’s vision also has profound meaning. It helps them to comprehend the glory of Jehovah’s presence and of the heavenly ruling structure used by Jehovah in judging the nations and afterward in governing human lives on earth. Jehovah is indeed the God of superb organization!
5. What reality does John see that was symbolized by the cover of the ark of the covenant?
5 Much of what John observes up there in heaven resembles features of the tabernacle in the wilderness. This was constructed about 1,600 years earlier as a sanctuary of true worship for the Israelites. In the Holy of Holies of that tabernacle was the ark of the covenant, and it was from above the solid gold cover of that Ark that Jehovah himself spoke. (Exodus 25:17-22; Hebrews 9:5) Hence, the cover of the Ark served as a symbol of Jehovah’s throne. John now sees the reality of that symbolic representation: the Sovereign Lord Jehovah himself sitting in exquisite grandeur on his lofty heavenly throne!
6. What impression of Jehovah does John give us, and why is this fitting?
6 Unlike earlier prophets who had visions of Jehovah’s throne, John does not describe in detail the Holy One who occupies it. (Ezekiel 1:26, 27; Daniel 7:9, 10) But John gives us his impression of the enthroned One in these words: “And the one seated is, in appearance, like a jasper stone and a precious red-colored stone, and round about the throne there is a rainbow like an emerald in appearance.” (Revelation 4:3) What incomparable magnificence! John perceives a serene, scintillating beauty like that of lustrous, gleaming gemstones. How appropriately this agrees with the disciple James’ description of Jehovah as “the Father of the celestial lights”! (James 1:17) Shortly after writing Revelation, John himself stated: “God is light and there is no darkness at all in union with him.” (1 John 1:5) What a superbly glorious Personage Jehovah really is!
7. What can we learn from the fact that there is a rainbow around Jehovah’s throne?
7 Notice that John sees around the throne a rainbow, colored emerald green. The Greek word here translated rainbow (irʹis) suggests a completely circular form. The rainbow is first mentioned in the Bible in connection with Noah’s day. After the waters of the Deluge subsided, Jehovah caused a rainbow to appear in the cloud, and he explained what it symbolized in these words: “My rainbow I do give in the cloud, and it must serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. And I shall certainly remember my covenant which is between me and you and every living soul among all flesh; and no more will the waters become a deluge to bring all flesh to ruin.” (Genesis 9:13, 15) What, then, would the heavenly vision bring to John’s mind? The rainbow that he saw must have reminded him of the need for a peaceful relationship with Jehovah, such as the John class enjoys today. It would also impress him with the serenity and peace of Jehovah’s presence, a serenity that will extend to all obedient humans when Jehovah spreads his tent over mankind in the new earth society.—Psalm 119:165; Philippians 4:7; Revelation 21:1-4.
Identifying the 24 Elders
8. Whom does John see round about the throne, and whom do these represent?
8 John knew that priests were appointed to serve in the ancient tabernacle. So he may have been surprised at seeing what he describes next: “And round about the throne there are twenty-four thrones, and upon these thrones I saw seated twenty-four elders dressed in white outer garments, and upon their heads golden crowns.” (Revelation 4:4) Yes, instead of priests, there are 24 elders, enthroned and crowned like kings. Who are these elders? They are none other than anointed ones of the Christian congregation, resurrected and occupying the heavenly position Jehovah promised them. How do we know that?
9, 10. How do we know that the 24 elders represent the anointed Christian congregation in its glorious heavenly position?
9 First of all, they are wearing crowns. The Bible speaks of anointed Christians as gaining ‘an incorruptible crown’ and attaining to an endless life—immortality. (1 Corinthians 9:25; 15:53, 54) But since these 24 elders are sitting on thrones, the golden crowns in this context represent royal authority. (Compare Revelation 6:2; 14:14.) This supports the conclusion that the 24 elders portray Jesus’ anointed footstep followers in their heavenly position, for Jesus made a covenant with them to sit on thrones in his Kingdom. (Luke 22:28-30) Only Jesus and these 24 elders—not even the angels—are described as ruling in heaven in Jehovah’s presence.
10 This harmonizes with the promise that Jesus made to the Laodicean congregation: “To the one that conquers I will grant to sit down with me on my throne.” (Revelation 3:21) But the heavenly assignment of the 24 elders is not limited to governmental rule. In the introduction to the book of Revelation, John said of Jesus: “He made us to be a kingdom, priests to his God and Father.” (Revelation 1:5, 6) These ones are both kings and priests. “They will be priests of God and of the Christ, and will rule as kings with him for the thousand years.”—Revelation 20:6.
11. Why is it fitting that the number of elders is 24, and what does that number signify?
11 What is significant about the number 24, in that John sees 24 elders around the throne? In many respects, these were foreshadowed by the faithful priests of ancient Israel. The apostle Peter wrote to anointed Christians: “You are ‘a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for special possession.’” (1 Peter 2:9) Interestingly, that ancient Jewish priesthood came to be divided into 24 divisions. Each division was assigned its own weeks in the year to serve before Jehovah, so that sacred service was rendered without a break. (1 Chronicles 24:5-19) It is fitting, then, that there are 24 elders depicted in John’s vision of the heavenly priesthood because this priesthood serves Jehovah continually, without ceasing. When completed, there will be 24 divisions, each with 6,000 conquerors, for Revelation 14:1-4 tells us that 144,000 (24 x 6,000) are “bought from among mankind” to stand on the heavenly Mount Zion with the Lamb, Jesus Christ. Since the number 12 signifies a divinely balanced organization, 24 doubles—or strengthens—such an arrangement.
Lightnings, Voices, and Thunders
12. What does John next see and hear, and what do the “lightnings and voices and thunders” call to mind?
12 What does John next see and hear? “And out of the throne there are proceeding lightnings and voices and thunders.” (Revelation 4:5a) How reminiscent of other awesome manifestations of Jehovah’s celestial power! For example, when Jehovah “came down” on Mount Sinai, Moses reported: “On the third day when it became morning it came about that thunders and lightnings began occurring, and a heavy cloud upon the mountain and a very loud sound of a horn. . . . When the sound of the horn became continually louder and louder, Moses began to speak, and the true God began to answer him with a voice.”—Exodus 19:16-19.
13. What is pictured by the lightnings issuing from Jehovah’s throne?
13 During the Lord’s day, Jehovah makes his power and presence manifest in a sublime way. No, not by literal lightning, for John is seeing signs. What, then, do the lightnings represent? Well, flashes of lightning can illuminate, but they can also strike one dead. Therefore, these lightnings issuing from Jehovah’s throne well picture the flashes of enlightenment that he has continually granted his people and, even more significantly, his fiery judgment messages.—Compare Psalm 18:14; 144:5, 6; Matthew 4:14-17; 24:27.
14. How have voices sounded out today?
14 What of the voices? During Jehovah’s descent onto Mount Sinai, a voice spoke to Moses. (Exodus 19:19) Voices from heaven issued many of the commands and proclamations in the book of Revelation. (Revelation 4:1; 10:4, 8; 11:12; 12:10; 14:13; 16:1, 17; 18:4; 19:5; 21:3) Today, Jehovah has also issued commands and proclamations to his people, illuminating their understanding of Bible prophecies and principles. Enlightening information has often been disclosed at international conventions, and such Bible truths have, in turn, been proclaimed worldwide. The apostle Paul said of faithful preachers of the good news: “Why, in fact, ‘into all the earth their sound went out, and to the extremities of the inhabited earth their utterances.’”—Romans 10:18.
15. What thunders have proceeded from the throne during this part of the Lord’s day?
15 Thunder usually follows lightning. David referred to literal thunder as “the voice of Jehovah.” (Psalm 29:3, 4) When Jehovah fought for David against his enemies, thunder was said to come from Him. (2 Samuel 22:14; Psalm 18:13) Elihu told Job that Jehovah’s voice sounded like thunder, as He does “great things that we cannot know.” (Job 37:4, 5) During this part of the Lord’s day, Jehovah has ‘thundered,’ warning of the great acts he will perform against his enemies. These symbolic peals of thunder have echoed and reechoed throughout the earth. Happy you are if you have paid attention to these thunderous proclamations and are making wise use of your tongue in adding to their volume!—Isaiah 50:4, 5; 61:1, 2.
Lamps of Fire and a Glassy Sea
16. What is signified by the “seven lamps of fire”?
16 What does John further see? This: “And there are seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, and these mean the seven spirits of God. And before the throne there is, as it were, a glassy sea like crystal.” (Revelation 4:5b, 6a) John himself tells us the significance of the seven lamps: “These mean the seven spirits of God.” The number seven symbolizes divine completeness; so the seven lamps must represent the fullness of the enlightening force of the holy spirit. How grateful the John class today is that it has been entrusted with this enlightenment, together with the responsibility to pass it on to the spiritually hungry peoples of earth! How glad we are that each year hundreds of millions of copies of the Watchtower magazine continue to beam forth this light in about 150 languages!—Psalm 43:3.
17. What does the “glassy sea like crystal” symbolize?
17 John sees also a “glassy sea like crystal.” What would this symbolize with regard to those invited into Jehovah’s heavenly court? Paul spoke of the way that Jesus sanctified the congregation, “cleansing it with the bath of water by means of the word.” (Ephesians 5:26) Before his death, Jesus told his disciples: “You are already clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.” (John 15:3) Hence, this glassy sea like crystal must represent the cleansing, recorded Word of God. Those of the royal priesthood who come into Jehovah’s presence must have been thoroughly cleansed by his Word.
Behold—“Four Living Creatures”!
18. What does John see in the midst of and around the throne?
18 John now observes another feature. He writes: “And in the midst of the throne and around the throne there are four living creatures that are full of eyes in front and behind.”—Revelation 4:6b.
19. What is pictured by the four living creatures, and how do we know this?
19 What do these creatures picture? A vision reported by another prophet, Ezekiel, helps us to find the answer. Ezekiel saw Jehovah enthroned on a celestial chariot, which was accompanied by living creatures embodying characteristics similar to those described by John. (Ezekiel 1:5-11, 22-28) Later, Ezekiel again saw that chariot throne accompanied by the living creatures. This time, however, he referred to the living creatures as cherubs. (Ezekiel 10:9-15) The four living creatures that John sees must represent the many cherubs of God—creatures of high rank in His spirit organization. John would not think it unusual to see cherubs positioned so close to Jehovah’s person, since in the ancient tabernacle arrangement, two cherubs of gold were displayed upon the lid of the ark of the covenant, which represented Jehovah’s throne. From between these cherubs, Jehovah’s voice issued commandments to the nation.—Exodus 25:22; Psalm 80:1.
20. In what way can it be said that the four living creatures are “in the midst of the throne and around the throne”?
20 These four living creatures are “in the midst of the throne and around the throne.” Exactly what does this mean? It could signify that they are positioned around the throne in such a way that one is standing in the middle of each side. Thus, the translators of Today’s English Version paraphrased the original Greek expression in this way: “surrounding the throne on each of its sides.” Alternatively, the expression could mean that the four living creatures are in the central position in heaven where the throne is. Likely, that is why The Jerusalem Bible renders the phrase: “in the centre, grouped round the throne itself.” The important thing is the closeness of the cherubs to Jehovah’s throne, comparable to that of the cherubs that Ezekiel saw at each corner of Jehovah’s organizational chariot. (Ezekiel 1:15-22) All of this harmonizes with the words of Psalm 99:1: “Jehovah himself has become king. . . . He is sitting upon the cherubs.”
21, 22. (a) How does John describe the four living creatures? (b) What is represented by the appearance of each of the four living creatures?
21 John continues: “And the first living creature is like a lion, and the second living creature is like a young bull, and the third living creature has a face like a man’s, and the fourth living creature is like a flying eagle.” (Revelation 4:7) Why do these four living creatures look so different, one from another? These distinctive living creatures evidently highlight specific godly qualities. First, there is the lion. A lion is used in the Bible as a symbol of courage, especially in the pursuit of justice and righteousness. (2 Samuel 17:10; Proverbs 28:1) Thus, the lion well represents the godly quality of courageous justice. (Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 89:14) The second living creature resembles a young bull. What quality does a bull bring to your mind? To the Israelites the bull was a valuable possession because of its power. (Proverbs 14:4; see also Job 39:9-11.) The young bull, then, represents power, dynamic energy as supplied by Jehovah.—Psalm 62:11; Isaiah 40:26.
22 The third living creature has a face like a man’s. This must represent godlike love, since on earth man alone was created in God’s image, with the superlative quality of love. (Genesis 1:26-28; Matthew 22:36-40; 1 John 4:8, 16) Undoubtedly, the cherubs display this quality as they serve around Jehovah’s throne. What now of the fourth living creature? This one is like a flying eagle in appearance. Jehovah himself calls attention to the eagle’s great vision: “Far into the distance its eyes keep looking.” (Job 39:29) Hence, the eagle well symbolizes farsighted wisdom. Jehovah is the Source of wisdom. His cherubs exercise divine wisdom as they obey his commands.—Proverbs 2:6; James 3:17.
Jehovah’s Praises Ring Out
23. What is symbolized by the fact that the four living creatures are “full of eyes,” and what is emphasized by their having three pairs of wings?
23 John continues his description: “And as for the four living creatures, each one of them respectively has six wings; round about and underneath they are full of eyes. And they have no rest day and night as they say: ‘Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is coming.’” (Revelation 4:8) This fullness of eyes suggests complete and farsighted vision. The four living creatures exercise this unceasingly, as they have no need of sleep. They imitate the One of whom it is written: “As regards Jehovah, his eyes are roving about through all the earth to show his strength in behalf of those whose heart is complete toward him.” (2 Chronicles 16:9) Having so great a number of eyes, the cherubs can see everywhere. Nothing escapes their attention. Thus they are well-equipped to serve God in his work of judging. Of him it is said: “The eyes of Jehovah are in every place, keeping watch upon the bad ones and the good ones.” (Proverbs 15:3) And with three pairs of wings—the number three being used in the Bible for emphasis—the cherubs can move with lightning swiftness to herald Jehovah’s judgments and execute them.
24. How do the cherubs praise Jehovah, and with what significance?
24 Listen! Melodious, soul stirring, is the song of praise that the cherubs render to Jehovah: “Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is coming.” Again, the threeness indicates intensity. The cherubs strongly affirm the holiness of Jehovah God. He is the Source and the ultimate Standard of holiness. He is also “the King of eternity,” always “the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” (1 Timothy 1:17; Revelation 22:13) The cherubs take no rest periods as they proclaim the matchless qualities of Jehovah before all creation.
25. How do the living creatures and the 24 elders unite in adoring Jehovah?
25 The heaven of heavens resounds with praises to Jehovah! John’s description continues: “And whenever the living creatures offer glory and honor and thanksgiving to the one seated upon the throne, the one that lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before the One seated upon the throne and worship the One that lives forever and ever, and they cast their crowns before the throne, saying: ‘You are worthy, Jehovah, even our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power, because you created all things, and because of your will they existed and were created.’” (Revelation 4:9-11) In all Scripture, this is one of the grandest declarations of homage to Jehovah, our God and Sovereign Lord!
26. Why do the 24 elders cast their crowns before Jehovah?
26 The 24 elders have the same mental attitude that Jesus displays, even casting their crowns down before Jehovah. It is furthest from their minds to exalt themselves in the presence of God. They humbly recognize that the only purpose of their kingship is to bring honor and glory to him, just as Jesus always does. (Philippians 2:5, 6, 9-11) Submissively, they acknowledge their own inferiority and confess that their rulership is dependent on the sovereignty of Jehovah. Thus, they are in heartfelt harmony with the cherubs and the rest of faithful creation in giving praise and glory to the God who created all things.—Psalm 150:1-6.
27, 28. (a) How should John’s description of this vision affect us? (b) What questions arise as to what John next sees and hears?
27 Who can remain unmoved at reading John’s account of this vision? It is splendorous, grand! But what must the reality be like? Jehovah’s very majesty must enliven anyone with an appreciative heart to join the four living creatures and the 24 elders in praising Him, both in prayer and by publicly proclaiming His name. This is the God for whom Christians are privileged to be witnesses today. (Isaiah 43:10) Remember that John’s vision applies to the Lord’s day, where we now are. “The seven spirits” are ever at hand to guide and strengthen us. (Galatians 5:16-18) God’s Word is available today to help us be holy in serving a holy God. (1 Peter 1:14-16) Certainly, we are happy to read aloud the words of this prophecy. (Revelation 1:3) What an inducement they provide to be faithful to Jehovah and not allow the world to distract us from actively singing his praises!—1 John 2:15-17.
28 So far, John has described what he sees when he is invited to approach through that opened door in heaven. Most outstandingly, he reports that Jehovah, in all the magnificence of His majesty and dignity, is seated on His celestial throne. He is surrounded by the mightiest of all organizations—radiant in its splendor and loyalty. The divine Court is in session. (Daniel 7:9, 10, 18) The stage is set for something extraordinary to happen. What is it, and how does it affect us today? Let us watch as the scene unfolds!
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Great Teacher (te)
1971 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/te | Chapter 23
The Blessing of Work
WHICH would you rather do, work or play?— It’s true that we all enjoy playing. But would it really be good if we played all the time?— Have you ever thought what would happen if no one ever worked?—
Think about the food you eat. Do you know where it comes from?— Most of it grows on plants and trees. But if no one cared for them and picked the fruits and vegetables, what would you eat? Isn’t it good that people work so that you have food to eat?—
Look around the home in which you live. Do you have a bed to sleep on?— Are there chairs on which to sit and also a table?— Aren’t you glad someone worked to make these things?—
How did the Great Teacher feel about work? Let’s see.
Even as a boy he worked in a carpenter shop. He made things out of wood. Joseph was a carpenter, and he raised Jesus as his own son. That’s why the Bible calls Jesus “the carpenter’s son.” In those days a young boy would learn to do the same jobs his father did.—Matthew 13:55.
It may have been hard for Jesus at first. But with practice, he learned to do the work well. Jesus became a carpenter too.—Mark 6:3.
Do you think this work brought Jesus pleasure?— Would you be happy if you could make fine tables and chairs and other things for people to use?— The Bible says it’s good for one to “rejoice in his works.” Work gives a kind of pleasure that you cannot get from play. It’s not wrong to play, but it’s not good to play all the time.—Ecclesiastes 3:22.
Jesus did not work as a carpenter all his life. Jehovah God had special work for him to do on earth. Do you know what that work was?— Jesus said: “I must declare the good news of the kingdom of God, because for this I was sent forth.” Yes, God had a preaching work for Jesus to do.—Luke 4:43.
How did Jesus feel about doing this work? Did he want to do it?—
Jesus said: “My food is for me to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work.” How much do you like to eat your favorite food?— This gives you an idea of how much Jesus liked the work that God gave him.—John 4:34.
God made us so that we are happy when we learn to work. He says that it is his gift to man that he should “rejoice in his hard work.” So, if you learn to work when you are young, your whole life will be more enjoyable.—Ecclesiastes 5:19.
That does not mean that a young child can do the work of a big man, but we can all do some work. Your father works day after day so that we will have food to eat and a home in which to live. Do you know what kind of work your father does?— He doesn’t work just for himself. He works for the good of the whole family. And your mother works to prepare our meals. She keeps our home and our clothing clean.
What work is there that you can do that will be a blessing to the whole family?— You can help to set the table, wipe the dishes, clean your room and pick up your toys. Perhaps you already do some of those things. Is that work really a blessing?—
Let’s see how work like that is a blessing. Toys are to be put away after you play. Why would you say that is important?— It helps to make the house neat. It is also important because it can prevent accidents. If you don’t pick up your toys, your mother may come along someday with her arms full and step on one of them. She may trip and fall and hurt her head. She may even have to go to the hospital. Wouldn’t that be terrible?— So, when you put away your toys after you play, that is a blessing to all of us.
There is other work that children have too. I am thinking of schoolwork. At school you learn how to read. Some children find reading to be fun, but some say it is hard. Even if it seems hard at first, you will be glad if you learn to read well. When you know how to read, there are so many interesting things that you can learn. You will even be able to read God’s own book, the Bible, for yourself. So, when you do your schoolwork well, it is really a blessing, isn’t it?—
There are some people who try to avoid work. Maybe you know someone who does that. But since God made us to work, we need to learn how to enjoy work.
Here are some things that can help. When you have work to do, ask yourself: Now, why does this need to be done? When you know why something is important, it is easier to do it. And whether the work is big or little, do a good job of it. If you do that, you can rejoice in the work of your hands. Then you will know for yourself that work really is a blessing.
(The Bible can help a person to become a good worker. Read what it says at Colossians 3:23; Proverbs 10:4; 22:29; Ecclesiastes 3:12, 13, 22.) |
Man’s Salvation (sl)
1975 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/sl | Chapter 14
When Man’s Old Order Makes Way for God’s New Order
1, 2. (a) By what agency will Babylon the Great be destroyed? (b) What does Revelation 17:17 say about the “ten horns” of that scarlet-colored “wild beast”?
WHEN the “great harlot,” Babylon the Great, is destroyed in the impending “great tribulation,” a longtime part of man’s old order will pass away. That Babylonish world empire of false religion is destroyed by former lovers. That is to say, her destruction will come by the agency of the symbolic “ten horns” on the “seven heads” of the scarlet-colored “wild beast,” namely, the international organization for world peace and security. That postwar organization was formed in the year 1919 C.E. and operated first under the name The League of Nations.
2 As regards the “ten horns” that give the symbolic “wild beast” a formidable appearance, Revelation 17:17 says: “For God put it into their hearts to carry out his thought, even to carry out their one thought by giving their kingdom to the wild beast, until the words of God will have been accomplished.”
3. (a) What is symbolized by the “ten horns”? (b) As respects the relationship that would exist between the political states, what does Revelation 17:17 say?
3 By the peace conference of 1919 new political states were created. Thus there were more symbolic “horns” after World War I than immediately before it. The question then became urgent, namely, What was to be the relationship between all the political states of the world? (All of them were symbolized by the “ten horns,” inasmuch as the number ten is used in the Bible to mean allness, the complete number.) As respects this question, “God put it into their hearts to carry out his thought.” How could that be?
4. As to government, what took place in the year 1914?
4 Well, for decades the obedient remnant of spiritual Israelites had been declaring the end of the Gentile Times in the year 1914. At that date God’s permission of the Gentile nations to exercise world control without interference from his Messianic kingdom stopped. He signalized such an end of his permission by establishing the Messianic kingdom in the heavens, in the hands of the everlasting Heir of King David, Jesus Christ. Never again was the Messianic kingdom in David’s royal line to be trampled underfoot, as it had been trampled underfoot 2,520 years previously, in 607 B.C.E.—Luke 21:24.
5. What notification was given to the political powers of the earth that the time had come for them to surrender their ruling power to God’s ruling Messiah?
5 To the anointed remnant of spiritual Israelites, the raging of World War I in 1914, with food shortages and pestilences accompanying it, was a confirmation that God’s Messianic kingdom was fully established, fully brought to birth in the heavens, at the end of the Gentile Times in that year. So they went preaching the good news of God’s established kingdom until war conditions and bitter persecution practically stopped them. This Kingdom-preaching was a notification to all the Gentile political powers of the earth, the symbolic “ten horns.” It notified them that God’s authorizing them to rule the world uninterruptedly had expired. The time had come for them to recognize his universal sovereignty and to surrender their ruling power to God’s Messiah enthroned in the heavens.
6. How had God already expressed “his thought” as to what the Gentile nations would do, and what was that thought?
6 However, God had thought out and foretold that the symbolic “ten horns” would not do this. For example, Psalm Two expressed his thought on this, that the Gentile kings of the earth and high officials would mass up together in opposition to Him and his installed king. (Compare Acts 4:24-30.) Already, in Daniel 2:44, he had foretold the destruction of them all as unchangeable resisters of his universal sovereignty. His thought now was that the Gentile nations, represented by the “ten horns,” should definitely adopt a certain course of action that would justify him before all creation in destroying such nations. His thought was that they should take united action as a consolidated group of nations, so that he might destroy them all together at one time. This is the very thing that they did. Thus we can see how God, by his own course of action, put it into the hearts of the symbolic “ten horns” to carry out his thought.
7. (a) How did the “ten horns” ‘give their kingdom to the wild beast’? (b) What is the “one hour” during which they are to have authority with the “wild beast”?
7 In proof of this, Revelation 17:17 continues on to say: “Even to carry out their one thought by giving their kingdom to the wild beast.” Even so, they did not give their kingdom to God’s Messianic kingdom as proclaimed by the remnant of spiritual Israel. Instead, they gave it to the symbolic “wild beast,” the man-made organization for world peace and security, at that time called The League of Nations. As time went on, more and more nations entered the League, in that way giving their “kingdom” to it. In that way it was true, “they do receive authority as kings one hour with the wild beast.” These have one thought, and so “they give their power and authority to the wild beast.” (Revelation 17:12, 13) Since they are to “receive authority as kings one hour with the wild beast,” the existence of the symbolic “wild beast” is to be relatively short, as it were, “one hour.” Thus far the “wild beast” organization has been in existence only fifty-five years, less time than that of the neo-Babylonian World Power (607-539 B.C.E.).
8. As foretold, what task do the “ten horns” have to perform as the agents of Jehovah God?
8 The symbolic “ten horns,” the member nations of the world peace and security organization, have a task to perform as the agents of Jehovah God. What is that? It is to destroy the world empire of false religion, symbolized by Babylon the Great. Says God’s angel to the apostle John: “The ten horns that you saw, and the wild beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her devastated and naked, and will eat up her fleshy parts and will completely burn her with fire.”—Revelation 17:16.
9. In practical terms, what will that mean?
9 This signifies that what marriages of Religion and State, Church and State, have existed till then, will be dissolved. What national or State churches still exist will be disestablished. Tax exemption for religious organizations will be discontinued. Even Bible publishing and distributing societies of Christendom will be suppressed. Missionary work by the churches of Christendom will come to a halt. Army and congressional chaplains will be discharged. The celebration of Easter and Christmas and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) and Passover will be discontinued. The tremendous material wealth of the religious institutions, what may be left of it after the looters take what they want by force, will be expropriated by the political governments in their dire financial straits. For anyone, man or woman, to wear a distinctive religious garb identifying such a one as a member of a religious organization of Christendom, will expose one to assault or arrest as being hostile or a menace to the State. Amazing as it may yet seem to many, Christendom will be gone—forever!
10-12. (a) Is it only Christendom that will be destroyed? (b) In Isaiah 2:10-22, what effects on humans as a result of Jehovah’s day of judgment are foretold?
10 Since that will be the case with Christendom, the most powerful part of Babylon the Great, what is to be expected in the case of all the other long-established, deeply entrenched religious organizations outside of Christendom? All of Babylon the Great must disappear from the earth! It will be the foretold day of judgment of Jehovah God the Almighty, regarding which we read:
11 “Enter into the rock and hide yourself in the dust because of the dreadfulness of Jehovah, and from his splendid superiority. The haughty eyes of earthling man must become low, and the loftiness of men must bow down; and Jehovah alone must be put on high in that day. For it is the day belonging to Jehovah of armies. It is upon everyone self-exalted and lofty and upon everyone lifted up or low; . . .
12 “And the valueless gods themselves will pass away completely. And people will enter into the caves of the rocks and into the holes of the dust because of the dreadfulness of Jehovah and from his splendid superiority, when he rises up for the earth to suffer shocks. In that day the earthling man will throw his worthless gods of silver and his valueless gods of gold that they had made for him to bow before to the shrewmice and to the bats, in order to enter into the holes in the rocks and into the clefts of the crags, because of the dreadfulness of Jehovah and from his splendid superiority, when he rises up for the earth to suffer shocks. For your own sakes, hold off from the earthling man, whose breath is in his nostrils, for on what basis is he himself to be taken into account?”—Isaiah 2:10-22; compare Revelation 6:15-17.
13. (a) As indicated in that prophecy, how will they then treat things that pertain to religion? (b) Where will worldly-minded men seek refuge, and with what language did Isaiah foretell this?
13 On that day of Jehovah’s judgment against man’s old order, what will worldly-minded men do? Being faced with the deteriorating earth-wide conditions, they will lose faith in and turn away from religious things and will discard them as worthless, valueless. They will consider as being of no account the professional religionists, who are nothing more than men dependent upon the air they breathe in through their nostrils. Being now disillusioned about such ones, men will turn exclusively to materialistic things. Abandoning religion of all worldly kinds, they will seek refuge, protection and preservation in nonspiritual, earthly organizations that they hope will shield them like mountains and crags. They will trust no longer in religious men whom they once regarded as gods, as having connections with the superhuman spirit realm. One of the mountainlike organizations in which they will take refuge is the United Nations, the “Eighth” World Power, for that symbolic “wild beast” with its “ten horns” will destroy Babylon the Great.
14. Whose judgment really is it that is expressed in the destruction of Babylon the Great, and how does this serve as a vindication of him?
14 Although the devastating, denuding, consuming and burning of Babylon the Great may be the direct work of the symbolic “ten horns” of the scarlet-colored “wild beast,” it is nonetheless the execution of the judgment from Jehovah God. In line with that view of matters, it is written in Revelation 18:8 concerning the world empire of false religion: “That is why in one day her plagues will come, death and mourning and famine, and she will be completely burned with fire, because Jehovah God, who judged her, is strong.” So, to Jehovah God the Almighty goes the credit for liberating mankind from the reign of the religious “great harlot,” Babylon the Great. It will be a vindication of Him as not being the Author of the world empire of false Babylonish religion, not even of Christendom.
JOY OVER DESTRUCTION OF BABYLON THE GREAT
15-19. Among whom will there be rejoicing when Babylon the Great is destroyed, and what did the apostle John write about this?
15 Whereas for Babylon the Great one of the plagues coming upon her from God’s hand is to be “mourning,” great joy will be experienced by those on the side of Jehovah God and of His pure form of worship. The inspired apostle John describes this rejoicing on the part of Jehovah’s worshipers. After seeing a prophetic picture of how “Babylon the great city [will] be hurled down, and she will never be found again,” the apostle John writes:
16 “After these things I heard what was as a loud voice of a great crowd in heaven. They said: ‘Praise Jah, you people [Greek: Hallelujah]! The salvation and the glory and the power belong to our God, because his judgments are true and righteous. For he has executed judgment upon the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he has avenged the blood of his slaves at her hand.’ And right away for the second time they said: ‘Praise Jah, you people [Hallelujah]! And the smoke from her goes on ascending forever and ever.’
17 “And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God seated upon the throne, and said: ‘Amen! Praise Jah, you people [Hallelujah]!’
18 “Also, a voice issued forth from the throne and said: ‘Be praising our God, all you his slaves, who fear him, the small ones and the great.’
19 “And I heard what was as a voice of a great crowd and as a sound of many waters and as a sound of heavy thunders. They said: ‘Praise Jah, you people [Hallelujah!], because Jehovah our God, the Almighty, has begun to rule as king.’”—Revelation 19:1-6; 18:21-24.
20. Where does that praising of Jehovah take place, but who else participates?
20 All such praising of Jehovah because of his executing upon the “great harlot” the foretold judgments is represented, apparently, as taking place up in heaven among the holy angels. However, the voice that was heard from the heavenly throne after the third Hallelujah said: “Be praising our God, all you his slaves, who fear him, the small ones and the great.” This command from the throne embraces the “slaves” of Jah Jehovah who still remain on earth after the destruction of the “great harlot,” Babylon the Great. These “slaves” are the ones that obeyed the earlier divine command from heaven: “Get out of her, my people, if you do not want to share with her in her sins, and if you do not want to receive part of her plagues. For her sins have massed together clear up to heaven, and God has called her acts of injustice to mind. Render to her even as she herself rendered, and do to her twice as much, yes, twice the number of the things she did; in the cup in which she put a mixture put twice as much of the mixture for her. To the extent that she glorified herself and lived in shameless luxury, to that extent give her torment and mourning.”—Revelation 18:4-7.
21. Who are the ones that, since 1919 C.E., have got out of Babylon the Great, and so what fine prospect do they have?
21 Jehovah’s Christian witnesses, both the remnant of spiritual Israelites and the “great crowd” of sheeplike companions, are the ones that, since 1919 C.E., have got out of Babylon the Great, in order to prove themselves to be Jehovah’s “people.” They did not “want to share with her in her sins,” and they did not “want to receive part of her plagues.” Accordingly they will not share with Babylon the Great in her plagues of “death and mourning and famine” and in being “completely burned with fire.” (Revelation 18:8) So these obedient Christian witnesses of Jehovah will survive the destruction of the Babylonish world empire of false religion. They will be witnesses of that destruction. And since the heavenly hosts, including those symbolized by the “twenty-four elders,” will praise Jah Jehovah over his executing of divine vengeance upon that “old harlot,” these surviving Christian witnesses of His on earth will be justified in their rejoicing and shouting out “Hallelujah!” But then what?
BATTLE OF “TEN HORNS” AND “BEAST” AGAINST THE LAMB
22. (a) Following the destruction of Babylon the Great, what confrontation will take place? (b) What is it that Jehovah’s Christian witnesses will really be confronting at that time?
22 Then—a confrontation between those then left on the earth. The seven-headed, ten-horned scarlet-colored wild beast and earth’s inhabitants who still “wonder admiringly” at the beast will be on the one side of the controversy. The surviving Christian witnesses of Jehovah will be on the other side. Inasmuch as the scarlet-colored wild beast is merely an “image” of the seven-headed, ten-horned wild beast that ascended out of the sea and that is worshiped by the people who think that nobody “can do battle with it,” this means that the Christian witnesses of Jehovah will really be confronting this symbolic “wild beast” of which an image was made. This wild beast out of the sea symbolized the worldwide political system of human rulership, to which system Satan the Devil gave “its power and its throne and great authority.” (Revelation 13:1-8) This earth-wide political system has 138 nations that represent it in the present-day United Nations, the international organization that is now the “image” of the wild beast that ascended out of the “sea” of humankind. This is what Jehovah’s witnesses must then confront!
23. (a) What is the two-horned “wild beast” that ‘speaks as a dragon,’ as foretold at Revelation 13:11-13? (b) The United Nations is referred to as an “image” of what “wild beast,” and who proposed the making of this political “image”?
23 Among those national groups that have members in the “image” of the wild beast are the former British Empire (which, since 1931 C.E., has been reorganized as the British Commonwealth of Nations), and the United States of North America. These two English-speaking groups have acted together in world crises, so that the two make up a dual world power, an Anglo-American world power, the Seventh World Power of Bible prophecy. In a general way this Seventh World Power has worked along with the symbolic wild beast, and has acted as a mouthpiece or prophet for the beastly worldwide political system. For this reason it is pictured in Revelation 13:11-13 as a dragon-mouthed wild beast that ascends out of the “earth” and that has two horns like those of a lamb. Quite properly this two-horned or dual world power has membership in the United Nations of today, for it was this Anglo-American World Power that proposed and put through the making of a political “image” of the “wild beast” that ascended out of the “sea.”—Revelation 13:14, 15.
24. (a) According to the facts of history, how did the formation of the League of Nations and of the United Nations come about? (b) In reality, the United Nations is an expression of what on the part of worldly politicians?
24 During the throes of World War I, the then British Prime Minister Lloyd George thought of the formation of a postwar League of Nations to act as an impediment to another world war. America’s wartime president, T. W. Wilson, worked hard to set up the League. Similarly, in the closing months of the second world war, the United States as the other member of the two-horned “wild beast” promoted the formation of a successor to the then defunct League of Nations. In October of 1945 this revised organization for world peace and security emerged as the United Nations. It was, in effect, the same old “image” of the political “wild beast,” but under a new name. It was proposed and put in operation by worldly politicians in defiance of God’s Messianic kingdom that Jehovah’s Christian witnesses had been proclaiming and recommending since the end of the Gentile Times in 1914.
25. (a) Thus, according to the real significance of Revelation, chapter 17, what is it that Jehovah’s Christian witnesses will have to confront after Babylon the Great is destroyed? (b) What government is it that these Witnesses represent?
25 In the light of the foregoing, when Revelation, chapter seventeen, speaks of the scarlet-colored, seven-headed, ten-horned “wild beast,” we should think of the real power that is behind this symbolic “image,” namely, the worldwide political system of government symbolized by the wild beast that ascended out of the sea. The two-horned wild beast that ascended out of the earth, namely, the Anglo-American Dual World Power, is the dominant section of the larger political system pictured by the sea beast. Consequently, after the nations that are members of the symbolic “image” have destroyed religious Babylon the Great, it is the irreligious worldwide system of political government that the Christian witnesses of Jehovah will have to confront. They will still be standing firm for God’s Messianic kingdom as the only rightful rulership for the world of mankind. It is this heavenly government that they represent. In fact, the anointed remnant of spiritual Israelites are the “ambassadors” of the Messianic government.—2 Corinthians 5:20; Ephesians 6:20.
26. (a) What will be the only “kind of religion” remaining after Babylon the Great is destroyed? (b) How does this religion affect one’s attitude toward involvement in the world’s political affairs, and why?
26 With the destruction of religious Babylon the Great, the first part of the “great tribulation” predicted by Jesus Christ closes. (Matthew 24:21, 22; see also Daniel 12:1.) The critical point of time on earth will now have been reached! The surviving Christian witnesses of Jehovah will stand as the only worshipers of the one living and true God, Creator of heaven and earth. Their form of worship is the only “religion” that the now radical political governments have been unable to wipe out; and that will be so because this is “the kind of religion which is without stain or fault in the sight of God our Father.” (James 1:27, The New English Bible) Till this “kind of religion” is effaced from the earth the ungodly nations will feel dissatisfied with themselves. It is this “kind of religion” that has kept the surviving Christian witnesses of Jehovah from amalgamating with the new political setup, from making themselves a “part of the world.” (John 15:19; 17:14, 16) They stand first, last and all the time for the universal sovereignty of the Most High and Almighty God, Jehovah.
27. (a) What question will then press for settlement? (b) How will the nations show that they are united in their opposition to Jehovah’s Messianic kingdom?
27 The hot question, Who shall rule the earth without rivalry? has now reached the burning point. The irreligious nations are determined that God’s Messianic kingdom shall not take over the control of all the earth, which they claim as their territory. Unitedly, as by the agency of the United Nations organization, they will manifest their do-or-die opposition to the Messianic kingdom of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah, which is in the hands of his Lamb, Jesus Christ. The end of the “times of the Gentiles” in 1914 means nothing to them. They will refuse to get out, refuse to surrender their national sovereignties to God’s installed Messianic King, the Lamb. They will never give in without a fight, and for such a last-ditch fight the nuclear-powered nations feel at the height of their battle strength. So, now, to the showdown fight!
28. Explain the description of these matters as found at Revelation 17:12-14.
28 Says Revelation 17:12-14 concerning this war of the ages: “The ten horns that you saw mean ten kings [all earthly political powers], who have not yet [in the apostle John’s day] received a kingdom [by membership in the League of Nations—United Nations], but they do receive authority as kings one hour with the wild beast. These have one thought, and so they give their power and authority to the wild beast [the world organization for peace and security]. These will battle with the Lamb, but, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, the Lamb will conquer them. Also, those called and chosen and faithful with him will do so.”
29. Will the political rulers be able to see the Lamb Jesus Christ in order to fight against him directly, and how does the apostle Paul show this?
29 The apostle Paul describes this once-sacrificed Lamb of God in his present glorified state, when he writes to his missionary companion Timothy and says: “In the sight of God, who preserves all things alive, and of Christ Jesus, who as a witness made the fine public declaration before Pontius Pilate [the Roman governor of Judea], I give you orders that you observe the commandment in a spotless and irreprehensible way until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ. This manifestation the happy and only Potentate will show in its own appointed times, he the King of those who rule as kings and Lord of those who rule as lords, the one alone [out of all those lords and kings] having immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom not one of men has seen [in his glorified immortal state] or can see.” (1 Timothy 6:13-16) Consequently, the symbolic “ten horns” of the United Nations “wild beast” will be unable to see the Lamb Jesus Christ to fight against him directly over world domination.
30. Against whom, then, will the “ten kings” direct their assault?
30 However, the battle that the “ten kings” will carry on will be directed against those who are the visible earthly representatives of the royal Lamb, Jesus Christ. These will be the Christian witnesses of Jehovah, including the anointed remnant of spiritual Israelites and the “great crowd” of dedicated proclaimers of “this good news of the kingdom.” (Matthew 24:14) These, in spite of world pollution and distress of nations, will still be enjoying the spiritual paradise of God’s favor, protection and pure worship along with all the fruits of His spirit in their lives.
31. Against whom, in reality, are the nations making war when they attack Jesus’ faithful disciples?
31 For their encouragement, the Lamb Jesus Christ made a statement in his prophecy concerning the “conclusion of the system of things,” and the statement was that whatever was done to “one of the least of these my [spiritual] brothers” was as if done directly to him the King. (Matthew 24:3; 25:40) Now, when we are actually in that “conclusion of the system of things,” that rule still applies. So, in making war on the faithful disciples of Jesus Christ for the purpose of exterminating them, the nations are making war upon the glorified Lamb of God. So Jehovah’s Christian witnesses will appreciate that the war is, not against them fundamentally, but against God and his Lamb.
BATTLING UNDER “GOG OF THE LAND OF MAGOG”
32. (a) What long-time enemy of true worshipers will be missing when that final war takes place? (b) Nevertheless, who urges on the “ten horns” to fight?
32 In this final war upon the anointed remnant of spiritual Israelites and their loyal companions who make up a “great crowd” of the Fine Shepherd’s “other sheep,” there will be one former assailant of them missing. That is Babylon the Great, the world empire of false religion. In the past she used the “arm of the State” as her agency for waging spiritual warfare in a violent way against Jehovah’s “holy ones” who follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. The apostle John put her criminal record into the Holy Scriptures, when he wrote: “I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the holy ones and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus.” (Revelation 17:6) But now, because of her destruction by the “ten horns,” she no longer rides the scarlet-colored “wild beast” to influence it in any way. Nevertheless, there is an invisible power that urges on the “ten horns” to battle with the Lamb as represented by his faithful disciples surviving on earth. That unseen superhuman power is Satan the Devil.—Revelation 13:1, 2.
33. (a) What position will Satan the Devil still occupy at that time? (b) How do the Scriptures show that the Devil is really the one responsible for the war waged against worshipers of Jehovah on earth?
33 The destruction of religious Babylon the Great has not deposed Satan the Devil from being what Jesus called him, “the ruler of this world,” or from being what the apostle Paul called him, “the god of this system of things.” (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Revelation 13:3, 4) After the destruction of Babylon the Great, who had promoted Devil worship, his wrath against Jehovah’s Christian worshipers on earth is hotter than ever. He intensifies the warfare that he has waged against them ever since his being ousted from heaven, which warfare is reported on prophetically in these words: “The dragon grew wrathful at the woman [God’s heavenly organization that gave birth to the Messianic kingdom], and went off to wage war with the remaining ones of her seed, who observe the commandments of God and have the work of bearing witness to Jesus.”—Revelation 12:17.
34. How does Revelation 16:12-16 show that the Devil and his political system are promoters of war against God at Har–Magedon?
34 So now the time comes for the outbreak of the “war of the great day of God the Almighty” at that stage of world developments called Har–Magedon. Satan’s pushing the worldly nations into that final war is indicated, in Revelation 16:12-16, where the apostle John writes: “I saw three unclean inspired expressions that looked like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon [Satan the Devil] and out of the mouth of the wild beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet [those who proposed and forwarded the making of a political ‘image’ to the wild beast]. They are, in fact, expressions inspired by demons and perform signs, and they go forth to the kings of the entire inhabited earth, to gather them together to the war of the great day of God the Almighty. . . . And they gathered them together to the place that is called in Hebrew Har–Magedon.” So the worldwide political system and the Anglo-American World Power work together with the Dragon in promoting all-out war with God at Har–Magedon.
35. (a) The role that the Devil plays in the developments after the destruction of Babylon the Great is described in what prophecy? (b) Who is there referred to as “Gog,” and what is “the land of Magog”?
35 The role that the ousted Devil plays after the destruction of Babylon the Great in assembling what remains of his earthly visible organization to battle with the Lamb of God is vividly pictured in the prophecy of Ezekiel 38:1 through 39:16. In that prophecy the ousted Satan the Devil at the earth’s vicinity is addressed as “Gog of the land of Magog.” That land is pictured as being located in the far north, in “the remotest parts of the north,” and it pictures the debased condition far removed from God’s favor, the vicinity of our earth to which Satan the Devil and his demons have been restrained for a short period of time before being hurled into an abyss of complete inactivity. (Ezekiel 38:6, 15; 39:2; Revelation 20:1-3) As the symbolic Gog of the land of Magog, Satan the Devil is pictured as gathering together a great military force of troops from north and south and from Persia, east of where Babylon once stood on the Euphrates River.
36, 37. (a) When does Gog’s attack take place? (b) What is the “land” against which Gog directs his attack, as referred to in Ezekiel 38:8, 9?
36 The time for the attack by Satan the Devil as Gog of the land of Magog is timed by Jehovah God and is due to occur “in the final part of the years,” “in the final part of the days.” (Ezekiel 38:8, 16) This signifies a time close to the end of the Devil’s visible organization on earth. It therefore locates his attack as coming a considerable period of time after the restoration of the repentant remnant of spiritual Israel to their rightful spiritual estate in Jehovah’s favor. This means years after 1919 C.E., when the remnant of spiritual Israelites were delivered by God’s power from bondage to Babylon the Great and were reinstated in his free Kingdom service. Not to the Republic of Israel in the Middle East, but to the restored spiritual estate of the Christian “Israel of God” he refers, when he says to Satan the Devil, alias Gog of the land of Magog:
37 “After many days you will be given attention. In the final part of the years you will come to the land of people brought back from the sword, collected together out of many peoples, onto the mountains of Israel, that have proved to be a constantly devastated place; even a land that has been brought forth from the peoples, where they have dwelt in security, all of them. And you will be bound to come up. Like a storm you will come in. Like clouds to cover the land you will become, you and all your bands and many peoples with you.”—Ezekiel 38:8, 9.
38, 39. (a) For what reasons will this attack upon the remnant of spiritual Israel take place? (b) How is the spiritual condition of God’s people at this time depicted in Ezekiel 38:10, 11?
38 What will be the reason for this final attack upon the restored remnant of spiritual Israelites? It will be the fact that their prosperous spiritual estate on earth under divine blessing is a worldwide testimony to the universal sovereignty of Jehovah God. Added to that is the fact that they have boldly come forward as being no part of this world and as keeping absolute Christian neutrality toward worldly dissensions and are relying upon no deadly weapons of war for defense and protection. Also, they are enjoying the worship and active service of Jehovah in a spiritual paradise. That is why the following words are put into Gog’s mouth:
39 “I shall go up against the land of open rural country. I shall come in upon those having no disturbance, dwelling in security, all of them dwelling without wall, and they do not have even bar and doors.”—Ezekiel 38:10, 11.
40. What further evidence do the following verses in the prophecy contain showing that Jehovah’s worshipers on earth are then enjoying a spiritual paradise?
40 Testifying to the spiritual paradise of his restored worshipers, Jehovah says to Gog of the land of Magog: “It will be to get a big spoil and to do much plundering, in order to turn your hand back upon devastated places reinhabited and upon a people gathered together out of the nations, one that is accumulating wealth and property, those who are dwelling in the center of the earth.” This is why the worldly observers ask the invading Gog of the land of Magog: “Is it to get a big spoil that you are coming in? Is it to do much plundering that you have congregated your congregation, in order to carry off silver and gold, to take wealth and property, to get a very great spoil?”—Ezekiel 38:12, 13.
41. Why is it not material wealth of the inhabitants of the spiritual paradise that invites this international attack?
41 The restored remnant of spiritual Israelites and the “great crowd” of fellow inhabitants of the spiritual paradise do not have material wealth and property that Babylon the Great has accumulated over the centuries. They have followed the counsel of Jesus Christ and sought first the kingdom of God and His righteousness rather than the material goods of this materialistic world. (Matthew 6:33) So what in the way of earthly goods would they have to invite such an international attack by the military forces under the invisible command of the modern-day Gog of the land of Magog?
42. (a) What does the spiritual paradise of Jehovah’s Christian witnesses really represent, and how so? (b) What are the worldly nations determined to do about this?
42 Not material wealth, but what the spiritual paradise of the Christian witnesses of Jehovah represents is the valuable thing that invites a worldwide invasion by the visible earthly organization of Satan the Devil after Babylon the Great is reduced to ashes. Their spiritual paradise that Jehovah God has planted on the earth represents God’s claim to sovereignty over all the earth. But sovereignty over the earth is what the worldly nations claim for themselves, each member nation in the United Nations still continuing to insist upon its own national sovereignty. The inhabitants of the spiritual paradise form the foundation for a “new earth,” a new earthly society; hence, the worldly nations under modern-day Gog of Magog want to despoil that foundation of a “new earth” and thereby keep the old earthly society going for its own selfish benefit, independent of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah. To accomplish this means more than silver and gold and material wealth and property to the self-governing nations.
43. (a) What effect can the invasion of Gog’s hordes be expected to have on the legal corporations used by Jehovah’s Christian witnesses and the properties that these hold? (b) Does this mean that Jehovah’s Christian witnesses will cease to exist?
43 What the coming in of Gog’s hordes upon the “soil of Israel” after the destruction of Babylon the Great will mean for Jehovah’s Christian witnesses, the developments on earth will then eloquently tell. It should not be surprising if the ninety-seven branches of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania should be shut down and even the properties thereof be expropriated by the antireligious governments. What will happen to the thousands of Kingdom Halls that Jehovah’s Christian witnesses have built around the globe in which to meet for spiritual edification, the future will disclose. State or national governments that issued charters and registrations to the various corporations that Jehovah’s witnesses use as agencies for carrying on the printing and distributing of Bibles and Bible literature could hardly be expected to recognize or authorize such corporations then. The antagonistic political governments cannot, of course, dissolve Jehovah’s Christian witnesses world wide, for these are not incorporated under the man-made laws of “Caesar” in any land.
44. Why will the political governments not be able to dissolve the “faithful and discreet slave” and its governing body?
44 Likewise, the national and state governments under the leadership of the modern-day Gog of Magog cannot disincorporate the “faithful and discreet slave” whom the reigning King Jesus Christ has found reliable and has appointed “over all his belongings” on the earth. They cannot do so, for this corporate “slave” was never incorporated under the laws of any political government of the world. (Matthew 24:45-47; Luke 12:42-44) This “slave” class has existed from the first century C.E., when the royal Master, Jesus Christ, organized it, and it has continued active in his service down to this time and is responsible to him and not to “Caesar” or to Gog of the land of Magog. This holds true, also, with respect to the Scriptural governing body of the anointed “faithful and discreet slave” class. The political governments of the symbolic “wild beast” may dissolve the corporation of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania and its Board of Directors and also other legal corporations of Jehovah’s Christian witnesses in various lands, but they cannot dissolve or revoke the theocratic appointment of the governing body that represents the “faithful and discreet slave” class.
45. Will it be anything new for Jehovah’s Christian witnesses to carry on their activities underground?
45 It will be no new experience for Jehovah’s Christian witnesses to go underground in carrying on their spiritual activities. In the first century of our Common Era, according to secular history, the faithful Christians met together in the catacombs of the Roman Empire during its beastly persecution. In this twentieth century the Christian witnesses of Jehovah have carried on with their disciple-making operations in spite of bans and proscriptions, maintaining a successful underground system.
46. (a) Even if driven underground, what will Jehovah’s people do, out of concern for one another? (b) Will that attack by Gog of Magog result in destruction of the spiritual paradise?
46 For decades now, they have continued their worship and service of their God behind the so-called Iron Curtain that screens off the Communist lands. Even if, during the invasion of the hordes of Gog of Magog, they are obliged to go underground world wide, they will keep organized. They will try to keep in communication with one another. Especially will they pray for one another when physically scattered from fellow worshipers of Jehovah. They will continue to rejoice in their spiritual paradise, for they know that the violent persecution at the hands of Gog of Magog does not mean that they have lost divine favor, approval and blessing. Their spiritual qualities will shine more brightly than ever before, and they will not permit their spiritual lives to be snuffed out by men who can kill only the body, but, after that, can do no more to a faithful Christian who keeps his integrity to Jehovah God.—Luke 12:4; Matthew 10:28.
47. How does the prophecy given through Ezekiel show that there will be an actual invasion under Gog of Magog?
47 Just how far in depth Jehovah God the Almighty will permit the hordes under the modern-day Gog of Magog to penetrate, the alerted witnesses of Jehovah must wait and see. That there will be an invasion, the prophecy given through Ezekiel shows. “‘And it must occur in that day, in the day when Gog comes in upon the soil of Israel,’ is the utterance of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah, ‘that my rage will come up into my nose. And in my ardor, in the fire of my fury, I shall have to speak. Surely in that day a great quaking will occur in the soil of Israel. And because of me the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and the wild beasts of the field and all the creeping things that are creeping on the ground and all mankind that are upon the surface of the ground will be bound to shiver, and the mountains will actually be thrown down and the steep ways will have to fall, and to the earth even every wall will fall.’”—Ezekiel 38:18-20.
48. When under attack by the armed forces of Gog of Magog, how will the Christian witnesses of Jehovah react, and why?
48 Although under violent attack by the “military forces” of Gog of Magog, the Christian witnesses of Jehovah will have spiritual security, they being within his love and under his approval. “Dwelling,” according to the prophecy, “in security, all of them dwelling without wall,” and not having “even bar and doors,” these worshipers of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah will not raise a hand in violent action against the heavily armed forces of Gog of Magog. They will let their God manifest his protective power over them. They will remember and put faith in the words of the prophet spoken under stress of a similar invasion against Jehovah’s worshipers: “Do not you be afraid or be terrified because of this large crowd; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.” (2 Chronicles 20:15) Their trust in the Almighty God will not be misplaced. He will make it His battle, for the fight is really, not against them, but against Him their God. Now he is truly angry, and he is fully justified in expressing his anger!
49. (a) What is that “place” referred to in the Bible as Har–Magedon? (b) At his appointed time, whom does Jehovah use to carry out the war against his earthly enemies?
49 Now the “great day of God the Almighty” has arrived, and it is the time for the “war” that will mark that day for the vindication of Jehovah’s universal sovereignty. That figurative “place,” that explosive stage of hostilities between God the Almighty and Gog’s forces, called in Hebrew Har–Magedon, has been reached. (Revelation 16:14, 16) Not Jehovah’s Christian witnesses on earth, but Jehovah himself starts the battle against the earthly enemies now drawn up in battle formation. Jehovah signals to his Grand Field Marshal, the Warrior King Jesus Christ. Immediately acting upon the signal, in the name of Jehovah he and his heavenly forces plunge into the battle as if riding upon war horses. The war of universal importance that follows, and what happens to the worldwide lineup of military forces under the present-day Gog of Magog, are pictured for us in the last book of the inspired Holy Scriptures.
THE WAR AT “HAR–MAGEDON”
50. In an advance report on the war at Har–Magedon, what description did the apostle John give of those who would be fighting on the side of righteousness?
50 The battlefield is symbolically called Har–Magedon. The time is located after the fiery destruction of Babylon the Great by the symbolic “ten horns . . . and the wild beast.” (Revelation 17:16 through 19:9) Like a war correspondent for some newspaper or newsmagazine, the apostle John gives us an advance report on the war at “Har–Magedon,” writing: “And I saw the heaven opened, and, look! a white horse. And the one seated upon it is called Faithful and True, and he judges and carries on war in righteousness. His eyes are a fiery flame, and upon his head are many diadems. He has a name written that no one knows but he himself, and he is arrayed with an outer garment sprinkled with blood, and the name he is called is The Word of God. Also, the armies that were in heaven were following him on white horses, and they were clothed in white, clean, fine linen. And out of his mouth there protrudes a sharp long sword, that he may strike the nations with it, and he will shepherd them with a rod of iron. He treads too the winepress of the anger of the wrath of God the Almighty. And upon his outer garment, even upon his thigh, he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.”—Revelation 19:11-16.
51. (a) Why will great faith be needed on the part of the witnesses of Jehovah on earth at that time? (b) What is the “sharp long sword” that protrudes out of the mouth of the King of kings?
51 These “armies that were in heaven,” under the command of the King of kings, will not make themselves visible to the embattled nations on earth. So it will take faith on the part of the harmless, unarmed witnesses of Jehovah on earth to believe that these heavenly armies will come to their rescue in their direct need. Yet those invisible armies will make their activity in battle felt by all the nations under the leadership of Gog of Magog, Satan the Devil. The King of kings will “shepherd” the nations “with a rod of iron,” and they will feel it as they are shattered like earthenware vessels of a potter. He is the Word of God, and so the “sharp long sword” that protrudes out of his mouth is the words of judgment that issue out of his mouth for the execution of the nations; and what his mouth says will be executed upon the nations, striking them fatally.
52. (a) How will the experience of the nations be like that of grapes in a winepress? (b) Jehovah’s wrath will be expressed by what means, as it were, according to the Scriptures?
52 Since the King of kings “treads too the winepress of the anger of the wrath of God the Almighty,” this signifies that the nations will be squashed, as it were. To fit the picture, they will be dumped like ripe grapes into the tremendous “winepress” where the “anger of the wrath of God the Almighty” will be brought to bear upon them with crushing effect. The King of kings and his heavenly armies on horseback will join in the crushing work, the treading of this symbolic winepress. The form that the symbolic treading will take will correspond with how Jehovah God the Almighty says that he will express his wrath and fiery fury against the hordes of Gog of Magog, as it were with earthquake, pestilence, a flooding downpour, hailstones, fire and sulphur, with much bloodshed.—Ezekiel 38:18-22; compare Joel 3:9-16; Revelation 14:18-20.
53, 54. (a) Who, obviously, will be the victor in the universal war at Har–Magedon? (b) Even before the conclusion of the war, what invitation is extended to “all the birds that fly in midheaven”?
53 How can the multination armies in battle array under their spiritual Gog of Magog expect to stand their ground against the King of kings and Lord of lords, who fights for the universal sovereignty of the Most High and Almighty God, Jehovah? Never, even as a United Nations organization and as nuclear-powered nations, can they possibly do so! Who the victor in the universal war at Har–Magedon will be is a foregone conclusion. The corpses of the enemy dead with which God the Almighty causes the battlefield to be strewn provide what is called “the great evening meal of God” for all the carrion-eating birds that fly in midheaven. Before ever the war is fought to a conclusion, a heavenly angel arrayed with sunlight is pictured as extending an invitation to all these birds to come to the grand meal that God spreads for them at Har–Magedon. Concerning this, our news reporter John says:
54 “I saw also an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice and said to all the birds that fly in midheaven: ‘Come here, be gathered together to the great evening meal of God, that you may eat the fleshy parts of kings and the fleshy parts of military commanders and the fleshy parts of strong men and the fleshy parts of horses and of those seated upon them, and the fleshy parts of all, of freemen as well as of slaves and of small ones and great.’”—Revelation 19:17, 18.
55. (a) Why is it not upon the “wild beast” and the “false prophet” that the birds are invited to feed? (b) In Ezekiel’s prophecy, what creatures besides the birds are invited to the feast?
55 We note that “all the birds that fly in midheaven” are not invited to feed upon the carcasses of the political “wild beast” and the political “false prophet.” (Revelation 13:1-8, 11-13; 16:13) The picture here drawn is strictly that of a battlefield strewn with the carcasses of the fighting forces of an army. It is not a picture of the pursuit of a savage wild beast and of a military attack upon a lone “false prophet.” In the prophet Ezekiel’s vision of the attack by the forces of Gog upon Jehovah’s restored people in their spiritual paradise, more than the “birds of every sort of wing” are invited to feed upon the carcasses of the defeated enemies, “All the wild beasts of the field” are also invited to feed upon the “flesh of mighty ones,” upon “horses and charioteers, mighty persons and all sorts of warriors.” (Ezekiel 39:17-20) Jehovah’s disdain and contempt for those crushed by his heavenly armies in the “winepress of the anger of the wrath of God the Almighty” are shown by letting the carcasses of the slain enemies lie unburied as carrion food for birds and beasts.
56. How does Revelation chapter 17 depict the combined earthly forces under Gog of Magog in their attack against Jehovah’s King?
56 The entire combined visible organization of Satan the Devil will be in the fight. The combining of the earthly forces under Gog of Magog against Jehovah’s King of kings is pictured as an attack by a lone, collective “wild beast” with its seven heads and ten horns. This scarlet-colored “wild beast” is pictured as first destroying Babylon the Great, the world empire of false religion. Concerning the antireligious political rulers that are pictured by the ten horns of the collective “wild beast,” it was said to the apostle John: “These have one thought, and so they give their power and authority to the wild beast [to the United Nations]. These will battle with the Lamb, but, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, the Lamb will conquer them. Also, those called and chosen and faithful with him will do so.”—Revelation 17:13, 14.
57. (a) What is the significance of the fact that the Lamb is called “Lord of lords and King of kings”? (b) Who will be the objects of that assault by the “wild beast” that represents the United Nations?
57 The fight of a seven-headed, ten-horned wild beast against a lamb seems like an unequally matched warfare. But the symbolic Lamb in this prophecy is Jehovah’s appointed Lord of lords and King of kings, superior therefore to all the lords and kings that are combined in the symbolic “wild beast,” the 138-member United Nations. Being earthly, they cannot see the Lamb with their human eyes so as to fight directly against him. But they can see on earth in the flesh the anointed remnant of “those called and chosen and faithful with him.” Because these represent the King of kings and Lord of lords, the member nations of the United Nations battle with him by warring expressly with the anointed remnant of his Kingdom joint heirs. Associated with this faithful remnant are the unnumbered members of the “great crowd,” who firmly take their stand on the side of Jehovah’s universal sovereignty and who follow the Fine Shepherd, Jesus Christ the royal Son of Jehovah. So those disciples belonging to the “great crowd” also share with the anointed remnant the onslaught of the antireligious United Nations.
58. What kind of conquest will take place at that time (a) on the part of the King of kings? (b) on the part of his earthly subjects?
58 The symbolic “ten horns” and the scarlet-colored “wild beast” will fail to destroy all the faithful representatives on earth of the King of kings. As in the prophetic picture of the attack by Gog of Magog, they will fail to wipe out the spiritual paradise in which the “called and chosen and faithful” and the “great crowd” find themselves under protection of the King of kings. (Revelation 7:9-17; 12:17) With his celestial angelic armies the King of kings will literally conquer the battling “ten horns” belonging to the world organization of the “wild beast.” On earth “those called and chosen and faithful with him [the King of kings]” will conquer by Christian faith, never renouncing the right of the King of kings to rule all the earth, never denying the universal sovereignty of the King of Eternity, Jehovah God. (Revelation 15:3) The “great crowd” of fellow inhabitants in the spiritual paradise will likewise refuse to compromise and to yield to the claim of the ten-horned, seven-headed “wild beast” to world domination over all the earth.
59, 60. (a) May some who conquer by faith nevertheless die at the hands of the enemy at that time? (b) What hope will strengthen them to prove their loyalty to Jehovah’s sovereignty in this way? (c) Is there any possibility that the anointed remnant and the “great crowd” will be completely wiped out by the enemy at that time?
59 Some of those who conquer by faith may be permitted by God the Almighty to prove their loyalty to His universal sovereignty by suffering death at the hands of the violent opposers of Jehovah’s Messianic kingdom. This, however, will not signify their being executed by Jehovah’s angelic armies under his Field Marshal, Jesus Christ.
60 These faithful martyrs for divine sovereignty of the universe will die faithful, as vindicators of Jehovah’s rightful rule by Christ. They will die within Jehovah’s favor and appreciation. They will not be cast into the “second death” of everlasting destruction as symbolized by the “fiery lake that burns with sulphur.” (Revelation 19:20; 20:10, 14, 15; 21:8) They will die unconquered as Jesus Christ himself did, with the strengthening hope of a resurrection from the dead in God’s due time. (Revelation 2:10; 14:13; 20:4, 6, 11-13) However, the full membership of the anointed remnant will not be killed off by the battling opposers of Jehovah’s Messianic kingdom. Also, Revelation 7:9-14 assures us that other survivors of this climax of the “great tribulation” will be the unnumbered members of the “great crowd.” Individuals may be permitted to die, but not the remnant and “great crowd” as a whole.
ANNIHILATION OF THE KING’S OPPOSERS
61. At Revelation 19:19-21, what description does the apostle John give of those who are executed at Har–Magedon?
61 Those on earth who are executed as unfit for everlasting life, in the “war of the great day of God the Almighty” at Har–Magedon, are reported on by the apostle John in Revelation 19:19-21. In that advance-news report, John writes: “And I saw the wild beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage the war with the one [the King of kings and the Lord of lords] seated on the horse and with his army. And the wild beast [Satan’s worldwide political system] was caught, and along with it the false prophet that performed in front of it the signs with which he misled those who received the mark of the wild beast and those who render worship to its image [the United Nations]. While still alive, they both were hurled into the fiery lake that burns with sulphur. But the rest were killed off with the long sword of the one seated on the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth. And all the birds were filled from the fleshy parts of them.”
62. To what extent will irreligiousness characterize the nations at that time?
62 By the time of the waging of this war at Har–Magedon, Babylon the Great will have been killed off. This is why the destruction of that world empire of false religion is not here described. By this time also when total irreligiousness pervades the nations, there will have disappeared any “kings” who might for a while weep because of not being able to commit fornication with Babylon the Great any longer, likewise any “traveling merchants” that wept and mourned because of no more being able to do selfish commercial business with her, also “every ship captain and every man that voyages anywhere, and sailors and all those who make a living by the sea,” all of whom weep and mourn because they can no longer ply their selfish trade with Babylon the Great. (Revelation 18:9-19) Such ones, if they want to survive after the destruction of Babylon the Great, will be obliged to turn radically antireligious, with the exception of worship to the political “image” of the seven-headed, ten-horned “wild beast” to which Satan the Dragon gave power, authority and a throne.—Revelation 13:1-8; 14:9-11; 16:2.
63. Does the destruction of the world empire of false religion by the earthly rulers indicate love for God’s Messianic kingdom on their part, and how do they show this?
63 So at the time for the fulfillment of the battle vision of Revelation 19:19-21, the symbolic “wild beast” and the “kings of the earth and their armies” have disposed of Babylon the Great in expression of their hatred of that religious “harlot.” She never did represent Jehovah’s theocratic government, not even that part of her called Christendom did so. Destruction of Babylon the Great as false religion does not bespeak, however, any love on the part of the “kings of the earth and their armies” for God’s Messianic kingdom. Those earthly kings and their armies hate that kingdom because of love for their own political sovereignty over all the earth. So now, with Babylon the Great gone, they can concentrate on waging the war against Jesus Christ and the heavenly kingdom that he operates.
64. (a) Why are the remnant and the “great crowd” offensive to the “kings of the earth and their armies”? (b) By what means can the enemies of Jehovah’s people be expected to war against them?
64 The surviving remnant of Christ’s anointed joint heirs and also the “great crowd” of their loyal companions have made themselves the target of the worldly nations because of having proclaimed in all the inhabited earth the good news of the Messianic kingdom for a witness to all the nations down to the end. (Matthew 24:14) Such advocates of Jehovah’s universal sovereignty are offensive, obnoxious to the “kings of the earth and their armies.” So they express their hostility to the invisible King of kings by waging war with what political, military, judicial, economic means that they have at their disposal. Exterminate them! will be the slogan of the “kings of the earth and their armies.” The heavenly King of kings will count their hostile action against the anointed remnant and the “great crowd” as being against himself. At the precisely timed signal from the Supreme Commander, Jehovah God, he and his angelic armies will charge into the battle against the God-defying enemies on earth.
65, 66. (a) How is the unity of God’s earthly enemies broken up at Har–Magedon, as described at Revelation 19:20? (b) What is indicated by the fact that the “wild beast” and the “false prophet” are “still alive” when this action takes place? (c) What is indicated by the fact that they are hurled into “the fiery lake that burns with sulphur”?
65 The first move is to break up the unity of the earthly enemies. This means breaking to pieces the world political system as symbolized by the “wild beast” out of the sea. With the dissolution of that comes the breaking up of the Eighth World Power, the United Nations as the global organization for world peace and security, which was symbolized by the “image of the wild beast,” and also the Seventh World Power, namely, the Anglo-American Dual World Power, as symbolized by the “false prophet.” Hence, the apostle John tells us:
66 “And the wild beast was caught, and along with it the false prophet that performed in front of it the signs with which he misled those who received the mark of the wild beast and those who render worship to its image. While still alive, they both were hurled into the fiery lake that burns with sulphur.” (Revelation 19:20) These political organizations being “still alive” when this action takes place, it indicates that these worldly organizations of today will still be functioning when the “war of the great day of God the Almighty” at Har–Magedon starts. Both the world-dominating “wild beast” and the Anglo-American “false prophet” will be caught in the midst of their destructive efforts against the anointed remnant and the “great crowd” within their spiritual paradise. Disorganization of them will follow, and, instead of destroying the remnant and the “great crowd,” these political organizations of God-defying men will be annihilated for all time to come. Their violent death will be a “second death” from which there is no reorganization. So they are pictured as being hurled into the fiery “lake that burns with sulphur.”
67. When will Satan the Devil and his demons join the “wild beast” and the “false prophet” in that “fiery lake”?
67 Thus it is seen that, even at the time of the “war of the great day of God the Almighty” at Har–Magedon and before the abyssing of Satan the Devil and the beginning of Christ’s reign of a thousand years over mankind, there is an enforcement of the “second death” upon those who wage war at Har–Magedon against the King of kings and his Messianic kingdom. The penalty of the “second death” is symbolized by the “fiery lake that burns with sulphur.” In God’s due time, after the close of Christ’s thousand-year reign, the man-made political organizations pictured by the “wild beast” and the “false prophet” will be joined in that “fiery lake” by Satan the Devil and all his demon angels. (Revelation 20:10) That will be the “everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels.”—Matthew 25:41.
68. With the removal of man’s visible old order, what will be the grand prospect of the survivors?
68 Thus with the violent passing away of religious Babylon the Great and the political organizations pictured by the seven-headed “wild beast” and the “false prophet,” man’s visible old order will give way to God’s new order for the earth. It will be the hardest period of human history through which to live. (Matthew 24:21, 22; Daniel 12:1) Yet there will be survivors of it on earth. Happy will these be who survive into God’s blessed new order! |
Read the Truth About Religion | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/101974011 | Read the Truth About Religion
What is religion’s past and present record? What positions are the churches taking on current issues? What do they say about moral questions? How does the public react? The truth is often shocking.
The Watchtower presents soundly documented reports on these matters. Do you like to hear the truth? If so, you will enjoy reading this magazine.
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Why Don’t Jehovah’s Witnesses Use the Cross in Their Worship? | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/502013309 | Why Don’t Jehovah’s Witnesses Use the Cross in Their Worship?
Many people view the cross as the universal symbol of Christianity. Although Jehovah’s Witnesses are Christians, we do not use the cross in our worship. Why not?
One reason is that the Bible indicates that Jesus did not die on a cross but rather on a simple stake. Moreover, the Bible strongly warns Christians to “flee from idolatry,” which would mean not using the cross in worship.—1 Corinthians 10:14; 1 John 5:21.
Significantly, Jesus said: “By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love among yourselves.” (John 13:34, 35) Jesus thereby indicated that self-sacrificing love—not the cross or any other image—would identify his true followers. |
Sing Praises (ssb)
1984 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/Ssb | Song 54
We Must Be Holy
(1 Peter 1:15, 16)
1. God has commanded that we must be holy,
Since through Christ Jesus we have been made clean.
As a cleansed people, humble and lowly,
By all observers may we thus be seen.
2. We’re set apart as Jehovah’s possession,
His holy nation and his other sheep.
By all our conduct, we make confession
That his right laws we are anxious to keep.
3. As we move forward, it’s truly impressive
How by our God we are being refined.
He gives his people truth that’s progressive,
So there’s no need to be looking behind.
4. All opportunities let us be seizing,
Growing in holiness, walking in light,
Praising Jehovah, him always pleasing.
He is the Holy One, faithful, upright. |
What Is Forgiveness? | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/502015232 | What Is Forgiveness?
The Bible’s answer
Forgiveness is the act of pardoning an offender. In the Bible, the Greek word translated “forgiveness” literally means “to let go,” as when a person does not demand payment for a debt. Jesus used this comparison when he taught his followers to pray: “Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is in debt to us.” (Luke 11:4) Likewise, in his parable of the unmerciful slave, Jesus equated forgiveness with canceling a debt.—Matthew 18:23-35.
We forgive others when we let go of resentment and give up any claim to be compensated for the hurt or loss we have suffered. The Bible teaches that unselfish love is the basis for true forgiveness, since love “does not keep account of the injury.”—1 Corinthians 13:4, 5.
What forgiveness does not mean
Condoning the offense. The Bible actually condemns those who claim that bad actions are harmless or acceptable.—Isaiah 5:20.
Pretending that the offense never happened. God forgave King David of serious sins, but he did not shield David from the consequences of his actions. God even had David’s sins recorded so that they are remembered today.—2 Samuel 12:9-13.
Allowing others to take advantage of you. Suppose, for example, that you loan money to someone, but he wastes it and then cannot repay you as he had promised. He is very sorry and apologizes to you. You could choose to forgive him by not harboring resentment, not rehashing the matter with him continually, and perhaps even canceling the debt altogether. However, you might also choose not to loan him any more money.—Psalm 37:21; Proverbs 14:15; 22:3; Galatians 6:7.
Pardoning with no valid basis. God does not forgive people who are guilty of willful, malicious sin and who refuse to acknowledge their mistakes, change their ways, and apologize to those whom they have hurt. (Proverbs 28:13; Acts 26:20; Hebrews 10:26) Such unrepentant ones become God’s enemies, and he does not require us to forgive those whom he has not forgiven.—Psalm 139:21, 22.
What if you are the victim of cruel mistreatment by someone who refuses to apologize or even admit to what he has done? The Bible advises: “Let go of anger and abandon rage.” (Psalm 37:8) While not excusing the error, you can refuse to be consumed with anger. Trust that God will bring the person to account. (Hebrews 10:30, 31) You can also take comfort in knowing that God will bring a time when we will no longer feel the deep pain or hurt that may burden us now.—Isaiah 65:17; Revelation 21:4.
“Forgiving” every perceived slight. Sometimes, rather than pardoning a so-called offender, we may need to admit that we had no valid cause for being offended in the first place. The Bible says: “Do not be quick to take offense, for the taking of offense is the mark of a fool.”—Ecclesiastes 7:9, footnote.
How to forgive someone
Remember what forgiveness involves. You are not condoning the wrong or acting as if it never happened—you are simply letting it go.
Recognize the benefits of forgiving. Letting go of anger and resentment can help you to keep calm, improve your health, and increase your happiness. (Proverbs 14:30; Matthew 5:9) Even more important, forgiving others is a key to receiving God’s forgiveness for your own sins.—Matthew 6:14, 15.
Be empathetic. All of us are imperfect. (James 3:2) Just as we appreciate being forgiven, we should likewise forgive the mistakes of others.—Matthew 7:12.
Be reasonable. When we have a minor cause for complaint, we can apply the Bible’s counsel: “Continue putting up with one another.”—Colossians 3:13.
Act quickly. Work to forgive as soon as you can rather than letting your anger fester.—Ephesians 4:26, 27. |
STUDY ARTICLE 3
The Great Crowd of Other Sheep Praise God and Christ | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2021241 | STUDY ARTICLE 3
The Great Crowd of Other Sheep Praise God and Christ
“Salvation we owe to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb.”—REV. 7:10.
SONG 14 Praising Earth’s New King
PREVIEWa
1. What effect did a talk delivered at a convention in 1935 have on one young man?
THE young man was 18 years old when he got baptized in 1926. His parents were Bible Students, as Jehovah’s Witnesses were known at the time. They had three sons and two daughters, whom they raised to serve Jehovah God and imitate Jesus Christ. As was true of all Bible Students back then, this sincere young man partook of the bread and the wine each year at the Lord’s Evening Meal. However, his entire outlook on life was changed by a history-making talk eninputd “The Great Multitude.” That talk was given in 1935 by J. F. Rutherford at a convention in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. What was revealed at that convention?
2. What exciting truth was revealed in Brother Rutherford’s talk?
2 In his talk, Brother Rutherford identified those who would make up the “great multitude” (King James Version), or “great crowd,” mentioned at Revelation 7:9. Until then, this group was thought to be a secondary heavenly class that was less faithful. Brother Rutherford used the Scriptures to explain that the great crowd are not chosen to live in heaven, but they are Christ’s other sheepb who will survive “the great tribulation” and live forever on earth. (Rev. 7:14) Jesus promised: “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; those too I must bring in, and they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock, one shepherd.” (John 10:16) These sheeplike ones are loyal Witnesses of Jehovah who have the prospect of living forever in Paradise on earth. (Matt. 25:31-33, 46) Let us see how this flash of spiritual light changed the lives of many of Jehovah’s people, including that 18-year-old brother.—Ps. 97:11; Prov. 4:18.
A NEW UNDERSTANDING CHANGED THOUSANDS OF LIVES
3-4. At the 1935 convention, what did thousands realize about their hope, and why?
3 A thrilling moment at that convention came when the speaker asked the audience: “Will all those who have the hope of living forever on the earth please stand?” According to an eyewitness, over half of the some 20,000 people in the audience stood. Then Brother Rutherford declared: “Behold! The great multitude!” That was followed by thunderous cheering. Those who stood realized that they were not chosen for heavenly life. They knew that they had not been anointed by God’s spirit. On the next day of the convention, 840 new Witnesses got baptized, most of whom were of the other sheep.
4 After that talk, the young man mentioned earlier and thousands of others rightly stopped partaking of the bread and the wine at the Lord’s Evening Meal. One brother humbly expressed the feelings of many when he said: “The Memorial of 1935 was the last time that I partook of the emblems. I realized that the heavenly hope had not been awakened within me by Jehovah through his holy spirit; rather, I had the hope to live on the earth and to share in the work of making it a paradise.” (Rom. 8:16, 17; 2 Cor. 1:21, 22) Since then, those of the great crowd have increased in number and have been working side by side with the anointed remnant.c
5. How does Jehovah view those who have stopped partaking of the Memorial emblems?
5 How does Jehovah view those who stopped partaking of the Memorial emblems after 1935? And what if a baptized Witness today sincerely partakes of the bread and the wine at the Lord’s Evening Meal but later realizes that he or she is not truly anointed? (1 Cor. 11:28) Some have partaken of the emblems because they misunderstood their hope. But if they honestly acknowledge their mistake, stop partaking, and continue faithfully serving Jehovah, he will surely count them among the other sheep. Even though they do not partake of the bread and the wine, they still attend the Memorial because they deeply appreciate what Jehovah and Jesus have done for them.
A UNIQUE PROSPECT
6. What has Jesus commanded the angels to do?
6 With the great tribulation just ahead, it would be encouraging for us to review what Revelation chapter 7 further says about anointed Christians and the great crowd of other sheep. Jesus commands the angels to continue holding back the four winds of destruction. They are not to unleash those winds on the earth until all anointed Christians have been sealed, that is, finally approved by Jehovah. (Rev. 7:1-4) As a reward for their faithfulness, Christ’s anointed brothers become kings and priests with him in heaven. (Rev. 20:6) All those who make up the heavenly part of God’s family will be eager to see the 144,000 anointed ones receive their heavenly reward.
The great crowd dressed in white robes and with palm branches in their hands, standing before the brilliance of the throne of God and before the Lamb (See paragraph 7)
7. As related at Revelation 7:9, 10, whom did John see in vision, and what were they doing? (See cover picture.)
7 After telling about these 144,000 kings and priests, John sees something exciting, “a great crowd” who survive Armageddon. Unlike the first group, this second group is much larger and has no fixed number. (Read Revelation 7:9, 10.) They are “dressed in white robes,” indicating that they have kept themselves “without spot” from Satan’s world and have remained loyal to God and Christ. (Jas. 1:27) They cry out that they have been saved because of what Jehovah and Jesus, the Lamb of God, have done. All the while, they are holding palm branches, which shows that they joyfully acknowledge Jesus as Jehovah’s appointed King.—Compare John 12:12, 13.
8. What does Revelation 7:11, 12 tell us about Jehovah’s heavenly family?
8 Read Revelation 7:11, 12. What was the reaction in heaven? John sees all of Jehovah’s heavenly family filled with joy as those of the great crowd appear and praise God. Jehovah’s heavenly family will be delighted to see the fulfillment of this vision when the great crowd come out of the great tribulation alive.
9. According to Revelation 7:13-15, what are those of the great crowd doing now?
9 Read Revelation 7:13-15. John reports that the great crowd have “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” This signifies that they have a clean conscience and a righteous standing before Jehovah. (Isa. 1:18) They are dedicated, baptized Christians, who exercise strong faith in Jesus’ sacrifice and who have a relationship with Jehovah. (John 3:36; 1 Pet. 3:21) Thus, they qualify to stand before God’s throne to render him “sacred service day and night” in the earthly courtyard of his spiritual temple. Even now, they zealously perform the greater part of the Kingdom-preaching and disciple-making work, putting the interests of God’s Kingdom ahead of their own.—Matt. 6:33; 24:14; 28:19, 20.
Joyful members of the great crowd of other sheep coming out of the great tribulation (See paragraph 10)
10. Of what are the great crowd assured, and what promise will they see fulfilled?
10 The great crowd who come out of the great tribulation are assured of God’s continued care, for “the One seated on the throne will spread his tent over them.” The promise that the other sheep have longed to see fulfilled will be fully realized: “[God] will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore.”—Rev. 21:3, 4.
11-12. (a) As revealed at Revelation 7:16, 17, what blessings are in store for the great crowd? (b) What can the other sheep do at the Memorial, and why?
11 Read Revelation 7:16, 17. Right now, some of Jehovah’s people are suffering physical hunger because of oppressive economic conditions or as a result of the ravages of civil unrest and war. Others are imprisoned for their faith. However, those of the great crowd are thrilled to know that on escaping the destruction of this wicked system of things, they will always have an abundance of physical and spiritual food. When destruction is unleashed on Satan’s system of things, the great crowd will be spared the “scorching heat” of Jehovah’s anger that he will pour out on the nations. After the great tribulation ends, Jesus will guide these earthly survivors to the “waters of [everlasting] life.” Just think: The great crowd have a unique prospect. Of all the billions who have ever lived, they may never die!—John 11:26.
12 The other sheep have a marvelous hope for which they are thankful to Jehovah and Jesus! They were not chosen for heavenly life, but they are in no way less precious, or less valuable, to Jehovah. Members of both groups can praise God and Christ. One way they do so is by attending the Lord’s Evening Meal.
GIVE YOUR WHOLEHEARTED PRAISE AT THE MEMORIAL
The bread and the wine passed at the Memorial remind us that Jesus died in our place so that we could have life (See paragraphs 13-15)
13-14. Why should everyone attend the Memorial of Christ’s death?
13 In recent years, approximately 1 out of every 1,000 who attend the Memorial partakes of the bread and the wine. Most congregations do not have any partakers in attendance. The vast majority who attend the Memorial have the earthly hope. Why, then, do they attend the Lord’s Evening Meal? They attend for the same reason that people attend a friend’s wedding. They attend because they want to show their love and support for the couple who are getting married. Thus, those of the other sheep attend the Memorial because they want to show their love and support for Christ and the anointed. The other sheep also attend to show their appreciation for the sacrifice that the Memorial commemorates, a sacrifice that makes it possible for them to live forever on earth.
14 Another important reason why the other sheep attend the Memorial is in order to be obedient to Jesus’ command. When Jesus instituted that special meal with his faithful apostles, he told them: “Keep doing this in remembrance of me.” (1 Cor. 11:23-26) So they continue to attend the Lord’s Evening Meal as long as some anointed ones are alive here on earth. In fact, the other sheep invite everyone to attend the Memorial with them.
15. How can we personally praise God and Christ at the Memorial?
15 At the Memorial, we have the opportunity to praise God and Christ in song and prayer. The talk that will be given this year is “Appreciate What God and Christ Have Done for You!” It will deepen our gratitude for Jehovah and Christ. As the emblems are being passed, those of us in attendance will be reminded of what they symbolize—Jesus’ body and his blood. We will recall that Jehovah allowed his Son to die in our place so that we could have life. (Matt. 20:28) Everyone who loves our heavenly Father and his Son will want to attend the Memorial.
THANK JEHOVAH FOR THE HOPE HE HAS GIVEN YOU
16. In what ways are the anointed and the other sheep alike?
16 The difference between the anointed and the other sheep is not their value to God. Both groups are equally precious to him. After all, he paid the same price, the life of his dear Son, to purchase both the anointed and the other sheep. The difference between the two groups is that they have different hopes. Both groups must remain loyal to God and Christ. (Ps. 31:23) And remember, God’s spirit can work with equal force on all of us. This means that Jehovah supplies his holy spirit to each individual according to what is needed.
17. To what are the anointed remnant looking forward?
17 Anointed Christians are not born with the heavenly hope. It has to be implanted in their heart by God. They think about their hope, pray about it, and are eager to receive their reward in heaven. They cannot even imagine what their spiritual body will be like. (Phil. 3:20, 21; 1 John 3:2) Even so, they look forward to meeting Jehovah, Jesus, the angels, and the rest of the anointed. They long to take their place among them in the heavenly Kingdom.
18. To what are the other sheep looking forward?
18 The other sheep cherish a hope that comes naturally to humans, the prospect of living forever on earth. (Eccl. 3:11) They look forward to the day when they can help turn the entire planet into a paradise. They yearn for the day when they can build their houses, plant their gardens, and raise their children in perfect health. (Isa. 65:21-23) They look forward to exploring the earth—its mountains, forests, and seas—and to studying Jehovah’s abundant creation. Above all, they are thrilled to know that their bond with Jehovah will grow ever stronger and closer.
19. What opportunity does the Memorial give each of us, and when will the Memorial be held this year?
19 Jehovah has given each of his dedicated servants a wonderful hope for the future. (Jer. 29:11) The Memorial of Christ’s death gives each of us a grand opportunity to praise God and Christ for what they have done for us so that we can enjoy unending life. The Memorial is without question the most important occasion for true Christians to meet together. It will be held after sundown on Saturday, March 27, 2021. This year many will be able to attend this important occasion in relative freedom. Others will attend despite opposition. Some will face the challenge of commemorating this occasion while in prison. As Jehovah, Jesus, and the heavenly part of God’s family look on, may every congregation, group, and individual have a wonderful Memorial observance!
When the Memorial falls on a Saturday, as it does in 2021, no weekend congregation meeting will be scheduled. For this reason, no study article has been provided for next week
HOW WOULD YOU ANSWER?
What spiritual truth was revealed about the “great crowd” in 1935?
What prospect awaits the great crowd after the great tribulation?
How can each of us praise God and Christ at the Memorial?
SONG 150 Seek God for Your Deliverance
a March 27, 2021, is a special day for Jehovah’s Witnesses. That evening we will observe the Memorial of Christ’s death. The majority of those who attend will be part of the group that Jesus called the “other sheep.” What exciting truth was revealed about that group in 1935? What thrilling prospect awaits the other sheep after the great tribulation? And as observers at the Memorial, how can the other sheep praise God and Christ?
b EXPRESSIONS EXPLAINED: The other sheep include those who have been gathered throughout the last days. They follow Christ and have the prospect of living forever on earth. The great crowd are members of the other sheep who are alive when Christ judges mankind during the great tribulation, and they survive the great tribulation.
c EXPRESSION EXPLAINED: The word “remnant” refers to the remaining anointed Christians who are still alive on earth and who partake of the bread and the wine at the Lord’s Evening Meal. |
Origin of Life (lf)
2010 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/lf | Bibliography
1. How Did Life Begin?
1. How Life Began—Evolution’s Three Geneses, by Alexandre Meinesz, translated by Daniel Simberloff, 2008, pp. 30-33, 45.
a. Life Itself—Its Origin and Nature, by Francis Crick, 1981, pp. 15-16, 141-153.
2. Scientific American, “A Simpler Origin for Life,” by Robert Shapiro, June 2007, p. 48.
a. The New York Times, “A Leading Mystery of Life’s Origins Is Seemingly Solved,” by Nicholas Wade, May 14, 2009, p. A23.
3. Scientific American, June 2007, p. 48.
4. Scientific American, June 2007, pp. 47, 49-50.
5. Information Theory, Evolution, and the Origin of Life, by Hubert P. Yockey, 2005, p. 182.
6. NASA’s Astrobiology Magazine, “Life’s Working Definition—Does It Work?” (http://www.nasa.gov/ vision/universe/starsgalaxies/ life’s_working_definition.html), accessed 3/17/2009.
2. Is Any Form of Life Really Simple?
7. Princeton Weekly Bulletin, “Nuts, Bolts of Who We Are,” by Steven Schultz, May 1, 2000, (http://www.princeton.edu/ pr/pwb/00/0501/p/brain.shtml), accessed 3/27/2009.
a. “The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2002,” Press Release, October 7, 2002, (http://nobelprize.org/ nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2002/ press.html), accessed 3/27/2009.
8. “The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2002,” October 7, 2002.
9. Encyclopædia Britannica, CD 2003, “Cell,” “The Mitochondrion and the Chloroplast,” subhead, “The Endosymbiont Hypothesis.”
10. How Life Began—Evolution’s Three Geneses, p. 32.
11. Molecular Biology of the Cell, Second Edition, by Bruce Alberts et al, 1989, p. 405.
12. Molecular Human Reproduction, “The Role of Proteomics in Defining the Human Embryonic Secretome,” by M. G. Katz-Jaffe, S. McReynolds, D. K. Gardner, and W. B. Schoolcraft, 2009, p. 271.
13. Between Necessity and Probability: Searching for the Definition and Origin of Life, by Radu Popa, 2004, p. 129.
14. Between Necessity and Probability: Searching for the Definition and Origin of Life, pp. 126-127.
(Box) How Fast Can a Cell Reproduce?
15. Origin of Mitochondria and Hydrogenosomes, by William F. Martin and Miklós Müller, 2007, p. 21.
16. Brain Matters—Translating Research Into Classroom Practice, by Pat Wolfe, 2001, p. 16.
3. Where Did the Instructions Come From?
17. Research News Berkeley Lab, (http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/ LSD-molecular-DNA.html), article: “Molecular DNA Switch Found to Be the Same for All Life,” contact: Lynn Yarris, p. 1 of 4; accessed 2/10/2009.
18. Life Script, by Nicholas Wade, 2001, p. 79.
19. Bioinformatics Methods in Clinical Research, edited by Rune Matthiesen, 2010, p. 49.
20. Scientific American, “Computing With DNA,” by Leonard M. Adleman, August 1998, p. 61.
21. Nano Letters, “Enumeration of DNA Molecules Bound to a Nanomechanical Oscillator,” by B. Ilic, Y. Yang, K. Aubin, R. Reichenbach, S. Krylov, and H. G. Craighead, Vol. 5, No. 5, 2005, pp. 925, 929.
22. Genome—The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters, by Matt Ridley, 1999, pp. 7-8.
23. Essential Cell Biology, Second Edition, by Bruce Alberts, Dennis Bray, Karen Hopkin, Alexander Johnson, Julian Lewis, Martin Raff, Keith Roberts, and Peter Walter, 2004, p. 201.
24. Molecular Biology of the Cell, Fourth Edition, by Bruce Alberts et al, 2002, p. 258.
25. No Ordinary Genius—The Illustrated Richard Feynman, edited by Christopher Sykes, 1994, photo with no page number supplied; note caption.
a. New Scientist, “Second Genesis—Life, but Not As We Know It,” by Bob Holmes, March 11, 2009, (http://www.newscientist.com/article/ mg20126990.100) accessed 3/11/2009.
26. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence—A Philosophical Inquiry, by David Lamb, 2001, p. 83.
27. Associated Press Newswires, “Famous Atheist Now Believes in God,” by Richard N. Ostling, December 9, 2004.
(Box) A Molecule That Can Be Read and Copied
28. Intelligent Life in the Universe, Second Edition, by Peter Ulmschneider, 2006, p. 125.
4. Has All Life Descended From a Common Ancestor?
29. Biology and Philosophy, “The Concept of Monophyly: A Speculative Essay,” by Malcolm S. Gordon, 1999, p. 335.
30. New Scientist, “Uprooting Darwin’s Tree,” by Graham Lawton, January 24, 2009, p. 34.
31. New Scientist, January 24, 2009, pp. 37, 39.
32. Field Museum of Natural History Bulletin, “Conflicts Between Darwin and Paleontology,” by David M. Raup, January 1979, p. 23.
33. Archaeology, “The Origin of Form Was Abrupt Not Gradual,” by Suzan Mazur, October 11, 2008, (www.archaeology.org/online/ interviews/newman.html), accessed 2/23/2009.
34. In Search of Deep Time—Beyond the Fossil Record to a New History of Life, by Henry Gee, 1999, p. 23.
35. Biology and Philosophy, p. 340.
36. National Geographic, “Fossil Evidence,” November 2004, p. 25.
37. The Evolutionists—The Struggle for Darwin’s Soul, by Richard Morris, 2001, pp. 104-105.
(Box) What About Human Evolution?
38. The Human Lineage, by Matt Cartmill and Fred H. Smith, 2009, Preface, p. xi.
39. Fossils, Teeth and Sex—New Perspectives on Human Evolution, by Charles E. Oxnard, 1987, Preface, pp. xi, xii.
a. From Lucy to Language, by Donald Johanson and Blake Edgar, 1996, p. 22.
b. Anthropologie, XLII/1, “Palaeodemography and Dental Microwear of Homo Habilis From East Africa,” by Laura M. Martínez, Jordi Galbany, and Alejandro Pérez-Pérez, 2004, p. 53.
c. In Search of Deep Time—Beyond the Fossil Record to a New History of Life, p. 22.
40. Critique of Anthropology, Volume 29(2), “Patenting Hominins—Taxonomies, Fossils and Egos,” by Robin Derricourt, 2009, pp. 195-196, 198.
41. Nature, “A New Species of Great Ape From the Late Miocene Epoch in Ethiopia,” by Gen Suwa, Reiko T. Kono, Shigehiro Katoh, Berhane Asfaw, and Yonas Beyene, August 23, 2007, p. 921.
42. Acta Biologica Szegediensis, Volume 46(1-2), “New Findings—New Problems in Classification of Hominids,” by Gyula Gyenis, 2002, pp. 57, 59.
43. New Scientist, “A Fine Fossil—But a Missing instruction She’s Not,” by Chris Bead, May 30, 2009, p. 18.
44. The Guardian, London, “Fossil Ida: Extraordinary Find Is ‘Missing instruction’ in Human Evolution,” by James Randerson, May 19, 2009, (http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/ may/19/ida-fossil-missing-instruction), accessed 8/25/2009.
45. New Scientist, May 30, 2009, pp. 18-19.
46. Critique of Anthropology, Volume 29(2), p. 202.
47. Science and Justice, Vol. 43, No. 4, (2003) section, Forensic Anthropology, “Anthropological Facial ‘Reconstruction’—Recognizing the Fallacies, ‘Unembracing’ the Errors, and Realizing Method Limits,” by C. N. Stephan, p. 195.
48. The Human Fossil Record—Volume Three, by Ralph L. Holloway, Douglas C. Broadfield, and Michael S. Yuan, 2004, Preface xvi.
49. Scientific American Mind, “Intelligence Evolved,” by Ursula Dicke and Gerhard Roth, August/September 2008, p. 72.
50. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, “How Neandertals Inform Human Variation,” by Milford H. Wolpoff, 2009, p. 91.
51. Conceptual Issues in Human Modern Origins Research, Editors G. A. Clark and C. M. Willermet, 1997, pp. 5, 60.
a. Wonderful Life—The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History, by Stephen Jay Gould, 1989, p. 28. |
Blood brochure (hb)
1990 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/library/r1/lp-e/all-publications/brochures-and-booklets/blood-brochure-hb | The Blood That Really Saves Lives
Certain points are clear from the foregoing information. Though many people view them as lifesaving, blood transfusions are fraught with risks. Each year thousands die as a result of transfusions; multitudes more get very sick and face long-term consequences. So, even from a physical standpoint, there is wisdom right now in heeding the Biblical command to ‘abstain from blood.’—Acts 15:28, 29.
Patients are protected from many hazards if they request nonblood medical management. Skilled physicians who have accepted the challenge of applying this on Jehovah’s Witnesses have developed a standard of practice that is safe and effective, as is proved in numerous medical reports. Physicians who provide quality care without blood are not compromising valued medical principles. Rather, they show respect for a patient’s right to know risks and benefits so that he can make an informed choice as to what will be done to his body and life.
We are not being naive in this matter, for we realize that not all will agree with this approach. People differ as to conscience, ethics, and medical outlook. Hence, others, including some doctors, may find it hard to accept a patient’s decision to abstain from blood. One New York surgeon wrote: “I will never forget 15 years ago, as a young intern when I stood at the bedside of a Jehovah’s Witness who bled to death from a duodenal ulcer. The patient’s wishes were respected and no transfusions were given, but I can still remember the tremendous frustration as a physician I felt.”
He no doubt believed that blood would have been lifesaving. The year after he wrote that, however, The British Journal of Surgery (October 1986) reported that prior to the advent of transfusions, gastrointestinal hemorrhage had “a mortality rate of only 2.5 per cent.” Since transfusions became customary, ‘most large studies report a 10-percent mortality.’ Why a death rate four times as high? The researchers suggested: “Early blood transfusion appears to reverse the hypercoagulable response to haemorrhage thereby encouraging rebleeding.” When the Witness with the bleeding ulcer refused blood, his choice may actually have maximized his prospects for survival.
This same surgeon added: “The passage of time and treating many patients has a tendency to change one’s perspective, and today I find the trust between a patient and his physician, and the duty to respect a patient’s wishes far more important than the new medical technology which surrounds us. . . . It is interesting that the frustration has now given way to a sense of awe and reverence for that particular patient’s steadfast faith.” The physician concluded: ‘It reminds me that I should always respect a patient’s personal and religious wishes regardless of my feelings or the consequences.’
You may already realize something that many physicians come to appreciate with “the passage of time and treating many patients.” Even with the best of medical care in the finest of hospitals, at some point people die. With or without blood transfusions, they die. All of us are aging, and life’s end is approaching. That is not fatalistic. It is realistic. Dying is a fact of life.
The evidence shows that people who disregard God’s law on blood often experience immediate or delayed harm; some even die from the blood. Those who survive have not gained endless life. So blood transfusions do not save lives permanently.
Most people who, for religious and/or medical reasons, refuse blood but accept alternative medical therapy do very well. They may thus extend their life for years. But not endlessly.
That all humans are imperfect and are gradually dying leads us to the central truth of what the Bible says about blood. If we understand and appreciate this truth, we will see how blood can actually save life—our life—lastingly.
THE ONLY BLOOD THAT IS LIFESAVING
As noted earlier, God told all mankind that they must not eat blood. Why? Because blood represents life. (Genesis 9:3-6) He explained this further in the Law code given to Israel. At the time the Law code was ratified, the blood of sacrificed animals was used on an altar. (Exodus 24:3-8) Laws in that code addressed the fact that all humans are imperfect; they are sinful, as the Bible puts it. God told the Israelites that by means of animal sacrifices offered to him, they could acknowledge the need to have their sins covered. (Leviticus 4:4-7, 13-18, 22-30) Granted, that was what God asked of them back then, not what he asks of true worshipers today. Yet it has vital import for us now.
God himself explained the principle underlying those sacrifices: “The soul [or, life] of the flesh is in the blood, and I myself have put it upon the altar for you to make atonement for your souls, because it is the blood that makes atonement by the soul in it. That is why I have said to the sons of Israel: ‘No soul of you must eat blood.’”—Leviticus 17:11, 12.
On the ancient festival called Atonement Day, Israel’s high priest took blood of sacrificed animals into the most sacred part of the temple, the center of God’s worship. Doing that was a symbolic way of asking God to cover the people’s sins. (Leviticus 16:3-6, 11-16) Those sacrifices did not actually do away with all sin, so they had to be repeated each year. Still, this use of blood set a meaningful pattern.
A major teaching in the Bible is that God would eventually provide one perfect sacrifice that could fully atone for the sins of all believers. This is called the ransom, and it focuses on the sacrifice of the foretold Messiah, or Christ.
The Bible compares the Messiah’s role to what was done on Atonement Day: “When Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come to pass, through the greater and more perfect [temple] not made with hands, . . . he entered, no, not with the blood of goats and of young bulls, but with his own blood, once for all time into the holy place [heaven] and obtained an everlasting deliverance for us. Yes, nearly all things are cleansed with blood according to the Law, and unless blood is poured out no forgiveness takes place.”—Hebrews 9:11, 12, 22.
It thus becomes plain why we need to have God’s view of blood. In accord with his right as Creator, he has determined its exclusive usefulness. Israelites of old may have reaped health benefits by not taking in animal or human blood, but that was not the most important point. (Isaiah 48:17) They had to avoid sustaining their lives with blood, not primarily because doing otherwise was unhealthy, but because it was unholy to God. They were to abstain from blood, not because it was polluted, but because it was precious in obtaining forgiveness.
The apostle Paul explained about the ransom: “By means of him [Christ] we have the release by ransom through the blood of that one, yes, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his undeserved kindness.” (Ephesians 1:7) The original Greek word found there is properly translated “blood,” but a number of Bible versions err in substituting the word “death.” Hence, readers might miss the emphasis on our Creator’s view of blood and the sacrificial value that he has instructioned to it.
The Bible’s theme revolves around the fact that Christ died as a perfect ransom sacrifice but did not remain dead. Following the pattern that God set on Atonement Day, Jesus was raised to heaven to “appear before the person of God for us.” He presented there the value of his sacrificial blood. (Hebrews 9:24) The Bible emphasizes that we must avoid any course that would amount to ‘trampling on the Son of God and esteeming his blood as of ordinary value.’ Only thus may we keep a good relationship and peace with God.—Hebrews 10:29; Colossians 1:20.
ENJOY LIFE SAVED BY BLOOD
When we understand what God says about blood, we come to have the greatest respect for its lifesaving value. The Scriptures describe Christ as the one who ‘loves us and who loosed us from our sins by means of his own blood.’ (Revelation 1:5; John 3:16) Yes, by means of Jesus’ blood, we can gain full and lasting forgiveness of our sins. The apostle Paul wrote: “Since we have been declared righteous now by his blood, shall we be saved through him from wrath.” That is how lasting life can be saved by blood.—Romans 5:9; Hebrews 9:14.
Jehovah God long ago gave assurance that by means of Christ ‘all the families of the earth can bless themselves.’ (Genesis 22:18) That blessing includes restoring the earth to a paradise. Then believing mankind will no longer be afflicted with sickness, aging, or even death; they will enjoy blessings that far exceed the temporary aid medical personnel can now offer us. We have this marvelous promise: “He will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.”—Revelation 21:4.
How wise, then, for us to take to heart all of God’s requirements! That includes obeying his commands about blood, not misusing it even in medical situations. We thus will not live just for the moment. Rather, we will manifest our high regard for life, including our future prospect of everlasting life in human perfection.
[Box on page 25]
God’s people refused to sustain their lives with blood, not because doing that was unhealthy, but because it was unholy, not because blood was polluted, but because it was precious.
[Picture on page 24]
“By means of him [Jesus] we have the release by ransom through the blood of that one, yes, the forgiveness of our trespasses.”—Ephesians 1:7
[Picture on page 26]
Saving life with Jesus’ blood opens the way to endless, healthy life in an earthly paradise |
Mankind’s Search for God (sh)
1990 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/sh | Chapter 1
Why Be Interested in Other Religions?
1-7. What are some manifestations of the world’s various religions?
REGARDLESS of where you live, you have no doubt seen for yourself how religion affects the lives of millions of people, maybe yours too. In countries where Hinduism is practiced, you will often see people doing puja—a ceremony that may include making offerings to their gods, in the form of coconut, flowers, and apples. A priest will apply a spot of red or yellow pigment, the tilak, to the foreheads of the believers. Millions also flock each year to the river Ganges to be purified by its waters.
2 In Catholic countries, you will see people praying in churches and cathedrals while holding a crucifix or a rosary. The beads of the rosary are used for counting prayers offered in devotion to Mary. And it is not difficult to identify nuns and priests, distinctive in their black garb.
3 In Protestant lands, chapels and churches abound, and on Sunday parishioners usually put on their best clothes and congregate to sing hymns and hear sermons. Often their clergy wear a black suit and a distinguishing clerical collar.
4 In Islāmic countries, you can hear the voices of the muezzins, the Muslim criers who make the call from minarets five times a day, summoning the faithful to the ṣalāt, or ritual prayer. They view the Holy Qurʼān as the Islāmic book of scripture. According to Islāmic belief, it was revealed by God and was given to the prophet Muḥammad by the angel Gabriel in the seventh century C.E.
5 On the streets of many Buddhist lands, the monks of Buddhism, usually in saffron, black, or red robes, are seen as a sign of piety. Ancient temples with the serene Buddha on display are evidence of the antiquity of the Buddhist faith.
6 Practiced mainly in Japan, Shinto enters into daily life with family shrines and offerings to ancestors. The Japanese feel free to pray for the most mundane things, even success in school examinations.
7 Another religious activity known the world over is that of people going from house to house and standing on the streets with Bibles and Bible literature. With the Watchtower and Awake! magazines in evidence, nearly everyone recognizes these people as Jehovah’s Witnesses.
8. What does the history of religious devotion indicate?
8 What does this great worldwide variety of religious devotion indicate? That for thousands of years mankind has had a spiritual need and yearning. Man has lived with his trials and burdens, his doubts and questions, including the enigma of death. Religious feelings have been expressed in many different ways as people have turned to God or their gods, seeking blessings and solace. Religion also tries to address the great questions: Why are we here? How should we live? What does the future hold for mankind?
9. In what way do most people have some form of religious devotion in their lives?
9 On the other hand, there are millions of people who profess no religion nor any belief in a god. They are atheists. Others, agnostics, believe that God is unknown and probably unknowable. However, that obviously does not mean that they are people without principles or ethics, any more than professing a religion means that one does have them. However, if one accepts religion as being “devotion to some principle; strict fidelity or faithfulness; conscientiousness; pious affection or attachment,” then most people, including atheists and agnostics, do have some form of religious devotion in their lives.—The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary.
10. Does religion make an impact on the modern world? Illustrate.
10 With so many religions in a world that gets smaller and smaller by virtue of ever faster travel and communication, the impact of various faiths is felt worldwide, whether we like it or not. The outrage that broke out in 1989 over the book The Satanic Verses, written by what some people termed ‘an apostate Muslim,’ is clear evidence of how religious sentiment can manifest itself on a global scale. There were calls from Islāmic leaders for the book to be banned and even for the author to be put to death. What makes people react so vehemently in matters of religion?
11. Why is it not wrong to examine other faiths?
11 To answer that, we need to know something about the background of the world’s religions. As Geoffrey Parrinder states in World Religions—From Ancient History to the Present: “To study different religions need not imply infidelity to one’s own faith, but rather it may be enlarged by seeing how other people have sought for reality and have been enriched by their search.” Knowledge leads to understanding, and understanding to tolerance of people with a different viewpoint.
Why Investigate?
12. What factors usually determine a person’s religion?
12 Have you ever thought or said, ‘I have my own religion. It is a very personal matter. I do not discuss it with others’? True, religion is very personal—virtually from birth religious or ethical ideas are implanted in our mind by our parents and relatives. As a consequence, we usually follow the religious ideals of our parents and grandparents. Religion has become almost a matter of family tradition. What is the result of that process? That in many cases others have chosen our religion for us. It has simply been a matter of where we were born and when. Or, as historian Arnold Toynbee indicated, an individual’s adherence to a certain faith is often determined by “the geographical accident of the locality of his birth-place.”
13, 14. Why is it not reasonable to assume that the religion of one’s birth is automatically approved by God?
13 Is it reasonable to assume that the religion imposed at one’s birth is necessarily the whole truth? If you were born in Italy or South America, then, without any choice, you were probably raised a Catholic. If you were born in India, then likely you automatically became a Hindu or, if from the Punjab, perhaps a Sikh. If your parents were from Pakistan, then you would obviously be a Muslim. And if you were born in a Socialist country over the last few decades, you might have had no choice but to be raised an atheist.—Galatians 1:13, 14; Acts 23:6.
14 Therefore, is the religion of one’s birth automatically the true one, approved by God? If that had been the concept followed over the millenniums, many among mankind would still be practicing primitive shamanism and ancient fertility cults, on the premise that ‘what was good enough for my ancestors is good enough for me.’
15, 16. What benefits are there in examining other religions?
15 With the wide diversity of religious expression that has developed around the world over the past 6,000 years, it is at least educational and mind broadening to understand what others believe and how their beliefs originated. And it might also open up vistas of a more concrete hope for your future.
16 In many countries now, owing to immigration and population movement, people of different religions share the same neighborhood. Therefore, understanding one another’s viewpoint can lead to more meaningful communication and conversation between people of different faiths. Perhaps, too, it may dissipate some of the hatred in the world that is based on religious differences. True, people may strongly disagree about their religious beliefs, but there is no basis for hating a person just because he or she holds a different viewpoint.—1 Peter 3:15; 1 John 4:20, 21; Revelation 2:6.
17. Why should we not hate those whose religious thinking differs from ours?
17 The ancient Jewish law stated: “You shall not hate your kinsfolk in your heart. Reprove your kinsman but incur no guilt because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against your countrymen. Love your fellow as yourself: I am the LORD [Jehovah].” (Leviticus 19:17, 18, Ta) The Founder of Christianity stated: “But I say to you who are listening, Continue to love your enemies, to do good to those hating you, . . . and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind toward the unthankful and wicked.” (Luke 6:27, 35) Under the heading “She That Is To Be Examined,” the Qurʼān states a similar principle (surah 60:7, MMP): “It may be that Allāh will bring about friendship between you and those of them whom you hold as enemies. And Allāh is Powerful; and Allāh is Forgiving, Merciful.”
18. How does what one believes make a difference?
18 However, while tolerance and understanding are needed, that does not imply that it makes no difference what one believes. As historian Geoffrey Parrinder stated: “It is sometimes said that all religions have the same goal, or are equal ways to the truth, or even that all teach the same doctrines . . . Yet the ancient Aztecs, who held up the beating hearts of their victims to the sun, surely did not have as good a religion as that of the peaceful Buddha.” Furthermore, when it comes to worship, is it not God himself who should determine what is and is not acceptable?—Micah 6:8.
How Should Religion Be Measured?
19. How should religion affect a person’s conduct?
19 While most religions have a body of beliefs or doctrines, these can often form a very complicated theology, beyond the understanding of the average layperson. Yet the principle of cause and effect applies in every case. The teachings of a religion should influence the personality and the daily conduct of each believer. Thus, each person’s conduct will normally be a reflection, to a greater or lesser degree, of that one’s religious background. What effect does your religion have on you? Does your religion produce a kinder person? More generous, honest, humble, tolerant, and compassionate? These are reasonable questions, for as one great religious teacher, Jesus Christ, stated: “Every good tree produces fine fruit, but every rotten tree produces worthless fruit; a good tree cannot bear worthless fruit, neither can a rotten tree produce fine fruit. Every tree not producing fine fruit gets cut down and thrown into the fire. Really, then, by their fruits you will recognize those men.”—Matthew 7:17-20.
20. What questions arise regarding religion and history?
20 Certainly world history must give us pause and make us wonder what role religion has played in the many wars that have devastated mankind and caused untold suffering. Why have so many people killed and been killed in the name of religion? The Crusades, the Inquisition, the conflicts in the Middle East and Northern Ireland, the slaughter between Iraq and Iran (1980-88), the Hindu-Sikh clashes in India—all these events certainly make thinking people raise questions about religious beliefs and ethics.—See box below.
21. What are some examples of Christendom’s fruitage?
21 The realm of Christendom has been noteworthy for its hypocrisy in this field. In two world wars, Catholic has killed Catholic and Protestant has killed Protestant at the behest of their “Christian” political leaders. Yet the Bible clearly contrasts the works of the flesh and the fruitage of the spirit. Regarding the works of the flesh, it states: “They are fornication, uncleanness, loose conduct, idolatry, practice of spiritism, enmities, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, outputions, divisions, sects, envies, drunken bouts, revelries, and things like these. As to these things I am forewarning you, the same way as I did forewarn you, that those who practice such things will not inherit God’s kingdom.” Yet so-called Christians have practiced these things for centuries, and their conduct has often been condoned by their clergy.—Galatians 5:19-21.
22, 23. In contrast, what fruitage should true religion bear?
22 In contrast, the positive fruitage of the spirit is described as: “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, mildness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.” All religions ought to be producing this kind of peaceable fruitage. But do they? Does yours?—Galatians 5:22, 23.
23 Therefore, this book’s examination of mankind’s search for God through the world’s religions should serve to answer some of our questions. But by what criteria should a religion be judged? By whose standard?
‘My Religion Is Good Enough for Me’
24, 25. What challenge is presented to each person regarding his religion?
24 Many people dismiss religious discussion by saying, ‘My religion is good enough for me. I don’t do any harm to anyone else, and I help when I can.’ But does that go far enough? Are our personal criteria on religion sufficient?
25 If religion is “the expression of man’s belief in and reverence for a superhuman power recognized as the creator and governor of the universe,” as one dictionary states, then surely the question should be, Is my religion good enough for the creator and governor of the universe? Also, in that case, the Creator would have the right to establish what is acceptable conduct, worship, and doctrine and what is not. To do that, he must reveal his will to mankind, and that revelation must be easily available and accessible to all. Furthermore, his revelations, even though provided centuries apart, should always be harmonious and consistent. This presents a challenge to each person—to examine the evidence and prove for oneself what the acceptable will of God is.
26. Which holy book should serve as a measuring rod for true worship? And why?
26 One of the most ancient books claiming inspiration by God is the Bible. It is also the most widely circulated and translated book in all history. Nearly two thousand years ago, one of its writers stated: “Quit being fashioned after this system of things, but be transformed by making your mind over, that you may prove to yourselves the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:2) What would be the source of such proof? The same writer stated: “All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work.” Therefore, the inspired Bible should serve as a reliable measuring rod for true and acceptable worship.—2 Timothy 3:16, 17.
27. (a) What are the holy writings of some world religions? (b) How should their teachings compare with those of the Bible?
27 The oldest portion of the Bible predates all of the world’s other religious writings. The Torah, or first five books of the Bible, the Law written under inspiration by Moses, dates back to the 15th and 16th centuries B.C.E. By comparison, the Hindu writings of the Rig-Veda (a collection of hymns) were completed about 900 B.C.E. and do not claim divine inspiration. The Buddhist “Canon of the Three Baskets” dates back to the fifth century B.C.E. The Qurʼān, claimed to have been transmitted from God through the angel Gabriel, is a product of the seventh century C.E. The Book of Mormon, reportedly given to Joseph Smith in the United States by an angel called Moroni, is a product of the 19th century. If some of these works are divinely inspired as some assert, then what they offer in terms of religious guidance should not contradict the teachings of the Bible, which is the original inspired source. They should also answer some of mankind’s most intriguing questions.
Questions That Require an Answer
28. What are some of the questions that require an answer?
28 (1) Does the Bible teach what the majority of religions teach and what many people believe, namely, that humans have an immortal soul and that at death it moves on to another realm, the “hereafter,” heaven, hell, or purgatory, or that it returns in a reincarnation?
(2) Does the Bible teach that the Sovereign Lord of the universe is nameless? Does it teach that he is one God? or three persons in one God? or many gods?
(3) What does the Bible say was God’s original purpose in creating mankind for life on earth?
(4) Does the Bible teach that the earth will be destroyed? Or does it point only to an end, or conclusion, for the corrupt world system?
(5) How can inner peace and salvation really be achieved?
29. (a) What is the basic principle that should guide our search for truth? (b) What answers does the Bible supply to our questions?
29 Each religion has different answers, but in our search for the “pure religion,” we should eventually reach the conclusions that God wants us to reach. (James 1:27; AS; KJ) Why can we say that? Because our basic principle will be: “Let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, even as it is written: ‘That you might be proved righteous in your words and might win when you are being judged.’”—Romans 3:4.a
30. What are some of the questions to be considered in the next chapter?
30 Now that we have a basis for examining the world’s religions, let us turn to mankind’s early quest for spirituality. What do we know about how religion began? What patterns of worship were established among the ancient and perhaps primitive peoples?
[Footnotes]
a If you are interested in an immediate Bible answer to these questions, we recommend that you check the following texts: (1) Genesis 1:26; 2:7; Ezekiel 18:4, 20; Leviticus 24:17, 18; Matthew 10:28; (2) Deuteronomy 6:4; 1 Corinthians 8:4-6; (3) Genesis 1:27, 28; Revelation 21:1-4; (4) Ecclesiastes 1:4; Matthew 24:3, 7, 8; (5) John 3:16; 17:3; Philippians 2:5-11; 4:6, 7; Hebrews 5:9.
[Blurb on page 16]
All religions ought to produce peaceable fruitage. But do they?
[Box on page 14]
Religion, Love, and Hatred
▪ “Religious wars tend to be extra furious. When people fight over territory for economic advantage, they reach the point where the battle isn’t worth the cost and so compromise. When the cause is religious, compromise and conciliation seem to be evil.”—Roger Shinn, professor of social ethics, Union Theological Seminary, New York.
▪ “Men will wrangle for religion, write for it, fight for it, die for it; anything but live for it . . . Where true religion has prevented one crime, false religions have afforded a pretext for a thousand.”—Charles Caleb Colton (1825).
▪ “We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.”—Jonathan Swift (1667-1745).
▪ “Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.”—Blaise Pascal (1623-62).
▪ “The true purpose of a higher religion is to radiate the spiritual counsels and truths that are its essence into as many souls as it can reach, in order that each of these souls may be enabled thereby to fulfil the true end of Man. Man’s true end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him for ever.”—Arnold Toynbee, historian.
[Pictures on page 4]
Hindus revere the river Ganges—called Ganga Ma, or Mother Ganga
Sincere Catholics turn to Mary in their use of the rosary
In some Buddhist countries, most males serve some time as saffron-robed monks
Faithful Muslims make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once
[Picture on page 6]
Jehovah’s Witnesses, known worldwide for their preaching activity, in a Japanese city
[Picture on page 9]
A baby being baptized in one of Christendom’s churches. Is the religion of one’s birth necessarily the true one?
[Picture on page 11]
Aztec human sacrifice—are all religions really “equal ways to the truth”?
[Picture on page 13]
In the name of religion, millions have killed and been killed |
Creator (ct)
1998 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/ct | Chapter Five
The Handiwork—What Is Behind It?
AS NOTED in earlier chapters, modern scientific discoveries offer an abundance of convincing evidence that the universe and life on earth both had a beginning. What caused their beginning?
After studying the available evidence, many have concluded that there must be a First Cause. Nonetheless, they may shy away from attaching personality to this Cause. Such reluctance to speak of a Creator mirrors the attitude of some scientists.
For instance, Albert Einstein was convinced that the universe had a beginning, and he expressed his desire “to know how God created the world.” Yet Einstein did not admit to belief in a personal God; he spoke of a cosmic “religious feeling, which knows no dogma and no God conceived in man’s image.” Similarly, Nobel laureate chemist Kenichi Fukui expressed belief in a great framework in the universe. He said that “this great instruction and framework may be expressed in words such as ‘Absolute’ or ‘God.’” But he called it an “idiosyncrasy of nature.”
Are you aware that such belief in an impersonal cause parallels much of the Eastern religious thinking? Many Orientals believe that nature came into existence on its own. This idea is even expressed in the Chinese characters for nature, which literally mean “becomes by itself” or “self-existing.” Einstein believed that his cosmic religious feeling was well expressed in Buddhism. Buddha held that it was not important whether a Creator had a hand in bringing forth the universe and humans. Similarly, Shinto provides no explanation of how nature came to be, and Shintoists believe that the gods are spirits of the dead that may assimilate with nature.
Interestingly, such thinking is not far removed from views that were popular in ancient Greece. The philosopher Epicurus (341-270 B.C.E.) is said to have believed that ‘gods are too remote to do you any more harm than good.’ He held that man is a product of nature, probably through spontaneous generation and the natural selection of the fittest. You may sense from this that similar ideas today are by no means modern.
Alongside the Epicureans were the Greek Stoics, who gave nature the position of God. They supposed that when humans die, impersonal energy from them is reabsorbed into the ocean of energy making up God. They felt that cooperating with natural laws was the supreme good. Have you heard similar views in our day?
Contest Over a Personal God
Nevertheless, we should not dismiss all information from ancient Greece as quaint history. In the context of such beliefs, a noted teacher in the first century presented one of history’s most significant speeches. The physician and historian Luke recorded this speech, and we find it in chapter 17 of the book Acts of Apostles. It can help us to settle our view of the First Cause and to see where we fit into the picture. How, though, can a speech given 1,900 years ago affect lives today as sincere individuals search for meaning in life?
That famous teacher, Paul, was invited to a high court in Athens. He there faced Epicureans and Stoics, who did not believe in a personal God. In his opening remarks, Paul mentioned seeing in their city an altar inscribed “To an Unknown God” (Greek, A·gnoʹstoi The·oiʹ). Interestingly, some think that biologist Thomas H. Huxley (1825-95) alluded to this when he coined the term “agnostic.” Huxley applied the word to those who hold that “the ultimate cause (God) and the essential nature of things are unknown or unknowable.” But is the Creator really “unknowable” as many have held?
That, frankly, is a misapplication of Paul’s phrase; it misses Paul’s point. Rather than saying that the Creator was unknowable, Paul was simply saying that He was unknown to those Athenians. Paul did not have at hand as much scientific evidence for the existence of a Creator as we do today. Still, Paul had no doubt that there is a personal, intelligent Designer whose qualities should draw us to him. Note what Paul went on to say:
“What you are unknowingly giving godly devotion to, this I am publishing to you. The God that made the world and all the things in it, being, as this One is, Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in handmade temples, neither is he attended to by human hands as if he needed anything, because he himself gives to all persons life and breath and all things. And he made out of one man every nation of men, to dwell upon the entire surface of the earth.” (Acts 17:23-26) An interesting line of reasoning, do you not agree?
Yes, rather than suggesting that God was unknowable, Paul was emphasizing that those who made the Athenian altar, as well as many in his audience, did not yet know Him. Paul then urged them—and all who have since read his speech—to seek to know the Creator, for “he is not far off from each one of us.” (Acts 17:27) You can see that Paul tactfully introduced the fact that we can see evidence of a Creator of all things by observing his creation. By doing this, we can also discern some of his qualities.
We have examined various lines of evidence that point to a Creator. One is the vast, intelligently organized universe, which clearly had a beginning. Another is life on earth, including the design manifest in our body cells. And a third is our brain, with our associated awareness of self and our interest in the future. But let us look first at two other examples of the Creator’s handiwork that touch us daily. In doing so, ask yourself, ‘What does this show me about the personality of the One who designed and provided it?’
Learning From His Handiwork
Sheer observation of his creation tells much about the Creator. Paul, on another occasion, mentioned an example of this when he told a crowd in Asia Minor: “In the past generations [the Creator] permitted all the nations to go on in their ways, although, indeed, he did not leave himself without witness in that he did good, giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts to the full with food and good cheer.” (Acts 14:16, 17) Note the example Paul gave of how the Creator, in providing food for mankind, has borne witness to His personality.
In some lands today, people may take for granted the availability of food. Elsewhere, many struggle to get enough to eat. In either case, even the possibility of having any sustaining food depends on the wisdom and goodness of our Creator.
Food for both man and animals results from intricate cycles—including the water cycle, the carbon cycle, the phosphorus cycle, and the nitrogen cycle. It is general knowledge that in the vital process of photosynthesis, plants use carbon dioxide and water as raw materials to produce sugars, using sunlight as the energy source. Incidentally, during photosynthesis plants release oxygen. Could this be termed a “waste product”? To us this by-product is hardly waste. It is absolutely essential that we breathe in oxygen and use it to metabolize, or burn, food in our body. We exhale the resulting carbon dioxide, which plants recycle as a raw material for photosynthesis. We may have studied this process in a basic science class, but it is no less vital and marvelous. And this is just the start.
In our body cells and in those of animals, phosphorus is vital for transferring energy. From where do we get our phosphorus? Again, from plants. They absorb inorganic phosphates from the soil and convert them into organic phosphates. We consume plants containing phosphorus in these forms and use it for vital activities. Thereafter, the phosphorus returns to the soil in the form of body “wastes” that can again be absorbed by plants.
We also need nitrogen, which is part of every protein and DNA molecule in our body. How do we obtain this element that is so essential for life? Although about 78 percent of the air around us is nitrogen, neither plants nor animals can absorb it directly. So nitrogen in the air must be converted into other forms before it can be taken in by plants and later utilized by humans and animals. How does that conversion, or fixation, occur? In various ways. One way is by the action of lightning.a Nitrogen fixation is also accomplished by bacteria that live in nodules on the roots of legumes, such as peas, soybeans, and alfalfa. These bacteria convert atmospheric nitrogen into substances that plants can use. In this way, when you eat green vegetables, you take in nitrogen, which your body needs in order to produce proteins. Amazingly, we find species of legumes in tropical rain forests, deserts, and even tundras. And if an area is burned over, legumes usually are the first plants to recolonize.
What marvelous recycling systems these are! Each of them puts to good use wastes from the other cycles. The energy needed comes principally from our sun—a clean, endless, and steady source. How that contrasts with human efforts to recycle resources! Even man-made products that are called environmentally friendly may not contribute to a cleaner planet because of the complexity of human recycling systems. In this regard, U.S.News & World Report pointed out that products should be designed so that their high-value components can easily be recovered by recycling. Is that not what we observe in these natural cycles? So, what does this reveal about the Creator’s forethought and wisdom?
Impartial and Just
To help us see further some of the Creator’s qualities, let us consider one more system—the immune system in our body. It also involves bacteria.
“Although human interest in bacteria frequently focuses on their harmful effects,” observes The New Encyclopædia Britannica, “most bacteria are harmless to human beings, and many of them are actually beneficial.” Indeed, they are of life-and-death importance. Bacteria play a crucial role in the nitrogen cycle just mentioned, as well as in cycles involving carbon dioxide and some elements. And we also need bacteria in our digestive tract. We have some 400 species in our lower intestinal tract alone, and they help to synthesize vitamin K and process wastes. Of further benefit to us, bacteria help cows turn grasses into milk. Other bacteria are vital in fermentation—in our making cheese, yogurt, pickles, sauerkraut, and kimchi. What, though, if bacteria get where they do not belong in our body?
Then up to two trillion white blood cells in our body fight the bacteria that might harm us. Daniel E. Koshland, Jr., editor of Science magazine, explains: “The immune system is designed to recognize foreign invaders. To do so it generates on the order of 1011 [100,000,000,000] different kinds of immunological receptors so that no matter what the shape or form of the foreign invader there will be some complementary receptor to recognize it and effect its elimination.”
One type of cell that our body uses to fight invaders is the macrophage; its name means “big eater,” which is fitting because it devours foreign substances in our blood. For example, after eating an invading virus, the macrophage breaks it into small fragments. It then displays some protein from the virus. This bit of marker protein serves as a red flag to our immune system, sounding the alarm that foreign organisms are on the loose inside us. If another cell in the immune system, the helper T cell, recognizes the virus protein, it exchanges chemical signals with the macrophage. These chemicals are themselves extraordinary proteins that have a bewildering array of functions, regulating and boosting our immune system’s response to invasion. This process results in a vigorous fight against the specific type of virus. Thus, we usually manage to overcome infections.
Actually, much more is involved, but even this brief description reveals the complexity of our immune system. How did we get this intricate mechanism? It came free of charge, regardless of our family’s financial or social standing. Compare that with the inequity in health care available to most people. “For WHO [World Health Organization], growing inequity is literally a matter of life and death, since the poor pay the price of social inequality with their health,” wrote the director general of WHO, Dr. Hiroshi Nakajima. You can understand this lament made by one of São Paulo’s slum dwellers: “For us, good health care is like an item in a window display in a luxurious shopping mall. We can look at it, but it is beyond our reach.” Millions of people around the globe feel the same way.
Such inequities moved Albert Schweitzer to go to Africa to provide medical care for the less privileged, and his efforts earned him a Nobel prize. What qualities do you associate with men and women who have done similar good deeds? You probably realize that they have love for humanity and a sense of justice, believing that people in developing lands too are eninputd to medical care. What, then, about the Provider of the wonderful immune system built into us regardless of financial and social standing? Does it not more significantly bespeak the Creator’s sense of love, impartiality, and justice?
Getting to Know the Creator
The above-noted systems are just basic examples of the Creator’s handiwork, but do they not reveal him to be a real and intelligent person whose qualities and ways draw us to him? Numerous other examples could be considered. We have probably found in daily life, however, that merely observing a person’s works may not really be enough for us to know him well. It would even be possible to misunderstand him if we did not gain a complete picture of him! And if that person has been misrepresented or maligned, would it not be good to meet him and hear his side? We might converse with him to find out how he reacts under different circumstances and what qualities he displays.
Of course, we cannot have a face-to-face conversation with the powerful Creator of the universe. Yet, he has revealed much about himself as a real person in a book that is available, in whole or in part, in more than 2,000 languages, including yours. That book—the Bible—invites you to get to know and cultivate a relationship with the Creator: “Draw close to God,” it says, “and he will draw close to you.” It also shows how it is possible to become his friend. (James 2:23; 4:8) Would you be interested in that?
To this end, we invite you to consider the Creator’s factual and fascinating account of his creative activities.
[Footnote]
a Lightning transforms some nitrogen into an absorbable form, which falls to earth with the rain. Plants use this as a naturally provided fertilizer. After humans and animals consume plants and use this nitrogen, it returns to the soil as ammonium compounds and some eventually converts back into nitrogen gas.
[Box on page 79]
A Reasonable Conclusion
There is wide agreement among scientists that the universe had a beginning. Most also agree that before that beginning, something real must have existed. Some scientists talk about ever-existing energy. Others postulate a primordial chaos as the preexisting condition. Whatever terms are used, most presuppose the existence of something—something without a beginning—that extended back infinitely.
So the issue comes down to whether we presuppose some thing eternal or some one eternal. After considering what science has learned about the origin and nature of the universe and life in it, which of these alternatives seems more reasonable to you?
[Box on page 80]
“Each of the elements central to life—carbon, nitrogen, sulfur—is converted by bacteria from an inorganic, gaseous compound into a form that can be used by plants and animals.”—The New Encyclopædia Britannica.
[Diagram/Picture on page 78]
(For fully formatted text, see publication)
What Is Your Conclusion?
Our Universe
↓ ↓
Had No Had a
Beginning Beginning
↓ ↓
Without Cause Was Caused
↓ ↓
By Some THING By Some ONE
Eternal Eternal
[Picture on page 75]
Many Orientals believe that nature came into existence by itself
[Picture on page 76]
Paul made a thought-provoking speech about God while standing on this hill, with the Acropolis in the background
[Picture on page 83]
God gave to each of us an immune system that surpasses anything modern medicine can provide |
Sing Praises (ssb)
1984 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/Ssb | Song 161
Pray to Jehovah Each Day
(1 Thessalonians 5:17)
1. Pray to Jehovah, the Hearer of pray’r.
This is our priv’lege, for his name we bear.
T’ward him we exercise freeness of speech;
He is our Father whom we can beseech.
Pray to Jehovah each day.
2. Pray to Jehovah each day that we live,
Asking forgiveness as we do forgive.
In all temptations we look for his aid;
With his protection we’ll ne’er be afraid.
Pray to Jehovah each day.
3. Pray to Jehovah when things appear grim.
We can unburden our hearts, yes, to him,
All our anxiety on him unload;
This is a blessing on us now bestowed.
Pray to Jehovah each day.
4. Pray to Jehovah; express gratitude.
Praise and thanksgiving be sure to include.
Talk to Jehovah with sincerity;
Thus of his goodness, we will come to see.
Pray to Jehovah each day. |
Greatest Man (gt)
1991 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/gt | Chapter 101
At Bethany, in the House of Simon
WHEN Jesus leaves Jericho, he heads for Bethany. The trip takes most of the day, since it is a climb of some 12 miles [19 km] over difficult terrain. Jericho is about 820 feet [250 m] below sea level, and Bethany is some 2,500 feet [760 m] above sea level. Bethany, you may recall, is the home of Lazarus and his sisters. The little village is about two miles [3 km] from Jerusalem, being located on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives.
Many have already arrived in Jerusalem for the Passover. They have come early to cleanse themselves ceremonially. Perhaps they have touched a dead body or done something else that makes them unclean. So they follow the procedures to cleanse themselves in order to celebrate the Passover acceptably. As these early arrivers gather at the temple, many speculate about whether Jesus will come to the Passover.
Jerusalem is a hotbed of controversy regarding Jesus. It is common knowledge that the religious leaders want to seize him to put him to death. In fact, they have given orders that if anyone learns his whereabouts, they are to report it to them. Three times in recent months—at the Festival of Tabernacles, at the Festival of Dedication, and after he resurrected Lazarus—these leaders have tried to kill him. So, the people wonder, will Jesus appear in public yet another time? “What is your opinion?” they ask one another.
In the meantime, Jesus arrives at Bethany six days before the Passover, which falls on Nisan 14 according to the Jewish calendar. Jesus reaches Bethany sometime Friday evening, which is at the beginning of Nisan 8. He could not have made the trip to Bethany on Saturday because travel on the Sabbath—from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday—is restricted by Jewish law. Jesus probably goes to the home of Lazarus, as he has done before, and spends Friday night there.
However, another resident of Bethany invites Jesus and his companions for a meal Saturday evening. The man is Simon, a former leper, who earlier had perhaps been healed by Jesus. In keeping with her industrious character, Martha is ministering to the guests. But, typically, Mary is attentive to Jesus, this time in a way that stirs controversy.
Mary opens an alabaster case, or small flask, that holds about a pound [0.5 kg] of perfumed oil, “genuine nard.” This is very precious. Indeed, its value is equivalent to about a year’s wages! When Mary pours the oil on Jesus’ head and on his feet and wipes his feet with her hair, the aromatic scent fills the whole house.
The disciples are angry and ask: “Why this waste?” Then Judas Iscariot says: “Why was it this perfumed oil was not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor people?” But Judas is not really concerned about the poor, for he has been stealing from the money box kept by the disciples.
Jesus comes to Mary’s defense. “Let her alone,” he commands. “Why do you try to make trouble for her? She did a fine deed toward me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want to you can always do them good, but me you do not have always. She did what she could; she undertook beforehand to put perfumed oil on my body in view of the burial. Truly I say to you, Wherever the good news is preached in all the world, what this woman did shall also be told as a remembrance of her.”
Jesus has been in Bethany now more than 24 hours, and word of his presence has spread about. Therefore, many come to Simon’s house to see Jesus, but they also come to see Lazarus, who is present too. So the chief priests take counsel to kill not only Jesus but Lazarus as well. This is because many people are putting faith in Jesus because of seeing alive the one whom he raised from the dead! Truly, how wicked these religious leaders are! John 11:55–12:11; Matthew 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-9; Acts 1:12.
▪ What discussion is going on at the temple in Jerusalem, and why?
▪ Why must Jesus have arrived in Bethany on Friday rather than on Saturday?
▪ When Jesus arrives in Bethany, where does he likely spend the Sabbath?
▪ What act of Mary stirs controversy, and how does Jesus defend her?
▪ What illustrates the great wickedness of the chief priests? |
Should You Observe the Sabbath? | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/101981010 | Should You Observe the Sabbath?
“WHO cares about the Sabbath?” So say many people today who regard it simply as an opportunity to enjoy themselves. But for Jews and members of certain religions of Christendom the Sabbath is a serious matter. To illustrate: In Jerusalem Jews have recently been stoned for driving cars on the Sabbath (Saturday) by other more strict Jews who claim that combustion or fire in car engines is against sabbatical law.
Some Protestants still have great respect for Sunday, which they view as the Sabbath. For example, many people in South Africa piously refrain from such things as sports and disapprove of swearing on Sundays. However, they see nothing wrong in driving cars to church nor for their servants, often fellow Protestants, to work hard preparing a Sunday dinner. Generally speaking, Catholics take a lenient view. Pope John said that sports after Sunday church services can be good for body and spirit.
Obviously there are very divergent views about the Sabbath. Is it Saturday or Sunday? And should Christians observe it? To answer, let us go back to the origin of the Sabbath as told in the most reliable history book of all time—the Bible.
In the year 1513 B.C.E. the Israelites were on trek in the wilderness en route to Mount Sinai and were running out of food. So God provided manna for them for six consecutive days but none on the seventh. (Ex. 16:22-30) For the first time Jehovah made it a law for his people to rest on the seventh day.
Later, at Mt. Sinai, this law was incorporated into the Ten Commandments, the fourth of which stated: “Remembering the sabbath day to hold it sacred, . . . do all your work six days. But the seventh day is a sabbath to Jehovah your God.” It also applied to servants and domestic animals. (Ex. 20:8-11) It was to be a day of complete rest, no wood was to be gathered or fires lit, and the penalty for breaking it was death. (Ex. 35:1-3) Moreover, it was an arrangement only for Israel: “Between me and the sons of Israel it is a sign to time indefinite.”—Ex. 31:16, 17.
Was all of this just a lot of ritual? No, the Sabbath was very beneficial for the Israelites. Physically the weekly rest was good for them. More importantly, the Sabbath provided an opportunity for activities that renewed the spirit, such as reading and discussing God’s Word. The Sabbath was good for families as well, affording opportunity for parents to teach their children about God.
Did Israel keep the Sabbath? Sometimes. However, after their return from exile in Babylon (537 B.C.E.), the Jewish religious leaders imposed many added man-made restrictions. They even made it unlawful to catch a flea on the Sabbath! With such a petty, fanatical attitude on their part, it is no wonder that Christ offended the religious leaders of his day. Because he did not uphold their concept of the Sabbath they were “beside themselves with anger,” and planned to murder Jesus.—Matt. 12:9-14; Luke 6:6-11, The New English Bible.
After Jesus’ death profound changes took place. Under the guidance of God’s spirit the early Christians realized that they were no longer under the Law and that “Christ is the end of the Law.” (Rom. 10:4; 6:14, 15) Hence, they were no longer bound to make animal sacrifices, pay tithes, be circumcised or keep the Sabbath. The apostle Paul wrote: “By means of his flesh he [Christ] abolished . . . the Law of commandments.”—Eph. 2:15.
Again and again the Bible makes it clear that Christians are not under the Law, that it was ‘taken out of the way,’ nailed to Christ’s torture stake. “Therefore let no man judge you in eating and drinking or in respect of a festival . . . or of a sabbath.”—Col. 2:13-16.
Of course, the apostles did use the Sabbath as an occasion to preach to the Jews assembled in their synagogues. But they were no longer under obligation to keep the Sabbath. When Gentiles became Christians they were not put under any sabbatical law; nevertheless, they did receive holy spirit. (Acts 10:44, 45) Interestingly, at a council in Jerusalem to discuss the requirements for Gentiles, some believers who had been Pharisees wanted Gentile converts “to observe the law of Moses,” which included both circumcision and the Sabbath. But the decision of the apostles included neither. (Acts 15:1, 2, 5, 28, 29) Hence, Paul wrote to both Jewish and Gentile Christians at Rome: “One man judges one day as above another; another man judges one day as all others; let each man be fully convinced in his own mind.”—Rom. 14:5.
In the second century C.E., the foretold apostasy crept in among Christians. Later, in 321 C.E., the Roman emperor Constantine, anxious to favor the already corrupted Christianity of his day, made a law that Sunday should be observed. He insisted that the day was sacred to the sun. This was pagan, not Christian. Apostate Christendom today, with flagging zeal and varying views, still recognizes dies solis, the day of the sun!
From a careful study of the Bible these important points clearly emerge: that if a day should be observed it would be Saturday, the seventh day;a that the Sabbath law was only for ancient Israel; that it was never repeated or given to Christians (as was the law concerning sanctity of blood—Acts 15:19, 20); and that “Christ is the end of the Law,” including the Sabbath. (Rom. 10:4) Hence, for those “scrupulously observing days and months,” the apostle Paul wrote: “I fear for you, that somehow I have toiled to no purpose respecting you.”—Gal. 4:10, 11.
But the Sabbath was admittedly a beneficial law. If Christians don’t have to keep it, are they not going to miss out on the benefits? Not at all.
For example, in areas where Sunday church attendance is popular, people complain about “Sunday Christians.” By this they mean persons who feel that going to church on what they consider the Sabbath makes up for a week of conduct that is anything but Christian. Such persons are not fooling God, are they? They have missed the point of the Sabbath.
What was the point of the Sabbath?
By stopping their other activities on the Sabbath, God’s ancient faithful people showed that His worship was the most important thing in their lives. As they read and discussed God’s Word on that day they showed their belief that “man must live, not on bread alone, but on every utterance coming forth through Jehovah’s mouth.”—Matt. 4:4.
Really, shouldn’t Christians show they believe these things every day of their lives? If a Christian refuses to let his secular job interfere with his service to God, is he not keeping the spirit of the Sabbath? How about the Christian who buys out time every day to read God’s Word and apply its principles to his daily conduct?
Jesus healed people on the Sabbath as well as on other days, so isn’t every day a good day to apply the exhortation, “Really, then, as long as we have time favorable for it, let us work what is good toward all”? (Gal. 6:10) Sincere Christians doing these things may not keep a special day—but they truly honor God’s Sabbath!
[Footnotes]
a Christ was resurrected on the first day of the week (Sunday); but the Bible contains absolutely no instruction to set aside that day of the week as sacred.
[Box on page 28]
Not ‘Desecrating the Sabbath’
JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES visit people in their homes to discuss the Bible every day of the week. In this they imitate Jesus Christ and the apostles.
From time to time local communities have charged the Witnesses with ‘desecrating the Sabbath,’ because they make house-to-house calls on Sunday. How have the courts viewed this matter? Typical are the following quotes from the Iowa Supreme Court:
“We are not prepared to hold that the calling at private homes in the middle of the Sabbath day, however unwelcome the caller may be, in itself, constitutes a desecration of the Sabbath.”
How about the leaving of Bible literature for a nominal contribution? Is that ‘selling on the Sabbath’? In this regard the court continued:
“[The Witnesses] were teaching and spreading their religious views without compensation and at their own expense. . . . The commercial aspect of sales was absent. We do not think the statute contemplates that the distribution of booklets of this nature and under these particular circumstances constitutes desecrating the Sabbath.”—Supreme Court of Iowa, State v. Mead et al., 1941. |
Is It Weak to Be Gentle? | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/102005006 | The Bible’s Viewpoint
Is It Weak to Be Gentle?
“A slave of the Lord does not need to fight, but needs to be gentle toward all.”—2 TIMOTHY 2:24.
LONG before we are born, our developing skin becomes sensitive to touch. From birth we crave our mother’s tender caress. During childhood our tendency to smile, our ability to develop emotionally, and even our desire to master communication skills are influenced by the amount of affection we receive from our parents.
The Bible foretold, however, that during the last days, people would be “disobedient to parents, unthankful, disloyal, having no natural affection.” Gentle qualities such as kindness and compassion would be sorely lacking, since men would be “lovers of themselves” and “fierce, without love of goodness.”—2 Timothy 3:1-3.
Many today feel a need to be tough and emotionally callous. They claim that being gentle is a sign of weakness. But is it?
Gentle, yet Powerful
Jehovah God is described as “a manly person of war.” (Exodus 15:3) He is the ultimate Source of all power. (Psalm 62:11; Romans 1:20) Yet, Jehovah’s strength did not prevent him from being “very tender in affection and merciful” when rewarding the faithful man Job. (James 5:11) In his dealings with Israel, Jehovah described the most tender of relationships by likening his feelings to those of a nursing mother who pities “the son of her belly.”—Isaiah 49:15.
Jesus likewise combined strength with gentleness. He forcefully denounced the hypocritical religious leaders of his day. (Matthew 23:1-33) He also vigorously drove the greedy money changers from the temple. (Matthew 21:12, 13) But did Jesus’ hatred of corruption and greed make him callous? Not at all! Jesus was known for being gentle with others. Indeed, he even likened himself to a mother hen that “gathers her brood of chicks under her wings.”—Luke 13:34.
Hard Shell or Inner Strength?
True Christians are encouraged to imitate Christ by putting on “the new personality which was created according to God’s will.” (Ephesians 4:20-24) We are told to “strip off the old personality with its practices,” just as a crab sheds its old shell so that it can grow. (Colossians 3:9) However, unlike a crab whose body soon hardens again after the old shell is discarded, we are commanded to clothe ourselves permanently with “the tender affections of compassion, kindness, . . . and long-suffering.” (Colossians 3:12) Gentleness, then, should characterize us.
Clothing ourselves with tender qualities is not a sign of weakness. On the contrary, it requires that we become “mighty in the man [we] are inside with power through [Jehovah’s] spirit.” (Ephesians 3:16) For example, a man named Lee says: “Not long ago I was a brutal, evil person. Even my appearance was threatening, since I had jewelry pierced into my body. I was determined to make a lot of money and would not hesitate to use foul language and violence to get my way. I had no compassion.” Nevertheless, Lee started to study the Bible with a workmate and came to know and love Jehovah God. He has stripped off his old personality and has learned to exercise self-control. Now he expresses his love for people by volunteering his time to help them study the Bible.
At one time the apostle Paul too was “an insolent man” who resorted to violence to achieve his goals. (1 Timothy 1:13; Acts 9:1, 2) Yet, when Paul came to appreciate the mercy and love shown him by Jehovah God and Jesus Christ, he responded by striving to imitate those qualities. (1 Corinthians 11:1) Although Paul stood firm for Christian principles, he learned to be gentle in his dealings with others. Indeed, Paul was uninhibited in expressing tender affection for his brothers.—Acts 20:31, 36-38; Philemon 12.
Gaining the Strength to Be Gentle
As the experiences of both Lee and the apostle Paul show, learning to deal gently with others does not require that one become weak in character. In fact, the opposite is true. It requires real strength to transform one’s thinking and actions and to fight the fleshly tendency to “return evil for evil.”—Romans 12:2, 17.
We too can learn to become tenderly compassionate by regularly reading God’s Word and meditating on the love and mercy that Jehovah God and his Son, Jesus Christ, have already extended to us. By doing so, we will allow the power of God’s Word to soften our hearts. (2 Chronicles 34:26, 27; Hebrews 4:12) No matter what our family background or how harsh our life experiences, we can learn to be “gentle toward all.”—2 Timothy 2:24.
[Picture on page 18]
A good father is gentle with his children |
How Others Can Help | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/102004004 | How Others Can Help
PERHAPS you know someone who suffers from depression or bipolar disorder. If so, how can you be supportive? D. J. Jaffe of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill offers this sound advice: “Don’t confuse the illness with the individual; instead, hate the disease but love the person.”
A woman named Susanna had the patience and love to do just that. She had a friend who was a bipolar patient. “There were times when she just couldn’t bear to be around me,” Susanna says. Instead of giving up on her friend, Susanna did research to learn about bipolar disorder. “Now,” she says, “I realize how much my friend’s demeanor was affected by her illness.” Susanna feels that making efforts to understand the sufferer can bring a wonderful reward. “It can help you grow to love and treasure the beautiful person behind the illness,” she says.
When the ailing one is a family member, wholehearted support is crucial. Mario, mentioned previously in this series, learned this lesson early on. His wife, Lucia, also mentioned earlier, is a bipolar patient. “Initially,” Mario says, “I was helped by going with my wife to her doctor and by studying up on this strange malady so that I would be thoroughly familiar with what we were up against. Lucia and I also talked a lot with each other and kept working with whatever situation developed as time went on.”
Support From the Christian Congregation
The Bible admonishes all Christians to “speak consolingly to the depressed souls” and to “be long-suffering toward all.” (1 Thessalonians 5:14) How can you do this? First, it is important to understand the distinction between mental and spiritual illness. For example, the Bible writer James indicated that prayer can make the spiritually indisposed one well. (James 5:14, 15) Nevertheless, Jesus acknowledged that those who are physically ailing need a physician. (Matthew 9:12) Of course, it is always right and helpful to pray to Jehovah about any concern, including our health. (Psalm 55:22; Philippians 4:6, 7) But the Bible does not state that increased spiritual activity in itself will cure present medical problems.
Discerning Christians, therefore, avoid implying that depressed people are responsible for their own suffering. Such remarks would be no more helpful than those offered by Job’s false comforters. (Job 8:1-6) The fact is that in many cases depression will not improve unless it is treated medically. This is especially so when a person is severely depressed, perhaps even suicidal. In such cases, professional attention is essential.
Still, there is much that fellow Christians can do to be supportive. Of course, patience is required. For example, certain aspects of Christian activity may be especially daunting to those with a mood disorder. A bipolar sufferer named Diane says: “I am finding it a struggle to take part in the ministry. It is challenging to bring the good and happy news from the Bible to others when I don’t feel good and happy inside.”
To be of assistance to sufferers, strive to be empathetic. (1 Corinthians 10:24; Philippians 2:4) Try to view matters through the eyes of the sufferer rather than through your own. Do not burden the individual with unreasonable expectations. “When I am accepted for the person I am now,” says Carl, who struggles with depression, “I feel that my sense of belonging is gradually being restored. With the patient help of a few older friends, I have been able to build a closer relationship with God and have found a great measure of joy in helping others to do the same.”
With support, those who are ailing can find great relief from their distress. Consider a Christian woman named Brenda, who is also a bipolar patient. “My friends from the congregation have been wonderfully supportive and understanding during my low periods, never judging me as spiritually weak,” she says. “There have been times when they have let me accompany them in the ministry and let me just listen or when they have saved a seat for me at the Kingdom Hall so that I could come in after everyone is seated.”
The assistance of loving and empathetic congregation elders has been a great aid to Cherie, mentioned in the preceding article, who suffers from depression. She says: “When the elders reassure me of Jehovah’s love, read me passages from God’s Word, the Bible, and speak of Jehovah’s purpose for a paradise of peace and well-being and when they pray with me—even on the telephone—I feel the burden lifting. I know I am not abandoned by Jehovah or by my brothers, and that is a source of strength for me.”
There is no doubt that by providing meaningful support, family members and friends can play a significant role in a sufferer’s well-being. “I think I have a pretty good handle on my life now,” says Lucia. “My husband and I have worked hard to get through this together, and things are better than ever for us.”
Many who now struggle with various types of mental illness realize that the battle with these dreadful afflictions is a long-term one. Yet, the Bible promises that in God’s new world, “no resident will say: ‘I am sick.’” (Isaiah 33:24) Gone will be the distressing ailments and maladies that plague so many today. It is indeed heartwarming to contemplate God’s promise of a new world in which all illnesses—including mood disorders—will be gone forever. At that time, says the Bible, no longer will there be mourning or outcry or pain.—Revelation 21:4.
[Blurb on page 12]
Jesus acknowledged that those who are ailing need a physician.—MATTHEW 9:12
[Blurb on page 13]
The Bible promises that in God’s new world, “no resident will say: ‘I am sick.’”—ISAIAH 33:24 |
Young People Ask, Volume 1 (yp1)
2011 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/yp1 | CHAPTER 21
How Can I Manage My Time?
How many more hours could you use in a day? ․․․․․
What would you use the extra time for?
□ To hang out with friends
□ To sleep
□ To study
□ Other ․․․․․
TIME is like a spirited horse—if it is to work for you, you must learn to control it. Control your time, and you will likely reduce your stress, improve your grades, and gain more trust from your parents. “Sounds great,” you say, “but it’s easier said than done!” True, you will face challenges. But you can overcome them. Let’s take some examples.
Challenge #1: Making a Schedule
What might stop you. Just the thought of scheduling makes you feel trapped! You like to be spontaneous, not tied to a plan.
Why do it anyway. King Solomon wrote: “The plans of the diligent one surely make for advantage.” (Proverbs 21:5) Solomon was a busy man. He was a husband, a father, and a king. And his life likely got busier as he grew older. Similarly, your life is busy now. But it will probably become more hectic as you grow older. Better that you become organized sooner rather than later!
What your peers say. “About six months ago, I started planning my schedule regularly. I was trying to make things easier, and having a schedule seemed to do the trick!”—Joey.
“Lists help keep me on track. When I have an extra-heavy load, my mom and I write it all down to figure out how we can help each other reach our goals.”—Mallory.
What will help you. Look at it this way: Suppose you’re going on a road trip. Each family member randomly throws his or her bags into the trunk of the car. It looks as though there won’t be enough room for everything. What can you do? You might start again, putting the biggest bags in first and fitting the smaller bags into the remaining space.
The same strategy can be used to manage your life. If you start filling up your time with smaller things, you risk not being able to fit in the important things. Make space for the big things first, and you’ll be amazed at how much more time you’ll have for the rest!—Philippians 1:10.
What are the most important things you need to do?
․․․․․
Now go back and prioritize—number the things you need to do in order of importance. If you get the big things done first, you may be surprised at how much time you’ll have left over to take care of the little things.
What you can do. Get a pocket planner, and prioritize what you need to do. On the other hand, perhaps one of the following alternatives below would work for you.
□ Cell-phone calendar
□ Small notepad
□ Computer calendar
□ Desk calendar
Challenge #2: Sticking to a Schedule
What might stop you. After school you just want to relax and watch TV for a few minutes. Or you plan to study for a test, but you get a text message inviting you to a movie. The movie won’t wait, but you can put off studying until tonight. ‘Besides,’ you tell yourself, ‘I seem to do better under pressure.’
Why do it anyway. You may earn a better grade if you study when your mind is more alert. Plus, don’t you already have enough pressure to deal with? Why add to it by cramming for a test late at night? What will the next morning be like? You may oversleep, feel more stress, have to rush out the door, and possibly be late for school.—Proverbs 6:10, 11.
What your peers say. “I love watching TV, playing the guitar, and being with friends. These things aren’t wrong; but sometimes they push the more important things back, and I end up rushing.”—Julian.
What will help you. Don’t just schedule things you have to do—schedule things you enjoy. “It’s easier to do what I have to, knowing I have enjoyable things planned later,” says Julian. Another idea: Have something to aim for, and then set little goals along the way to make sure you’re still on track.
What you can do. What are one or two realistic goals that you could achieve within the next six months?
․․․․․
What is a realistic goal you could achieve within the next two years, and what do you need to start doing now to reach that goal?a
․․․․․
Challenge #3: Being Neat and Organized
What might stop you. You’re not sure how being neat and organized has anything to do with managing your time better. Besides, being messy seems so much easier. Cleaning your room can be done tomorrow—or not at all! You don’t mind the mess, so it’s really not a big deal. Or is it?
Why do it anyway. Having everything neat and orderly will save you time when you are looking for your things. This will also give you much-needed peace of mind.—1 Corinthians 14:40.
What your peers say. “Sometimes when I don’t have time to put my clothes away, things I need find a way of getting lost under all the mess!”—Mandy.
“I couldn’t find my wallet for a week. I got pretty stressed over that. I finally found it when I cleaned my room.”—Frank.
What will help you. Try to put things back in their place as soon as you can. Do it regularly rather than waiting until clutter gets out of control.
What you can do. Try making neatness a habit. Keep everything neater, and see if it makes life easier.
Time is the one asset that you, your peers, and your parents all have the same amount of each day. Waste that asset, and you will suffer. Manage it wisely, and you will reap the rewards. The choice is up to you.
IN OUR NEXT CHAPTERAre you the child of immigrant parents? Do you feel that you don’t fit in either at school or at home? Learn how to turn your circumstances to your advantage.
[Footnote]
a For more information, see Chapter 39 of this book.
KEY SCRIPTURE
“Make sure of the more important things.”—Philippians 1:10.
TIP
Don’t try to apply all the suggestions made in this chapter at once. Instead, over the next month, apply just one of them. Once you’ve mastered that skill, choose another to work on.
DID YOU KNOW . . . ?
Scheduling too many activities into a day will cause you stress. If you set priorities, you will know which activities to pursue and which to drop.
ACTION PLAN!
The activity I can spend less time at is ․․․․․
I will use the time I gain to do the following ․․․․․
What I would like to ask my parent(s) about this subject is ․․․․․
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
● How will learning to schedule your time now help you to manage your own home in the future?
● What lessons in time management can you learn from your parents?
● If you already use a schedule, what adjustments could you make for it to become more effective?
[Blurb on page 154]
“I overheard someone joking that if you wanted me to be somewhere by four o’clock, then you should tell me to be there by three. That’s when I realized that I need to manage my time better!”—Ricky
[Box on page 155]
Where Does My Time Go?
In a week’s time, on average, youths between the ages of 8 and 18 spent their hours this way:
17
with their parents
30
at school
44
watching TV, playing video games, instant messaging, and listening to music
Add up the hours you spend each week
watching TV ․․․․․
playing video games ․․․․․
using the Internet ․․․․․
listening to music ․․․․․
Total ․․․․․
Hours I can easily use for more important things ․․․․․
[Picture on page 153]
Time is like a spirited horse—you must learn to control it |
Young People Ask, Volume 2 (yp2)
2008 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/yp2 | SECTION 4
My Journal—School and Your Peers
What situation at school do you find most difficult to deal with?
․․․․․
Write about how you plan to handle this problem.
․․․․․ |
Young People Ask, Volume 1 (yp1)
2011 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/yp1 | SECTION 3
My Journal—In and Out of Class
Describe what sort of student you are and why you think you are that way.
․․․․․
Write about some ways that school has benefited you.
․․․․․ |
Greatest Man (gt)
1991 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/gt | Chapter 115
An Argument Erupts
EARLIER in the evening, Jesus taught a beautiful lesson in humble service by washing his apostles’ feet. Afterward, he introduced the Memorial of his approaching death. Now, especially in view of what has just taken place, a surprising incident occurs. His apostles become involved in a heated argument over which one of them seems to be the greatest! Apparently, this is part of an ongoing dispute.
Recall that after Jesus was transfigured on the mountain, the apostles argued over who among them was the greatest. Moreover, James and John requested prominent positions in the Kingdom, resulting in further outpution among the apostles. Now, on his last night with them, how saddened Jesus must be to see them bickering again! What does he do?
Rather than scold the apostles for their behavior, once again Jesus patiently reasons with them: “The kings of the nations lord it over them, and those having authority over them are called Benefactors. You, though, are not to be that way. . . . For which one is greater, the one reclining at the table or the one ministering? Is it not the one reclining at the table?” Then, reminding them of his example, he says: “But I am in your midst as the one ministering.”
Despite their imperfections, the apostles have stuck with Jesus during his trials. So he says: “I make a covenant with you, just as my Father has made a covenant with me, for a kingdom.” This personal covenant between Jesus and his loyal followers joins them to him to share his royal dominion. Only a limited number of 144,000 are finally taken into this covenant for a Kingdom.
Although the apostles are presented with this marvelous prospect of sharing with Christ in Kingdom rule, they are at present spiritually weak. “All of you will be stumbled in connection with me on this night,” says Jesus. However, telling Peter that He has prayed in his behalf, Jesus urges: “When once you have returned, strengthen your brothers.”
“Little children,” Jesus explains, “I am with you a little longer. You will look for me; and just as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I go you cannot come,’ I say also to you at present. I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love among yourselves.”
“Lord, where are you going?” Peter asks.
“Where I am going you cannot follow me now,” Jesus responds, “but you will follow afterwards.”
“Lord, why is it I cannot follow you at present?” Peter wants to know. “I will surrender my soul in your behalf.”
“Will you surrender your soul in my behalf?” Jesus asks. “Truly I say to you, You today, yes, this night, before a cock crows twice, even you will disown me three times.”
“Even if I should have to die with you,” Peter protests, “I will by no means disown you.” And while the other apostles join in saying the same thing, Peter boasts: “Although all the others are stumbled in connection with you, never will I be stumbled!”
Referring to the time when he sent the apostles out on a preaching tour of Galilee without purse and food pouch, Jesus asks: “You did not want for anything, did you?”
“No!” they reply.
“But now let the one that has a purse take it up, likewise also a food pouch,” he says, “and let the one having no sword sell his outer garment and buy one. For I tell you that this which is written must be accomplished in me, namely, ‘And he was reckoned with lawless ones.’ For that which concerns me is having an accomplishment.”
Jesus is pointing to the time when he will be impaled with evildoers, or lawless ones. He is also indicating that his followers will thereafter face severe persecution. “Lord, look! here are two swords,” they say.
“It is enough,” he answers. As we will see, having the swords with them will soon permit Jesus to teach another vital lesson. Matthew 26:31-35; Mark 14:27-31; Luke 22:24-38; John 13:31-38; Revelation 14:1-3.
▪ Why is the apostles’ argument so surprising?
▪ How does Jesus handle the argument?
▪ What is accomplished by the covenant Jesus makes with his disciples?
▪ What new commandment does Jesus give, and how important is it?
▪ What overconfidence does Peter display, and what does Jesus say?
▪ Why are Jesus’ instructions about carrying a purse and a food pouch different from those he gave earlier? |
Greatest Man (gt)
1991 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/gt | Chapter 57
Compassion for the Afflicted
AFTER denouncing the Pharisees for their self-serving traditions, Jesus leaves with his disciples. Not long before, you may recall, his attempt to get away with them to rest up a bit was interrupted when crowds found them. Now, with his disciples, he departs for the regions of Tyre and Sidon, many miles to the north. This apparently is the only trip Jesus makes with his disciples beyond the borders of Israel.
After finding a house to stay in, Jesus lets it be known that he does not want anyone to learn of their whereabouts. Yet, even in this non-Israelite territory, he cannot escape notice. A Greek woman, born here in Phoenicia of Syria, finds him and begins begging: “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David. My daughter is badly demonized.” Jesus, however, does not say a word in reply.
Eventually, his disciples tell Jesus: “Send her away; because she keeps crying out after us.” Explaining his reason for ignoring her, Jesus says: “I was not sent forth to any but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
However, the woman does not give up. She approaches Jesus and prostrates herself before him. She pleads, “Lord, help me!”
How Jesus’ heart must be moved by the woman’s earnest appeal! Yet, he again points to his first responsibility, to minister to God’s people of Israel. At the same time, apparently to test her faith, he draws on the Jews’ prejudiced view of those of other nationalities, arguing: “It is not right to take the bread of the children and throw it to little dogs.”
By his compassionate tone of voice and facial expression, Jesus surely reveals his own tender feelings toward non-Jews. He even softens the comparison of Gentiles to dogs by referring to them as “little dogs,” or puppies. Rather than take offense, the woman picks up on Jesus’ reference to Jewish prejudices and makes the humble observation: “Yes, Lord; but really the little dogs do eat of the crumbs falling from the table of their masters.”
“O woman, great is your faith,” Jesus replies. “Let it happen to you as you wish.” And it does! When she returns to her home, she finds her daughter on the bed, completely healed.
From the coastal region of Sidon, Jesus and his disciples head across the country, toward the headwaters of the Jordan River. They apparently ford the Jordan somewhere above the Sea of Galilee and enter the region of the Decapolis east of the sea. There they climb a mountain, but the crowds find them and bring to Jesus their lame, crippled, blind, and dumb, and many that are otherwise sick and deformed. They fairly throw them at Jesus’ feet, and he cures them. The people are amazed, as they see the mute speaking, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they praise the God of Israel.
Jesus gives special attention to one man who is deaf and hardly able to talk. The deaf are often easily embarrassed, especially in a crowd. Jesus may note this man’s particular nervousness. So Jesus compassionately takes him away from the crowd privately. When they are alone, Jesus indicates what he is going to do for him. He puts his fingers into the man’s ears and, after spitting, touches his tongue. Then, looking toward heaven, Jesus sighs deeply and says: “Be opened.” At that, the man’s hearing powers are restored, and he is able to speak normally.
When Jesus has performed these many cures, the crowds respond with appreciation. They say: “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the speechless speak.” Matthew 15:21-31; Mark 7:24-37.
▪ Why does Jesus not immediately heal the Greek woman’s child?
▪ Afterward, where does Jesus take his disciples?
▪ How does Jesus compassionately treat the deaf man who can hardly speak? |
Happy Life (hl)
2013 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/hl | outputs
SECTION
1 Will We Ever Enjoy Real Happiness?
2 What Do We Need to Be Happy?
3 Who Can Give Us Reliable Guidance?
4 What Guidance Has God Given Us?
5 How Can God’s Guidance Bring Us Happiness Now?
6 How Can We Make God a Bigger Part of Our Life?
7 What Hope Do We Have for Future Happiness?
8 What Was God’s Original Purpose for Man?
9 What Is Sin?
10 How Does Sin Affect Our Relationship With God?
11 What Has God Been Doing to Help Us?
12 Why Did God Provide the Torah?
13 Why Did the Law Require Sacrifices?
14 Why Do We Need a Better Sacrifice?
15 What Do the Scriptures Say About the Messiah?
16 When Will God’s Promises Come True?
17 Will the Messiah Really Remove All Evil?
18 What Blessings Will the Messiah Bring?
19 How Far Will the Messiah’s Rule Extend?
20 How Can We Be Part of God’s Purpose? |
Family Life (fl)
1978 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/fl | Chapter 11
Keeping the Lines of Communication Open
1, 2. What is communication, and why is it important?
COMMUNICATION is more than just talking. As the apostle Paul put it: If your words are not understood by the hearer, “you will, in fact, be speaking into the air.” (1 Corinthians 14:9) Does what you say get through to your children, and do you really understand what they are trying to tell you?
2 For true communication, there must be a transmitting of thoughts, ideas and feelings from one mind to another. If love may be called the heart of happy family living, then communication could be called its lifeblood. Breakdowns in communication between marriage mates spell trouble; they are equally serious, if not more so, when they come between parents and children.
TAKING A LONG-RANGE VIEW
3. During what period in a child’s life should parents expect problems in communication?
3 The greatest stresses on the lines of communication between parents and their children come, not during the early years of a child’s life, but during adolescence—the “teen-age” years. Parents should recognize that this is going to be the case. It is unrealistic for them to expect that, because the earlier years of their children’s lives are relatively trouble free, those later years will be also. Problems will definitely come, and clear, effective communication can be a key factor in solving or reducing them. Realizing this, parents need to look ahead, think ahead, for “better is the end afterward of a matter than its beginning.”—Ecclesiastes 7:8.
4. Must all family communication be in the form of conversation? Explain.
4 Many things go into establishing, building up and keeping family lines of communication operating. Over the years, a man and his wife can build up a depth of confidence, trust and mutual understanding that make communication possible even without words—just a look, a smile or a touch can speak volumes for them. They should aim to build up the same strong basis for communication with their children. Before a baby understands speech, parents communicate to it feelings of security and love. While the children are growing up, if the family works, plays and, more than that, worships together, then strong lines of communication are established. Keeping those lines open, however, calls for real effort and wisdom.
ENCOURAGING YOUR CHILD TO BE EXPRESSIVE
5-7. (a) Why is it good for parents to be careful about stopping a child from speaking? (b) How could parents teach children about politeness and courtesy?
5 The old saying is that “children should be seen and not heard.” True—at times. Children need to learn that, as God’s Word says, there is “a time to keep quiet and a time to speak.” (Ecclesiastes 3:7) But children crave attention, and parents must guard against stifling free expression unnecessarily. Do not expect a small child’s response to experiences to be the same as an adult’s. The adult sees a single incident as just part of the broad panorama of life. The child may become very excited and so wholly absorbed in some matter of immediate interest that he forgets almost everything else. A small child may burst into the room and excitedly begin relating some event to his father or mother. If the parent cuts the child off with an irritated “Quiet down!” or makes some other angry expression, the child’s enthusiasm may be crushed. Childish chatter may not seem to convey much. But, by encouraging natural expression from your children, you may prevent them later in life from keeping to themselves things that you want and need to know.
6 Politeness and courtesy contribute to good communication. Children should learn to be polite, and parents should set the example for them in their own communication with the children, as well as in other ways. Reproof will be necessary and should be given when needed, even with severity. (Proverbs 3:11, 12; 15:31, 32; Titus 1:13) However, if children are habitually cut off, continually corrected or, worse, disparaged and even ridiculed by a parent when they speak, they will likely become withdrawn—or they will go to someone else when they want to talk. The older the son or daughter grows, the more this becomes the case. Why not do this—at the end of this day stop and review your conversations with your son or daughter, and then ask yourself: How many times did I say things that expressed appreciation, encouragement, commendation or praise? On the other hand, how many times did I say things that implied the opposite, that tended to ‘put him or her down,’ that suggested dissatisfaction, irritation or exasperation? You may be surprised at what your review reveals.—Proverbs 12:18.
7 Parental patience and self-control are frequently needed. Youths are inclined to be impetuous. They may blurt out what is on their minds, perhaps interrupting an adult conversation. A parent could bluntly rebuke a young one. But sometimes it may be wiser to listen politely, thereby furnishing an example of self-control and then, after answering briefly, kindly remind the child of the need to be polite and considerate. So, here again, the counsel may apply to be “swift about hearing, slow about speaking, slow about wrath.”—James 1:19.
8. How might parents encourage their children to come to them for guidance?
8 You want your children to feel moved to seek your guidance when they have problems. You can encourage them to do that by showing that you also seek guidance in life and have someone to whom you look with submission. In commenting on a way he establishes good communication with his children while they are still small, one father said this:
“Nearly every night I have prayers with the children at bedtime. They are generally in their bed, and I kneel beside it and hold them in my arms. I say a prayer and often they say one afterward. It is not uncommon for them to kiss me and say, ‘Daddy, I love you,’ and then reveal something that is in their heart. In the warmth of their bed and the security of their father’s embrace they may tell of some personal problem they want help with or maybe just make an expression of affection.”
At mealtimes and on other occasions, if your prayers are—not routine—but expressive, spoken from the heart and reflecting a genuine personal relationship with your heavenly Creator and Father, this can contribute immeasurably toward a wholesome relationship with your offspring.—1 John 3:21; 4:17, 18.
THE TRANSITION YEARS
9. What can be said about the problems and needs of adolescents when compared with those of younger children?
9 Adolescence is a time of transition, a time when your son or daughter is no longer a child but is not yet an adult. Teen-age bodies are undergoing changes, and these affect emotions. The problems and needs of teen-agers differ from those in the preteen period. So the parents’ approach to those problems and needs must be adjusted, for what worked for the preteen-ager will not always work for the adolescent. There is need for more giving of reasons, and this calls for more, not less, communication.
10. (a) Why are simple explanations about sex not sufficient for adolescents? (b) How might parents get into discussions with their child about sex?
10 The simple explanations you gave to your small child about sex, for example, will not meet the needs of adolescents. They feel sex urges, but embarrassment often keeps them from approaching their father or mother with questions. Parents must take the initiative, and this will not be easy unless they have built up and maintained good lines of communication, particularly by being warm companions of their children, in work and play. The onset of seminal emissions for the boy or menstruation for the girl will be less upsetting if they have been explained beforehand. (Leviticus 15:16, 17; 18:19) A father may, perhaps while on a walk with his son, bring up the matter of masturbation, mentioning that most young men have at least some problem with it, and ask, ‘How are you doing in that regard?’ or ‘Have you found it to be a problem?’ Even some family discussions can deal with related problems of adolescence, with both father and mother contributing their counsel in a relaxed but frank way.
UNDERSTANDING THE NEEDS OF TEEN-AGERS
11. In what ways do adolescents differ from adults?
11 “Acquire wisdom; and with all that you acquire, acquire understanding.” (Proverbs 4:7) As parents, be wise in the ways of the young; show insight as to their feelings. Do not forget how it was for you to be young. Remember, too, that while every older person was once young and knows what it was like, no young person has ever experienced being old. The adolescent youth doesn’t want to be treated like a child anymore, but he is not an adult and does not have many adult interests yet. He still has a lot of play in him and needs some time for it.
12. How do teen-agers want to be treated by their parents?
12 There are certain things that youths especially want from parents at this stage of life. They want to be understood; they want, more than ever, to be treated as individuals; they want guidelines and direction that are consistent and that take into account their approach to adulthood; they want very much to feel needed and appreciated.
13. How might teen-age children react to parental restrictions, and why?
13 Parents should not be surprised because some measure of resistance to restrictions begins to surface in adolescence. This is due to the youths’ approach to eventual independence and the normal desire for wider latitude of movement and choice. Helpless babies need constant parental care, small children need careful protection, but as they grow older the field of activity widens, and the ties with those beyond the family circle increase and strengthen. The gropings toward independence may make a son or daughter somewhat difficult to deal with. Parents cannot let their authority be ignored or overruled—for their children’s own good. But they can cope wisely and maintain communication if they keep in mind what motivates this possibly disturbing conduct.
14. How might parents deal successfully with a child’s desire for greater independence?
14 Confronted with their son’s or daughter’s urge for greater independence, what are parents to do? That urge is like a compressed spring held in the hand. Let it go suddenly and it will fly off uncontrolled in an unpredictable direction. Hold it in too long and you exhaust yourself and weaken it. But let it go gradually in a controlled way and it will stand in its proper place.
15. What shows that Jesus’ growth to adulthood came under parental direction?
15 We find an example of such controlled growth toward independence in the case of Jesus as a young lad. Of his preteen years, the historical account at Luke 2:40 says that “the young child continued growing and getting strong, being filled with wisdom, and God’s favor continued upon him.” His parents doubtless played a major role in his development, for, though he was perfect, his wisdom would not be automatic. They regularly provided the spiritual climate for his training, as the account goes on to relate. At the age of 12, while the family was in Jerusalem attending the Passover festival, Jesus went to the temple and engaged in conversation with the religious teachers there. Evidently his parents allowed their 12-year-old son this degree of freedom of movement. They departed from Jerusalem without realizing that he was being left behind, perhaps assuming that he was with other returning friends or relatives. Three days later they found him at the temple, not trying to teach his elders but “listening to them and questioning them.” His mother pointed out the mental anguish they had experienced and Jesus, with no disrespect, in effect replied that he thought they would surely know where to find him when they were ready to leave. Though he exercised some freedom of movement, the account says that Jesus thereafter “continued subject to them,” adjusting to their guidelines and restrictions as he entered his teen years, and he “went on progressing in wisdom and in physical growth and in favor with God and men.”—Luke 2:41-52.
16. When parents experience problems with an adolescent, what should they keep in mind?
16 Similarly, parents should allow teen-age sons or daughters a degree of independence, gradually increasing it as they near adulthood, letting them make more and more personal decisions, under parental guidance and supervision. When difficulties arise, understanding why will help parents to avoid making great issues of minor things. Many times a teen-ager is not deliberately rebelling against his parents, but he is trying to establish a degree of independence without knowing how to go about it. So, the parents may make mistakes, perhaps making issues of the wrong things. If the matter is not too serious, let it pass. But when it is serious, be firm. Do not ‘strain out gnats’ nor ‘swallow camels.’—Matthew 23:24.
17. What factors should parents take into consideration when placing restrictions on adolescent children?
17 Parents can help the continuance of a fine relationship with their adolescent sons and daughters by showing good balance in the restrictions they place on them. Remember that while the “wisdom from above is first of all chaste,” it is also “reasonable” and “full of mercy,” “not hypocritical.” (James 3:17) There are some things that the Bible shows to be totally unacceptable, including stealing, fornication, idolatry and similar gross wrongs. (1 Corinthians 6:9, 10) With many other things, the rightness or wrongness may depend on the extent or degree to which a matter is carried. Food is good, but if we eat too much we become gluttons. So, too, with some forms of recreation, such as dancing, playing games, having parties, or similar activities. Many times it is not what is done, but the way it is done and the company in which it is done. So, just as we would not condemn eating when what we really mean is gluttony, parents would not want to make a blanket condemnation of some youthful activity if the real objection is to the extreme form or degree to which some carry it, or to some undesirable circumstances that could creep in.—Compare Colossians 2:23.
18. How might parents caution their children about associates?
18 All young people feel the need for having friends. Few may be considered “ideal,” but, then, don’t your own children have their weak points? You may want to restrict their associations with some young persons because of viewing these as potentially harmful. (Proverbs 13:20; 2 Thessalonians 3:13, 14; 2 Timothy 2:20, 21) With others, you may see some things you like and some things you do not like. Rather than excluding one completely because of some lack, you may want to express appreciation to your children for their friend’s good qualities while pointing out the need for caution in the weaker areas, encouraging your son or daughter to prove a force for good in those areas, to the lasting benefit of the friend.
19. In harmony with the principle set forth at Luke 12:48, how can children be helped to have the right view of freedom?
19 One way to aid your teen-age son or daughter to develop a right view toward increased freedom is to help him or her see that greater responsibility goes with greater freedom. “To whom much was given, much will be demanded of him.” (Luke 12:48) The more responsible children show themselves to be, the greater trust the parents can place in them.—Galatians 5:13; 1 Peter 2:16.
COMMUNICATING COUNSEL AND CORRECTION
20. What besides power or authority over children is needed to prevent a breakdown of communication?
20 If a person counsels you but doesn’t understand your position, you feel his counsel is unrealistic. If he has the power to force you to follow his demands, you may resent this as unjust. Parents should keep in mind that “the understanding heart is one that searches for knowledge,” and “a man of knowledge is reinforcing power.” (Proverbs 15:14; 24:5) You may have power over your children, but, if it is reinforced by knowledge and understanding, you will be more effective in communicating with them. Failure to show understanding when correcting young persons can lead to a “generation gap” and a breakdown of communication.
21. How should parents handle children who become involved in serious wrongdoing?
21 What will you do if your child does get into difficulty, makes a serious mistake or commits some wrong that takes you by surprise? You should never condone the wrong. (Isaiah 5:20; Malachi 2:17) But realize that now of all times your son or daughter needs understanding help and skillful direction. Like Jehovah God, you may in effect say, ‘Come and let us set matters straight; the situation is serious, but by no means beyond repair.’ (Isaiah 1:18) Angry outbursts or harsh condemnations may throttle communication. All too many youths who go wrong have said: ‘I couldn’t talk to my parents—they would have been furious with me.’ Ephesians 4:26 says: “If you are angry, do not let anger lead you into sin.” (New English Bible) Hold your emotions in check while you hear what your son or daughter has to say. Then your fairness in listening will make the correction you give easier to accept.
22. Why should parents never imply that they have given up on their children?
22 Perhaps it is not just one incident but a period of difficulty, a pattern of manifesting some undesirable trait. Though discipline is essential, parents must never by word or spirit imply that they have given up on the child. Your long-suffering will be a measure of the depth of your love. (1 Corinthians 13:4) Do not combat evil with evil, but conquer it with good. (Romans 12:21) Only harm is done if a youth is humiliated before others by statements that he is “lazy,” “rebellious,” “good for nothing,” or “hopeless.” Love does not stop hoping. (1 Corinthians 13:7) A youth may go so far as to become delinquent and leave home. Though in no way expressing approval, parents can keep the way open for his return. How? By showing that they reject, not him, but his course. They can continue to express to him their belief that he has within him good qualities and their hope that these will win out. If that proves to be the case, he will, like the prodigal son of Jesus’ illustration, be able to turn homeward with the assurance that his repentant return will not be greeted with harshness or coldness.—Luke 15:11-32.
A SENSE OF INDIVIDUAL WORTH
23. Why is it important for adolescents to feel that they are valuable members of the family?
23 All human creatures need some recognition, to be accepted and approved, to feel that they belong. To get the acceptance and approval needed, of course, a person cannot become too independent. He must stay within the bounds of conduct approved by the group with which he belongs. Youths in their teens feel that need to belong in the family. Make them feel that they are valuable members of the family circle, contributing to its welfare, even being allowed to share in some of the family’s planning and decisions.
24. What should parents avoid doing so that one child does not become envious of another child?
24 “Let us not become egotistical,” says the apostle, “stirring up competition with one another, envying one another.” (Galatians 5:26) Praise from a parent when a son or daughter does well will help to prevent such a spirit from rising; but comparing a youth unfavorably with someone else who is frequently held up as superior will create envy or resentment. The apostle said that each one should “prove what his own work is, and then he will have cause for exultation in regard to himself alone, and not in comparison with the other person.” (Galatians 6:4) The youth wants to be accepted for what he himself is and for who he is and for what he is able to do, being loved by his parents for these things.
25. How can parents aid their children to develop a sense of worth?
25 Parents can help their son or daughter develop a sense of worth by training such a one to take on life’s responsibilities in all areas. They have been training their children since infancy, in honesty, truthfulness and right treatment of others; they build on this earlier foundation by showing how these qualities apply in human society. How to take on the responsibility of a job and be dependable at it is included. Jesus, in his “progressing in wisdom” as a teen-ager, evidently learned a trade at his foster father Joseph’s side, for even when he reached the age of 30 and began his public Kingdom work, people referred to him as “the carpenter.” (Mark 6:3) During the teen-age period, boys especially should learn what it means to work and to satisfy an employer or a customer, even though the work be as simple in nature as running errands. They can be shown that by being diligent, serious and reliable workers they gain self-respect and the respect and appreciation of others; that not only are they a credit to their parents and family but they also “adorn the teaching of our Savior, God, in all things.”—Titus 2:6-10.
26. What ancient custom acknowledged that a daughter was a valuable member of the family?
26 Daughters, too, can learn the arts of housekeeping and homemaking and earn appreciation and praise both inside and outside the family. A daughter’s potential worth to her family is illustrated by the practice in Bible times of exacting a dowry or bride price when a daughter was given in marriage. This was doubtless viewed as a compensation for the loss of her services to the family.—Genesis 34:11, 12; Exodus 22:16.
27. Why should educational opportunities be used to good advantage?
27 Opportunities for education should be used to good advantage to equip young ones for meeting life’s challenges in the present system of things. Such young ones are included in the apostle’s encouragement that “our people also learn to maintain fine works [honest employment, New English Bible] so as to meet their pressing needs, that they may not be unfruitful.”—Titus 3:14.
THE PROTECTION OF THE BIBLE’S MORAL CODE
28, 29. (a) What counsel does the Bible give about associations? (b) How can parents help their children to heed this counsel?
28 Parents are understandably concerned when circumstances, perhaps the neighborhood in which they live or the school their children attend, oblige these to associate with some youths who are delinquent and self-destructive. Parents may realize the truth of the Bible’s statement that “bad associations spoil useful habits.” They are therefore unwilling to accept the begging child’s argument: ‘Everyone else gets to do it; why can’t I?’ Probably not everyone is, but even so, it isn’t reason enough for your child to do it if it is wrong or unwise. “Do not be envious of bad men [or children], and do not show yourself craving to get in with them. For despoiling is what their heart keeps meditating, and trouble is what their own lips keep speaking. By wisdom a household will be built up, and by discernment it will prove firmly established.”—1 Corinthians 15:33; Proverbs 24:1-3.
29 You cannot trail your children through school or through life. However, by building up your household with wisdom you can send with them a good moral code and right principles for guidance. “The words of the wise ones are like oxgoads.” (Ecclesiastes 12:11) In ancient times these goads were long sticks with pointed tips. They were used to prod the animals to keep moving in the right direction. Wise words of God will keep us moving the right way, and, if we stray, will cause our conscience to prick us to change our course. For your children’s lasting welfare, send such wisdom along with them. Communicate it to them by both word and example. Instill a set of true values, and that is what your children will seek in others they choose as personal companions.—Psalm 119:9, 63.
30. How can parents provide their children with a God-given moral code?
30 In all of this, remember that moral values are far more likely to be instilled if there is a home atmosphere in which those principles are respected and followed. Have the attitudes you want your children to have. In your own home, within the family circle, be sure that your children find adult understanding, love, forgiveness, a safe degree of freedom and independence along with justice and fairness, and the feeling of acceptance and belonging that they need. In these ways communicate to them a God-given moral code to take with them beyond the family circle. You can give them no finer heritage.—Proverbs 20:7. |
God’s Word (gm)
1989 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/gm | References Listed by Chapter
Chapter 1
1. The Bible in the Modern World, by James Barr, 1973, p. 120.
2. The New Encyclopædia Britannica, 1987, Vol. 2, p. 194.
3. The Book of Books: An Introduction, by Solomon Goldman, 1948, p. 219.
4. The Book of Books: An Introduction, p. 222.
5. Federal Register, Vol. 48, No. 26, February 7, 1983, p. 5527.
6. Chadman’s Cyclopedia of Law, 1912, Vol. 1, pp. 86-91.
Chapter 2
1. Ancient Near Eastern Texts, edited by James B. Pritchard, 1969, pp. vi, xii, xiii, xiv.
2. The Annals, by Tacitus, Book XV. 39, 44 (Latin Selections, edited by Moses Hadas and Thomas Suits, 1961, p. 227).
3. The Cambridge History of the Bible, edited by S. L. Greenslade, 1963, Vol. 3, p. 476.
4. Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts, by Sir Frederic Kenyon, 1958, p. 50.
5. Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts, p. 79.
6. A Light to the Nations, by Norman K. Gottwald, 1959, p. 40.
7. The Dead Sea Scrolls, by Millar Burrows, 1955, pp. 303, 304.
8. Qumran and the History of the Biblical Text, edited by Frank Moore Cross and Shemaryahu Talmon, 1975, pp. 276, 277.
9. An Introduction to the Books of the Old Testament, by W. O. E. Oesterley and Theodore H. Robinson, 1958, p. 21.
10. Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts, p. 55.
Chapter 3
1. The Lollard Bible and Other Medieval Biblical Versions, by Margaret Deanesly, 1920, p. 24.
2. The Lollard Bible, p. 227.
3. The Lollard Bible, pp. 30-33.
4. The Lollard Bible, p. 36.
5. The Lollard Bible, p. 48.
6. The Lollard Bible, pp. 295, 296.
7. The Lollard Bible, p. 328.
8. The History of Christian Martyrdom, by John Foxe, 1873, p. 130; Casiodoro de Reina, Spanish Reformer of the Sixteenth Century, by A. Gordon Kinder, p. 16.
9. Who Do You Say That I Am? by Edward J. Ciuba, 1974, p. viii.
10. The Crusades, by Hans Eberhard Mayer, translated by John Gillingham, 1978, p. 44.
11. The Universal History of the World, by Edith Firoozi and Ira N. Klein, 1966, Vol. IX, p. 732.
12. A Brief History of Ancient, Mediæval, and Modern Peoples, by Joel Dorman Steele and Esther Baker Steele, 1883, pp. 428, 429.
13. The Church and Its Mission: A Shattering Critique From the Third World, by Orlando E. Costas, 1974, p. 245.
14. If the Churches Want World Peace, by Norman Hill and Doniver A. Lund, 1958, p. 5.
Chapter 4
1. The Inspiration & Accuracy of the Holy Scriptures, by John Urquhart, 1895, pp. 254, 255; The International Critical Commentary—A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Genesis, Second edition, 1976, p. xlii.
2. Encyclopædia Britannica, 1911, Vol. xi, pp. 580, 581.
3. The Inspiration & Accuracy of the Holy Scriptures, pp. 262, 263; An Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament, by S. R. Driver, 1898, p. 154.
4. Who Wrote the Bible? by Richard Elliott Friedman, 1987, p. 52.
5. Encyclopædia Judaica, 1971, Vol. 13, p. 264.
6. A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, by Gleason L. Archer, Jr., 1974, p. 107.
7. The Inspiration & Accuracy of the Holy Scriptures, pp. 258, 259.
8. Ancient Near Eastern Texts, edited by James B. Pritchard, 1969, p. 313.
9. Biblical Archaeology Review, May/June 1985, pp. 74, 75, 77.
10. Archaeology of the Bible: Book by Book, by Gaalyah Cornfeld, 1976, p. 99.
11. The Bible and Recent Archaeology, by Kathleen M. Kenyon, 1978, p. 97.
12. Archaeology of the Bible: Book by Book, p. 177.
13. Archaeology of the Bible: Book by Book, p. 177.
14. The Bible in Modern Scholarship, edited by J. Philip Hyatt, 1956, p. 297.
15. The Story of Jericho, by John Garstang, 1948, pp. 135, 141, 146, 186.
16. The Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 1980, Part 2, pp. 749, 750; Archaeological Discoveries in the Holy Land, 1967, p. 28.
17. Biblical Archaeology Review, January/February 1988, p. 54.
18. The Land of the Bible—A Historical Geography, by Yohanan Aharoni, 1979, p. 98.
19. The Land of the Bible, p. 98.
20. The World of the Old Testament, edited by James I. Packer, Merrill C. Tenney, and William White, Jr., 1982, p. 69.
21. Redating the Exodus and Conquest, by John J. Bimson, 1981, pp. 22-27, 110-115, 132-137; Biblical Archaeology Review, September/October 1987, pp. 45, 46.
22. History, Archaeology, and Christian Humanism, by William Foxwell Albright, 1964, pp. 294-296.
23. History, Archaeology, and Christian Humanism, pp. 294-296.
Chapter 5
1. The Quest of the Historical Jesus, by Albert Schweitzer, 1968, pp. 174, 186, 226.
2. The Quest of the Historical Jesus, p. 157; Finding the Historical Jesus, by James Peter, 1965, p. 24; The Nineteenth Century in Europe—The Protestant and Eastern Churches, by Kenneth Scott Latourette, 1959, p. 51.
3. The Anchor Bible, The Gospel According to John, Introduction, translation, and notes by Raymond E. Brown, 1966, Vol. 29, pp. XXI, XXII.
4. Jesus—An Historian’s Review of the Gospels, by Michael Grant, 1977, p. 180.
5. From the Stone Age to Christianity, by William Foxwell Albright, 1957, pp. 383, 387; The Anchor Bible, Mark—A New Translation With Introduction and Commentary, by C. S. Mann, 1986, Vol. 27, p. 76.
6. Ancient Evidence for the Life of Jesus, by Gary R. Habermas, 1984, p. 40.
7. Where Is History Going? by John Warwick Montgomery, 1969, p. 51.
8. The Text of the New Testament, by Kurt Aland and Barbara Aland, 1987, p. 81.
9. The Text of the New Testament, p. 181.
10. Jewish Antiquities, by Josephus, Book XVIII. 116 (Loeb edition, 1969, Vol. IX, p. 81).
11. Jewish Antiquities, Book XX. 200 (pp. 495, 497).
12. The Annals, by Tacitus, Book XV. 44 (Loeb edition, 1981, Vol. V, p. 283).
13. The Lives of the Caesars, by Suetonius, Book V, chap. XXV (Loeb edition, 1924, Vol. 2, p. 53).
14. The First Apology of Justin, by Justin Martyr (published in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, Vol. 1, p. 175).
15. The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1, p. 179.
16. Biblical Archaeological Review, May/June 1982, pp. 30, 31.
17. The New International Dictionary of Biblical Archaeology, 1983, p. 294.
18. Biblical Archaeology, by G. Ernest Wright, 1957, p. 249.
19. Jesus—An Historian’s Review of the Gospels, pp. 199, 200.
20. Jesus—An Historian’s Review of the Gospels, p. 203.
21. The International Critical Commentary—A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to St. Mark, by Ezra P. Gould, 1975, p. xliii.
22. The Quest of the Historical Jesus, p. 52.
23. Living in the Shadow of the Second Coming, by Timothy P. Weber, 1979, pp. 36, 37.
Chapter 6
1. An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, by David Hume, Sect. X, Of Miracles (published in Great Books of the Western World, 1952, Vol. 35, pp. 488-497).
2. Discover, November 1986, p. 34.
3. Einstein’s Universe, by Nigel Calder, 1979, p. 40.
4. Discover, February 1987, p. 67.
5. Discover, February 1987, p. 70.
6. Healing: A Doctor in Search of a Miracle, by Dr. William A. Nolan, 1974, pp. 88, 89, 218, 219, 230, 231.
7. Dialogue With Trypho, by Justin Martyr, chap. CVIII (published in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1, p. 253).
8. The Bearing of Recent Discovery on the Trustworthiness of the New Testament, by Sir W. M. Ramsay, 1915, p. 222.
9. According to Luke—A new exposition of the Third Gospel, by David Gooding, 1987, p. 15.
Chapter 8
1. Compton’s Encyclopedia, 1987, Vol. 7, p. 13.
2. The Book of Popular Science (Grolier, Inc.), 1967, pp. 213, 214.
3. God and the Astronomers, by Robert Jastrow, 1978, p. 14.
4. Disturbing the Universe, by Freeman Dyson, 1979, pp. 250, 251.
5. Medical World News, October 10, 1983, p. 71.
6. New Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 6, 1967, p. 252.
7. The Neck of the Giraffe, by Francis Hitching, 1982, p. 19.
8. The Neck of the Giraffe, p. 61.
9. The World Book Encyclopedia, 1987, Vol. 12, p. 245.
10. Evolution: A Theory in Crisis, by Michael Denton, 1986, pp. 249, 250.
11. The Neck of the Giraffe, p. 137.
12. Evolution: A Theory in Crisis, p. 355.
13. Evolution: A Theory in Crisis, p. 75.
14. The New Encyclopædia Britannica, 1987, Vol. 25, p. 124.
15. Wonders of Nature, edited by Claus Jürgen Frank, 1980, p. 87.
16. The New Encyclopædia Britannica, 1987, Vol. 9, p. 505.
17. Planet Earth—Glacier, by Ronald H. Bailey, 1982, p. 7.
18. Scientific American, May 1960, p. 71.
19. Planet Earth—Ice Ages, by Windsor Chorlton, 1983, pp. 54, 55, 57.
20. Biblical Archaeologist, December 1977, p. 134.
21. The Genesis Flood, by John C. Whitcomb, Jr. and Henry M. Morris, 1967, p. xvii.
Chapter 9
1. The Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land, Revised edition, edited by Avraham Negev, 1986, p. 199.
2. The Bible After Twenty Years of Archaeology (1932-1952), by William Foxwell Albright, 1954, p. 546.
3. Lands of the Bible, by J. W. McGarvey, 1880, p. 529.
4. The History of Herodotus, Book I. 191, Vol. 6 (published in Great Books of the Western World, 1952, p. 43).
5. Nabonidus and Belshazzar, by Raymond Philip Dougherty, 1929, p. 179.
6. Ancient Near Eastern Texts, edited by James B. Pritchard, 1969, p. 306.
7. Pocket History of the World, by H. G. Wells, 1943, p. 149.
8. The Encyclopedia Americana, 1977 edition, Vol. 8, p. 482.
9. The International Critical Commentary—A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Daniel, by James A. Montgomery, p. 3.
10. The Biblical Archaeologist Reader, edited by Edward F. Campbell, Jr., and David Noel Freedman, Vol. III, 1970, p. 242.
11. Nabonidus and Belshazzar, pp. 183-185.
Chapter 10
1. World Military and Social Expenditures 1987-88, by Ruth Leger Sivard, p. 28.
2. UN Chronicle, June 1988, p. 18.
3. Ending Hunger: An Idea Whose Time Has Come, The Hunger Project edition, 1985, p. 11.
4. Ending Hunger, p. 7.
5. Earthquakes: Observation, Theory and Interpretation, Proceedings of the International School of Physics, “Enrico Fermi,” 1983, p. 598.
6. Earthquakes, p. 603; The New York Times, December 30, 1988, p. A6.
7. The World Book Encyclopedia, 1984, Vol. 10, p. 207.
8. World Health, May 1988, p. 9.
9. World Health, July 1988, p. 8; The German Tribune, November 13, 1988, p. 12.
10. World Health, November 1986, p. 6.
11. The Medical Post, February 2, 1988, p. 13.
Chapter 12
1. The Boston Globe, February 25, 1987, p. 34.
2. Changing Times, July 1986, p. 26.
3. The Times (London), December 14, 1987, p. 12.
4. American Journal of Psychiatry, May 1988, pp. 558-561.
5. Psychology Today, October 1988, pp. 38, 39.
6. Current Controversies in Marriage and Family, edited by Harold and Margaret Feldman, 1985, p. 255.
7. Ladies’ Home Journal, April 1987, p. 58.
8. Current Controversies in Marriage and Family, p. 42. |
Mankind’s Search for God (sh)
1990 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/sh | Chapter 13
The Reformation—The Search Took a New Turn
1, 2. (a) How does one book on the Reformation describe the medieval Roman Catholic Church? (b) What questions are raised concerning the condition of the Church of Rome?
“THE real tragedy of the medieval church is that it failed to move with the times. . . . Far from being progressive, far from giving a spiritual lead, it was retrograde and decadent, corrupt in all its members.” So says the book The Story of the Reformation about the powerful Roman Catholic Church, which had dominated most of Europe from the 5th century to the 15th century C.E.
2 How did the Church of Rome fall from its all-powerful position to become ‘decadent and corrupt’? How did the papacy, which claimed apostolic succession, fail even to provide “a spiritual lead”? And what was the outcome of this failure? To find the answers, we need to examine briefly just what kind of church it had become and what role it played in mankind’s search for the true God.
The Church at a Low Ebb
3. (a) What was the material condition of the Roman Church by the end of the 15th century? (b) How did the church try to maintain its grandeur?
3 By the end of the 15th century, the Church of Rome, with parishes, monasteries, and convents throughout its domain, had become the largest landholder in all Europe. It was reported that it owned as much as half the land in France and Germany and two fifths or more in Sweden and England. The result? The “splendor of Rome grew immeasurably during the late 1400’s and early 1500’s, and its political importance prospered temporarily,” says the book A History of Civilization. All the grandeur, however, came at a price, and to maintain it, the papacy had to find new sources of revenue. Describing the various means employed, historian Will Durant wrote:
“Every ecclesiastical appointee was required to remit to the papal Curia—the administrative bureaus of the papacy—half the income of his office for the first year (“annates”), and thereafter annually a tenth or tithe. A new archbishop had to pay to the pope a substantial sum for the pallium—a band of white wool that served as the confirmation and insignia of his authority. On the death of any cardinal, archbishop, bishop, or abbot, his personal possessions reverted to the papacy. . . . Every judgment or favor obtained from the Curia expected a gift in acknowledgment, and the judgment was sometimes dictated by the gift.”
4. How did the riches coming into the church affect the papacy?
4 The large sums of money that flowed into the papal coffers year after year eventually led to much abuse and corruption. It has been said that ‘even a pope cannot touch pitch without soiling his fingers,’ and church history of this period saw what one historian called “a succession of very worldly popes.” These included Sixtus IV (pope, 1471-84), who spent large sums to build the Sistine Chapel, named after himself, and to enrich his many nephews and nieces; Alexander VI (pope, 1492-1503), the notorious Rodrigo Borgia, who openly acknowledged and promoted his illegitimate children; and Julius II (pope, 1503-13), a nephew of Sixtus IV, who was more devoted to wars, politics, and art than to his ecclesiastical duties. It was with full justification that the Dutch Catholic scholar Erasmus wrote in 1518: “The shamelessness of the Roman Curia has reached its climax.”
5. What did contemporary records show regarding the moral conduct of the clergy?
5 Corruption and immorality were not limited to the papacy. A common saying of the time was: “If you want to ruin your son, make him a priest.” This is backed up by records of that time. According to Durant, in England, among “accusations of [sexual] incontinence filed in 1499, . . . clerical offenders numbered some 23 per cent of the total, though the clergy were probably less than 2 per cent of the population. Some confessors solicited sexual favors from female penitents. Thousands of priests had concubines; in Germany nearly all.” (Contrast 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Ephesians 5:5.) Moral lapses also reached into other areas. A Spaniard of the time is said to have complained: “I see that we can scarcely get anything from Christ’s ministers but for money; at baptism money . . . at marriage money, for confession money—no, not extreme unction [last rites] without money! They will ring no bells without money, no burial in the church without money; so that it seemeth that Paradise is shut up from them that have no money.”—Contrast 1 Timothy 6:10.
6. How did Machiavelli describe the Roman Church? (Romans 2:21-24)
6 To summarize the state of the Roman Church at the beginning of the 16th century, we quote the words of Machiavelli, a famous Italian philosopher of that period:
“Had the religion of Christianity been preserved according to the ordinances of the Founder, the state and commonwealth of Christendom would have been far more united and happy than they are. Nor can there be a greater proof of its decadence than the fact that the nearer people are to the Roman Church, the head of their religion, the less religious are they.”
Early Efforts at Reform
7. What feeble efforts were made by the church to address some of the abuses?
7 The crisis in the church was noted not only by men like Erasmus and Machiavelli but also by the church itself. Church councils were convened to address some of the complaints and abuses, but with no lasting results. The popes, basking in personal power and glory, discouraged any real efforts at reform.
8. What was the result of the church’s continual negligence?
8 Had the church been more serious at housecleaning, there would possibly have been no Reformation. But, as it was, cries for reform began to be heard from inside and outside the church. In Chapter 11 we have already mentioned the Waldenses and the Albigenses. Though they were condemned as heretics and ruthlessly crushed, they had awakened in the people a dissatisfaction with the abuses of the Catholic clergy and had kindled a desire to return to the Bible. Such sentiments found their expression in a number of early Reformers.
Protests From Within the Church
9. Who was John Wycliffe, and against what did he preach?
9 Often referred to as “the morning star of the Reformation,” John Wycliffe (1330?-84) was a Catholic priest and a professor of theology at Oxford, England. Well aware of the abuses in the church, he wrote and preached against such matters as corruption in the monastic orders, papal taxation, the doctrine of transubstantiation (the claim that the bread and wine used in the Mass literally change into the body and blood of Jesus Christ), the confession, and church involvement in temporal affairs.
10. How did Wycliffe show his devotion to the Bible?
10 Wycliffe was particularly outspoken when it came to the church’s neglect in teaching the Bible. Once he declared: “Would to God that every parish church in this land had a good Bible and good expositions on the gospel, and that the priests studied them well, and taught truly the gospel and God’s commands to the people!” To this end, Wycliffe, in the last years of his life, undertook the task of translating the Latin Vulgate Bible into English. With the help of his associates, particularly Nicholas of Hereford, he produced the first complete Bible in the English language. It was undoubtedly Wycliffe’s greatest contribution to mankind’s search for God.
11. (a) What were Wycliffe’s followers able to accomplish? (b) What happened to the Lollards?
11 Wycliffe’s writings and portions of the Bible were distributed throughout England by a body of preachers often referred to as “Poor Priests” because they went about in simple clothing, barefoot, and without material possessions. They were also derisively called Lollards, from the Middle Dutch word Lollaerd, or “one who mumbles prayers or hymns.” (Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable) “In a few years, their numbers were very considerable,” says the book The Lollards. “It was calculated that at least one fourth of the nation were really or nominally inclined to these sentiments.” All of this, of course, did not go unnoticed by the church. Because of his prominence among the ruling and scholarly classes, Wycliffe was allowed to die in peace on the last day of 1384. His followers were less fortunate. During the reign of Henry IV of England, they were branded as heretics, and many of them were imprisoned, tortured, or burned to death.
12. Who was Jan Hus, and against what did he preach?
12 Strongly influenced by John Wycliffe was the Bohemian (Czech) Jan Hus (1369?-1415), also a Catholic priest and rector of the University of Prague. Like Wycliffe, Hus preached against the corruption of the Roman Church and stressed the importance of reading the Bible. This quickly brought the wrath of the hierarchy upon him. In 1403 the authorities ordered him to stop preaching the antipapal ideas of Wycliffe, whose books they also publicly burned. Hus, however, went on to write some of the most stinging indictments against the practices of the church, including the sale of indulgences.a He was condemned and excommunicated in 1410.
13. (a) What did Hus teach was the true church? (b) What was the outcome of Hus’ steadfastness?
13 Hus was uncompromising in his support for the Bible. “To rebel against an erring pope is to obey Christ,” he wrote. He also taught that the true church, far from being the pope and the Roman establishment, “is the number of all the elect and the mystical body of Christ, whose head Christ is; and the bride of Christ, whom of his great love he redeemed with his own blood.” (Compare Ephesians 1:22, 23; 5:25-27.) For all of this, he was tried at the Council of Constance and was condemned as a heretic. Declaring that “it is better to die well than to live ill,” he refused to recant and was burned to death at the stake in 1415. The same council also ordered that the bones of Wycliffe be dug up and burned even though he had been dead and buried for over 30 years!
14. (a) Who was Girolamo Savonarola? (b) What did Savonarola attempt to do, and what was the outcome?
14 Another early Reformer was the Dominican monk Girolamo Savonarola (1452-98) of the San Marcos monastery in Florence, Italy. Swept along by the spirit of the Italian Renaissance, Savonarola spoke out against the corruption in both Church and State. Claiming as a basis Scripture, as well as visions and revelations that he said he had received, he sought to establish a Christian state, or theocratic order. In 1497 the pope excommunicated him. The following year, he was arrested, tortured, and hanged. His last words were: “My Lord died for my sins; shall not I gladly give this poor life for him?” His body was burned and the ashes thrown into the river Arno. Fittingly, Savonarola called himself “a forerunner and a sacrifice.” Just a few years later, the Reformation burst forth in full force all over Europe.
A House Divided
15. How was Christendom in Western Europe divided by the Reformation movement?
15 When the storm of the Reformation finally broke, it shattered the religious house of Christendom in Western Europe. Having been under the almost total domination of the Roman Catholic Church, it now became a house divided. Southern Europe—Italy, Spain, Austria, and parts of France—remained mostly Catholic. The rest fell into three main divisions: Lutheran in Germany and Scandinavia; Calvinist (or Reformed) in Switzerland, the Netherlands, Scotland, and parts of France; and Anglican in England. Scattered among these were smaller but more radical groups, first the Anabaptists and later the Mennonites, Hutterites, and Puritans, who in time took their beliefs to North America.
16. Ultimately, what happened to Christendom’s house? (Mark 3:25)
16 Through the years, these main divisions further fragmented into the hundreds of denominations of today—Presbyterian, Episcopal, Methodist, Baptist, Congregational, to name just a few. Christendom truly became a house divided. How did these divisions come about?
Luther and His Theses
17. What could be given as the official starting point of the Protestant Reformation?
17 If a decisive starting point of the Protestant Reformation has to be given, it would be October 31, 1517, when the Augustinian monk Martin Luther (1483-1546) nailed his 95 theses to the door of the castle church at Wittenberg in the German state of Saxony. However, what provoked this dramatic event? Who was Martin Luther? And against what did he protest?
18. (a) Who was Martin Luther? (b) What prompted Luther to issue his theses?
18 Like Wycliffe and Hus before him, Martin Luther was a monk-scholar. He was also a doctor of theology and a professor of Biblical studies at the University of Wittenberg. Luther made quite a name for himself for his insight into the Bible. Though he had strong opinions on the subject of salvation, or justification, by faith rather than by works or by penance, he had no thought of breaking with the Church of Rome. In fact, the issuing of his theses was his reaction to a specific incident and was not a planned revolt. He was protesting the sale of indulgences.
19. In Luther’s time, how were indulgences being exploited?
19 In Luther’s time, papal indulgences were publicly sold not only for the living but also for the dead. “As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from Purgatory springs” was a common saying. To ordinary folk, an indulgence became almost an insurance policy against punishment for any sin, and repentance fell by the wayside. “Everywhere,” wrote Erasmus, “the remission of purgatorial torment is sold; nor is it sold only, but forced upon those who refuse it.”
20. (a) Why did John Tetzel go to Jüterbog? (b) What was Luther’s reaction to Tetzel’s sale of indulgences?
20 In 1517 John Tetzel, a Dominican friar, went to Jüterbog, near Wittenberg, to sell indulgences. The money thus obtained was partly to finance the rebuilding of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. It was also to help Albert of Hohenzollern repay the money he had borrowed to pay the Roman Curia for the post of archbishop of Mainz. Tetzel mustered all his skills of salesmanship, and the people flocked to him. Luther was indignant, and he made use of the quickest means available to express publicly his opinion of the whole circuslike affair—by nailing 95 points of debate on the church door.
21. What arguments did Luther use against the sale of indulgences?
21 Luther called his 95 theses Disputation for Clarification of the Power of Indulgences. His purpose was not so much to challenge the authority of the church as to point out the excesses and abuses regarding the sale of papal indulgences. This can be seen from the following theses:
“5. The pope has neither the will nor the power to remit any penalties, except those which he has imposed by his own authority. . . .
20. Therefore the pope, when he speaks of the plenary remission of all penalties, does not mean really of all, but only of those imposed by himself. . . .
36. Every Christian who feels true compunction has of right plenary remission of punishment and guilt even without letters of pardon.”
22. (a) What developed as Luther’s message spread? (b) What happened in 1520 involving Luther, and what was the outcome?
22 Aided by the recently invented printing press, these explosive ideas did not take long to reach other parts of Germany—and Rome. What started out as an academic debate on the sale of indulgences soon became a controversy over matters of faith and papal authority. At first, the Church of Rome engaged Luther in debate and ordered him to recant. When Luther refused, both the ecclesiastical and the political powers were brought to bear upon him. In 1520 the pope issued a bull, or edict, that forbade Luther to preach and ordered that his books be burned. In defiance Luther burned the papal bull in public. The pope excommunicated him in 1521.
23. (a) What was the Diet of Worms? (b) How did Luther state his position at Worms, and what was the result?
23 Later that year, Luther was summoned to the diet, or assembly, at Worms. He was tried by the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Charles V, a staunch Catholic, as well as by the six electors of the German states, and other leaders and dignitaries, religious and secular. When pressed once again to recant, Luther made his famous statement: “Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason . . . , I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen.” Consequently, he was declared an outlaw by the emperor. However, the ruler of his own German state, Elector Frederick of Saxony, came to his aid and offered him shelter in Wartburg castle.
24. What did Luther accomplish while in Wartburg castle?
24 These measures, however, failed to curb the spread of Luther’s ideas. For ten months, in the security of Wartburg, Luther devoted himself to writing and to Bible translation. He translated the Greek Scriptures into German from Erasmus’ Greek text. The Hebrew Scriptures followed later. Luther’s Bible turned out to be just what the common people needed. It was reported that “five thousand copies were sold in two months, two hundred thousand in twelve years.” Its influence on the German language and culture is often compared to that of the King James Version on the English.
25. (a) How was the name Protestant coined? (b) What was the Augsburg Confession?
25 In the years following the Diet of Worms, the Reformation movement gained so much popular support that in 1526 the emperor granted each German state the right to choose its own form of religion, Lutheran or Roman Catholic. However, in 1529, when the emperor reversed the decision, some of the German princes protested; hence the name Protestant was coined for the Reformation movement. The next year, 1530, at the Diet of Augsburg, an effort was made by the emperor to mend the differences between the two parties. The Lutherans presented their beliefs in a document, the Augsburg Confession, composed by Philipp Melanchthon but based on Luther’s teachings. Although the document was most conciliatory in tone, the Roman Church rejected it, and the rift between Protestantism and Catholicism became irreconcilable. Many German states sided with Luther, and the Scandinavian states soon followed suit.
Reform or Revolt?
26. According to Luther, what were the fundamental points dividing Protestantism and Catholicism?
26 What were the fundamental points that divided the Protestants from the Roman Catholics? According to Luther, there were three. First, Luther believed that salvation results from “justification by faith alone” (Latin, sola fide)b and not from priestly absolution or works of penance. Second, he taught that forgiveness is granted solely because of God’s grace (sola gratia) and not by the authority of priests or popes. Finally, Luther contended that all doctrinal matters are to be confirmed by Scripture only (sola scriptura) and not by popes or church councils.
27. (a) What unscriptural Catholic teachings and practices were retained by the Protestants? (b) What changes did the Protestants demand?
27 In spite of this, Luther, says The Catholic Encyclopedia, “retained as much of the ancient beliefs and liturgy as could be made to fit into his peculiar views on sin and justification.” The Augsburg Confession states regarding the Lutheran faith that “there is nothing that is discrepant with the Scriptures, or with the Church Catholic, or even with the Roman Church, so far as that Church is known from writers.” In fact, the Lutheran faith, as outlined in the Augsburg Confession, included such unscriptural doctrines as the Trinity, immortal soul, and eternal torment, as well as such practices as infant baptism and church holidays and feasts. On the other hand, the Lutherans demanded certain changes, such as that the people be allowed to receive both wine and bread at Communion and that celibacy, monastic vows, and compulsory confession be abolished.c
28. In what did the Reformation succeed, and in what did it fail?
28 As a whole, the Reformation, as advocated by Luther and his followers, succeeded in breaking from the papal yoke. Yet, as Jesus stated at John 4:24, “God is a Spirit, and those worshiping him must worship with spirit and truth.” It can be said that with Martin Luther, mankind’s search for the true God only took a new turn; the narrow path of truth was still far off.—Matthew 7:13, 14; John 8:31, 32.
Zwingli’s Reform in Switzerland
29. (a) Who was Ulrich Zwingli, and against what did he preach? (b) How was Zwingli’s reform different from Luther’s?
29 While Luther was busy battling the papal emissaries and civil authorities in Germany, Catholic priest Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531) started his reform movement in Zurich, Switzerland. That area being German-speaking, the people were already affected by the tide of reform from the north. Around 1519, Zwingli began to preach against indulgences, Mariolatry, clerical celibacy, and other doctrines of the Catholic Church. Though Zwingli claimed independence from Luther, he agreed with Luther in many areas and distributed Luther’s tracts throughout the country. In contrast with the more conservative Luther, however, Zwingli advocated the removal of all vestiges of the Roman Church—images, crucifixes, clerical garb, even liturgical music.
30. What was a key issue dividing Zwingli and Luther?
30 A more serious controversy between the two Reformers, however, was on the issue of the Eucharist, or Mass (Communion). Luther, insisting on a literal interpretation of Jesus’ words, ‘This is my body,’ believed that the body and blood of Christ were miraculously present in the bread and wine served at Communion. Zwingli, on the other hand, argued, in his treatise On the Lord’s Supper, that Jesus’ statement “must be taken figuratively or metaphorically; ‘This is my body,’ means, ‘The bread signifies my body,’ or ‘is a figure of my body.’” Because of this difference, the two Reformers parted ways.
31. What was the outcome of Zwingli’s work in Switzerland?
31 Zwingli continued to preach his reform doctrines in Zurich and effected many changes there. Other cities soon followed his lead, but most people in the rural areas, being more conservative, clung to Catholicism. The conflict between the two factions became so great that civil war broke out between Swiss Protestants and Roman Catholics. Zwingli, serving as an army chaplain, was killed in the battle of Kappel, near the Lake of Zug, in 1531. When peace finally came, each district was given the right to decide its own form of religion, Protestant or Catholic.
Anabaptists, Mennonites, and Hutterites
32. Who were the Anabaptists, and how did they acquire that name?
32 Some Protestants, however, felt that the Reformers did not go far enough in renouncing the shortcomings of the Catholic papist church. They believed that the Christian church should consist only of the practicing faithful who become baptized, rather than of all the people in a community or nation. Therefore, they rejected infant baptism and insisted on separation of Church and State. They secretly rebaptized their fellow believers and thus acquired the name Anabaptists (ana meaning “again” in Greek). Since they refused to bear arms, take oaths, or accept public office, they were viewed as a threat to society and were persecuted by Catholics and Protestants alike.
33. (a) What aroused violent action against the Anabaptists? (b) How did Anabaptist influence spread?
33 At first the Anabaptists lived in small groups scattered through parts of Switzerland, Germany, and the Netherlands. As they preached what they believed everywhere they went, their numbers grew rapidly. A band of Anabaptists, swept along by their religious fervor, abandoned their pacifism and captured the city of Münster in 1534 and attempted to set it up as a communal, polygamous New Jerusalem. The movement was quickly put down with great violence. It gave Anabaptists a bad name, and they were practically stamped out. In reality, most Anabaptists were simple religious folk trying to live a separate and quiet life. Among the better organized descendants of the Anabaptists were the Mennonites, followers of the Dutch Reformer Menno Simons, and the Hutterites, under the Tyrolean Jacob Hutter. To escape persecution, some of them migrated to Eastern Europe—Poland, Hungary, even Russia—others to North America, where they eventually emerged as Hutterite and Amish communities.
Emergence of Calvinism
34. (a) Who was John Calvin? (b) What important book did he write?
34 The reform work in Switzerland moved ahead under the leadership of a Frenchman named Jean Cauvin, or John Calvin (1509-64), who came in contact with Protestant teachings during his student days in France. In 1534 Calvin left Paris because of religious persecution and settled in Basel, Switzerland. In defense of the Protestants, he published Institutes of the Christian Religion, in which he summarized the ideas of the early church fathers and medieval theologians, as well as those of Luther and Zwingli. The work came to be regarded as the doctrinal foundation for all the Reformed churches established later in Europe and America.
35. (a) What was Calvin’s explanation for his doctrine of predestination? (b) How was the austerity of this doctrine reflected in other aspects of Calvin’s teaching?
35 In Institutes, he set forth his theology. To Calvin, God is the absolute sovereign, whose will determines and rules over everything. In contrast, fallen man is sinful and totally undeserving. Salvation, therefore, is not dependent on man’s good works but on God—hence, Calvin’s doctrine of predestination, on which he wrote:
“We assert, that by an eternal and immutable counsel, God has once for all determined, both whom He would admit to salvation, and whom He would condemn to destruction. We affirm that this counsel, as far as concerns the elect, is founded on His gratuitous mercy, totally irrespective of human merit; but that to those whom He devotes to condemnation, the gate of life is closed by a just and irreprehensible, but incomprehensible, judgment.”
The austerity of such a teaching is also reflected in other areas. Calvin insisted that Christians must live holy and virtuous lives, abstaining not only from sin but also from pleasure and frivolity. Further, he argued that the church, which is made up of the elect, must be freed of all civil restrictions and that only through the church can a truly godly society be established.
36. (a) What did Calvin and Farel attempt to do in Geneva? (b) What strict regulations were instituted? (c) What was one notorious result of Calvin’s extreme measures, and how did he justify his actions?
36 Shortly after publishing Institutes, Calvin was persuaded by William Farel, another Reformer from France, to settle in Geneva. Together they worked to put Calvinism into practice. Their aim was to turn Geneva into a city of God, a theocracy of God-rule combining the functions of Church and State. They instituted strict regulations, with sanctions, covering everything from religious instruction and church services to public morals and even such matters as sanitation and fire prevention. A history text reports that “a hair-dresser, for example, for arranging a bride’s hair in what was deemed an unseemly manner, was imprisoned for two days; and the mother, with two female friends, who had aided in the process, suffered the same penalty. Dancing and card-playing were also punished by the magistrate.” Harsh treatment was meted out to those who differed from Calvin on theology, the most notorious case being the burning of Spaniard Miguel Serveto, or Michael Servetus.—See box, page 322.
37. How was Calvin’s influence extended far beyond the boundaries of Switzerland?
37 Calvin continued to apply his brand of reform in Geneva until his death in 1564, and the Reformed church became firmly established. Protestant reformers, fleeing persecution in other lands, flocked to Geneva, took in Calvinist ideas, and became instrumental in starting reform movements in their respective homelands. Calvinism soon spread to France, where the Huguenots (as the French Calvinist Protestants were called) suffered severe persecution at the hands of the Catholics. In the Netherlands, Calvinists helped establish the Dutch Reformed Church. In Scotland, under the zealous leadership of the former Catholic priest John Knox, the Presbyterian Church of Scotland was established along Calvinist lines. Calvinism also played a role in the Reformation in England, and from there it went with the Puritans to North America. In this sense, although Luther set the Protestant Reformation in motion, Calvin had by far the greater influence in its development.
Reformation in England
38. How was the Protestant spirit in England engendered by the work of John Wycliffe?
38 Quite apart from the reform movements in Germany and Switzerland, the English Reformation can trace its roots back to the days of John Wycliffe, whose anticlerical preaching and emphasis on the Bible engendered the Protestant spirit in England. His effort in translating the Bible into English was followed by others. William Tyndale, who had to flee from England, produced his New Testament in 1526. He was later betrayed in Antwerp and strangled at the stake, and his body was burned. Miles Coverdale completed Tyndale’s work of translation, and the entire Bible appeared in 1535. The publication of the Bible in the language of the people was no doubt the single most powerful factor that contributed to the Reformation in England.
39. What role did Henry VIII play in the Reformation in England?
39 The formal break from Roman Catholicism took place when Henry VIII (1491-1547), named Defender of the Faith by the pope, declared the Act of Supremacy in 1534, setting himself up as the head of the Church of England. Henry also closed the monasteries and divided their property among the gentry. In addition, he ordered that a copy of the Bible in English be placed in every church. However, Henry’s action was more political than religious. What he wanted was independence from papal authority, especially over his marital affairs.d Religiously he remained Catholic in every way but name.
40. (a) What changes took place in the Church of England during the reign of Elizabeth I? (b) What dissenting groups eventually developed in England, the Netherlands, and North America?
40 It was during the long reign (1558-1603) of Elizabeth I that the Church of England became Protestant in practice though remaining largely Catholic in structure. It abolished allegiance to the pope, clerical celibacy, confession, and other Catholic practices, yet it retained an episcopal form of church structure in its hierarchy of archbishops and bishops as well as orders of monks and nuns.e This conservatism caused considerable dissatisfaction, and various dissenting groups appeared. The Puritans demanded a more thorough reform to purify the church of all Roman Catholic practices; the Separatists and Independents insisted that church affairs should be run by local elders (presbyters). Many of the dissidents fled to the Netherlands or to North America, where they further developed their Congregational and Baptist churches. There also sprung up in England the Society of Friends (Quakers) under George Fox (1624-91) and the Methodists under John Wesley (1703-91).—See chart below.
What Were the Effects?
41. (a) In the opinion of some scholars, what effect did the Reformation have on human history? (b) What questions are of serious concern?
41 Having considered the three major streams of the Reformation—Lutheran, Calvinist, and Anglican—we must stop to assess what the Reformation accomplished. Undeniably, it changed the course of history of the Western world. “The effect of the Reformation was to elevate the people to a thirst for liberty and a higher and purer citizenship. Wherever the Protestant cause extended, it made the masses more self-asserting,” wrote John F. Hurst in his book Short History of the Reformation. Many scholars believe that Western civilization as we know it today would have been impossible without the Reformation. Be that as it may, we must ask: What did the Reformation accomplish religiously? What did it do in behalf of mankind’s search for the true God?
42. (a) What undoubtedly is the highest good achieved by the Reformation? (b) What question regarding the Reformation’s true accomplishments must be asked?
42 The highest good the Reformation achieved, no doubt, was that it made the Bible available to the common people in their own language. For the first time, people had before them the whole of God’s Word to read, so that they could be nourished spiritually. But, of course, more is needed than just reading the Bible. Did the Reformation bring people freedom not only from papal authority but also from the erroneous doctrines and dogmas that they had been subjected to for centuries?—John 8:32.
43. (a) To what creeds do most of today’s Protestant churches subscribe, professing what beliefs? (b) What have the free spirit and diversity resulting from the Reformation done for mankind’s search for the true God?
43 Nearly all the Protestant churches subscribe to the same creeds—the Nicene, Athanasian, and Apostles’ creeds—and these profess some of the very doctrines that Catholicism has been teaching for centuries, such as the Trinity, immortal soul, and hellfire. Such unscriptural teachings gave the people a distorted picture of God and his purpose. Rather than aid them in their search for the true God, the numerous sects and denominations that came into existence as a result of the free spirit of the Protestant Reformation have only steered people in many diverse directions. In fact, the diversity and confusion have caused many to question the very existence of God. The result? In the 19th century there came a rising tide of atheism and agnosticism. That will be the subject of our next chapter.
[Footnotes]
a Letters of pardon issued by the pope for sins.
b Luther was so insistent on the concept of “justification by faith alone” that in his translation of the Bible, he added the word “alone” to Romans 3:28. He was also suspicious of the book of James for its statement that “faith without works is dead.” (James 2:17, 26) He failed to recognize that in Romans, Paul was speaking of works of the Jewish Law.—Romans 3:19, 20, 28.
c Martin Luther was married in 1525 to Katharina von Bora, a former nun who had escaped from a Cistercian cloister. They had six children. He stated that he married for three reasons: to please his father, to spite the pope and the Devil, and to seal his witness before martyrdom.
d Henry VIII had six wives. In opposition to the pope’s wishes, his first marriage was annulled, and another ended in divorce. He had two wives beheaded, and two died natural deaths.
e The Greek word e·piʹsko·pos is translated “bishop” in English Bibles such as the King James Version.
[Box/Pictures on page 322]
“Errors of the Trinity”
At age 20, Michael Servetus (1511-53), a Spaniard trained in law and medicine, published De Trinitatis erroribus (Errors of the Trinity), in which he stated that he “will not make use of the word Trinity, which is not to be found in Scripture, and only seems to perpetuate philosophical error.” He denounced the Trinity as a doctrine “that cannot be understood, that is impossible in the nature of things, and that may even be looked on as blasphemous!”
For his outspokenness, Servetus was condemned by the Catholic Church. But it was the Calvinists who had him arrested, tried, and executed by slow burning. Calvin justified his actions in these words: “When the papists are so harsh and violent in defense of their superstitions that they rage cruelly to shed innocent blood, are not Christian magistrates shamed to show themselves less ardent in defense of the sure truth?” Calvin’s religious fanaticism and personal hatred blinded his judgment and smothered Christian principles.—Compare Matthew 5:44.
[Pictures]
John Calvin, left, had Michael Servetus, right, burned to death as a heretic
[Chart on page 327]
(For fully formatted text, see publication)
Simplified Outline of Christendom’s Major Religions
Start of Apostasy - 2nd Century
Roman Catholic Church
4th Century (Constantine)
5th Century Coptic Jacobite
1054 C.E. Eastern Orthodox
Russian Greek Romanian and others
16th Century Reformation
Lutheran
German Swedish American and others
Anglican
Episcopal
Methodist Salvation Army
Baptist Pentecostal
Congregational
Calvinism
Presbyterian Reformed Churches
[Pictures on page 307]
These 16th-century woodcuts contrast Christ’s rejection of money changers and the pope’s sale of indulgences
[Pictures on page 311]
Jan Hus at the stake
The English Reformer and Bible translator John Wycliffe
[Pictures on page 314]
Martin Luther, right, protested the sale of indulgences by the friar John Tetzel |
Pathway (ph)
2010 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/library/r1/lp-e/all-publications/brochures-and-booklets/pathway-ph | The Search for Practical Guidance
Vasana noticed that her neighbors, Buddhika and his wife, Anushka, always seemed so outputed and peaceful. She told Sanath that she was going to ask Anushka what their secret was. So the next time she saw Anushka, she asked her.
“Well, Vasana, we really have the same sort of problems and worries that you and Sanath have,” Anushka said. “But not too long ago, I found a book that gives some very practical guidance for me and my family. This book shows us the pathway to peace and happiness. It helps us to be happy despite the pressures and worries that we face every day.”
Vasana was intrigued. Anushka explained more about this book. “It is an ancient book from the Middle East and the Orient. Yet, the book is for all people because it transcends all religious and sectarian divisions. In fact, it has been translated into hundreds of languages, so that practically everyone can read it.” Anushka also said that the book has often been quoted by educators and that it has even been the basis for the legal systems of many nations.
Vasana was really interested in seeing this book. That afternoon, she went to Anushka’s home. There Anushka showed her the practical guidance that this book offers on these topics:
Raising children
“Train up a boy according to the way for him; even when he grows old he will not turn aside from it.”
“Fathers, do not be irritating your children.”
Work and money management
“Let the stealer steal no more, but rather let him do hard work, doing with his hands what is good work, that he may have something to distribute to someone in need.”
“If anyone does not want to work, neither let him eat.”
Drugs and alcohol
“Let us cleanse ourselves of every defilement of flesh and spirit.”
“Wine is a ridiculer, intoxicating liquor is boisterous, and everyone going astray by it is not wise.”
Moral values
“Let marriage be honorable among all, and the marriage bed be without defilement.”
“Abstain from fornication.”
“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.”
Respect in family life
“Honor your father and your mother.”
“Listen to your father who caused your birth, and do not despise your mother just because she has grown old.”
“Let each one of you individually so love his wife as he does himself; on the other hand, the wife should have deep respect for her husband.”
For those who have a Bible, we list here the source of the quotations above.
Proverbs 22:6; Ephesians 6:4
Ephesians 4:28; 2 Thessalonians 3:10
2 Corinthians 7:1; Proverbs 20:1
Hebrews 13:4; 1 Thessalonians 4:3; Matthew 5:28
Ephesians 6:2; Proverbs 23:22; Ephesians 5:33
Review Box
What did Vasana notice about her neighbors?
What are some of the things that Anushka showed Vasana?
Which points of guidance do you find valuable to you? |
Young People Ask (yp)
1989 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/yp | Section 6
Sex and Morals
Many youths will no doubt turn to this section of the book first. Why? Because no subject generates as many questions and as much controversy—and confusion—as sex and morals. Morality, however, encompasses more than sexual behavior. For example, can you call a youth moral who lies and cheats? Or are there situations in which dishonesty is OK? Fortunately, the Bible gives us some direct and practical guidelines on these matters of morality. |
Examining the Scriptures—2018
2017 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/library/r1/lp-e/all-publications/brochures-and-booklets/examining-the-scriptures/examining-the-scriptures-2018 | input Page/Publishers’ Page
Examining the Scriptures Daily—2018
Yeartext “Those hoping in Jehovah will regain power.”—Isaiah 40:31.
This publication is not for sale. It is provided as part of a worldwide Bible educational work supported by voluntary donations.
To make a donation, please visit www.jw.org.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the modern-language New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures.
May 2017 Printing
English (es18-E)
© 2017
WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA |
Jason Worilds: There Are Nothing But Wins When You Serve Jehovah | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/501000011 | Jason Worilds: There Are Nothing But Wins When You Serve Jehovah
At the height of his career as a professional athlete, Jason chose to retire to put Kingdom interests ahead of secular pursuits. |
Young People Ask, Volume 2 (yp2)
2008 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/yp2 | CHAPTER 16
A Double Life—Who Has to Know?
□ Drinking alcohol
□ Associating with people your parents view as bad company
□ Listening to debasing music
□ Attending rowdy parties
□ Dating secretly
□ Watching violent or immoral movies or playing violent video games
□ Using bad language
LOOK at the list on the previous page. Do you engage in any of those activities behind your parents’ backs? If so, you probably know that what you’re doing is wrong. You may even suffer the pangs of a guilty conscience. (Romans 2:15) Still, the thought of revealing your misdeeds to your parents isn’t a pleasant one. And when you consider the likely consequences, the argument “What my parents don’t know won’t hurt them” may seem to make sense. But has it occurred to you that your course may amount to living a double life? What might have caused you to act that way?
The Lure of Independence
The Bible says that eventually “a man will leave his father and his mother.” (Genesis 2:24) The same, of course, can be said of a woman. It’s only natural for you to want to grow up, to think for yourself, to make your own decisions. But when parents refuse to give permission for things they consider unwise—or wrong—some youths rebel.
Granted, some parents may seem to be unusually strict. “We can hardly see any movies,” complains a young girl named Kim. She adds, “My father has forbidden us to listen to just about any music at all!” Faced with what they see as unreasonable restrictions, some youths begin to feel envious of their peers, who seem to enjoy much more freedom.
A young woman named Tammy identifies another reason why some may live a double life—to fit in with schoolmates. “I started out by using bad language in school,” she recalls. “It made me feel I was more like the rest of the kids. Later I tried smoking. I would also drink alcohol to the point of feeling high. Then I started having boyfriends—secretly because my parents were strict and didn’t allow me to date.”
A teenage boy named Pete had a similar experience: “I was brought up as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. But I was very afraid of being teased.” How did Pete cope with his fear? “I tried to be popular,” he says. “I would lie and make excuses as to why I didn’t receive any presents during religious holidays.” Once Pete began making small compromises, it wasn’t long before he engaged in more serious misconduct.
Nothing Is Hidden
Living a double life is nothing new. Some ancient Israelites tried to get away with it too. However, the prophet Isaiah warned them: “Woe to those who are going very deep in concealing counsel from Jehovah himself, and whose deeds have occurred in a dark place, while they say: ‘Who is seeing us, and who is knowing of us?’” (Isaiah 29:15) The Israelites forgot that God saw their deeds. In due time he called them to account for their errors.
It’s the same today. Even if you successfully hide misconduct from your parents, you cannot hide your actions from the eyes of Jehovah God. “There is not a creation that is not manifest to his sight,” says Hebrews 4:13, “but all things are naked and openly exposed to the eyes of him with whom we have an accounting.” What, then, is the use of hiding? Remember, you can’t appease God by simply putting on a show of devotion when you attend religious meetings. Jehovah knows when people ‘honor him with their lips, but their hearts are far removed from him.’—Mark 7:6.
Did you realize that those who live a double life grieve Jehovah? Is that really possible? Indeed it is! When the people of ancient Israel abandoned God’s Law, “they pained even the Holy One of Israel.” (Psalm 78:41) How pained he must be today when youths reared “in the discipline and mental-regulating of Jehovah” secretly do wrong things!—Ephesians 6:4.
Set Matters Straight
Really, you owe it to God, to your parents, and to yourself to confess to what has been going on in secret. Admittedly, this may result in embarrassment and perhaps some unpleasant consequences. (Hebrews 12:11) For example, if you’ve carried on a pattern of lying and deception, you’ve undermined your parents’ trust in you. So don’t be surprised if for a while they restrict you more than before. Still, coming clean is the best course. Why?
Consider this illustration: Imagine that you and your family are hiking. When your parents aren’t looking, you disobey their order to stay close to them and you wander off the trail, becoming lost. Suddenly, you find yourself sinking in quicksand. Would you be too embarrassed to call for help? Would you worry that your parents might discipline you for ignoring their warnings? No! You would yell as loudly as you could.
Similarly, if you’re living a double life, you need help urgently. Remember, you cannot go back and undo the past. But you can alter the future. As painful and difficult as it will no doubt be, it makes sense to call for help before you do any more damage to yourself or to your family. If you’re truly sorry for your course, Jehovah will be merciful.—Isaiah 1:18; Luke 6:36.
Therefore, tell your parents the truth. Acknowledge their hurt. Accept their discipline. If you do so, you will bring joy to your parents and to Jehovah God. You will also feel the wonderful relief of regaining a clear conscience.—Proverbs 27:11; 2 Corinthians 4:2.
IN OUR NEXT CHAPTERYou have a lot in common with your classmates. But what should you know about school friendships?
KEY SCRIPTURE
“He that is covering over his transgressions will not succeed, but he that is confessing and leaving them will be shown mercy.”—Proverbs 28:13.
TIP
Don’t minimize your errors, but avoid the trap of pessimism. Remember that Jehovah is ready to forgive.—Psalm 86:5.
DID YOU KNOW . . . ?
Feelings of guilt can be healthy; they can induce a person to correct a wrong course. But a person who persists in sin damages his conscience. It becomes insensitive, like skin that has become seared and then scarred over.—1 Timothy 4:2.
ACTION PLAN!
If I have been living a double life, I will talk to ․․․․․
I can cope with any discipline I receive by ․․․․․
What I would like to ask my parent(s) about this subject is ․․․․․
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
● What motivates some teens to live a double life?
● What are some of the consequences of leading a double life?
● Why is it worth the effort to break free from such a lifestyle?
[Blurb on page 140]
“I think youths should identify themselves as Christians who have high moral standards. They should do this as soon as they can. The longer they wait, the harder it will be.”—Linda
[Picture on page 141]
If you’re sinking in the quicksand of a double life, you need to call for help |
BIBLE VERSES EXPLAINED
Micah 6:8—“Walk Humbly With Your God” | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/502300127 | BIBLE VERSES EXPLAINED
Micah 6:8—“Walk Humbly With Your God”
“He has told you, O man, what is good. And what is Jehovah requiring of you? Only to exercise justice, to cherish loyalty, and to walk in modesty with your God!”—Micah 6:8, New World Translation.
“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”—Micah 6:8, The Holy Bible—New International Version.
Meaning of Micah 6:8
The prophet Micah explains that it is not too difficult for humans to please Jehovaha God. (1 John 5:3) What God expects of us is summarized in this verse in three meaningful expressions. The first two primarily involve a person’s dealings with fellow humans, while the third involves his relationship with God.
“Exercise justice.” God asks his worshippers to do what is just and fair. This involves thinking and acting in harmony with God’s standards of right and wrong. (Deuteronomy 32:4) For example, those who follow God’s standards do their best to treat all people honestly and impartially, regardless of their background, nationality, or social status.—Leviticus 19:15; Isaiah 1:17; Hebrews 13:18.
“Cherish loyalty.” This expression could also be rendered “love loyal love.” (Micah 6:8, footnote) In the original Hebrew, the word for “loyalty” implies not only being faithful in a relationship but also showing kindness and mercy to another person, going beyond the rule of law. God asks those who want to please him not only to show kindness and mercy but also to cherish or love these qualities. This means that his worshippers should find pleasure in helping others, especially those in need. Joy comes from giving.—Acts 20:35.
“Walk in modesty with your God.” In the Bible, the phrase “to walk” can mean “to follow a certain course of action.” A person walks with God by following the life course that pleases Him. Noah is a good example. He “walked with the true God” because he was righteous in God’s eyes and “proved himself faultless among his contemporaries.” (Genesis 6:9) Today, we ‘walk with God’ by living according to the teachings outlined in his Word, the Bible. This requires that we modestly accept our limitations and acknowledge that we depend on God for all things.—John 17:3; Acts 17:28; Revelation 4:11.
Context of Micah 6:8
Micah was a prophet in ancient Israel during the eighth century B.C.E. At that time, the land was full of idolatry, fraud, and oppression. (Micah 1:7; 3:1-3, 9-11; 6:10-12) Most Israelites were ignoring God’s requirements, which were set out in the Law given to Moses, called the Mosaic Law. At the same time, many wrongly believed that they could earn God’s approval by merely performing religious rituals and offering sacrifices.—Proverbs 21:3; Hosea 6:6; Micah 6:6, 7.
Centuries after Micah’s time, Jesus restated that his Father takes pleasure in those who show love, justice, and mercy but that He takes no pleasure in those who merely engage in outward displays of devotion. (Matthew 9:13; 22:37-39; 23:23) Jesus’ words help us to understand what God expects of His worshippers today.
Read Micah chapter 6 along with explanatory footnotes and cross-references.
Watch this short video to get an overview of the book of Micah.
a The name Jehovah is an English translation of the Hebrew name for God—the four letters יהוה (YHWH), known as the Tetragrammaton. This name is rendered “LORD” in this verse by the New International Version. For more information about Jehovah and why some Bible translations do not use that name, see the article “Who Is Jehovah?” |
Enjoy Life Forever! (lff)
2021 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/lff | Section 1 Review
Printed Edition
Discuss the following questions with your teacher:
What appeals to you about the Bible’s promises for the future?
(See Lesson 02.)
Why do you believe that the Bible is the Word of God?
(See Lessons 03 and 05.)
Why is it important to use Jehovah’s name?
(See Lesson 04.)
The Bible says that God is “the source of life.” (Psalm 36:9) Do you believe that?
(See Lesson 06.)
Read Proverbs 3:32.
Why is Jehovah the best Friend we can have?
What does Jehovah expect of his friends? Do you think this is reasonable?
(See Lessons 07 and 08.)
Read Psalm 62:8.
What are some things that you have prayed to Jehovah about? What else could you pray about?
How does Jehovah answer prayers?
(See Lesson 09.)
Read Hebrews 10:24, 25.
How can the meetings of Jehovah’s Witnesses benefit you?
Do you think it is worth the effort to attend meetings?
(See Lesson 10.)
Why is it good to read the Bible regularly? What is your daily Bible-reading program?
(See Lesson 11.)
What have you enjoyed most about your Bible study so far?
Since starting to study the Bible, what challenges, if any, have you faced? What can help you to keep studying?
(See Lesson 12.)
Your questions: |
Serving Without Regrets | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2013046 | Serving Without Regrets
“Forgetting the things behind and stretching forward to the things ahead.”—PHIL. 3:13.
ISOLATE THESE MAIN POINTS:
What helped the apostle Paul to overcome his regrettable past?
What is the divine formula for acquiring peace of mind?
What principle can help us to serve God without regrets?
1-3. (a) What are regrets, and how may they affect us? (b) From Paul, what can we learn about serving God without regrets?
A POET wrote: “Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: ‘It might have been!’” The poet was J. G. Whittier, and he was referring to things that we regret, that we wish we could do over and do differently. “Regret” is mental sorrow, pain of mind, at something done or perhaps left undone, and it can mean “to weep again.” We all have done things we wish we could go back and do differently. What regrets do you have?
2 Some people have made grievous mistakes in their lives, even committing serious sins. Others have not done anything so bad, but they wonder whether some of their choices in life were really the best. Some people have been able to overcome the past and continue on with their lives. Others are continually plagued with “if onlys” about their past. (Ps. 51:3) Which are you? Do you wish that you could serve God without regrets—at least from this day forward? Is there a true-life example from whom we can learn to do that? There certainly is—the apostle Paul.
3 During his life, Paul made both terrible mistakes and wise choices. He felt deeply about the regrets of his past, but he also learned to make a success of his life in faithful service to God. Let us see what his example can teach us about serving without regrets.
PAUL’S REGRETTABLE PAST
4. What regrettable past did the apostle Paul have?
4 As a young Pharisee, Paul did things that he later regretted. For example, he led a campaign of vicious persecution against Christ’s disciples. The Bible record states that immediately after the martyring of Stephen, “Saul [later known as Paul] . . . began to deal outrageously with the congregation. Invading one house after another and, dragging out both men and women, he would turn them over to prison.” (Acts 8:3) Scholar Albert Barnes said that the Greek word rendered “to deal outrageously with” is “a strong expression, denoting the zeal and fury with which [Saul] engaged in persecution.” Hence, said Barnes, “Saul raged against the church like a wild beast.” As a devout Jew, Saul believed that it was his God-given duty to stamp out Christianity. So he pursued the Christians with brutal cruelty, “breathing threat and murder against . . . both men and women,” trying to destroy them.—Acts 9:1, 2; 22:4.a
5. Explain how Saul was converted from persecuting Jesus’ followers to preaching about Christ.
5 It was Saul’s intent to go to Damascus, tear Jesus’ disciples from their homes, and drag them to Jerusalem to face the wrath of the Sanhedrin. However, he failed because he was in conflict with the Head of the Christian congregation. (Eph. 5:23) While Saul was on his way to Damascus, Jesus confronted him, and Saul was blinded by a miraculous light. Then Jesus sent Saul on to Damascus to wait for further contact. We know the rest of what happened.—Acts 9:3-22.
6, 7. What shows that Paul was well-aware of his painful past?
6 Paul’s values changed as soon as he became a Christian. Instead of being a fierce enemy of Christianity, he became an ardent advocate of it. Even so, he later wrote of himself: “You, of course, heard about my conduct formerly in Judaism, that to the point of excess I kept on persecuting the congregation of God and devastating it.” (Gal. 1:13) Later, he again mentioned his regrettable past when writing to the Corinthians, to the Philippians, and to Timothy. (Read 1 Corinthians 15:9; Phil. 3:6; 1 Tim. 1:13) Paul was not proud of having to write such things about himself, but neither did he try to act as though none of that had ever happened. He was well-aware that he had made serious mistakes.—Acts 26:9-11.
7 Bible scholar Frederic W. Farrar referred to the part that Saul had played “in the horrid work of persecution.” Farrar added that it is only when we weigh the terrible significance of this sad period in Paul’s life that “we feel the load of remorse which must have lain upon him, and the taunts to which he was liable from malignant enemies.” At times, Paul was perhaps approached by brothers in the various congregations he visited, brothers meeting him for the first time, saying, ‘So you’re Paul—you’re the one who persecuted us!’—Acts 9:21.
8. How did Paul feel about the mercy and love that Jehovah and Jesus displayed toward him, and what lesson does that teach us?
8 Paul realized, however, that it was only by God’s undeserved kindness that he was able to carry out his ministry. He mentions that merciful quality of God some 90 times in his 14 letters—more than any other Bible writer. (Read 1 Corinthians 15:10.) Paul deeply appreciated the merciful way in which he was treated, and he wanted to make sure that God’s undeserved kindness had not been extended to him in vain. So he “labored in excess” of all the other apostles. Paul’s example clearly shows that if we confess our sins and change our course, Jehovah is willing to blot out even grievous sins on the basis of Jesus’ ransom sacrifice. What a good lesson this is for any who find it hard to believe that the benefits of Christ’s sacrifice could be meant for them personally! (Read 1 Timothy 1:15, 16.) Even though Paul had been a rabid persecutor of Christ, he could write: “The Son of God . . . loved me and handed himself over for me.” (Gal. 2:20; Acts 9:5) Yes, Paul learned the principle of how to serve without amassing more regrets. Is that something that you have learned?
Paul learned how to serve without regrets
DO YOU HAVE ANY REGRETS?
9, 10. (a) Why do some of Jehovah’s people have regrets? (b) What is wrong with continually worrying about the past?
9 Have you done things that you now regret? Have you ever wasted valuable energy and time on the wrong pursuits? Did you act in some way that resulted in harm to others? Or it may be that you have unpleasant feelings of regret for some other reason. The question is, What can you do about it?
10 Many people worry! To worry continually means to plague oneself, vex oneself, persecute oneself. It causes great anxiety. Does worrying solve any problems? Not one! Imagine trying to move forward by rocking for hours in a rocking chair, expending all that energy but getting nowhere! Instead of worrying, some positive action on your part may produce good results. You can apologize to the person you wronged, perhaps restoring good relations. You can avoid whatever led up to the wrong act, thereby preventing future problems. Then again, you may simply have to live through some situations of life. But worry is nothing but a form of paralysis that can leave one unable to serve God fully. And there is no reward for worry!
11. (a) How may we receive Jehovah’s mercy and loving-kindness? (b) What is the divine formula for acquiring peace of mind about our past failings?
11 Some have the tendency to let past failings overwhelm them to the point that they feel that they are unworthy in God’s eyes. They may feel beyond the reach of God’s mercy because they strayed off course either so far or so often. The fact is, though, that no matter what they may have done in the past, they can repent, change, and ask for forgiveness. (Acts 3:19) Jehovah’s mercy and loving-kindness can be extended to them, even as it has been to so many others. Jehovah will look kindly upon a humble, honest one and upon his heartfelt repentance. God did that for Job, who said: “I do repent [“feel regret,” ftn.] in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:6) We all must follow the divine formula for acquiring peace of mind: “He that is covering over his transgressions will not succeed, but he that is confessing and leaving them will be shown mercy.” (Prov. 28:13; Jas. 5:14-16) Thus, we can confess to God, pray for his forgiveness, and take steps to right the wrong. (2 Cor. 7:10, 11) If we have done these things, then we can enjoy the mercy of the One who ‘forgives in a large way.’—Isa. 55:7.
12. (a) What does David’s example teach us about the best way to deal with a guilty conscience? (b) In what sense has Jehovah felt regret, and how does knowing that help us? (See the box.)
12 There is power in prayer; it accomplishes much with God. David expressed his deep feelings in a prayer of faith that is beautifully preserved in the Psalms. (Read Psalm 32:1-5.) As David admitted, trying to repress a guilty conscience wore him out! He apparently suffered ill effects mentally and physically and lost joy because of his failure to confess. What brought David pardon and relief? Only a confession to God. Jehovah answered David’s prayers and strengthened him to go ahead with his life and accomplish something worthwhile. Similarly, if you pray sincerely from the heart, you can be confident that Jehovah will give his keen attention to your supplication. If past wrongs trouble you, rectify them to the extent that you can and then believe Jehovah’s assurance that he has forgiven you!—Ps. 86:5.
LOOK AHEAD TO THE FUTURE
13, 14. (a) What should be our chief concern now? (b) What questions can move us to analyze our present situation in life?
13 It has been said that life can be understood by looking back but that it must be lived by looking ahead. So instead of worrying about the past, we should be concerned about the present and the future. What are we doing right now, or failing to do, that years from now we will wish we had not done or had done differently? Are we maintaining a course of faithfulness that will prevent any possible regrets at a future time?
14 As the great tribulation nears, we do not want to be plagued with such anxious thoughts as these: ‘Could I have done more in God’s service? Why didn’t I pioneer when I had the opportunity? What prevented me from reaching out to serve as a ministerial servant? Did I make a real effort to put on the new personality? Am I the sort of person Jehovah wants in his new world?’ Instead of just worrying about such sobering questions, we want to use them to analyze ourselves and make sure that we are giving our best in Jehovah’s service. Otherwise, we could be continuing in a way of life that may result in even more regrets.—2 Tim. 2:15.
NEVER REGRET YOUR SACRED SERVICE
15, 16. (a) What sacrifices have many made to put God’s service first in their life? (b) Why should we not regret any sacrifice we have made in putting Kingdom pursuits first?
15 What about those of you who have made sacrifices to serve Jehovah full-time? Perhaps you gave up a promising career or a successful business to simplify your life and have more time for Kingdom pursuits. Or perhaps you remained unmarried or if married, decided to forgo having children to make yourself available for an avenue of full-time service that otherwise would not have been possible for you—Bethel service, international construction work, circuit work, or missionary service. Should you regret those decisions now as you grow older in Jehovah’s service? Should you feel that the sacrifices you made were unnecessary or ill-timed? Not at all!
16 You made those decisions on the basis of your deep love for Jehovah and an earnest desire to help others who wanted to serve him. You need not think that you would have been better off had you lived your life differently. You can have the deep satisfaction of knowing that you did what you knew to be right in your case. You can rejoice in having done your very best to serve Jehovah. He will not forget your life of self-sacrifice. In the real life yet to come, he will reward you with blessings far better than any you can now imagine!—Ps. 145:16; 1 Tim. 6:19.
HOW TO SERVE WITHOUT REGRETS
17, 18. (a) What principle helped Paul to serve without regrets? (b) What is your resolve regarding your past, present, and future service to Jehovah?
17 What principle did Paul learn that helped him serve God without having more regrets? As rendered in the J. B. Phillips translation, Paul wrote: “I leave the past behind and with hands outstretched to whatever lies ahead I go straight for the goal.” (Read Philippians 3:13, 14.) Paul did not dwell on the wrong course he had pursued in Judaism. Instead, he concentrated all his energies on qualifying himself for the future prize of eternal life.
18 All of us can apply the principle behind Paul’s words. Rather than fretting over our past, dwelling on what cannot be undone, we should stretch forward to what lies ahead. No, we may not literally forget past mistakes, but we need not constantly berate ourselves for them. We can strive to put the past behind us, serve God to the best of our ability now, and look ahead to the glorious future!
a The repeated reference to women also being the object of Saul’s persecution shows that they played a large part in the spread of Christianity in the first century, just as they do today.—Ps. 68:11.
IN WHAT SENSE HAS JEHOVAH FELT REGRET?
On a number of occasions, the Bible mentions that Jehovah “felt regret.” (Jonah 3:10; Gen. 6:6, 7; Judg. 2:18; 1 Sam. 15:11) Since God’s activity is perfect, his regret is never because of a mistake on his part. (Num. 23:19; Deut. 32:4) Rather, in Hebrew, to feel regret can mean to change one’s mind or intention. For example, because Jehovah is reasonable, adaptable, and merciful, he is willing to alter his intended actions toward erring ones in response to their repentance and the changes that they make.—Jer. 18:7-10. |
Greatest Man (gt)
1991 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/gt | Chapter 52
Jesus Miraculously Feeds Thousands
THE 12 apostles have enjoyed a remarkable preaching tour throughout Galilee. Now, shortly after John’s execution, they return to Jesus and relate their wonderful experiences. Seeing that they are tired and that so many people are coming and going that they don’t even have time to eat, Jesus says: ‘Let us go off by ourselves to a lonely place where you can rest up.’
Boarding their boat, probably near Capernaum, they head for an out-of-the-way place, evidently east of the Jordan beyond Bethsaida. Many people, however, see them leave, and others learn about it. These all run ahead along the shore, and when the boat lands, the people are there to meet them.
Getting out of the boat and seeing the great crowd, Jesus is moved with pity because the people are as sheep without a shepherd. So he heals their sick and begins teaching them many things.
Time passes quickly, and Jesus’ disciples come to him and say: “The place is isolated, and the hour is already late. Send them away, that they may go off into the countryside and villages round about and buy themselves something to eat.”
However, in reply Jesus says: “You give them something to eat.” Then, since Jesus already knows what he is going to do, he tests Philip by asking him: “Where shall we buy loaves for these to eat?”
From Philip’s viewpoint the situation is impossible. Why, there are about 5,000 men, and probably well over 10,000 people counting also women and children! Philip responds that “two hundred denarii [a denarius was then a day’s wage] worth of loaves is not enough for them, so that each one may get a little.”
Perhaps to show the impossibility of feeding so many, Andrew volunteers: “Here is a little boy that has five barley loaves and two small fishes,” adding, “but what are these among so many?”
Since it is springtime, just before Passover 32 C.E., there is a lot of green grass. So Jesus has his disciples tell the people to recline on the grass in groups of 50 and of 100. He takes the five loaves and two fishes, looks to heaven, and says a blessing. Then he begins breaking the loaves and dividing up the fishes. He gives these to his disciples, who, in turn, distribute them to the people. Amazingly, all the people eat until they have had enough!
Afterward Jesus tells his disciples: “Gather together the fragments that remain over, so that nothing is wasted.” When they do, they fill 12 baskets with the leftovers from what they have eaten! Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-13.
▪ Why does Jesus seek a place of privacy for his apostles?
▪ Where does Jesus take his disciples, and why does their need for rest go unfulfilled?
▪ When it becomes late, what do the disciples urge, but how does Jesus care for the people? |
Why Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Respectfully Abstain From Participating in Nationalistic Ceremonies? | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/501400105 | Why Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Respectfully Abstain From Participating in Nationalistic Ceremonies?
Jehovah’s Witnesses respect governments and their national symbols. We accept the fact that others may choose to say a pledge of allegiance, salute a flag, or sing a national anthem.
However, Jehovah’s Witnesses choose not to participate in such ceremonies because we believe that these conflict with Bible teachings. We appreciate receiving the same respect for our beliefs as we show to others who make a different choice.
In this article
What Bible teachings are involved?
What if participation is required by law?
Are Jehovah’s Witnesses trying to make a social or political statement?
What Bible teachings are involved?
The following two key Bible teachings affect our choice:
God alone deserves our worship. The Bible says: “It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to him alone you must render sacred service.” (Luke 4:8) Pledges of allegiance and national anthems often contain wording that promises devotion to a country above all else. So Jehovah’s Witnesses cannot in good conscience participate in such ceremonies.
Jehovah’s Witnesses likewise feel that saluting the flag amounts to an act of worship, or idolatry, which the Bible prohibits. (1 Corinthians 10:14) Some secular sources acknowledge that national flags are, in effect, religious symbols. “Nationalism’s chief symbol of faith and central object of worship is the flag,” wrote historian Carlton J. H. Hayes.a Regarding early Christians, author Daniel P. Mannix observed: “Christians refused to . . . sacrifice to the [Roman] emperor’s genius—roughly equivalent today to refusing to salute the flag.”b
Although Jehovah’s Witnesses do not salute the flag, neither do we vandalize it, burn it, or otherwise show disrespect for it or any other national symbol.
All humans are equal before God. (Acts 10:34, 35) The Bible says that God “made out of one man every nation of men.” (Acts 17:26) For this reason, Jehovah’s Witnesses believe it would be wrong to glorify any particular ethnic group or nationality above others. We honor all peoples, regardless of their place of origin or residence.—1 Peter 2:17.
What if participation is required by law?
Jehovah’s Witnesses are not anti-government. We believe the governments are part of an “arrangement of God” that he allows to exist. (Romans 13:1-7) We also believe that Christians should obey secular authorities.—Luke 20:25.
What, though, if there is a conflict between secular laws and those of God? In some cases, it is possible to submit a legal request to the government for an adjustment in the laws.c When no change is possible, Jehovah’s Witnesses respectfully choose to “obey God as ruler rather than men.”—Acts 5:29.
Are Jehovah’s Witnesses trying to make a social or political statement?
No. Jehovah’s Witnesses do not take sides in social and political issues. When we refrain from pledging allegiance, saluting the flag, or singing the national anthem, it is not because we are political activists. Rather, we are adhering to our Bible-based beliefs about those ceremonies.
a Essays on Nationalism, pages 107-108.
b The Way of the Gladiator, page 212.
c For example, see the article “A Stand of Courage and Conscience Established Supreme Court Precedent 75 Years Ago.” |
Proclaimers (jv)
1993 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/jv | Chapter 2
Jesus Christ, the Faithful Witness
FOR some 4,000 years, a long line of pre-Christian witnesses had offered their testimony. But the issues involving God’s sovereignty and the integrity of his servants were far from settled. The time now arrived for the promised royal “seed,” the Messiah, to appear on earth.—Gen. 3:15.
Out of all of his millions of spirit sons, whom did Jehovah select for this assignment? All of them had witnessed what happened in Eden and were no doubt aware of the universal issues raised. But who was the most anxious to serve in clearing Jehovah’s name and vindicating his sovereignty? Who could provide the most conclusive answer to Satan’s challenge that no one would maintain integrity to God’s sovereignty under test? The one Jehovah selected was his Firstborn, his only-begotten Son, Jesus.—John 3:16; Col. 1:15.
Jesus eagerly and humbly accepted this assignment, although it meant leaving the heavenly home he had shared with his Father longer than anyone else. (John 8:23, 58; Phil. 2:5-8) His motive? Deep love for Jehovah and a zealous desire to see His name cleared of all reproach. (John 14:31) Jesus also acted out of love for humankind. (Prov. 8:30, 31; compare John 15:13.) His birth on earth, in early autumn of the year 2 B.C.E., was made possible by holy spirit—by means of which Jehovah transferred Jesus’ life from heaven to the womb of the Jewish virgin Mary. (Matt. 1:18; Luke 1:26-38) Jesus was thus born into the nation of Israel.—Gal. 4:4.
More than any other Israelite, Jesus knew that he had to be a witness of Jehovah. Why? He was a member of the nation to which Jehovah by the prophet Isaiah had said: “You are my witnesses.” (Isa. 43:10) In addition to that, at Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River in 29 C.E., Jehovah anointed him with holy spirit. (Matt. 3:16) Thus Jesus was empowered, as he later testified, to “proclaim the year of goodwill on the part of Jehovah.”—Isa. 61:1, 2; Luke 4:16-19.
Jesus faithfully carried out his assignment and became Jehovah’s greatest witness ever on earth. With every right, then, the apostle John, who stood near Jesus at the time of his death, calls Jesus “the Faithful Witness.” (Rev. 1:5) And at Revelation 3:14, the glorified Jesus calls himself “the Amen” and “the faithful and true witness.” What testimony did this “Faithful Witness” offer?
‘Bearing Witness to the Truth’
When on trial before Roman governor Pilate, Jesus stated: “For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone that is on the side of the truth listens to my voice.” (John 18:37) To what truth did Jesus bear witness? It was God’s truth, the revelation of Jehovah’s eternal purposes.—John 18:33-36.
How, though, did Jesus bear witness to this truth? The Greek verb for “bear witness to” also means “declare, confirm, testify favorably, speak well (of), approve (of).” In ancient Greek papyri, the common occurrence of another form of the verb (mar·ty·roʹ) was after a signature, such as in business transactions. By his ministry, then, Jesus had to confirm God’s truth. This certainly required that he declare, or preach, that truth to others. However, much more than talking was needed.
“I am . . . the truth,” Jesus said. (John 14:6) Yes, he lived in such a way as to fulfill God’s truth. God’s purpose in connection with the Kingdom and its Messianic Ruler had been spelled out in prophecy. Jesus, by his entire earthly life course, which culminated in his sacrificial death, fulfilled all the things prophesied about him. He thus confirmed and guaranteed the truth of Jehovah’s prophetic word. For this reason the apostle Paul could say: “No matter how many the promises of God are, they have become Yes by means of him. Therefore also through him is the ‘Amen’ [meaning, “so be it,” or “surely”] said to God for glory through us.” (2 Cor. 1:20) Yes, Jesus is the one in whom God’s promises find fulfillment.—Rev. 3:14.
Bearing Witness to God’s Name
Jesus taught his followers to pray: “Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified [or, “be held sacred; be treated as holy”].” (Matt. 6:9, ftn.) On the final night of his earthly life, in prayer to his heavenly Father, Jesus also said: “I have made your name manifest to the men you gave me out of the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have observed your word. And I have made your name known to them and will make it known, in order that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in union with them.” (John 17:6, 26) This, in fact, was Jesus’ primary purpose in coming to earth. What was involved in his making God’s name known?
Jesus’ followers already knew and used God’s name. They saw and read it in the Hebrew Bible scrolls available in their synagogues. They also saw and read it in the Septuagint—a Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, which they used in teaching and writing. If they knew the divine name, in what sense did Jesus make it manifest, or known, to them?
In Bible times, names were not mere labels. Says A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, by J. H. Thayer: “The name of God in the N[ew] T[estament] is used for all those qualities which to his worshippers are summed up in that name, and by which God makes himself known to men.” Jesus made known God’s name not just by using it but by revealing the Person behind the name—his purposes, activities, and qualities. As the one ‘who had been in the bosom position with the Father,’ Jesus could explain the Father in a way that no one else could. (John 1:18) Moreover, so perfectly did Jesus reflect his Father that Jesus’ disciples could ‘see’ the Father in the Son. (John 14:9) By what he said and did, Jesus bore witness to God’s name.
He Witnessed About God’s Kingdom
As “the Faithful Witness,” Jesus was outstandingly a proclaimer of God’s Kingdom. He emphatically said: “I must declare the good news of the kingdom of God, because for this I was sent forth.” (Luke 4:43) He proclaimed that heavenly Kingdom throughout Palestine, covering hundreds of miles on foot. He preached wherever there were people who would listen: at lakeshores, on hillsides, in cities and villages, in synagogues and the temple, in the marketplaces, and at the people’s homes. But Jesus knew that there was a limit to the area he could cover and the number of people to whom he could witness. (Compare John 14:12.) So with a view to covering the world field, Jesus trained and sent out his disciples to be proclaimers of the Kingdom.—Matt. 10:5-7; 13:38; Luke 10:1, 8, 9.
Jesus was a hardworking, zealous witness, and he did not allow himself to be sidetracked. Although he showed personal concern for the needs of the people, he did not get so wrapped up in doing things that would bring short-term relief that he neglected his God-given assignment of pointing people to the lasting solution to their problems—God’s Kingdom. On one occasion, after he miraculously fed about 5,000 men (perhaps well over 10,000 people counting also women and children), a group of Jews wanted to seize him and make him an earthly king. What did Jesus do? He “withdrew again into the mountain all alone.” (John 6:1-15; compare Luke 19:11, 12; Acts 1:6-9.) Although he performed many miracles of healing, Jesus was not primarily known as the Miracle Worker, but, rather, he was recognized by both believers and unbelievers as “Teacher.”—Matt. 8:19; 9:11; 12:38; 19:16; 22:16, 24, 36; John 3:2.
Clearly, bearing witness to God’s Kingdom was the most important work that Jesus could do. It is Jehovah’s will that everyone know what His Kingdom is and how it will fulfill His purposes. It is very dear to His heart, for it is the means by which He will sanctify His name, clearing it of all reproach. Jesus knew that, and so he made that Kingdom the theme of his preaching. (Matt. 4:17) By sharing wholeheartedly in proclaiming it, Jesus upheld Jehovah’s rightful sovereignty.
A Witness Faithful Even to Death
No one could love Jehovah and His sovereignty more than Jesus does. As “the firstborn of all creation,” Jesus ‘fully knew’ the Father from his intimate association with him as a spirit creature in the heavens. (Col. 1:15; Matt. 11:27) He had willingly subjected himself to God’s sovereignty during countless ages of time prior to the creation of the first man and woman. (Compare John 8:29, 58.) How deeply hurt he must have felt when Adam and Eve turned their backs on God’s sovereignty! Yet, he patiently waited in the heavens for some 4,000 years, and then, at last, the time arrived for him to serve as Jehovah’s greatest witness ever on earth!
Jesus was fully aware that the universal issues directly involved him. It might have appeared that Jehovah had put a hedge about him. (Compare Job 1:9-11.) True, he had demonstrated his faithfulness and devotion in the heavens, but would he maintain integrity as a human on earth under any type of test? Could he resist Satan in a setting in which his enemy apparently had the upper hand?
The serpentlike Adversary wasted no time. Shortly after Jesus’ baptism and anointing, Satan tempted him to display selfishness, to elevate himself, and, finally, to reject his Father’s sovereignty. But Jesus’ unequivocal statement to Satan, “It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to him alone you must render sacred service,” showed where he stood on the issues. How unlike Adam!—Matt. 4:1-10.
The course appointed for Jesus meant suffering and death, and Jesus well knew this. (Luke 12:50; Heb. 5:7-9) Nevertheless, “when he found himself in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient as far as death, yes, death on a torture stake.” (Phil. 2:7, 8) Jesus thereby proved Satan a monstrous liar, completely settling the question, Will anyone maintain integrity to God’s sovereignty if Satan is allowed to put him to the test? But Jesus’ death accomplished much more.
By his death on the torture stake, Jesus also gave “his soul a ransom in exchange for many.” (Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45) His perfect human life had sacrificial value. Jesus’ sacrificing his life not only makes it possible for us to receive forgiveness of sins but also opens to us the opportunity for eternal life on a paradise earth, in harmony with God’s original purpose.—Luke 23:43; Acts 13:38, 39; Heb. 9:13, 14; Rev. 21:3, 4.
Jehovah proved his love for and approval of Jesus as “the Faithful Witness” by raising him from the dead on the third day. This confirmed that the witness Jesus had given pertaining to the Kingdom was true. (Acts 2:31-36; 4:10; 10:36-43; 17:31) After remaining in the vicinity of the earth for 40 days, during which time he appeared to his apostles on numerous occasions, Jesus ascended to heaven.—Acts 1:1-3, 9.
Jesus had indicated that the establishment of the Messianic Kingdom of God would be in the far distant future. (Luke 19:11-27) That event would also mark the start of Jesus’ “presence and of the conclusion of the system of things.” (Matt. 24:3) But how could his followers on earth discern when these things would occur? Jesus gave them a “sign”—a composite sign made up of many evidences, including wars, earthquakes, food shortages, pestilences, and an increasing of lawlessness. A significant part of that sign would also be that the good news of the Kingdom would be preached throughout the inhabited earth as a witness to all nations. All the features of that remarkable sign can be observed in our day, indicating that we are living in the time of Jesus’ presence as heavenly King and of the conclusion of the system of things.a—Matt. 24:3-14.
What, though, about Jesus’ followers? During this time of Jesus’ presence, individuals adhering to many different churches claim to follow Christ. (Matt. 7:22) Yet, the Bible says there is but “one faith.” (Eph. 4:5) So how can you identify the true Christian congregation, the one that has God’s approval and direction? You can do so by examining what the Scriptures say about the first-century Christian congregation and then seeing who today follow that same pattern.
[Footnote]
a See chapter 10, “A Bible Prophecy You Have Seen Fulfilled,” in the book The Bible—God’s Word or Man’s? published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.
[Blurb on page 20]
‘Born to bear witness to the truth’
[Blurb on page 21]
Jesus made the Kingdom of God the theme of his preaching
[Blurb on page 22]
Jesus Christ was the greatest witness of Jehovah ever on earth
[Full-page picture on page 23] |
Human Plans Failing (hu)
1974 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/library/r1/lp-e/all-publications/brochures-and-booklets/human-plans-failing-hu | Aids to Understanding God’s Purpose
To understand God’s purpose well, you need a Bible in clear, modern-day English. Outstanding for clarity is the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures. It is available in the following editions:
● REGULAR: Bound in green vinyl, with appendix, concordance, 1,472 pages $1.00
● POCKET: Same features as regular edition, but more compact. Measures 6-1/2” x 4-1/2” x 1”. Flexible cover $1.50
● LARGE PRINT: This edition (revised 1971) has 1,376 pages and features large, easily read type $5.00
Interlinear Aids
Knowing what the Bible says in its original languages can further aid you to understand God’s purpose. Two interlinear editions are available:
● THE KINGDOM INTERLINEAR TRANSLATION OF THE GREEK SCRIPTURES: Helps you to discern the flavor and literal meaning of the Christian Greek Scriptures. It contains a word-for-word English translation under the Greek Bible text. In the right-hand column appears the “New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures,” Matthew through Revelation. 1,184 pages $2.00
● THE EMPHATIC DIAGLOTT: Greek text of the Christian Scriptures with English interlinear and a modern English translation by Benjamin Wilson. 924 pages $2.00
Other Aids
● AID TO BIBLE UNDERSTANDING: A new Bible dictionary that gives you excellent help in understanding God’s purpose. Provides enlightening background information on people, places, plants, animals and notable events of the Holy Scriptures. Covers Bible subjects from A to Z. 1,700 pages $7.00
● COMPREHENSIVE CONCORDANCE OF THE NEW WORLD TRANSLATION OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES: Listed is every occurrence of all the principal words in the New World Translation (1971 edition). Has some 333,200 entries; 1,280 pages $5.00
To order, see addresses on the next page.
[Addresses of branch offices]
(See publication) |
Are There “Seven Deadly Sins”? | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/502016205 | Are There “Seven Deadly Sins”?
The Bible’s answer
The Bible does not specifically describe a set of “seven deadly sins.” However, it does teach that practicing serious sins will prevent a person from gaining salvation. For example, the Bible refers to such serious sins as sexual immorality, idolatry, spiritism, fits of anger, and drunkenness as “the works of the flesh.” It then states: “Those who practice such things will not inherit God’s Kingdom.”—Galatians 5:19-21.a
Doesn’t the Bible list ‘seven things that are an abomination unto the Lord’?
Yes, it does. According to the King James Version, Proverbs 6:16 says: “These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him.” However, the list of sins that follows in Proverbs 6:17-19 is not meant to be all-inclusive. Instead, it describes basic categories that represent all types of wrongful acts, including those in thought, word, and deed.b
What is meant by the expression “deadly sin”?
Some translations use this rendering at 1 John 5:16. For example, The New American Bible reads: “There is such a thing as deadly sin.” The expression rendered “deadly sin” can also be translated as “sin that incurs death.” What is the difference between “sin that incurs death” and “sin that does not incur death”?—1 John 5:16.
The Bible makes clear that all sin leads to death. However, we can be saved from sin and death through the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:12; 6:23) Thus, a “sin that incurs death” is one that is not covered by Christ’s ransom. A person who commits this type of sin is so set on following a sinful course that he will never change his attitude or conduct. The Bible also refers to such a sin as one that “will not be forgiven.”—Matthew 12:31; Luke 12:10.
Where did the list of seven deadly sins come from?
The “seven deadly sins” were originally based on a list of eight principal vices. The list was developed in the fourth century C.E. by the mystic Evagrius Ponticus, whose work inspired the writings of monk and ascetic John Cassian. In the sixth century, Pope Gregory I changed Cassian’s list of eight vices into the list of seven deadly, or cardinal, sins of Roman Catholic theology: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, anger, and sloth. Gregory viewed these as capital, or principal, sins in that many other sins came from them.
a The list of 15 examples of serious sins found at Galatians 5:19-21 is not meant to be exhaustive, for after listing them, the Bible adds the words “and things like these.” The reader is thus encouraged to use his discernment to identify things that may not be listed but that are “like these.”
b Proverbs 6:16 contains an example of a Hebrew idiom that emphasizes the second number by contrasting it with the first one. This form of expression appears often in the Scriptures.—Job 5:19; Proverbs 30:15, 18, 21. |
Watching the World | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/102007005 | Watching the World
◼ Over a 15-month period, 82 newborn babies were found abandoned on the streets of Mexico City, 27 of them lifeless.—EL UNIVERSAL, MEXICO.
◼ Studies of caves in two national parks in California, U.S.A., have yielded 27 new animal species. “This just confirms how little we know about the world around us,” says Joel Despain, a cave specialist for the National Park Service.—SMITHSONIAN, U.S.A.
◼ Twenty percent of the world’s population lack potable water. Forty percent lack basic sanitary systems.—MILENIO, MEXICO.
◼ Poachers kill between 20,000 and 30,000 animals per year in the Serengeti National Park alone.—THE DAILY NEWS, TANZANIA.
◼ Studies carried out in Barcelona, Spain, reveal that 1 out of every 3 students aged 16 smokes cannabis regularly.—LA VANGUARDIA, SPAIN.
Germs in the Office
University of Arizona microbiologists measured bacteria in offices in a number of U.S. cities. They found that “the five most germ-contaminated spots were (in order) phones, desktops, water fountain handles, microwave door handles and keyboards,” says the Globe and Mail newspaper. According to the report, “the average desktop is home to 100 times more bacteria than a kitchen table and 400 times more than the average toilet seat.”
“Christians Only in Words”
The Philippines has been referred to as the only “Christian” nation in Asia. However, Bishop Efraim Tendero of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches stated: “Most of us are Christians only in words but not in our actions.” As stated in the Manila Bulletin, part of the blame rests with church leaders, who fail “to create awareness and appreciation of the Bible.” Some church sermons are said to highlight politics rather than the Scriptures.
Humans and Animals Fight for Sustenance
“Reports of baboons and hyenas attacking communities in drought-stricken Somalia are becoming common,” states the Nairobi newspaper The East African. One fight over water left several baboons dead and some livestock raisers injured. Bands of monkeys are said to position themselves at “strategic road intersections or on bridges” to raid trucks ferrying provisions to local markets. “The sight of animals making off with bunches of bananas or [large] watermelons is common,” adds the newspaper.
Shipping Affects Coastal Weather
Maritime traffic on busy waterways can affect coastal weather, reports the German newspaper Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg, analyzed cloud formation over the English Channel. They found that clouds over coastal lands have become thinner, while those over waterways have become denser. The phenomenon is attributed to the exhaust fumes from ships. Soot particles emitted by the ships are believed to function as nuclei for condensation, increasing the formation of water droplets. “In the last 50 years,” says the newspaper, “the fuel consumption of shipping has more than quadrupled.” |
Finding Relief From Youthful Despair | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2008011 | Finding Relief From Youthful Despair
As told by Eusebio Morcillo
In September 1993, I visited a maximum-security prison. The occasion was the baptism of a prisoner, my younger sister Mariví. Some inmates and prison officials respectfully watched as I conducted the ceremony. Before I explain how she and I came to be there, let me describe our early life.
I WAS born in Spain on May 5, 1954, the first of eight children. Mariví was the third. Our grandmother reared us as devout Catholics, and I have pleasant childhood memories of feeling devoted to God while I was with her. But the environment in my parents’ home was far from spiritual. Father regularly beat Mother and us children. Fear was a part of our lives, and it hurt me deeply to see Mother suffer.
At school, I faced added disheartening conditions. One of the teachers, a priest, knocked our heads against a wall if we answered a question incorrectly. Another priest sexually abused pupils while reviewing their homework with them. Furthermore, such Catholic teachings as hellfire confused and frightened me. My devotion to God soon withered.
Trapped in a Senseless Life
Lacking any spiritual guidance, I started spending time with immoral, violent people at discotheques. Often fights broke out, with knives, chains, glasses, and stools used as weapons. Even though I did not actively participate in the violence, on one occasion I was knocked unconscious.
Eventually I tired of that environment and looked for quieter discotheques. Even at those places, drugs were common. But instead of gratification and peace of mind, the drugs gave me hallucinations and anxiety.
Although I was dissatisfied, I lured one of my younger brothers, José Luis, and a close friend, Miguel, into the same lifestyle. Along with many other youths in Spain at the time, we were trapped in a corrupt world. I would do almost anything to get money for drugs. I lost all dignity.
Jehovah Comes to the Rescue
During this time, I spoke several times with my friends about the existence of God and the meaning of life. I began searching for God by looking for someone to share my feelings with. I had noticed that Francisco, one of my workmates, stood out from the others. He seemed happy, honest, and kind, so I decided to open my heart to him. Francisco was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and he gave me an issue of The Watchtower that contained an article on drugs.
After reading the article, I prayed to God for help: “Lord, I know that you exist, and I want to know you and to do your will. Please help me!” Francisco and other Witnesses used the Bible to encourage me and gave me Bible-based publications to read. I came to realize that they were giving me the help I had requested from God. Soon I began to speak to my friends and José Luis about the things I was learning.
One day when leaving a rock concert with some friends, I separated myself from the group. I looked at them as a detached observer, and it struck me just how repugnant our conduct had become because of the influence of drugs. At that moment, I decided to reject that lifestyle and become one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
I asked Francisco for a Bible, and he gave me one along with the book The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life.a When I read about God’s promise to wipe out every tear and to remove even death, I had no doubt that I had found the truth that can set mankind free. (John 8:32; Revelation 21:4) Later, I attended a meeting at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The friendliness and warmth I found there impressed me greatly.
Eager to share with others my experience at the Kingdom Hall, I immediately gathered José Luis and my friends and told them all about it. Some days later, all of us attended a meeting. One girl sitting in the row in front of us glanced at us. She was obviously startled at seeing this group of long-haired hippies, and she was careful not to turn her head again. She must have been surprised when we returned to the Kingdom Hall the following week, for this time we were wearing suits and ties.
Soon afterward, Miguel and I also attended a circuit assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses. We had never experienced anything like that before—a true brotherhood of people of all ages. And strangely enough, the assembly was held in the same theater where we had just attended a rock concert. But on this occasion, the atmosphere and the music we heard lifted our spirits.
Our entire group began to study the Bible. About eight months later, on July 26, 1974, Miguel and I were baptized. We were both 20 years old. Four others in our group got baptized a few months later. The Bible training I had received motivated me to start helping my long-suffering mother with the housework and to share my newfound faith with her. We became close. I also devoted much time to helping my younger brothers and sisters.
In time, my mother and all but one of my siblings learned Bible truth and were baptized as Jehovah’s Witnesses. In 1977, I married Soledad. She was the young girl who looked aghast when she saw us on our first visit to the Kingdom Hall. Within a few months, we both became pioneers, as Jehovah’s Witnesses call full-time preachers of the good news.
A Beloved One Is Redeemed
My younger sister Mariví had been sexually abused as a child, and that horrible background deeply affected her. As a teenager, she took up an immoral lifestyle that involved drugs, thievery, and prostitution. At the age of 23, she was sent to jail, where she continued her wayward life.
By that time, I was serving as a circuit overseer, a traveling minister of Jehovah’s Witnesses. In 1989, Soledad and I were assigned to the area where Mariví was imprisoned. The authorities had recently taken her son away from her; she was devastated, with no desire to live. One day I visited her and suggested that we study the Bible together, and she accepted the offer. After studying for a month, she stopped using drugs and tobacco. It thrilled me to see that Jehovah gave her the strength to make these changes in her life.—Hebrews 4:12.
Shortly after starting to study, Mariví began sharing Bible truths with fellow inmates and prison officials. Although she was transferred from one prison to another, she continued her preaching activity. In one prison she even witnessed from cell to cell. Over the years, Mariví started Bible studies with many inmates in different penitentiaries.
One day Mariví informed me of her desire to dedicate her life to Jehovah and get baptized. But she was not granted permission to leave the prison, nor was anybody allowed inside to baptize her. She endured four more years in the corrupt environment of that prison. What helped her to maintain her faith? At the precise time that the local congregation was holding a meeting, she reviewed the same program in the prison cell. She also had a regular program of personal Bible study and prayer.
In time, Mariví was moved to a high-security prison that had a swimming pool. She felt that these new circumstances might make her baptism possible. And sure enough, Mariví was finally granted permission. Thus it was that I found myself presenting her baptism talk. I was with her at the most important moment of her life.
As a result of her former lifestyle, Mariví developed AIDS. Nevertheless, her good conduct earned her an early release from prison, in March 1994. She lived at home with Mother and led an active Christian life until her death two years later.
Overcoming Destructive Feelings
I too have not entirely escaped the consequences of my former life. The abuse I suffered at the hands of my father as well as my lifestyle as a teenager left their mark on my personality. In my adult life, I have often been plagued by feelings of guilt and a lack of self-worth. At times I have been extremely low in spirits. Yet, God’s Word has been invaluable in helping me to fight these disturbing feelings. Meditating repeatedly on such scriptures as Isaiah 1:18 and Psalm 103:8-13 has over the years helped me to deaden recurring feelings of guilt.
Prayer is another spiritual weapon that I use to combat feelings of worthlessness. I have often found myself praying to Jehovah with tears welling up in my eyes. Nevertheless, the words recorded at 1 John 3:19, 20 strengthen me: “By this we shall know that we originate with the truth, and we shall assure our hearts before him as regards whatever our hearts may condemn us in, because God is greater than our hearts and knows all things.”
Since I approach God sincerely with a “broken and crushed” heart, I realize that I am not as bad as I once thought. The Bible assures all those seeking Jehovah that he does not despise those who sincerely regret their past conduct and have turned to doing his will.—Psalm 51:17.
Whenever feelings of self-doubt surface, I try to fill my mind with positive thoughts, the kind of spiritual things mentioned at Philippians 4:8. I have memorized Psalm 23 and the Sermon on the Mount. When negative thoughts come to my mind, I recite to myself these Scriptural passages. This mental housecleaning is especially helpful during sleepless nights.
Another source of help has been the commendation I receive from my wife and other mature Christians. Although at first I found it hard to accept their encouraging words, the Bible has helped me to understand that love “believes all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:7) And, of course, I have gradually learned humbly to accept my weaknesses and limitations.
On the positive side, my own struggles against negative feelings have helped me to be an empathetic traveling overseer. My wife and I have each spent nearly 30 years as full-time ministers of the good news. The joy I derive from serving others helps to push negative feelings and memories of my distasteful experiences more and more into the background.
Now when I look back and reflect on all the blessings Jehovah has bestowed upon me, I feel moved to say as the psalmist did: “Bless Jehovah, . . . him who is forgiving all your error, who is healing all your maladies, who is reclaiming your life from the very pit, who is crowning you with loving-kindness and mercies.”—Psalm 103:1-4.
[Footnote]
a Published by Jehovah’s Witnesses but now out of print.
[Blurb on page 30]
I have often been plagued by feelings of guilt and a lack of self-worth. Yet, God’s Word has been invaluable in helping me to fight these disturbing feelings
[Pictures on page 27]
My brother José Luis and friend Miguel followed both my bad and my good example
[Picture on page 28, 29]
The Morcillo family in 1973
[Picture on page 29]
Mariví as a prison inmate
[Picture on page 30]
With my wife, Soledad |
Mankind’s Search for God (sh)
1990 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/sh | outputs
Page Chapter
5 1. Why Be Interested in Other Religions?
19 2. Religion—How Did It Begin?
41 3. Common Threads in Mythology
69 4. Searching for the Unknown Through Magic and Spiritism
95 5. Hinduism—A Search for Liberation
129 6. Buddhism—A Search for Enlightenment Without God
161 7. Taoism and Confucianism—A Search for Heaven’s Way
187 8. Shinto—Japan’s Search for God
205 9. Judaism—Searching for God Through Scripture and Tradition
235 10. Christianity—Was Jesus the Way to God?
261 11. Apostasy—The Way to God Blocked
284 12. Islām—The Way to God by Submission
306 13. The Reformation—The Search Took a New Turn
329 14. Modern Disbelief—Should the Search Continue?
344 15. A Return to the True God
366 16. The True God and Your Future
380 Subject Index
383 Picture Credits |
They Offered Themselves Willingly—In New York | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2015045 | They Offered Themselves Willingly—In New York
A FEW years ago, Cesar and his wife, Rocio, were living a comfortable life in California, where Cesar was working full-time in the field of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning and Rocio worked part-time at a doctor’s office. They owned their home, and they had no children. However, something happened that changed their lives. What was it?
In October 2009, the United States branch office sent a letter to all congregations in the country, inviting skilled volunteers to apply for temporary Bethel service to assist with the expansion of the branch facilities in Wallkill, New York. Even those over the usual age limit for Bethel service were invited to apply. “Because of our age, we knew that this could be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to serve at Bethel,” relate Cesar and Rocio. “We were not about to pass that opportunity up for anything!” The couple immediately submitted their applications.
Some of the volunteers who are working at Warwick
More than a year went by, but Cesar and Rocio had not been invited to Bethel. Nonetheless, they took further steps toward reaching their goal by simplifying their life. “We converted our garage into a studio apartment so that we could rent our house to someone else. Then we moved out of our 2,200-square-foot (200 sq m) dream home that we had built just a couple of years earlier and moved into our 270-square-foot (25 sq m) apartment. Making these changes,” says Cesar, “put us in a better position to accept an invitation to Bethel, should one come our way.” What happened next? “One month after we moved into our small apartment,” relates Rocio, “we received an invitation to serve as temporary volunteers at Wallkill. It was clear to us that by simplifying our life, we had given Jehovah something to bless.”
Jason, Cesar, and William
THEIR SELF-SACRIFICING SPIRIT IS BEING BLESSED
Like Cesar and Rocio, hundreds of brothers and sisters have made sacrifices in order to share in the construction work that is taking place in New York State. A number of these are supporting the expansion at Wallkill, while many others have been privileged to help with the construction of the world headquarters in Warwick.a Many couples have given up their nice homes, good jobs, and even family pets in order to serve Jehovah more fully. Has Jehovah blessed such a self-sacrificing spirit? Indeed, he has!
Way
For example, Way, an electrician, and Debra, both in their late 50’s, sold their home and most of their belongings in Kansas and moved to Wallkill to serve as commuter Bethelites.b Although doing so required making adjustments in their life, they feel that the sacrifices have been well worth it. Regarding her assignment at Bethel, Debra says: “Sometimes I feel as if I’ve stepped into one of those Paradise construction scenes that are featured in our publications!”
Melvin and Sharon sold their home and belongings in South Carolina so that they could assist at Warwick. Even though these sacrifices were not easy to make, the couple feel privileged to be involved in such a historic project. They say: “The joy that comes from knowing that you are accomplishing something that will benefit the worldwide organization is a wonderful feeling.”
Kenneth
Kenneth, a retired builder, and Maureen, who are in their mid-50’s, moved from California to serve on the Warwick project. In order to move, they made arrangements with a sister in the congregation to care for their home and asked their family to help look after Ken’s aged father. Do they regret making sacrifices to serve at Bethel? No! “We are benefiting immensely,” says Ken. “Is it without challenges? Of course not, but we live a very rewarding life, and we wholeheartedly recommend this service to others.”
OVERCOMING CHALLENGES
Most of those who have made themselves available had to overcome certain obstacles. For example, William and Sandra, who are in their early 60’s, were settled, enjoying their life in Pennsylvania. They had a successful precision machining company that employed 17 people. They were serving with the same congregation they had been in since they were little children, and most of their relatives lived in the area. So when the opportunity arose to serve as commuters at Wallkill, they knew that it would mean saying good-bye to almost everyone and everything familiar to them. “Without a doubt, the single greatest challenge for us has been leaving our comfort zone,” says William. However, after much prayer, the couple decided to go ahead with their move—a step they do not regret. “The joy of being directly involved and serving alongside the Bethel family cannot be compared to anything else,” says William. “Sandra and I are happier than we have ever been!”
Some of the couples who are working at Wallkill
Ricky, a construction project manager in Hawaii, was invited to serve as a commuter Bethelite to assist with the Warwick project. His wife, Kendra, wanted him to accept the invitation. However, they had a legitimate concern: the welfare of their 11-year-old son, Jacob. They wondered if it would be wise to relocate the family to New York State and if their son would be able to adjust to a totally different environment.
“One of our priorities was that of finding a congregation with young ones who were doing well spiritually,” says Ricky. “We wanted Jacob to have plenty of good association.” As it turned out, the congregation where they ended up has very few children but several Bethelites. “After our first meeting there, I asked Jacob how he felt about the new congregation, especially since there weren’t any young ones his age,” says Ricky. “He told me, ‘Don’t worry, Dad. My friends will be the young Bethel brothers.’”
Jacob and his parents enjoy association with Bethelites in their congregation
Sure enough, the young Bethelites have befriended Jacob. With what effect? “One night, I was passing my son’s room and saw that the lights were still on,” Ricky relates. “I expected to catch him playing an electronic game, but he was reading the Bible! When I asked him what he was doing, Jacob said, ‘I’m being a young Bethelite, and I’m going to read the Bible in one year.’” Needless to say, Ricky and Kendra are thrilled, not only because Ricky can share in the construction work at Warwick but also because their move is contributing to their son’s spiritual growth.—Prov. 22:6.
NOT WORRIED ABOUT THE FUTURE
Luis and Dale
The construction projects at Wallkill and Warwick will eventually be completed, so those who have been invited to assist realize that their Bethel service is temporary. Are these brothers and sisters overly anxious about where they will go or what they will do? Not at all! Many share the feelings of two middle-aged couples from Florida. John, a construction manager, and his wife, Carmen, who serve as temporary volunteers at Warwick, say: “We have seen how Jehovah has cared for our specific needs up to this point. We reason that Jehovah certainly has not brought us here at this time only to abandon us later.” (Ps. 119:116) Luis, who designs fire suppression systems, and his wife, Quenia, serve at Wallkill. They say: “We have already seen Jehovah’s generous hand provide what we need materially. Although we don’t know how, when, or where, we are confident that he will continue to care for us.”—Ps. 34:10; 37:25.
“A BLESSING UNTIL THERE IS NOTHING LACKING”
John and Melvin
Most of those who have assisted with the construction work in New York could have found reasons not to volunteer. However, they put Jehovah to the test—just as he invites all of us to do: “Test me out, please, . . . to see whether I will not open to you the floodgates of the heavens and pour out on you a blessing until there is nothing lacking.”—Mal. 3:10.
Will you too test Jehovah out and experience his rich blessing? Prayerfully examine what you can do to have a share in the exciting work at hand, whether in New York or on other theocratic building projects, and see firsthand how Jehovah will reward you.—Mark 10:29, 30.
Gary
Dale, a civil engineer, and Cathy, from Alabama, highly recommend this type of service. Volunteering at Wallkill, they say: “If you have the courage to step out of your comfort zone, you will have an opportunity to see Jehovah’s spirit at work.” And what is needed for you to make yourself available? Dale says: “Simplify, simplify, and then simplify some more. You will never regret it!” Gary, from North Carolina, has 30 years’ experience in construction management. He and his wife, Maureen, say that one of the blessings they are enjoying at Warwick is “meeting and working with the many wonderful brothers and sisters who have spent their life serving Jehovah at Bethel.” Gary adds: “To serve at Bethel, you need to lead a simple life, which is the best way to live through this system of things.” Jason, who worked for an electrical contractor, and Jennifer, from Illinois, say that working at Wallkill on a Bethel project is “one of the closest things you can experience to new world living.” Jennifer adds: “It is overwhelming to feel that everything you do is appreciated by Jehovah and is an investment in the future that he is preparing for us. Jehovah sees to it that you are enriched beyond measure.”
a See the 2014 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses, pages 12-13.
b Part-time commuter Bethelites care for their own housing and living expenses while working one or more days a week at Bethel.
CAN YOU MAKE YOURSELF AVAILABLE?
For King David, his “heart’s desire” was to build a house for Jehovah’s name. (1 Chron. 22:7) David wanted nothing more than to have a share in constructing a temple that would bring praise and glory to God. If David were alive today, how would he feel about the great building work that is taking place in our time?
As the number of Kingdom proclaimers increases and as we near the end of this system of things, there is an urgent need for more facilities. (Isa. 60:22; Hab. 2:3) These include branch offices, Assembly Halls, Kingdom Halls, Remote Translation Offices, and theocratic school facilities in many countries. Constructing all these buildings calls for many willing volunteers who have the experience necessary for the successful completion of such projects. These fields and trades include real estate, architecture, drafting, engineering, cost estimating, procurement, project oversight, surveying, masonry, concrete, mechanical installations, plumbing, welding, electrical, carpentry, heavy-equipment operation and maintenance, landscaping, and the finishing trades.
Assistance is likely needed with projects in your area. Moreover, there is a great need for those who qualify to take up foreign assignments. Would you like to make yourself available? If so, now is the time to approach your congregation elders. Ask them how you can qualify for such privileges and how to apply for them.
Younger and older ones are experiencing the joys of sharing in this outstanding building work. Make it a matter of prayer. You too may develop a “heart’s desire” to help build facilities to the glory of Jehovah’s name. You can be sure that you will never regret it! |
Sing Praises (ssb)
1984 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/Ssb | Index of Songs
Christian Brotherhood
Be Forgiving 110
Bless Our Christian Brotherhood 18
Bless Our Meeting Together 28
“Have Intense Love for One Another” 115
“Have Tender Affection” 216
Loving Shepherds Tend God’s “Sheep” 184
Meeting in Unity 65
Myriads of Brothers 127
Showing Concern for “the Flock of God” 101
“Welcome One Another”! 155
Working Together in Unity 213
“You Must Assist Those Who Are Weak” 116
See also: 118, 122, 158, 182, 200
Christian Living
“Balsam in Gilead” 182
Be Long-Suffering 145
Conducting Ourselves as “a Lesser One” 122
Daily Walking With Jehovah 55
Following God’s Way of Life 214
Gaining Jehovah’s Friendship 217
Getting to Know Our God 198
“God Loves a Cheerful Giver” 12
Godly Devotion With outputment 69
God’s Pretty Things 25
Guard Your Heart 132
Heeding Jude’s Message 22
Jehovah’s “Dewdrops” Among Many Peoples 17
Jehovah’s Happy People 57
Keep On Seeking First the Kingdom 172
Let’s Watch How We Walk 106
Living Up to Our Name 34
“Make Sure of the More Important Things” 210
Make the Truth Your Own 191
Making a Good Name With God 37
Making Jehovah’s Heart Glad 51
Making Our Way Successful 40
Marriage—God’s Arrangement 117
Meeting God’s Requirements 26
“No Part of the World” 24
Obeying God Rather Than Men 2
Our Christian Unity 158
O Walk With God! 138
Responding to God’s Love 50
Speaking the “Pure Language” 78
Store Up Treasures in Heaven 67
“The Scene of This World Is Changing” 199
“This Is the Way” 42
Walking in the Name of Our God 80
What Sort of Persons Ought We to Be? 177
“Wisdom Is With the Modest Ones” 73
See also: 29, 54, 107, 118, 152
Christian Qualities
Appreciating God’s Compassions 152
Be Joyful for the Kingdom Hope! 16
Be Steadfast Like Ruth 120
“Carry On as Men” 134
Contending for the Faith 98
Cultivating the Fruit of Love 86
Displaying Loyalty 38
Faith Like That of Abraham 64
Godly Compassion 68
“Happy Are the Mild-Tempered” 36
Happy, the Merciful! 62
Joyful All Day Long 19
Love—A Perfect Bond of Union 173
Love’s Excelling Way 35
Loyally Submitting to Theocratic Order 8
On Jehovah We Must Wait 179
Our Godly Joy 186
Our Possession of Peace 159
Proof of Discipleship 200
“Rejoice in the Hope” 206
Rejoicing With God’s Nation 201
Sing Jehovah’s Praise With Courage! 107
Supporting God’s House 118
The Divine Pattern of Love 89
The Excelling “Peace of God” 178
The Fruitage of the Spirit 163
The Fruit of Goodness 95
The Fruit of Self-Control 124
The Power of Kindness 66
Walking in Integrity 160
We Must Be Holy 54
We Must Have the Faith 144
“Zealous for Fine Works” 30
See also: 73, 156
Dedication and Baptism
Christian Dedication 13
Jehovah’s Dedicated Ones 196
To God We Are Dedicated! 202
To Whom Do We Belong? 207
See also: 55, 204
God’s Word
Appreciating God’s Reminders 59
God’s Own Book—A Treasure 180
Jehovah Leads His People 203
Jehovah’s Word Is Faithful 108
“Let God Be Found True” 170
The Bible’s Hope for Mankind 23
The Heavens Declare God’s Glory 175
The Light Gets Brighter 111
The Scriptures—Inspired and Beneficial 46
The Truth That Sets Men Free 121
See also: 22, 40, 79, 131, 149, 191
Jehovah God
Being Taught by Jehovah 91
Cleaving to Jehovah Our God 131
Drawing Close to Jehovah 225
God’s Great and Wondrous Works 84
God’s Loyal Love 114
Gratitude for Divine Patience 81
Great God, Jehovah! 49
“I Am Jehovah”! 61
“It Is Impossible for God to Lie” 149
“Jehovah Himself Has Become King!” 33
“Jehovah Is My Shepherd” 77
“Jehovah Is on My Side” 125
Jehovah Is Our Refuge 85
Jehovah, Our Best Friend 76
Jehovah, Our Creator 154
Jehovah, Our Place of Dwelling 135
Jehovah, Provider of Escape 74
Jehovah Really Cares 44
Jehovah’s Attributes 97
Jehovah’s Heavenly Throne 219
Jehovah’s Lovely Place of Worship 93
Jehovah, “the God of All Comfort” 58
Jehovah, the God of Our Salvation 153
King of Eternity, Sanctify Your Name! 94
Our Father’s Name 52
The Appointed Time Nears 137
Then They Will Know 112
Welcome the Incoming King! 176
See also: 50, 75, 79, 100, 124, 149, 152, 217, 223
Jesus Christ
Christ Our Exemplar 205
Hail Jehovah’s Firstborn! 105
Recognizing Earth’s New King 168
“Take My Yoke” 224
The Bread From Heaven 150
The Lord’s Evening Meal 87
The Shulammite Remnant 11
See also: 101, 156, 218
Kingdom, The
All Things Made New 187
A Song of Rejoicing 208
Creation’s Hope of Liberation 142
Flee to God’s Kingdom! 146
God’s Kingdom of a Thousand Years 60
God’s Unfolding “Eternal Purpose” 99
Holding Fast to “the Happy Hope” 119
Jehovah’s Holy Nation 141
Listen to the News of the Kingdom 139
The Hope of Mankind’s Jubilee 7
The Resurrection—God’s Loving Provision 185
The Resurrection Joy 102
This Is Jehovah’s Day 195
Zion’s Reason for Rejoicing 83
See also: 4, 16, 23, 53, 137, 181
Kingdom Service (Ministry)
A Victory Song 171
“Be Glad, You Nations”! 14
Be Like Jeremiah 70
Declare the Everlasting Good News 6
Do More—As the Nazirites Did 128
Exalting Our God the King 148
Extending Mercy to Others 215
Forward, You Ministers of the Kingdom! 43
“From House to House” 32
Hail Jehovah’s Kingdom! 21
“Here I Am! Send Me” 204
Hold Fast the Good News! 71
“I Want To” 156
Jehovah’s Blessing Makes Rich 9
Join in the Kingdom Song! 181
Joyful Service 130
Let the Light Shine 63
Making Known the Kingdom Truth 192
Move Ahead! 123
Now’s the Time! 129
“Preach the Word”! 162
Preach “This Good News of the Kingdom”! 193
Preach With Boldness 92
Proclaiming Kingdom Truth 126
Sharing Joyfully in the Harvest 211
Sing the Song of Kingdom Cheer 20
Sowing Kingdom Seed 133
Take Sides With Jehovah! 143
The Joys and Fruits of Kingdom Service 72
The New Song 169
Theocracy’s Increase 53
The Women Are a Large Army 82
This Good News of the Kingdom Let Us Preach 151
We Are Jehovah’s Witnesses! 113
Zeal for Jehovah’s House 31
See also: 16, 17, 19, 27, 30, 42, 47, 52, 107, 139, 172, 189, 201, 206
Paradise (Present and Future)
God’s Promise of Paradise 4
Keep Your Eyes on the Prize! 222
Life Everlasting Is Promised 109
Life Without End—At Last! 15
Our Paradise: Present and Future 220
With Christ in Paradise 218
See also: 155, 179, 187, 197
Praise, Bless Jehovah
All Creation, Praise Jehovah! 5
A Song to the Most High 104
“Bless Jehovah, O My Soul” 1
Creation Reveals Jehovah’s Glory 79
Enter Jehovah’s Temple Courtyards! 194
Give Jehovah the Praise 48
Glorifying Our Father, Jehovah 96
Jehovah, Our Strength and Our Might 47
Joyful Praise to Jehovah 75
Laud Jehovah Our God! 100
Loyal Worshipers Bless Jehovah 136
Make Melody to Jehovah! 197
Praise Jah With Me! 165
Praise Jehovah, the Rock 41
Worshiping Jehovah, the Sovereign Lord 90
Your Loyal Ones Will Bless You 223
See also: 49, 51, 212
Prayer
A Prayer of Thanksgiving 45
A Song to Jehovah 190
Never-Failing Treasures 147
Pray to Jehovah Each Day 161
Thanks to the Giver of Life 167
The Gift of Prayer 188
The Prayer of God’s Servant 88
Throw Your Burden on Jehovah 103
Waiting on Jehovah 140
We Thank You, Jehovah 212
See also: 24, 138, 154, 224
Theocratic Warfare
Be Steadfast, Unmovable! 10
Bravely Press On 56
Fear Them Not! 27
Follow the Warrior King! 209
Forward, You Witnesses! 29
Gaining Victory Over the World 3
God’s Warriors Are Advancing 39
Proclaiming Jehovah’s Day of Vengeance 189
See Jehovah’s Army! 166
Stay Awake, Stand Firm, Grow Mighty 174
See also: 8, 92, 134
Youth
Children—Precious Gifts From God 164
Worship Jehovah During Youth 157
Youths! Imitate Their Faith 221
Youth’s Place in God’s Arrangement 183 |
Happiness (hp)
1980 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/hp | Chapter 2
Does It Make Sense to Believe in God?
ONE of the most important questions you will ever face is, ‘Does God exist?’ The conclusion you reach can affect your view of your family, work, money, morality and even life itself.
2 If asked, ‘Does God exist?’ many persons would reply by repeating what they have read or heard from others. However, you personally should give thought to the question. In his book Man, God and Magic, Dr. Ivar Lissner observes that a “fundamental difference between man and beast” is that “man is not output merely to sleep, eat and warm himself.” Man has a “strange and inherent urge” that can be called “spirituality.” Dr. Lissner adds that ‘all the civilizations of mankind have been rooted in a quest for God.’ So your coming to grips with the question, ‘Does God exist?’ is an evidence that you have not neglected an important attribute—your spirituality.
3 How could you go about determining whether there is a ‘maker and ruler of the universe, a Supreme Being,’ as one dictionary defines “God”? Well, reason indicates that if there is a ‘maker of the universe,’ there should be indications of its beginning, also evidence of design and order. In your examining whether there are such, we invite you to consider what biologists have found about life and what has been learned about our universe by physicists and astronomers using telescopes and space probes.
YOUR LIFE—IS CHANCE RESPONSIBLE?
4 Why not begin with yourself? Where did your life come from? True, it was passed on by your parents. But how did life on earth originate?
5 In an effort to produce life in a laboratory and thus explain how it began, chemists have sent sparks through mixtures of special gases. One result has been some amino acids (molecules of the sort that are the ‘building blocks’ of living things). Those amino acids, though, were not living. Furthermore, they were not the result of mere accident; they were produced by trained scientists under controlled conditions in modern laboratories.
6 There are more than 200 natural amino acids, yet only a special 20 in the proteins of living things. Even if some amino acids could result from lightning, who selected just the right 20 found in living matter? And how were they guided into the exact sequence necessary in protein? Research analyst Dr. J. F. Coppedge calculated that ‘the probability of just one protein molecule resulting from a chance arrangement of amino acids is 1 in 10287.’ (That is a figure with 287 zeros after it.) Additionally, he points out that, not one, but ‘a minimum of 239 protein molecules are required for the smallest theoretical form of life.’ Do you think that such evidence points to life as resulting from blind chance, or is it from intelligent design?
7 Consider also another type of laboratory experiment that has been publicized in newspapers as “creating life.” With complex equipment scientists have taken a virus produced by a living organism and separated the components. Later they have taken these components and reunited them into a virus. However, biologist René Dubos explains in the Encyclopœdia Britannica that it is really a mistake to call this feat “creating life.” Neither these scientists nor others have been able to make new life from inanimate material. Rather than suggesting that life comes from chance, this experiment showed that “all the biological machinery” needed for life “had to be provided by preexisting life.”
8 Even if scientists could produce living protein from inanimate matter, it would simply confirm that preexisting intelligent life was needed as a directing force. Obviously, humans were not here to begin life on earth. Yet life was created, including human life. Who is responsible? Bible writers long ago came to a conclusion that merits serious consideration. One said: “The breath of the Almighty gave me life.” Another added: “[God] is himself the universal giver of life.”a
9 A closer look at your body will help you to reason further on this.
YOUR CELLS—YOUR BRAIN—YOU
10 Life throbs in your body, made up of about 100,000,000,000,000 tiny cells. The cell is the basic component of every living thing on earth. The more carefully it is studied, the more complex it is seen to be.
11 Each of your body cells can be likened to a microscopic walled city. The cell contains parts that are like power plants to generate energy. “Factories” in the cell make proteins as well as hormones for shipment to other parts of the body. There is a complex network of channels to transport chemicals into the cell and out of it. “Sentries” stand guard to control what is brought in and to battle invaders. The key to all of this is the nucleus, the cell’s “city hall.” It directs all cell activities and contains the genetic blueprints. Some of the cell parts are so tiny that their details cannot be clearly seen even with a 200,000-power electron microscope. (An ant magnified that much would, in effect, be over one-half mile, or 0.8 km, long.) What can explain such amazing complexity and organization in each of your 100,000,000,000,000 tiny cells?
12 At one time you were a single fertilized cell in your mother’s womb. That cell divided to become two cells, then four, and so on. Later, some of those cells became muscle tissue. Others formed your eyes, bones and heart. How was it that the cells formed each of your body parts at the right time and location? Why, for example, did cells develop into ears where they belonged, and not on your knee or your arm?
13 Look even more closely. In every cell you have tens of thousands of genes and the vital DNA, which tells the cell how to function and reproduce. It is said that the DNA in each cell contains enough information to fill an encyclopedia of 1,000 volumes. It determined the color of your hair, how fast you grew, the width of your smile and countless other details about you. All of that was ‘written down’ in the DNA of one cell in your mother’s womb.
14 In the light of even these few points about the cell, we ask: Since our parents did not consciously prepare the incredible genetic blueprint or the cell, who did? Can it reasonably be accounted for without an intelligent Designer?
15 Of all your organs, probably the most amazing is one that you will never see—your brain. It is made up of some 10,000,000,000 nerve cells, more than twice the number of people on the face of the earth. Each of these cells, in turn, may have thousands of connections with other nerve cells. The total number of connections is beyond imagination!
16 You have stored in your brain hundreds of millions of facts and images, but it is not merely a storehouse of facts. With it you can learn how to tie a knot, to speak a foreign language, to bake bread or to whistle. You can imagine—what your vacation will be like or how a juicy fruit will taste. You can analyze and create. You can also plan, appreciate, love and relate your thoughts to the past, present and future. The One who designed the brain obviously has wisdom far greater than that of any human, because scientists admit:
“How these functions are carried out by this magnificently patterned, orderly and fantastically complex piece of machinery is quite obscure. . . . human beings may never solve all the separate individual puzzles the brain presents.”—Scientific American.
17 In reflecting on whether there is a Creator who is the Supreme Being, do not overlook the rest of your body. Your eyes—more precise and adaptable than any camera. Your ears—able to detect a variety of sounds and to give you a sense of direction and balance. Your heart—a magnificent pump with capabilities that the best engineers have not been able to duplicate. Your tongue, digestive system and hands, to name a few more. An engineer hired to design and build a large computer reasoned:
“If my computer required a designer, how much more so did that complex physio-chemical-biological machine which is my human body—which in turn is but an extremely minute part of the well-nigh infinite cosmos?”
“FIRST CAUSE” OF THE UNIVERSE
18 Some 3,000 years ago a Middle Eastern man named Elihu said: “Look up at the sky and then consider.”b
19 Have you done that on a clear, dark night? Everyone should. Only about 5,000 stars can be detected with the unaided eye. Our Milky Way galaxy, however, contains more than 100,000,000,000 stars. And how many galaxies are there? Astronomers say that there are thousands of millions—not of stars, but of galaxies, each with its billions of stars! How small humans are in relation to all of this! Where did it all come from?
20 Scientists have discovered that the galaxies seem to be flying away from a central point. The theory of many astronomers is that thousands of millions of years ago, a tremendous explosion, a “big bang,” started energy and matter spreading out to form the universe as we know it. Their theory does not explain what caused that to occur. But it does have an interesting implication, namely, that there was a beginning point, a moment when the universe was born.
“Today one can feel the scientific world tremble at the accumulating evidence for a ‘big bang’ origin of the universe. It raises the question of what came before, and scientists’ most fundamental faith is shaken by being brought face to face with their inability to answer ultimate questions.”—The Wall Street Journal.
21 Yes, for persons who do not believe in God, there are puzzling questions: What or who put matter into the universe? Was the universe created out of nothing? Since matter is considered a form of energy, what is the source of the energy?
22 Dr. Robert Jastrow, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, observed: “In the face of such evidence, the idea that there is a God who created the universe is as scientifically plausible as many other ideas.”
23 Well-informed persons in every generation have concluded that there must be an intelligent First Cause, a creator who is the Supreme Being. The Bible expresses how they felt, when it says: “The heavens are declaring the glory of God; and of the work of his hands the expanse is telling.”c
24 Whether you have yet concluded that God exists or not, what we have considered about life, about ourselves, and about the universe should help to explain why many thinking persons are convinced there is a God. That leads us to a related matter: If the Creator does exist, is it not logical that he would communicate with his creatures, and answer our questions: Why are we here? Why does wickedness abound? What does the future hold? How can we find happiness?
[Footnotes]
a Job 33:4; Acts 17:25, New English Bible.
b Job 35:5, New English Bible.
c Psalm 19:1.
[Study Questions]
Why should we consider,‘Does God exist?’ (1-3)
To what does life on earth point? (4-9)
What can we learn about our cells that helps when considering the existence of God? (10-14)
How does the human brain give evidence of design? (15-17)
What leads many persons to conclude that the universe was created by God? (18-24)
[Box on page 13]
“Today at least 80% of the scientists who deal with biology would probably admit that biology and life are regulated by some higher power.
“The superb order and regulation in various manifestations of life and in the basic processes at the cellular and molecular levels have strong influence on the belief that a higher power exists.”—“Journal of the American Medical Association.”
[Box on page 19]
ORDER FROM WHERE?
Dr. Paul Davies, lecturer in applied mathematics at King’s College, London, writes in “New Scientist”:
“Everywhere we look in the Universe, from the far flung galaxies to the deepest recesses of the atom, we encounter order. . . . If information and order always has a natural tendency to disappear, where did all the information that makes the world such a special place come from originally?”
Sir Bernard Lovell, of England’s famed Jodrell Bank Observatory, writes that his feelings are the same as those of Albert Einstein:
“A rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law, which reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection.”—“Centre of Immensities.”
[Picture on page 13]
YOUR CELLS
MITOCHONDRIA produce chemicals to generate energy
NUCLEUS directs all cell’s activities
NETWORK OF CHANNELS transport chemicals into and out of cell
RIBOSOMES manufacture proteins and hormones for shipment to other parts of body
MEMBRANE and PROTEINS control what is brought in and battle invaders
[Picture on page 15]
HER BRAIN
enables her to—
Balance the bicycle
Hear approaching cars
Smell the flowers
Feel the breeze
Watch the dog
Remember the way home
[Picture on page 17]
WHO DESIGNED THE HUMAN BODY?
BRAIN: Far more than a computer, with capacity estimated at a billion times as much as used in present human lifetime.
EYE: A fully automatic, self-focusing, nonblurring color motion-picture camera.
HEART: A pump far more efficient than any machine devised by man. Pumps 1,500 gallons (5,700 L) or more daily.
LIVER: A chemical laboratory with more than 500 functions. Manufactures over 1,000 enzymes.
BONES: A structural frame weighing only 20 pounds (9 kg), yet strong as iron girders.
NERVOUS SYSTEM: A communications network that receives and/or acts on 100,000,000 sensations a second.
[Picture on page 20]
How did the universe with its billions of galaxies come to be? |
School Guidebook (sg)
1992 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/sg | Study 21
Informative Material, Clearly Presented
1-3. Why is specific material needed to make one’s talk informative?
1 Worthwhile talks start with diligent preparation, and that calls for time and effort. But how rewarding it is! You increase your fund of accurate knowledge and you have something really beneficial to share with your audience. Rather than speaking in generalities, you have illuminating details to offer, and you know that what you are saying is right. This builds up the audience’s appreciation for God’s Word, and so honors Jehovah. Our consideration of informative material particularly involves what you say in your talk. Briefly consider the various aspects of the matter. It is the first point on the Speech Counsel slip.
2 Specific material. A talk dealing in generalities lacks weight and authority. It is vague. It leaves the audience uncertain. If ideas are to be remembered they must be specific, exact. This gives evidence of research and knowledge of the subject.
3 This quality can be acquired in preparation by asking, Why? When? Where? and so forth. It is usually not enough to say something happened. Give names of places, dates, perhaps reasons. It is not enough to state certain truths. Show why they are true; show why they are of value to know. If giving instruction, explain how a thing is to be done. How much development of this kind is essential will be determined by how much an audience already knows. So consider the audience to ascertain what details may be required.
4-6. For your talk to be informative to your particular audience, what factors must you keep in mind?
4 Informative to your audience. What might inform one audience might add nothing to the knowledge of another group, or it might even leave them completely in the dark. Obviously, then, the material must suit a particular audience. For instance, in a talk on how our work is conducted, the material would be handled altogether differently at a service meeting than in talking to a person getting ready to dedicate himself to Jehovah, or in a talk to a worldly group.
5 These factors must also be taken into account in the various assignments in the Theocratic Ministry School. The material presented in any assigned talk should be considered as to audience, setting and purpose of the talk. These factors will be determined by the type of talk and the setting the speaker has arranged. Of course, the instruction talk will be a talk to the congregation. Other talks may vary, the audience and purpose being identified by the setting. In all cases, both student and counselor can ask themselves, Is the material adapted to the particular audience involved in the presentation? Will the audience be informed and instructed by it?
6 In preparation ask yourself, What do I want to accomplish in this talk? How much of what I want to say does this person or group already know? What foundation must I lay before these points can be made clear? How would I say it differently to an altogether different group? Comparisons often clarify our viewpoints. Try different approaches to different groups in your preparation just to get the feel of the difference in considering the audience and making the material informative to the particular audience you are going to address.
7, 8. How can we make our talks practical?
7 Material of practical value. There is much to be learned, but not all of it is practical. To us, informative material concerns those things we need to know for Christian living, for our ministry. We want to know how to use this information that we have acquired.
8 The student, in preparation, and the school overseer, in counseling, might consider this point by asking: What guiding principles are to be found in the talk? Could the material be used in making decisions? Can the information presented be adapted to the field ministry? Does it magnify God’s Word and point to his purpose? Few talks can contribute all this information, but to be practical, material presented should be usable in some way by the audience.
9-11. Why is accuracy of statement so important?
9 Accuracy of statement. Jehovah’s witnesses are an organization of truth. We should want to speak the truth and be absolutely accurate in every detail at all times. This should be so not only as regards doctrine but also in our quotations, what we say about others or how we represent them, also in matters involving scientific data or news events.
10 Wrong statements delivered to an audience may be repeated and the error magnified. Inaccuracies that are recognized by an audience raise questions as to the authority of the speaker on other points, perhaps even calling in question the truth of the message itself. A newly interested person hearing such statements, and having heard a different view expressed on another occasion, might come to the conclusion there is disunity of thought among Jehovah’s witnesses and discontinue association without even revealing his reason.
11 The counselor should not pick to pieces every statement made by the student, especially one new in the truth and therefore not fully established in the deeper things of God’s Word. Rather, he will tactfully help to mold the thinking of the student and show him how to improve his accuracy by careful advance preparation.
12, 13. What is the value of additional clarifying material?
12 Additional clarifying material. Thoughts presented as a result of meditation or that may be gleaned from further research on a subject can contribute much to a talk and can sometimes avoid an uninstructive repetition of material already familiar to the audience. It adds freshness to the presentation, enlivens the interest of the audience, and can make a very familiar subject truly delightful. Also, it gives confidence to the speaker. He approaches his talk with an enthusiasm born of the knowledge that he has something just a little different to present.
13 A danger to be avoided is private speculation. The Society’s publications should be used and relied upon. Check the Society’s Indexes, and footnotes on the scriptures. Make sure that what you say is clarifying, not misrepresenting.
**********
14-16. What must be done in preparing a talk so as to state things simply?
14 In preparing your material it is also important to give careful attention to how you are going to say what you have to say. This is what the Speech Counsel slip refers to as “Clear, understandable.” Failure to give adequate attention to this can prevent you from reaching your audience, or it may hinder them in retaining what they hear. There are three principal aspects of this matter to consider.
15 Simply stated. This does not mean that phrases need to be thought out in advance. But ideas to be presented must be analyzed and certain definite factors taken into account. This will generally result in a talk that is compact and in expression of thought that is simple, spoken in plain language. A subject that is involved in the mind of the speaker will be involved in presentation.
16 Last-minute preparation must be avoided. Each point of the talk must be thought through all the way until it is simple and clear to the speaker. Review of these points in preparation for delivery will so sharpen them in his mind that they will come out readily when called for and will be as sparklingly clear to the audience as to the speaker.
17, 18. Why must unfamiliar terms be explained?
17 Unfamiliar terms explained. Our study of the Scriptures and the Watch Tower Society’s publications has given us a vocabulary of terms quite strange to those unacquainted with our work. If we were to explain the truths of the Bible to some audiences, using such terms as these, either much of what we say would be lost or our speech would be entirely unintelligible.
18 Consider your audience. What is the level of their understanding? How much do they know of our work? How many of these expressions will be as readily understood by them as by the speaker? Terms like “theocracy,” “remnant,” “other sheep,” even “Armageddon” and “Kingdom,” can convey either a different thought to the hearer’s mind or none at all. Even such terms as “soul,” “hell” and “immortality” need to be clarified if the hearer is unfamiliar with our work. But if the talk is being delivered to the congregation, terms such as these need not be explained. So the setting should be taken into account.
19, 20. How can we avoid having too much material?
19 Not too much material. A talk may contain so much information that the great quantity of material floods the audience and understanding is dulled or lost completely. To accomplish the purpose of a talk, no more material should be introduced than can be clearly developed in the allotted time. No more should be expressed than can be reasonably absorbed by the audience. Furthermore, material presented to a stranger or newly interested person would have to be considerably simplified as compared with material on that same subject when presented to the congregation. Here, too, the counselor must take into account the audience being addressed by the speaker.
20 How will the student know how much material to put into a talk? Comparison will be an advantage in preparation. Analyze what you have to present. How many of these points will already be known to the audience, at least in part? How many will be completely new? The broader the foundation of knowledge already had, the more can be built upon it in a given time. But if practically nothing is known of the subject to be discussed, then great care must be exercised as to how much is going to be said and how long it will take to explain these points to the full comprehension of the audience. |
From Our Readers | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/101985012 | From Our Readers
Study Habits
I enjoyed the “Young People Ask . . . ” article about study habits. (August 8, 1984) I thought about my own study habits. I will be in the eighth grade this year and I needed that extra advice. I shared the article with the other kids at school, maybe it will encourage them too. It gave me a good feeling to think that we have others out there who really care for us.
J. B., Kansas
Marmots
In reading the article “The Marmot—Nature’s Whistle Blower” (September 8, 1984), I was given the impression that marmots are not found in North America, only woodchucks. Since my husband and I have recently been through the Rocky Mountains where we saw marmots on rocky slopes, I thought you would like to know that North America does indeed have them too. I just thought you would like to know it is different from a woodchuck.
S. S., Minnesota
Yes, marmots indeed inhabit the slopes of the northern Rocky Mountains and other western mountains. According to the “Encyclopedia Americana” (1977 edition), America has two marmot species, the siffleur, or whistler, marmot that inhabits the tops of the northern Rocky Mountains and the familiar eastern woodchuck. Our article showed only some of the places where marmots are to be found.—ED.
The Catholic Church and War
I find the article “I Started Out a Warbird but Ended Up a Dove” (July 22, 1984) very offensive. I wonder if Mr. Hurst realized how offensive his article was! I notice the words spoken by the Roman Catholic priest in 1945 to the writer were in quotes. Those were the words of one priest, and I think many people within any religion often have varying degrees of what is acceptable or not regarding war and peace. I believe this passage to be very hostile to the priest and to all people who share his faith. We, as Roman Catholics, try to love and understand all people and respect their varying views on religion, but I must say I do not like this direct ‘war’ against our greatly loved faith.
E. H., England
The account was definitely not an attack against the Catholic Church. Mr. Hurst recounted the problem that he had as a sincere Roman Catholic contemplating dropping bombs on German cities inhabited mainly by his fellow Roman Catholics. He related correctly the conversation he had with his Catholic chaplain. Not only did Catholic kill Catholic and Protestant kill Protestant by the millions in World Wars I and II, with the full blessing of the clergy on each side, but today in many parts of Central and South America, Catholic priests and church members are to be found fighting against one another in many guerrilla actions. Every sincere Catholic should honestly ask himself if these actions by practicing Catholics are in harmony with Jesus’ words found at John 13:35: “By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love among yourselves.”—ED. |
Know the Truth (kt)
2008 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/kt | Would You Like to Know the Truth?
THE truth about what? About some of the most important questions that humans have ever asked. Perhaps you have wondered about such questions as these:
Does God really care about us?
Will war and suffering ever end?
What happens to us when we die?
Is there any hope for the dead?
How can I pray and be heard by God?
How can I find happiness in life?
Where would you look for answers to these questions? If you went to libraries or bookstores, you might find thousands of books claiming to provide the answers. Often, though, one book contradicts another. Others seem valid at the moment but soon become outdated and are revised or replaced.
There is, however, one book that contains reliable answers. It is a book of truth. Jesus Christ said in prayer to God: “Your word is truth.” (John 17:17) Today we know that Word as the Holy Bible. On the following pages, you will get a glimpse of the Bible’s clear, truthful answers to the above questions.
Does God Really Care About Us?
WHY THE QUESTION ARISES: We live in a world full of cruelty and injustice. Many religions teach that the sufferings we experience are God’s will.
WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES: God never causes what is wicked. “It is unthinkable for the true God to act wickedly, for the Almighty to do wrong!” says Job 34:10. God has a loving purpose for humans. That is why Jesus taught us to pray: “Our Father in the heavens, let . . . your kingdom come. Let your will take place, as in heaven, also on earth.” (Matthew 6:9, 10) God cares so deeply about us that he has gone to great lengths to make the fulfillment of his purpose a certainty.—John 3:16.
See also Genesis 1:26-28; James 1:13; and 1 Peter 5:6, 7.
Will War and Suffering Ever End?
WHY THE QUESTION ARISES: War continues to claim untold numbers of human lives. All of us have been touched by human suffering.
WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES: God foretells a time when he will establish peace earth wide. Under his Kingdom, a heavenly government, people will not “learn war anymore.” Instead, they will “beat their swords into plowshares.” (Isaiah 2:4) God will bring an end to all injustice and suffering. The Bible promises: “[God] will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things [including today’s injustices and sufferings] have passed away.”—Revelation 21:3, 4.
See also Psalm 37:10, 11; 46:9; and Micah 4:1-4.
What Happens to Us When We Die?
WHY THE QUESTION ARISES: Most of the world’s religions teach that something inside a person continues living after death. Some hold that the dead can harm the living or that God punishes the wicked by condemning them to eternal torment in a fiery hell.
WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES: At death, humans cease to exist. “The dead know nothing at all,” states Ecclesiastes 9:5. Since the dead cannot know, feel, or experience anything, they cannot harm—or help—the living.—Psalm 146:3, 4.
See also Genesis 3:19 and Ecclesiastes 9:6, 10.
Is There Any Hope for the Dead?
WHY THE QUESTION ARISES: We want to live, and we want to enjoy life with those we love. It is only natural that we yearn to see our dead loved ones again.
WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES: Most people who have died will be resurrected. Jesus promised that “those in the memorial tombs will . . . come out.” (John 5:28, 29) In harmony with God’s original purpose, those resurrected as humans will have the opportunity to live on a paradise earth. (Luke 23:43) This promised future includes perfect health and everlasting life for obedient humans. The Bible says: “The righteous will possess the earth, and they will live forever on it.”—Psalm 37:29.
See also Job 14:14, 15; Luke 7:11-17; and Acts 24:15.
How Can I Pray and Be Heard by God?
WHY THE QUESTION ARISES: People in practically all religions pray. Yet, many feel that their prayers are not answered.
WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES: Jesus taught us to avoid repeating set formulas in our prayers. “When praying,” he said, “do not say the same things over and over again.” (Matthew 6:7) If we want God to listen to our prayers, we must pray in the way that he approves. To do that, we need to learn what God’s will is and then pray accordingly. First John 5:14 explains: “No matter what we ask according to [God’s] will, he hears us.”
See also Psalm 65:2; John 14:6, 14; and 1 John 3:22.
How Can I Find Happiness in Life?
WHY THE QUESTION ARISES: Many people believe that money, fame, or beauty will make them happy. Hence, they pursue such things—only to find that happiness eludes them.
WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES: Jesus identified the key to happiness when he said: “Happy are those conscious of their spiritual need.” (Matthew 5:3) True happiness can be found only if we take steps to fill our greatest need—our hunger for spiritual truth about God and his purpose for us. That truth is found in the Bible. Knowing that truth can help us to discern what is really important and what is not. Allowing Bible truth to guide our decisions and actions leads to a more meaningful life.—Luke 11:28.
See also Proverbs 3:5, 6, 13-18 and 1 Timothy 6:9, 10.
This has been just a brief look at the Bible’s answers to six questions. Do you want to know more than that? If you are among those “conscious of their spiritual need,” no doubt you do. You may wonder about other questions, such as: ‘If God cares about us, why has he allowed so much evil and suffering throughout history? How can I improve the quality of my family life?’ The Bible gives full and satisfying answers to these and many more questions.
However, many today hesitate to look into the Bible. They see it as a lengthy book that is sometimes hard to understand. Would you like help to find the answers in the Bible? Jehovah’s Witnesses offer two tools that can assist you.
First, the book What Does the Bible Really Teach? is designed to help busy people to examine the Bible’s clear answers to vital questions. The second tool is a free program of home Bible study. Without charge, a friendly neighbor qualified to teach the Bible can come to your home or another convenient location and spend a little time each week discussing the Bible with you. Millions of people the world over have benefited from this program. Many of them have come to this thrilling conclusion: “I have found the truth!”
There is no greater treasure to be found. Bible truth liberates us from superstition, confusion, and morbid fear. It gives us hope, purpose, and joy. Jesus said: “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”—John 8:32. |
YOUNG PEOPLE ASK
How Resilient Am I? | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/502019485 | YOUNG PEOPLE ASK
How Resilient Am I?
How resilient are you? Have you been affected by . . .
the death of a loved one?
a long-term illness?
a natural disaster?
Researchers say that it’s not only big challenges that require resilience. Even day-to-day stress can take a toll on your health. That is why it’s important for you to build resilience, no matter how trivial or how serious your problems may be.
What is resilience?
Why do you need resilience?
How can you build resilience?
What your peers say
What is resilience?
Resilience is the ability to handle life’s changes and adversities successfully. Resilient people are not immune to hardship. However, they can emerge from it—scarred, perhaps, yet stronger.
Just as some trees bend in a storm but straighten up after the winds subside, you can recover from adversity
Why do you need resilience?
Because adversity is inevitable. The Bible says: “The swift do not always win the race, . . . nor do those with knowledge always have success, because time and unexpected events overtake them all.” (Ecclesiastes 9:11) The lesson? Even good people suffer—often through no fault of their own.
Because resilience protects you. A high-school counselor notes: “There have been an unprecedented number of meltdowns in my office because of a C on an exam or a mean social media remark.” Even in these seemingly trivial matters, he says, poor coping skills can create “a host of different mental and emotional disorders.”a
Because resilience will serve you well both now and in adulthood. Regarding life’s disappointments, Dr. Richard Lerner writes: “Part of being a successful and productive adult is to bounce back from such experiences, to set new goals or to try to find other pathways to reach our intended objective.”b
How can you build resilience?
Put your problem in perspective. Learn to distinguish between major problems and minor events. The Bible says: “A fool immediately shows his annoyance, but the shrewd man overlooks an insult.” (Proverbs 12:16) Not all problems need to consume you.
“In school, kids complained about trivial things in an overly dramatic way. Then they got feedback from their friends on social media—and that would kindle their fire even more, limiting their ability to put their problems in perspective.”—Joanne.
Learn from others. A Bible proverb states: “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens his friend.” (Proverbs 27:17) Valuable lessons can be learned from people who have already weathered storms of adversity.
“As you talk to others, you’ll find that they have gone through a lot of difficult trials, but they are OK now. Talk to them and find out what they did or didn’t do to cope with their situation.”—Julia.
Be patient. The Bible says: “The righteous one may fall seven times, and he will get up again.” (Proverbs 24:16) It takes time to come to terms with hardship, so don’t be surprised if you have bad days. The important thing is that you “get up again.”
“When you are bouncing back from adversity, your heart and emotions have to heal. That is a process, and it takes time. I have learned that the road to recovery gets a little better and a little easier as time goes on.”—Andrea.
Cultivate gratitude. The Bible says: “Show yourselves thankful.” (Colossians 3:15) No matter how serious the hardship is that you are facing, there are always things for which you can be grateful. Think of three things that make your life worth living.
“When you are facing adversity, it’s hard not to say to yourself, ‘Why me?’ A big part of resilience is not dwelling on your problems but choosing to be positive and grateful for what you have or what you can do.”—Samantha.
Choose outputment. The apostle Paul said: “I have learned to be output regardless of my circumstances.” (Philippians 4:11, footnote) Paul’s adversities were beyond his control. What he could control was his response. Paul was determined to remain output.
“One thing I have learned about myself is that the way I initially react to adversity is not always the best. My goal is to cultivate a positive attitude toward any situation. That will benefit not only me but also those around me.”—Matthew.
Pray. The Bible says: “Throw your burden on Jehovah, and he will sustain you. Never will he allow the righteous one to fall.” (Psalm 55:22) Prayer is not a psychological crutch. It is real communication with your Creator, who “cares for you.”—1 Peter 5:7.
“I don’t have to struggle alone. By praying openly and honestly about my issues and then thanking God for my blessings, I get rid of my negative emotions by focusing on what Jehovah has blessed me with. Prayer is so important!”—Carlos.
What your peers say
“Since we are imperfect, we all make mistakes—not just once in a while but every day. We can’t change that, so the best way we can build resilience is to learn from our mistakes. Afterward, when we are in a similar situation, we can ask, ‘What should I do differently this time?’”—Sarahi.
“One of my favorite scriptures is Matthew 6:27, where Jesus asked: ‘Who of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his life span?’ Sometimes I overthink things and cause myself needless anxiety. So I try to stay in the present. Anxiety over something I can’t control will not do me any good.”—Isabelle.
Review: How can you build resilience?
1. Put your problem in perspective. Learn to distinguish between major problems and minor events.
2. Learn from others. Talk to your parent or another trustworthy adult who has endured adversity.
3. Be patient. It takes time to come to terms with adversity, so don’t be discouraged if you feel that your emotional recovery is taking longer than you expected it to.
4. Cultivate gratitude. Even when you are facing serious hardships, there are always things for which you can be grateful.
5. Choose outputment. We can’t always choose our circumstances in life, but we can choose how we respond to them.
6. Pray. Prayer is real communication with your Creator, who “cares for you.”—1 Peter 5:7.
a From the book Disconnected, by Thomas Kersting.
b From the book The Good Teen—Rescuing Adolescence From the Myths of the Storm and Stress Years. |
A Search for Knowledge | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/101981007 | A Search for Knowledge
BY THE time I had traveled around the world a few times and had seen the plight of much of humanity, I decided that religion was illogical and confusing. But I had a yearning for knowledge and understanding. There seemed to be so much evidence pointing to the existence of a God, and yet, at the same time, other things indicated that none could exist.
I immigrated to New Zealand, married and took a job in radio and, later, television. By specializing in documentary production I was able to satisfy to some extent my thirst for knowledge, spending many hours doing research in libraries and newspaper offices. Partly with a view to advancement in my job and partly because philosophy promised to increase my knowledge, I enrolled in our local university for a study of philosophy.
From the start, I was fascinated. Philosophy promised limitless fields of knowledge. Dictionaries define it as “the knowledge of the causes and laws of all things.” I liked the way it examined man’s reasoning processes, since it seemed to me that man’s faulty thinking lay at the roots of the world’s problems.
But What Is Truth?
New Zealand has great natural beauty, and one day I was so moved by the sheer magnificence of creation that I felt impelled to praise the Creator. I asked that I might be allowed the privilege of knowing him.
A week or two later, a small boy, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, offered me the Watchtower and Awake! magazines. I had never seen them before and had never heard of Jehovah’s Witnesses, but I still had memories of self-righteous, ignorant and dogmatic people who had tried to foist impossible, self-contradictory religious ideas on me. I refused to take the magazines. But the boy was back some two weeks later with another set of them. This time he was accompanied by his father, who engaged me in conversation.
In an effort to end the discussion quickly, I asked him four of the knottiest questions that I kept for ministers and theologians. Experience had taught me that these were certain to cross the eyes of anyone with religious beliefs. Far from crossing his eyes, my questions were answered—three of them, at any rate—from the Bible he carried. Amazed, I agreed to talk with him again but I did not expect his performance to stay at this high level.
Meantime, my studies at the university were continuing. One of my greatest interests lay in trying to establish Truth.
What is Truth? I found almost as many answers to this fundamental question as there are philosophers.
The Doctrine of Empiricism said: “If you want to know what the universe is like, the only correct way to do it is to go and look for yourself, to collect facts which come to you through your senses.” The Doctrine of Rationalism had an opposite view and argued that pure reasoning alone is the ultimate authority in establishing truth. Existentialism ran across this belief, saying that the will is more important than reason. “God does not exist,” said Kierkegaard. “He is eternal.” Pragmatism suggested that “those beliefs are true which it is expedient for us to act upon and believe.” Wittgenstein felt that the limits of his language meant the limits of his world, thus he could not know more than words could convey. Descartes’ Intuitionism taught that one can only acquire theoretical knowledge by means of intuition connecting self-evident truths and that, if a person had an unclouded and attentive mind, he would get a feeling of confused conception if what he was considering was untrue.
By now I had a thoroughly confused conception about Truth. I was down to one unit of knowledge that alone seemed reliable, the one contained in the Cartesian dictum: “I think, therefore I am.” Could one know any more than that? Since all perception beyond one’s own thinking processes comes through the senses, was knowledge of the exterior world possible? Sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell were all ultimately electrical impulses in my brain. Could the exterior world be my own invention?
Some Light Begins to Shine
By this time, my wife and I had agreed somewhat reluctantly to study the Bible with two of Jehovah’s Witnesses. On the subject of Truth, we were shown a statement by Jesus Christ that was so simple it seemed at first as though he was being evasive. He said, in prayer to God: “Your word is truth.”—John 17:17.
In studying philosophy’s Coherence Theory, I had come across the suggestion that truth, ultimately, is beyond man, since all things are interconnected to such a degree that we cannot hope to attain to so much knowledge. It had said: “Presumably there is, ideally, one exhaustive and all-embracing truth—no judgments we can make can be thus exhaustive, our judgments may at best be partially true—fragments of an unattainable whole which alone would be adequate to reality.” Where else could such an all-embracing truth be but in the mind of the Creator, the possessor of all knowledge?
It was a thrilling idea, but was it provable? The only way was to put knowledge purporting to come from that Creator to the test. Since the Bible purported to be knowledge from the Creator, it seemed good to put the Bible to the test seriously.
For some time I had swung indecisively between the Doctrine of Optimism, which says that the universe is constantly tending toward a better state, and Pessimism, the belief that the world and life are essentially evil. With strong arguments for both theories, the only way to settle the paradox seemed to be Augustine’s most unsatisfactory conclusion—that everything in the universe is good, even things that appear evil.
However, once again our Bible study gave us a logical explanation for a problem that has occupied the minds of the world’s greatest philosophers: If God is good and all-powerful, how can evil exist? Jehovah’s Witnesses showed us that an evil creature (Satan) presently rules the earth with temporary permission on the part of the Supreme God, Jehovah, for the purpose of settling a universal issue.—Job 1:7-12; John 12:31; 14:30; Rev. 12:9.
Why the General Dissatisfaction with Government?
In its very wide scope of interest, philosophy also has much to say about what constitutes good government. Plato considered that democratic government was rather like sending your television set to the butcher for repair. He felt that the mass of the people were not expert at the craft of government, so governing should be, not in their hands, but in the hands of philosopher-kings. John Stuart Mill said the test of good government was the degree to which it promotes the general mental advancement of the community and the degree to which it organizes the worth already existing in the community.
Every conceivable type of rulership has been put forward, each one, in turn, torn down by the next philosopher in line. It seemed to me that, with all the brainstorming on the subject over the centuries, we should by now have arrived at a near-perfect system of government. But there is more dissatisfaction with governments today than ever before.
The Bible cleared up the entire field in just two propositions: (1) That man is incapable of ruling himself (Jer. 10:23) and (2) That Almighty God has, in any case, already decided man’s future in this regard by arranging for a government of His own. (Dan. 2:44) I seemed to be getting a good deal more knowledge from two or three hours of Bible study than from months of delving into human philosophies.
However, I was committed to finishing the university year, so on I went.
What Moral Standards?
I had hoped to get some clear thinking on the subject of morality. But, here again, after my studies I was less convinced about anything to do with morality than before.
The Formal Principle of Morality, according to Kant’s Moral Philosophy is: “Act only on that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.” But, as other philosophers pointed out, the individual observation and experience of life of any two people would probably differ and so their conclusions as to what should become universal law would also vary. Multiply that by the earth’s population and you have moral chaos.
Aristotle’s moral philosophy accepted the concept of slavery because, he said, some men are slaves “by nature.” Utilitarianism claims that all actions must be determined by “two sovereign masters”—pain and pleasure. What was pleasurable was good; what was painful, bad. Because that was oversimplification, later philosophers added “higher pleasures and lower pleasures” so that choosing moral standards became rather like supermarket shopping. Any number of small pleasures could never equal one large economy-size pleasure. If now imprisoning an innocent man brings him a large dose of pain but the entire community receives twice as much pleasure from the injustice, then it is morally right to imprison him, according to the Principle of Utility.
Surely there must be a more lofty basis for morality than the pain or pleasure of humans. I learned from the Bible that God made clear to the first human pair that he is the One who decides what is good and what is bad, thus setting moral standards, that life depends on obedience to those standards, and that death results from disobedience. (Gen. 2:15-17) Surely that is the way it should be! My attention was also directed to Jesus Christ’s Golden Rule—“Just as you want men to do to you, do the same way to them.” It is such a simple sounding statement, but when one really thinks it out, it is a profound piece of wisdom on the subject of morality. What absolutely beautiful philosophy!—Luke 6:31.
Superior Wisdom
My study of philosophy was nearing its end. While I had not come to believe that all philosophers are fools, I had come to realize that more than intellectual capacity is needed in order to gain true wisdom. God, the “all-embracing truth” source, has not revealed all of his knowledge to man.
Man may stumble on some scraps of truth independently of God, but a very wise man of ancient times, Solomon, said: “The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge.” (Prov. 1:7) Most philosophers, great intellectuals though they may be, show no interest in Jehovah, and so he shows no interest in their search for knowledge. In fact, Jesus Christ told his followers that God actually keeps knowledge from them. (Matt. 11:25) The apostle Paul said that their worldly knowledge is foolishness with God.—1 Cor. 3:19.
Even some philosophers are ready to admit to a Principle of Nonsense in their field. Thomas Hobbs once wrote that one of man’s distinctive abilities was “the privilege of absurdity to which no living creature is subject, but man only. And, of men, those are of all most subject to it that profess philosophy.” But, strangely, many people prefer nonsense to truth. They do not wish to be accountable to God for their actions.
I go along with King David—that Jehovah’s laws, reminders and decisions constitute such superior wisdom that their value is far greater than much gold. (Ps. 19:7-11)—Contributed by an “Awake!” reader in New Zealand.
[Blurb on page 21]
If God is good and all-powerful, how can evil exist?
[Blurb on page 22]
After having tried every conceivable form of government, why has mankind not yet produced one that truly satisfies people?
[Blurb on page 23]
Is there not a more lofty basis for morality than the pain or the pleasure of humans? |
Build Up Your Family With “Delightful Words” | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2008004 | Build Up Your Family With “Delightful Words”
WITH each passing minute, David grew more frustrated. Waiting in the car for his wife, he kept checking his watch. By the time Diane, his wife, finally came out of the house, he could not keep his mounting anger from erupting.
“How could you keep me waiting like this?” he shouted. “You’re always late! Why can’t you just once get yourself ready on time?”
Diane was devastated. Bursting into tears, she ran back into the house. In that instant, David realized his blunder. His outburst had only made things worse. What could he do now? He turned off the engine, sighed deeply, and slowly followed her inside.
This illustration presents a realistic scenario, does it not? Have you ever wanted to take back your words? When we speak without thinking, we often say things we later regret. For good reason, the Bible says: “The heart of the righteous one meditates so as to answer.”—Proverbs 15:28.
It can be difficult, though, to think clearly before speaking, particularly when we feel angry, afraid, or hurt. Especially with close family members, any attempt to communicate our feelings can easily deteriorate into blaming or criticizing the other person. That, in turn, may cause hurt feelings or provoke an argument.
What might we do to get more positive results? How can we keep our emotions from getting the better of us? Some helpful advice can be gleaned from the Bible writer Solomon.
Consider What to Say and How to Say It
As Solomon, the writer of the Bible book of Ecclesiastes, penned his sobering exposé on the futility of life, he obviously had strong feelings about his subject. “I hated life,” he said. At one point, he called it the “vanity of vanities.” (Ecclesiastes 2:17; 12:8, footnote) Yet, Ecclesiastes is not a list of Solomon’s frustrations. He did not think it appropriate merely to tell it as it is. In the conclusion of the book, Solomon reveals that he “sought to find the delightful words and the writing of correct words of truth.” (Ecclesiastes 12:10) Another translation says that he “tried to explain these things in the best and most accurate way.”—Contemporary English Version.
Solomon evidently realized that he had to keep his feelings in check. In effect, he kept asking himself: ‘Is what I am planning to say really true or accurate? If I use these words, will others find them delightful, acceptable?’ By searching for “delightful words” of truth, he was able to keep his own feelings from clouding his thoughts.
The result is not only a literary masterpiece but also a wellspring of divinely inspired wisdom on the meaning of life. (2 Timothy 3:16, 17) Could Solomon’s approach to discussing an emotionally charged topic help us to communicate better with our loved ones? Consider an example.
Learn to Control Your Feelings
For the sake of illustration, let us say that a boy comes home from school carrying his report card and looking dejected. His father looks down the list of subjects and notices a failing grade in one of the classes. The father immediately gets angry, thinking back to the many times the boy put off doing his homework. The father feels like blurting out: “You’re just lazy! If you keep this up, you won’t amount to anything!”
Before letting negative feelings control his response, the father does well to ask himself, ‘Is what I’m thinking really true or accurate?’ This question can help him to separate his feelings from the facts. (Proverbs 17:27) Is the son really going to be a failure because he is having trouble in one class? Is he characteristically lazy, or is he merely putting off his homework because he is struggling with some of the concepts? The Bible repeatedly emphasizes the value of taking a reasonable, realistic view of matters. (Titus 3:2; James 3:17) To build a child up, a parent needs to speak “correct words of truth.”
Search for the Right Words
Once the father decides what to say, he might ask himself, ‘How could I say it in words that my son would find delightful, acceptable?’ Granted, finding the right words is not easy. But parents need to remember that adolescents often have a tendency toward all-or-nothing thinking. They may take one failure or weakness and exaggerate its importance, so that it begins to define how they see themselves. If a parent overreacts, he may reinforce negative thinking in his child. Colossians 3:21 states: “Do not be exasperating your children, so that they do not become downhearted.”
Words like “always” and “never” usually generalize or exaggerate the facts. When a parent says, “You’ll never amount to anything,” what room is left for the child to keep his dignity? If many situations in life are characterized in such judgmental language, a child may begin to see himself as a total failure. That, of course, is not only discouraging but also untrue.
It is usually far better to accentuate the positive aspects of any situation. The father in our illustration might say something like this: “Son, I can see that you are upset because of your failing grade. I know, though, that you generally work hard at your assignments. So let’s talk about this class and find a way to overcome any problems you might be facing.” To determine how best to help his son, the father might also ask some specific questions to see if there are any underlying problems.
Such a kind and well-thought-out approach is likely to be far more effective than an emotional outburst. “Pleasant sayings,” the Bible assures us, are “sweet to the soul and a healing to the bones.” (Proverbs 16:24) Children—really, all members of the family—thrive in a peaceful, loving environment.
“Out of the Heart’s Abundance”
Think back to the husband mentioned in the scenario at the outset. Would it not have been better if he had taken the time to search for “delightful words” of truth rather than just to blurt out his frustration to his wife? A husband in such a situation would do well to ask himself: ‘Even if my wife needs to work on being more punctual, is it really true that she is always late? Is this the best time to bring this matter up? Will angry, critical words ever motivate her to want to improve?’ Stopping to ask ourselves such questions can help us to avoid unintentionally hurting those we love.—Proverbs 29:11.
What, though, if our family discussions repeatedly end up in an argument? We might need to look below the surface, considering the feelings behind our choice of words. What we say, especially when we are distressed or under pressure, may reveal a lot about what we are really like inside. Jesus said: “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Matthew 12:34) In other words, our speech often reflects our innermost thoughts, desires, and attitudes.
Is our outlook on life realistic, optimistic, and hopeful? Then the tone and substance of our conversations will likely reflect that. Do we tend to be rigid, pessimistic, or judgmental? If so, we might discourage others either by what we say or by how we say it. We may not be aware of how negative our thinking or speech has become. We might even believe that our way of looking at things is correct. But we must beware of self-deception.—Proverbs 14:12.
Thankfully, we have God’s Word. The Bible can help us to examine our thoughts and evaluate which ones are correct and which ones need to be adjusted. (Hebrews 4:12; James 1:25) No matter what our genetic predisposition may be or what our upbringing was like, all of us can choose to change how we think and act if we really want to.—Ephesians 4:23, 24.
In addition to using the Bible, we can do something else to evaluate our communication style. Simply ask others. For example, ask your spouse or child to tell you honestly how you are doing in this regard. Talk to a mature friend who knows you well. It will take humility to accept what they have to say and to make any adjustments that may be needed.
Think Before You Speak!
In the final analysis, if we really want to avoid hurting others with our speech, we have to do what Proverbs 16:23 says: “Intelligent [that is, wise] people think before they speak; what they say is then more persuasive.” (Today’s English Version) It may not always be easy to control our feelings. Yet, if we seek to understand others rather than accuse or put them down, then finding the right words to express ourselves may come more easily.
Of course, none of us are perfect. (James 3:2) At times, we all speak thoughtlessly. (Proverbs 12:18) But with the help of God’s Word, we can learn to think before we speak and to put the feelings and interests of others ahead of our own. (Philippians 2:4) Let us be determined to search for “delightful words” of truth, especially when speaking to family members. Then our speech will not hurt and tear down but heal and build up those whom we love.—Romans 14:19.
[Picture on page 12]
How can you avoid saying something you will later regret? |
Are There Ants in Your Plants? | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/101985008 | Are There Ants in Your Plants?
Many people think that ants are a pestiferous menace to plants that may grow in one’s home or garden. However, the findings of Dr. David Inouye of the University of Maryland offer some rather interesting sidelights about the activities of these little creatures. It appears that ants scamper up and down the stems of plants because they relish dining on their floral nectar. Furthermore, because they are of a militaristic nature, they will aggressively chase away other insects who may dare to encroach on their staked-out territory with its sweet treasure. Thus ants are really good, natural protectors against many destructive insects that seek to devour more of the plant than merely its nectar. |
Peace and Security (tp73)
1973 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/tp73 | input Page/Publishers’ Page
True Peace and Security—From What Source?
Is there a real solution to the problems that mankind now faces? This book is published with the conviction that there is. It is our sincere desire that by reading it you will gain a solid hope and a heartwarming assurance as to what the. future holds for all who truly love righteousness.
—The Publishers |
The Fight to Save Our Planet | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/101996001 | The Fight to Save Our Planet
BY AWAKE! CORRESPONDENT IN SPAIN
YURY, who lives in the Russian city of Karabash, has two children, and they are both sick. He is worried but not surprised. “There are no healthy kids here,” he explains. The people of Karabash are being poisoned. Every year a local factory spews out 162,000 tons of pollutants into the air—9 tons for every man, woman, and child living there. At Nikel and Monchegorsk on the Kola Peninsula, north of the Arctic Circle, “two of the world’s biggest and most antiquated nickel smelters . . . spew more heavy metals and sulfur dioxide into the air each year than any other such factories in Russia.”—The New York Times.
The air is no healthier in Mexico City. A survey by Dr. Margarita Castillejos found that even in a wealthy area of the city, the children were sick 4 days out of 5. “To be sick has for them become normal,” she observed. One of the main culprits, she says, is the pervasive smog produced by the thousands of vehicles that clog city streets. Ozone concentrations are four times the maximum guideline of the World Health Organization.
In Australia the danger is invisible—but just as deadly. Children now have to wear hats when romping in the school playground. The decimation of the protective shield of ozone in the Southern Hemisphere has made Australians begin to view the sun as an enemy rather than a friend. They have already seen a threefold increase in skin cancers.
In other parts of the world, finding sufficient water is a daily battle. When Amalia was 13 years old, the drought came to Mozambique. There was barely enough water for the first year and hardly any the following year. Vegetable crops withered and died. Amalia and her family were reduced to eating wild fruit and digging in sandy riverbeds for whatever precious water they could find.
In the Indian state of Rajasthan, it is grazing land that is fast disappearing. Phagu, a nomadic tribesman, frequently has arguments with local farmers. He cannot find pasture for his flock of sheep and goats. Because of the acute shortage of fertile land, centuries-long peaceful coexistence between farmers and nomads has broken down.
The situation is even worse in the Sahel, a wide belt of semiarid land on the southern edge of the Sahara in Africa. As a result of deforestation and subsequent drought, entire herds have been wiped out and countless smallholdings buried in the sands of the advancing desert. “I will not plant again,” vowed a Fulani farmer from Niger after seeing his millet crop fail for the seventh time. His cattle had already died from lack of pasture.
The Growing Threat
There is an ominous pattern behind the recent droughts, the failed harvests, and the polluted air that suffocates city after city. They are symptoms of a sick planet, a planet that can no longer cope with all the demands man is heaping upon it.
Nothing on earth is more important to our survival than the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink. Inexorably, these life-sustaining essentials are being either contaminated or whittled away—by man himself. In some countries the state of the environment is already life-threatening. As former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev graphically put it, “ecology has caught us by the throat.”
The threat is not one to be taken lightly. World population is increasing steadily, and demands on limited resources are multiplying. Lester Brown, president of the Worldwatch Institute, stated recently that “the overwhelming threat to our future is not military aggression but the environmental degradation of the planet.” Is enough being done to avert a tragedy?
The Fight to Protect the Planet
It is hard to help an alcoholic who is convinced he does not have a drinking problem. Likewise, the first step in improving the health of the planet is to recognize the extent of the malady. Possibly, education is the outstanding environmental success in recent years. Most people today are keenly aware that our earth is being impoverished and polluted—and that something must be done about it. The threat of environmental degradation now looms greater than the threat of nuclear war.
World leaders are not oblivious to the problems. Some 118 heads of state attended the Earth Summit in 1992, during which a few steps were taken toward protecting the atmosphere and the earth’s dwindling resources. Most countries signed a climate treaty in which they agreed to set up a system for reporting changes in carbon emissions, with the goal of freezing the total output in the near future. They also considered ways of safeguarding our planet’s biodiversity, the total number of plant and animal species. Agreement could not be reached on protecting the world’s forests, but the summit did produce two documents—the “Rio Declaration” and “Agenda 21,” which contains guidelines on how countries could achieve “sustainable development.”
As environmentalist Allen Hammond points out, “the crucial test will be whether the commitments made in Rio are kept—whether the bold words lead to actions in the months and years ahead.”
A significant step forward, however, was the 1987 Montreal Protocol, which involved an international agreement to phase out chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) within a set time limit.a Why the concern? Because CFCs are said to be contributing to the rapid depletion of the earth’s protective ozone layer. The ozone in the earth’s upper atmosphere plays a vital role in filtering the sun’s ultraviolet rays, which can cause skin cancer and cataracts. This is a problem not just in Australia. Recently, scientists have detected an 8-percent decrease in winter ozone concentration above some temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Twenty million tons of CFCs have already drifted up toward the stratosphere.
In the face of this disastrous contamination of the atmosphere, nations of the world put aside their differences and took decisive action. Other international action has also been forthcoming to protect endangered species, conserve Antarctica, and control the traffic of toxic wastes.
Many countries are taking steps to clean up their rivers (salmon have now returned to England’s Thames River), to control air pollution (it has declined 10 percent in the cities of the United States with the worst smog), to tap environment-friendly energy sources (80 percent of the homes in Iceland are heated with geothermal energy), and to conserve their natural heritage (Costa Rica and Namibia have converted about 12 percent of their total land area into national parks).
Are these positive signs proof that mankind is taking the danger seriously? Will it just be a matter of time before our planet is in good health once again? The following articles will seek to answer those questions.
[Footnote]
a CFCs have been widely used in aerosol sprays, refrigeration, air-conditioning units, cleaning agents, and the manufacture of foam insulation. See Awake! of December 22, 1994, “When Our Atmosphere Is Damaged.” |
Brighter than the Sun | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/101971002 | Brighter than the Sun
One of the stars nearest to the earth is Arcturus. It is eighty times as bright as the sun and has a diameter about thirty times as great. Being the fourth-brightest star in the heavens, it can be easily seen with the unaided eye. |
LANDS AND PEOPLES
A Visit to Liechtenstein | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/102016005 | LANDS AND PEOPLES
A Visit to Liechtenstein
IT IS one of the smallest countries in the world, situated in the Alps between Switzerland and Austria. Over the centuries Celts, Rhaetians, Romans, and Alemanni have all lived in this region. Today about two thirds of Liechtenstein’s population are descendants of the Alemanni tribe, which settled in this region about 1,500 years ago.
German is the official language of Liechtenstein, although local dialects vary from village to village. Two of Liechtenstein’s typical dishes are Tüarka-Rebel, a specialty made of corn, and Käsknöpfle, a cheesy pasta dish.
Käsknöpfle
Colorful ethnic clothing
Journeying through the country offers visitors views of snow-covered mountains, green valleys, vineyards, and a variety of vegetation. For example, in this alpine microstate can be found nearly 50 types of wild orchids. Liechtenstein also has museums, theaters, and wineries. Thus, in summer and winter alike, tourists come to visit.
Jehovah’s Witnesses have been active in Liechtenstein since the 1920’s. Currently, there are about 90 of them in the country, teaching the Bible’s message to locals and visitors.
The book What Does the Bible Really Teach? is published by Jehovah’s Witnesses in German, the official language of Liechtenstein, and is available online at www.jw.org.
FAST FACTS
Population: 37,000
Capital: Vaduz
Official language: German
Religion: Primarily Roman Catholic
TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE
Which of these describes Liechtenstein?
One of two countries in the world that are completely surrounded by landlocked states.
Home to more than 50 different types of mammals.
Home to about 1,600 different plant species.
A country without an army.
Answer: All four statements are true. |
Remain in God’s Love (lvs)
2017 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/lvs | Endnotes
1 PRINCIPLES
God’s laws are based on his principles. These principles are basic truths that we find in the Bible. They help us to understand how God thinks and feels about matters. Principles help us to make good decisions in life and to do what is right. They are especially helpful in situations that are not specifically covered by God’s laws.
▸ Chapter 1, paragraph 8
2 OBEDIENCE
Obedience to Jehovah means that we willingly do what he tells us to do. Jehovah wants us to obey him because we love him. (1 John 5:3) If we love and trust God, we will follow his advice in all situations. We will obey him even when it is difficult for us. It is good for us to obey Jehovah, because he teaches us how to have a good life now and promises us that we will enjoy many blessings in the future.—Isaiah 48:17.
▸ Chapter 1, paragraph 10
3 FREE WILL
Jehovah has given each person free will, or the ability to make choices. He did not create us to be like robots. (Deuteronomy 30:19; Joshua 24:15) We can use our freedom to make good choices. But if we are not careful, we could make unwise decisions. Having free will means that we must personally decide whether we want to be loyal to Jehovah and prove that we really love him.
▸ Chapter 1, paragraph 12
4 MORAL STANDARDS
Jehovah sets moral standards, or guidelines for our conduct and actions. In the Bible, we can learn what these standards are and how they can help us to live a good life. (Proverbs 6:16-19; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11) These guidelines help us to know what God views as right or wrong. They also help us to know how to be loving, how to make good decisions, and how to be kind to others. Although the world’s standards continue to get lower, Jehovah’s standards do not change. (Deuteronomy 32:4-6; Malachi 3:6) Following them protects us from much physical and emotional harm.
▸ Chapter 1, paragraph 17
5 CONSCIENCE
Our conscience is our inner sense of right and wrong. Jehovah has given each of us a conscience. (Romans 2:14, 15) For our conscience to work correctly, we must train it according to Jehovah’s moral standards. Then our conscience can help us make decisions that please God. (1 Peter 3:16) Our conscience can warn us when we are about to make a foolish choice, or it can make us feel deep pain after we have done something wrong. Our conscience can become weak, but with Jehovah’s help, we can make it strong again. A good conscience gives us peace of mind and self-respect.
▸ Chapter 2, paragraph 3
6 FEAR OF GOD
To fear God means that we love and respect him so much that we do not want to do anything that will displease him. Fear of God helps us to do what is good and to avoid doing what is bad. (Psalm 111:10) It moves us to listen carefully to everything Jehovah says. It also helps us to keep our promises to him because we deeply respect him. Fear of God affects the way we think, the way we treat others, and the choices we make every day.
▸ Chapter 2, paragraph 9
7 REPENTANCE
Repentance includes the deep sorrow someone feels because he has done something wrong. Those who love God feel very sorry when they realize they have done something that goes against his standards. If we do something wrong, we should beg Jehovah to forgive us on the basis of Jesus’ ransom sacrifice. (Matthew 26:28; 1 John 2:1, 2) When we sincerely repent and stop doing what is bad, we can have confidence that Jehovah will forgive us. We no longer need to feel guilty about what we have done in the past. (Psalm 103:10-14; 1 John 1:9; 3:19-22) We must work hard to learn from our mistakes, change any wrong thinking, and live according to Jehovah’s standards.
▸ Chapter 2, paragraph 18
8 DISFELLOWSHIPPING
When someone who has seriously sinned does not repent and refuses to follow Jehovah’s standards, he can no longer be a member of the congregation. He needs to be disfellowshipped. When someone is disfellowshipped, we have no more dealings with that person and we stop talking to him. (1 Corinthians 5:11; 2 John 9-11) The disfellowshipping arrangement protects Jehovah’s name and the congregation. (1 Corinthians 5:6) Disfellowshipping is also discipline that can help someone to repent so that he can return to Jehovah.—Luke 15:17.
▸ Chapter 3, paragraph 19
9 GUIDANCE, DIRECTION, AND COUNSEL
Jehovah loves us and wants to help us. That is why he gives us guidance, direction, and counsel by means of the Bible and through people who love God. As imperfect humans, we desperately need this help. (Jeremiah 17:9) When we respectfully listen to those Jehovah uses to guide us, we show that we respect him and want to obey him.—Hebrews 13:7.
▸ Chapter 4, paragraph 2
10 PRIDE AND HUMILITY
Since we are imperfect, it is easy for us to be selfish and proud. But Jehovah expects us to be humble. Often, we begin to learn humility when we compare ourselves to Jehovah and realize how small we are. (Job 38:1-4) Another important part of humility is learning to think more about others and what will be good for them rather than ourselves. Pride often makes a person believe that he is better than others. A humble person looks at himself honestly and sees both his strengths and his weaknesses. He is not afraid to admit his mistakes, to apologize, and to accept suggestions and counsel. A humble person relies on Jehovah and follows his direction.—1 Peter 5:5.
▸ Chapter 4, paragraph 4
11 AUTHORITY
Authority is the right to give orders and make decisions. Jehovah is the one with the highest authority in heaven and on earth. Because he created all things, he is the most powerful Person in the universe. He always uses his authority to benefit others. Jehovah has given some humans the responsibility to look after us. For example, parents, congregation elders, and governments have some authority, and Jehovah wants us to cooperate with them. (Romans 13:1-5; 1 Timothy 5:17) But when man’s laws conflict with God’s laws, we obey God rather than men. (Acts 5:29) When we accept the authority of those Jehovah is using, we show Jehovah that we respect his decisions.
▸ Chapter 4, paragraph 7
12 ELDERS
Jehovah uses elders, who are experienced brothers, to care for the congregation. (Deuteronomy 1:13; Acts 20:28) These men help us to keep our relationship with Jehovah strong and to worship him in a peaceful and organized way. (1 Corinthians 14:33, 40) For elders to be appointed by holy spirit, they must meet specific qualifications found in the Bible. (1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Peter 5:2, 3) We trust and support God’s organization, so we happily cooperate with the elders.—Psalm 138:6; Hebrews 13:17.
▸ Chapter 4, paragraph 8
13 FAMILY HEAD
Jehovah has given parents the responsibility of looking after their children and household. However, the Bible explains that the husband is the head of the family. If there is no father in the household, the mother becomes the family head. The responsibilities of the family head include providing the family with food, clothing, and a place to live. It is very important for the family head to take the lead in helping the family to worship Jehovah. For example, he makes sure that they regularly attend congregation meetings, share in the field ministry, and study the Bible together. The family head also takes the lead in making decisions. He always tries to imitate Jesus by being kind and reasonable, never cruel or harsh. This helps to create a loving atmosphere, so that all in the family can feel safe and grow in their relationship with Jehovah.
▸ Chapter 4, paragraph 12
14 GOVERNING BODY
The Governing Body is the group of men with the heavenly hope who are used by God to direct the work of his people. In the first century, Jehovah used a governing body to guide the early Christian congregation in their worship and their preaching work. (Acts 15:2) Today, the group of brothers who serve as the Governing Body take the lead in directing, guiding, and protecting God’s people. When these brothers make decisions, they rely on guidance from God’s Word and his holy spirit. Jesus spoke of this group of anointed men as “the faithful and discreet slave.”—Matthew 24:45-47.
▸ Chapter 4, paragraph 15
15 HEAD COVERING
There may be times when a sister is asked to do something in the congregation that is normally done by a brother. When she does this work, she shows her respect for Jehovah’s arrangement by wearing a head covering. But the need to cover her head applies only in certain situations. For example, a sister would wear something to cover her head if she conducts a Bible study when her husband or a baptized brother is present.—1 Corinthians 11:11-15.
▸ Chapter 4, paragraph 17
16 NEUTRALITY
When we are neutral, we refuse to take sides in political matters. (John 17:16) Jehovah’s people support his Kingdom. We are neutral in the affairs of the world, just as Jesus was.
Jehovah commands us “to be obedient to governments and authorities.” (Titus 3:1, 2; Romans 13:1-7) But God’s law also says that we should not murder. So a Christian’s conscience would not allow him to go to war. If a Christian has the option of doing civilian work as an alternative to military service, he must consider whether his conscience allows him to do so.
We worship only Jehovah, because he is our Creator. Although we show respect for national symbols, we would not salute a flag or sing a national anthem. (Isaiah 43:11; Daniel 3:1-30; 1 Corinthians 10:14) Also, Jehovah’s people make a personal decision not to vote for any political party or candidate. This is because we have already taken the side of God’s government.—Matthew 22:21; John 15:19; 18:36.
▸ Chapter 5, paragraph 2
17 SPIRIT OF THE WORLD
The world promotes Satan’s way of thinking. This way of thinking is common among people who do not love and imitate Jehovah and who ignore his standards. (1 John 5:19) Such thinking and the actions that it leads to is described as the spirit of the world. (Ephesians 2:2) Jehovah’s people make sure that they are not overcome by this spirit. (Ephesians 6:10-18) Instead, we love Jehovah’s ways and work hard to hold on to his way of thinking.
▸ Chapter 5, paragraph 7
18 APOSTASY
Apostasy is taking a stand against the truth of the Bible. Apostates rebel against Jehovah and against Jesus, the appointed King of God’s Kingdom, and try to influence others to join them. (Romans 1:25) They want to create doubts in the minds of those who worship Jehovah. Some people in the early Christian congregation became apostates, and so have some in our day. (2 Thessalonians 2:3) Those who are loyal to Jehovah have nothing to do with apostates. We would never allow curiosity or pressure from others to cause us to read or listen to apostate ideas. We are loyal to Jehovah and worship only him.
▸ Chapter 5, paragraph 9
19 ATONEMENT
Under the Law of Moses, the nation of Israel asked Jehovah to forgive their sins. They brought atonement sacrifices of grain, oil, and animals to the temple. In this way, the Israelites were reminded that Jehovah was willing to forgive their sins, both as a nation and as individuals. Later, after Jesus gave his life to cover our sins, these atonement sacrifices were no longer necessary. Jesus offered the perfect sacrifice “once for all time.”—Hebrews 10:1, 4, 10.
▸ Chapter 7, paragraph 6
20 RESPECT FOR ANIMALS
Under the Law of Moses, people were allowed to use animals for food. They were also commanded to present animal sacrifices. (Leviticus 1:5, 6) But Jehovah never permitted his people to be cruel to animals. (Proverbs 12:10) In fact, the Law contained rules that protected animals from cruelty. The Israelites were commanded to look after their animals properly.—Deuteronomy 22:6, 7.
▸ Chapter 7, paragraph 6
21 BLOOD FRACTIONS AND MEDICAL PROCEDURES
Blood fractions. Blood is made up of four main parts—red cells, white cells, platelets, and plasma. These four main parts of blood may be broken down into smaller parts, called blood fractions.a
Christians refuse transfusions of whole blood or of any of its four main parts. But should they accept blood fractions? The Bible does not provide specific details. So each Christian must make his own decision based on his Bible-trained conscience.
Some Christians choose to refuse all blood fractions. They may reason that God’s Law to Israel required that any blood removed from an animal be poured “out on the ground.”—Deuteronomy 12:22-24.
Others make a different choice. Their conscience allows them to accept some blood fractions. They may reason that small fractions no longer represent the life of the creature from which the blood was taken.
When making decisions about blood fractions, consider the following questions:
Am I aware that refusing all blood fractions means that I will not accept some medicines that fight diseases or that might help stop bleeding?
How would I explain to a doctor why I reject or accept the use of one or more blood fractions?
Medical procedures. As Christians, we do not donate blood, nor do we store our own blood weeks in advance of surgery. However, there are other procedures that make use of a patient’s own blood. Each Christian must decide for himself how his own blood will be handled in the course of a surgical procedure, medical test, or current therapy. During the course of such procedures, the patient’s own blood may be completely separated for a time from the patient.—For more information, see The Watchtower, October 15, 2000, pages 30-31.
For example, there is a procedure called hemodilution, in which immediately before surgery a portion of a patient’s own blood is removed and replaced with a volume expander. Later, during or shortly after the surgery, the blood is returned to the patient.
Another procedure is called cell salvage. In this procedure, a patient’s own blood that is lost during surgery is collected, cleaned, and then returned to the patient during or shortly after the surgery.
Each doctor may perform these procedures slightly differently. So before accepting any surgical procedure, medical test, or current therapy, a Christian needs to find out exactly how his own blood will be handled.
When making decisions about medical procedures that make use of your own blood, consider the following questions:
If some of my blood will be diverted outside my body and the flow might even be interrupted for a time, will my conscience allow me to view this blood as still part of me, thus not requiring that it be poured “out on the ground”?—Deuteronomy 12:23, 24.
Will my Bible-trained conscience be troubled if during a medical procedure, some of my own blood is withdrawn, modified, and directed back into (or onto) my body?
Am I aware that refusing all medical procedures involving the use of my own blood means that I would not accept a blood test, hemodialysis, or the use of a heart-lung bypass machine?
Before making decisions about blood fractions and medical treatments that make use of our own blood, we need to pray for Jehovah’s guidance and then do research. (James 1:5, 6) After that, we must use our Bible-trained conscience to make our decision. We should not ask others what they would do if they were in our situation, nor should others try to influence our decision.—Romans 14:12; Galatians 6:5.
An appropriate legal document, such as a Health Care Proxy, may be used to record your decision to refuse transfusions of whole blood and its four main parts. This document may protect you from receiving a blood transfusion. It may also be used to record your decisions about blood fractions and procedures that make use of your own blood.
▸ Chapter 7, paragraph 11
22 MORAL CLEANNESS
To be morally clean means that our conduct and actions are clean in God’s view. Moral cleanness involves what we think, say, and do. Jehovah commands us to avoid any kind of sexual uncleanness or immorality. (Proverbs 1:10; 3:1) We must decide that we will follow Jehovah’s clean standards even before we are in a situation that could tempt us to do something wrong. We need to pray constantly for God’s help to keep our minds pure, and we must be determined to reject immoral temptations.—1 Corinthians 6:9, 10, 18; Ephesians 5:5.
▸ Chapter 8, paragraph 11
23 BRAZEN CONDUCT AND UNCLEANNESS
Brazen conduct involves speaking or acting in a way that is a serious violation of God’s standards and reflects a shameless attitude. A person who does this shows that he does not respect God’s laws. When a person is guilty of brazen conduct, a judicial committee will handle the matter. Uncleanness includes various types of wrongdoing. Depending on the seriousness of the situation, some matters involving uncleanness might need to be handled by a judicial committee in the congregation.—Galatians 5:19-21; Ephesians 4:19; for more information, see “Questions From Readers” in The Watchtower of July 15, 2006.
▸ Chapter 9, paragraph 7; Chapter 12, paragraph 10
24 MASTURBATION
Jehovah designed sex to be a clean expression of love between a husband and a wife. But when someone masturbates, or misuses his or her genitals for sexual pleasure, he or she is using sex in an unclean way. This habit can harm a person’s relationship with Jehovah. It can create perverted desires and can cause the person to view sex in a distorted way. (Colossians 3:5) Someone who has this unclean habit and finds it difficult to stop should not give up. (Psalm 86:5; 1 John 3:20) If this is your situation, sincerely pray to Jehovah and ask him to help you. Avoid things such as pornography, which will lead you into unclean thinking. Speak with one of your Christian parents or with a mature friend who respects Jehovah’s laws. (Proverbs 1:8, 9; 1 Thessalonians 5:14; Titus 2:3-5) You can be sure that Jehovah sees and values your efforts to keep morally clean.—Psalm 51:17; Isaiah 1:18.
▸ Chapter 9, paragraph 9
25 POLYGAMY
The custom of having more than one marriage mate is called polygamy. Jehovah designed marriage to be between one man and one woman. In ancient Israel, God allowed men to have more than one wife, but this was not his original purpose. Today, Jehovah does not allow polygamy among his people. A husband can have only one wife, and a wife can have only one husband.—Matthew 19:9; 1 Timothy 3:2.
▸ Chapter 10, paragraph 12
26 DIVORCE AND SEPARATION
Jehovah intended for a husband and a wife to stay together for as long as they live. (Genesis 2:24; Malachi 2:15, 16; Matthew 19:3-6; 1 Corinthians 7:39) He allows divorce only when a mate is guilty of adultery. In such a case, Jehovah gives the innocent mate the right to decide whether he or she will get a divorce.—Matthew 19:9.
At times, some Christians have decided to separate from their mate even though no immorality has taken place. (1 Corinthians 7:11) In the following situations, a Christian may consider separation.
Willful nonsupport: A husband refuses to provide for the family materially, to the point that the family is left without money or food.—1 Timothy 5:8.
Severe physical abuse: Physical abuse to the point that a mate feels that his or her health or life is in danger.—Galatians 5:19-21.
Absolute endangerment of a person’s relationship with Jehovah: A husband or a wife makes it impossible for the mate to serve Jehovah.—Acts 5:29.
▸ Chapter 11, paragraph 19
27 COMMENDATION AND ENCOURAGEMENT
All of us need commendation and encouragement. (Proverbs 12:25; 16:24) We can strengthen and comfort one another with loving and kind words. Such expressions can help our brothers and sisters to endure and keep serving Jehovah despite great difficulties. (Proverbs 12:18; Philippians 2:1-4) If someone feels very discouraged, we should listen to him respectfully and try to understand how he feels. That can help us to know what we can say or do to help him. (James 1:19) Make it your goal to know your brothers and sisters well so that you genuinely understand what they need. Then you can help them to turn to the Source of all comfort and encouragement, where they can find true refreshment.—2 Corinthians 1:3, 4; 1 Thessalonians 5:11.
▸ Chapter 12, paragraph 16
28 WEDDINGS
The Bible does not make specific rules about weddings. Local customs and legal requirements are different from place to place. (Genesis 24:67; Matthew 1:24; 25:10; Luke 14:8) The most important part of a wedding is the vow a couple make before Jehovah. Many couples choose to have their family and close friends present when they say their vows and to have an elder give a Bible-based talk. It is up to the couple to decide what sort of reception, if any, they will have after their wedding. (Luke 14:28; John 2:1-11) Whatever a couple decide about how they will arrange their wedding, they should make sure that it brings honor to Jehovah. (Genesis 2:18-24; Matthew 19:5, 6) Bible principles can help them to make good decisions. (1 John 2:16, 17) If the couple choose to serve alcohol at their reception, they should make sure that the gathering will be properly supervised. (Proverbs 20:1; Ephesians 5:18) If they choose to have any music or entertainment, they should make sure that these things will bring honor to Jehovah. A Christian couple should focus on their relationship with God and with each other rather than on just the wedding day.—Proverbs 18:22; for more suggestions, see The Watchtower of October 15, 2006, pages 18-31.
▸ Chapter 13, paragraph 18
29 MAKING WISE DECISIONS
We want to make good decisions that are based on the principles of God’s Word. For example, a Christian may be invited by his or her marriage mate who is not one of Jehovah’s Witnesses to have a meal with relatives during a worldly holiday. If this is your situation, what will you do? If your conscience allows you to go, you could explain to your mate that if pagan customs are part of the meal, you will not participate in them. You should also consider whether others will be stumbled if you go to the meal.—1 Corinthians 8:9; 10:23, 24.
Or your employer might offer you a bonus during the holiday season. Should you reject the bonus? Not necessarily. Your decision whether to accept it or not may depend to some extent on how your employer views it. Does he view the bonus as part of the celebration? Or is it simply a way to show appreciation? Reasoning on these and other factors, you would need to decide whether to accept the bonus.
In another situation, someone may give you a gift during the holiday season and say: “I know that you do not celebrate the holiday, but I want you to have this.” Perhaps the person is just being kind. On the other hand, is there reason to think that he is trying to test your faith or involve you in celebrating the holiday? After considering this, it is up to you to decide whether or not to accept the gift. In all our decisions, we want to have a good conscience and be faithful to Jehovah.—Acts 23:1.
▸ Chapter 13, paragraph 22
30 BUSINESS AND LEGAL MATTERS
In most cases, when disagreements are handled promptly and peaceably, they do not need to become major issues. (Matthew 5:23-26) For all Christians, their first priority should be to bring glory to Jehovah and keep the congregation united.—John 13:34, 35; 1 Corinthians 13:4, 5.
If Christians have a disagreement over a business matter, they should try to settle it without taking each other to court. First Corinthians 6:1-8 records the apostle Paul’s counsel concerning lawsuits between Christians. Taking our brother to court could reflect badly on Jehovah and on the congregation. At Matthew 18:15-17, three steps are listed that Christians should follow to settle such serious accusations as slander or fraud. (1) They should first try to settle the matter between themselves. (2) If that doesn’t work, they can ask one or two mature members of the congregation for help. (3) Then, if necessary, they can turn the matter over to the body of elders to handle. If the situation reaches that point, the elders will use Bible principles to try to help all involved to reach a peaceful agreement. If certain individuals involved are not willing to follow Bible standards, it may be necessary for the congregation elders to take judicial action.
There are some situations in which a lawsuit may be legally necessary, perhaps situations involving divorce, child custody, alimony, insurance compensation, bankruptcy, or wills. If a Christian uses such legal means to settle the matter as peaceably as he can, he is not violating Paul’s counsel.
If a serious crime is involved, such as rape, child abuse, assault, major theft, or murder, then a Christian who reports such a crime to the secular authorities does not violate Paul’s counsel.
▸ Chapter 14, paragraph 14
31 SATAN’S DECEPTIONS
From the time of the garden of Eden, Satan has been trying to deceive humans. (Genesis 3:1-6; Revelation 12:9) He knows that if he can distort our thinking, he can influence us to do what is bad. (2 Corinthians 4:4; James 1:14, 15) He uses politics, religion, commerce, entertainment, education, and many other things to promote his way of thinking and make it seem acceptable.—John 14:30; 1 John 5:19.
Satan knows that he does not have much time left to deceive people. So he is doing all he can to mislead as many people as possible. He especially wants to mislead those who serve Jehovah. (Revelation 12:12) If we are not careful, the Devil could gradually corrupt our thinking. (1 Corinthians 10:12) For example, Jehovah wants marriages to last. (Matthew 19:5, 6, 9) But many people today view marriage as a casual agreement that can be easily broken. Many movies and television programs promote this idea too. We must make sure that we do not allow the world’s view of marriage to affect us.
Another way Satan tries to deceive us is by promoting an independent attitude. (2 Timothy 3:4) If we are not careful, we could lose our respect for the authority of those appointed by Jehovah. For example, a brother might begin to resist the guidance of the congregation elders. (Hebrews 12:5) Or a sister might start to question Jehovah’s arrangement of headship in the family.—1 Corinthians 11:3.
We must be determined not to allow the Devil to influence our thinking. Rather, we want to imitate Jehovah’s thinking and keep our “minds fixed on the things above.”—Colossians 3:2; 2 Corinthians 2:11.
▸ Chapter 16, paragraph 9
32 MEDICAL TREATMENT
We all want to be healthy and to get the best care we can when we are not well. (Isaiah 38:21; Mark 5:25, 26; Luke 10:34) Today, there are many medical techniques and treatments available from doctors and others. When we are deciding what treatment we will accept, it is important that we follow Bible principles. We remember that only God’s Kingdom will heal us permanently. We do not want to become so focused on our health that we neglect our worship of Jehovah.—Isaiah 33:24; 1 Timothy 4:16.
We must carefully avoid any treatment that appears to use power from the demons. (Deuteronomy 18:10-12; Isaiah 1:13) So before we accept any treatment or medicine, we need to find out all we can about what is behind it and what thinking it promotes. (Proverbs 14:15) We must not forget that Satan would like to trick us into getting involved with demonism. If we even suspect that a treatment is connected with demonism, it is best to avoid it.—1 Peter 5:8.
▸ Chapter 16, paragraph 18
a Some doctors may view the four main parts of blood as fractions. Therefore, you may need to explain your personal decision not to accept transfusions of whole blood or its four main parts, namely, red cells, white cells, platelets, and plasma. |
Can Anyone Know Who Really Wrote the Bible? | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/502012485 | Can Anyone Know Who Really Wrote the Bible?
The Bible’s answer
Many people are told that we can’t be sure who wrote the Bible. But the Bible is often clear about who penned its outputs. Some parts begin with such phrases as “the words of Nehemiah,” “the vision of Isaiah,” and “the word of Jehovah that occurred to Joel.”—Nehemiah 1:1; Isaiah 1:1; Joel 1:1.
Most Bible writers acknowledged that they wrote in the name of Jehovah, the one true God, and that they were guided by him. Prophets who wrote the Hebrew Scriptures proclaimed more than 300 times: “This is what Jehovah has said.” (Amos 1:3; Micah 2:3; Nahum 1:12) Other writers received God’s message through angels.—Zechariah 1:7, 9.
The Bible was written by some 40 men over the course of 1,600 years. Some men were used to write more than one book of the Bible. In fact, the Bible is a miniature library of 66 books. It consists of the 39 books of the Hebrew Scriptures, called by many the Old Testament, and the 27 books of the Christian Greek Scriptures, often called the New Testament. |
Study Tip | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2023247 | Study Tip
Do you like reading the life stories of our brothers and sisters?
A couple who read one life story every morning say: “What joy and encouragement these stories have brought to us! They remind us that we too can be faithful under all circumstances.” A sister who feels similarly wrote: “These life stories are comforting, moving, and heartwarming. The lives of our brothers and sisters are full of purpose and meaning. Their stories motivate me to do more in the ministry and help me to lead my children in the path of full-time service to Jehovah.”
Life stories can motivate you to pursue meaningful goals, to overcome weaknesses, and to endure severe trials with joy and dignity. How can you find these stories?
Browse the article series “Life Stories of Jehovah’s Witnesses” on jw.org or in JW Library®.
Search for “Life Stories of Jehovah’s Witnesses” in Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY™ or Watchtower Library. |
From Our Readers | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/101995011 | From Our Readers
Reincarnation Thank you for the excellent series of articles “Have You Lived Before? Will You Live Again?” (June 8, 1994) These articles convey in a simple and rational way the truth about the condition of the dead. I believe that anyone who is searching for truth in connection with this subject cannot do other than accept what you have written.
F. P., Italy
Former Boxer Thank you very much for the article “I Learned to Hate What I Had Loved.” (June 8, 1994) Obdulio Nuñez’ story has helped us to understand some of my husband’s medical problems. As a former boxer, he too suffers from depression. Truly, it is Jehovah God who has helped my husband turn his life around!
S. S., United States
Pain I am a professional masseur and want to thank you for the series “Is Life Without Pain Possible?” (June 22, 1994) I was greatly impressed by the insight, balance, and wisdom evident in the research and presentation of this information. The article will be a precious aid to specialists, patients, and others. Using massage techniques, I continue to fight pain, awaiting the day under God’s Kingdom when chronic pain will no longer exist.
D. T., Denmark
These articles brought much comfort to me. I shared them with a number of others who, like me, cope with pain daily.
M. G., United States
I am lying here writing you from my bed, where I have periodically been confined for the past two and a half years because of two slipped disks. Thank you for the fantastic article “Do You Suffer With Back Pain?” (June 8, 1994) I cried when reading it, for it was as if you were talking to me. I could hardly believe that anyone could understand this problem so clearly.
B. H., England
Just ten days ago, I had to undergo back surgery, and I thank you for the accurate information. The article helped me to understand the cause of my pain. The suggestions given are very useful, and I hope many will apply them and avoid surgery.
K. G., Hungary
Musical Anachronism? I liked the article “From Hitchhiking Hippie to South American Missionary” very much. (March 22, 1994) But one point puzzled me. Richard Fleet mentions that he went to Liverpool to see the Beatles in September 1973. As far as I know, the Beatles performed in public for the last time in 1969 and split up in 1970.
C. S., Germany
Sorry for the misunderstanding. Richard Fleet meant to say that he went to Liverpool in order to see a club where the Beatles had once performed.—ED.
Suicide I thank you with all my heart for the article “Young People Ask . . . Is Suicide the Answer?” (April 8, 1994) How many times I have longed to take that road. When I was a toddler, I was sexually abused by someone I trusted. . . . In the past, I have written so many notes saying, ‘I want to die’ that I have lost count. I have since become one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and I now serve as a full-time evangelizer, but this urge still comes over me from time to time. I had this feeling just the day before I received the article. It made me cry. But Jehovah has allowed me to stay alive, and he seems to be telling me gently, ‘Keep on living.’ Truly, I thank you very much.
Y. K., Japan |
Examining the Scriptures—2022
2021 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/library/r1/lp-e/all-publications/brochures-and-booklets/examining-the-scriptures/examining-the-scriptures-2022 | August
Monday, August 1
Apart from me you can do nothing at all.—John 15:5.
Only those who have a close friendship with Jesus will benefit from his ransom sacrifice. Jesus said that he would “surrender his life in behalf of his friends.” (John 15:13) Faithful people who lived before Jesus came to earth will have to learn about him and come to love him. Such men and women will be resurrected, but even these righteous servants of Jehovah will need to form a friendship with Jesus in order to gain everlasting life. (John 17:3; Acts 24:15; Heb. 11:8-12, 24-26, 31) We have the joy of working along with Jesus in preaching and teaching the good news of the Kingdom. When Jesus was on earth, he was a teacher. And since his return to heaven, Jesus, as head of the congregation, has continued to direct the preaching and teaching work. He sees and appreciates your efforts to help as many as you can to come to know him and his Father. In fact, the only way we can accomplish this work is with the help of Jehovah and Jesus.—John 15:4. w20.04 22 ¶7-8
Tuesday, August 2
These two kings . . . will sit at one table speaking lies to each other.—Dan. 11:27.
The inputs “king of the north” and “king of the south” were initially given to political powers located north and south of the literal land of Israel. (Dan. 10:14) Until Pentecost 33 C.E., the literal nation of Israel was God’s people. From then on, however, Jehovah made it obvious that he viewed Jesus’ faithful disciples as his people. Therefore, much of the prophecy recorded in Daniel chapter 11 involves, not the literal nation of Israel, but Christ’s followers. (Acts 2:1-4; Rom. 9:6-8; Gal. 6:15, 16) And the identity of the king of the north and the king of the south changed over time. Even so, several factors remained constant. First, the kings interacted with God’s people in a significant way. Second, they showed by their treatment of God’s people that they hated the true God, Jehovah. And third, the two kings engaged in a power struggle with each other. w20.05 3 ¶3-4
Wednesday, August 3
I Will Become What I Choose to Become.—Ex. 3:14.
Jehovah makes things happen by becoming whatever is needed in order to fulfill his purpose. Jehovah can also cause his imperfect human servants to become what is needed in order to serve him and fulfill his purpose. (Isa. 64:8) In these ways, Jehovah causes his will to be carried out. Nothing can stop him from causing his purposes to be fulfilled. (Isa. 46:10, 11) We can build our appreciation for our heavenly Father by meditating on what he has done and what he has enabled us to do. For instance, when we meditate on the wonders of creation, we are filled with awe at what Jehovah has accomplished, what he has caused to come into existence. (Ps. 8:3, 4) And when we meditate on what Jehovah has caused us to become so that we can do his will, we develop deep respect for him. The name Jehovah really is awe-inspiring! It includes all that our Father is, all that he has done, and all that he will do.—Ps. 89:7, 8. w20.06 9-10 ¶6-7
Thursday, August 4
God . . . gives to all people life and breath.—Acts 17:24, 25.
Oxygen is a life-sustaining gas that is used by some living things, including us. It has been estimated that living creatures breathe in a hundred billion tons of oxygen in a year. These same creatures breathe out a waste product called carbon dioxide. Yet, these living creatures never consume all the oxygen, and the atmosphere never becomes choked with the “waste” gas, carbon dioxide. Why not? Because Jehovah also created organisms—from large trees to tiny algae—that take in carbon dioxide and give off oxygen. In a very literal way, the oxygen cycle confirms the words of today’s text. How can we develop appreciation for our amazing planet and all that it supplies? (Ps. 115:16) One way is by meditating on the things Jehovah has made. That will motivate us to thank Jehovah each day for the good things he gives us. And we show that we appreciate the earth by keeping the part of it where we live as clean as possible. w20.05 22 ¶5, 7
Friday, August 5
I will certainly sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the nations.—Ezek. 36:23.
Jehovah handled Satan’s challenge with wisdom, patience, and justice. He has also shown his almighty power in countless ways. Above all, his love shines through in all that he does. (1 John 4:8) Jehovah has worked unceasingly to sanctify his name. Satan is still slandering God’s name today. He fools people into doubting that God is powerful, just, wise, and loving. For example, Satan tries to convince people that Jehovah is not the Creator. And if people do accept that God exists, Satan attempts to make them believe that God and His standards are restrictive and unfair. He even teaches people that Jehovah is a heartless and cruel God who burns people in a fiery hell. When they believe such slander, they are more likely to take the next step—rejecting Jehovah’s righteous rule. Until Satan is completely defeated, he will target you as well. Will he succeed? w20.06 5 ¶13-15
Saturday, August 6
There is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, foreigner, Scythian, slave, or freeman; but Christ is all things and in all.—Col. 3:11.
In many congregations, there will be brothers and sisters who are struggling to learn a new language. It might be difficult for them to express their thoughts. Yet, if we look beyond their language skills, we will see their love for Jehovah and their desire to serve him. If we see these beautiful qualities, we will deeply value and respect these brothers and sisters. We will not say “I do not need you” simply because they do not speak our language fluently. (1 Cor. 12:21) Jehovah has given us the wonderful privilege of having a place in his congregation. Whether we are male or female, single or married, young or old or we speak a certain language well or hardly at all, we are precious to Jehovah and to one another. (Rom. 12:4, 5; Col. 3:10) Let us always look for ways to treasure our place and the place of others in Jehovah’s congregation. w20.08 31 ¶20-22
Sunday, August 7
Some men joined him and became believers.—Acts 17:34.
The apostle Paul did not give up on the Athenians, even though their city was filled with idolatry, sexual immorality, and pagan philosophy; nor did he let their insults discourage him. Paul himself became a Christian, although he had been “a blasphemer and a persecutor and an insolent man.” (1 Tim. 1:13) Just as Jesus saw the potential in Paul, so Paul saw the potential in the Athenians. And his confidence was not misplaced. (Acts 9:13-15) In the first century, people of all backgrounds became Jesus’ disciples. When Paul wrote to Christians living in the Grecian city of Corinth, he said that some members of that congregation had at one time been criminals or had lived shockingly immoral lifestyles. And then he added: “That is what some of you were. But you have been washed clean.” (1 Cor. 6:9-11) Would you have seen that those people had the potential to change and become disciples? w20.04 12 ¶15-16
Monday, August 8
It is enough! . . . Take my life away.—1 Ki. 19:4.
Elders should not be quick to judge those who begin to question the benefits of serving Jehovah. Rather than condemn them, elders must try to understand why they speak and act the way they do. Only then can the elders draw attention to the specific Scriptural encouragement that is needed. The prophet Elijah fled from Queen Jezebel. (1 Ki. 19:1-3) He felt that his work had served no purpose, and he wanted to die. (1 Ki. 19:10) Rather than condemn Elijah, Jehovah assured him that he was not alone, that he could trust in God’s power, and that there was still much work for him to do. Jehovah kindly listened to Elijah’s concerns and gave him new assignments. (1 Ki. 19:11-16, 18) The lesson? All of us, especially the elders, should treat Jehovah’s sheep kindly. Whether a person expresses bitterness or feels unworthy of Jehovah’s mercy, elders will listen to him as he pours out his heart. Then they will try to assure the lost sheep that Jehovah values him. w20.06 22 ¶13-14
Tuesday, August 9
A true friend shows love at all times.—Prov. 17:17.
Jehovah made us to enjoy pleasant association with friends and family members. (Ps. 133:1) Jesus had good friends. (John 15:15) The Bible describes the benefits of having true friends. (Prov. 18:24) And it tells us that it is not good for us to isolate ourselves. (Prov. 18:1) Many feel that social media is a way to have a lot of friends and to avoid feeling isolated. However, we need to be cautious about using this method of communication. Studies have found that people who spend a lot of time scrolling through social media postings might actually end up feeling lonely and depressed. Why? One possible reason is that people often post on social media photos that depict the highlights of their lives, showing selected images of themselves, their friends, and the exciting places they have been. A person who views those images might conclude that, by comparison, his or her own life is ordinary—even dull. w20.07 5-6 ¶12-13
Wednesday, August 10
The apostles and the elders gathered together to look into this matter.—Acts 15:6.
The Watchtower of October 1, 1988, stated: “Elders will recognize that Christ, by means of the holy spirit, can direct the mind of any elder on the body of elders to provide the Bible principle needed to cope with any situation or make any important decision. (Acts 15:7-15) No one elder has the monopoly of the spirit within the body.” An elder who respects his fellow elders does not always try to speak first at elders’ meetings. He does not dominate the discussion, and he does not believe that his opinion is always right. Instead, he states his viewpoint humbly and modestly. He listens carefully to the comments of others. More important, he is eager to share Scriptural principles and to listen to direction from “the faithful and discreet slave.” (Matt. 24:45-47) As elders discuss matters in an atmosphere of love and respect, God’s holy spirit will be present, and it will guide them to reach the right decisions.—Jas. 3:17, 18. w20.08 27 ¶5-6
Thursday, August 11
Keep conquering the evil with the good.—Rom. 12:21.
The apostle Paul’s enemies were vastly more powerful than he was. Often, they had him beaten and thrown into jail. Also, Paul was treated badly by people who should have been friends. Some in the Christian congregation even opposed him. (2 Cor. 12:11; Phil. 3:18) But Paul conquered all who fought against him. How? He continued preaching despite opposition. He remained loyal to his brothers and sisters even when they disappointed him. And above all, he was faithful to God to the end of his life. (2 Tim. 4:8) He overcame great odds, not because he was physically strong, but because he relied on Jehovah. Do you have to deal with insults or persecution? Your goal is to embed God’s Word in receptive minds and hearts. You can achieve that goal by relying on the Bible to answer people’s questions, by being respectful and kind to those who treat you badly, and by doing good to all, even your enemies.—Matt. 5:44; 1 Pet. 3:15-17. w20.07 17-18 ¶14-15
Friday, August 12
Your humility makes me great.—2 Sam. 22:36.
Can we really say that Jehovah is humble? Yes, we can, as David acknowledged above. (Ps. 18:35) Perhaps David was thinking of the day when the prophet Samuel came to the house of David’s father to anoint the future king of Israel. David was the youngest of eight boys; yet, he was the one whom Jehovah chose to replace King Saul. (1 Sam. 16:1, 10-13) David would certainly agree with the sentiments expressed by a psalmist who said of Jehovah: “He stoops down to look on heaven and earth, raising the lowly from the dust. He lifts up the poor . . . to make him sit with nobles.” (Ps. 113:6-8) Jehovah proves that he is humble by how he deals with imperfect human worshippers. Not only does he accept our worship but he also views us as his friends. (Ps. 25:14) In order to make friendship with him possible, Jehovah took the initiative by providing his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. What mercy—what compassion—he has shown us! w20.08 8 ¶1-3
Saturday, August 13
[Jehovah] does not desire anyone to be destroyed but desires all to attain to repentance.—2 Pet. 3:9.
Jehovah has a fixed day and hour when he will bring an end to this old system. (Matt. 24:36) He will not become impatient and act before that time. He has a longing to resurrect the dead, but he is patient. (Job 14:14, 15) He is waiting until the right time arrives to raise them to life. (John 5:28) We have good reasons to appreciate Jehovah’s patience. Just think: Because Jehovah is patient, many people, including us, have had time “to attain to repentance.” Jehovah wants as many people as possible to have the opportunity to gain everlasting life. So let us show that we appreciate his patience. How? By earnestly looking for those who are “rightly disposed for everlasting life” and helping them to love Jehovah and serve him. (Acts 13:48) Then they will benefit from Jehovah’s patience, just as we have. w20.08 18 ¶17
Sunday, August 14
Make me know your ways, O Jehovah; teach me your paths.—Ps. 25:4.
What a student learns on a Bible study should appeal not just to his mind but also to his heart. Why? Our heart—which includes our desires, emotions, and feelings—motivates us to action. Jesus used logical reasoning that appealed to the mind. But people followed him because he also stirred their heart. (Luke 24:15, 27, 32) Your student needs to see Jehovah as a real Person, someone with whom he can develop a relationship, and to see Him as his Father, his God, and his Friend. (Ps. 25:5) During the Bible study, make our God’s personality come alive. (Ex. 34:5, 6; 1 Pet. 5:6, 7) Regardless of the topic you are discussing, focus attention on the kind of Person Jehovah is. Help the student to appreciate Jehovah’s beautiful qualities—his love, kindness, and compassion. Jesus said that “the greatest and first commandment” is to “love Jehovah your God.” (Matt. 22:37, 38) Try to instill deep love for God in your student’s heart. w20.10 10 ¶12
Monday, August 15
Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.—John 11:5.
Jesus treated all women with dignity. (John 4:27) Jesus, however, had special regard for women who did the will of his Father. Significantly, he viewed them as sisters and mentioned them along with the men whom he viewed as part of his spiritual family. (Matt. 12:50) Jesus also was a true friend to them. Consider his friendship with Mary and Martha, both of whom were apparently single. (Luke 10:38-42) By his words and actions, Jesus obviously made them feel comfortable. Mary felt welcome to sit at his feet as a disciple. And Martha, disturbed because Mary was not helping, felt free to tell Jesus what was on her mind. In that informal setting, Jesus was able to help both women spiritually. And he showed his care for these women and their brother, Lazarus, by visiting with them on other occasions. (John 12:1-3) It is no wonder that when Lazarus fell seriously ill, Mary and Martha knew that they could turn to Jesus for help.—John 11:3. w20.09 20 ¶3; 21 ¶6
Tuesday, August 16
They thought that the Kingdom of God was going to appear instantly.—Luke 19:11.
Jesus’ disciples hoped that the Kingdom would “appear instantly” and rescue them from Roman oppression. We yearn for the day when God’s Kingdom will remove wickedness and usher in the new world of righteousness. (2 Pet. 3:13) However, we need to be patient and wait on Jehovah’s appointed time. Jehovah allowed Noah sufficient time to build the ark and to serve as “a preacher of righteousness.” (2 Pet. 2:5; 1 Pet. 3:20) Jehovah listened as Abraham repeatedly questioned him about His decision to destroy the inhabitants of the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. (Gen. 18:20-33) For centuries, Jehovah was extraordinarily patient with the unfaithful nation of Israel. (Neh. 9:30, 31) We see evidence of Jehovah’s patience today as he allows time for all whom he draws “to attain to repentance.” (2 Pet. 3:9; John 6:44; 1 Tim. 2:3, 4) Jehovah’s example gives us good reason to exercise patience as we continue to preach and teach. w20.09 10 ¶8-9
Wednesday, August 17
There is going to be a resurrection.—Acts 24:15.
When Jehovah resurrects people, he will restore their memories and the personality traits that made them who they were. Just think of what that implies. Jehovah loves you so much that he is keeping track of all that you think, feel, say, and do. So if he had to resurrect you, he would easily be able to restore your memories, attitude, and personality traits. King David was aware of just how interested Jehovah is in each one of us. (Ps. 139:1-4) In what way can understanding how well Jehovah knows us affect us now? When we meditate on how well Jehovah knows us, we should not feel worried. Why not? Remember that Jehovah deeply cares for us. He cherishes the traits that make each one of us unique. He carefully notes the experiences in our life that make us who we are. What a comforting thought! Never should we feel that we are alone. Each minute of every day, Jehovah is right beside us, looking for opportunities to help us.—2 Chron. 16:9. w20.08 17 ¶13-14
Thursday, August 18
I will give you insight and instruct you in the way you should go.—Ps. 32:8.
Jehovah takes great pleasure in educating his people. He wants them to know him, to love him, and to live forever as his beloved children. All of this would be impossible without the education he provides. (John 17:3) Jehovah used the first-century Christian congregation to educate his people. (Col. 1:9, 10) Holy spirit—the “helper” that Jesus had promised—played a major role. (John 14:16) It gave the disciples more insight into God’s Word, and it brought back to their mind the many things Jesus said and did, as later recorded in the Gospels. This knowledge strengthened the early Christians’ faith as well as their love for God, for his Son, and for one another. Jehovah foretold that “in the final part of the days,” people of all nations would flock to his figurative mountain to be instructed about his ways. (Isa. 2:2, 3) We are seeing that prophecy being fulfilled. w20.10 24 ¶14-15
Friday, August 19
A man of understanding acquires skillful direction.—Prov. 1:5.
What could cause someone to reject good counsel from a loving friend? Pride. Proud people like “to have their ears tickled.” They “turn away from listening to the truth.” (2 Tim. 4:3, 4) They have an inflated view of their own opinion and worth. However, the apostle Paul wrote: “If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he is deceiving himself.” (Gal. 6:3) King Solomon summed up the matter well. He wrote: “Better is a poor but wise child than an old but stupid king, who no longer has enough sense to heed a warning.” (Eccl. 4:13) Note the example set by the apostle Peter when he was publicly corrected by the apostle Paul. (Gal. 2:11-14) Peter could have resented what Paul said, focusing on the way he said it and where he chose to say it. But Peter was wise. He accepted the counsel and did not nurse a grudge against Paul. Instead, he later referred to Paul as a “beloved brother.”—2 Pet. 3:15. w20.11 21 ¶9, 11-12
Saturday, August 20
Make disciples . . . , teaching them.—Matt. 28:19, 20.
What will greatly help Bible students to make spiritual progress? Attending our Christian meetings. The Scriptural instruction given at the meetings will deepen their knowledge, strengthen their faith, and help them to grow in their love for God. (Acts 15:30-32) Also, a publisher may tell the student how his own growing love for Jehovah moved him to obey God’s commandments. (2 Cor. 7:1; Phil. 4:13) And when Bible students get to know a variety of faithful publishers, the students learn from their examples what it means to observe Christ’s command to love God and neighbor. (John 13:35; 1 Tim. 4:12) They see that publishers deal with challenges that are similar to the ones they face and learn that the changes they need to make to become a disciple of Christ are within reach. (Deut. 30:11) Each one in the congregation can contribute in various ways to the spiritual progress of Bible students.—Matt. 5:16. w20.11 5 ¶10-12
Sunday, August 21
I have fought with wild beasts at Ephesus.—1 Cor. 15:32.
Perhaps the apostle Paul was alluding to his fighting real animals at an arena in Ephesus. (2 Cor. 1:8; 4:10; 11:23) Or he may have been referring to hostile Jews and others who were like “wild beasts.” (Acts 19:26-34; 1 Cor. 16:9) Whichever it was, Paul faced serious perils. Yet, he still had a positive outlook on the future. (1 Cor. 15:30, 31; 2 Cor. 4:16-18) We are living in dangerous times. Some of our brothers have been victims of crime. Others live in war-torn areas where their safety is far from guaranteed. Still others serve Jehovah at the risk of their life or freedom in lands where the preaching work is restricted or even banned. Yet, all these brothers and sisters persevere in their worship of Jehovah, becoming examples for us. They are secure in the knowledge that even if they lose their life at the present time, Jehovah has something far better in mind for them in the future. w20.12 9 ¶3-4
Monday, August 22
We are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field under cultivation, God’s building.—1 Cor. 3:9.
Have you at some point felt discouraged because your territory seems to be unproductive or because few people are found at home? In such a situation, what can be done to maintain or increase our joy? It is important to have the right view of the ministry. What does that involve? Keep your focus on proclaiming God’s name and Kingdom. Jesus made it plain that relatively few will find the path to life. (Matt. 7:13, 14) When we are in the ministry, we have the honor of working with Jehovah, Jesus, and the angels. (Matt. 28:19, 20; Rev. 14:6, 7) Jehovah draws those who are deserving. (John 6:44) So if a person does not respond well to our message this time, he may listen the next time we call. “Discouragement can be a formidable weapon used by Satan,” notes a sister named Deborah. But Satan’s weapons are no match for Jehovah God. w20.12 26 ¶18-19; 27 ¶21
Tuesday, August 23
Let us continue loving one another, because love is from God.—1 John 4:7.
Many loyal Christians must work at secular jobs full-time so that they can support themselves and their families. Even so, these faithful publishers support God’s organization in any way they can. For instance, some are able to provide disaster relief, others can work on construction projects, and everyone has the opportunity to donate funds to the worldwide work. They do these things because they love God and their fellow man. Each week, we prove that we love our brothers and sisters by attending congregation meetings and participating in them. Although we may be tired, we are present at those meetings. Although we may be nervous, we comment. And although we all have problems of our own, we encourage others before or after the meeting. (Heb. 10:24, 25) How grateful we are for the work done by our fellow publishers! w21.01 10 ¶11
Wednesday, August 24
Let us not become egotistical.—Gal. 5:26.
Proud people find it difficult to commend others, preferring that they themselves receive praise. They are more likely to compare themselves with others and to promote a spirit of competition. Rather than training others and giving them authority, they are likely to say, “If you want something done right”—the way that pleases them—“you have to do it yourself.” A proud person is often ambitious and jealous. If we detect that we have a problem with pride, we should earnestly pray for Jehovah’s help to ‘make our mind over’ so that this bad trait does not become deeply rooted within us. (Rom. 12:2) How thankful we are for Jehovah’s example! (Ps. 18:35) We see his humility in how he deals with his servants, and we want to imitate him. In addition, we want to imitate the fine examples found in the Bible of modest people who had the privilege of walking with God. May we always give Jehovah the honor and the glory that he deserves.—Rev. 4:11. w20.08 13 ¶19-20
Thursday, August 25
Those who [marry] will have tribulation in their flesh.—1 Cor. 7:28.
Marriage is a perfect gift from God, but people are imperfect. (1 John 1:8) That is why God’s Word warns married couples that they will face challenges that are described as “tribulation in their flesh.” Jehovah expects Christian husbands to care for the spiritual, emotional, and material needs of their family. (1 Tim. 5:8) However, married sisters have to take time from their busy schedule each day to read God’s Word and meditate on it and to turn to Jehovah in earnest prayer. This can be a challenge. Wives are busy, but it is vital that they take the time. Why? Because Jehovah wants each one of us to develop and maintain a personal relationship with him. (Acts 17:27) Understandably, a wife may have to work hard to be submissive to her imperfect husband. However, she will find it easier to fulfill the assignment Jehovah has given her if she understands and accepts the Scriptural reasons why she should be submissive. w21.02 9 ¶3, 6-7
Friday, August 26
This tested quality of your faith produces endurance.—Jas. 1:3.
Trials can be likened to the fire that is used to forge a blade of steel. When the blade is heated and cooled, the steel becomes stronger. Similarly, when we endure trials, our faith is strengthened. That is why James wrote: “Let endurance complete its work, so that you may be complete and sound in all respects.” (Jas. 1:4) When we see that our trials make our faith stronger, we can endure them with joy. In his letter, James also identifies some of the things that could cause us to lose our joy. One challenge is not knowing what to do. When undergoing a trial, we want to look to Jehovah for help to make choices that please him, benefit our brothers and sisters, and help us to keep our own integrity. (Jer. 10:23) We need wisdom to know what course to take and what we should say to those who oppose us. If we do not know what to do, we may feel that we are helpless victims of our circumstances, and we could quickly lose our joy. w21.02 28 ¶7-9
Saturday, August 27
Love one another intensely from the heart.—1 Pet. 1:22.
Jehovah sets the example for us. His love is so intense that if we are loyal to him, nothing can break that bond. (Rom. 8:38, 39) The Greek word rendered “intensely” conveys the idea of stretching outward—even straining. At times, we may need to “stretch” and “strain” in order to have tender affection for a fellow believer. When others upset us, we need to continue “putting up with one another in love, earnestly endeavoring to maintain the oneness of the spirit in the uniting bond of peace.” (Eph. 4:1-3) We will look beyond our brothers’ faults and try our best to view our brothers as Jehovah does. (1 Sam. 16:7; Ps. 130:3) It is not always easy to show tender affection for our brothers and sisters, especially when we are aware of their faults. Apparently, this was a challenge for some first-century Christians, as was the case with Euodia and Syntyche. The apostle Paul urged them “to be of the same mind in the Lord.”—Phil. 4:2, 3. w21.01 22-23 ¶10-11
Sunday, August 28
I write you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God remains in you and you have conquered the wicked one.—1 John 2:14.
Older ones deeply appreciate you young men who serve Jehovah “shoulder to shoulder” with them! (Zeph. 3:9) They love your zealous spirit and the energetic, enthusiastic way you do the work you are given. You have found favor in their eyes. Young brothers, never forget that Jehovah loves and trusts you. He foretold that during the last days, there would be an army of young men who would offer themselves willingly. (Ps. 110:1-3) He knows that you love him and want to serve him to the best of your ability. So be patient with others, and be patient with yourself. When you make mistakes, accept the training and discipline that you receive, viewing it as coming from Jehovah. (Heb. 12:6) Diligently care for any assignments you are given. And above all, in everything you do, make your heavenly Father proud of you.—Prov. 27:11. w21.03 7 ¶17-18
Monday, August 29
If you become discouraged in times of trouble, your strength will be meager.—Prov. 24:10, ftn.
We can become discouraged by many things—some internal, some external. The causes may include imperfections, weaknesses, and ill health. They may also include our not receiving a desired assignment in Jehovah’s service or our having to witness in a territory that seems unresponsive. It would be easy for us to develop an unbalanced view of our imperfections and weaknesses. As a result, we might believe that because of our failings, Jehovah would never welcome us into his new world. Such an attitude can be harmful. The Bible reveals that, with the exception of Jesus Christ, all humans “have sinned.” (Rom. 3:23) But the Bible’s Author is not a faultfinder or perfectionist. Rather, he is a loving Father who wants to help us. He is also patient. He sees how we struggle to fight our weaknesses and overcome an unbalanced view of ourselves, and he is ready to help us.—Rom. 7:18, 19. w20.12 22 ¶1-3
Tuesday, August 30
Finally, brothers, continue to rejoice, to be readjusted.—2 Cor. 13:11.
All of us are on a journey. Our destination, or goal, is to live in the new world under Jehovah’s loving rulership. Each day, we try to follow the path that leads to life. But as Jesus said, that road is cramped and at times difficult to follow. (Matt. 7:13, 14) We are imperfect, and it is easy for us to stray from this path. (Gal. 6:1) If we are to stay on the cramped road to life, we must be willing to adjust our thinking, attitude, and actions. The apostle Paul encourages us “to be readjusted.” When we try to examine our own thoughts and feelings, we face a challenge. Our heart is treacherous, and that can make it difficult for us to know where it might be leading us. (Jer. 17:9) It is easy to deceive ourselves with “false reasoning.” (Jas. 1:22) So we must use God’s Word to examine ourselves. God’s Word reveals what we are on the inside, the innermost “thoughts and intentions” of our heart.—Heb. 4:12, 13. w20.11 18 ¶1-3
Wednesday, August 31
In showing honor to one another, take the lead.—Rom. 12:10.
When we are humble and modest, we are more likely to be joyful. Why so? When we are aware of our limitations, we will be grateful and happy for any help that we receive from others. For example, think of the occasion when Jesus healed ten lepers. Only one of them returned to thank Jesus for curing him of his dreadful disease—something the man could never have done on his own. This humble and modest man was thankful for the help he received, and he glorified God for it. (Luke 17:11-19) Humble, modest people tend to get along well with others and are more likely to have close friends. Why? They willingly acknowledge that other people have fine qualities and show confidence in them. Humble and modest ones are happy when others succeed in whatever assignment they receive and are quick to commend them and honor them. w20.08 12 ¶17-18 |
When Were the Accounts About Jesus Written? | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/502012493 | When Were the Accounts About Jesus Written?
The Bible’s answer
Regarding his record of the events in Jesus’ life, the apostle John wrote: “He that has seen it has borne witness, and his witness is true, and that man knows he tells true things, in order that you also may believe.”—John 19:35.
One reason to trust the Gospel accounts recorded by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John is that they were written while many eyewitnesses to the events they describe were still alive. According to some sources, the Gospel of Matthew was written as early as the eighth year after Christ’s death, that is, about 41 C.E. Many scholars favor a somewhat later date, but there is general agreement that all the books of the Christian Greek Scriptures were written during the first century C.E.
People who saw Jesus while he was alive on earth, witnessed his death, and observed his resurrection could verify the Gospel accounts. They could also easily expose any inaccuracies if there had been such. Professor F. F. Bruce observes: “One of the strong points in the original apostolic preaching is the confident appeal to the knowledge of the hearers; they not only said, ‘We are witnesses of these things,’ but also, ‘As you yourselves also know’ (Acts 2:22).” |
“Kingdom Come” (kc)
1981 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/kc | Chapter 6
Reaching Out for the Kingdom
1. (a) With regard to government, what does Jehovah offer in contrast to what humans have provided? (b) Why may we safely build our lives around God’s Word?
WHEN something desirable is offered to you, how do you respond? Do you not reach out for it? Well, Jehovah God is presenting you with the opportunity of everlasting life under a perfect government. It is true that, in government today, many politicians are corrupt and their promises are often worthless. Even if they are well intentioned, humans have proved to be incapable of providing good government independent of God’s sovereignty. (Proverbs 20:24) But all along, God has been taking progressive steps leading to the establishment of his perfect Kingdom government, and he invites lovers of righteousness to benefit from it. His purpose is trustworthy and true. He cannot lie. We can safely build our lives around his Word.—Revelation 21:1-5; Titus 1:2.
2. (a) When and how did God state his purpose to establish a righteous kingdom? (b) What does Hebrews 11:4-7 reveal as to those who reached out for the Kingdom hope?
2 God’s purpose to establish a kingdom of righteousness is not new. In Eden, when God’s sovereignty was first called in question, God stated his purpose to produce a “seed” that would “crush” Satan and his brood. (Genesis 3:15; Romans 16:20) Amid the violence of that ancient world, Abel, Enoch and Noah showed faith in that promise of Jehovah. Confident that God would reward “those earnestly seeking him,” they endured reproaches, choosing to ‘walk with God’ and to preach righteousness. (Hebrews 11:4-7) What fine examples for all today who exercise faith in the ‘coming’ of God’s kingdom!
A REMARKABLE FAMILY LINE
3. According to Genesis 12:1-7, how was Abraham a splendid model for us?
3 More than 400 years after the Flood, God made it clear that the promised kingly “seed” would come from the family line of Abraham. But why Abraham? Because God saw in him outstanding faith. He called Abraham out of his native city, Ur of the Chaldeans, and sent him to a strange land, Canaan, saying:
“All the families of the ground will certainly bless themselves by means of you, . . . to your seed I am going to give this land.” (Genesis 12:3, 7; Acts 7:4)
Rather than cling to the nation of his birth, Abraham left it, never to return. He was willing to make a complete change in his life-style, in order to render unqualified obedience to the Sovereign Lord Jehovah. A splendid model, indeed, for all who would pursue a life of dedication to Jehovah today!
4. How was Sarah blessed because of her faith? (Hebrews 11:11, 12)
4 Though his wife, Sarah, remained barren into her old age, Jehovah later reassured Abraham, telling him: “I will bless her and she shall become nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” (Genesis 17:16) At 90 years of age, faithful Sarah was blessed in miraculously bearing Abraham a son, Isaac, the forefather of many kings.—Matthew 1:2, 6-11, 16; Revelation 17:14.
5. How was the obedience of Abraham and Isaac rewarded?
5 In the course of time, Jehovah put both Abraham and Isaac to a searching test. He instructed Abraham to take his only son by Sarah some three days’ journey to Mount Moriah, there to sacrifice him as a burnt offering. By now Isaac quite likely was about 25 years of age and strong enough to carry the heavy load of firewood up the mountain; strong enough also to resist his 125-year-old father, had he wanted to do so. But father and son obediently acted out their parts in this stirring drama, to the point when Jehovah’s angel stayed Abraham’s hand as he raised the slaughtering knife. A ram replaced Isaac as the victim.—Genesis 22:1-14.
6. (a) What prophetic pattern was there enacted? (b) Why should the promise at Genesis 22:18 be of special interest to you?
6 Here God was making a prophetic pattern of how he would sacrifice his own Son, in order to take away the sin of the world of mankind. (John 1:29; Galatians 3:16) For God then told Abraham:
“By means of your seed all nations of the earth will certainly bless themselves due to the fact that you have listened to my voice.”—Genesis 22:15-18.
7. What course on our part will Jehovah reward?
7 What outstanding examples of obedience were Abraham and Isaac! We may never be called upon to make their kind of sacrifice, but it is important that we submit ourselves to Jehovah as they did, out of genuine love for him. (James 4:7; 2 Corinthians 9:13) Willingness to sacrifice self and selfish interests, in order to reach out for ‘the Kingdom to come,’ is a course that Jehovah always approves and rewards.—Matthew 6:33.
8. (a) How did the course of Jacob contrast with that of Esau? (b) What blessing did Isaac bestow on Jacob?
8 Isaac’s son Jacob was another person who reached out for the Kingdom. But his twin brother Esau despised sacred things, getting interested in Canaanite women and in selfish materialism. And he sold his precious birthright to Jacob for a mere dish of stew! (Hebrews 12:16) The spiritually minded Jacob thought highly of the birthright, and Jehovah directed matters so that he could retain that prize, even to receiving the aged Isaac’s blessing. Esau had married demon-worshiping women, but in contrast Jacob made the long journey to Mesopotamia to seek a wife from among Jehovah’s worshipers. At that time Isaac reassured Jacob with the words:
“God Almighty will bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, and you will certainly become a congregation of peoples.”—Genesis 25:27-34; 26:34, 35; 27:1-23; 28:1-4.
9. (a) Why was Jacob’s name changed to Israel? (b) How may we benefit from his example?
9 Later, when he was close to 100 years of age, Jacob again showed how highly he valued spiritual things. He wrestled with an angel all night for a blessing. As a token of His favor, Jehovah there changed Jacob’s name to Israel, meaning “Perseverer with God.” (Genesis 32:24-30) We will be rewarded today, also, if we persevere in reaching out for spiritual riches, while avoiding the spirit of the wicked world around us.—Matthew 6:19-21.
10. (a) How was the prophecy at Genesis 28:3 fulfilled? (b) As to individual faithfulness, what are some of the heartwarming examples at Hebrews 11:1–12:1?
10 Jehovah did indeed organize Jacob’s descendants as a “congregation of peoples,” and through His mediator Moses, whom He used also to start writing down the Bible, God called to that nation of Israel, saying:
“If you will strictly obey my voice . . . you yourselves will become to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:5, 6)
Unhappily, because of not obeying God’s voice, fleshly Israel failed to become that spiritual kingdom. But in association with that nation, many individuals proved their integrity to God—such as the judges in Israel, the prophets and even a former harlot, Rahab. We can read about those faithful “witnesses” at Hebrews 11:1–12:1, and what warm encouragement they provide for persons who are looking, in modern times, for ‘God’s kingdom to come’!
11. How may you be like those faithful witnesses?
11 Do you want to become strong in faith? Do you want now to be like those men and women of faith in “reaching out for a better place, that is, one belonging to heaven,” yes, reaching out for “the city having real foundations, the builder and maker of which city is God”? (Hebrews 11:10, 16) ‘But,’ you may ask, ‘what is that “city”?’
THE CITY BUILT BY GOD
12. For what “city” were those ancient servants of God reaching out? (See also Hebrews 11:22-32; Ruth 1:8, 16, 17.)
12 That “city” is the promised kingdom of God. Why do we say so? Well, in ancient times it was often true that a city was a kingdom, ruled over by a king. The first king mentioned with approval in the Bible was “Melchizedek, king of [the city of] Salem, priest of the Most High God.” Centuries later, the city of Jerusalem was built upon that same site, and, like Salem, it came to picture the heavenly kingdom in the hands of the great King and High Priest, Jesus Christ. (Genesis 14:1-20; Hebrews 7:1, 2, 15-17; 12:22, 28) Though they did not know the details then, Abraham and Sarah, as well as Isaac and Jacob, were earnestly seeking “the city” over which the Messiah would rule as king. Abraham “rejoiced greatly in the prospect.” You, too, can find joy as in faith you reach out for a place in that Kingdom arrangement.—Hebrews 11:14-16; John 8:56.
13, 14. How did Jacob’s deathbed prophecy begin to have fulfillment?
13 Jacob fathered 12 sons, who in due course became the heads of the 12 tribes of Israel. On his deathbed, Jacob foretold which of the 12 tribes would produce God’s ruler with Kingdom authority, saying:
“A lion cub Judah is. . . . The scepter will not turn aside from Judah . . . until Shiloh [meaning, He Whose It Is] comes; and to him the obedience of the peoples will belong.” (Genesis 49:9, 10)
Did Shiloh come from Judah? Why, yes!
14 The fulfillment of Jacob’s prophecy began to unfold more than 600 years later. It was then that Jehovah chose, from the tribe of Judah, “a man agreeable to his heart.” His name was David. God made this courageous ‘lion of Judah’ leader and king over His people Israel. (1 Samuel 13:14; 16:7, 12, 13; 1 Chronicles 14:17) To King David, Jehovah promised an everlasting kingdom.—Psalm 89:20, 27-29.
15. Why did Jehovah overturn the Judean kingdom, and for how long?
15 David, who commenced his reign in 1077 B.C.E., was the first of a dynasty of Judean kings that ruled in the city of Jerusalem. The nation prospered whenever its king willingly obeyed Jehovah. But when a king became wicked and rebelled against Jehovah’s righteous laws, the people suffered. (Proverbs 29:2) The last king of Judah, Zedekiah, was very wicked. To him, God’s prophet declared: “‘Lift off the crown. . . . A ruin, a ruin, a ruin I shall make it . . . until he comes who has the legal right, and I must give it to him.’” The Sovereign Lord Jehovah overturned that kingdom, until a king with “legal right” would appear.—Ezekiel 21:26, 27.
THE KING WITH “LEGAL RIGHT”
16. How do the Scriptures identify the permanent heir of the Kingdom?
16 Who would inherit the “legal right” to the Davidic kingdom? The first Mt 1:1-17 verses of the Bible book of Matthew supply the answer. They trace the line of the promised “seed” from Abraham to David, and then down to Joseph, who in due course became husband to Mary. Thus Mary’s firstborn son would have the “legal right” to the Kingdom. Early in the year 2 B.C.E., the angel Gabriel could therefore announce concerning the son to be conceived miraculously in her womb:
“You are to call his name Jesus. This one will be great and will be called Son of the Most High; and Jehovah God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule as king over the house of Jacob forever, and there will be no end of his kingdom.” (Luke 1:26-33)
Grandly through the centuries Jehovah had been working out his purpose to bring forth this permanent heir to David’s kingdom. As we review these things, do they not strengthen our faith in God’s promise of his ‘kingdom to come’?
17, 18. (a) Who only will inherit the heavenly kingdom? (b) Who are some of the faithful ones to be resurrected on earth? (c) What should this realization encourage us to do?
17 It is not that all of us can expect to be in the heavenly kingdom with Jesus, for that opportunity is reserved for only a “little flock” of his disciples. (Luke 12:32) Even King David did not have such a hope. We are told: “Actually David did not ascend to the heavens.” (Acts 2:34) Nor do John the Baptizer and other faithful men and women of ancient times enter “the kingdom of the heavens.”—Matthew 11:11; Hebrews 11:39, 40.
18 However, such faithful integrity-keepers will be resurrected right here on this earth, many of them to become “princes” in God’s Kingdom arrangement. (Psalm 45:16) Would you not like to welcome them back from the grave and to enjoy rich fellowship with them? Surely you would! Then be resolved, also, to reach out for that “city” by becoming “fellow workers for the kingdom of God” with all others today who appreciate that grand opportunity.—Colossians 4:11.
[Pictures on page 52, 53]
THEY REACHED OUT FOR GOD’S KINGDOM
ABEL c. 3900 B.C.E.
NOAH 2970-2020 B.C.E.
ABRAHAM, SARAH, ISAAC, JACOB 2018-1711 B.C.E.
JOSEPH 1767-1657 B.C.E.
MOSES 1593-1473 B.C.E.
RAHAB 1473 B.C.E.
JUDGES 1473-1117 B.C.E.
RUTH, NAOMI c. 1300 B.C.E.
DAVID 1107-1037 B.C.E.
PROPHETS 1117-442 B.C.E.
JOHN THE BAPTIZER 2 B.C.E.-31 C.E. |
Sing Praises (ssb)
1984 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/Ssb | Song 31
Zeal for Jehovah’s House
(John 2:17)
1. For Jehovah’s house Christ Jesus
Showed a zeal beyond compare.
Like a fire it burned within him
As wrongdoing he laid bare.
And he came to preach salvation,
Kingdom truths to men reveal.
For his Father’s reputation
He was eaten up with zeal.
2. The apostles and disciples
For fine works were zealous too.
With the help of holy spirit,
How their congregations grew!
They did not hold back from preaching,
And from house to house they went.
Ev’rywhere they preached salvation,
Telling men they should repent.
3. And today we see a people
With a zeal for righteousness.
Nothing dampens their fine spirit
In this world of lawlessness.
They are spurred on by Jehovah;
It’s for him they work whole-souled.
They advance with Kingdom preaching,
Ever zealous, ever bold. |
Reasoning (rs)
1989 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/library/r1/lp-e/all-publications/books/reasoning-rs | Organization
Definition: An association or society of persons whose efforts are coordinated for a particular work or purpose. Members of an organization are united by administrative arrangements and by standards or requirements. Persons who are dedicated and baptized witnesses of Jehovah come into Jehovah’s organization as a result of personal choice, not by birth nor by any compulsion. They have been drawn to his earthly organization because of its teachings and practices and because they want to share in the work that it is doing.
Does Jehovah really have an organization here on earth?
To answer that question, consider the following:
Are God’s heavenly creatures, the angels, organized?
Dan. 7:9, 10: “I kept on beholding until there were thrones placed and the Ancient of Days sat down. His clothing was white just like snow, and the hair of his head was like clean wool. His throne was flames of fire; its wheels were a burning fire. There was a stream of fire flowing and going out from before him. There were a thousand thousands that kept ministering to him, and ten thousand times ten thousand that kept standing right before him. The Court took its seat, and there were books that were opened.”
Ps. 103:20, 21: “Bless Jehovah, O you angels of his, mighty in power, carrying out his word, by listening to the voice of his word. Bless Jehovah, all you armies of his, you ministers of his, doing his will.” (An “army” is an organized group.)
How did God convey instructions to his servants on earth in times past?
When worshipers of Jehovah were few in number, he gave directions to family heads such as Noah and Abraham, and they then acted as Jehovah’s spokesmen to their families. (Gen. 7:1, 7; 12:1-5) When Jehovah delivered the Israelites from Egypt, he gave them directions through Moses. (Ex. 3:10) At Mount Sinai, God organized the people into a nation, providing laws and regulations to govern their worship and their relations with one another. (Ex. 24:12) He established a priesthood to take the lead in matters of worship and to instruct the people in Jehovah’s requirements; at times he also raised up prophets to deliver needed exhortation and warning to the people. (Deut. 33:8, 10; Jer. 7:24, 25) Thus, although Jehovah listened to the prayers of individual worshipers, he provided instruction for them through an organizational arrangement.
As the time neared for Jehovah to begin to unify true worshipers with himself by means of Jesus Christ, God sent him to earth to act as His spokesman. (Heb. 1:1, 2) Then with the outpouring of holy spirit at Pentecost of 33 C.E., the Christian congregation was brought into existence. After Jesus had returned to heaven, this congregation became Jehovah’s arrangement for instructing and for coordinating the efforts of individual Christians. There were overseers to take the lead in local congregations, and a central governing body made necessary decisions and helped to coordinate activity. Clearly, Jehovah had brought into existence an organization on earth made up of true Christians.—Acts 14:23; 16:4, 5; Gal. 2:7-10.
Do Jehovah’s works of physical creation indicate that he is a God of organization?
Isa. 40:26: “Raise your eyes high up and see. Who has created these things? It is the One who is bringing forth the army of them even by number, all of whom he calls even by name. Due to the abundance of dynamic energy, he also being vigorous in power, not one of them is missing.” (The stars are grouped into galaxies and move in relation to one another, even though the characteristics of the individual stars differ. The planets move with precision timing, in assigned orbits. The electrons found in every atom of every element also have orbits. And the structure of all matter follows mathematical patterns that are so consistent that it was possible for scientists to predict the existence of certain elements before they actually discovered them. All of this gives evidence of extraordinary organization.)
Does the Bible show that true Christians would be an organized people?
Matt. 24:14; 28:19, 20: “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.” “Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them . . . teaching them.” (How would this be accomplished without organization? When Jesus trained his early disciples for this work, He did not simply tell each one to go wherever he desired and to share his faith in whatever way he chose. He trained them, gave them instructions and sent them out in an organized manner. See Luke 8:1; 9:1-6; 10:1-16.)
Heb. 10:24, 25: “Let us consider one another to incite to love and fine works, not forsaking the gathering of ourselves together, as some have the custom, but encouraging one another, and all the more so as you behold the day drawing near.” (But to where would a person direct interested ones so they could obey this command if there were no organization with regular meetings where they could gather?)
1 Cor. 14:33, 40: “God is a God, not of disorder, but of peace. . . . Let all things take place decently and by arrangement.” (The apostle Paul is here discussing orderly procedure at congregation meetings. Applying this inspired counsel requires respect for organization.)
1 Pet. 2:9, 17: “But you are ‘a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for special possession, that you should declare abroad the excellencies’ of the one that called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. . . . Have love for the whole association of brothers.” (An association of people whose efforts are directed to accomplish a particular work is an organization.)
Are those who are faithful servants of God simply individuals who are scattered in the various churches of Christendom?
2 Cor. 6:15-18: “What portion does a faithful person have with an unbeliever? . . . ‘Therefore get out from among them, and separate yourselves,’ says Jehovah, ‘and quit touching the unclean thing’; ‘and I will take you in.’ ‘And I shall be a father to you, and you will be sons and daughters to me,’ says Jehovah the Almighty.” (Is a person really a faithful servant of God if he continues to share in worship with those who show by their way of life that they really are unbelievers? See the main heading “Babylon the Great.”)
1 Cor. 1:10: “Now I exhort you, brothers, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you should all speak in agreement, and that there should not be divisions among you, but that you may be fitly united in the same mind and in the same line of thought.” (Such unity does not exist among the varied churches of Christendom.)
John 10:16: “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; those also I must bring, and they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock, one shepherd.” (Since Jesus would bring such ones into “one flock,” is it not obvious that they could not be scattered in Christendom’s religions?)
How can Jehovah’s visible organization in our day be identified?
(1) It truly exalts Jehovah as the only true God, magnifying his name.—Matt. 4:10; John 17:3.
(2) It fully recognizes the vital role of Jesus Christ in Jehovah’s purpose—as the vindicator of Jehovah’s sovereignty, the Chief Agent of life, the head of the Christian congregation, the ruling Messianic King.—Rev. 19:11-13; 12:10; Acts 5:31; Eph. 1:22, 23.
(3) It adheres closely to God’s inspired Word, basing all its teachings and standards of conduct on the Bible.—2 Tim. 3:16, 17.
(4) It keeps separate from the world.—Jas. 1:27; 4:4.
(5) It maintains a high level of moral cleanness among its members, because Jehovah himself is holy.—1 Pet. 1:15, 16; 1 Cor. 5:9-13.
(6) It devotes its principal efforts to doing the work that the Bible foretold for our day, namely, the preaching of the good news of God’s Kingdom in all the world for a witness.—Matt. 24:14.
(7) Despite human imperfections, its members cultivate and produce the fruits of God’s spirit—love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, mildness, self-control—doing so to such a degree that it sets them apart from the world in general.—Gal. 5:22, 23; John 13:35.
How can we show respect for Jehovah’s organization?
1 Cor. 10:31: “Do all things for God’s glory.”
Heb. 13:17: “Be obedient to those who are taking the lead among you and be submissive, for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will render an account.”
Jas. 1:22: “Become doers of the word, and not hearers only.”
Titus 2:11, 12: “The undeserved kindness of God which brings salvation to all sorts of men has been manifested, instructing us to repudiate ungodliness and worldly desires and to live with soundness of mind and righteousness and godly devotion.”
1 Pet. 2:17: “Have love for the whole association of brothers.” |
Proclaimers (jv)
1993 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/jv | Chapter 8
Declaring the Good News Without Letup (1942-1975)
“TO ALL LOVERS OF THE THEOCRACY:
On January 8, 1942, our beloved brother, J. F. Rutherford, faithfully finished his earthly course . . . To him it was a joy and comfort to see and know that all the witnesses of the Lord are following, not any man, but the King Christ Jesus as their Leader, and that they will move on in the work in complete unity of action.”—A letter announcing the death of Brother Rutherford.a
NEWS of Brother Rutherford’s death came as a momentary shock to Jehovah’s Witnesses around the world. Many knew that he had been ill, but they did not expect him to die so soon. They were saddened over the loss of their dear brother but were determined to “move on in the work”—the work of proclaiming God’s Kingdom. They did not view J. F. Rutherford as their leader. Charles E. Wagner, who had worked in Brother Rutherford’s office, observed: “The brothers everywhere had developed a strong conviction that Jehovah’s work did not depend on any man.” Still, someone was needed to shoulder the responsibilities that Brother Rutherford had carried as president of the Watch Tower Society.
“Determined to Keep Close to the Lord”
It was Brother Rutherford’s heartfelt wish that Jehovah’s Witnesses declare the good news without letup. So in mid-December 1941, several weeks before his death, he called together four directors of the two principal legal corporations used by Jehovah’s Witnesses and suggested that as soon after his death as possible, all the members of the two boards be called in joint session and a president and a vice president be elected.
On the afternoon of January 13, 1942, just five days after Rutherford’s death, all the board members of the two corporations met jointly at Brooklyn Bethel. Several days earlier, the Society’s vice president, 36-year-old Nathan H. Knorr, had suggested that they earnestly seek divine wisdom by prayer and meditation. The board members recognized that while the brother elected president would administer the legal affairs of the Watch Tower Society, he would also serve as a principal overseer of the organization. Who had the needed spiritual qualifications for this weighty responsibility in caring for Jehovah’s work? The joint meeting was opened with prayer, and after careful consideration, Brother Knorr was unanimously elected president of the two corporations and 30-year-old Hayden C. Covington, the Society’s lawyer, vice president.b
Later that day, W. E. Van Amburgh, the Society’s secretary-treasurer, announced to the Bethel family the results of the election. R. E. Abrahamson, who was present on that occasion, recalled that Van Amburgh said: ‘I can remember when C. T. Russell died and was replaced by J. F. Rutherford. The Lord continued to direct and prosper His work. Now, I fully expect the work to move ahead with Nathan H. Knorr as president, because this is the Lord’s work, not man’s.’
How did the Bethel family members in Brooklyn feel about the results of the election? A touching letter from them dated January 14, 1942, the day after the election, answers: “His [Rutherford’s] change shall not slow us up in the performance of the task the Lord has assigned to us. We are determined to keep close to the Lord and to one another, firmly pushing the battle to the gate, fighting shoulder to shoulder. . . . Our intimate association with Brother Knorr for approximately twenty years . . . enables us to appreciate the Lord’s direction in the choice of Brother Knorr as president and thereby the loving watch-care of the Lord over His people.” Letters and cablegrams of support soon poured into headquarters from around the world.
There was no feeling of uncertainty as to what to do. A special article was prepared for the February 1, 1942, Watchtower, the very same issue that announced the death of J. F. Rutherford. “The final gathering by the Lord is on,” it declared. “Let nothing for one instant interrupt the onward push of his covenant-people in His service. . . . Now to hold fast our integrity toward the Almighty God is the ALL-IMPORTANT thing.” Jehovah’s Witnesses were urged to continue declaring the good news with zeal.
But ‘holding fast their integrity’ was a real challenge in the early 1940’s. The world was still at war. Wartime restrictions in many parts of the earth made it difficult for Jehovah’s Witnesses to preach. Arrests and mob action against the Witnesses continued unabated. Hayden Covington, as the Society’s legal counsel, directed the legal fight, sometimes from his office at Brooklyn headquarters and sometimes from trains as he traveled caring for legal cases. Working with local lawyers, such as Victor Schmidt, Grover Powell, and Victor Blackwell, Brother Covington fought hard to establish the constitutional rights of Jehovah’s Witnesses to preach from house to house and to distribute Bible literature without restraint from local officials.c
Sounding the “Go Ahead” Signal
Despite wartime rationing of food and gasoline, early in March 1942, plans were announced for the New World Theocratic Assembly, to be held September 18-20. To facilitate travel, 52 convention cities were selected across the United States, many of them tied in by telephone to Cleveland, Ohio, the key city. About the same time, Jehovah’s Witnesses convened in 33 other cities throughout the earth. What was the objective of this assembly?
‘We are not here gathered to meditate on the past or what individuals have done,’ stated the chairman, Brother Covington, in his introductory words for the opening session. Then, he introduced the keynote speech, “The Only Light,” based on Isaiah chapters 59 and 60, which was delivered by Brother Franz. Referring to Jehovah’s prophetic command recorded by Isaiah, the speaker rousingly declared: “Here, then, is the ‘Go ahead’ signal from the Highest Authority to keep going on in his [work] of witness no matter what happens before Armageddon comes.” (Isa. 6:1-12) It was no time to slack the hand and relax.
“There is further work to be done; much work!” declared N. H. Knorr in the next talk on the program. To aid his listeners in their response to the “Go ahead” signal, Brother Knorr announced the release of an edition of the King James version of the Bible, printed on the Society’s own presses and complete with a concordance specially designed for use by Jehovah’s Witnesses in their field ministry. That release reflected Brother Knorr’s keen interest in printing and distributing the Bible. In fact, after he had become president of the Society earlier that year, Brother Knorr had moved quickly to secure the printing rights for this translation and to coordinate the preparation of the concordance and other features. Within months this special edition of the King James Version was ready for release at the convention.
On the final day of the assembly, Brother Knorr delivered the discourse “Peace—Can It Last?” In it he set out powerful evidence from Revelation 17:8 that World War II, which was then raging, would not lead into Armageddon, as some thought, but that the war would end and a period of peace would set in. There was still work to be done in proclaiming God’s Kingdom. The conventioners were told that in order to help care for the anticipated growth in the organization, starting the next month the Society would send “servants to the brethren” to work with the congregations. Each congregation would be visited every six months.
“That New World Theocratic Assembly welded Jehovah’s organization together solidly for the work ahead,” says Marie Gibbard, who attended in Dallas, Texas, with her parents. And there was much work to do. Jehovah’s Witnesses looked ahead to the period of peace to come. They were determined to plow right on through opposition and persecution, declaring the good news without letup!
An Era of Increased Education
They had been using the testimony card and the phonograph in their house-to-house preaching, but could each witness of Jehovah improve in his ability to explain from the Scriptures the reasons for his hope? The Society’s third president, N. H. Knorr, thought so. C. James Woodworth, whose father was for years the editor of The Golden Age and Consolation, put it this way: “Whereas in Brother Rutherford’s day the emphasis was on ‘Religion Is a Snare and a Racket,’ now the era of global expansion was dawning, and education—Biblical and organizational—commenced on a scale heretofore not known by Jehovah’s people.”
The era of education got under way almost immediately. On February 9, 1942, about a month after N. H. Knorr was elected president of the Society, a far-reaching announcement was made at Brooklyn Bethel. Arrangements were made at Bethel for an Advanced Course in Theocratic Ministry—a school that featured Bible research and public speaking.
By the following year, the groundwork was laid for a similar school to be conducted in the local congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses. At the “Call to Action” Assembly held throughout the United States on April 17 and 18, 1943, the booklet Course in Theocratic Ministry was released. Each congregation was urged to start the new school, and the Society appointed instructors to act as chairmen and to offer constructive counsel on student talks delivered by male enrollees. As quickly as possible, the course was translated and put into operation in other lands.
As a result, qualified speakers trained in this ministry school began to share in a worldwide public speaking campaign to proclaim the Kingdom message. Many of these were later able to put their training to good use as convention speakers and in caring for heavy organizational responsibilities.
Among them was Angelo C. Manera, Jr., a traveling overseer for some 40 years. He was one of the first enrollees in the school in his congregation, and he observed: “Those of us who attended the meetings and went out in field service for many years without this provision have come to look upon it as a great step in our personal and organizational progress.”
Regarding his training in the school inaugurated at Brooklyn Bethel in 1942, George Gangas, a Greek translator at the time, later noted: “I recall the time I gave my first six-minute talk. I was not confident in myself so I wrote it down. But when I got up to give it, audience fear gripped me and I stuttered and muttered, losing my thoughts. Then I resorted to reading from the manuscript. But my hands were trembling so much that the lines were jumping up and down!” Yet, he did not quit. In time, he was giving talks before large convention audiences and even serving as a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
A School Founded on Faith
On September 24, 1942, a further stride was taken in the era of increased education. At a joint meeting of the boards of directors of the two legal corporations, Brother Knorr suggested that the Society establish another school, using a building that had been constructed at Kingdom Farm, at South Lansing, New York, 255 miles [410 km] northwest of New York City. The purpose of this school would be to train missionaries for service in foreign countries where there was a great need for Kingdom proclaimers. The suggestion was unanimously approved.
Albert D. Schroeder, who was then 31 years of age, was designated registrar and served as chairman of the committee to get the new school organized. “My, did our hearts leap for joy at this amazing new assignment!” he says. The instructors got busy right away; they had just four months to develop the courses, work up the lectures, and gather a library. “The course of advanced Christian education covered 20 weeks, the Bible being the major textbook,” explains Brother Schroeder, who now serves as a member of the Governing Body.
On Monday, February 1, 1943, a cold winter day in upstate New York, the first class, with 100 students, commenced. Here was a school truly founded on faith. In the midst of World War II, there were only a few areas of the world to which missionaries could be sent. Yet, with full confidence that there would be a period of peace during which they could be used, prospective missionaries were trained.
Postwar Reorganizing
In May 1945 the hostilities of World War II in Europe came to an end. Four months later, in September, the fighting ceased in the Pacific. World War II was over. On October 24, 1945, a little over three years after the Society’s president delivered the talk “Peace—Can It Last?” the Charter of the United Nations went into effect.
Reports about the activity of Jehovah’s Witnesses had already begun trickling out of Europe. To an extent that amazed their brothers and sisters around the world, the Kingdom proclamation work had forged ahead in European countries in spite of the war. The Watchtower of July 15, 1945, reported: “In 1940 France had 400 publishers; now there are 1,100 that talk the Kingdom. . . . In 1940 Holland had 800 publishers. Four hundred of them were whisked off to concentration camps in Germany. Those left behind talked the Kingdom. The result? In that land there are now 2,000 Kingdom publishers.” The open door of freedom now presented opportunities of further declaring the good news, not just in Europe but around the world. First, though, much reconstruction and reorganization were needed.
Anxious to survey the needs of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the war-ravaged countries, the Society’s president, along with his secretary, Milton G. Henschel, set out on a tour of Britain, France, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia in November 1945 to encourage the brothers and to inspect the branch offices of the Society.d Their objective was postwar reorganization. Arrangements were made for literature supplies as well as food and clothing to be shipped to the brothers in need. Branch offices were reestablished.
Brother Knorr well realized that good branch organization was needed to keep pace with the forward movement of the preaching work. His natural abilities in organizing were fully used in expanding the Society’s branch facilities worldwide. In 1942, when he became president, there were 25 branch offices. By 1946, despite the bans and hindrances of World War II, there were branches in 57 lands. Over the next 30 years, down to 1976, the number of branches increased to 97.
Equipped to Be Teachers
From his international travels shortly after the war, the Society’s president determined that Jehovah’s Witnesses needed to be better equipped to be teachers of God’s Word. Further Bible education was necessary as well as suitable instruments for use in the field ministry. Those needs were met early in the postwar period.
At the Glad Nations Theocratic Assembly, held in Cleveland, Ohio, August 4-11, 1946, Brother Knorr delivered the talk “Equipped for Every Good Work.” The entire audience was intrigued as he posed such questions as: “Would it not be of tremendous aid to have information on each one of the sixty-six books of the Bible? Would it not aid in understanding the Scriptures if we knew who wrote each book of the Bible? when each book was written? where it was written?” Expectancy ran high as he then declared: “Brethren, you have all that information and much more in the new book eninputd ‘Equipped for Every Good Work’!” A burst of applause followed that announcement. The new publication would serve as a textbook for the ministry school held in the congregations.
Not only were Jehovah’s Witnesses equipped with a publication to deepen their knowledge of the Scriptures but they were also given some excellent aids for use in the field. The 1946 convention will long be remembered for the release of the first issue of Awake! This new magazine replaced Consolation (formerly known as The Golden Age). Also released was the book “Let God Be True.”e Henry A. Cantwell, who later served as a traveling overseer, explains: “For some time we had very much needed a book that could be used effectively in conducting Bible studies with newly interested persons, one that would cover the basic Bible doctrines and truths. Now with the release of ‘Let God Be True,’ we had just what was needed.”
Equipped with such valuable teaching aids, Jehovah’s Witnesses expected further rapid expansion. Addressing the convention on the subject “The Problems of Reconstruction and Expansion,” Brother Knorr explained that during the years of global war, no standstill had occurred in efforts at witnessing. From 1939 to 1946, the number of Kingdom proclaimers had increased by over 110,000. To meet the growing worldwide demand for Bible literature, the Society planned to expand the factory and the Bethel Home in Brooklyn.
The anticipated period of world peace had set in. The era of global expansion and Bible education was well under way. Jehovah’s Witnesses returned home from the Glad Nations Theocratic Assembly better equipped to be teachers of the good news.
Kingdom Proclamation Surges Ahead
With a view to worldwide expansion, on February 6, 1947, the Society’s president and his secretary, Milton G. Henschel, embarked on a 47,795-mile [76,916 km] world service tour. The trip took them to islands of the Pacific, New Zealand, Australia, Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East, the Mediterranean area, Central and Western Europe, Scandinavia, England, and Newfoundland. It was the first time since 1933 that representatives of the Society’s headquarters staff in Brooklyn had been able to visit their brothers in Germany. Jehovah’s Witnesses around the world followed the two travelers as reports of the trip were published in issues of The Watchtower throughout 1947.f
“It was the first opportunity for us to get acquainted with the brothers in Asia and other places and to see what the needs were,” explains Brother Henschel, now a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses. “We had in mind sending out missionaries, so we had to know what they were getting into and what they would need.” Following the tour, a steady stream of Gilead-trained missionaries reached foreign soil to spearhead the work of Kingdom proclamation. And the results were impressive. Over the next five years (1947-52), the number of Kingdom preachers worldwide more than doubled, from 207,552 to 456,265.
Theocracy’s Increase
On June 25, 1950, military forces from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea invaded the Republic of Korea to the south. Eventually, troops were sent in from 16 other lands. But as the war pitted major nations against one another, Jehovah’s Witnesses prepared to gather for an international convention that would demonstrate not only their worldwide unity but also that Jehovah was blessing them with increase.—Isa. 60:22.
The Theocracy’s Increase Assembly was scheduled for July 30 through August 6, 1950. This was to be by far the biggest convention ever held up to that time by Jehovah’s Witnesses at one site. Some 10,000 foreign delegates from Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America, islands of the Pacific—altogether 67 different lands—converged on Yankee Stadium in New York City. The peak attendance of over 123,000 for the public lecture—compared with the peak of 80,000 who attended the Glad Nations Theocratic Assembly just four years earlier—was itself impressive evidence of increase.
A significant factor in the increase experienced by Jehovah’s Witnesses has been the printing and distribution of God’s Word. A milestone in this regard was reached on August 2, 1950, when Brother Knorr announced the release of the modern-language New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures in English. The conventioners were thrilled to learn that this new translation restored the divine name Jehovah 237 times in the main text from Matthew to Revelation! In concluding his discourse, the speaker made this stirring appeal: “Take this translation. Read it through. Study it, for it will help you to better your understanding of God’s Word. Put it in the hands of others.” Other installments would follow over the next decade, so that eventually Jehovah’s Witnesses would have an accurate, easy-to-read translation of the entire Bible that they could enthusiastically offer to others.
Before leaving the convention city, the delegates were invited to tour the new Bethel headquarters at 124 Columbia Heights and the greatly expanded printing factory at 117 Adams Street. Constructed with the financial support of Witnesses from around the world, the new facilities completed the vast expansion program announced and enthusiastically approved at the 1946 Cleveland convention. Little did Jehovah’s Witnesses then realize how much expansion there would yet be, not just in Brooklyn, but worldwide. More and larger printeries would be needed to care for the constantly increasing ranks of Kingdom publishers.
Intensified Training in House-to-House Ministry
At the New World Society Assembly, held in New York City, July 19-26, 1953, new publications were provided for Jehovah’s Witnesses themselves and for use especially in the house-to-house proclamation of the Kingdom. For example, the release of “Make Sure of All Things” brought forth thunderous applause from the 125,040 present on Monday, July 20. A handy field service tool, the 416-page pocket-size book assembled more than 4,500 scriptures under 70 main themes. Jehovah’s Witnesses now had at their fingertips the Scriptural answers to questions raised in their house-to-house preaching.
On Wednesday morning during the talk “Principal Work of All Servants,” Brother Knorr announced a further step in the ongoing education of Jehovah’s Witnesses—an extensive house-to-house training program to be put into operation in all congregations. More experienced publishers were asked to help less experienced ones to become regular, effective house-to-house proclaimers of the Kingdom. This far-reaching program began September 1, 1953. Jesse L. Cantwell, a traveling overseer who took part in the training work, observed: “This program really helped the publishers to become more efficient.”
In the months following July 1953, extension conventions were held on all five continents, with locally adapted forms of the same program. The intensified training in the house-to-house ministry was thus initiated in congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses around the world. That same year the number of Kingdom proclaimers peaked at 519,982.
Meeting the Needs of Global Expansion
In the mid-1950’s, further arrangements were made to care for the rapid growth in the organization. For more than a decade, N. H. Knorr had traveled the globe to inspect the operation of the branches. These trips did much to ensure proper supervision of the work in each country and to strengthen the worldwide unity of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Brother Knorr had a deep love for the missionaries and those serving in the branches around the world. Wherever he went, he took time to talk with them about their problems and needs and to encourage them in their ministry. But in 1955, there were 77 branch offices of the Watch Tower Society and 1,814 Gilead-trained missionaries serving in 100 different lands. Realizing that it was more than he could handle alone, Brother Knorr took steps to include others in this important work of visiting the branches and the missionary homes.
Arrangements were made to divide the earth into ten zones, each zone embracing a number of the Society’s branches. Qualified brothers from the office in Brooklyn and experienced branch overseers were appointed to be zone servants (now called zone overseers) and were trained for this work by Brother Knorr. On January 1, 1956, the first of these zone servants inaugurated this new service of visiting branches. As of 1992, upwards of 30 brothers, including members of the Governing Body, were serving as zone overseers.
Education in the Divine Will
In the summer of 1958, the threat of war loomed in the Middle East. Despite the strain in international relations, Jehovah’s Witnesses prepared to gather for an international convention that would further educate them in the divine will. It would also prove to be their largest convention in any one city.
A peak of 253,922 delegates from 123 lands flooded New York City’s Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds for the Divine Will International Assembly, July 27 through August 3. “Jehovah’s Witnesses Pour in by the Stadiumful,” said New York’s Daily News of July 26, 1958. “Eight special trains, 500 chartered buses and 18,000 auto pools are bringing the members, besides the two chartered ships and 65 chartered planes.”
Gilead-trained missionaries had made known to the Society’s headquarters the challenge they faced in teaching Bible truth to those not acquainted with the beliefs and doctrines of Christendom’s churches. If only they could have a publication that would set forth just the true Biblical teachings, yet would be easy to read and understand! To the delight of the 145,488 delegates present on Thursday afternoon, July 31, Brother Knorr announced the release of the new book From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained.
Brother Knorr urged all to use the new book in their field ministry. He also suggested that parents would find it helpful in teaching their children Bible truth. Many parents took the suggestion to heart. Grace A. Estep, a schoolteacher who was raised in a small town near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, noted: “A whole generation of children have grown up fingering the Paradise book, carrying it to meetings with them, sharing it with their little playmates, being able to relate, long before they were old enough to read, a whole series of Bible stories just from the pictures.”
Meaty material for advanced students of God’s Word was also provided. At the conclusion of his stirring discourse “Let Your Will Come to Pass,” Brother Knorr thrilled the audience when he announced the release of a new book eninputd “Your Will Be Done on Earth.” This new publication, containing an extensive study of the book of Daniel, educated its readers in how the divine will has been done and is now being done. “You are going to enjoy tremendously this book!” declared the speaker. By thunderous applause the vast audience of 175,441 expressed their delight at receiving this new instrument to deepen their appreciation of the divine will!
In his closing remarks, Brother Knorr announced further special educational programs that would benefit the worldwide organization. “The educational work is not on the decline,” Knorr declared, “but rather it is on the move forward.” He outlined plans for providing a ten-month training course in Brooklyn for overseers from the Society’s branches all over the world. Also, in many countries around the world, there would be training courses of one month for traveling overseers and those having oversight in the congregations. Why all this education? “We want to move to higher levels of understanding,” he explained, “so that we can get deeper into the thoughts of Jehovah as he has expressed them in his Word.”
Work began immediately on the courses of study for these training programs. Seven months later, on March 9, 1959, the first class of a new school, the Kingdom Ministry School, began at South Lansing, New York, home of the Gilead School. What started there soon reached out around the world as the new school was used to train those having oversight in the congregations.
Fortified to “Stand Firm in the Faith”
During the 1960’s, human society was engulfed by a tidal wave of religious and social changes. Clergymen labeled portions of the Bible as mythical or outmoded. The “God is dead” ideology became increasingly popular. Human society sank deeper and deeper into the morass of sexual immorality. Through The Watchtower and other publications as well as convention programs, Jehovah’s people were fortified to “stand firm in the faith” during that turbulent decade.—1 Cor. 16:13.
At a series of conventions held around the world in 1963, the talk “The Book of ‘Everlasting Good News’ Is Beneficial” defended the Bible against the onslaught of critics. “Critics of the Bible do not need to point out that mere men wrote this book,” explained the speaker. “The Bible itself honestly informs us of that fact. But what makes this book different from any other book written by men is that the Holy Bible is ‘inspired of God.’” (2 Tim. 3:16, 17) This stirring talk led up to the release of the book “All Scripture Is Inspired of God and Beneficial.” The new publication included a discussion of each book of the Bible, giving the background of the book, such as who wrote it, when and where it was written, and evidence of its authenticity. Then came a summary of the Bible book, followed by a section called “Why Beneficial,” which showed how this particular Bible book is of great value to the reader. A valuable instrument in the continuing Bible education of Jehovah’s Witnesses, this publication is still featured as a textbook in the Theocratic Ministry School some 30 years after its release!g
Jehovah’s Witnesses were not unaffected by the sexual revolution of the 1960’s. In fact, several thousand—a small percentage of their total number—had to be disfellowshipped each year, the majority for sexual immorality. With good reason, then, Jehovah’s people were given direct counsel at a series of district conventions held in 1964. Lyle Reusch, a traveling overseer originally from Saskatchewan, Canada, recalls the talk “Keeping the Organization of Public Servants Pure, Chaste.” Said Reusch: “Frank, straight language on morals spelled things out in plain talk.”
The outputs of the talk were published in The Watchtower of November 15, 1964. Among other things, it stated: “Girls, do not make yourselves a dirty towel for public use, available to the dirty hands of any whoremonger, any symbolic ‘dog.’”—Compare Revelation 22:15.
Such frank counsel was designed to help Jehovah’s Witnesses as a people to keep in clean moral condition, fit to continue proclaiming the Kingdom message.—Compare Romans 2:21-23.
“Say, What Does This 1975 Mean?”
The Witnesses had long shared the belief that the Thousand Year Reign of Christ would follow after 6,000 years of human history. But when would 6,000 years of human existence end? The book Life Everlasting—In Freedom of the Sons of God, released at a series of district conventions held in 1966, pointed to 1975. Right at the convention, as the brothers examined the outputs, the new book triggered much discussion about 1975.
At the convention held in Baltimore, Maryland, F. W. Franz gave the concluding talk. He began by saying: “Just before I got on the platform a young man came to me and said, ‘Say, what does this 1975 mean?’” Brother Franz then referred to the many questions that had arisen as to whether the material in the new book meant that by 1975 Armageddon would be finished, and Satan would be bound. He stated, in essence: ‘It could. But we are not saying. All things are possible with God. But we are not saying. And don’t any of you be specific in saying anything that is going to happen between now and 1975. But the big point of it all is this, dear friends: Time is short. Time is running out, no question about that.’
In the years following 1966, many of Jehovah’s Witnesses acted in harmony with the spirit of that counsel. However, other statements were published on this subject, and some were likely more definite than advisable. This was acknowledged in The Watchtower of March 15, 1980 (page 17). But Jehovah’s Witnesses were also cautioned to concentrate mainly on doing Jehovah’s will and not to be swept up by dates and expectations of an early salvation.h
An Instrument for Speeding Up the Work
In the late 1960’s, Jehovah’s Witnesses were declaring the good news with a feeling of expectancy and urgency. During 1968 the number of Kingdom publishers had increased to 1,221,504 in 203 lands. Still, it was not uncommon for some persons to study the Bible year after year without acting upon the knowledge they gained. Was there a way of speeding up the work of making disciples?
The answer came in 1968 with the release of a new Bible study aid, The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life. This 192-page pocket-size book was prepared with newly interested ones in mind. It contained 22 absorbing chapters dealing with such subjects as “Why It Is Wise to Examine Your Religion,” “Why We Grow Old and Die,” “Where Are the Dead?” “Why Has God Permitted Wickedness Until Our Day?” “How to Identify the True Religion,” and “Building a Happy Family Life.” The Truth book was designed to encourage the Bible student to reason on the material being considered and to apply it in his own life.
This new publication was to be used in connection with a six-month Bible study program. The September 1968 issue of the Kingdom Ministry explained how the new program would work: “It would be good to try to study a whole chapter of the ‘Truth’ book each week, though this may not be possible with all householders or with all the chapters in the book. . . . If, at the end of six months of intensive study and conscientious efforts to get them to meetings, they are not yet associating with the congregation, then it may be best to use your time to study with someone else who really wants to learn the truth and make progress. Make it your goal to present the good news on Bible studies in such a way that interested ones will act within six months!”
And act they did! In a short period of time, the six-month Bible study program had astounding success. For the three service years beginning September 1, 1968, and ending August 31, 1971, a total of 434,906 persons were baptized—more than double the number baptized during the previous three service years! Coming as it did at a time when there was a feeling of expectancy and urgency among Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Truth book and the six-month Bible study campaign greatly aided in speeding up the disciple-making work.—Matt. 28:19, 20.
“It Has to Work; It Is From Jehovah”
For many years the congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses were organized so that one spiritually qualified man was appointed by the Society to be congregation servant, or “overseer,” and was assisted by other appointed “servants.”i (1 Tim. 3:1-10, 12, 13) These men were to serve the flock, not to rule over it. (1 Pet. 5:1-4) But could the congregations more closely conform to the structure of the first-century Christian congregations?
In 1971, at a series of conventions held throughout the earth, the talk “Theocratic Organization Amidst Democracies and Communism” was presented. On July 2, F. W. Franz delivered the talk at Yankee Stadium in New York City. In it he pointed out that where enough qualified men were available, first-century congregations had more than one overseer. (Phil. 1:1) “The congregational group of overseers,” he stated, “would compose a ‘body of older men’. . . The members of such a ‘body [or, assembly] of older men’ were all equal, having the same official status, and none of them was the most important, most prominent, most powerful member in the congregation.” (1 Tim. 4:14) That talk really stirred the entire convention. What impact would this information have on the congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses around the world?
The answer came two days later, in the concluding talk, given by N. H. Knorr. Beginning October 1, 1972, adjustments in the oversight of the congregations worldwide would become effective. No longer would there be just one congregation servant, or overseer. But during the months leading up to October 1, 1972, responsible, mature men in each congregation would recommend to the Society for appointment the names of those who would serve as a body of elders (and the names of those who would serve as ministerial servants). One elder would be designated chairman,j but all the elders would have equal authority and share the responsibility for making decisions. “These organization adjustments,” explained Brother Knorr, “will help to bring the operation of the congregations into closer conformity with God’s Word, and surely that will result in greater blessings from Jehovah.”
How was this information about organization adjustments received by the assembled delegates? One traveling overseer was moved to say: “It has to work; it is from Jehovah.” Another Witness of long experience added: “It will be an encouragement to all mature men to take hold of responsibility.” Indeed, as many men as were qualified could now ‘reach out’ and be appointed to the “office of overseer.” (1 Tim. 3:1) A greater number of brothers could thus gain valuable experience in shouldering congregation responsibility. Though they did not realize this at first, all of these would be needed to shepherd the great influx of new ones in the years to come.
The material presented at the convention also led to some clarifications and adjustments that involved the Governing Body. On September 6, 1971, it was resolved that the chairmanship of the Governing Body should rotate among its members, doing so alphabetically. Several weeks later, on October 1, 1971, F. W. Franz became the chairman of the Governing Body for one year.
The following year, in September 1972, the first shifting of responsibilities in the congregations began, and by October 1 the rotation in most congregations was completed. During the next three years, Jehovah’s Witnesses experienced impressive growth—over three quarters of a million persons getting baptized. But now they were facing the autumn of 1975. If all the expectations concerning 1975 were not realized, how would this affect their zeal for the global preaching activity as well as their worldwide unity?
Also, for decades Nathan H. Knorr, a man with a dynamic personality and outstanding ability as an organizer, had played a key role in advancing education within the organization and getting the Bible into the hands of people and helping them to understand it. How would the change to closer supervision by the Governing Body affect these objectives?
[Footnotes]
a The Watchtower, February 1, 1942, p. 45; Consolation, February 4, 1942, p. 17.
b In September 1945, Brother Covington graciously declined to serve further as vice president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society (of Pennsylvania), explaining that he wished to comply with what was then understood to be Jehovah’s will for all members of the directorate and officers—that they be spirit-anointed Christians, whereas he professed to be one of the “other sheep.” On October 1, Lyman A. Swingle was elected to the board of directors, and on October 5, Frederick W. Franz was selected as vice president. (See 1946 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses, pp. 221-4; The Watchtower, November 1, 1945, pp. 335-6.)
c See Chapter 30, “Defending and Legally Establishing the Good News.”
d Detailed reports of the trip were published in The Watchtower during 1946.—See pages 14-16, 28-31, 45-8, 60-4, 92-5, 110-12, 141-4.
e Within a few years, this Bible study aid became known around the world. Revised as of April 1, 1952, more than 19,000,000 copies were printed in 54 languages.
f See pages 140-4, 171-6, 189-92, 205-8, 219-23, 236-40, 251-6, 267-72, 302-4, 315-20, 333-6, 363-8.
g The book “All Scripture Is Inspired of God and Beneficial” was updated in 1990.
h For example, the following articles were published in The Watchtower: “Making Wise Use of the Remaining Time” (May 1, 1968); “Serve With Eternity in View” (June 15, 1974); “Why We Have Not Been Told ‘That Day and Hour’” and “How Are You Affected by Not Knowing the ‘Day and Hour’?” (May 1, 1975). Earlier, in 1963, the book “All Scripture Is Inspired of God and Beneficial” had stated: “It does no good to use Bible chronology for speculating on dates that are still future in the stream of time.—Matt. 24:36.”
i See Chapter 15, “Development of the Organization Structure.”
j The speaker also explained that beginning October 1, 1972, there would be a yearly rotating of chairmanship within each congregation’s body of elders. This arrangement was adjusted in 1983, when each body of elders was asked to recommend a presiding overseer who, after appointment by the Society, would serve for an indefinite period of time as the chairman of the body of elders.
[Blurb on page 92]
Preaching despite arrests and mob action
[Blurb on page 94]
‘Global expansion and education on a scale not previously known’
[Blurb on page 103]
Defending the Bible against the onslaught of critics
[Blurb on page 104]
‘The big point of it all is this, dear friends: Time is short’
[Blurb on page 106]
“An encouragement to all mature men to take hold of responsibility”
[Box on page 91]
Background of N. H. Knorr
Nathan Homer Knorr was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., on April 23, 1905. When he was 16 years old, he became associated with the Allentown Congregation of Bible Students. In 1922 he attended the convention at Cedar Point, Ohio, where he made up his mind to resign from the Reformed Church. The following year, on July 4, 1923, after Frederick W. Franz, from Brooklyn Bethel, delivered a baptism talk, 18-year-old Nathan was among those who were baptized in the Little Lehigh River, in Eastern Pennsylvania. On September 6, 1923, Brother Knorr became a member of the Bethel family in Brooklyn.
Brother Knorr applied himself diligently in the Shipping Department, and before long his natural abilities in organizing were recognized. When the Society’s factory manager, Robert J. Martin, died on September 23, 1932, Brother Knorr was appointed to replace him. On January 11, 1934, Brother Knorr was elected to be a director of the Peoples Pulpit Association (now Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.), and the following year he was made the Association’s vice president. On June 10, 1940, he became the vice president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society (Pennsylvania corporation). His election to the presidency of both societies and of the British corporation, International Bible Students Association, came in January 1942.
In the years that followed, one of Brother Knorr’s closest associates and trusted counselors was Frederick W. Franz, a man older in years than he was and one whose knowledge of languages and whose background as a Bible scholar had already proved to be of great value to the organization.
[Box on page 93]
An Encouraging Look Ahead
Delegates to the New World Theocratic Assembly in Cleveland, Ohio, in September 1942, were delighted when the aged secretary-treasurer of the Society, W. E. Van Amburgh, addressed the convention. Brother Van Amburgh recalled that the first convention he attended was in Chicago in 1900, and it was a “big” one—there were about 250 in attendance. After enumerating other “big” conventions over the years, he concluded with this encouraging look ahead: “This conventionk looks large to us now, but as this convention is large in comparison with the ones that I have attended in the past, so I anticipate this convention will be a very small one in comparison to those just in the future when the Lord begins to assemble his people from all corners of the globe.”
[Footnote]
k A peak of 26,000 attended in Cleveland, with a total attendance of 129,699 for the 52 convention cities scattered across the United States.
[Box/Maps on page 96]
N. H. Knorr’s Service Tours, 1945-56
1945-46: Central America, South America, North America, Europe, the Caribbean
1947-48: North America, Pacific islands, the Orient, the Middle East, Europe, Africa
1949-50: North America, Central America, South America, the Caribbean
1951-52: North America, Pacific islands, the Orient, Europe, the Middle East, Africa
1953-54: South America, the Caribbean, North America, Central America
1955-56: Europe, Pacific islands, the Orient, North America, the Middle East, North Africa
[Maps]
(See publication)
[Box on page 105]
“Today I Started Thinking Again”
Released in 1968, the book “The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life” was widely used by Jehovah’s Witnesses in studying the Bible with interested persons. This timely provision helped hundreds of thousands of thinking persons to gain an accurate knowledge of the Scriptures. A letter of appreciation received in 1973 from a reader in the United States said: “A very nice lady came to my door today and gave me a book called ‘The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life.’ I just finished it. The first time I’ve read 190 pages of anything in one day of my life. On June 29, 1967, I stopped believing in God. Today I started thinking again.”
[Picture on page 95]
Gilead School at South Lansing, New York
[Picture on page 97]
Brother Knorr, shown here visiting Cuba, traveled the world many times over
[Pictures on page 98]
Brother Knorr felt that every Witness should be able to preach from house to house
England
Lebanon
[Picture on page 99]
As president of the Society, Brother Knorr worked closely with Brother Franz for over 35 years
[Picture on page 100]
Board of directors of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, in mid-1950’s. (From left to right) Lyman A. Swingle, Thomas J. Sullivan, Grant Suiter, Hugo H. Riemer, Nathan H. Knorr, Frederick W. Franz, Milton G. Henschel
[Pictures on page 102]
In 1958, delegates from 123 lands converged on Yankee Stadium for the Divine Will International Assembly
[Picture on page 107]
Publications for training Jehovah’s Witnesses for the ministry
[Picture on page 107]
Some of the publications for use in the field ministry
[Picture on page 107]
Books that provided solid food to strengthen Jehovah’s people spiritually
[Picture on page 107]
Research and study aids |
KEEP ON THE WATCH!
Why Is Politics So Divisive?—What Does the Bible Say? | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/501100063 | KEEP ON THE WATCH!
Why Is Politics So Divisive?—What Does the Bible Say?
Political divisions plague nations worldwide. According to a 2022 Pew Research Center survey, “65% of adults across 19 surveyed countries say there are strong or very strong disagreements in their country between people who support different political parties.”
Have you noticed that the political divide is widening where you live? Why is that? Is there a solution? Consider what the Bible says.
Attitudes that divide
The Bible predicted that in our time, referred to as “the last days,” many people would have attitudes that make unity impossible to achieve.
“In the last days critical times hard to deal with will be here. For men will be lovers of themselves, . . . not open to any agreement.”—2 Timothy 3:1-3.
Despite the best efforts of many people, governments struggle to function effectively. People with opposing viewpoints find it difficult, even impossible, to work together to solve problems. The results confirm what the Bible stated a long time ago.
“Man has dominated man to his harm.”—Ecclesiastes 8:9.
However, the Bible points to the solution—a government led by someone who can eliminate the problems that plague society today.
A qualified leader who cares
The Bible identifies a leader who is uniquely qualified: Jesus Christ. Jesus has the power, the authority, and the desire to bring unity and peace to all mankind.
“In his days the righteous will flourish, and peace will abound.”—Psalm 72:7.
“All the nations will serve him.”—Psalm 72:11.
Jesus is an ideal leader because he cares about and wants to help people, especially those who have been treated unfairly.
“He will rescue the poor who cry for help, also the lowly one and whoever has no helper. He will have pity on the lowly and the poor, and the lives of the poor he will save. From oppression and from violence he will rescue them.”—Psalm 72:12-14.
Learn more about God’s Kingdom, the heavenly government that Jesus leads. Find out how you can benefit from and support its rulership.
Watch the video What Is God’s Kingdom?
Read the article “God’s Kingdom—A Government With No Corruption.”
Did you know?
Although Jehovah’s Witnesses do not get involved in politics, we do appreciate and respect the role of government. (Romans 13:1; 1 Timothy 2:1, 2) To learn more, read the article “Why Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Maintain Political Neutrality?” |
What Has Happened to Respect? | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/102024007 | What Has Happened to Respect?
In this issue of Awake!
Why respect is important
How you can show respect
What Jehovah’s Witnesses are doing to help your community |
It Is Not Too Late to Become God’s Friend | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/102012010 | It Is Not Too Late to Become God’s Friend
As told by Olavi J. Mattila
“Have you ever considered the fact that you can obtain accurate knowledge about the Creator?” One of Jehovah’s Witnesses asked me that question, and it made me ponder. At the time, I was over 80 years of age and had come to know many prominent people, even political leaders. However, at that point in my life, could I really get to know God and become his friend?
I WAS born in October 1918 in Hyvinkää, Finland. At an early age, I started to do various farm chores. My family raised cattle, horses, chickens, and geese. I learned to work hard and to take pride in my work.
As I grew up, my parents encouraged me to pursue education. So when I was old enough, I left home to attend college. I also got involved in athletic activities and became acquainted with the chairman of the Finnish Athletic Association, Urho Kekkonen. Little did I know that Mr. Kekkonen would become Finland’s prime minister and later the nation’s president, positions that he held for some 30 years. What is more, I could not have imagined the influence that he would have on my life.
A Life of Prominence and Power
In 1939, hostilities erupted between Finland and the Soviet Union. In November of that year, I was drafted into the armed forces. At first I served as a trainer in the army reserve and later as a commander of a machine-gun platoon. The battlefront was Karelia, a region on the border between Finland and the Soviet Union. In the summer of 1941, while fighting near the town of Vyborg, I was seriously wounded by shrapnel and taken to a military hospital. My wounds prevented me from fighting again.
In September 1944, I was discharged from the army, and I went back to college. I continued pursuing my athletic activities as well. Three times I became the national champion, twice as a relay runner and once as a hurdle runner. I also obtained university degrees in technology and economics.
In the meantime, Urho Kekkonen had become a powerful figure in politics. In 1952, during his tenure as prime minister, he asked me to work as a diplomat in China. While there, I met several government officials, including Mao Tse-tung, then leader of China. Yet, the most important person I met in China was a lovely young woman, Annikki, who worked at the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She became my wife in November 1956.
The following year, I was transferred to the Finnish embassy in Argentina. While living in that country, we had our first children, two sons. In January 1960, we returned to Finland. Soon thereafter, we had our third child, a girl.
At the Highest Levels of Government
Though I had never been a member of a political party, in November 1963, President Kekkonen invited me to be his minister of foreign trade. During the following 12 years, I held six cabinet posts, serving twice as a minister of foreign affairs. In those days I firmly believed that the world’s problems could be solved by human ingenuity. But soon I became fully aware of man’s thirst for power. I witnessed firsthand the harmful effects of distrust and envy.—Ecclesiastes 8:9.
Of course, I also came to see that there are many people who sincerely try to improve things. In the end, however, even the best-intentioned leaders fall short of reaching their goals.
In the summer of 1975, heads of 35 states came to Helsinki to attend the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. At that time, I was the minister of foreign affairs and a close adviser to President Kekkonen. I was given the responsibility of organizing the event, and I met all the national leaders attending the conference.
During those few days, my diplomatic skills were tested to the limit. Just getting members to agree on a seating order was a challenge! Nevertheless, I felt that the conference, along with a series of follow-up meetings, contributed to improvements in human rights and a more tolerant relationship between the superpowers.
Conscious of My Spiritual Need
In 1983, I retired and moved to France, where my daughter lived. Then tragedy struck. In November 1994, Annikki was diagnosed with breast cancer. That same year, I got caught up in an investment plan that proved to be fraudulent. All my life I had worked very hard to maintain a good name. But this one error in judgment stained my reputation.
I had come across Jehovah’s Witnesses throughout my life. While I appreciated their visits and accepted their magazines, I was very busy and had no time for spiritual matters. By the year 2000, however, I was taking care of Annikki, who was still fighting cancer. On a September day in 2002, I received a visit from one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. He asked the question mentioned at the beginning of this article. I wondered: ‘Is it really possible to learn the truth about God? Is it possible to become his friend?’ I dug out my Bible, which had collected quite a layer of dust, and started to have regular Scriptural discussions with the Witnesses.
In June 2004, my dear wife died, and I was left alone. My children, of course, were a source of emotional support. But I still had questions about what happens to us when we die. I asked two Lutheran priests about it. Their answer was simply, “Well, these are difficult questions.” I was not satisfied with their reply. I became all the more aware of my spiritual needs.
As I continued studying the Bible with the Witnesses, I grew in the accurate knowledge that I was yearning for. For instance, the Bible explains that death is a state of unconsciousness, like sleep, and that the dead have the prospect of living again as humans on earth. (John 11:25) This gave me hope and consoled me greatly.
Soon I read the entire Bible for myself. One scripture that impressed me was Micah 6:8, which says: “What is Jehovah asking back from you but to exercise justice and to love kindness and to be modest in walking with your God?” The wisdom and simplicity of that maxim attracted me. It also revealed what a loving and just person Jehovah God is.
A Hope for the Future
As I learned the truth about God, my faith and confidence in him grew. A true friendship with my Creator was developing! I was impressed by his words recorded at Isaiah 55:11: “So my word that goes forth from my mouth will prove to be. It will not return to me without results, but it will certainly do that in which I have delighted, and it will have certain success in that for which I have sent it.” Indeed, God has lived up to his promises so far, and he will do so in the future. He will bring to reality the goal that human governments and their many political conferences have failed to achieve. For example, Psalm 46:9 states: “He is making wars to cease to the extremity of the earth.”
I have benefited greatly by attending the meetings of Jehovah’s Witnesses. There I have seen firsthand the genuine Christian love that is the identifying mark of Jesus’ true followers. (John 13:35) This love surpasses nationalism and is unheard of in the world of politics and commerce.
The Most Precious Privilege
I am now over 90 years of age, and I deem it the greatest privilege I have ever had to be one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. My spiritual void has been filled. I have had the privilege of learning the purpose of life and the truth about God.
I am also glad that even at this age, I can have quite an active share in Christian activities. Although I have met many powerful men and carried heavy responsibilities during my life, nothing compares with the privilege of knowing the Creator, Jehovah God, and being his friend. I am very grateful to him, and I want to praise him for this opportunity to become one of his “fellow workers.” (1 Corinthians 3:9) It is not too late to become a friend of the Creator, Jehovah God!
[Picture on page 25]
With President Kekkonen and U.S. President Ford during the 1975 Helsinki conference
[Picture on page 25]
With President Kekkonen and Soviet leader Brezhnev
[Picture on page 26]
I have an active share in Christian activities
[Picture Credit Lines on page 25]
Lower left: Ensio Ilmonen/Lehtikuva; lower right: Esa Pyysalo/Lehtikuva |
Dishonesty Everywhere! | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/102012001 | Dishonesty Everywhere!
Dannya works for a large trading company in Hong Kong. While visiting the factory of a potential supplier, he expressed concern about whether the factory could meet the standards needed to produce his company’s products. Later, at dinner, the factory manager gave Danny an envelope. Inside, Danny found a bribe amounting to tens of thousands of dollars in cash—the equivalent of his annual salary.
● Danny’s experience is far from unique. Around the world, the scope and pervasiveness of dishonesty is staggering. For example, court documents show that between 2001 and 2007, a large German industrial firm paid 1.4 billion dollars in bribes to obtain contracts.
Although recent high-profile corporate scandals have led to some reforms, the overall situation appears to be worsening. A 2010 study by Transparency International found that worldwide, “levels of corruption have increased in the past three years.”
Why is there so much dishonesty? Is it practical to be honest? If so, how is it possible? Can the Bible help us?
[Footnote]
a Some names in this series have been changed. |
Sleep—How Important Is It? | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/102011013 | Sleep—How Important Is It?
● Current studies show that the average North American now gets between seven and seven and a half hours of sleep a night.a How important is sleep? While asleep, you go through phases of sleep called rapid eye movement every 60 to 90 minutes throughout the night. During these phases, the brain is most active, and researchers believe that it is performing some kind of self-repair. Some experts say that when the sleep cycle is interrupted and sleep is lost, it has a cumulative effect on the body. Brain function is affected, which results in inefficiency and a host of other physical ailments.
Substances such as caffeine can for the short term block the chemical compound that signals the need for sleep. Yet, our brain has a mechanism to cause sleep to occur when our body has not had enough, resulting in what have been called microsleeps. According to The Toronto Star, “no matter what you happen to be doing, your sleep-deprived brain will periodically go into the first stage of sleep for anywhere between ten seconds and just over a minute at a time.” Imagine driving a car at 30 miles (48 km) an hour and experiencing a ten-second microsleep. During that time, you would have traveled more than the length of a football field. Additionally, sacrificing needed sleep can weaken your immune system, for it is during sleep that the body produces T cells that fight against pathogens. During sleep our body also produces the hormone leptin, which helps to regulate appetite. Indeed, the body needs sleep as much as it needs proper exercise and nutrition.
Is extra work robbing you of much-needed sleep? How about anxieties of life and worries about what you have stored up for the future? The wise King Solomon once observed: “Sweet is the sleep of the one serving, regardless of whether it is little or much that he eats; but the plenty belonging to the rich one is not permitting him to sleep.”—Ecclesiastes 5:12.
[Footnote]
a See “Sleep Debt—Are You a Victim?” in the February 8, 2004, issue of Awake! |
Creator (ct)
1998 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/ct | Chapter Three
What Is the Origin of Life?
OUR earth teems with life. From the snowy Arctic to the Amazon rain forest, from the Sahara Desert to the Everglades swamp, from the dark ocean floor to bright mountain peaks—life abounds. And it is loaded with the potential to amaze us.
It comes in types, sizes, and quantities that stagger the imagination. A million species of insects hum and wiggle on our planet. In the waters around us swim over 20,000 species of fish—some the size of a grain of rice, others as long as a truck. At least 350,000 plant species—some weird, most wonderful—embellish the land. And over 9,000 species of birds fly overhead. These creatures, including man, form the panorama and symphony that we refer to as life.
But more amazing than the delightful variety around us is the profound unity instructioning them. Biochemists, who peek beneath the skin of earth’s creatures, explain that all living things—be they amoebas or humans—depend on an awesome interaction: the teamwork between nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) and protein molecules. The intricate processes involving these components occur in virtually all our body cells, as it does in the cells of hummingbirds, lions, and whales. This uniform interaction produces a beautiful mosaic of life. How did this orchestration of life come about? In fact, what is the origin of life?
Likely you accept that at one time the earth had no life on it. Scientific opinion agrees, and so do many religious books. Still, you may realize that those two sources—science and religion—differ in explaining how life began on earth.
Millions of people of all educational levels believe that an intelligent Creator, the original Designer, produced life on earth. In contrast, many scientists say that life arose from nonliving matter, one chemical step after another, merely by chance. Is it one, or is it the other?
We should not think that this issue is rather remote from us and from our finding a more meaningful life. As already noted, one of the very fundamental questions humans have sought to answer is, Where did we as living humans come from?
Most science courses focus on the adaptation and survival of life-forms instead of on the more central question of the very origin of life. You may have noted that attempts to explain where life came from are usually presented in generalizations such as: ‘Over millions of years, molecules in collision somehow produced life.’ Yet, is that really satisfying? It would mean that in the presence of energy from the sun, lightning, or volcanoes, some lifeless matter moved, became organized, and eventually started living—all of this without directed assistance. What a huge leap that would have been! From nonliving matter to living! Could it have occurred that way?
Back in the Middle Ages, accepting such a concept might not have seemed a problem because spontaneous generation—the notion that life could arise spontaneously from nonliving matter—was a prevailing belief. Finally, in the 17th century, Italian physician Francesco Redi proved that maggots appeared in rotten meat only after flies had laid eggs on it. No maggots developed on meat that flies could not reach. If animals as big as flies did not just appear on their own, what about the microbes that kept appearing in food—covered or not? Although later experiments indicated that microbes did not arise spontaneously, the issue remained controversial. Then came the work of Louis Pasteur.
Many people recall Pasteur’s work in solving problems related to fermentation and to infectious disease. He also performed experiments to determine whether tiny life-forms could arise by themselves. As you may have read, Pasteur demonstrated that even minute bacteria did not form in sterilized water protected from contamination. In 1864 he announced: “Never will the doctrine of spontaneous generation recover from the mortal blow struck by this simple experiment.” That statement remains true. No experiment has ever produced life from nonliving matter.
How then could life come to be on earth? Modern efforts to answer that question might be dated to the 1920’s, to the work of Russian biochemist Alexander I. Oparin. He and other scientists since then have offered something like the script of a three-act drama that depicts what is claimed to have occurred on the stage of planet Earth. The first act portrays earth’s elements, or raw materials, being transformed into groups of molecules. Then comes the jump to large molecules. And the last act of this drama presents the leap to the first living cell. But did it really happen that way?
Fundamental to that drama is explaining that earth’s early atmosphere was much different from what it is today. One theory assumes that free oxygen was virtually absent and that the elements nitrogen, hydrogen, and carbon formed ammonia and methane. The concept is that when lightning and ultraviolet light struck an atmosphere of these gases and water vapor, sugars and amino acids developed. Bear in mind, though, that this is theory.
According to this theoretical drama, such molecular forms washed into the oceans or other bodies of water. Over time, sugars, acids, and other compounds concentrated into a broth of “prebiotic soup” where amino acids, for instance, joined to become proteins. Extending this theoretical progression, other compounds called nucleotides formed chains and became a nucleic acid, such as DNA. All of this supposedly set the stage for the final act of the molecular drama.
One might depict this last act, which is undocumented, as a love story. Protein molecules and DNA molecules happen to meet, recognize each other, and embrace. Then, just before the curtain rings down, the first living cell is born. If you were following this drama, you might wonder, ‘Is this real life or fiction? Could life on earth really have originated in this way?’
Genesis in the Laboratory?
In the early 1950’s, scientists set out to test Alexander Oparin’s theory. It was an established fact that life comes only from life, yet scientists theorized that if conditions differed in the past, life might have come slowly from nonlife. Could that be demonstrated? Scientist Stanley L. Miller, working in the laboratory of Harold Urey, took hydrogen, ammonia, methane, and water vapor (assuming that this had been the primitive atmosphere), sealed these in a flask with boiling water at the bottom (to represent an ocean), and zapped electric sparks (like lightning) through the vapors. Within a week, there were traces of reddish goo, which Miller analyzed and found to be rich in amino acids—the essence of proteins. You may well have heard of this experiment because for years it has been cited in science textbooks and school courses as if it explains how life on earth began. But does it?
Actually, the value of Miller’s experiment is seriously questioned today. (See “Classic but Questionable,” pages 36-7.) Nevertheless, its apparent success led to other tests that even produced components found in nucleic acids (DNA or RNA). Specialists in the field (sometimes called origin-of-life scientists) felt optimistic, for they had seemingly replicated the first act of the molecular drama. And it seemed as though laboratory versions of the remaining two acts would follow. One chemistry professor claimed: “The explanation of the origin of a primitive living system by evolutionary mechanisms is well within sight.” And a science writer observed: “Pundits speculated that scientists, like Mary Shelley’s Dr. Frankenstein, would shortly conjure up living organisms in their laboratories and thereby demonstrate in detail how genesis unfolded.” The mystery of the spontaneous origin of life, many thought, was solved.—See “Right Hand, Left Hand,” page 38.
Moods Change—Riddles Remain
In the years since, however, that optimism has evaporated. Decades have passed, and life’s secrets remain elusive. Some 40 years after his experiment, Professor Miller told Scientific American: “The problem of the origin of life has turned out to be much more difficult than I, and most other people, envisioned.” Other scientists share this change of mood. For example, back in 1969, Professor of Biology Dean H. Kenyon coauthored Biochemical Predestination. But more recently he concluded that it is “fundamentally implausible that unassisted matter and energy organized themselves into living systems.”
Indeed, laboratory work bears out Kenyon’s assessment that there is “a fundamental flaw in all current theories of the chemical origins of life.” After Miller and others had synthesized amino acids, scientists set out to make proteins and DNA, both of which are necessary for life on earth. After thousands of experiments with so-called prebiotic conditions, what was the outcome? The Mystery of Life’s Origin: Reassessing Current Theories notes: “There is an impressive contrast between the considerable success in synthesizing amino acids and the consistent failure to synthesize protein and DNA.” The latter efforts are characterized by “uniform failure.”
Realistically, the mystery encompasses more than how the first protein and nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) molecules came into existence. It includes how they work together. “It is only the partnership of the two molecules that makes contemporary life on Earth possible,” says The New Encyclopædia Britannica. Yet the encyclopedia notes that how that partnership could come about remains “a critical and unsolved problem in the origin of life.” True, indeed.
Appendix A, “Teamwork for Life” (pages 45-7), reviews some basic details of the intriguing teamwork between protein and nucleic acids in our cells. Even such a glimpse into the realm of our body cells elicits admiration for the work of scientists in this field. They have shed light on extraordinarily complex processes that few of us even think about but that operate every moment of our lives. From another standpoint, however, the staggering complexity and precision required returns us to the question, How did all of this come about?
You may know that origin-of-life scientists have not ceased trying to formulate a plausible scenario for the drama about the first appearance of life. Nevertheless, their new scripts are not proving to be convincing. (See Appendix B, “From ‘the RNA World’ or Another World?” page 48.) For example, Klaus Dose of the Institute for Biochemistry in Mainz, Germany, observed: “At present all discussions on principal theories and experiments in the field either end in stalemate or in a confession of ignorance.”
Even at the 1996 International Conference on the Origin of Life, no solutions were forthcoming. Instead, the journal Science reported that the nearly 300 scientists who convened had “grappled with the riddle of how [DNA and RNA] molecules first appeared and how they evolved into self-reproducing cells.”
Intelligence and advanced education were required to study and even begin to explain what occurs at the molecular level in our cells. Is it reasonable to believe that complicated steps occurred first in a “prebiotic soup,” undirected, spontaneously, and by chance? Or was more involved?
Why the Riddles?
A person today can look back over nearly half a century of speculation and thousands of attempts to prove that life originated on its own. If one does that, it would be hard to disagree with Nobel laureate Francis Crick. Speaking about origin-of-life theories, Crick observed that there is “too much speculation running after too few facts.” It is thus understandable that some scientists who examine the facts conclude that life is much too complex to pop up even in an organized laboratory, let alone in an uncontrolled environment.
If advanced science cannot prove that life could arise by itself, why do some scientists continue to hold to such theories? A few decades ago, Professor J. D. Bernal offered some insight in the book The Origin of Life: “By applying the strict canons of scientific method to this subject [the spontaneous generation of life], it is possible to demonstrate effectively at several places in the story, how life could not have arisen; the improbabilities are too great, the chances of the emergence of life too small.” He added: “Regrettably from this point of view, life is here on Earth in all its multiplicity of forms and activities and the arguments have to be bent round to support its existence.” And the picture has not improved.
Consider the underlying import of such reasoning. It is as much as saying: ‘Scientifically it is correct to state that life cannot have begun by itself. But spontaneously arising life is the only possibility that we will consider. So it is necessary to bend the arguments to support the hypothesis that life arose spontaneously.’ Are you comfortable with such logic? Does not such reasoning call for a lot of ‘bending’ of the facts?
There are, however, knowledgeable, respected scientists who do not see a need to bend facts to fit a prevailing philosophy on the origin of life. Rather, they permit the facts to point to a reasonable conclusion. What facts and what conclusion?
Information and Intelligence
Interviewed in a documentary film, Professor Maciej Giertych, a noted geneticist from the Institute of Dendrology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, answered:
“We have become aware of the massive information contained in the genes. There is no known way to science how that information can arise spontaneously. It requires an intelligence; it cannot arise from chance events. Just mixing letters does not produce words.” He added: “For example, the very complex DNA, RNA, protein replicating system in the cell must have been perfect from the very start. If not, life systems could not exist. The only logical explanation is that this vast quantity of information came from an intelligence.”
The more you learn about the wonders of life, the more logical it is to agree with that conclusion: The origin of life requires an intelligent source. What source?
As noted earlier, millions of educated individuals conclude that life on earth must have been produced by a higher intelligence, a designer. Yes, after examining the matter fairly, they have accepted that even in our scientific age, it is reasonable to agree with the Biblical poet who long ago said about God: “For with you is the source of life.”—Psalm 36:9.
Whether you have yet reached a firm conclusion about that or not, let us turn our attention to some wonders that involve you personally. Doing so is most satisfying and may shed considerable light on this matter that touches our lives.
[Box on page 30]
How Much Chance for Chance?
“Chance, and chance alone, did it all, from the primeval soup to man,” said Nobel laureate Christian de Duve, speaking about the origin of life. Is chance, though, a rational explanation for the cause of life?
What is chance? Some think in terms of a mathematical probability, such as the chance involved in flipping a coin. However, that is not how many scientists use “chance” regarding the origin of life. The vague word “chance” is used as a substitute for a more precise word such as “cause,” especially when the cause is not known.
“To personify ‘chance’ as if we were talking about a causal agent,” notes biophysicist Donald M. MacKay, “is to make an illegitimate switch from a scientific to a quasi-religious mythological concept.” Similarly, Robert C. Sproul points out: “By calling the unknown cause ‘chance’ for so long, people begin to forget that a substitution was made. . . . The assumption that ‘chance equals an unknown cause’ has come to mean for many that ‘chance equals cause.’”
Nobel laureate Jacques L. Monod, for one, used this chance-equals-cause line of reasoning. “Pure chance, absolutely free but blind, [is] at the very root of the stupendous edifice of evolution,” he wrote. “Man knows at last that he is alone in the universe’s unfeeling immensity, out of which he emerged only by chance.” Note he says: ‘BY chance.’ Monod does what many others do—he elevates chance to a creative principle. Chance is offered as the means by which life came to be on earth.
In fact, dictionaries show that “chance” is “the assumed impersonal purposeless determiner of unaccountable happenings.” Thus, if one speaks about life coming about by chance, he is saying that it came about by a causal power that is not known. Could it be that some are virtually spelling “Chance” with a capital letter—in effect saying, Creator?
[Box on page 35]
“[The smallest bacterium] is so much more like people than Stanley Miller’s mixtures of chemicals, because it already has these system properties. So to go from a bacterium to people is less of a step than to go from a mixture of amino acids to that bacterium.”—Professor of Biology Lynn Margulis
[Box/Picture on page 36, 37]
Classic but Questionable
Stanley Miller’s experiment in 1953 is often cited as evidence that spontaneous generation could have happened in the past. The validity of his explanation, however, rests on the presumption that the earth’s primordial atmosphere was “reducing.” That means it contained only the smallest amount of free (chemically uncombined) oxygen. Why?
The Mystery of Life’s Origin: Reassessing Current Theories points out that if much free oxygen was present, ‘none of the amino acids could even be formed, and if by some chance they were, they would decompose quickly.’a How solid was Miller’s presumption about the so-called primitive atmosphere?
In a classic paper published two years after his experiment, Miller wrote: “These ideas are of course speculation, for we do not know that the Earth had a reducing atmosphere when it was formed. . . . No direct evidence has yet been found.”—Journal of the American Chemical Society, May 12, 1955.
Was evidence ever found? Some 25 years later, science writer Robert C. Cowen reported: “Scientists are having to rethink some of their assumptions. . . . Little evidence has emerged to support the notion of a hydrogen-rich, highly reducing atmosphere, but some evidence speaks against it.”—Technology Review, April 1981.
And since then? In 1991, John Horgan wrote in Scientific American: “Over the past decade or so, doubts have grown about Urey and Miller’s assumptions regarding the atmosphere. Laboratory experiments and computerized reconstructions of the atmosphere . . . suggest that ultraviolet radiation from the sun, which today is blocked by atmospheric ozone, would have destroyed hydrogen-based molecules in the atmosphere. . . . Such an atmosphere [carbon dioxide and nitrogen] would not have been conducive to the synthesis of amino acids and other precursors of life.”
Why, then, do many still hold that earth’s early atmosphere was reducing, containing little oxygen? In Molecular Evolution and the Origin of Life, Sidney W. Fox and Klaus Dose answer: The atmosphere must have lacked oxygen because, for one thing, “laboratory experiments show that chemical evolution . . . would be largely inhibited by oxygen” and because compounds such as amino acids “are not stable over geological times in the presence of oxygen.”
Is this not circular reasoning? The early atmosphere was a reducing one, it is said, because spontaneous generation of life could otherwise not have taken place. But there actually is no assurance that it was reducing.
There is another telling detail: If the gas mixture represents the atmosphere, the electric spark mimics lightning, and boiling water stands in for the sea, what or who does the scientist arranging and carrying out of the experiment represent?
[Footnote]
a Oxygen is highly reactive. For example, it combines with iron and forms rust or with hydrogen and forms water. If there was much free oxygen in an atmosphere when amino acids were assembling, it would quickly combine with and dismantle the organic molecules as they formed.
[Box on page 38]
Right Hand, Left Hand
We know that there are right-handed and left-handed gloves. This is also true of amino acid molecules. Of some 100 known amino acids, only 20 are used in proteins, and all are left-handed ones. When scientists make amino acids in laboratories, in imitation of what they feel possibly occurred in a prebiotic soup, they find an equal number of right-handed and left-handed molecules. “This kind of 50-50 distribution,” reports The New York Times, is “not characteristic of life, which depends on left-handed amino acids alone.” Why living organisms are made up of only left-handed amino acids is “a great mystery.” Even amino acids found in meteorites “showed excesses of left-handed forms.” Dr. Jeffrey L. Bada, who studies problems involving the origin of life, said that “some influence outside the earth might have played some role in determining the handedness of biological amino acids.”
[Box on page 40]
“These experiments . . . claim abiotic synthesis for what has in fact been produced and designed by highly intelligent and very much biotic man in an attempt to confirm ideas to which he was largely committed.” —Origin and Development of Living Systems.
[Box/Picture on page 41]
“A Deliberate Intellectual Act”
British astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle has spent decades studying the universe and life in it, even espousing that life on earth arrived from outer space. Lecturing at the California Institute of Technology, he discussed the order of amino acids in proteins.
“The big problem in biology,” Hoyle said, “isn’t so much the rather crude fact that a protein consists of a chain of amino acids instructioned together in a certain way, but that the explicit ordering of the amino acids endows the chain with remarkable properties . . . If amino acids were instructioned at random, there would be a vast number of arrangements that would be useless in serving the purposes of a living cell. When you consider that a typical enzyme has a chain of perhaps 200 instructions and that there are 20 possibilities for each instruction, it’s easy to see that the number of useless arrangements is enormous, more than the number of atoms in all the galaxies visible in the largest telescopes. This is for one enzyme, and there are upwards of 2000 of them, mainly serving very different purposes. So how did the situation get to where we find it to be?”
Hoyle added: “Rather than accept the fantastically small probability of life having arisen through the blind forces of nature, it seemed better to suppose that the origin of life was a deliberate intellectual act.”
[Box on page 44]
Professor Michael J. Behe stated: “To a person who does not feel obliged to restrict his search to unintelligent causes, the straightforward conclusion is that many biochemical systems were designed. They were designed not by the laws of nature, not by chance and necessity; rather, they were planned. . . . Life on earth at its most fundamental level, in its most critical components, is the product of intelligent activity.”
[Diagram/Picture on page 42]
(For fully formatted text, see publication)
Even a glimpse into the complex world and intricate functions in each body cell leads to the question, How did all of this come about?
• Cell membrane
Controls what enters and leaves the cell
• Nucleus
The cell’s control center
• Chromosomes
Contain the DNA, the genetic master plan
• Ribosomes
Place where proteins are made
• Nucleolus
Site where ribosomes are assembled
• Mitochondrion
Production center for the molecules that supply energy for the cell
[Picture on page 33]
Many scientists now acknowledge that the complex molecules basic to life could not have been spontaneously generated in some prebiotic soup |
Does God Have a Name? | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/502012489 | Does God Have a Name?
The Bible’s answer
Humans all have personal names. Wouldn’t it be reasonable for God to have a name? Having and using personal names is a vital part of human friendships. Should it be different when it comes to our friendship with God?
In the Bible, God says: “I am Jehovah. That is my name.” (Isaiah 42:8) Although he also has many inputs, such as “God Almighty,” “Sovereign Lord,” and “Creator,” he honors his worshippers by inviting them to address him by his personal name.—Genesis 17:1; Acts 4:24; 1 Peter 4:19.
Many translations of the Bible contain God’s personal name at Exodus 6:3. That passage says: “I used to appear to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as God Almighty, but as respects my name Jehovah I did not make myself known to them.”
Jehovah is a rendering of God’s name in English that has been used for centuries. While many scholars prefer the spelling “Yahweh,” Jehovah is the form of the name that is most widely recognized. The first part of the Bible was written not in English but in Hebrew, a language that is read from right to left. In that language, the divine name appears as four consonants, יהוה. Those four Hebrew characters—transliterated YHWH—are known as the Tetragrammaton. |
“God’s Love” (lv)
2014 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/lv | input Page/Publishers’ Page
“Keep Yourselves in God’s Love”
Photo Credits:
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This publication is not for sale. It is provided as part of a worldwide Bible educational work supported by voluntary donations.
To make a donation, please visit www.jw.org.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the modern-language New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures.
April 2016 Printing
English (lv-E)
© 2008, 2014
Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania |
Terrorism—What Is Behind It and Why? | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/101987002 | Terrorism—What Is Behind It and Why?
“LONDON, April 17—Machine-gun fire from the Libyan Embassy raked a crowd today during a protest against the Government of Muammar el-Qaddafi, killing a police officer and wounding 10 people.”—The New York Times.
“In plain view, the gunmen inside fired from an open window, riddling the demonstrators with automatic gunfire . . . The unarmed policewoman was shot in the back. . . . Ten days after this barbaric incident, the British government provided the killers, along with their murder weapons, with safe passage out of the country.”—Terrorism—How the West Can Win.
As embassy staff, the gunmen were granted diplomatic immunity.
WHY do people and groups resort to terrorism? Who are the main targets? What does terrorism accomplish?
One point of view is that terrorism is a symptom that can indicate a variety of racial, social, and political injustices. Catholic priest and theologian James T. Burtchaell stated: “Some terrorism is perpetrated by an ethnic and/or religious (and usually economic) minority that demands self-governance: Basques in Spain, Catholics in Ulster, Huks in the Philippines. . . . Some is undertaken by governments threatened by majority dissent . . . Some is the venture of a national minority that aspires to control the government.”
But is it just minority groups that resort to terrorism? Burtchaell continues: “Some terrorism is sponsored by governments to discredit, destabilize, and displace the government of another, uncooperative nation.”—Fighting Back.
According to other commentators, the motives behind terrorism can be interpreted differently, depending on the observer’s political sympathies. Some argue that when injustices are committed and the people have no legal redress, terror becomes their only answer. Others see in terrorism a strategy against Western democracies, inspired and manipulated by the opposing political ideology. Let us examine some of the facts and opinions about this complex problem.
Why the Terror in Northern Ireland?
According to the writers of Northern Ireland—The Divided Province, British Protestants, many from Scotland, were transplanted onto Irish Catholic soil over 350 years ago, which created a clash of cultures and later led to competition for jobs. That book states: “The Protestants of Northern Ireland mostly arrived during the 17th century in a process begun in 1607 and known as the ‘plantation’ of Ulster. This at last established firm English rule upon the whole island of Ireland.” This English rule has been the basis for bitterness and violence for centuries.
The Catholic Irish Free State (Eire) was formed in 1921, and the six mainly Protestant counties in the northeast were left as a separate entity, forming Northern Ireland. From the Irish nationalist viewpoint, this act dismembered Ireland. Ever since then, the illegal IRA (Irish Republican Army) has continued its fight to reunite Ireland—which the Protestants strongly resist. Why? Because they refuse to come under what they perceive to be ‘Catholic Papist rule’ in Dublin.
The Protestant viewpoint is summed up in the words of The New York Times regarding the recent vote in Ireland to keep a ban on divorce, which was upheld by a 3 to 2 margin: “Politicians in Northern Ireland who oppose any ties with the republic were among the first to denounce the vote as a measure of the ‘stranglehold’ of the Roman Catholic Church on the Irish Republic.”
The IRA is presently divided into two factions—the Officials and the Provisionals (Provos). According to professor of history Thomas E. Hachey, “the IRA Officials are committed to an all-Ireland, thirty-two-county socialist republic. . . . The Provos advocate a federal solution and a federal constitution for Ireland.” (The Rationalization of Terrorism) How seriously the latter feel about their aims was illustrated in 1984 when the Provos left a time bomb in a Brighton hotel, nearly killing British Prime Minister Thatcher and her cabinet.
In spite of religious, political, and ethnic factors, some questions remain: Are there any deeper motives behind terrorism? To what extent are the great powers involved?
The Motives Behind Terrorism
Most of the Arab terrorist groups justify their actions by pointing to the plight of the Palestinian refugees who lost their homeland, Palestine, when the nation of Israel was formed in 1948. Over the decades, feelings have run so high that now the Arab terrorists’ aim is not just a separate homeland but something more sinister to Jews—the annihilation of Israel. How is this known?
The following quotation is taken from the “Open Letter” of Hizballah (“Party of God”), a Shi‘ite group operating in the Middle East.
“Our sons are now in a state of ever-escalating confrontation against these enemies [Israel, United States, France, and the (Lebanese) Phalange] until the following objectives are achieved:
“Israel’s final departure from Lebanon as a prelude to its final obliteration from existence and the liberation of venerable Jerusalem from the talons of occupation.”—Hydra of Carnage.
On the other hand, many terrorist acts have been perpetrated by “martyrs” under the influence of Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini and his philosophy, expressed in these words quoted from the book Sacred Rage: “The governments of the world should know that Islam cannot be defeated. Islam will be victorious in all the countries of the world, and Islam and the teachings of the Koran will prevail all over the world.”
This perspective leads to his further conclusion: “We have in reality, then, no choice but to destroy those systems of government that are corrupt in themselves . . . and to overthrow all treacherous, corrupt, oppressive and criminal regimes. This is the duty that all Muslims must fulfill.”
The driving force behind other terrorists is revolutionary socialism and the overthrow of capitalism. Writer Jan Schreiber states in his book The Ultimate Weapon—Terrorists and World Order: “In general the capacity to exploit is equated with capitalism, and capitalism, whether or not tempered by democracy, is equated with fascism.” As a Japanese supporter of terrorism expressed it: “What we will never accept in this world is the fact, brought about by capitalism, of people exploiting other people. And this is our motive for being willing to fight.”
However, others see terrorists in a different light. Israeli ambassador Benjamin Netanyahu writes: “Terrorism is not an automatic result of anything. It is a choice, an evil choice.” He reasons: “The root cause of terrorism lies not in grievances but in a disposition toward unbridled violence. This can be traced to a world view which asserts that certain ideological and religious goals justify, indeed demand, the shedding of all moral inhibitions.”—Terrorism—How the West Can Win.
But why has our modern society suddenly become the victim of terrorism?
A Vulnerable Society
Neil Livingstone, a U.S. expert on terrorism, writes: “As our world has become ever more urban and complex, we have correspondingly become ever more vulnerable to the designs of small groups, or even single individuals, bent on disrupting the lives of or inflicting their will on, the majority.” Why is our society so vulnerable to terrorist activity? “Our slender lifelines of water, energy, transportation, communication, and sanitation are all at the mercy of sophisticated terrorists and saboteurs.”—Hydra of Carnage.
Because of the fragility of our life-support systems, one terrorist can exercise the power of an army of ancient times. Livingstone adds: “As a result of technological advances . . . one man can command more killing technology than ever before. One individual in the age of technology is potentially the equal of an army [of the age] when the chief weapons of war were the sword, the bow, and the spear. This is one of the chief reasons why terrorists represent such a threat to the contemporary world.”
Another vulnerable point in modern society is the instant impact of news events. Television multiplies the power of terrorism. The terrorist wants international publicity for his cause—and thanks to the media, he gets it!
Only about a century ago, it took days for news to travel around the world. Now news is instantaneous. In some cases the terrorist can actually see himself enacting his role on TV. Often he knows what the other side is doing while he continues to play his cards close to his chest. Jan Schreiber goes so far as to say that “the drive to seize public attention” has been “the most consistently successful terrorist ploy.”
But are there any other reasons why terrorism continues to prosper?
Terrorism and Two Opposing Ideologies
Offering no hope for the future, two consultants on terrorism write: “Terrorism will not disappear. Small, weak states have discovered that it can greatly increase their political clout, and plagued as they are by resource shortages, they are not likely to abandon terrorism as a political and military tool.” At the same time, they add, some major powers see advantages in waging surrogate warfare through terrorism. “Larger, stronger states, by contrast, have discovered that terrorist proxies can help them achieve their national objectives without the risk attendant to other forms of warfare.”—Fighting Back.
If the stronger states have discovered that terrorism can help them achieve their aims, could this account for some, or a major part, of world terrorism? Jan Schreiber writes: “Disclosures in the mid-seventies confirmed what dispassionate observers had long known without proof; that the two dominant ideologies of the world had employed, and would likely continue to employ, all means, fair and foul, to confound their enemies and gain, or retain, supremacy.”
This clash of ideologies is implicit in a speech by Soviet leader Gorbachev when he said: “It must be crystal clear that international relations can be channeled toward normal cooperation only if the imperialists abandon their attempts to solve the historical argument between the two social systems by military means.”—A Time for Peace.
Others also recognize this international “chess game” between the two major powers. For example, Robin Wright states in her book Sacred Rage: “Muslim militants also feel the United States has looked at the Middle East primarily as an area for rivalry with the Soviet Union, virtually ignoring the powerful local forces at play. In a bipolar world, the U.S. has not been sensitive to the frustrated calls for recognition of the emerging Third World.” Apparently, some smaller nations see themselves being used as pawns in the clash of ideologies.
Western experts view much of terrorism as another weapon being used to destabilize the capitalist system. Ambassador Robert B. Oakley, a U.S. expert on counterterrorism, stated: “Left unchallenged, the rise of terrorism will undermine the system of political, economic, and military relationships which the United States and its allies have come to rely upon to preserve, protect, and promote their national and mutual interests . . . During the years ahead, we must be prepared for continued serious threats from international terrorism . . . much of it supported or encouraged by a handful of ruthless governments.”
U.S. ambassador Robert M. Sayre expressed his opinion more directly: “Terrorism is politically motivated and is planned and organized. . . . Most of it is carried out by states and groups of Marxist-Leninist persuasion, and the Soviet Union and its Eastern-bloc partners lend support and comfort to them.”—Department of State Bulletin.
Terrorism and Bible Prophecy
Why is the clash between the two great powers, with terrorism as a tool, of special interest to Bible students? Because of a significant prophecy found in the Bible book of Daniel, chapter 11. This prophecy describes an ongoing conflict between two great powers, “the king of the north” and “the king of the south.” “The king of the north” is identified as being atheistic, having rejected “the God of his fathers.” (Daniel 11:37) He magnifies himself and gives glory to the god of fortresses, or armaments. He acts effectively against fortified strongholds and establishes his world position. (Daniel 11:38, 39) Does “the king of the south” stand idle while his opponent expands?
The ominous prophecy states: “And in the time of the end the king of the south will engage with him in a pushing, and against him the king of the north will storm with chariots and with horsemen and with many ships; and he will certainly enter into the lands and flood over and pass through.” (Daniel 11:40) Logically, terrorism under its different guises is now being used by both kings in their struggle for world dominance.a Daniel’s words indicate that there will be competitive coexistence between the two leading world powers until God brings an end to their rivalry at his war of Armageddon.—Revelation 16:14-16.
The questions remain: Can man alone end the scourge of terrorism? If so, how and when? If not, why not? Our next article will discuss these questions.
[Footnotes]
a For further information about these kings, see “Your Will Be Done on Earth,” chapter 11, published in 1958 by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.
[Picture on page 7]
The motives behind much of terrorism are related to Daniel’s prophecy regarding the time of the end
[Credit Line]
Pacemaker Press Int’l, Belfast
[Picture on page 8]
Modern terrorism has made effective use of the news media
[Credit Line]
Reuters/Bettmann Newsphotos |
Origin of Life (lf)
2010 | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/lf | A Student’s Dilemma
Peter shifts uneasily in his chair, a knot forming in his stomach. His teacher, a woman he respects, has just finished describing how Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution advanced scientific understanding and liberated mankind from superstitious beliefs. Now she has invited her students to express their opinions on this topic.
Peter faces a dilemma. His parents have taught him that God created the earth and all life on it. They say that the Bible’s account of creation is trustworthy and that evolution is simply a theory—one not supported by the evidence. Peter’s teacher and his parents all mean well. But whom should Peter believe?
Each school year, scenarios like the above play out in thousands of classrooms around the globe. What should Peter and students like him do? Would you not agree that they really need to make up their own minds on this matter? They need to examine the evidence for evolution and for creation and then decide for themselves which they will believe.
In fact, the Bible warns against blindly believing what others teach. “Anyone inexperienced puts faith in every word,” states one Bible writer, “but the shrewd one considers his steps.” (Proverbs 14:15) The Bible encourages Christians to use their “power of reason” and to prove to themselves the things they are taught.—Romans 12:1, 2.
This brochure is not designed to support the efforts of religious groups who want to have creation taught in schools. The purpose of this brochure is to examine claims made by those who teach that life appeared spontaneously and assert that the Bible’s account of creation is a myth.
We will focus on the cell because that is the most basic unit of life. You will be able to review some amazing facts about how cells are built. You will also be asked to analyze the assumptions that underpin the theory of evolution.
Sooner or later, all of us need to confront the question, Was life created, or did it evolve? You likely have already given this topic serious thought. This brochure will present just some of the evidence that has led many to believe that life was created. |
Religious Intolerance Today | https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/101999001 | Religious Intolerance Today
“Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.” Article 18, Universal Declaration Of Human Rights, 1948.
DO YOU enjoy religious freedom in your country? Most countries in the world ostensibly subscribe to this noble principle, which has been included many times in international declarations. It is estimated, however, that in numerous countries where intolerance and discrimination are hard realities, countless millions of people today do not enjoy religious freedom. On the other hand, many people live in multiracial, multiethnic, or multireligious societies where freedom is guaranteed by law and tolerance is seemingly enshrined in the nations’ culture.
Yet, even in these places, some people are affected by threats to religious freedom. “Discrimination based upon religion or conviction exists in almost all economic, social, and ideological systems and in all parts of the world,” noted Angelo d’Almeida Ribeiro, former Special Rapporteur appointed by the UN Commission on Human Rights. In their book Freedom of Religion and Belief—A World Report, published in 1997, editors Kevin Boyle and Juliet Sheen state: “Religious persecution of minority faiths [and] the proscribing of beliefs and pervasive discrimination . . . are daily occurrences at the end of the twentieth century.”
Religious discrimination, however, does not affect just religious minorities. Professor Abdelfattah Amor, Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance, of the UN Commission on Human Rights, considers that “no religion is safe from violation.” It is quite likely, then, that intolerance and prejudice are commonly faced by some religions where you live.
Varied Forms of Discrimination
Religious discrimination can take many forms. Some countries simply exclude all but one religion, making it, in effect, the State religion. In other countries, laws are passed restricting the activity of certain religions. Some lands have enacted laws that have been interpreted in an arbitrary way. Consider the scope for abuse of a proposed law in Israel to punish the importation, printing, distribution, or possession of brochures or material “in which there is an inducement to religious conversion.” Not surprisingly, the International Herald Tribune newspaper reports: “In Israel, Jehovah’s Witnesses have been harassed and attacked.” A Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Lod was broken into three times and trashed twice by fanatic ultraorthodox zealots. The police declined to interfere.
The book Freedom of Religion and Belief cites other examples of intolerance: “Heresy and heretics are not only an image from the past. . . . Rejection, persecution and discrimination towards those who have taken a different path remain a major cause of intolerance. The Ahmadis in Pakistan and the [Baha’is] in Egypt, Iran, and Malaysia are some examples as are the Jehovah’s Witnesses in several countries of Eastern Europe, in Greece and Singapore.” Clearly, religious freedom is under threat in many parts of the world.
In the face of this, Federico Mayor, director-general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, declared that the emerging world of the near future “does not inspire whole-hearted enthusiasm. . . . The winds of freedom have rekindled the embers of hatred.” Confirming these fears, the director of the Human Rights Centre of the University of Essex, United Kingdom, observed: “All evidence points to the conclusion that religious intolerance . . . is increasing rather than decreasing in the modern world.” Such increasing intolerance threatens religious freedom, perhaps your religious freedom. Why, though, is religious freedom so important?
What Is at Stake?
“Religious freedom is a fundamental requirement before any society can be described as free. . . . Without freedom of religion and the right to disseminate one’s faith there can be no rights of conscience and no genuine democracy,” observed sociologist Bryan Wilson in his book Human Values in a Changing World. And, as a French court recently recognized, “freedom of belief is one of the fundamental elements of public freedoms.” Thus, whether you are religious or not, you should be interested in the protection of religious freedom.
A country’s attitude toward religious freedom also greatly affects its reputation and international credibility. A report presented in 1997 to a meeting of the 54-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe stated: “Religious Freedom is one of the highest values in the constellation of human rights, going to the very core of human dignity. No system that violates, or allows the systematic violation of, such rights can lay legitimate claim to membership in the community of just and democratic states that respect fundamental human rights.”
Freedom of religion is like part of the foundation of a building. Other freedoms—civil, political, cultural, and economic—are built upon it. If the foundation is undermined, the whole edifice suffers. Professor Francesco Margiotta-Broglio succinctly puts it this way: “Whenever [religious] freedom is violated, other freedoms are the next to suffer.” If other freedoms are to be protected, religious freedom needs to be safeguarded first.
In order to discern how best to protect something, it is essential to understand it. What are the roots of religious freedom? How was it established, and at what price?
[Picture on page 4]
Religious intolerance has a long history |
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