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HUMAN IMPERFECTION

 

 

Inside me there are two worlds. The first and easy one is the world of badness or evil. The second one is the world of purity, cleanness and spotlessness.

 

The problem lies in execution or delegation. Since birth, I haven’t been able to conquer the first world. Yet at times I find myself in great ecstasy and merriment when I master the second world. Can’t I eradicate the first world so that I can always be happy with the practice of my second world?

 

From birth, when I first cried, the first world began to manifest itself. Why wasn’t I born smiling? Is the sensation and expression to discontent of primary importance? Is the stimulus to laughter always superseded by that of anguish? It tells me that the first world I possess is here, not of my own will but was genetically given a preference for it to uncontrollably exhibit itself in all homo sapiens, whether aware or unaware of it. I smiled after first crying. Wow!

 

So, are there any early conclusions to this? Does this intro anyhow come close to the topic of the book? You and I have the remaining pages to argue or defend the issue of human imperfection. Your thoughts, my thoughts and the various observations around us should bring us to an amicable conclusion at the end of this book. So, prepare your mind as we’ll try to unravel the very root, mystery and enigma of human imperfection!

 

Is it a paired gift?

Most natural things come in pairs, e.g. two hands, positive & negative charges, male and female, light and darkness etc. So, is good and bad also a natural paired gift? If the latter is really part of a natural gift, then it’s of no use for us to try and scrutinize what I term the ‘first world’, i.e. our failings, shortcomings, hence human imperfection.

 

But I think I saw you nodding your head against the thought of sin or lack of proper execution being a natural gift. True. I’m also against accepting it as an invincible natural phenomenon.

 

If we do not have a cure for a certain disease, that doesn’t make us to give in and without defense accept the disease as part of life or gift of nature. Instead we are always against any vicious threat to our well being, and sometimes even doing so without any prior meditation. So then, the real gift of nature, at present actually seems to be what I term ‘the second world,’ i.e. the maintenance and preservation of virtue, joy and tranquillity, be it emotional, environmental or even socially. Don’t you agree friend?

 

Ok friend, now let’s try to unravel why I term goodness as the second world? Quite simple, it’s just like day and night. Because the sun rises in the morning that is why you say : “Good morning to your pal.” Now, to the same person you say: “Good evening” when you see him/her when it’s dark or nearing sunset. So usually we count our time from morning till evening, meaning that the morning is always first hence evening second. So in my terminology based on context, I consider badness or discontent to have demonstrated itself first, then virtue to be second, simply at everyone’s birth. But friend, don’t worry, we are still going to unravel much, deduce, figure the parallels, expostulate and much more, simply for the pleasure of finally reaching one common satisfying answer to the whole issue of human imperfection.

 

Please note

What now? No, that even though we place goodness in the second place, it doesn’t mean that it is perfect. If I am able to delegate or give way to any act of goodness, still that demonstrated virtue is not perfect? How so? Any present virtue we may exhibit can always be upgraded or aggrandized at a later time. When you give R5 to a beggar you may be prompted to give R10 or more as time goes on. He your goodness gets aggrandized each time. Ok, let’s leave this here for now. But also take note of the transverse. Any act of ‘the first world’ is completely gross each time. Discontent and badness are simply bad each time. This first world has no desired improvement at all. Moving from bad to worse cannot be desired or sought to be improved by anyone sane, while in the second world we may strive to increase our goodness as much as we like, hence something appealing to anyone sane. No one wants to increase the deficit, but as for profit, we can strive to increase it as much as we like, even when dreaming!

 

One thing that should baffle us is: When I want to execute something good, how will I know if it is really good, since what you think is good can be bad to someone? Ok think of this example: A speeding car passes you to your shock. You label that as bad. But when you find out later, you are told that that speeding car was actually taking someone who was terminally ill to a hospital. See, now you are forced to right the ‘wrong.’ What do we learn from this? Well, the driver of a speeding car executed speed as a means to save a life. The observer on the road felt it was wrong. So, if goodness is to come out from you, it shouldn’t fear any misconceptions it may receive from outsiders or observers, cause their view can be altered or aligned later while your execution is urgent and always important to exhibit or demonstrate according to any immediate need there may be. So, if the second world is really a natural gift, then no one is ever shy of making means for the intended good gift or act to materialize irrespective of how the onlookers or recipient may respond. Any unanticipated response simply will not or cannot change the performed act of goodness, while on the other, failure to execute or unleash the intended good act could harm or oppose you mentally, psychologically and emotionally. So, whenever it is within your capacity to perform anything good, never withdraw from your mentally already decided plan of action. Okay, let’s leave this analysis for now and move on.

 

Next question: If I fall victim to practicing the will of the first world, what difference does it make in my life? “After all, it’s my life!” “No one will tell me what to do and how to act at any given time.” “After all who’ll judge me? I was born free with no one to report to or act as my judge!” “Why stress about human imperfection, I don’t see this issue contributing anywhere in my life or adding anything to what I’ve been through.” Well, these expressions may well describe the exegesis some friends of mine may have. Well, I’m here for the rehab, let’s probe and further unravel the mystery and pivot of human imperfection and see if you really owe your existence to such foundation or not. For your enjoyment though, don’t count the pages as you read, just enjoy reading and reading. Also, think as you read.

 

Well as for now, I feel compelled to answer the question on accountability. Yes, we are responsible for our actions. Otherwise this would make you a careless or carefree parent, employer, coach and so forth. Now let’s illustrate this: See, you want to cross a busy road. Note that the road permits motor vehicles and pedestrians to pass. So, to curb the unnecessary mayhem, robots play a commanding and judging role. How so? At times vehicles are ordered to stand still at the command of a red light while the green light flashing the man figure indicates to the pedestrian that it’s now his/her turn to pass. Okay, how does this link with the issue of accountability on our part?

 

Firstly, deliberately ignoring the proper rules can result in undue fatality. So, soundness of mind makes it easy for anyone wanting to live longer to obey the rules of the road and avoid causing needless harm to himself or others. Secondly, obeying the rules proves that you are employing your second world, that of goodness. Even though that in itself may not be quite perfect, i.e. it’s value is relative, but it is worth being exhibited.

 

To further stress the need for allegiance we see this in how governments world wide keep on spending much money on rehab programs, be it from juvenile delinquency to white collar crimes. Why do governments spend so much money if fighting the first world isn’t necessary? Why do police departments world wide are always equipped with increased training if combating evil wasn’t necessary? Why are offenders punished? Is it for your convenience or are you not affected at all by such operations that are put in place? So, as you see, each day when you wake up, you are greeted to these two fundamental worlds, that of good and that of bad. But the big onus lies in execution. What will you choose to do?

 

That our individual will and choice are determining factors readily becomes evident. If we were to insist that a perfect man could not take a wrong course where a moral issue was involved, should we not also logically argue that an imperfect person could not take a right course where such moral issue was involved? Yet some imperfect creatures do take a right course on moral issues involving obedience to the law, while at the same time others deliberately engage in doing what they know is wrong. Thus not all wrong actions can be excused by human imperfection. The individual’s will and choice are deciding factors. In the same way, it is not human perfection alone that would guarantee right action, rather, the exercise of our own free will and choice as motivated by love of the of the Law Giver and of the second world, or what was right.

 

So, we can here compare imperfection to some putridity in an apple. On such an apple you can decide two things: Either to throw the whole apple away or to cut away the rotten part away and eat the rest of the untainted apple. But notice, even if the apple was complete untainted, you would still ‘naturally’ exercise caution while eating it. Likewise, it’s possible for us to identify wrong acts in advance, i.e. the fruitage of the first world, yet at the same time we do realize that even if ‘imperfection’ were not present in us, still we would ‘naturally’ exercise caution in our dealings, or our use of the second world at all times. So this ultimately proves that our own free will, and not automatically imperfection or perfection, determines our course of action. This is where accountability comes in, so giving us a fresh new look at our Judge, that he is not a Judge of bad acts only, but also an Adjudicator of good. So, from the start, he was the there to adjudicate or render approval to all good deeds, and not necessarily that of the obstreperous first world.

 

 

What if you already have a good plan of action, yet you procrastinate to execute it, would that still be considered as falling prey to the first world? Someone may say it depends on the situation or to the one whom it is intended to be exhibited upon. Well, we can both be partly right and partly wrong here. But, honestly speaking, would you procrastinate the act of breathing? Usually people hold their breath when trying to whisper a gossip or make themselves undiscoverable, except for some honest souls who may be withholding their breath at a gym or while engaging in swimming. Other than the latter, breathing is usually performed free with no thought of trying to delay or procrastinate it. The same applies to acts of mercy or display of goodness, it is often best and quite apt to execute such without any second thoughts or the proliferation of it. Just let it out as normal, and avoid needless delay, unless however it may be of good cause or purpose to delay it at times, as in rewarding someone at the proper time, allowing others to first think rather than quickly spoon-feeding them thereby promoting laziness and so forth. I know the are other examples you also may be thinking of that completes portion or angle of the puzzle. Thanks for thinking together with me as we both try to touch base with our fundamental issue of the whole scenario of human imperfection and its diverse elements it encompasses.

 

Right, now is the time to ask this obvious question: Does the whole story of the two worlds only apply to mentally stable people? Well, I’m not sure if governments arrests serious psychotics, maybe the correctional departments have psychologist that are able to assess and confirm the level of retardation the convicted ‘mentally ailing’ offender may have. So, as to confirmed and serious mentally handicapped people, their vice or vices may be acquitted. But again note the interesting transverse ‘rule’: The good acts of mentally disabled persons are noted regardless of whether they initiated the execution or not. So, while their vices may go unpunished, their good deeds surely and naturally seem to be what was actually desired of them. But as for biologically sane individuals, surely there’s no grey area for their dealings or conduct. Okay, shall we move on now? Oh yes!

 

Now, do I need any external boost to help me produce fine fruits, or is all execution entirely dependent on me as solo? Ah, well, what a nice question. Again lets attach an illustration to help elucidate an amicable and apt answer. Well suppose you are driving in a completely new territory. For you to safely reach your intended destination, would you hesitate to ask any prospective passerby or at more reliable filling stations? Surely you would undoubtedly do so! So external help is not objectionable to anyone seeking lasting good results from his/her intended plan of action. Now that I discovered my second world through the early smiles and laughter of infancy, where it began, remember that there has to be an external stimulus to generate a smile and a good laugh. So, yes, an external boost or support may be needed to bring out the best from your second world, that of goodness.

 

Right, now I know you’ll be quick to ask me this question: Does it really matter where I get the so called external support that may be necessary to bring out the best of me? Okay, I don’t want to rush now, I sometimes deliberately leave other questions unattended to so that they may exquisitely beautify the puzzle at it crucial body or ending, otherwise you’ll be like an infant trying to chew peanuts. But as for now just rest assured that it does matter, just like how it matters to know on which direction of the compass you fall under. But please as for now don’t ask me where that external support should come from. The point is, it deserves to be found and used to help further boost your level of self worth and contentment in the accomplishing of good! Hence moral ego!

 

Okay, shall we move on? Most certainly! Someone may ask: If it weren’t of those to whom we may be accountable to because of our actions, would it really matter how we use our two worlds, besides those who seem to be exempt from punishment or accountability as in the case of the mentally infirm? Well, this question is yet another redundancy! If we all carefully read between the lines we surely have found an answer by now. Shoo! My friend, it’s not about trying to omit or do away with the so called judges, its about you not hurting yourself, cause at the end of the day it’s you who’ll suffer a premature death due to failure to proper execution, not the ‘judges’! Instead we ought to thank their presence or supervision since it seems to serve for the benefit us, for us to fear and combat evil and try to practice good! Shoo! I hope this doesn’t scare or put anyone in a tight corner. Why would anyone fear or become skeptical of light? Note, light may be there to help one see clearly but it itself is by no acting or executing anything on your behalf. At the end of the day, it is you who decides, and to your cheer you may that that external element that helped you see clearly or come to a right decision. So is the presence of the law, or ‘judges’ to whom we are accountable.

 

Okay, now I hear someone out there asking me this cynical question or coming with this senseless argument: “ My friend, just don’t stress about the two worlds so far, instead of trying to please the so called judges of our actions, why not just end it all in suicide and leave the judges and their claimed ‘light’ to ponder or be confounded about your destiny, now that you’ve abruptly chose to disappear from their ‘claimed’ supervision?” Well, well, well! You must be a hit and run car to think along those lines. Detectives can trace such a car and later impose penalties on such an offender. Ask yourself, what are you trying to run away from? Who gave you the life that you now have? Are you taking away what was started by you or are you knocking your life to death just like that hit and run car? Surely you don’t want to be this irresponsible. Remember that the government may somehow choose to detain or retain the body of an offender who committed suicide while under trial or who was found guilty. So your frenzied escape to the task of proper delegation or execution we are all faced with will not free you in anyway, instead you’ll be like a person who’s treating a flu with an atom bomb!

 

Right, what’s next now! Oh sorry, one of my beautiful old friends out there forces me to be somewhat redundant. With what now? Okay, I hear the resounding question of: What if, after maintaining a stable record of sound execution in my life, old age sets in and thereby makes it difficult or no longer possible to accurately use my brain capacity to distinguish between right and wrong? Well, well, well my old friend, sounds like you’re a roadworthy car having a faded number plate or registration number. In haste, someone would classify you under the exempt mentally infirm, but I would consider you to be still roadworthy, and not enigmatic as the confirmed mentally handicapped. So, in your case judgement would be for the better just like how a discerning traffic officer might not disqualify a roadworthy car simply because of a seemingly faded number plate, especially when the restoration capacity is clearly understood on the part of the driver.

 

Okay, now, is this all about questions and interesting answers? Oops! You decide, how do you want us to go on? Mmmh, don’t be bored now, cause a puzzle is never completed by the same pieces. Ok friend, lets move on now, with another swift blow!

 

Fine friends, now let’s to venture into the avenue of the nature of sin. Here we’ll try to answer questions such as, “ Is there a difference in gravity between acts of malefaction?” ; “ Is sin always voluntary or involuntary?” ; “ How wide is the difference between conceptual sin and a materialized one?” Well, the list goes on. However please note that some of the latter questions may have already been somehow touched in the very early pages of this book, making you think or worry about the seemingly needless repetition. You may be somewhat correct if you’ve noticed that cause it really pointless to be fed after you’ve already ingested some sufficing phagosomes. Don’t worry, lets cordially continue to unravel the mystery and to diffuse and disintegrate the enigmatic human imperfection dilemma.

 

Ok, in terms of sin, its basic meaning would be to miss the mark, therefore primarily suggesting an act that was not initially intended to be so by the executer. So, from this primary meaning it may sound as if the ‘vile’ acts of first world already seem to have a natural excusable foundation from which the accompanying accountability or punishment seem to have no complete or utter sound ground on which to claim or execute their judgement due the seeming involuntary nature of the malefaction produced by the homosapien in question. Well, well, well! Mmmh, I may not fully agree with the previous attestation or claim. Why? Well, while it may be true that sin at times may be involuntarily produced even before it is carried out in deed, always there will be that alarm signal that will ring in the back of your mind telling you that you are now being wayward even before your faulty are performed in discernible action. So, if that natural alarm did not work at all, or was not naturally installed, then I would fully agree to any claim that any carried out sin ought to be free from accountability after each act of it being performed. So, it’s what some call or term: ‘the voice of conscience.’ This conscience will always serve as a natural filter, be along, prior or even after your acts of doom are psychologically planned, in process of being performed or even after a fallacious or unwholesome act.

 

Yes there is a difference in gravity of sinful acts. A winter’s sun is not as hot as a summertime’s sun, isn’t it? Some sins may bear a minor scratch, making the offended just to put up with you and not necessarily try to drag you to some heavy atonement . While on the other hand some transgressions may demand you to atone with a serious ransom, your violation may be so gross or intense that it cannot simply be taken lightly like a winter’s sun.

 

Well, as for the difference between a performed and a mentally conceived sin, here we see a real bingo. The trick here is that simply because the sin is not physically discernible, that doesn’t make it non existent or lacking any weight or gravity. Also, just because transgression had eye-witnesses that don’t automatically render it to be weighty or anyway extreme. Let’s elucidate this. Well, most acts of murder spring from jealousy, envy and so forth, i.e. they had their origin from the invisible mental first world, that of badness. Interestingly, in order to curb some acts of transgressions from finally materializing, some governments have introduced lip reading detectives, and many other crime investigation procedures that help detect possible and probable offenders in their malicious schemes or frame networks. Again, why would some governments spend a fortune in such programs if mental or conceptual vices were no big deal or threat in society? Also interesting is the fact that each year many offenders of this sort are convicted and incarcerated on a number of grounds or charges ranging from sedition, attempted fraud and the like.

 

So, now, for a moment let’s try to go back to the issue of the voice from within. Is there any possibility that that internal ‘alarm’ can be faulty in itself, thereby making the process of proper execution or the demonstration of good deeds to be even more complicated? Aha! I like this question. It makes us to begin thinking of new words like ‘trust’ and ‘reliance.’ Well, the basic truth is that inasmuch as a natural speech may be flawed or at times mispronounced by a vey well or good intentioned speaker, the same applies to the voice from within. It is quite clear or ‘audible’ in its command, yet may have its own glitches at times. An avid listener, or a very attentive one, would wisely pay heed to the overall conveyed message rather than focus on few mispronounced words. To further illustrate, if your bank has served you well for a good number of years, would you be frustrated at it if one day you discover that in recent few months it never added the interests that were due to your fixed deposit account? Likely you’d want to compare the previous advantages of your relationship with that bank and weigh it against the latter inconveniences or failings. After such a refined approach you wouldn’t be hasty or drastic as to close or withdraw all your money from such a bank.

 

The same applies with conscience or our internal voice. We never really want to completely detach trust and reliance upon it, but at the same time we may be aware of the times or moments in which it may have misled us, the making us victims of improper execution or performing of wrong deeds. Some sadly recognize this in matters pertaining to the choice of entertainment, recreation, and the like.

 

My good friend over the may sincerely ask me: Is there any gravity in damage that may be due to the internal mistaken alarm, apart from what you as an individual may have consciously or wilfully decided upon? The answer is yes, there may be some discernible grave damage, but on condition. The truth here is that there is no way in which we as capable individuals can fully shift the blame to our internal alarm, as if we were neutral beings in the capacity of execution. No, no ways! The judge comes in because he knows that the powers of decision were all or mostly under your control, otherwise the malfunctioning of the conscience at times would seem to serve the purpose of nullifying the judge of our actions and his presence. So there is no way in which we can equate the minor fractured percentage of our conscience to the provision that is accorded the confirmed mentally infirm or handicapped. The truth is, even if you may have to suffer greatly as a result of your internal compass misleading you, i.e. mainly due to it being imperfect naturally, such gross consequence may not be attached to your wilful act. Hence any fatality or grave result that may occur would be considered the same as a psychopath’s transgression or failing. Let’s deliberately leave this here for now, we’ll touch base with it at a later stage, even though I saw you nodding your head with intense bedazzlement. I know, I understand. It will take the rest of this book just to explain a paragraph like this one. Many phrases and sentences here are in a concentrated form and it will take the rest of the book to dilute the seeming nuisance value! In the middle or in the end of this book I guarantee you utter joy and contentment, as seeing the fruits of reading the rest of this book with a true sense of patience. Okay friend, let’s move on, more coaches still need to be filled!

 

Ok friends, this is a big book, not just a quick essay or short novel. So, it ought to make sense that many thoughts expressed at this point may still remain opaque for a translucent body and therefore a transparent ending. Fine, let’s try to stick to the unravelling of the nature of sin. Sin in itself lacks capacity or form if it were not carried out. It can be like a deflated balloon, it only rises when it’s capacitated. So, rather than blowing your precious breath or vigour into this ominous balloon, rather fold it nicely and render it as malfunctioning or unusable. So, your first world can be made dysfunctional, dormant or even extinct! Nonetheless, it being extinct would render it position-free. No, it has its place, but may not need to be brought up to surface or secretly entertained in the invisible background. Just like the visibility or discernible position of a paralyzed arm, the existence of the first world, that of erring, can be noted or seen but its presence ought not to make it functional, so it can be extinct from active execution while it itself may be present or discernible to the beholder!

 

So one may ask; What are the mechanisms with which to paralyse or disable the executions of the first world from operation though existent or present to the beholder? Well, again a good question, yet it possesses some element of repetition if not redundancy from what we read earlier. Ok I’ll again be lenient to you my friend, since you are asking me out of sheer concern of trying to put your second world to good use. Well, the mechanisms, apart from our internal boost of conscience are for you to develop an intense hatred for what is vile, and to avoid situations that will make it conducive for you to fall prey to the exercising of the first world. If you knew where many civilians were caught up in a land mine, you would neither want to stick your nose there. So, stay away from whichever confirmed behavioural landmines, and seek a path that will always make it conducive for you to unleash the good treasures of your second world, i.e. that of benevolence and purity. I’m aware that this may sound good yet incomplete. But don’t worry because we hope we’ll later touch more on this as the issue of our book unfolds.

 

Okay, the disembodiment of the nature of sin continues. Now, sin is varied as we have seen, having both the deep end and the shallow part. Now it can take eternity to try and break every vestige or avenue of sin’s various manifestations and operations. So, my approach here would be simply to touch what I see to be the prime or dominant characteristics of sin, or of our first world. Some may be quite obvious though. Let’s start with discontent.

 

Well, as you’re trying to read this book something is going on in your mind right now. What is it? You are probably trying to sift, weigh or make your mind compatible with what you are reading. Any grumpy or spurious info will simply ejaculate the discontent you have. Ah, is it already pre-installed or you are the one that spurred it? Well, if a van comes with a bull-bar that doesn’t mean it ought to knock other cars. It’s only there for a protective purpose, not for goring or damaging other cars. The same applies with our natural ability of discontent or dissatisfaction, it’s only there to shield us from accommodating harmful desires or appetites, not for us to wield it in the form of doubting the motives of others, not being in harmony with family members, workmates and so forth, not to mention envy and the like.

 

So, my dear friend, I trust you just like how you are learning to trust me. I’m happy to share whatever insight I may possess with you. If by now you’ve discovered some inconsistencies, grammatical irregularities or conflicting thoughts in some sentences I earlier wrote, then it tells me that you’ve been proof reading. Well, while this approach may be of some benefit, please make sure that you do not lose the overall intended theme or meaning of the book. Also, if you somehow reached such conclusions by now, please note that you’ve transversely stuck to the meaning of this book, i.e. that of discovering the very irregularity of human behaviour, hence imperfection. But also take note not to set your mind much on the first world based approach or analysis cause that is where discontent will breed and fest. But, on the other hand, if you’re quite happy with what you’ve been reading so far and thereby spot nothing dubious it tells me that your approach to reading this book has been largely affected by the use of your second world, i.e. that of trust, reliance and cheer in the good accomplishment of others, hence you stand far from being a victim of discontent. Nevertheless I do not here try to imply that those who want to be sons and daughters of the second world should be blind to probable pits or marks of misdirection if they be anyhow present. It’s just that when you’re a dedicated member of the second world you usually allow the well-being of others to take precedence instead of allowing your suspicions and ramblings to be the first voice heard in everything. People who always give in to such behaviour usually lack appreciation for anything good, hence needing some strong type of reform or mental rehab. This is how malicious and putrid discontent may be. It’s the mould and fungus that eats away all good motive, and it begins with the misuse in delegation or mental regulation that nature has given us. So, I advice you my friend, throw away all that murmur. Uproot all that internal blur that hides your inward beauty. Don’t fall prey to your first world, come out of it, and kick it far away to the furthest unreachable place possible and never again try to reach for it.

 

Please consider discontent as a dirty T-shirt you wouldn’t want to wear unless it is clean. Our first world is always our enemy; discontent is among its first fruits. So why pluck a worthless fruit and eat it? The truth is, any continued exercise of the first world will simply bring you needless sickness, both emotionally and physically. Why should you be a victim of unhappiness when you can be at ease with yourself without holding a grudge against anyone or expressing needless or undue dissatisfaction at something that’s completely wholesome and pure?

 

So there is no valid reason to be a chronic complainer about everything, this is a blemish and a ruthless addiction that comes from the use of the first world, in its very early stages of being indiscernible, i.e. having its position and origin somewhere in your thwarted thoughts of delegation or mental regulation. Don’t fall victim to such loathsome execution, you will live longer, be happier and always be at ease with yourself and those around you. Try it, it really works, like abc.

 

Right, now is the time to consider what I think to be the second most deadly protrusion or manifestation of the first world. Well, it is greed. Well, someone might link it with discontent. But hey friend, please note the difference. Greed may be the desire to inconsiderately increase what you already have, irrespective of how others may be affected by your insatiability, while discontent was primarily how you’d like to voice your disapproval or disagreement over what is pure and lacking defect. Therefore discontent was more of a person having unfounded groaning about anything worth of due honour and the like. But greed if very different as it is impetuous and cannot hide itself inside like the subtle discontent. Greed can be likened to the mouth of a river. It is forever open and it never tells the water coming into the sea to stop, even in floods even though the sea may seem not to be in need of any supply of water from any river. Likewise, if we do not know when and how to say “stop, it’s enough now,” then we are likely to be like that mouth of a river and its banks. It’s sad to see some rivers at times that are over-flooded to the point of their banks breaking, we do not want to suffer the same catastrophe of being over flooded and thereby breaking simply because we couldn’t say: “Stop, it’s enough now,” be it in the possession of material things and so forth. Cause really, much stress can come, not in the possession of such things, but in knowing that all such things are actually under your guard, so how will you ensure that each remain in a good state. This can fuel much anxiety, leading to your mental walls of soberness breaking, resulting in utter lack of equilibrium hence needless loss of joy and good purpose in life. So, don’t chase greed, the incapacitated need to have it all. Kick this sting of the first world, that of defilements, to a fathomless pit. You’ll prosper good health and live long, no early heart attacks due to seemingly missed opportunities you will have to experience.

 

Ah! Shall I go on to relate more. Shoo! I must be tired by now, fatigue sets in, but any since life is wrestle I will endeavour to prance and hound. Right, shall we now consider the third dominant sting or protrusion of human imperfection, the fruits of the first world of mayhem? I guess so. Well after a wide gasp and yawn, my stomach begins to shrivel as I unleash our third thistle common in human beings. Okay, my friend it is…Oh pardon me once again friend, you know pal I had to take a nap, pass urine and get some air from outside. This is a nerve wrecking task, not a joke at all.

 

Okay friend, let’s get back to business, now, on a serious note, I figure the third protrusion of the first world of demise to be enmity. Why enmity? Because it is the one responsible for wars we see around us, family breakdowns and so forth. I consider enmity to be quite different from discontent and greed in that it’s the quickest tool or catalyst in blood-spill and for that matter, in a grand scale. However, it’s not only to be considered in an ethnic or racial sphere only, but it can take a diverse form ranging from hating anyone who can supersede you in position or rank, irrespective of skin colour to immediate neighbour, not to mention the rife stifling that can be among family members. So what can we compare enmity to? Oh well it has to be a dead fish. How so? Well, enmity is dead in itself, it’s not wholesome or anyhow imparting good life and morale. It’s stifling, injurious, malignant and ignominious. Have you ever seen a dead fish actively in a school with other fish? Never! How can a dead fish be there when it has no agility, the capability of swiftly going up and down, back and forth. Likewise we never actually get to see those buried in animosity harmoniously interacting with others, they lack dynamism, versatility and good co-operation with others. They are like a dead fish that even cannot be useful to an outside fisherman. So, all those having animosity and enmity are simply dead from inside, they have a heart of stone, that is unfeeling but only inclined to scratch and transfer harm to others. So, there’s truly no base or ground for developing enmity or animosity at any given time and space. We were not born with the powers of retribution, but with the power to embrace and amalgamate. So, discard and burry this dead fish and cease grafting it in to your first world, that of erring, and create in yourself a new heart, that of chasteness and uprightness. Execute well in this regard and you’ll prosper alone, with others and with your Sovereign, hence supreme judge.

 

For now, I’d like to leave the analysis of some of the dominant traits of the first world behind, and try to move on a bit, even though those topics may resurface at times. Okay, what shall we consider now friends? Well, well, well! Let’s move on to talking about why it is essential to have a belief in the superiority or excelling value of the second world compared to the first world.

 

To begin with, in any way imaginable, the second world far outweighs the hideous first world. This is why we dream of a happy family, a good wife, a nice husband, a good job, a nice house, nice car, nice clothes and ultimately the “good life.” Have you ever heard anyone dreaming or fantasizing about the opposite of these. Never! Inasmuch as life is the opposite of death, likewise illicit or rapacious acts, i.e. the first world, will always be a sharp antagonist to the bright sunshine of righteousness, that of the second world. So we need to constantly boost our ego of the magnificence or incomparable value of the second world despite the seeming prevalence or general dominion of the first world acts that are common or ubiquitous in society. For example, if you as a parent has a child who is a slow learner yet who is eager to improve, despite the number of times he or she may fail certain grades, still you wouldn’t encourage him or her to quit school. He wants to climb the mountain and reach the peak, so would you cheer him or her to keep up and let down from trying to improve until he/she reaches the desired goal.

 

The same applies to how we should feel about fighting our inherited imperfection, not how many times we may fall victim to the undesired use of our first world, be it willingly or unwillingly, still we wouldn’t want to stop detaching ourselves to this ruthless and malignant magnet or pull of the first world. We want to have the approach of someone who wants to stop smoking. You see, such a person, even if he or she may suffer many recesses, he or she wont quit making efforts to abandon such a hazardous habit as long as he or she is still mentally turgid or keen to abolish such a practice. So, my appeal, plea and approach to this issue of human imperfection, is not for us to completely blot it out of existence, as if we had the natural ability to do so, but it is like how I earlier said, that we can all strive to paralyze, or incapacitate it from frequent use and manifestation or operation.

 

I’m aware that I may be somehow suggesting an impossibility, but if you would think of sin as having vanished, it’s only then you would psychologically believe that it hasn’t got the power to manifest itself through use or operation. But if you psychologically provide room for it, i.e. for it’s presence in your mind, it is then that you will unconsciously budget a display or manifestation of it at some time during your dealings. You see here my friend, you need to have an attitude of a penniless or utterly financially broke person. Once the person admits in his mind that he or she has nothing, then it is improbable for him or her to fall into increased debt or to needlessly accumulate debt. The person will not even think of using money, because he or she doesn’t have it. But someone who doesn’t want to admit bankruptcy will always try to access or live by the means that are far away from him/her and thereby increasing the needless pain of further poverty and frustration. The same applies to sin, once we think or always try think of it as something that is far away from us, chances for us to go to that dust bin and try to irk out something toxic from it would be slim. It will be like that bin is forever closed, the rubbish bin of the first world.

 

While our imperfection may be evident in all directions, it ought not to be the talk of the day or highlight of character. Like I mentioned before, the second world has the power to outweigh the first. Hence the talk of the day can be, our good accomplishment and not our failings. Why open the lid of a dustbin and magnify its contents while you could breathe fresh air from the company of beautiful trees! How would you feel if someone touring your town and neighbourhood would tell you that he/she enjoyed seeing the vast rubbish bins scattered across instead of commending the real beauty or appealing attractions of your town and neighbourhood? Certainly you be disappointed isn’t it! Fortunately the same positive attitude is being adopted and used by many parents today and in the whole history. They never repeatedly tell their kids how awful they are, instead they always assure them of how much they love their own. Hence children are never raised with much emphasis on their use of their first world, rather, they are constantly reminded how much they are loved, cherished, and how much their efforts of displaying the acts second world in their lives are appreciated. So, if this has been the package that the parents have been infusing and instilling in their kids throughout their growth, why then should this approach or technique dissipate from us when we are alone or wrenched from our families at some later stage or part of our lives! The same enthusiasm, the same confidence and the same positive outlook should be an ongoing thread that will keep our ego of goodness intact, because we were all raised under the good supervision and care of the second world and not that of the vicious first world. Our parents laid the positivity, they laid the good, they sweated to maintain it and instil it in us, so why should we resort to debauchery and the low sink of lawlessness of the first world, and become its slaves!

 

Okay friend, let’s move on to something more vexing: Youth and imperfection. Well, they ought to be the lilies and violets of our garden of human society, but most often they seem to be the thorns and thistles of human society. Our young persons seem to be the very target of the first world. They just give in, just like that. The families that seemed to be pots of putting the ‘dough’ into shape seem to be left without trace, and they come out shapeless from such ‘pots.’ How disappointing!

 

While it is true however that as vulnerable and susceptible they are, not all grow to be obnoxious. Some do see the need to deaden their use or cravings of the first world, that of putridity. However, certain things need to be carefully noted concerning children and teenagers in general. You see, most of us have a life span of about eighty years. A delinquent child or minor normally blooms and matures to absurdity till 18 or 21years while still under the supervision of guardians or parents. This should tell us that the remaining three quarters of his/her life are actually his/hers’. So, any misbehaviour performed after leaving the house will be attributed to his/her adult life.

 

In this vein, now consider who fills prison cells, well, again disappointingly it is the youth, i.e. mostly 35 years and under. But again, take a moment and re-think. The actual annoying crime or vices were considered to be among children, i.e. those under parental care, generally stretching till 18, but now, among the many who were incarcerated we find a new ‘free’ group of delinquents stretching from 18 or 21 till 35. So, among the two groups, the minors and the young adults, who seem to be more numerous or abundant in prison cell? I’m sure you’d say it’s the latter group!

 

So, even though these two groups are generally regarded as the one group of “youth” or “youths,” here we find a difference in the aggravation of vice. The latter group may be more lethal cause they are no-longer under the rigid walls of protective parents, hence their furry is projected even more ferociously, all because they are now of their own. That’s how nasty human imperfection can be, to our dismay and emotional suffocation. Well, well, well! Now that was the bestiality of the first world and its contemning operation and exhibit.

 

Well friends, shall we now try to consider the positive of our children or youth in general, because we certainly don’t want to regard them as utter failures in life, since their mileage in life hadn’t reached its optimum when they were severely scrutinized. What if they change somewhere in their mid-life crisis? What if they use the remaining half or even three quarters of their lives as responsible citizens? Even though here we are not trying to condone their current acts of disobedience, but it is of utmost benefit for us to evaluate their delinquency in the light of possible future change. I believe that no one is naturally chronic to disorder or lawlessness. If you return to the grave after a sufficient number of days as an unchanged malefactor, then I’d believe that you willingly chose to do so, not because it was a natural gift for you to remorselessly err and taint yourself.

 

Our young persons are like earthworms. Some may dislike them and try to employ mental or psychological pesticide against them. Mature adults may regard youths as the very ones who are destroying or ‘eating’ away the moral fibre and stability of society, or causing decay in it. Yes it’s true that earthworms and the like are known to be hazardous to crops, but what about their championship or advantage in creating porosity in the soil? So are earthworms and the like necessary in nature or do they only serve the purpose of causing deterioration or maligning some of nature’s produce? The ball is in your court? You come up with the necessary ‘agricultural’ engineering necessary to balance the two. So, as you can see, youths in general, can’t be exterminated, but they can be somehow treated, if we know what value we can derive from them.

 

Clouds can make the beauty of the sun not to be seen, but at the same time they can be a source of rain. Remember, it’s not the tooth that bites, but it is the pressure exerted by the jaws that make teeth to bite. So, as to young persons, we do not abhor them as individuals, but we loath their despicable actions. The sharp teeth or canines of a lion can be rendered harmless provided they are not put to use. Likewise the eminent or apparent inclination to be practisers of sin in young persons can be minimised or dissolved through the shunning or idleness of their first world. To stimulate positivity and good results from them, we need to see beyond the clouds. We need to see beyond the current decay. We need to see beyond the ‘transitory’ rapacity and roguery.

 

Now I’d like to venture into a more intense sphere of human imperfection and its various manifestations. It’s the sphere if human imperfection in marriage. Well, well, well. Here we go. Alas! I like it when everybody says no marriage is ever perfect and no wife or husband is ever perfect. So this automatically makes the two to therefore enter an imperfect marriage. But it’s often paradoxical when either begins to seek perfection in it thereafter. So, it seems among us that there is this deep seated craving for perfection. Well, such desire in itself is not wrong but can only be amended terminologically. We can here say that it is proper for married couples to seek a frequent and increased use of the second world in marriage, i.e. the acts of true love, care, deep respect, good communication, co-operation and trust. These are some of the most desired and endearing qualities that are needed by many. In turn there happens to be a sense of identity, true worth, self respect, emboldened dignity and a deep seated feeling of contentment and accomplishment in both the receiver and the giver.

 

Sadly however, most marriages today seem to be an ooze, deep mire, and an emotional privy. People are quick to get in and swift to exit. Nonetheless, as in the case of juvenile delinquency or uncontrollable youth, not all hope can be lost in this sphere. It doesn’t have to be a vicious cycle of all generations of mankind, regardless of whether you were wittingly married or not. So, what’s the proper approach to such ‘sinking ships?’ Should we blame the captain? Should we blame the cargo? Should we blame an assistant to the captain? Not really! Such an approach will simply be like adding salt to the wound. Well, well, well. My friend, as a good companion, surely you know some hints. Yes you do! So both of us should agree that it starts with ‘me.’ Yes, it starts with me. Why should I want somebody else to pass me the ball when I’m not in a position to amicably receive it? I must first position myself well before I demand or expect that favour or act of kindness to be directed or delivered to me.

 

But, it’s very tricky though! Take for instance. Say you buy your wife a bouquet of flowers. To your surprise, she refuses the parcel and throws it on your face. Were you wrong? Legitimately you were right. You displayed an act of benevolence, the good fruit of your first world. But, was she wrong in refusing the gift? Yes, no, what? Not exactly. She might have reasoned that you were trying to make up for something from which maybe she might need an explanation or apology of it. Did she fail to see the value of your heartfelt gift due to the fact that she didn’t position herself well to befit the gift, or was it you the giver who failed to execute the good gift at a most ideal time and under ideal or proper circumstances? The surprising answer to these questions might be a big “NO.” So, even in such circumstances you as the giver can rest assured that you did your best while at the same time you may have to ponder in a mild spirit the real elements that led to your unwelcomed favour.

 

Now let’s consider a second similar scenario. What if you as a wife decide to take time and cook a sumptuous meal for your laborious husband only to find out that he’s just not prepared or in a mood to join you for dinner, him lacking appetite. Would you rant and rave? Would you say: “You don’t appreciate my hard work!” Would you begin to be suspicious of him as if it were his chronic habit, never at all giving heed or attending to any of your household endeavours? An impulsive, misconception based and rash deducing would be faulty and probably unwholesome. It’s neither wise to undermine your efforts as if what you did was simply an act of adding a log to a fire. No, it’s also not a matter of you planning and executing at a wrong time. You simply did your best as a good wife. You put the fruits of your second world to good use. However, you may also want to consider and in a calm tempter carefully examine the situations that led to such unbecoming response. Was he simply tired? Is it some metabolic problems etc, just to give a small hint

 

So here we see that misunderstandings or simple misconceptions can get at the helm of your imperfections or short sightedness and try to unduly vomit you out of marriage life. Yes it’s true that certain private or deeper emotional needs also have to be unselfishly catered for, as in conjugal union etc, but it is usually the seemingly ‘minor’ things that spur up the needless fire and the drawing up of unfounded or hazy conclusions to one’s own detriment and assassination. Other than such aspects or elements of inherited human imperfection, marriage and a family life are the best natural pitch on which to free or ‘ostentatiously’ display the acts and fruitage of the second world, i.e. that of charity, selflessness, adoration and unity. So, both of you need to turn the table around, so to speak, and allow your sacred matrimony to be ruled or dominated by the use of the second world, that of irrefutable enchantment.

 

So, in all instances we see the real victor, the most desired common denominator of all creeds and affairs of humankind, the ever famous, beauteous and pulchritudinous world of goodness, i.e. the second world. Whether directly or indirectly alluding to it, all of us always inadvertently fall to it or touch it, in our speech, desires, and aspirations and so on. It is our most anticipated paradise. This world should be glued to us, inseparable and be our rule or ruler in all our earthly affairs. But, apart from stimulating such an endearing manifestation in behaviour, we still need to up our level of ego, our belief that such unwavering goodness can be achieved. Cause the biggest failure lies in failure to act because of needless impediments. So let’s try yet to take another journey through the thicket of execution or the necessary ego and power to bring forth.

 

Have you noticed waiters and waitresses at a restaurant. Their arms come packed with plates of food. They don’t doubt their dexterity. They act promptly, precisely with no wreckage or breaking of anything after all! Why? Their mental acumen, adroitness and precision have been thoroughly whetted as if they could also have wings and believe they could fly. After all, through consistent use, such dexterity that is devoid of staggering makes them masters of proper and excellent execution at all times. Those are the fruits of mental ego, confidence and will, that you can have the power to delegate or render good deeds, and provided you first assure yourself that you can. This is what I call the muscle of the second world. It needs that mental steroid, then the biceps and strength procured will be visible in ‘motion’ as acts rendered or performed. This is the second world been spurred, not to latent energy, but to a current. So never undermine your ability to be worthwhile, it is needed by someone else out there just like how that food by the waiter or waitress is awaited by someone at the table. Much appreciation and thanks will come back to you, just like how the food deliverer gets congratulatory tips. Let your first world be latent and diffuse your appetite of all its contents.

 

My dear friends, let’s try to quickly touch another avenue human imperfection. This time it would be more in the form of human anatomy or our physical flesh and its components. Well friends, our body cells are said to have the capacity or capability of renewing themselves to an endless future. But what baffles, puzzles or makes doctors and scientists a bit cumbersome is when our cells fail to renew themselves accordingly which is something that invites old age and thus the eminent death of the body. In other words, according to biological law our body cells ought to renew themselves indefinitely thereby leaving us as humans not knowing old age or aging and death at all! So biologically speaking we could be always young, agile, dynamic, vigorous and absolutely defect-free in our immune system. But hey, imperfection is here, and it has got us sadly going berserk or dumbfounded.

 

In nature, or naturally, it is true that viruses have always been there. But man ought not to be harmed by these, if it were not of our imperfect condition in flesh. Viruses could be there, but they ought not to make us sick. If it were not of our fallen flesh, our bodies would be resilient, resistant or protective enough so as not be catapulted of defeated by any invading virus or disease. So, in a perfect flesh and body, there can’t be any biological misbehaviour or sickness, so to speak. But to prove that imperfection or that a malfunction is there, we are born with various defects, as is weak bloodedness, mental de-arrangement and various other disabilities. Yes, some of these disabilities may be deliberately prompted by some misuse of certain things from the conceiver or mother-to-be while some can be alluded to merely as a genetically inherited deficiency be it from the father’s side or somewhere in the immediate or distant history of the genealogical family. This is how complex and taboo tracing the effects of imperfection or defects can be. No one real situation is ever sufficient or sufficing to deduce from, we have to think over varied fields or components. But, our fallen flesh, hence imperfection, is here.

 

But friends, here I would like to venture in yet another avenue of interest. It is a delicate or sensitive one though, but I may quickly leave it and maybe touch it later in the book so as not to force you to come to my findings or ‘belief.’ My dear friends please bear with me as I try to reason this out. Okay it goes as follows: If a parent locks away something valuable from the kids, surely in due time he or she can unlock that gift in his or her time and cordially give it to the kids as per his or her will. Likewise, if perfection were somehow detached from us by our Judge as a ‘Parent,’ then surely he can return it to us as some time in the future according to his liking or as per his will. Well, I’m aware that many questions can rise here, like: “Why would he detach perfection in the first place?” “ From who did he first remove it and why?” “ When did this first happen?” Sorry if I may have inadvertently aroused such curiosity in you. I know that not all friends can welcome such thought, but we can try to reason things out from what we see around us and try to reach an amicable conclusion as to the destiny of human imperfection and its somehow ‘enigmatic’ inception or start in the human race. But in order for us to trace all of these, from the beginning to the end, we need to be honest with ourselves. You see, it’s pointless trying to argue the points of truth or truthfulness while on the one side we are putting a veil of contempt to the very sound discovery of sufficing findings, hence pure truth. So, be honest with yourself first, then it will be easy for you to accommodate other ‘new’ light. In a way, you’ll also be putting your use of the second world to good use, and thereby learn to subjugate, dismantle or paralyse your use of your first world. This book sews that thread throughout, it’s here to bind and stitch your use of the second world together, and thereby bring the best out of you. So, throw away suspicion, throw away undue doubt, throw away discontent as you continue reading this book. At the end of the day, you’ll see how your thought to be despicable or miserable imperfection can actually serve to be an incentive or catalyst of bringing you ever closer to the favour and approval of your Divine Master, hence supreme judge of all.

 

So, now that we tried to see the ought-to-be-perfect human body this should somehow take us back or try to make us think of the real definition of the word ‘perfect’. Well, the truth is, when we speak of something perfect, we speak of something relative, not absolute. How so? That is, a thing is “perfect” according to, or in relation to, the purpose or end for which it is appointed by its designer or producer, or the use to which it is to be put by its receiver or user. So, the very meaning of perfection requires that there be someone who decides when “completion” has been reached, what the standards of excellence are, what requirements are to be satisfied, and what details are essential. Ultimately, God the Creator is the final Arbiter of perfection, the Standard-Setter, in accord with his own righteous purposes and interests.

 

Right, now in order for us to further shed light on the whole issue of life and human imperfection in general, I think we need to discuss death, cause most things that are imperfect end up dying or rendered obsolete in one way or another. But, as we discuss death, we want to see how the imperfection sets in, as if it ought not to be there. Well, death is the cessation of life, or of the body cells and tissues from further activity. It leaves us with sorrow when such a state is ultimately reached by any of our close associates because we longed and cherished the visible company of that one. So, naturally we feel torn in our hearts as if something unnatural happened. We never accept death as a usual and normal custom for anyone to experience. This is proper because our lives are more valuable than a shattered glass.

 

So, have you ever paused for a moment and asked yourself that why do you feel this way every time the loss of a loved ones occurs? Have you ever thought to see this as a direct infringement on our right to live? Well, some today view death as a gateway to yet another life and not necessarily a time of despair. But, thinking of our inherited imperfection and death as it may have manifested itself, can’t we see here that it is due to a certain failure of something that led to such a state? In other words, the capability of the body cells to re-generate themselves continually, if it weren’t of some harmful activity or malfunction, would be able to preserve life endlessly. This is what our doctors and scientists are eagerly seeking to establish as they’ve introduced studies or fields like cryonics, genetic engineering and the like. The also want to fight the sting responsible for death in humans or to try and curb it at the earliest stage possible. Also, many of elderly persons are encouraged to rigorously exercise or to try to keep fit so as to slow down the process of aging. Some even go for skin or plastic surgery and use various pills and injections that are said to slow down or try to curb natural aging. Why are all such intensive efforts implemented if human imperfection and its crown of death were no big deal?

 

It goes without saying that we want or yearn to fix the damage that has been here for thousands of decades yet with no eminent or imminent cure. Yes we yearn to undo the wrong or the ‘secretive’ or enigmatic defect that is in nature. In one way or another we wrestle with this demise or menace in our day to day lives, aware or unaware. We want to see this scourge been removed, we want to be free in a true sense from all the consequences of sin or imperfection itself. Yet, we wake up to face them each day. Deterioration is here, a gap that refuses to be closed is obstinately ajar, beating research, expertise and honest determination. But, not all hope should be gone. Remember, if we keep on missing the mark, or failing so as to speak, it doesn’t mean we are nowhere close. In fact, the more we miss the mark the more we should realize how close we are, how nigh perfection can be and how much we may be needing the external aid that can indefinitely close the gap and bring back the full rewards of a blissful perfect life.

 

So from now on, in order for us to be more apt, I will try to no-longer refer to the goods deeds as those of the ‘second world,’ instead I will employ the phrase, the ‘fruitage of the spirit.’ Why? Cause if there is a voice of righteousness within you, i.e. a natural lie detector or conscience, then it simply serves the purpose of warning you and reminding you of the accountability that you have against that Spirit One from whom you are naturally or subconsciously reminded not to err against or to feel needless guilt against his broken orders or laws that are written in your heart. So if that need for you to heed may be prompted due to you recognizing his invisible presence through the voice that naturally coaches you from within, then it ought to make sense that all the acts of good or righteousness be universally termed “the fruitage of the spirit” cause it is by means of his awareness or promulgation that you are bearing such fruits or good works. So, it’s no-longer a personal or sole endeavour, but an amalgamation or duo, i.e. combining your free will to choose to do what is right and you recognizing that the good you’ve done, actually stems from him assisting you in a number of ways.

 

So, as we’ve previously seen, there’s much complex complexity around the issue of human imperfection and its unpalatable consequences. Whether we draw strength of combat from the political, economic or scientific sphere, we’ll still need something out of this world to fight the factually invincible sting of human imperfection and it’s consequences of doom. Research and deep study can only help to identify and trace or map the activity of such a plague, help to protect us from falling prey to its ferocious early gnawing, but can never abolish it from existence or operation. The effects of sin in our body and mind can be minimized or not put to use so to speak, but the fermentation is in our blood or genes . Please don’t get me wrong here, I’m not trying to be equivocal or self-contradictory to whatever I may have said earlier. The light of insight keeps shining brighter and brighter. So, don’t worry, if you spot any seeming amendments, just take them as an elevator to the next step of new or better understanding, hence, advancement.

 

Okay, now let’s try to tap into the nature of the Sovereign of the universe. To aptly imagine him we need to think of an example of bread making. In bread making the housewife deliberately adds the leaven, and the results become positive. The leaven is hidden in the mass of flour. Thus, the leavening process is hidden from the view of the housewife. The progression or growth is unseen and the woman doesn’t know how. Likewise, we may not see the literal or initial being of God, but we can eventually see his display of power or evidence of his being or presence in what becomes or results manifest to us, be it in creation or in our very own existence or make up. Also, now that wheat, water and leaven were used, these simple substances combine to form an astonishing number of chemical compounds that have active links to one another. The exact relationship between these compounds is not fully understood. Likewise, even though we may have an active interaction with our Maker, we still cannot fully understand his nature in full depth. His perfection or display of it is more perfect and complete than ours. Aha! Intriguing! Isn’t it?

 

So, now, lets try to consider this early question: “ If we are made to believe that there is an external boost compatible to our internal moral compass, lie-detector or conscience, can it be reasonable to conclude that there somehow ought to be an invisible antagonist external boost to the use of the first world, thereby making ‘him’ a Ruler of evil, if he really exist?” Shoo! Such an observation deserves a handshake! Yes, with all logic, it’s safe and quite reasonable to come to such a solid observation. It is in this vein where such expressions as “the Tempter,” “the Deceiver” and “the Manslayer” are generally applied. In fact according to the beliefs of many, such a Ruler is not alone in his antagonistic operation of capsizing humanity and the fruitage of the spirit, he is said to possess a horde of invisible spirit creatures in his dominion or company. All these spirit foes combined are largely known to be in direct opposition to the candid and beauteous Universal Sovereign. This is what actually makes human imperfection to be really nasty, because it is being invisibly reinforced by such a ruthless instigator. So, it is no-longer only our personal fight or wrestling against the first world, but actually a fight with such a wicked spirit or invisible army. So, this makes us to see that there is actually a universal issue that is at stake concerning man, that as free moral beings, will we choose to use our free will to do or choose to execute good deeds, or will we use our free will to practise or execute deeds of harm, that pleases the Chief Antagonist of good. This is the day to day issue to which we rise up to face.

 

So, having previously referred to the second world now as the ‘fruitage of the spirit,’ this should automatically make us want to review the phrasing or naming of the bad deeds. We’ve been calling it as the use of the first world. However, since such bad acts are seen to be conspired or cheered by the Evil Force to manifest itself in the fallen flesh, or the flesh bearing inherited imperfection, it should make sense to now term the use of the first world as “the works of the flesh,” since such distasteful acts continue to expose the worthless acts of pure humans, i.e. unassisted by the Ruler of good.

 

Nevertheless, even with the ‘new’ universal issue facing us, together with the thorn of our inherited imperfection, it still shouldn’t kill our morale or determination to go on in life. You see, I often like my friends to call me: ‘Andronicus.’ Why? Simply because this Greek name mean, “man-conquering.” So, man was meant to conquer evil, both in perfect and imperfect situations or conditions. Yes, any ordeal or martyrdom that may be placed before us ought not to scare, instead, we were meant to devouringly overcome or conquer all such circumstances, or execute righteously in them, obviously with the help or external support of the God or Ruler of good, hence righteousness! So, human imperfection is not here to scare us, instead it is here to bring out the best out of us that we can be like a severely bent tree that continues to produce good fruits despite its inconvenient position or angle from the ground.

 

If it is claimed that the Ruler of evil has his invisible cohorts, would it be a mistake to also conclude that the Sovereign Ruler of good also has his invisible entourage? Not really, it certainly wouldn’t be a skewed deducing, that would be an equilibrium possessing logic. Hydrogen and oxygen are existent yet invisible gases. Yet if placed at a certain temperature, the two compounds or gases materialize and become visible to the naked eye as water or water droplets. This transformation is necessary to the preservation of the life of humans. So, if the inanimate and invisible biological or scientific gases can materialize in one way or another to save human, plant and animal life, can the invisible spiritual entourage of the Sovereign somehow materialize so as to save or protect the most important human life in one way or another? The answer is yes, they can materialize. If rain can be alluded to as coming from the Sovereign, as a gesture of preserving life, then, surely if need be, then he can dispatch or make one of his attendees to materialize so as to save or preserve life on earth according to the need. Is such a conclusion logical? Oh yes! How so?

 

Well, histories has it that God did send one of his dearest spirit creatures to the earth so as to further create awareness of Him and thus try to instil hope that man’s inherited imperfection was not going to make them suffer forever. The inherited imperfection would cease to exist in our bodies and mind in some undisclosed future and therefore allow man to freely exercise his/her moral choice without the nagging distractions of the works of the flesh and their Chief Prodder. The proof of such history is seen in the many convictions and writings of several religious organizations, some museums even bearing tangible written proofs or fragments of such an emissary even before he materialized on planet earth about 2000 years ago. So, many say he came to introduce the new term to mankind that of ‘redemption,’ release from sin ’or‘ salvation This seems to be an ultimate human imperfection combat tool ever designed and provided by the God of chief justice or Preserver of mankind!

 

So it is in this ‘new’ light that we should now consider or approach the whole issue of human imperfection and implications, not forgetting its Fomenter. So, if water was to save you, you would have to imbibe or drink it, otherwise you would perish from existence even among its presence. Likewise, it ought to make sense that in order for us to benefit from the divine gift of saving us from the condemnation of sin and its effects in our perishing bodies, we ought to ‘drink’ or heartily embrace God’s provision of providing the means of escape to us. This we’d show, not only in public verbal confessions, but in the way we live our lives or allow such an emissary to influence our behaviour and lifestyle.

 

I hear some other friend of mine over there asking me if the Evil Ruler’s invisible cohorts also have the power to materialize and be visible on earth? My friend, a simple answer to this is, “No!” Why? Cause it serves the Evil ‘Prince’ well to always masquerade, so as to always make himself unrecognizable. So his invisible force also follows suit. You see, they act like a virus or infection that always changes faces in order to cause further harm to body cells and tissues and there ruthlessly or cunning bypass the antibodies to their dismay. The evil hate light, or ‘sunshine’, because their works are wicked and they don’t want their vile acts or manner to be discovered or exposed. That’s why it is quite difficult for us to biologically exhume or eradicate sin, or imperfection, it’s ,enigmatically, hysterically, rambunctiously, mysteriously and mystically hiding in our immune system. It’s simply undefined yet in perturbing and scathing operation. It’s a constantly open inlet valve, gushing forth catastrophe. Only God through his crowned Emissary will render this genetic pestilence and pandemic dysfunctional and defunct in the proper time.

 

Going back a little bit, out of curiosity some friend out there, trying to balance things, may ask: “ If we are to take rain as coming from God as a good gesture to preserve life on earth, would it also be proper to conclude that such things as torrential floods, hurricanes and so forth also emanate from him? Hardly! Why? Just because a sneeze may ooze out of your mouth, that doesn’t mean that you are the one that fermented or promulgated it. It’s simply a reaction to something. Likewise, not every form of ‘bitter’ or devastative precipitation should be alluded to as a gift from God simply because it comes from the firmament.

 

Now I hear someone asking me: “ If you use the word “reaction,” are you trying to show that there may be some natural irregularities that somehow contribute to the ‘misbehaviour’ of our ecosystem?” Yes, true my friend. Not every function in the ecosystem is perfectly controlled by God, just like how our bodies, immune system or genes are also not in perfect condition even though existent and somehow preserved from total or complete malfunctioning by God himself throughout the ages. Also, some man-made or man-generated activities may also serve to aggravate or worsen the also ‘fallen’ ecosystem just like how substance abuse and the like may also serve to intensify or worsen the already malfunctioning immune system in human bodies. So, just like how our imperfect genes were kept or allowed to still sustain or bring forth human life in a reasonable manner throughout the ages amid intense abuse by humans themselves through substance abuse and the like, we can rest assured that God will never allow the ecosystem or biosphere, though imperfect or somehow worn, to be completely out of order and thereby fail to sustain life or ruin it here on earth. Human existence on earth and its preservation is of utmost or paramount importance to the God of righteousness.

 

Okay friends let’s try to go tap into this now. What? No, the same thing we’ve talking about, this time just on a bit of an extended or magnified scale or latitude. What is it, another imperfection story? Ah, not exactly! Then come with it then. Okay it goes as follows, as you’ve seen, in my general style of a question. Don’t waste time, just come with it! Okay it’s here now, the question is: “Since the invisible gases in the atmosphere and beyond have names, can the invisible spirit beings in heavenly places also have names? Ah, my friend, I must congratulate you for coming with such a sound question to further stabilize reality, and not myths, fables and fairytales.

 

The answer is yes. Some names of these can be traced to our satisfaction. Which one would you like to start with, the God of Good or the Evil god? Okay, let’s try to start with Evil and save the best for last. The true heavenly or divine name of the Evil one is not known unless we name him in relation to his character or for what he’s been known for doing or accomplishing, hence behaviour. The Evil one’s nature and will are given to evil. Moral evil is his controlling attribute. It is evident that this description could not be applied to him as originally created. Ethical evil cannot be con-created. It is the creation of each free will for itself.

 

To illustrate the malignly procured nature of the heavenly Profaner, let’s think of a cockroach. The Romans called it “lucifuga”, from its habit of fleeing from light. The English word “cockroach” is from the Spanish cucaracha. In this case, the first guess may seem to be Lucifer. But hey, that’s not the case with the chief Master of Opposition because he is actually ‘photo-negative,’ so to speak, so we cannot take him to be the true light bearer as embedded in meaning of the word ‘lucifer.’ Even if he could somehow bear such title, still he wouldn’t be the True Lucifer, instead he could rightly be called Pseudo-Lucifer as in the case of a misleading light that pirates use to attract or draw ships and plunder their cargo.

 

So now, what shall we call someone who opposes true light, or influences others to shun true light through lies, slander, trickery and deceit, someone who actually resists the force of good to humanity? Okay friends, in the first language on planet earth, i.e. the Hebrew language, they always had a word for a ‘resister,’ the word being ‘satan.’ So, it seems that this word, ‘Satan,’ seems to suffice many people around the world today in describing the chief Evil Force Generator in the whole universe. Later on, the Greek word ‘diabolos,’ meaning, ‘slanderer,’ also came to be adopted as part of the Evil Foe’s descriptive names, as generally known as the devil today. His invisible subordinates are neither known by individual names. The common Greek word dai’mon later came to characterize each spirit member of Satan, as today they are widely known as demons.

 

Okay friends, shall we now try to unleash the names of our most anticipated spiritual good class? Sure! With much haste! So, we shall begin with the Father, head of all. Well, as early as the last centuries before our common era history has it that there were people by the Latin name: Je’sus. Exactly what does the name mean? Well it means, ‘Jehovah Is Salvation,’ especially if we think of its Greek derivative of ‘Iesous’ and thereby corresponding to the Hebrew ‘Yehoh-shu’a.’ God sent his emissary to the world some 2000 years ago, so that mankind can be saved from condemnation to sin as we’ve earlier discussed. So, such an act of salvation actually belonged to or came from ‘Jehovah,’ the Principal God and father of all, as his emissary came to bear the name ‘Jesus’ when he was miraculously born as a perfect human being here on earth. The Dead Sea scroll of First Isaiah, located today in Jerusalem and dating back to the end of the 2nd century B.C.E, has a portion of Isaiah11:1 that prophetically refers to the to be sent emissary, or the would be Jesus, as is seen in the paraphrasing of the Aramaic Targums as follows: “And there will go forth a king from the sons of Jesse, and from the sons of his sons the Messiah himself will be brought up.” “Messiah” is from Hebrew ‘Mashiach,’ meaning ‘Anointed One,’ while the Greek ‘Khristos’ is the equivalent, hence rendered ‘Christ,’ in English. No wonder Jesus later came to be known as Christ. Have you noticed, however, that God’s emissary came to be called Jesus and later Christ, when he was born on earth, suggesting that he could have had another name when he was with God in heaven before coming to earth? Well, we shall not discuss this in detail right now, but this short survey, scrutiny or history served to exhume the names of the most important personages in the entire universe whom we should dreadfully or awfully know by personal name so as to engender or instil true intimacy with such loving heavenly or celestial beings.

 

Right, friends, now that we’ve tried to identify our invisible spirit Protagonists in the heavenly realm, now it’s time to brace our minds and take yet another sharp curve. Where to now? Aha! Straight to another mind sobering and delicacy-tainted avenue of insight. Let’s start with a question. It goes as follows: If in the spirit world, both the good and the bad seem to come from groups of some invisible or heavenly organizations, can’t also the good and the bad that is seen here on earth also be categorized into groups, i.e. among people themselves? The observation makes sense and deserves commendation. Surely, it should be evidently so. But, no unnecessary quiver, reeling, shuddering and qualms need be sinking in our hearts at present. Don’t panic, just postpone that quandary and take a sip of your cold drink or espresso.

 

Right, naturally no one wants to belong to a so called bad group or be its adherent. On sail or sea cruise, when “mayday” is shouted, everybody takes to safety. The same applies when a fire alarm siren is rung. So, if the true God can somehow call us to safety and ring the siren or figuratively shout “mayday,” who wouldn’t want to promptly avail himself for the evanescent escape route, exit or door. Any delay may make you to lurk and lurch only with peril in view. So, grab the escape boat while it is near and flee to safety on time.

 

But still, the question remains. Just how can we ascertain ourselves as to which invisible group we are bent towards. Well, the answer is not easy as abc. It may be difficult as the xyz of maths. But the answer is not undefined, it be traced, known or solved with much scrupulousness, exactness and sound precision, execution or delegation. Okay friends, let’s try. Well friends, we should humbly go back to Jesus Christ and his activity on earth. The truth is, when he appeared as the Messiah or Christ, some openly acknowledged him while some refuted his God sent message. He therefore called those who listened to him as sheep while those who obstinately refused his message he called ‘goats.’ He made it known that the sheep belong to him while the goat-like ones will receive a judgement of permanent cutting off, the same that is reserved for Satan. So, it appears that the goat like ones advertently or inadvertently listen to or follow Satan as their leader by not complying to Christ’s message.

 

But the challenge we are now facing, is that we no-longer want to individualize rebellion or listenership, instead, we want to speak of them categorically, as represented by certain groups, organizations or spheres, and try to see how Christ and Satan may have a share or goading to these. To establish certain earthly groups as good or bad we need to examine the fruits of these and probe into their purpose of operation. So which major earthly groups, categories, or organizations that comes to your mind as we speak. Remember, inasmuch as the early part of this book dwelt on human imperfection on an individual basis, we’d also like to examine such earthly groups in the same light, as to how they are performing collectively and whether they’ll be serving to wield the ‘fruitage of the spirit’ or to promote the trespasses of ‘the works of the flesh.’

 

So, which groups have you figured out so far? Well, I see you smiling and showing me your first answer. You make me laugh because you’ve actually written that group’s name in seemingly bold capital letters! Yes, you are right my friend, you couldn’t choose or go for no other besides: SATANISTS! Yes, it’s true that they are an established religious group, and as their name bears that of their chief leader or ruler, it’s undeniable that they risk facing the future of the goats that will be condemned by Christ in his kingly power. Friend, remember though that the search for the fruits need not be to religious groups only cause those who follow the Big Cockroach can hide in places not easily discernible, just like their leader.

 

Okay, friend, let me try to help you in a form of a series of questions. a) If Jesus Christ were alive today and still serving as God’s representative, which work would he be mostly interested in? If he would cure the sick, to whom would he direct the credit of such healing powers? Would he do it for gain? If he were to organize a certain group to follow him, for which fundamental purpose would he do this? Would he be interested in forming a financial hierarchy of any sort so as to live an exotic life at the expense of others?

 

Now, try to review your thought and think again about the many institutions and big yet varied organizations that you see around you. Think and think my friend. Right, my friend, let’s say you won or caught a jackpot. Well, usually that would mean that you hit 777. This number would give you full rewards, isn’t it? But if it were 666, that wouldn’t set you anywhere close to getting a price. So, you’d take 666, as a big miss, even though in reality we know that such a number in winning machines doesn’t exist. So, imaginatively you’d take such a number as something you wouldn’t want to ‘strike’ or bet on, so to speak.

 

So, if Christ’s Rule can be everybody’s most anticipated, desired or sought after ‘jackpot,’ so to speak, to whom shall the figuratively undesired ‘666’ rule, organization or system go to? Wow, I see you marvellously having a cheerful smile and pointing to the opposite direction with your finger. Yes, you are right my dear friend, such a number would perfectly represent or symbolize Satan’s grossly imperfect earthly system, comprising or consisting different non-efficient or bitter- fruit-bearing organizations.

 

You see friend, when Christ was here on earth, he didn’t seek financial or political power, but he regarded himself as an ambassador of God’s kingdom. So all those desiring to live in accord to his model or pattern of life ought not to seek permanent or fixed positions in the ‘big’ businesses of the world and its governance, ruling or political system. We see the organizational imperfection of these in the mandates, constitution or purpose to which such corporations or organizations are formed or erected for, also not neglecting the fruits or repercussions beard or sustained by these in the public at large.

 

Okay, friend, wait a minute, someone out might say, “Man, never make that mistake, our government is a good government, there’s no way in which it could be line to be classified under the ‘666’ category of the gross imperfect system of Satan!” Well, well, well. My dear friend, you may be right. But let’s consider an illustration here. Say you were a foster child to step or adoptive parents or guardian. If they were to ask you to change to their surname would welcome that or readily do so? Not really, isn’t it? Likewise, while we may somehow ‘enjoy’ the company or operation of good governance, that ought not to automatically make us to owe our allegiance to them as our very ‘paternal’ ruler. No! They are secondary, if not transitory. Our primary and first allegiance or ‘last name’ should be registered with the God of the universe, to whom we owe our very being. Which is why some discerning persons find it hard to clinch their fist into the air or some salute the flag as their hope or ‘gesture’ of nationalistic or sole governmental reliance.

 

So, friends, I am not at war with anyone here nor am I trying to undermine governments world-wide. Rest assured that I am a law abiding citizen and I fully respect and appreciate all the hard work that governments world-wide put in place so as to try and bring some sort of solidarity, unity, development, and policies that try to help the vast majority out there, be it from providing basic services, further education and training, health resources and the like. All these serve as a somewhat urgently ‘needed’ stitch to the wound or operation. I am not the judge of any organizational imperfection, be it gross or subtle.

 

But friends, now we need yet to venture into another taboo field of organizational imperfection. This may again sound too deep, complex, ‘biased,’ ‘spurious’ or superficial, but we need to try to take this dive together. It also scares me a little bit because it’s too sensitive, much like performing a brain surgery. So, please brace up your mind and allow historical facts to simply station themselves in your clairvoyance, in turn the sobering detail and facts procured will bring or add lustre to your countenance, hence, intellectual ergonomics and a pulchritudinous comprehension.

 

Okay friends, now this field is too diverse, and requires much patience, good thought and no early conclusions or judgements. So your fairness, patience, reasonableness and impartiality will be a winning key and success in all of this to-be-ordeal. Right, how shall we start it, as it also makes my stomach to growl shrilly. Okay, let’s pierce the puss open and allow swelling to subside.

 

Friends, it’s the field or sphere of religion. We need to approach this vast sphere that is the home of many today by asking ourselves several questions. Firstly, should I just belong anywhere and ignore the organizational fruits or produced? Can I be in an unwholesome group and expect to regarded individually irrespective of what others may do in the rest of the group? Is it necessary for my religion to be international or ubiquitous? Should its head-quarter’s and branch administrations really matter? Should it have ancient roots or history? Lastly, should its reputation and the name of the Deity worshipped really matter?

 

Ah! After a strong inhalation, now is the time to perform some craniotomy and introduce some craniometrical scorpions. Well, to begin with, let’s try to lay a ‘red-carpeted’ early bird elucidation in a form of yet another series of mind-probing questions. Nice! Now tell me, if you were a parent having various kids, would you expect all your kids to have the same talents and abilities? In turn, would you give them the same names? Would you expect the same behaviour, speech pattern etc from each? Hardly! Right, now let’s raise the following questions: Can God have ‘kids’ or groups of ‘kids’ that can all do the same things? Can God expect all his earthly children or groups of earthly to do the same thing or follow a common path, especially in the presence of a Fiendish Foe? If, in the spiritual realm God does not have an all co-operating heavenly beings in terms of reverence, would it be of logic for him to expect an uninterrupted, undivided or unblemished religious system or systems here on earth?, Should God expect to see both compact and fractured religious systems here on earth, or just one catholic or universal?

 

Well, well, well? Friends, the simple truth is: If there is apostasy in the spirit world, then there ought to be apostasy here on earth. If the Devious One opposed true religion in heaven, and stood up against God’s righteousness, then there ought to be opposition to a clean religion belonging to God that was laid or founded by Christ himself when he came to earth to redeem the fallen flesh or imperfect mankind. The noun “apostasy” (Gr., a·po·sta·si′a) has the sense of desertion, abandonment or rebellion. It primarily has reference to religious defection; a withdrawal from or abandonment of true worship. So, the true religion belonging to God can only be identified after exposing the apostate or opposing religion of Satan. We don’t doubt that it is both existent and operational here on earth today.

 

You see friend, earlier you may have pointed out to the Satanists as being the direct and foremost group of Satan, to which I quickly agreed. But hey friend, the string is long, it goes further than that. At its height, apostasy began to manifest itself after the death of Jesus’ disciples, the last being the apostle John in the 98th year of our common era. What happened after his death? Well, little by little, a clergy class began to appear. In the early second century C.E., Ignatius, “bishop” of Antioch, wrote about a three-grade hierarchy of bishops, presbyters (priests) and deacons. “The man of lawlessness” was beginning to take shape. But the “church father” who really got the clergy class organized into a hierarchy system was Cyprian, “bishop” of Carthage, North Africa, who died in 258 C.E. The authoritative Dictionnaire de Théologie Catholique states that Cyprian outlined a monarchical seven-grade hierarchy, the supreme position being occupied by the bishop. Under him were priests, deacons, subdeacons, acolytes (servers), lectors (readers) and exorcists. An eighth grade—porter, or doorkeeper—was later added in the Western, Latin, or Roman, Church, whereas the Eastern, or Greek, Church settled for a five-grade hierarchy. Thus, by the third century C.E. the composite “man of lawlessness,” the apostate Christian clergy class, was fully revealed. It has continued on down through the centuries in all the churches and sects of Christendom that have a special ministry or clerical class.

 

Well, Jesus once told his disciples that anyone who wanted to be great among them ought to be the small one, or be like a child. In-fact he once told them that they were all brothers. He further told them that their leader was one, and that leader was he himself, i.e. Jesus. So there was no clergy class within Christian congregations of the first century. As spirit-anointed brothers of Christ, all the early Christians had the prospect of being heavenly priests with Christ. As to organization, each congregation was supervised by a body of overseers, or spiritual elders. All the elders had equal authority, and not one of them was authorized to lord it over the flock in their care. However, as the apostasy unfolded, things began to change—quickly.

 

Among the earliest deviations was a separation between the terms “overseer” (Gr., e·pi′sko·pos) and “older man,” or “elder” (Gr., pre·sby′te·ros), so that they were no longer used to refer to the same position of responsibility. The English word “bishop” derives from the Greek term e·pi′sko·pos(“overseer”) as follows: from Middle English bisshop, from Old English bisceop, from Vulgar Latin biscopus, variant of Late Latin episcopus, from Greek e·pi′sko·pos. The English word “priest” derives from pre·sby′te·ros (“older man,” or “elder”) as follows: from Middle English pre(e)st, from Old English prēost, from Vulgar Latin prester, contracted from Late Latin presbyter, from Greek pre·sby′te·ros. Just a decade or so after the death of the apostle John, Ignatius, “bishop” of Antioch, in his letter to the Smyrnaeans, wrote: “See that you all follow the bishop [overseer], as Jesus Christ follows the Father, and the presbytery [body of older men] as if it were the Apostles.” Ignatius thus advocated that each congregation be supervised by one bishop, or overseer, who was to be recognized as distinct from, and having greater authority than, the presbyters, or older men.

 

How, though, did this separation come about? Augustus Neander, in his book The History of the Christian Religion and Church, During the Three First Centuries, explains what happened: “In the second century . . . , the standing office of president of the presbyters must have been formed, to whom, inasmuch as he had especially the oversight of every thing, was the name of [e·pi′sko·pos] given, and he was thereby distinguished from the rest of the presbyters.” Fine, let’s pause this church history here for now, we’ll touch it sporadically as we go by.

 

Okay, from here, where to? Fine, let’s add more fuel by bringing another ‘argument’ or deep observation, by so doing we’ll be running two arguments or topics concurrently. Right, now here is another bones containing banana. Friend, tell me, in your honest observation, which religious book, in the entire history, has at some time been barred from the general public, stifled from translation, had its translators tortured by antagonists, and had its contents tampered with? Out of all the religious books you may know, what would, in its history, such a holy book receive unique threats, a somewhat deliberate ‘distortion’ of some elements of its contents and be a cause of undue death to some innocent souls? Undoubtedly you seem to be having an answer. Or rather let’s put it this way: Which is the best selling religious book of all time that has reached 90% of the world’s population? Okay I see you are fuming with critical analysis!

 

Okay, let’s make an example here. All body members are important, with each playing a unique and vital role. But, what do all these parts need in common irrespective of their varied operations? Someone might say: They need water and oxygen. Fine! That’s true. But, you see, that’s exactly what the blood contains, isn’t it friends! Right, now blood is the ‘common denominator’ to all these body parts. You see friends, I have observed that in most religious or ‘holy’ books, the common thing they bear is the teachings on morals, ethics, motivation and so forth. Very few religions or ‘holy’ books would teach their adherents to practice lying, gamble, steal, curse and so forth. So, if the many varied religions share the ‘same’ moral or ethical teachings, then where are the lines of divisions among them? Okay, friend, if such many religions can bear similar ethical beliefs, could their destinations or hopes of the ‘life to come’ also be the same? Could the teachings of the immortality of the soul and hellfire somewhat be the same, even though they may be using different religious books?

 

Okay friends, to try and answer or clarify the somewhat two arguments interchangeably, we need to go back to the first one and ask ourselves this question: The apostasy that rose after the death of the apostle John was mainly due to a misconstruing of which religious book? The clergy class that was formed based their beliefs on which book? Okay, which religious book seems to be the most common in the courts around the world for the making of oaths? Okay friend, it’s quite clear now, we shall argue no more. Case closed. Thank you.

 

From now on we shall endeavour to base our findings or proofs from that book, cause it seems to be the most reliable, as is even used in the putting into office or inaugurating presidents of many cases. Likewise also, when I want to attest or prove by ‘law’ something, it wouldn’t be out of law for me to refer to such a book as it serves as a ‘stamp’ of many court or legal matters.

 

Right, for us to try to answer the questions pertaining to the ‘difference’ in beliefs of the many religions or their ‘commonality,’ we shall, think of the following: If all body parts wanted oxygen and water independently, i.e. without the aid of the blood, how would such a body sustain itself! Shoo! That would be virtually impossible. So, water and oxygen are available to these only through the sole means of the blood. So, in this vein, if God were to enter into the religious field of the world would he adventitiously, juxtapositionally or loosely introduce Himself? Hardly! He would follow a course of a common substance or liquid. Also, if the true God is only one, not many, why would he seek to form ‘many’ religions? Can’t he have a solid, common and harmonious one group of worshippers?

 

So, it goes to say that God cannot have various sects of religion, all claiming to worship him favourably. The Bible book of Malachi 3:18 and Matthews 7:21-23 attests to this. Therefore, the oxygen and the water contained in the blood would here illustratively come in the form of the holy spirit and the bible to the members of the one common, united or harmonious group of worshippers, and not necessarily the diverse, varied or many religious groups.

 

So, I see this puts you to much haste, and makes you to impetuously and impulsively ask the question: Which is that solid, united and harmonious religious group the true God must be using today to commonly represent him here on earth today? I think before trying to answer such a question we need to ask ourselves these questions: Why should I identify such a group? Will identifying such a group help me see the real difference in organizational imperfection that has plagued the earth, and thereby help me to seek proper refuge and sound reliance?

 

How would you want to try and identify such a group of worshippers today? If water made your child sick, wouldn’t you want to examine the source of the water? So, if the God approved group exists today and are spiritually healthy, wouldn’t you want to examine their source of water and the water composition itself? Right, their water is the Bible, and the source is God, or Jehovah himself.

 

Yes, it’s true that true followers of Jesus today must be international and ubiquitous. Also, the way they run their headquarters and branches, should matter. Also, the must be ancient roots, far back than Jesus himself! Also their reputation should matter greatly! They shouldn’t be notorious. They should be popular and famous, if you may so like. Yet, not many may agree to the latter statement, I understand and somewhat agree. Since Jesus, did not literally engage in war, so should his true disciples today or followers. Neither should they harbour animosity against their neighbour or fellow international citizens. They should love each other deeply as pointed out in John13:34-35.

 

They should actively want to share the truth they received from the Bible with others. Jesus set such a pattern when he here on earth, he wasn’t selfish about the truth, instead he was liberal, ready to share and always wanted to impart the knowledge of good to others. He set such example in Luke 8:1 and later commanded Matthew 28:19-20 to be performed world-wide, i.e. the preaching and disciple making in a large scale ever! So the common trademark besides that of love and peace among true Christians should also be that of the declaring or the fervent preaching of the good news of God’s kingdom. This is part of the works or fruitage to be found in their identity basket.

 

Obviously, if they are to be friendly with international citizens, then they ought to be politically neutral as is pointed out in John17:16. So, there’s no way they can conscript for military service or want to have a definite political or mundane say. They look to God’s kingdom as their original parent and view the present governments or kingdoms as transitory. But they respect them as in paying taxes and obeying all other reasonable rules of a country. In anything that may come between their relationships with Jehovah, they rather obey God than men as did the early followers of Jesus in Acts 5:29. This is the case with their view of blood transfusions, saluting the flag and political alliance. Friend, I’m sorry if this sounds too strong and offensive to you at present. Maybe I’ll elucidate some details further in this book. But rest assured that everything is taken from the pattern of Jesus when he was here on earth. So, true Christians assume nothing for themselves, instead they look to Jesus as their role model and Perfecter of their faith.

 

So, friend, have you noticed or come to realize such a candid group in your vicinity? What do you admire the most out them as an international society or brotherhood of Christ? Do readily welcome them in your house when they pay you free visits or consultation? Have you noticed their adroitness, expertise, patience and deep love when in answering life’s complex questions? Have you tasted and saw how pleasant their association is, by visiting them at their place of worship, at some rented facilities, and so on? Are you not happy that you have such a wonderful group or organization right in your community, yes, right in the middle of your neighbourhood? If you’ve come to appreciate such a devout group of Christians, then I’m also vey happy that you are in line to receive blessings from Jesus’ father and be helped to fight the loathsome scourge of human imperfection or the works of the flesh on a personal or individual basis. Even if your heart may condemn you at times, God shall never leave you to be consumed by excessive feelings of guilt no matter how many times you may righteously fall or give in to temptation. 1John3:19,20 and Proverbs24:16 testify to this. God is here to help us combat our sinful inclination and its grave consequences. He’ll never allow you and I to be utterly consumed by such contemning ‘natural’ fire of imperfection, he wants to spare both us, if not all us. Look at 1Timothy2:3-4 and 1Peter 3:9. So, one day, human imperfection on an individual basis and organizational imperfection will be a thing of the past, just like an erased scar!

 

So, my friend, I hope you are taking it nice and easy, sorry if I gave you a bit of a rough ride through some hard and copiously pounding hard hitting facts. I didn’t want to give a sudden massive chunk bite, but I want to give you a smooth ride, so that you can logically assimilate everything in proper sequence and edible order. Sorry friend, if this time I didn’t give you time to think out everything properly. But, hey, at least I withheld the name of the candid religious group, thereby giving you a time and space for you to try and use your perception, and thereby avoid forcing you to any sudden and immature conclusion. So, friend, you have the rest of the book to keep the name of that religious to yourself and release it in your own due time. So, you see, friend, at least I gave you some room for breathing, and not thinking and trying to make conclusions and decisions for you. How you like it!

 

Sure, friend, what shall we now move on to? Shall we try again to unravel our pack of organizational imperfection and try to find further elements of concern in it, or should we try to move on to some areas of concern other than organizational imperfection? Okay friend, let me see, I think you should decide which turn you’d like to take, bearing in mind that a lot of stuff in the back still remains unpacked. Or, do want you want me to help you? Okay friend, let me try to intervene. Let Andronicus prance, gallop, hound, and cause some reverberation like a never seen before tornado! Right, here we go.

 

Friend, it’s now time to talk about us seeing the need to be appreciative in the way God has revealed himself in creation. Well, this might sound quite obvious, but it should serve as the bench mark of our display of goodness or the various aspects of the fruitage of the spirit. We were born to reflect to the fullest his goodness, the fact that he created us in his image bears testimony that we are both bound and naturally indebted to exhibit all possible good traits in imitation or resemblance of our Maker. So, yet another reason to see why combating human imperfection, be it solo or on an organizational scale is possible, as long as we keep bearing in mind our Chief and Utmost moral or goodness Compass, hence Benchmark or positive trend setter!

 

Right, friends, that was just to refresh us once again, even though we might have somehow touched on this earlier. Right, shall we prance in real and earnest effort? Of-course, why not! Friends, even if we may ultimately pinpoint the true religion today, the big onus rests on you as an individual as to how you’ll choose to live your whole private and public life. So, there is no hiding in the bush. Being in the right platform doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ve reached your destination. You have to get in bus or train, obey the rules of travel and then reach your destination safely together with other law abiding passengers. But, anyone obstreperous in the coach is thrown outside or awaits bonds at the next stop.

 

Okay friends; let’s abruptly interrupt our novel by introducing what some well known people in the past have said about human imperfection.

 

“In order to grow in grace, we must be much alone. It is not in society — even Christian society — that the soul grows most vigorously. In one single, quiet hour of prayer it will often make more progress than in days of company with others. It is in the desert that the dew falls freshest and the air is purest.”- H. Bonar

 

“The first freedom is freedom from sin.”- M. Luther

 

“In speaking of the benefits of trial and suffering, we should never forget that these things by themselves have no power to make us holier or heavenlier. They make some men morose, selfish and envious. Such is the effect of pain and sorrow when unsanctified by God’s saving grace. It is only when grace is in the heart, when power from above dwells in a man that any thing outward or inward turns to his salvation.”- Newman

 

“I believe hundreds of Christian people are being deceived by Satan now on this point, that they have not got the assurance of salvation just because they are not willing to take God at His word”.- Moody

 

Well friend, you may agree or disagree. So you make the scrutiny, analysis, and take only what’s good for you. Was Bonar right or incorrect? You use your judgement and see if he promoted belief in a good society or not, bearing in mind the words of Proverbs 18:1 and Jeremiah 17:9

In The Science of Being and Art of Living (page 299), Maharishi (called “His Holiness” on the title page) explains: “Whenever and wherever religion dominates the mass consciousness, transcendental deep meditation should be taught in terms of religion. Whenever and wherever metaphysical thinking dominates the consciousness of society, transcendental deep meditation should be taught in metaphysical terms, openly aiming at the fulfilment of the current metaphysical thought. Whenever and wherever politics dominates the mass consciousness, transcendental deep meditation should be taught in terms of and from the platform of politics, aiming at bringing fulfilment to the political aspirations of the generation. Whenever and wherever economics dominates the mass consciousness, transcendental deep meditation should be taught from the level of economics, with the aim of bringing fulfilment to the economic aspirations and goals of the time.”

Zen Buddhist expert Daisetz T. Suzuki emphasized: “To us Orientals . . . there is no God, no creator, no beginning of things, no ‘Word,’ no ‘Logos,’ no ‘nothing.’ Westerners would then exclaim, ‘It is all nonsense! It is absolutely unthinkable!’ Orientals would say, ‘You are right. As long as there is at all a “thinking” you cannot escape getting into the dilemma or the bottomless abyss of absurdity.’”

 

From here we can see that various scholars, theologians or religion founders have different views when it comes to what should govern man. Still, however as we’ve mentioned earlier in our book, someone external has to dictate to us the proper way of life we should all follow and this way has to be ubiquitous and accepted across the world. We have undoubtedly come with an amicable answer to this irrespective of what other pundits may bring forth. So, by me quoting other geeks I don’t mean to add further confusion but I just wanted to broaden the matter to you so that you may know how other intellectuals feel about human imperfection and our relationship with God and its approach. Some of these men may be 100% correct, partly right or grossly wayward in their reasoning.-Luke 11:24-26.

 

So, I sincerely beg you friend to respond to the right or proper prodding of the only accurate path in life. Matthew 7:13,14 says: “Go in through the narrow gate; because broad and spacious is the road leading off into destruction, and many are the ones going in through it; 14 whereas narrow is the gate and cramped the road leading off into life, and few are the ones finding it.” So, please the avoid the pitfall that will catch many as showed by verses 21-23 of the same chapter of Matthew, “Not everyone saying to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but the one doing the will of my Father who is in the heavens will. 22 Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and expel demons in your name, and perform many powerful works in your name?’ 23 And yet then I will confess to them: I never knew YOU! Get away from me, YOU workers of lawlessness.”

 

So friend, eternal life in a beautiful paradise earth is what we are promised at surah 21:105: “Before this We wrote in the Psalms, after the Message (given to Moses): ‘My servants, the righteous, shall inherit the earth.’” The footnote to this surah refers the reader to Psalm 25:13 and 37:11, 29, as well as to the words of Jesus at Matthew 5:5.

 

So, there is no doubt that if Adam and Eve did not sin in Eden, there wouldn’t be sickness, death, imperfection and many other non-benignant consequences or outcomes to mankind and the whole environment in general. This we find by comparing texts such as Genesis 2:15-17; 3:19; Isaiah 38:18a and Ezekiel 18:32. So, it is only by exercising faith in Jesus where the now miserable children of Adam can have the hope of release from sin and death, thus eternal life when God’s kingdom takes control over earth’s affairs in the near future. This we find at Daniel 2:44; Matthews 6:9,10; Romans 5:12,18,19; 6:23;8:20-22. So, death doesn’t end it all cause there will be a resurrection inasmuch as Christ himself was resurrected from the dead. This we find by reading Isaiah 25:8; 26:19; John 11:24, 25 and 1Corinthians 15:32.

 

There are, or that there will be two types of resurrections. The first and already existent or presently in operation is the heavenly resurrection while the latter will be the earthly resurrection. The heavenly resurrection is best described by verses such as John14:2, 3; 1Thessalonians 4:13-17 and Revelation 20:6. The earthly resurrection is best described by verses such as Luke 23:42,43;John 5:28,29; Hebrews 11:8-10,35 and Revelation 20:12,13 .

 

Also to note that even the apostles of Jesus later knew of such varied hopes, we see this in Acts 2:34; 3:21; Hebrews 2:5;11:39,40; 2Peter 3:13 and Revelation 21:1. So, it’s only the remnant of 144 000 anointed Christians who have the heavenly resurrection hope, deducing from Luke 12:32 and Revelation 14:1,3. Jesus himself showed such difference in eternal hopes or sheep identity in Matthew 19:28( i.e. reference to future earthly paradise) Luke 22:28-30(the heavenly hope); John 10:16(i.e. the two groups under one shepherd, heavenly and earthly hopes).

 

I know it sounds very taboo and complicated, in-fact, if you can give yourself enough time and effort, you’ll see a lot of co-ordinating or matching scriptural geometry in this or these. It’s very interesting! Instead of supporting the same point with the same verse all the time, I tried to use other verses even though the ones I used formerly could also support the same point. So this is true scripture engineering or geometry. Just read the verses in all directions and see the amazing one thought, you’ll be surprized to find that there is actually one long link between all of them, one common thought. Try it you’ll see. A lot of phrases employed actually mean the same thing, e.g. the “re-creation” in Matthew 19:28, the “Paradise” of Luke 23:43, “times of restoration” of Acts3:21, “inhabited earth to come” of Hebrews 2:5 and “new earth” of 2Peter 3:13 and Revelation 21:1! Irrespective of the Bible translation you may be using, you’ll find the same or similar phrases or paraphrases of these. The same analogy can be used to identify those who have a heavenly hope of resurrection. You can spot verses that have diverse yet same classification of such. Now friend, you do the remaining scriptural Maths.

 

I can quote endlessly but I chose some few verses so that you can train yourself to see how God’s purpose about the earth will be unfolded. You need to examine the scriptures carefully so that you can exhume the best meaning possible. Scripture explains scripture just like how each colour when placed next to another colour brings out the best contrast or colour identity possible. Caution though, most scriptural clarity is actually brought by the intervention of God’s holy spirit, cause the Bible is actually a product of his mouth or thoughts. So, a very humble prayer must or should pave the way before one could open the Bible. Still, if clarity is not reached, a humble request to a discerning friend should be made, friends who are well equipped to handle the word of God aright.2Timothy 2:15. Happily many communities world-wide are blessed to have such loving friends at their disposal, and they come humbly knocking at your door and ask to conduct a free weekly Bible study with you, in a day and time chosen by you. So, let these gentle servants of Jehovah soothe you to eternal life in accurate understanding. They like and enjoy witnessing about Him. Malachi3:16 and 1Timothy 2:3-4.

Did you notice how Paul at Romans 8:20 further shows how imperfection will be undone in all obedient mankind? Okay, maybe I’ll return to this later, but there is some deep wealth of information and quite fascinating if not interesting study and details you can derive from the analysis of such a verse and others that closely related to it. But, for now I’d like us to venture into something not quite lateral from our book’s topic. What is it, okay, let’s propel it friends.

Well, friends, you may not have seen it, but I went to Wikipedia and browsed some information on human imperfection and found the likes of The Birth Mark, Gadamer and so forth. Well, some of the information I’ve seen there is quite interesting, and somehow relates to what I’ve started in this book. Somewhere I was surprized to see the similar line of thought that those commentators related. I was never influenced by anyone nor copied any of these in my approach in writing this book. I just find them as I go along writing this book. But, I must say, some commentators are really good observers in what others may write, even though personally I don’t like to read the criticism parts, cause I believe that it is only Satan who’s on the campaign and mandate of questioning other people’s motives, as if nothing pure can spontaneously come out of us. No one deserves harsh criticism, unless if he or she was initially ill inclined at first or from the word go.

Anyway, any contributing sources are most welcome to me, but I would like to give a taste, a feel, that is imbue and unique to me inasmuch as my finger-prints are a duplicate of no other. This is what makes life to be interesting, I so believe. Otherwise, such word as “character” and “personality” would be useless, even though we shouldn’t use these for self-glory, but to add to the rainbow of human society or neighbourliness.

Now, friend, you know I’ve been asking myself some of the questions about the first two kids of Adam and Eve, namely Cain and Abel even as Flavius Josephus, in his book, Antiquities of the Jews, chapter 2, speaks of these. My questions concerning these sons would be: In preparing the sacrifices, were both of them concerned about lasting outcomes? Did they want to take it as a once-off matter that would not need to be repeated? Did it ring to them that God might require something greater with the progression of time? Was each one’s offering valued in comparison with the other, or did the onus rest on the manner in which the offering was dished out?

 

I think that it is only in this vein of such questions can the lack of proper execution on the part of Cain can be exhumed. Cain did not think of any lasting benefits, but he was self centred and treated the sacrifice as a once-off duty that ought to free him from further expected duties of Godly devotion, hence his sacrifice was inferior or lacked proper, pure motivation and will. Abel on the other hand displayed genuine humility and accepted an utter loss, and left nothing to himself and continued to open a way for further requirements that God may impose or set upon him.

Unfortunately, or realistically, that’s the exact situation you and I find ourselves in, that is, in this age or today, or since our perceptive powers started to mature. Each day we wake up to prove our inclination, whether it is self-centred or expending. Will we choose to use our lives like Abel or like Cain? Human imperfection and its consequences are best seen in these first two sons of Adam and Eve. Also, note that Cain was not charged for denying God’s existence, but for lacking a genuine drive and attachment to God as one deserving dictating or directing our steps in the pure worship of him. Similarly, God does not accept any half-hearted service all in the name that at least we acknowledge his being. There is a big difference between zero and 1. 0, 5 cannot be 1 neither can 1 be 0, 5. So, where would you put Cain? Or, where do you want to be?

In a relative sense, 1 is a perfect number, but in no way can zero or 0,5 be perfect numbers. So, what type of numbers are they? You do your Maths, but, as you know, allegorically speaking, we want to avoid the sting and snare of all sorts of villainy, procured in spontaneous misdemeanour, in the guise and guile of human imperfection.

So, like Abel we know that our lasting future is involved in our execution, and we do not want such pending benefits to forfeit us, instead, we want to humble ourselves and present spotless, unblemished sacrifices or fruitage to God even though we are imperfect, because we would have attuned our motives, desire and will to God’s approval and satisfaction. If Abel, though imperfect, managed to please God to the full, presenting a top-notch sacrifice, what can make us fail today? Interestingly, the very sacrifice of Abel reflected in a greater sense how God himself would bring out the very best of himself by presenting to us the perfect life of his dearest son, Jesus Christ. This display of great affection is an ultimate to human imperfection, cause Christ carried away the sin of the world, and by means of him all will inherit perfect bodily health and function during his earthly millennial rule as testified in John 1:29 and Matthew 6:10. This carrying away of the sin of the world was also foreshadowed by the scape-goat or the goat for Azazel mentioned at Leviticus 16:8 and 10.

But what if someone argues over our sense of right and wrong as is the case of Cain and Abel or just in general. Well, another avenue that can be considered with regard to God’s righteousness and justice involves an internal sense that we have. The Bible says that man was made in God’s image. (Gen. 1:27) That does not mean His bodily form, for He is spirit and we are flesh. Rather, as Colossians 3:10 shows, this “image” involves personality or qualities. God created Adam with qualities that He himself has, including love, justice, righteousness and wisdom. Though we are imperfect and far removed from perfect Adam, most humans reflect to some extent these godly qualities, even as humans earth wide manifest a degree of conscience or moral sense. (Rom. 2:14, 15) This being so, our own sense of justice and righteousness should be reason for us to have confidence in God’s having and manifesting these qualities, but in a way far superior to us humans.

As an illustration of the response of this “sense,” consider the reaction on the part of many people—perhaps our own reaction, also—to the teaching of hellfire. Especially in the past, many churches taught that the souls of the wicked are tormented forever in hell. The Bible does not uphold such an idea, for it states that the dead are unconscious and that most of the dead will yet live again by means of a resurrection. (Eccl. 9:5, 10; Ezek. 18:4; John 5:28, 29; 11:11-14) But even without knowing what the Bible says, many persons are repelled by the hellfire doctrine. They cannot accept it even if their own church teaches it. It ‘goes against their grain.’ They cannot believe that a God of love, justice and righteousness would take someone who was bad for, say, sixty years and torment him with excruciating suffering forever. And many persons have been relieved to learn that their sense of justice and righteousness is borne out by God’s Word.

The very fact that we humans, who only imperfectly reflect the “image” of God, have a compelling desire to see done what is righteous and just, should increase our assurance that Jehovah himself is guided by such qualities.

On the other hand, the fact that we are admittedly imperfect should recommend that we take care that this “sense” does not get distorted and lead us to incorrect conclusions. If someone’s sense of what is righteous and just became exaggerated by imperfection, it might be like a man looking through a wavy pane of glass. Much as he wants to see clearly what is on the other side, the image reaching his eyes is affected by the imperfect glass.

That a similar thing might develop with regard to our view of the righteousness and justice of God’s dealings can be recognized in what some persons have come to believe. Moved by their own sense of compassion, righteousness and justice, and convinced that if they feel this way God must surely feel even more this way, they have taught the doctrine of universal salvation. They reason that it would be unjust or unrighteous for God to let imperfect humans perish eternally. So they conclude that, based on Christ’s sacrifice, God will forgive every human who has ever lived. Why, they go so far as to say that God will forgive even Satan the Devil!

While that doctrine might ‘strike a responsive chord’ in the emotions or feelings of some individuals, it simply does not harmonize with what Jehovah himself says in his Word. The Bible enables us to see clearly His view, which is undistorted by human imperfection. Thus, the Bible says about a person who sins and blasphemes against the holy spirit: “It will not be forgiven him, no, not in this system of things nor in that to come.” (Matt. 12:32) Also, the apostle Paul wrote to Hebrew Christians: “If we practice sin willfully after having received the accurate knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice for sins left, but there is a certain fearful expectation of judgment.” (Heb. 10:26, 27) Yes, the Scriptures plainly show that some humans will not gain eternal salvation. As Jesus expressed it: “He that exercises faith in the Son has everlasting life; he that disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him.”—John 3:36; Rom. 2:7, 8.

Hence, we can appreciate that mere human thinking based on our own “sense” of righteousness and justice needs to be balanced and guided by what Jehovah himself says. How thankful we can be that there is abundant testimony and evidence bearing out that God “is a lover of righteousness and justice”! (Ps. 33:5) And that thankfulness should be increased by the knowledge that his exercise of these qualities cannot be distorted by imperfection. In all ways, at all times and with all persons, He does what is perfect and in accord with his abundant knowledge, wisdom and love. We will always be able to say: “I well know, O Jehovah, that your judicial decisions are righteousness.”—Ps. 119:75; Rom. 11:33-36.

So, I think from time to time it’s important for us to review or re-affirm what we’ve been saying from the start of the book, so as to embolden the topic of our book and many other related issues. Now, let’s drink the same drink again in yet other forms of questions?

What does perfection really mean? The Bible says of God: “Perfect is his activity.”—Deut. 32:4. As God’s handiwork, the planet Earth must have been perfect. Why, then, did God tell Adam and Eve to ‘subdue the earth’?—Gen. 1:28. Likewise the product of God’s activity, the first human pair were also perfect. How, then, could they sin? How would you answer these questions? What does “perfection” really mean? Do you know what the Bible’s teaching on it is? Would it appeal to you to live in perfection on this earth? Or do you think perfection would take all the challenge out of living, make it mechanically regular, stale?

Actually, most persons have a very imperfect understanding of what the word “perfect” means. For example, one may see some shirts advertised for “$59.99 each,” with the notice alongside, “$69.99 if perfect.” Is that a proper use of the word “perfect”?

Some would say No. They might say, “There is no such thing as a ‘perfect’ shirt.” Why? Well, they may think that a “perfect” shirt should have amazing qualities, perhaps never wear out, last forever. But if the shirt was made from cloth that never wore out, how could that cloth be cut to begin with? If it could be cut, then it could also wear out. And if it could not be cut, then it would have to be harder than any other existing substance, harder than even diamonds. How would a shirt like that feel on your shoulders?

Yes, the advertisement’s use of the word “perfect” would be correct. The dictionary tells us that the English word “perfect” comes from the Latin prefix per, meaning “throughout,” “thoroughly,” or “completely,” plus the verb facere, meaning “to do or make.”

So, something that is “perfect” is something that is ‘completely made or finished, not lacking in essential parts, not defective.’ It is also something that ‘meets all requirements and measures up to the standards of excellence set.’

The question, then, is: Who decides what is essential, and who sets the requirements and standards of excellence? In the case of a shirt, it is the manufacturer, the maker, who has certain requirements and standards. When these are met, the shirt is “perfect.” Of course, if the shirt is a sport shirt and the buyer wants a dress shirt, then, from his viewpoint, the shirt is not “perfect” for his use, the purpose that he has in mind.

Really, then, the person objecting to the use of the word “perfect” regarding a shirt or similar thing is simply going by his personal “ideal.” An “ideal” is one’s own idea or concept of excellence or perfection, what one thinks a thing should be. But ideals differ from person to person, do they not? What would you say is the “perfect” height for a man, the “perfect” shape for a woman’s face, or even the “perfect” flavor for an apple pie? Your answer would, of course, represent only your own preference, your ideal.

What does this have to do with the Bible or with living on earth in perfection? Very much. For though these points seem simple, keeping them in mind can help us to understand many things in God’s Word, including the questions asked during our discussion. This is so because the Hebrew and Greek words that the Bible writers used to express perfection have a meaning very similar to the basic meaning of the English word “perfect.” They convey the thought of something that is “complete,” “finished,” “fully developed,” “having attained the appointed purpose or goal.” Let us see, then, how all this helps us to understand the Scriptures and their promise of life in perfection.

All creation owes its existence to God. That means that He is the final Judge as to whether a thing is perfect or not. If it meets his standards to his satisfaction, serves his purpose in the way he wishes, then it is perfect. That is why we can properly say that the perfection of any part of God’s creation is relative, not absolute. That is, it all relates to God’s purpose for it, and only when we know his purpose can we know whether a thing is perfect in his sight or not.

For example, God prepared the planet Earth for man’s habitation, filling it with vegetation, birds, animals and fish, and finally brought man forth upon it. Surveying his work, God pronounced the completed results “very good.” (Gen. 1:31) It measured up to his perfect standards. But note that God still instructed the human pair to ‘subdue the earth,’ evidently meaning that they should cultivate it and make the whole planet, and not just Eden, a garden of God. (Gen. 1:28; 2:8) We might compare this with a builder who contracts to build a fine house for a family but then to turn it over to them to do the painting, decorating and furnishing. When he turns the house over to the family, the builder’s work is complete, finished, of excellent quality. Is it “imperfect” because other things remain to be done? No, for this was the arrangement decided upon beforehand.

Then, too, God gave command to the Israelites to construct a tabernacle or tent of worship in the wilderness, giving them the specifications for making it. The work was of superb quality and done “just as Jehovah had commanded.” (Ex. 36:1, 2; 39:32, 42, 43) Could we say it was perfect? Definitely, for, when completed, God approved of it and made his presence evident there. (Ex. 40:16, 33-38) Yet in due time God caused that portable tent to be replaced by a fixed temple at Jerusalem and later caused even the temple to be destroyed. Why? Because these structures were only to serve as types or a small-scale prophetic representation of a “greater and more perfect tent,” Jehovah’s heavenly arrangement in which the resurrected Christ Jesus acts as High Priest. (Heb. 9:11-14, 23, 24) The earthly tent was perfect because it satisfied all God’s requirements. And it served its appointed end. On the other hand, the perfection of that which it represented, God’s heavenly arrangement, was of a far higher type, and would accomplish God’s ultimate purpose to remove sin completely. So, in this sense, what the earthly tent represented was “greater and more perfect.”

We cannot, then, go just by our own ideas in these matters, otherwise we are trying to make a god of ourselves, even putting our own thinking over that of our Creator. Since he is the Maker, the Producer, he knows what he wants and he has the full right to decide what the standards of excellence and perfection shall be in his activity and creation.

Turning now to the first human pair, we see that Adam and Eve were created perfect—physically and mentally. God even gave them a perfect moral start, for he implanted in man a conscience. That is why the apostle could properly say that God’s law is ‘written in men’s hearts.’ (Rom. 2:15) Could that perfect human pair sin? Or, to be perfect, should they be incapable of sinning, made so that they could only obey, only go in the right way, never deviate from the course outlined for them? If you made a machine, say an automobile, you would make it so that it always went in the direction you turned the steering wheel, would you not? So, then, should not the first human pair have been like that in order to be perfect?

No. Why not? Because they were not made to be machines, to perform like machines. God, the Maker, purposed that they should exercise free moral agency, that is, be able to make personal moral decisions, choose between right and wrong, between obedience and disobedience. Remember, the Maker sets the standards and requirements, his will governs. Therefore, if the human pair had not had this ability to choose, they would actually have been incomplete, imperfect, according to God’s standards.—Compare Genesis 2:15-17; 3:2, 3; Deuteronomy 30:19, 20; Joshua 24:15.

But suppose someone argues, “Yes, but if they were perfect then they should only have chosen what was right.” This is the same as saying that they had no choice, for if you can only “choose” one thing, you really are not choosing at all. So to argue this way is simply to substitute a personal idea in place of God’s own standards. Those standards required that the human pair be capable of choosing either good or bad. Why? Because only then could love enter the picture. If they obeyed because they could do nothing but obey, then their service would be automatic. But God granted them the ability to choose, so that they could serve because of love in their hearts. Or they could become disobedient because their hearts had become selfish. How could that happen?

As mentioned earlier in this book, that would depend on what they fed their hearts, from which their motivation issued forth. Just as their bodies, though perfect, required the right kind of food to function well, so also they had to feed their hearts with right thoughts and reasonings. Perfect Adam could not eat dirt, gravel or wood and still enjoy perfect physical health; if he tried to breathe water instead of air he would drown. His perfection was relative, limited to the human sphere of life. In the same way, if he chose to let his mind and heart feed on wrong thoughts, this would lead to entertaining wrong desire and finally would produce sin and death. This is exactly what happened, and by his disobedience Adam, of his own choice, entered into imperfection.— Jas. 1:14, 15; compare Genesis 1:29; Matthew 4:4.

 

In answer to the prayer, “Let your will take place, as in heaven, also upon earth,” Jehovah God is going to remove everything from the earth that does not measure up to his standards, fit his righteous purpose. His promise is that, as a result, ‘neither tears, death, mourning nor outcry nor pain will be anymore.’ (Matt. 6:10; Rev. 21:3-5) During the thousand-year rule of his Son’s heavenly kingdom over earth’s inhabitants, obedient persons will be brought to bodily and mental perfection, the equals of the first human pair prior to their sinning.—1 Cor. 15:25, 26; Rev. 20:4-6.

Will this ‘take all the challenge out of living,’ make life ‘mechanically regular and stale’? Just the opposite. The reason why some have this idea is that they imagine that a perfect human would be able to do just about anything he or she wanted to with practically no effort. Suppose you were to decide you wanted to play the violin. Why, you could just pick it up and, though never having had one in your hands before, now play a piece like Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen (Gypsy Airs) without a single slip! So some seem to think. But this is just an imaginary ideal. The Bible gives no such concept.

Jesus Christ was born a perfect human. Yet he had to learn to eat solid food, walk and talk as all human babies do. If, as seems likely, he worked at carpentering with his foster father Joseph, he certainly had to learn skill in handling carpenter’s tools. It did not come automatically because he was perfect. Nor did other knowledge, nor even knowledge of his Father’s Word and purpose. As Luke 2:52 says of him from the age of twelve years onward: “And Jesus went on progressing in wisdom and in physical growth and in favour with God and men.”—Luke 2:42-52.

Perfection, then, will not eliminate the challenge of living. Each task will have its particular problems to be solved. Effort, thinking, planning will still be required. But perfection will remove the frustration, the disappointment, the futility that living in an imperfect, sin-ridden world now brings us, where even our best efforts so often are thwarted by obstacles or by the very shortness of our life-span, or fail due to the weakness of our sinful nature.

The prospect of everlasting life in itself will challenge those living in God’s new system to learn more and more, to learn about the wonderful earth on which they live and the enormous variety of created things that God has made. It will challenge everyone’s productivity, initiative, resourcefulness and enterprise, ingenuity and originality. What each person produces in the way of homes, gardens, dress, handcraft and works of art will reflect his own personal preferences and purpose, though all in harmony with the will of God. This will assure unending variety earth wide, never sameness and monotony.

Realize, then, that we should learn now all we can from the Source of truly worthwhile knowledge. Recognize that, “as for the true God, perfect is his way; the saying of Jehovah is a refined one.” Trust in his Word, put it to work in your life now and, relying on his promises for the future, make him your refuge and source of strength. Then you can say with the psalmist: “The true God is the One girding me closely with vital energy, and he will grant my way to be perfect.”—Ps. 18:30-32.

Right, friend, I think that there more intimate we try to get with God is the more clearer our clairvoyance will be with regard to the whole issue of human imperfection. So now, please allow me to again re-affirm or nail your understanding of Jehovah God once more for expanded comprehension also with the use of further questions.

 

The truth is that Jehovah is anawe-inspiringyetlovingGod. No doubt you, like the vast majority of persons, acknowledge belief in God. But what does God mean to you? What qualities or characteristics does he have? How would you describe him?

First of all, it is good to realize that God has a name—not one given to him by men, but a name that he has given to himself. Perhaps you have seen that name, Jehovah, in your own copy of the Bible.—Ps. 83:18; Isa. 42:8, AS.

If you have reasoned on the matter, you probably concluded that God has always existed and that he is responsible for all creation. You no doubt found this more logical to believe than that the universe brought itself into existence and, without any guiding intelligence, produced the marvellous results you see all around. Therefore you have reason to agree with the acclaim given to God by heavenly creatures: “You are worthy, Jehovah, even our God, to receive the glory and the honour and the power, because you created all things, and because of your will they existed and were created.”—Rev. 4:11.

You undoubtedly accept the idea of infinity—that something can be limitless, without beginning or end. You realize, for instance, that time is infinite, and that space has no beginning or end as far as man can determine. Thus, you can accept the fact that Jehovah God is the “King of eternity,” and that, as the Bible says, he has no beginning and will have no end.—1 Tim. 1:17; Ps. 90:2; Rev. 10:6.

But what does God look like? How would you describe him? Since Jehovah is a Spirit, and thus is beyond the power of humans to see, any description of his appearance in human terms can only approximate his incomparable glory. (John 4:24) Jehovah says: “To whom can you people liken me so that I should be made his equal? . . . 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.”—Isa. 40:25, 26.

Thus is emphasized the greatness and incomparable glory of the Creator of this marvellous material universe. Perhaps you have seen motion pictures of a powerful nuclear explosion with all its awe-inspiring brilliance and magnitude. Yet the thousands of millions of stars, or distant suns, that Jehovah created and calls individually by name give off tremendous flares that dwarf in brilliance and energy anything that man can produce. How awe-inspiring and magnificent the Creator of these innumerable suns must be!

No wonder that Jehovah God cannot be fully comprehended by mere humans. Really, for the Almighty Jehovah to set down for us a description of himself in spirit terms would be like supplying advanced algebraic equations to persons having only the most elementary knowledge of mathematics. Or it would be like trying to explain colors to a person born blind.—Job 37:23, 24.

Nevertheless, certain of Jehovah’s servants were given inspired visions of his heavenly courts, although they did not actually see God. (John 1:18) Their description of his presence portrays, not only great dignity and awesome majesty, but also serenity, order, beauty and pleasantness. These descriptions employ metaphors and similes, likening Jehovah’s appearance to things known to humans, such as jewels, fire and a rainbow. But, of course, such descriptions are never to be taken literally.—Ezek. 1:26-28; Rev. 4:1-3.

Similarly, Jehovah God is described in the Bible as if having certain human features. For example, the Christian apostle Peter wrote: “The eyes of Jehovah are upon the righteous ones, and his ears are toward their supplication; but the face of Jehovah is against those doing bad things.” (1 Pet. 3:12; Ezek. 20:33; Ex. 15:6; Luke 11:20) Such expressions are often necessary for the description to be humanly comprehensible. But they are not to be taken literally, any more than metaphorical references to God as being a “sun,” “shield” or “Rock” are to be taken literally.—Ps. 84:11; Deut. 32:4, 31.

“But does the Bible not say that man was made in ‘God’s image’?” you may inquire. “And does not that indicate that God has body parts that are similar to those of humans?”—Gen. 1:27.

Bible references to man’s being made in God’s image do not mean that the first human was created physically in Jehovah’s likeness. Rather, they refer to man’s being created with the same attributes or qualities possessed by Jehovah God, such as love, thinking ability, a sense of justice, and so forth. That physical likeness is not meant is indicated by Jehovah’s specific warning to the nation of Israel through his spokesman Moses: “You must take good care of your souls, because you did not see any form on the day of Jehovah’s speaking to you in Horeb out of the middle of the fire, that you may not act ruinously and may not really make for yourselves a carved image, the form of any symbol, the representation of male or female.”—Deut. 4:15, 16.

This shows that it is impossible for any humans to make a likeness of Jehovah God, because no human knows what he looks like, that is, what form of likeness he has. We do know that God and his spirit creations are altogether different from humans. Their perception, for instance, is not dependent on eyes and ears such as humans possess.

For example, Jehovah God, even without the benefit of light rays, can see deeds done in utter darkness. (Ps. 139:1, 7-12; Heb. 4:13) In fact, his vision can encompass all the earth. (Prov. 15:3) And he needs no X-ray equipment to see the growing embryo within the human womb.—Ps. 139:15, 16.

Furthermore, Jehovah’s hearing is not dependent on sound waves in an atmosphere, for he can “hear” expressions though uttered voiceless in human hearts. (Gen. 24:42-45; Ps. 19:14) Man cannot successfully measure the vast physical universe, yet even as the physical heavens do not embrace or enclose the place of Jehovah’s residence, much less does some earthly house or temple. (1 Ki. 8:27) Really, what a great God we want to worship!

How grateful we can be that the awe-inspiring, magnificent Jehovah is outstandingly a God of love! In all his dealings this quality is apparent.

Jehovah showed love in granting his first-created spirit Son the privilege of sharing with him in all further works of creation, generously causing this fact to be made known, with resultant honour to his Son. (Gen. 1:26; Col. 1:15-17) He thus did not weakly fear the possibility of competition, but rather displayed complete confidence in his own rightful Sovereignty as well as in his Son’s loyalty and devotion. And, lovingly, Jehovah allows his spirit sons relative freedom in the discharge of their duties, on occasion even permitting them to offer their views on how they might carry out particular assignments.—1 Ki. 22:19-22.

Jehovah’s love was further demonstrated in his arranging for the bringing into existence of earthly creatures. Since man was made “in God’s image,” it follows that the joy a human father finds in his child, particularly one who shows filial love and acts with wisdom, reflects the joy that Jehovah finds in his intelligent creatures who love and wisely serve Him. (Prov. 27:11; Matt. 3:17; 12:18) This pleasure comes, not from any material or physical gain, but from seeing his creatures willingly hold to his righteous standards and show unselfishness and generosity.—Ps. 147:10, 11; Heb. 13:16.

Certainly the first man Adam in his perfection had reason to feel awesome respect and love for his Creator. He could certainly concur with the later words of the Bible psalmist: “I shall laud you [Jehovah] because in a fear-inspiring way I am wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, as my soul is very well aware.”—Ps. 139:14.

Adam’s own body—outstandingly versatile among earthly creatures—as well as the things he found around him, offered good reason to laud Jehovah. Each new bird, animal and fish, each different plant, flower and tree, every field, forest, hill, valley and stream that the man saw would impress upon him the depth and breadth of his Father’s wisdom and the colourfulness of Jehovah’s personality as reflected in the grand variety of his creative works. All of man’s senses—sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch—would communicate to his receptive mind the evidence of a most generous and thoughtful Creator.

Nor were Adam’s intellectual needs, his need for conversation and companionship, forgotten, as his Father provided him with an intelligent feminine counterpart. (Gen. 2:18-23) They both could well have sung to Jehovah, as did the Bible psalmist: “Rejoicing to satisfaction is with your face; there is pleasantness at your right hand forever.” (Ps. 16:8, 11) Having been the object of so much love, Adam and Eve should certainly have known that “God is love.”—1 John 4:16.

Most importantly, Jehovah God supplied man’s spiritual needs. He revealed himself to his human son Adam, communicating with him, giving him divine assignments of service, the obedient performance of which would constitute a major part of man’s worship. (Gen. 1:27-30; 2:15-17) Even when the first human pair rebelled against His law, Jehovah did not cease to exercise love.

Mercifully God made provision for Adam’s offspring to recover the forfeited human perfection and prospect of eternal life. The Bible explains: “God loved the world [of mankind] 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) Are you not grateful to Jehovah for this loving provision?

We can also be thankful to Jehovah for the stability he established in his creative works. The regular cycle of day and night, the steady downward course of rivers in response to the force of gravity, and countless other things give proof that earth’s Creator is a God, not of confusion, but of order. (1 Cor. 14:33) Man surely finds this helpful in carrying out his activities. He is thus able to plan and work with confidence, free from anxious uncertainty. How loving and thoughtful for Jehovah to provide such standardization in laws and works of creation!

Commenting on these standards The Encyclopædia Britannica makes these interesting comments:

“Man’s accomplishments [in establishing standards] . . . pale into insignificance when compared with standards in nature. The constellations, the orbits of the planets, the changeless normal properties of conductivity, ductility, elasticity, hardness, permeability, refractivity, strength, or viscosity in the materials of nature, the orbits of electrons within the atom or the structure of cells, are a few examples of the astounding standardization in nature.”

And showing the importance of such standardization, this reference goes on to say:

“Only through the standardization found in nature is it possible to recognize and classify . . . the many kinds of plants, fishes, birds or animals. Within these kinds, individuals resemble each other in minutest detail of structure, function and habits peculiar to each. If it were not for such standardization in the human body, physicians would not know whether an individual possesses certain organs, where to look for them . . . In fact, without nature’s standards there could be no organized society, no education and no physicians; each depends upon underlying, comparable similarities.”—Vol. 21, pp. 306, 307, 1959 edition.

In view of such standardization in Jehovah’s marvelous material creations, it should not seem strange to us that Jehovah should set standards governing man’s conduct and his relations with his Creator. Especially stressed as essential is the standard of obedience to God’s instructions. Such obedience to God is how we can return the love that Jehovah has shown us. His Word says: “This is what the love of God means, that we observe his commandments.”—1 John 5:3.

Do you think that such obedience to God may in some way restrict you, somehow interfering with your happiness and enjoyment of life? You can dismiss entirely any such ideas. For within the bounds of Jehovah’s requirements for his earthly creatures are limitless opportunities for pleasure. As the encyclopedia article on standards, mentioned earlier, observes regarding the material universe:

“Yet with this overwhelming evidence of standards none charges nature with monotony. Although a narrow band of spectral wave lengths forms the foundation, the available variations and combinations of colour to delight the eye of the observer are virtually without limit. Similarly, all the artistry of music comes to the ear through another small group of frequencies.”

Likewise, Jehovah’s requirements for human creatures allow them all the freedom that a righteous heart could desire. True, due to human imperfection and exposure to the degraded thinking and practices of this devilish world, it may not always be easy to conform to God’s requirements. (Ps. 51:5; 1 John 5:19) But when the effort is made and when one remains within the safe bounds that Jehovah has set to govern human conduct, genuine contentment, satisfaction and happiness are realized.

Truly there is every incentive for us to want to come to know better this great, awe-inspiring and yet loving God, Jehovah. Are you not further encouraged to study the Bible wherein Jehovah reveals himself to us? What a privilege Jehovah God has made available to us—to know and serve him!

Now friends, by way of review, let us try to answer the question: How did all men come from one man? Well, when the apostle Paul was talking to a group of philosophers in ancient Athens, he declared: “[God] made out of one man every nation of men, to dwell upon the entire surface of the earth.” (Acts 17:26) This harmonizes with the Genesis account of creation, which tells us that Adam and Eve were directly created by God, and were commanded to “become many and fill the earth.” (Gen. 1:28; 2:7, 20-22) Eve was to become “the mother of everyone living.” (Gen. 3:20) When we view the billions of persons on earth, with their striking differences in appearance and personality, we may say, ‘How could this be true?’

All over the earth we see a multiplicity of kinds of plant and animal life. By kinds we refer to created kinds, not what are commonly called varieties. The term “species,” originally referring to kinds, is sometimes loosely used with reference to varieties. These kinds are unrelated—for example, cats, dogs, horses. There are barriers that prevent their cross-mating or, more specifically, prevent their reproductive cells from uniting and functioning to bring forth a new kind. This is in harmony with the law that God established at the time of creation, that everything must reproduce “according to its kind.” (Gen. 1:11, 12, 21, 25) The Bible writer James, in an illustration, expressed the principle very simply, asking: “A fig tree cannot produce olives or a vine figs, can it?”—Jas. 3:12.

However, within the boundary of each kind, there is a great proliferation of variety. There are dogs and cats of all colours and sizes; and among flowers there is the begonia, which has so many varieties resembling other flowers that it is called the “mockingbird” flower. The orchid has some 4,000 varieties. These varieties have come about in the course of time because of the almost limitless number of combinations possible in plant life and among domestic animals, and many are brought about by human efforts through careful selection and mating. These humanly assisted types generally would not continue unless maintained under special conditions or in a greenhouse or a laboratory. None of these varieties is another kind; that is, it is not separated so far from the original that its reproductive cells are unable to combine with cells of other varieties within the same kind and produce offspring. However, difference in size among animal varieties may sometimes prevent mating naturally and may also cause difficulty in bringing the offspring to full term and birth. Nonetheless, such varieties are genetically of the same kind.

An illustration of what selective breeding may accomplish, and of its limitations, is found in cattle raising. In herds where high milk production is sought, cows with a good record of production are mated with a bull from a high-producing strain, often a bull from the same herd. The production is gradually raised from generation to generation. But eventually a serious weakness shows up, such as the cows’ beginning to lose their calves prematurely. The limit in selective breeding has been reached.

What is the basis for the producing of such a great variety within each kind? One of the first researchers to provide a partial answer was Gregor Mendel, an Austrian monk living in the 19th century. Biology was of absorbing interest to him. He discovered by experimentation that plants and animals had factors in their genetic makeup that passed on certain traits from parent to offspring. Some traits are formed in a relatively simple manner, only a few genetic factors being involved. Others require the interplay of many factors. But there is a mathematical exactness in the probability that certain traits will appear with a regular, fixed frequency in the offspring.

Further research by other men and women led to the knowledge that each body cell of animal or plant has, among its thousands of intricate parts, a nucleus that governs the activity of the cell. The nucleus of each cell in an individual’s body contains small entities called chromosomes. Half of these chromosomes came from each parent. Therefore the basic characteristics or traits of an individual are an inheritance from his ancestors.

To be more specific, the chromosomes can be compared to slender threads or “bead-necklaces” that contain DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), along which lie the genes, which we could liken to the “beads.” The genes are chemical compounds that direct or “trigger off” the cell to build certain features. They are the carriers and transmitters of hereditary traits. One gene, or a group of them working together, may control eye color, or skin texture, or the making of a certain digestive juice, and so forth.

Mendel did not know all these things, but through his experiments came to the conclusion that all inherited characteristics are due to what he called “unit factors” or “elements” (now called “genes”) in the cells of all living things. He found that inheritance follows an orderly rule.

Mendel found that some characteristics seem to depend on only one factor, or gene, transmitted by each parent. For example, in the flower called the “four-o’clock” a mating of red and white parents brought forth a second generation of all pink flowers. Then, by cross-pollinating, or mating, this pink generation among themselves, he produced a third generation composed of 50 percent pink, 25 percent red and 25 percent white flowers.

In plants and animals, some traits are “dominant.” That is, if one parent possesses a genetic factor, or gene, that produces a given trait in the offspring, it dominates over or overshadows the factor, or gene, contributed by the other parent. The submerged or repressed gene is called “recessive.” In the body cell of every human, for example, there are two genes, or factors, for hair color. (It is not quite that simple, but the principle can be illustrated here in an understandable way.) The gene for dark hair is dominant; the one for blonde is recessive. If one parent contributes a gene for dark hair and the other parent one for blonde hair, the “dark” gene will dominate, according to the mathematical proportion shown in the diagram on page 20. If both genes in an individual’s body cell are for dark, the person himself will have dark hair. If one is a “dark” gene and the other is “blonde,” the person will have dark hair, though it may be somewhat lighter, or possibly red. To be blonde, the person would have to possess in his or her body cells two genes for blonde hair.

Now, while the body cells contain two genes for hair colour, in each parent’s reproductive cells one gene for hair colour will appear, because the reproductive cell is a half-cell. Each parent, therefore, contributes a half-cell with its gene for hair colour, to make up the baby’s body cell. There are four possible arrangements of the genes from the father and the mother: dark-dark, dark-blonde, blonde-dark and blonde-blonde. The child’s hair colour will be governed by the combination transmitted.

What a person is as to appearance, or display of certain traits, is called his “phenotype.” What he is as to the genetic or gene makeup in his cells is called his “genotype.” In the diagram, it is seen that the probability of producing dark-haired children, if each parent has a “dark” and a “blonde” gene in his body cells, is three out of four (on a statistical average). The genotype of a blonde person is blonde-blonde (two blonde genes in his body cells). A dark-haired person’s genotype can be either dark-dark or dark-blonde (or blonde-dark), having either two “dark” genes or a “dark” and a “blonde” gene. The dark-haired person would not know for sure what his genotype is unless one of his parents was blonde, or if he had a blonde child.

Mendel also experimented with garden peas in which there are genes in one parent plant for producing smooth-round yellow peas and in the other parent genes for producing green wrinkled peas. The colour yellow dominates over green and the smooth-round shape dominates over wrinkled. He found that the offspring were all smooth-round and yellow. But in mating these with one another Mendel got various results. His experiments revealed that the different gene factors combined to produce four varieties.

It was formerly supposed by some persons that, among humans, the heredity was in the blood. The thought was that by a “blending” process the child was intermediate between the two parents as to his appearance and other traits. In other words, the blood of one parent was “diluted,” as it were, by that of the other parent. The child, then, would have an appearance “halfway” between that of his parents. But this is not true. The inheritance is in the reproductive cells and not in the blood, so that, in a group of offspring, there are not only “in-between” types, but also types definitely having the same trait as one of the originals. Also, some types will resemble grandparents or great-grandparents more in certain respects than they resemble their parents. A child might, for example, display a characteristic or a talent that had been possessed by his grandfather but that did not show up in his father or mother at all.

Now, all this heredity with its variations comes from the DNA in the reproductive cells. A gene is a small section of the DNA—in itself very complex. Each gene is made up of a string of chemicals arranged in a certain sequence, forming a “code” or “message” that directs the formation of a specific trait, just as words are arranged in various sentences to form phrases. There are thousands of genes—no one knows how many thousands—in the human cell. But let us assume, to be conservative, that there are only 1,000 genes (far fewer than the actual number) and that each gene has only two variants (producing different eye colours, and so forth). Then the number of different gene combinations possible in humans would be 21000. This number—two to the one-thousandth power—is beyond comprehension. It is far greater than the estimated number of electrons and protons in the known universe!

Contributing to the almost limitless variety is the following process: Each of the living cells in the human body contains 46 chromosomes. The reproductive or sex cells are formed by certain of the 46-chromosome cells splitting to form half-cells (called “haploid” cells), each containing 23 chromosomes. During the splitting or dividing process, the 23 chromosomes received from one’s father and the 23 from one’s mother pair up, or mate up. Each of the 23 chromosomes from one parent, bearing along its length genes that direct the building of the many specific characteristics in the offspring, lies alongside the corresponding chromosome from the other parent. Then, when the cell divides, one chromosome goes into one newly formed reproductive cell (actually, a half-cell) and its mate goes into the other half-cell. But in the process, they not only separate but often cross over and exchange parts. This makes the possible number of different combinations practically infinite. These processes account for the fact that a person may have a “double”—one who greatly resembles him in appearance—although major differences will be found in many respects. Only in identical twins can the same genetic makeup be found.

Understanding the genetic principle, knowing how millions of variations occur, we can see why these variations exist, and that all, nevertheless, comprise one human race, one family. There are great differences in some respects, minor differences in most respects. But there is a sameness in human nature everywhere, and all can intermarry and have children. They are all of one kind.

Many of the more marked differences and combinations of distinctive traits are due to isolation of groups for long periods of time. This has come about because of barriers or segregation of certain groups due to geographical isolation or to artificial boundaries created by religious, social, national or linguistic differences. This isolation has caused certain characteristics or traits to be paired with others—for example, the dark skin and hair with the heavy facial features of many blacks, and the “yellow” skin and almond-shaped eyes of the Orientals. But these traits do not necessarily go together. For example, many blacks have small, delicate facial features. Occasionally one sees the above-mentioned features in other persons, but not so often paired together as among those who have kept within certain boundaries in their marriages for a long period of time, intermarrying with persons of their own area, tribe, and so forth.

Some people even distort the Bible, and try to show that it teaches “that the Negro, the lower apes and the quadrupeds, all belong to ‘one kind of flesh,’ the ‘flesh of beasts.”’ Professor Charles Carroll made this assertion in his book “The Negro a Beast” or “in the Image of God,” which received wide distribution in the early twentieth century. On the other hand, some evolutionists say that blacks are ‘a lower race of the human species.’

But some blacks argue in an altogether different way. The book Black Nationalism—A Search for an Identity in America says: “The Caucasians were not the original inhabitants of this earth, but were ‘grafted’ from the black people. . . . Contrasted with the Original Man (the so-called Negroes), the white is inferior physically and mentally. He is also weak because he was grafted from the black. He is the real ‘coloured’ man, i.e., the deviant from the black color norm.”

What do the facts show? Are we really one human family? Is there any truth to the claims that we are not?

Consider the flesh and blood. Some argue that it is different in blacks and whites. Yet The World Book Encyclopedia says: “Scientists state that cells which make up the human body are the same for all people. . . In the same way, a biologist can tell human blood from that of lower animals. But all the many types of human blood can be found among all the stocks and races of mankind.”

Much has been written about the differences in body structure of blacks and whites. But what are the facts? Anthropologist Ashley Montagu writes: “A close anatomical study seems to show that the physical differences are confined to quite superficial characters. I may best emphasize this by saying that if the body of a Negro were to be deprived of all superficial features such as skin, hair, nose and lips, I do not think that any anatomist could say for certain, in an isolated case, whether he was dealing with the body of a Negro or a European.”

Brain size is also pointed to as evidence of a basic difference between whites and blacks. It is claimed that, on the average, the brains of blacks are slightly smaller than those of whites. Yet, even if this were true, normal variations in brain size evidently do not affect intelligence. If they did, whites would be less intelligent than Eskimos and American Indians who, on the average, have larger brains.

To emphasize that the races are fundamentally alike, Professor Bentley Glass, in his book Genes and the Man, writes: “In all, it is unlikely that there are many more than six pairs of genes in which the white race differs characteristically, in the lay sense, from the black. Whites or blacks, however, unquestionably often differ among themselves by a larger number than this, a fact which reveals our racial prejudices as biologically absurd. . . . The chasm between human races and peoples, where it exists, is psychological and sociological; it is not genetic!”

Noteworthily, the recent book Heredity and Humans, by science writer Amram Scheinfeld, says: “Science now corroborates what most great religions have long been preaching: Human beings of all races are . . . descended from the same first man.”

Since this is true, then what accounts for observable racial differences, such as skin color and texture of hair?

The first human pair had within their genetic makeup the multiple factors for all the racial differences that we see today. Possibly they themselves were neither white nor black, but mulattoes, or a combination of the colors now found in the various races. An early historical report about humankind says: “They are all a single people with a single language!” (Gen. 11:6, in The Jerusalem Bible) But this abruptly changed.

A large segment of the human family, at that early time in history, desired to remain in one location for religio-political purposes. To thwart this, the Creator suddenly caused these men to speak different languages so that they could not understand one another. Picture what must have taken place.

Unable to communicate as one people, little groups, now isolated by the barrier of language, moved off on their own. As they spread farther afield, distance added another barrier to communication. Isolated by location and by language, the descendants of each group multiplied, and further developed over a period of time the distinct features of their “race?” But these physical features that were passed along from parent to child did not, in any way, make one race superior or inferior to another.—Gen. 11:7-10.

The fact is, these racial differences are actually not very great, as Hampton L. Carson writes in Heredity and Human Life: “The paradox which faces us is that each group of humans appears to be externally different yet underneath these differences there is fundamental similarity.

Understanding the process of heredity, we can see why we all are imperfect—why all of us sin and die. How so? Adam, the father of all humankind, turned away from God, sinning and damaging himself. In Bible terminology, Adam “missed the mark,” fell short of the mark or standard of perfection he originally had. (Rom. 3:23) Having lost perfection, he could not pass it on to his children. The heritage he transmitted was not complete, but was weakened, damaged, an inheritance, not of life, but of death. The result is that “through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because they had all sinned.” (Rom. 5:12) Knowing that we all sprang from one father, inheriting imperfection through no fault of our own, should make humans more considerate and kind toward one another. However, this is not the general attitude.

A more important fact connected with this knowledge is that, since we all inherited sin and death from one common father, we can be delivered by the substitutionary sacrifice of one man. This one is Jesus Christ. God was his Father, with whom he had lived in heaven before coming to earth. He became a man by being born of a woman, miraculously.—Gal. 4:4.

About this, the apostle Paul writes: “Although [Jesus Christ] was existing in God’s form, [he] gave no consideration to a seizure, namely, that he should be equal to God. No, but he emptied himself and took a slave’s form and came to be in the likeness of men. More than that, when he found himself in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient as far as death.”—Phil. 2:5-8.

By undergoing these things, Jesus could give up his perfect human life as an atonement sacrifice for humankind. In this way, God, who loves his creation that he has made so intricately and elaborately, made provision to rescue mankind. The apostle also stated: “God recommends his own love to us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8) Never having sinned and lost his perfection as did Adam, Jesus Christ is empowered by his Father to transmit this perfect inheritance of life to all who come to him in faith and obedience. He said: “For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted also to the Son to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to do judging, because Son of man he is.”—John 5:26, 27.

Jesus Christ, endowed with this authority and power, can regenerate all who exercise true faith in this arrangement. Millions who will live on earth under his Kingdom rule will receive regeneration, including those then resurrected from the memorial tombs. That is why he taught his followers to pray to the Father: “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matt. 6:10, Douay Version) Thus death inherited from Adam the sinner will be wiped out.—Rev. 21:4.

You see, my friend, I’d like you to read this book as a novel. I don’t enjoy sending you to many scriptural references that may disturb the flow of you nicely and cosily reading this book. But I have noticed that I am actually bound by scripture to dish out something that is full, turgid, edifying, complete and quite satisfactory. Why do I say so, well consider what is stated in Psalms 119:96 according to The Jerusalem Bible. It reads, “I have noticed limitations to all perfection, but your commandment has no limits at all.” So, the meaning here is that whatever may be perfect from a human standpoint still has its limitations. The commandment of Jehovah, however, does not have such limits but provides sound guidance for all aspects of life. So it is only in this vein that the mystery of human imperfection can be ‘perfectly’ unravelled, just as I’ve been doing, i.e. in the light of God’s word, the Bible. So please be patient and bear with me whenever scriptures or verses pop up every now and then.

Hey friend, I’ve also come to see the book, The Scale of Perfection by Walter Hilton. Some say that it may be rendered The Ladder of Perfection. Honestly speaking I just enjoyed when he spoke about the various types of contemplation but when he began talking about trinity it’s where I lost sense. But some aspects of the early portion of his book, I admired here and there. The one book I didn’t want to delve deep in is the one called A Presentation Of Perfection by Mark Eckart. I just browsed it but was disturbed by some specific denominational references and so forth. But, as I said earlier, my approach in writing this book is quite unique and does not copy anyone’s unless if you feel it simply sounds familiar to what you’ve been exposed to by the many ubiquitous and itinerant preachers in harmony with Matthew24:14. If that may be the case, then I guess I will have little to dispute with you as I am also heavily engaged in the apocalyptic prophecy of Matthew 24:14!

But friend, this book serves, not to cast a noose on you but for you to be aware of the universal issue that affects us from birth on and hence requires our immediate attention or response. Life is here to be enjoyed but we cannot do so perfectly now as we are all like swimmers in an opposite direction to a river’s flow. Only Jehovah God will make us fully compatible with the ‘river’s’ flow soon, but for now we still need to discover our relation to him and all its constituencies.

There are some further serious and deep points I’d like us to consider so as to embolden our ego in the issue of human imperfection. I’d like to think about this question: Is the produce or display of the aspects of the fruitage of the spirit in our lives mainly a sole requirement for pleasing God? Or does God look further beyond the ‘mere’ gift, manifestations or displays produced, hence bringing us to the matter of conscience or the motive behind or genuineness of gift? Now let try to unravel what Paul meant by “a perfectly clear conscience” at Acts 23:1 and Hebrews 9:9 so as to understand the broader picture of a good person in God’s eyes. Yes we did touch it earlier, but now its time for greater expansiveness.

I like to begin by quoting some Bible commentaries on Acts 23:1. Robertson’s Word Pictures states: “In all good conscience unto this day (pasēi suneidēsei agathēi achri tautēs tēs hēmeras). This claim seems to lack tact, but for brevity’s sake Paul sums up a whole speech in it. He may have said much more than Luke here reports along the line of his speech the day before, but Paul did not make this claim without consideration. It appears to contradict his confession as the chief of sinners (1Ti_1:13-16). But that depends on one’s interpretation of “good conscience.” The word suneidēsis is literally “joint-knowledge” in Greek, Latin (conscientia) and English “conscience” from the Latin. It is a late word from sunoida, to know together, common in O.T., Apocrypha, Philo, Plutarch, New Testament, Stoics, ecclesiastical writers. In itself the word simply means consciousness of one’s own thoughts (Heb_10:2), or of one’s own self, then consciousness of the distinction between right and wrong (Rom_2:15) with approval or disapproval. But the conscience is not an infallible guide and acts according to the light that it has (1Co_8:7, 1Co_8:10; 1Pe_2:19). The conscience can be contaminated (Heb_10:22, evil ponērās). All this and more must be borne in mind in trying to understand Paul’s description of his motives as a persecutor. Alleviation of his guilt comes thereby, but not removal of guilt as he himself felt (1Ti_1:13-16). He means to say to the Sanhedrin that he persecuted Christians as a conscientious (though mistaken) Jew (Pharisee) just as he followed his conscience in turning from Judaism to Christianity. It is a pointed disclaimer against the charge that he is a renegade Jew, an opposer of the law, the people, the temple. Paul addresses the Sanhedrin as an equal and has no “apologies” (in our sense) to make for his career as a whole. The golden thread of consistency runs through, as a good citizen in God’s commonwealth. He had the consolation of a good conscience (1Pe_3:16).”

Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible states: “He said, “Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God unto this day. However I may be reproached, my heart does not reproach me, but witnesses for me.” (1.) He had always been a man inclined to religion; he never was a man that lived at large, but always put a difference between moral good and evil; even in his unregenerate state, he was, as touching the righteousness that was in the law, blameless. He was no unthinking man, who never considered what he did, no designing man, who cared not what he did, so he could but compass his own ends. (2.) Even when he persecuted the church of God, he thought he ought to do it, and that he did God service in it. Though his conscience was misinformed, yet he acted according to the dictates of it. See Act_26:9. (3.) He seems rather to speak of the time since his conversion, since he left the service of the high priest, and fell under their displeasure for so doing; he does not say, From my beginning until this day; but, “All the time in which you have looked upon me as a deserter, an apostate, and an enemy to your church, even to this day, I have lived in all good conscience before God; whatever you may think of me, I have in every thing approved myself to God, and lived honestly,” Heb_13:18. He had aimed at nothing but to please God and do his duty, in those things for which they were so incensed against him; in all he had done towards the setting up of the kingdom of Christ, and the setting of it up among the Gentiles, he had acted conscientiously. See here the character of an honest man. [1.] He sets God before him, and lives as in his sight, and under his eyes, and with an eye to him. Walk before me, and be thou upright. [2.] He makes conscience of what he says and does, and, though he may be under some mistakes, yet, according to the best of his knowledge, he abstains from that which is evil and cleaves to that which is good. [3.] He is universally conscientious; and those that are not so are not at all truly conscientious; is so in all manner of conversation: “I have lived in all good conscience; have had my whole conversation under the direction and dominion of conscience.” [4.] He continues so, and perseveres in it: “I have lived so until this day.” Whatever changes pass over him, he is still the same, strictly conscientious. And those who thus live in all good conscience before God may, like Paul here, lift up their face without spot; and, if their hearts condemn them not, may have confidence both towards God and man, as Job had when he still held fast his integrity, and Paul himself, whose rejoicing was this, the testimony of his conscience.”

John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible states: “I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day; not only from the time of his conversion, but throughout the whole of his life; for though, strictly speaking, there is no good conscience but what is awakened by the Spirit of God, and is unprincipled by his grace, and is purged from sin by the blood of Christ; in which sense he could only have a good conscience, since he believed in Christ; yet whereas in his state of unregeneracy, and even while he was a blasphemer, and persecutor, he did not act contrary to the dictates of his conscience, but according to them, in which his view was to the glory of God, and the honour of his law; he therefore says he lived before God, or unto God, in all good conscience, though an erroneous and mistaken one; he thought he ought to do what he did; and what he did, he did with a zeal for God though it was not according to knowledge: besides, the apostle has here respect to his outward moral conversation, which, before and after conversion, was very strict, and even blameless, at least unblemished before men; nobody could charge him with any notorious crime, though he did not live without sin in the sight of the omniscient God.”

John Wesley Explanatory Notes states: “Professing a clear conscience by his very countenance; and likewise waiting to see whether any of them was minded to ask him any question, said, I have lived in all good conscience before God till this day - He speaks chiefly of the time since he became a Christian. For none questioned him concerning what he had been before. And yet even in his unconverted state, although he was in an error, yet he had acted from conscience, before God - Whatever men may think or say of me.”

 

Darby’s Synopsis of the Books of the Bible Part 2: New Testament, page 994 states: “our Savior has rendered our conscience perfect, so that we can go into the sanctuary without an idea of fear, without one question as to sin arising in our minds. A perfect conscience is not an innocent conscience which, happy in its unconsciousness, does not know evil, and does not know God revealed in holiness. A perfect conscience knows God; it is cleansed, and, having the knowledge of good and evil according to the light of God Himself, it knows that it is purified from all evil according to His purity. Now the blood of bulls and goats, and the washings repeated under the law, could never make the conscience perfect. They could sanctify carnally, so as to enable the worshipper to approach God outwardly, yet only afar off, with the veil still unrent.”

Christ Jesus, for example, warned his disciples that “the hour is coming when everyone that kills you will imagine he has rendered a sacred service to God.” (John 16:2) Saul of Tarsus was one of these. In his zeal for what he conscientiously believed to be right, Saul ‘committed many acts of opposition against the name of Jesus,’ persecuting the disciples, and ‘when they were to be executed, he cast his vote against them.’ (Acts 26:9, 10; compare Galatians 1:13, 14.) Yet later, when experiencing persecution himself as the Christian apostle Paul, he could say in court: “I have behaved before God with a perfectly clear conscience down to this day.” (Acts 23:1) Though his conscience had been “clear” at the time of his fighting against Christianity, its testimony had been defective, woefully false and had led him into fighting against God.

Now, to get going, let’s start by thinking of how we can improve our conscience. Well, knowledge alone of Jehovah’s personality, his standards and purposes is not enough. Increased Bible knowledge by itself will not improve the working of our conscience, even though it may have a profound effect on the mind and heart. The psalmist wrote: “The law of Jehovah is perfect, bringing back the soul. The reminder of Jehovah is trustworthy, making the inexperienced one wise. The orders from Jehovah are upright, causing the heart to rejoice; the commandment of Jehovah is clean, making the eyes shine. . . . Also, your own servant has been warned by them; in the keeping of them there is a large reward.” (Ps. 19:7-11) Yet, despite the rewarding goodness that flows from God’s Word, it must be remembered that the conscience is not simply a mental activity but a reflection of the moral nature of the whole person. The conscience must do more than tell us what we ought to be; it must identify what we are in real life.

Therefore, with strong reason the Bible associates a good conscience with faith and the quality of love, not just with knowledge. At 1 Timothy 1:5 we read: “Really the objective of this mandate is love out of a clean heart and out of a good conscience and out of faith without hypocrisy.” Thus we see that faith, love and a good conscience go hand in hand. To reject any one of these is to reject the other two. To reject the conscience is to make shipwreck of faith. Also, to say that love is not needed is to deny the paramount quality of God, because God is love. Thus God’s personality, revealed in his Word and in his dealings with his servants, is brought to the fore as the focal point around which a good conscience is to be developed.

The young man Saul of Tarsus, known later as the apostle Paul, had to learn this fact. He was well versed in the law of Moses, and had been trained in Jewish schools and in their methods. But after becoming a Christian he expressed this conclusion: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but do not have love, I have become a sounding piece of brass or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophesying and am acquainted with all the sacred secrets and all knowledge, and if I have all the faith so as to transplant mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.” (1 Cor. 13:1, 2) From these words of Paul it is evident that just adding fact to fact, or even just learning more Bible laws and principles, could fall short of improving the effectiveness of the conscience. One could end up with a head full of accumulated information, without the heart’s ever being touched.

A real danger could develop. External observances could gain the ascendancy over true spirituality. External acts could be performed with or without a sincere spirit to supply the motivating force. Selfish considerations could lead one to live up to outward appearances of religious acceptability. Even acts of seeming love and self-denial could easily become mere outward acts with no inner reality or substance in the one performing them. A person could drift into a smug complacency, believing himself to have a good Christian conscience because of living up to a set pattern of rules and regulations. Life, even worship, could become routine, bookish, a calendar of events, impassively followed. Minor observances could easily be substituted for major responsibilities. Jesus pointed this fact out to the Pharisees, saying: “Hypocrites! . . . you give the tenth of the mint and the dill and the cummin, but you have disregarded the weightier matters of the Law, namely, justice and mercy and faithfulness.” (Matt. 23:23) These small duties can soothe the conscience that condones lovelessness. Small gestures can excuse failure in all the weightier matters of justice and human understanding.

That is why increased knowledge of Jehovah must go beyond improving the mind. The informed mind must act along with a morally sensitive heart. It must make you, a person, more sensitive to the standards and purposes of another Person, namely, Jehovah, whose personality we should try to reflect.

Okay friends, now we’ve come close as regards what conscience may or may not be. As we’ve mentioned, in English, “conscience” basically means the same as the Greek term (sy·nei′de·sis) used by inspired Bible writers. It means “co-knowledge” or “having knowledge of something with [oneself].” It is the voice of what Bible writers refer to as “the secret self,” “the man we are inside,” “the secret person of the heart.” (Ps. 51:6; 2 Cor. 4:16; 1 Pet. 3:4; compare Romans 7:22.)

Now friends, the conflict between rules and conscience is age old. In the article “Casuistry” the Encyclopaedia Britannica (11th edition) explains that morality “has sometimes been thought of as an outward law, sometimes as an inward disposition. . . . Believers in law have put their trust in authority or logic; while believers in disposition chiefly look to our instinctive faculties—conscience, common-sense or sentiment.” Extremes in both positions existed when Jesus and the apostles walked the earth. We can better appreciate the Bible’s helpful balance and godly wisdom by noting the situation then.

The Jewish Pharisees zealously advocated rules. Not content with the Mosaic law, they developed numerous rules or “commands of men” that invalidated God’s commands. Besides developing these rules that went beyond what God asked, their legalistic outlook encouraged the view that righteousness could result from knowing and keeping these human regulations.—Matthew 15:1-20; 23:1-5; Luke 18:9-12.

“At the opposite pole stood ancient Greece,” comments classical scholar Samuel H. Butcher. “Among the Greeks . . . no system of doctrine and observance, no manuals containing authoritative rules of morality, were ever transmitted in documentary form. . . . Unvarying rules petrified action.” As to the Romans, the Encyclopaedia Britannica says: “Cicero and Seneca took common-sense as their guide. They decided each problem on its merits, looking more to the spirit than to the letter.” This Grecian/Roman philosophy was popular in the first century. Would it appeal to Christians? Paul wrote: “Look out: perhaps there may be someone who will carry you off as his prey through the philosophy and empty deception . . . according to the elementary things of the world and not according to Christ.”—Colossians 2:8; Acts 17:18-21.

In later centuries, too, both extremes had their advocates, even among persons called Christians. The Jesuits were noted for stressing a morality based on innumerable Church laws. After the Reformation, Protestantism emphasized individualism and conscience, which has led to the current view known as “situation ethics,” popularized by Episcopalian Dr. Joseph Fletcher. The National Observer reports: “Dr. Fletcher has spelled out a controversial manifesto of individual freedom and responsibility, based on an ethic of brotherly love, which he says should free modern man from rigid, archaic rules and codes like the ‘Ten Commandments.’ . . . With love as the only guide, then, abortion, premarital sex, divorce, . . . and other conventional wrongs become morally acceptable to Dr. Fletcher in some situations.”

Clearly, humans tend toward extremes—being guided either by rules or by conscience. Some who see the weakness of one extreme overreact by going to the other extreme, just as a pendulum swings from the far right to the far left. For example, during the Middle Ages the pendulum swung from the rule-minded attitude of the Jesuits to the Reformationists’ stress on freedom and conscience. Also, you may know parents who were overly strict in rearing their children. But when these children grew up, they reacted by going to the opposite extreme, allowing their own offspring to take any and all liberties, with disastrous results. We can see the truth of the Bible comment: “I well know, O Jehovah, that to earthling man his way does not belong. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step.”—Jeremiah 10:23.

For attaining salvation a good conscience toward God is absolutely necessary. The natural Jews tried to attain it. They tried to avoid defilement of their flesh by not eating and drinking this and that, and by various washings of various utensils and clothing and parts of the body, to keep away the filth of the flesh. Also they offered up sacrifices of clean, unblemished animals on the holy altar at Jerusalem’s temple, but it never made those Jewish worshipers perfect as respects their conscience. They still had an inward consciousness of being condemned sinners in God’s sight. The continual need for them to repeat these washings, cleansings and sacrifices only reminded them again and again of this disturbing fact. (Heb. 9:9; 10:1-3) But now such a good conscience toward God is attainable by means of the Greater Noah, Christ Jesus. Through him we get rest for our consciences and we enjoy peace with God.

This good conscience toward God is what all lovers of eternal life crave and request in their prayers toward God and in all their efforts. We long to have a consciousness of being no longer sinners but to have a righteous standing with him and be at peace with him. Now it can be won, not by just putting away fleshly filth as the Jews tried to do in an effort toward self-righteousness, but by faith in God and in his provisions through Christ Jesus. The blood of the animals which the God-fearing Jews sacrificed worked only as far as cleansing their flesh in a typical or pictorial way, but those animal sacrifices all pointed forward to the real, effective sacrifice of God’s High Priest, Jesus Christ. Hence, says Paul, “how much more will the blood of the Christ, who through an everlasting spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works that we may render sacred service to the living God?” Then he encourages us believers, saying: “Since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with sincere hearts in the full assurance of faith, having had our hearts sprinkled from a wicked conscience and our bodies washed with clean water.”—Heb. 9:14; 10:19-22, NW.

God’s forgiveness of our sins is now possible only through Christ’s blood. Any of our own works for justifying ourselves by merely cleaning up our flesh outwardly are dead works; they have no life-giving quality about them. They do not make us alive toward God and his proper service, no more than the “rich man” in Jesus’ parable made himself righteous and alive toward God by wearing purple and linen over his bathed flesh, in contrast with the beggar Lazarus covered with ulcers. The “rich man” came under a baptism of fire afterward. Faith in Christ’s sacrifice and faith in God’s promise to Abraham respecting Christ as the Seed for blessing all the families of the earth is the vital thing.—Luke 16:19-31.

When you hear the argument that living forever on earth in perfection would eventually end our enjoyment of living, stop and think. In a year the average person eats more than a thousand meals. A man of thirty may have eaten well over thirty thousand meals. But does he necessarily enjoy them less than when he had eaten only a few thousand? If you go for just one day without eating, do you find the next meal boring? No, you do not have to suffer malnutrition from famine to enjoy food—any more than you need to cut off one of your fingers to appreciate the other nine.

But would a perfect man or woman ever get hungry, thirsty or tired? Most certainly. God’s Son, Jesus Christ, while a perfect human on earth, became hungry, thirsty and tired. You can see that from reading the record of his life in the Bible.—Compare John 4:6, 7; Matthew 4:2; Luke 8:22-24.

We should not misunderstand what “perfection” means. Aside from the perfection of God, perfection of all others is a relative thing, not absolute. That is, something is perfect according to the purpose for which it was made. A perfect hammer would do a fine job of driving nails; but would you use it as a saw? No; nor would a perfect saw make even a fair hammer. The perfection of each is relative—related to the purpose for which it was designed and made.

So, too, with humans. The physical sensations of hunger, thirst and desire for rest after long hours of activity are normal. These physical sensations were built into man by his Creator.

What, then, of the Bible’s grand promise that under the righteous rule of God’s kingdom He “will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be any more”? What does this mean?—Rev. 21:3, 4.

The Bible describes here the removal of “the former things” that came in with the rebellion of the first human pair in Eden. These “former things” are the pain, suffering and death that their sinful course has brought to their descendants, all mankind.—Rom. 5:12.

Obviously that Bible account does not mean that, if a piece of dust should get in a person’s eye, his tear ducts would then no longer produce tears to wash it out. The same with the reactions of the human nervous system that produce the feeling of touch, pressure and pain. A perfect man stepping with his bare foot on a thorn hidden in the grass would still feel pain as his perfect nerves reacted to the puncture. And the built-in defense system in his blood with its army of white corpuscles would go to work to heal up the wound inflicted. But a perfect man would not develop gangrene. Nor would he be plagued with such things as acid indigestion, ulcers, migraine headaches, arthritis, heart disease or cancer. Surely to be free of such things would not impair our happiness but greatly increase it!

Things of Interest Forever!

But would a person living forever always be able to find things to occupy his mental and physical powers? Would he find new challenges for his intelligence and ability? Would conversation continue to be stimulating and enjoyable? Or would the stage soon be reached where everyone knew what everyone else knew?

Those who think that persons would run out of things to do and learn, fail to consider what a vast and magnificently equipped Workshop and Laboratory our Creator made when he produced this planet. Consider all the things that man has made up to the present time. And then remember that all man’s complex inventions, his computers, his television sets, his airplanes, his rockets, were not formed out of materials brought from some faraway place in the universe. No, but they were formed from the very ground on which we live and its storehouse of chemical elements, its minerals and metals. How vast the possibilities are!

Today knowledge gained through research grows at a rate so swift that neither individuals nor organizations can keep up with it. Because their life-span is so short, persons must content themselves either with knowing a little about many things or a lot about just a very few things. Their knowledge is either broad, but generally shallow, or deep, but quite narrow. They often become specialists in a very restricted field, trying to “make their mark in life” before their short span of years runs out. Scientists say that every time they finally find the “key” to open one door in some field of research they invariably find a dozen other doors on the other side. Surely, then, there is no danger of earth’s becoming filled with “know-it-alls” who have nothing to talk about because everyone knows what the other person knows.

How much do you know about your home, and how much of it have you seen in your lifetime? Not the house you live in, but the planet you live on—this immense satellite of the sun that astronauts describe as “a jewel in space.”

Even world travellers rarely get well acquainted with more than just a fraction of the earth, often no more than its principal cities and so-called “major points of interest.” Some have seen such places as Arizona’s Grand Canyon, the Norwegian fjords, Africa’s Serengeti plains, the snow-capped Alps of New Zealand’s South Island and the tropical scenery of Tahiti.

But for every towering mountain, every plunging canyon, every cascading waterfall, fertile valley, winding river, table-like plateau, deep-shaded woods, rugged, rocky coast or glistening palm-lined beach they have seen, there are a thousand others, each with its own beauty and eye-holding appeal.

Plants, Animals and People

Botanists list some 335,000 species of plants. The United States alone has 1,035 different kinds of trees. They range from the desert-growing Joshua tree to the magnificent Giant Sequoias, and embrace the colorful Sugar Maple, White Ash and Blue Spruce.

From earth’s flowers one could make a different combination every day for a hundred years. Even then one would barely begin to use the varieties to be found, from Morning Glories to Four-O’Clocks, from delicate Bleeding Hearts and Lilies of the Valley to the giant Rafflesia arnoldi of Indonesia, its flower measuring up to three feet across and weighing up to fifteen pounds.

And what of earth’s animal life? Biologists list some 5,000 kinds of mammals, 3,000 kinds of amphibians, 6,000 kinds of reptiles, 9,000 kinds of birds and 30,000 kinds of fish, not to mention the more than 800,000 kinds of insects.

With how many of those living creatures are you really familiar? Perhaps you have seen some of them in a book or at a zoological garden. But how many of them have you observed in their native habitat, watching their fascinating habits and learning the different qualities of each? For example, with how many of the 400 varieties of hummingbirds are you well acquainted—such as the topaz hummingbird, the ruby-throated hummingbird, the tiny bee hummingbird that measures only two inches in length? These are living jewels that flash with iridescent colours of flaming red, deep violet, glowing orange and emerald green. Or have you carefully observed the majestic giant condor or the albatross with its twelve-foot wingspan?

It would take a long time to get to know all the living creatures of land, sea and air—far longer than present life-spans could begin to cover.

Of far greater interest, however, are earth’s peoples. They are almost as varied as the flowers, in their features, styles of dress, preferences in food, architecture, music and other distinctive characteristics. Nor would perfection mean the removal of this variety and contrast of personality, making them the same as one another, any more than for roses to be perfect must they all be red.

It is not easy today to get to know the many races of earth. In many cases, in fact, it is becoming increasingly dangerous. But the Bible promise of everlasting life is only for persons who love and appreciate their Creator, his truth, justice and righteous standards, and who love their neighbor as themselves. By producing the fruitage of God’s spirit—love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, mildness, self-control—they will make this planet a spiritual garden of friendly, cooperative, generous, warmhearted people.—Gal. 5:22, 23.

Their talents and abilities in craftsmanship, metalworking, architecture, landscaping, home decoration, artistry, music and literature will therefore be used with the right motive. This will stimulate new heights of expression and beauty. Surely meeting such persons, seeing the products of their activity, and getting to know them would be a continual source of pleasure.

Getting Better Acquainted with God

Above and beyond all this, everlasting life would allow for becoming better acquainted with the Universal Sovereign, Jehovah God. Nothing in life is more enriching, more satisfying or more ennobling.

Throughout all eternity one can learn more and more about God, our Creator—and still it would be impossible to know everything about Him. The Christian apostle Paul wrote of our Creator: “O the depth of God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How unsearchable his judgments are and past tracing out his ways are! For ‘who has come to know Jehovah’s mind?’”—Rom. 11:33, 34; Eccl. 3:11.

That same apostle also wrote of Jehovah God: “His invisible qualities are clearly seen from the world’s creation onward, because they are perceived by the things made, even his eternal power and Godship.”—Rom. 1:20.

Knowledge of the universe with its planets, stars and galaxies leaves no room for doubt as to God’s awesome power and superlative wisdom. He is the Supreme Physicist, Chemist, Mathematician, Designer and Builder. The psalmist of past centuries, filled with appreciation, wrote: “O Jehovah our Lord, how majestic your name is in all the earth, you whose dignity is recounted above the heavens! When I see your heavens, the works of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have prepared, what is mortal man that you keep him in mind, and the son of earthling man that you take care of him?”—Ps. 8:1, 3, 4.

Right, now friends, lets try to turn the wheel and think of the issue of human imperfection in the sphere of law-breakers, prison inmates or criminals. The question debated is: Should prisons primarily be places of punishment for wrongdoers, or places for rehabilitation?

“Our philosophy of rehabilitation has been shipwrecked,” said Sweden’s chief prosecutor Holger Romander. “Criminality will not be cured through prison rehabilitation.” Though Sweden’s prison system was regarded as one of the most progressive in the world in 1977, the rate of return to prison among those with previous convictions was more than 70 percent. That was as high as any in the world. Thus, a western-European prison expert said: “It is disheartening. In my country we are still in the Middle Ages compared to the Swedish approach to criminals.”

What do criminals themselves say about rehabilitation? According to a recent Rand Corporation study of 49 habitual Californian criminals, most said that nothing would have prevented their return to crime—not even harsher treatment in prison, longer sentences, or the strong likelihood of being caught. The majority clearly favoured crime as their career. “I wasn’t equipped to handle the outside world,” explained one. “I always felt really uncomfortable with straight people.”

Evidently “wicked people exist,” as noted by James O. Wilson, professor of government at Harvard University, in his book “Thinking About Crime.” Of course, human rehabilitation systems also may not reach the hearts of some persons.

 

A look at history, however, reveals that there are altogether different alternatives. In ancient times prisons, as we know them, didn’t exist. Then wrongdoers were either executed or given physical punishment, that is, corporal punishment. It could include flogging, branding or maiming, after which the wrongdoer was freed.

Then, during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the death penalty was applied to fewer crimes, and physical punishment was gradually abolished. That’s when the practice of sending wrongdoers to prison increased. These were vermin-infested, filthy, overcrowded places, where food was scarce and prisoners were worked long hours. Many died because of the terrible conditions. Punishment was the primary purpose of such prisons.

In more recent times, a change of thinking occurred. During the 19th century the idea was advanced that the chief purpose of prisons should be to reform or rehabilitate prisoners. As late as 1970, former U.S. President Nixon’s Task Force on Prisoner Rehabilitation concluded that programs of prisoner rehabilitation should become a central feature of future prison policies.

But recently rehabilitation efforts have run into criticism. This sudden shift in viewpoint should interest us.

What About Rehabilitation?

A headline in The National Observer of January 4, 1975, said: “After 150 Years of Trying to Rehabilitate Criminals, even Reformers Concede that . . . REFORM IS A FLOP.”

Science noted: “The disillusionment with ‘rehabilitation,’ at least in its present forms, has been so deep that it has caused many prominent social scientists and penologists to abandon cherished philosophies in a matter of a few years.”—May 23, 1975.

Newsweek concluded: “The growing consensus among prison professionals seems to be that . . . the essential function of a penal system must become the punishment by confinement of the criminal and the protection of society from his misdeeds.”—February 10, 1975.

I’m wholly in favour of a renewed emphasis on protecting society from criminals. The mayor of Wilmington, Delaware, Thomas Maloney, was, unfortunately, accurate when he said: “Citizens are now the prisoners in their homes, with chains, locks, bars and grates while the criminals are on the outside, roaming about free.”

Many would applaud a shift to a primary concern for the rights of law-abiding victims of crime. It seems clear that the failure to make wrongdoers responsible for their acts has only made them more confirmed criminals. Of course, this raises a big question: Is it possible to punish the growing number of wrongdoers by means of prison sentences?

The Problem of Where to Put Them

The fact is, efforts to crack down on crime already have flooded United States prisons. From January 1973 to January 1977 the population in just the federal and state prisons in the United States leaped 45 percent, from 195,000 to 283,000! The Wall Street Journal reports: “Most states already have crammed inmates into every nook and cranny of existing prisons. Convicts are sleeping on ledges above toilets, in shower rooms and in gymnasiums.”—July 20, 1976.

In addition to the large federal and state prisons, there are thousands of county and city prisons. The New York Times of June 1976 said that 60,000 men and women spend time in New York city’s eight prisons each year. And one criminologist says that more than two million persons annually pass through United States prisons!

The problem becomes overwhelming when you consider that over 10 million serious crimes are reported to the police each year well—over 30 million in the past three years! There simply are not enough facilities to hold all the wrongdoers, even the ones the authorities are able to apprehend. And already the cost to taxpayers is staggering.

The New York Times of September 1976 stated that it costs “about $12,000 per inmate per year merely for custodial care in New York prisons.” At that rate, it comes to a $3-billion yearly bill just to keep the 250,000 inmates in federal and state prisons! And for building new prisons, the construction costs reportedly will run as much as $40,000 per prisoner!

The prison problem is indeed a big one, especially in view of the prediction by one prison expert that there could be 400,000 inmates in federal and state prisons by the mid-1980’s. What’s the answer?

Desirability of Rehabilitation

Let’s face it. All of us would be glad to see criminals reform and become law-abiding, useful citizens. And such changes by individuals aren’t impossible, despite the failure of most in-prison rehabilitation programs. It’s just that, as Norman Carlson, director of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, recently said: “Rehabilitation has been oversold as a concept. . . . we’re now aware of the fact that we can’t rehabilitate anybody—we can just provide opportunities for them.” So,I’m personally convinced that the providing of right opportunities will serve to motivate certain criminals to change.

Can prisons serve only as places of punishment, or can they also be successful centers of rehabilitation? A United States congressional subcommittee that studied this question recently concluded that prisons have failed utterly as a means of rehabilitating offenders. Some experts estimate that as many as four out of five inmates again turn to crime when they leave prison. So it is not surprising that prison officials such as Raymond K. Procunier, chief of the California prison system, say that prisons in their present form should be eliminated. Procunier explained recently:

“Society’s concepts about prisons make no sense at all. We’re charged with conflicting responsibilities—keeping convicted felons away from the ‘good people’ and, at the same time, in the unbelievably unnatural society that prevails in prison, rehabilitating them.” And this simply cannot be done, Procunier emphasizes.

What Is Needed

C. Murray Henderson, Warden of the huge Angola State Penitentiary, is one of those prison officials who believe a more natural climate is vital for the successful rehabilitation of inmates. “I think that prisons have for too long operated in an aura of secrecy,” he explained recently to a representative of Awake! “We have not let the taxpayers know what our real problems and needs are. Of course, we always need money, but I think more than that we need people to work with prisoners, someone they can identify with.”

Therefore, Warden Henderson explained: “We’ve always tried to have as open a prison as possible. We’ve tried to encourage people to come in, because we think that one of the main problems with prisons is that you isolate the man from the very values that you want him to incorporate. We don’t want this to happen. We want to have contact with outside people, particularly people that we feel will have a wholesome, beneficial effect on the prisoners.”

Elayn Hunt, head of the Louisiana State Department of Corrections, expressed similar views. In fact, she noted that from the time her children were infants she took them into the prisons where she worked. And prisoners viewed this, she said, as one of the greatest gifts she could give them because it was an evidence of her trust in them.

Thus, in keeping with this policy of exposing prisoners to wholesome public influences, Angola officials welcomed Jehovah’s witnesses to work with the inmates. The Witnesses are noted for their success in helping persons to reform their lives. In fact, United Methodist minister Dean M. Kelly observed that, while the traditional churches have been ineffectual in doing this, Jehovah’s witnesses are “redeeming criminals and drug addicts in our society.” What has occurred in Angola again demonstrates the success of their work.

How the Program Began

Back in 1973 there were two Angola prisoners, unknown to each other, who were studying the Bible by mail with Jehovah’s witnesses. Coincidentally, each prisoner about the same time wrote the Watchtower Society’s headquarters in Brooklyn, New York, asking for someone to visit him in prison. The Watchtower Society, in turn, notified a Witness in the nearby New Roads Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

In the meantime, these prisoners began talking to other inmates about the Bible truths they were learning. At the same time, other men in the huge prison were beginning to recognize their spiritual need. For example, there was a young inmate whose mother and brothers and sisters in Wichita, Kansas, were Witnesses. He explains:

“My entire life was falling apart, and I was finally caught and sentenced to three years in prison. The third day in prison I was attacked by two men trying to make a homosexual out of me. They beat me so badly I was hospitalized for over a month. I became very depressed because I knew I had done a lot of wrong in my life and it all seemed to be coming back on me. I prayed and finally wrote to my mother for help.

“She came all the way down to visit me. Later she told me that she prayed to Jehovah that she might find a Witness who would come into the prison to help me. While standing at the prison gate her purse was open and The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life book was in it. A man standing nearby looked down and said, ‘Are you a Witness?’ Mom’s prayer had been answered, for the man was a Witness going into the prison to contact prisoners to arrange for Bible study meetings.”

In time, arrangements were made to bring the various interested inmates together at a central place in the prison for regular meetings. This took considerable effort since Angola is a vast 18,000-acre complex composed of a number of different camps. But eventually two regular meetings a week were arranged, and the number of inmates attending kept increasing from an initial half dozen or so to fifty and more.

Remarkable Transformations

As the prisoners’ appreciation grew for God’s purpose to usher in His righteous new system of things, many made radical changes in their lives. (2 Pet. 3:13, 14) Not only did this involve a reformation in moral conduct, but the men also devoted themselves to helping fellow prisoners learn about God’s purposes. They would, for instance, conduct Bible studies with them during their recess breaks, rather than take part in recreational activities. Prison officials were impressed by these remarkable changes in life-styles, leading to an unusual development.

The activity of Jehovah’s Witnesses has resulted in the complete rehabilitation of many prisoners. It would be wrong to assume that a person is indecent or immoral simply because he is not acquainted with Bible truths. While it is often true that those who have been in prison return to a life of crime once they are released, those who have truly accepted the message of God’s Word have changed completely. Their transformation reminds us of the words of the apostle Paul: “Neither fornicators . . . , nor thieves, nor greedy persons, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit God’s kingdom. And yet that is what some of you were. But you have been washed clean, but you have been sanctified, but you have been declared righteous in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the spirit of our God.”—1 Corinthians 6:9-11.

One of 1974’s summer’s sixty-nine “Divine Purpose” District Assemblies of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the United States was scheduled for Baton Rouge, about sixty miles from Angola. A highlight of each such assembly is the baptism, where individuals symbolize by water immersion that they have dedicated their lives to serve Jehovah God. Permission was requested for eight of the prisoners to attend the Baton Rouge assembly to be baptized.

After considerable deliberation, prison officials granted permission. A local sheriff kindly agreed to arrange to take the men to the Assembly Center at Louisiana State University, where some 14,000 persons were in attendance. What a heartwarming occasion that proved to be! As the prisoners, with their ankle chains and handcuffs, entered the large auditorium the vast audience rose and applauded. They were simply overjoyed that these men had now conformed their lives to God’s righteous requirements.

Eight more inmates were baptized at an assembly held right inside Angola Prison in October 5, 1974. In the spring of 1975 more inmates, who have also met the Scriptural requirements, were baptized at an even larger prison assembly!

Prison officials have even granted permission to hold Bible studies with men on death row. And at least one of these men also has progressed to the point where he hopes to be baptized at the next assembly.

Not the Only Prison

In other prisons, too, Jehovah’s witnesses have enjoyed success in rehabilitating inmates. Bible studies, for instance, have been conducted at the Burgaw, North Carolina, State Prison Unit.

In Norfolk Prison, Norfolk, Massachusetts, an in-prison Bible study program has been in operation for years. Prison officials provided a room in a school for the inmates to use for their meetings. An inmate, who has recently been released, explains:

“The local Witnesses from the Franklin, Massachusetts, congregation came in every other Saturday afternoon to conduct meetings in our schoolroom. They would give a Bible talk and fellowship for about two hours. On Saturday mornings we interested inmates would go from unit to unit with Bible literature, talking to fellow inmates and guards alike. When a Bible tract was released we placed nearly 700 of them.”

Regarding the effect of such work, this ex-inmate notes: “One young man had been institutionalized all his life, from orphanages on up to state prison. He had long hair, smoked cigarettes, his wall was filled with pornographic pictures, he used obscene language, and he was deeply involved in occultism.

“We started a Bible study with this man. Within two weeks he had quit smoking and swearing, had taken down the pictures from his wall, had cut his hair and straightened out his language. He is now baptized and is conducting Bible studies with others inside the prison! Just since September 1972, six inmates have been baptized, two of them within the prison itself, and four while on furlough from the prison.”

A Way of Success

Experiences such as these have become more and more common, as certain prison officials will testify. It is true, as United Methodist minister Dean M. Kelly said, Jehovah’s witnesses are “redeeming criminals and drug addicts in our society.” And rather than these persons reverting to crime, they have been instrumental in helping yet other persons to conform their lives to God’s requirements.

It is understood that many prison officials face severe problems; there have been prison riots, taking of hostages and smuggling of contraband in to inmates. Prisoner rehabilitation generally has not been succeeding. But the answer to the problem evidently is not, as California prison head Procunier acknowledged, “keeping convicted felons away from ‘good people.’”

On this very subject Elayn Hunt said of the situation in Angola: “We have not had the major problems that have occurred in other places. And we feel that part of the reason is because we permit our inmates as much contact with people from the public, and positive influences from religious sources.”

Jehovah’s witnesses everywhere are willing to go into prisons and freely give of their time to help prisoners to learn the righteous principles of God’s Word. This has proved a successful way of rehabilitating many. Regarding his experience in working with the Witnesses, Angola Prison Warden Henderson said: “We don’t run into any phonies with Jehovah’s witnesses, at least that has been my experience. They are sincere and desire to work with the prisoners. We just haven’t had any problems.”

If you are a prison official, feel free to contact Jehovah’s witnesses locally for assistance. Or if they should visit you, give careful consideration to their offer to help prisoners to make changes in their lives that will benefit both themselves and society as a whole.

What about human imperfection in the context of juvenile delinquency? Yes, as other topics, we did touch it earlier in the book, but now let’s try to aggrandize the elucidation of it and exhume all the necessary and accompanying factors, as we did on the matter of conscience and bandits. Well, a newspaper editorial lamenting that the junior crime wave is becoming a tidal wave states: “Experts now agree that if we would prevent delinquency we must reach children in the pre-school years.” In one of the most comprehensive studies of juvenile delinquency ever made, taking ten years, the major finding was that it is primarily the home life that determines whether the child will become delinquent or not. The survey found that if the family life was wholesome the chances of the child’s becoming delinquent were only 3 in 100, whereas if parent-child relations were bad the chances of the child’s going wrong were 98 out of 100. True, there may be some scattered exceptions.

Men can harness the atom, but they cannot harness their children. Child psychologists oppose it, favouring progressive methods shorn of restraints. But with child psychologists to direct, why does delinquency increase? If the theories of training they have planted are so good, why are the fruits harvested so bad? We have only nibbled at the record of juvenile delinquency, but that small taste told us the fruit is rotten. Many years back a New York newspaper ran a series on teen-age crime and gang wars, and, after noting the rise of progressive methods of child training that all but discard discipline, said: “Many of those fighting teen-age crime are convinced this lack of discipline is to blame for many children refusing to accept normal standards of behaviour.” J. Edgar Hoover has investigated the causes of juvenile delinquency and claims ninety per cent of it is traceable to lack of parental discipline. A Brooklyn court judge contributes this caustic comment: “I think we need the woodshed for some young folks. But that is not considered fashionable now. Now we are told you must not strike a child; you may be stunting a genius.”

But is there springing up around us a bumper crop of unstunted geniuses? Rather are we not reaping a record harvest of juvenile delinquents? Good trees produce fine fruit, not rotten harvests. Not speaking disparagingly, maybe the theories planted by child psychologists are not good or best trees, but unfruitful. Modern methods should be uprooted and in their place should be planted proper parental discipline. Not parental discipline in ways that seem right to men, since it is in neither parent nor child to direct steps or choose right ways unassisted. Look to Jehovah God! He will direct both parent and child in right ways. He directs the parent through His Word; he directs the child through its divinely instructed parent. So trust in Jehovah, lean not on self. Acknowledge him in this matter, and he will direct your path.—Prov. 3:5, 6; Matt. 7:16-20.

To parents Jehovah says: “These words that I am commanding you today must prove to be on your heart, and you must inculcate them in your son and speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road and when you lie down and when you get up.” (Deut. 6:6, 7) The parents were obligated to instruct, the children to listen and learn. No limitations as to time or place were put on this instruction. Whenever appropriate, wherever convenient, whatever suitable situation presented itself, instruction should be given. But in addition the parents should set aside specific times for home study with their children. It might be a spiritual discussion at breakfast, or a study during the day or evening in a Bible chapter. The general rule of Proverbs 22:6 holds true: “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

The first step is for parents to “cease becoming unreasonable, but go on perceiving what the will of Jehovah is.” (Eph. 5:17) Authorities often find that it is harder to deal with the parents of delinquents than with the youths themselves. Parents are in the best position to prevent delinquency when they carefully study God’s Word and enthusiastically apply its principles. Then they can bring their children up “in the discipline and authoritative advice of Jehovah.” (Eph. 6:4) This gives parents the confidence that many seem to lack. It solves the problem of being too strict or too lax, for the Bible way is firmness, tempering justice with mercy, but not leaving wrongdoing entirely unpunished.

When parents fulfill their responsibilities, then they can teach the children theirs. Do not fear that such teaching will give your child a “guilt complex.” Let him know that God, you and society will reward him for right works and punish him for deliberate wrongdoing. Make it clear that you and your child are both answerable to God’s law; that there is one law for both of you without partiality. God’s method for you to get his laws across to your children is stated at Deuteronomy 6:7: “Speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road and when you lie down and when you get up.” Explain to your youngster that God’s purpose is to let obedient people live in his righteous new world. (2 Pet. 3:13) Make it crystal clear that no thief, greedy person or rebellious boy or girl will get into God’s kingdom.—1 Cor. 6:9, 10; Ps. 37:9; Ezek. 9:6.

As you inculcate and practice godly principles at home, your child will absorb moral values and develop attitudes that reflect this divine influence. Regardless of society’s changing code and no matter what other youngsters do, your child will shun delinquency because he knows what God says right and wrong are. He will want to do the right thing if you tie in obedience to God’s law with his goal in life.

A GOAL AND RESPONSIBILITY

Lack of a goal in life causes many youths to drift into trouble. They are like a ship without a destination. Without the Bible to guide them, they do not even have a rudder. Whatever trade or profession your child prefers in order to make a living, it is up to you to show him that his basic goal in life is to walk with God and gain everlasting life. (John 17:3) Point out how peace and security can be his now in spite of our critical times, if his goal is to do God’s will. When that becomes his firm purpose he will see that reading, writing and study of sacred and secular history are means of reaching his goal. He will understand that truancy is a waste of valuable time, that study is a wise investment and that even minor delinquent acts would hinder him from attaining his purpose in life. When he sees what his basic purpose in life is, then show him that his purpose has meaning here and now by giving him some responsibility.

Playing a responsible, productive role in life should be a big part of your child’s purpose in living. He should begin to learn this sense of responsibility and productivity as soon as possible. You can start by teaching him to dress himself, pick up his clothes, toys and books. If you live in the suburbs, very likely there are many responsibilities that can be assigned, such as cutting the grass, trimming hedges, raking leaves, painting a fence, cleaning the attic or cellar. If you live in a rented city apartment, the table has to be set, dishes must be washed and dried, rugs need vacuuming, floors need waxing, furniture can be dusted and polished and clothes must be ironed, and there are always the beds and shopping. If this does not provide enough opportunities, another place you can teach him responsibility is at the congregation meeting place.

If you’ve begun attending Christian meetings, encourage your child to volunteer to help keep the congregation’s meeting place clean or to straighten the chairs, help on book counter, close the windows after most have gone home, and shovel snow if there is. Set the right example by volunteering yourself, if at all possible.

By fulfilling such assignments your youngster will learn something noticeably lacking in the training of delinquent children—how to work and how to cooperate with others. He will learn the joy of a job well done. With that feeling comes respect and a step toward maturity. Do not let your son learn this lesson the hard way, as one nineteen-year-old did. Only after serving a term in a State youth camp was he able to say: “They taught me how to work, the . . . pleasure a man can get out of doing something for himself.” Giving your child responsibilities will also provide a way to check his initiative, thoroughness and reliability. As Proverbs 20:11 says: “Even by his practices a boy makes himself recognized as to whether his activity is pure and upright.” Special attention can be given to points in his disposition requiring improvement. Faithful performance of duties provide opportunity for commendation and extra privileges. In this connection you have an opportunity to teach the valuable lesson of how to work and save for things desired. Of course, being your offspring, your child is no more perfect than you are. Do not expect perfection, but do not overlook needed discipline either.

DISCIPLINE AND LOVE

When giving instructions or commands, say what you mean and mean what you say. If you give orders in a nagging fashion, you teach your child how to disobey, for he knows he can ignore your command and you will oblige by repeating it. But he will not tarry if you demonstrate that your words are backed by action. Of course, many times it may be wise to give a reason for a certain command or restriction. You may feel that you do not have to give your child a reason for your orders, but remember this: By understanding why a certain course is wise or foolish, your child will have good reason to choose the wise course when you are not present. Notice how the Bible frequently gives the reason why a course is good or bad. Copy that good example.—Prov. 23:20, 21; 24:15, 16, 19, 20.

When your child takes the foolish course, in spite of your good counsel, remember Proverbs 22:15: “Foolishness is tied up with the heart of a boy; the rod of discipline is what will remove it far from him.” Jehovah urges you not to hold back discipline from a mere boy. (Prov. 23:13, 14) You know when your child is out of line, and very likely he knows it too. As one delinquent told a reporter: “I never got a whipping, although, actually, I often felt I should have.” Do not irritate your children by constantly changing the “rules” or punishing a disobedient act one day and not the next. Copy Jehovah. Live up to your word, be consistent and discipline out of love.—Prov. 13:24; Heb. 12:6.

In these critical times when many are without natural affection it is important that your child know he is loved and wanted. (2 Tim. 3:3) When you lay down reasonable restrictions as to right company and late hours and strictly enforce your wishes you show that you are a loving parent that really cares. Your love is felt, though perhaps not appreciated at the moment, when you insist that your child always ask permission to go somewhere and that he tell you with whom he is going. Time and again it is found that when children get into trouble, such as shoplifting, their parents have no idea where they are. If you care, you will make it your business to know. You will also teach your child to stay away from anyone who would induce him by ridicule or coercion to go against the wish of his God or his parents. Teach him that his reputation with God is the one that really counts. If adversity strikes your family, turn it to advantage by showing your child how to draw close to God for comfort and guidance. All this is part of the priceless training of your child in the way he must go for everlasting life.—Prov. 22:6.

But someone may ask: Are not some politicians correct in attributing delinquency’s statistical increase to improved police efficiency in methods of exposing crime and capturing criminals? Further, is not population centralization responsible for a great deal of the accent on delinquency? And, too, with a growing world population, is it not natural to expect more marriages, more children, more divorces and more delinquency?

Well, none of these arguments stand up under a truthful examination. The growth of divorces, delinquency and crime has far surpassed the population increase rate. Benjamin Fine, in his book One Million Delinquents, says the population has increased 5 percent since 1950, while crime has leaped ahead 20 percent in the same period. Worse yet was this figure: In 1953 adult crime rose 1.9 percent, but child crime rose 7.9 percent. In 1956 there was an increase of 17.2 juvenile arrests over 1955, while the number of persons aged 10-17 increased less than 3 percent. In 1956 juvenile arrests were nearly 42 percent higher than in 1952, while the juvenile population had increased only 13.5 percent. With more policemen, educational and social centres, etc., there should have been a marked decrease in the percentage of delinquents, but the opposite is true.

Crime is no longer a phenomenon peculiar to city slums, nor can poverty and war receive all the blame. Juvenile crime has spread to the suburbs and to the rural sections. It has taken root at all social levels. In Sweden, where there has been no war and very little poverty, the country has one of the highest divorce rates in Europe and juvenile and adult delinquency have became major problems. The American Weekly of November 13, 1955, stated that in Sweden’s population of some 7,000,000 “there are 27,000 illegitimate children a year”; “that of every 10 Swedish women now being married, seven have conceived at least one child before reaching the altar.” Justice Samuel H. Hofstadter charged that it is the corruption of the elders that “has spawned the delinquency of the young.” He said that the problem “cuts across nations, cultures and ideologies. . . . We live in a climate of moral and physical violence—and our children reflect the world of which they are a part.”

Jesus and his apostles foretold that these conditions would befall this generation. Jesus said: “Because of the increasing of lawlessness the love of the greater number will cool off.” Paul wrote: “But know this, that in the last days critical times hard to deal with will be here. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, self-assuming, haughty, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, without gratitude, with no loving-kindness, . . . lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God.” We who live today are privileged to see these words being fulfilled before our very eyes. It is a sign of the outgoing of a dying old world and an assurance that the new world is near at hand.—Matt. 24:12; 2 Tim. 3:1-5; 2 Pet. 3:3-13.

Still in human imperfection and its various manifestations, some friends may be worried that I seem to place too much emphasis on the Bible as a sole indisputable guide, and thereby shunning the general or researched material of psychology, psychiatry and other forms of organizational reforms or rehabilitation procedures. Friends, be assured, I don’t want to be naïve nor do I want to sound dogmatic or unadulterated in opinion and observation. But what I’ve noticed is that the more I point “every” solution to the Bible, it may sound as if the world ought to stand still and watch the Bible do everything for it in “perfection.” No my friends, I don’t mean it that way, I know that you also want to take a breather and get some fresh air elsewhere other than in the Bible. Such a feeling is perfectly normal and I also personally like to use my faculties to a reasonable degree in establishing certain facts and later fathom them in the light of the Bible to see if they are truly plumb and level. So please rest assured that I am not against any lateral assistance so as to establish any healthful pattern conducive in society.

In-fact, one issue of Psychology Today presented what eleven of “the best minds in the field” considered to be “the most significant work in psychology” in some years past. The scholarly eighteen-page article prompted The New York Times to publish an editorial that, in part, says:

“The 11 Best Minds in psychology agree on hardly anything. . . . Several contributors mention experiments of their own. Well, if they think that, there is no need for false modesty. But no such work is cited by any other Best Mind except for purposes of criticism; each trumpet blower blows his own tune, which makes for a conspicuous absence of harmony.

“The failure of the 11 psychologists to agree on almost anything evinces a serious problem in their academic discipline. . . . Can psychology be taken seriously as science if even its leading practitioners cannot agree on its recent advances?”

It is just this sort of contradictory and high-minded pseudo knowledge that the apostle Paul advised Timothy to guard against: “Have nothing to do with the pointless philosophical discussions and antagonistic beliefs of the ‘knowledge’ which is not knowledge at all.”—1 Timothy 6:20, Jerusalem Bible.

So, having said all of these, I know that to some readers this may raise the very curiosity of the reliability of the Bible itself, whether it can be regarded as a real all rounded tool of everyday life in all of life’s situations. I’d like to assure such friends that there is an edifying answer to such curiosity.

Some friends may ask: Is the Bible modern for today? To many persons its modern practicalness is limited to literary quality, political speeches, birthday presents and crossword puzzles. What are the Bible’s answers to problems of living? Are they practical for today? How do we know?

Those who view the Bible as impractical, could it not be that to them it is an unknown Book? A casual browsing of a Bible translation that uses out-of-date language may cause one to conclude wrongly that the Book’s principles are also out of date. It is only by acquiring knowledge of the Bible, whether a modern-language translation is used or not, that one can truly appraise its standards. The unvarnished fact is that those who clamour the loudest that the Bible is old-fashioned are the very ones who have not acquainted themselves with it nor have they applied its principles.

Let us look for a moment at what exists in the world as a result from viewing the Bible impractical. As we do so we can ask, How practical is it?—the love of money, robbery and murder, mounting juvenile delinquency, overcrowded jails, fornication and immoralities of the most sordid kind, black markets in babies, broken marriages, gambling mania, stupefying hero worship, increasing suicide, drug addiction, liquor addiction and skid rows, explosive nationalism, revolution and riots and colossal blood sacrifices to the god Mars.

But how do we know that the Bible is modern enough to answer such perplexing problems? Because the Bible was written by men inspired by Jehovah God. Said one writer: “The Spirit of Jehovah spake by me, and his word was upon my tongue.” (2 Sam. 23:2, AS) Who can understand the operation of a machine better than its inventor? So it is that Jehovah knows what is best for the smooth operation of his masterpiece of living machinery, the human body.

THE BIBLE AND TRUE SCIENCE

Now we can understand why the Bible passes every test of modernity. Critics may harp that it is unscientific, but such ones display ignorance, not knowledge. The Bible has always harmonized with true science. The theory that the earth was a body in space and traveled around the sun was offered by Nicholaus Copernicus (1473-1543). Yet some 3,000 years before Copernicus’ time, the Bible showed that the earth was a body in space: “He stretcheth out the north over empty space, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.” Magellan (1480-1521) proved the earth was round when he sailed around the world. But some 2,200 years before Magellan’s time the Bible showed the earth was round by speaking of Jehovah as “he that sitteth above the circle of the earth.”—Job 26:7; Isa. 40:22, AS.

The Bible and archaeology? Perfect agreement. The Bible says man was created perfect, that, because of Adam’s sin, he degenerated, not evolved upward. Archaeology has found the Bible modern, the evolutionists old fogies. Said one authority: “The culture of Egypt starts on a magnificently high level and is later reduced to a tremendous degree by a consistent record of degeneration.” Of the jewelry and metal work of Egypt’s twelfth dynasty, a modern encyclopedia says: “European goldsmiths have rarely surpassed this work.”

What about the Bible and chemistry? Agreement again. The Bible speaks of gold and glass. It tells of acid-base reactions: “As one that taketh off a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon soda, so is he that singeth songs to a heavy heart.” It speaks of the source of iron and copper: “Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is molten out of the stone.”—Prov. 25:20; Job 28:2, AS.

What do we find in the Bible and zoology? Accurate knowledge of animal habits is shown by the Bible. Why, even in the nineteenth century men often asserted that birds of prey hunted by smell. Audubon, with experiments, proved they hunted by sight. But Bible readers never needed Audubon’s experiments to know the truth, for Job 39:29 (Ro) says of the bird of prey: “He searcheth out food, far away his eyes do pierce.”

As to the Bible and health, what do we find? Here the Bible is more modern than many moderns. For it does not advise early retirement, a life of ease, laziness or idleness. The Bible recommends hard work. Just in the past few years doctors are awaking to the need of work, the danger of easy living and rest. Science Digest for November, 1954, reported on the words of Dr. W. Melville Arnott, professor of medicine in the University of Birmingham, England: “Work, even hard work, is good for a person—while rest may be damaging. . . . None of the known effects of work, Dr. Arnott states, can harm healthy tissues. On the contrary, all the effects are good. . . . Rest, on the other hand, can produce profound and damaging changes.” So the Bible’s advice, both spiritually and physically, holds true: “Sloth brings the sleep that has no awaking.”—Prov. 19:15, Knox.

Oh yes, the Bible and disease, any compatibity? Some 3,000 years before modern knowledge of causes of disease, the Bible contained a prohibition on eating pig, rabbit and fish, which, respectively, are subject to trichinosis, tularemia and tapeworm. Likewise the principle of quarantine for certain diseases is recognized by the Bible.

Aha, the Bible and medicine, are there rifts ? Oh yes, the Bible is still modern! But how modern is the twentieth century’s superstitious cures, its quack cures? Declared one doctor: “It is very surprising to me that the Bible is so accurate from the medical standpoint. . . . Where treatment is mentioned, as for boils, wounds, etc., it is correct even by modern standards. Also in the present day, $750,000,000 are wasted annually on worthless medicines and methods of treatment. Many superstitions are still believed by large numbers of people, such as, that a buckeye in the pocket will prevent rheumatism; that handling toads will cause warts; that wearing red flannel around the neck will cure a sore throat; that an asafetida bag will prevent diseases; that every time a child is sick it has worms; etc., but no such statements are found in the Bible.”—The Physician Examines the Bible, by C. Raimer Smith.

MORALS, MIND AND EDUCATION

Sad morals, sick minds and senseless education are all too often the products of this day and age. Bible principles produce nothing of that kind. True, there are critics who call Christ Jesus a megalomaniac, a person afflicted with delusions of grandeur, as when one thinks he is Napoleon. But to such critics we ask, Have you ever heard anything from an insane person that even remotely resembles the sermon on the mount? Abraham Lincoln said that the sermon on the mount “contained the essence of all law and justice.” Not only that, but one of the leading psychiatrists, James Tucker Fisher, writing in his book A Few Buttons Missing: the Case Book of a Psychiatrist, said: “If you were to take the sum total of all the authoritative articles ever written by the most qualified of psychologists and psychiatrists on the subject of mental hygiene—if you were to combine them and refine them and cleave out the excess verbiage—if you were to take the whole of the meat and none of the parsley, and if you were to have these unadulterated bits of pure scientific knowledge concisely expressed by the most capable of living poets, you would have an awkward and incomplete summation of the Sermon on the Mount.”

Statesmen of the highest calibre esteem the Bible to be practical. History says that “few later statesmen equalled in mental and moral stature” John Quincy Adams; this American president said: “I speak as a man of the world to men of the world; and I say to you, Search the Scriptures! The Bible is the book of all others, to be read at all ages, and in all conditions of human life.” And said the noted American educator William Lyons Phelps: “I believe a knowledge of the Bible without a college course is more valuable than a college course without the Bible.”

THE BIBLE PROVED PRACTICAL

A tidal wave of false religion has engulfed mankind. How to keep one’s head above the sea of error is a problem. The Bible solves it because it is the criterion for judging any religion. The Bible alone is the Book that can expose false religion and help one recognize true religion. “All Scripture,” wrote Christ’s apostle, “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.”—2 Tim. 3:16, 17, NW.

Could any principle solve the bulk of today’s problems, including that of world war, better than the Master’s command: “All things, therefore, that you want men to do to you, you also must likewise do to them”? If professed Christians heeded that command, there would be no need for police forces, jails or electric chairs. True Christians live by that high standard.—Matt. 7:12, NW.

Adultery, fornication, stealing and drunkenness are condemned by the Bible. The Bible’s answer to these problems is clear. Warned the apostle: “Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men kept for unnatural purposes, nor men who lie with men, nor thieves, nor greedy persons, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit God’s kingdom.” (1 Cor. 6:9, 10, NW) Man’s punishment for these evil deeds is often light; but God’s is heavy. How foolish the way of this world! Its evil deeds lead to everlasting death. Life is practical, death is not.

How does the Bible answer the problem of juvenile delinquency? It shows that parental delinquency is the cause of it. It commands parents to “train up a child in the way he should go,” not shunt him off to a Sunday school and expect him to go the way he should. The Bible does not agree with some modern views of child raising. For example, it shows that allowing a child to grow up according to its own whims and caprice is wrong and leads to crime. “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child.” The literal use of the rod in punishing a child may sometimes be necessary; the Bible recognizes this: “Withhold not correction from the child; for if thou beat him with the rod, he will not die.”—Prov. 22:6; 22:15; 23:13, AS.

Emotional disturbances and psychosomatic ailments abound today. And no wonder! The hideous masks of hatred, anger, anxiety, fear and jealousy are worn on the faces of most of mankind. The Bible’s answer to these serious problems is the two great commandments of life set down by Christ Jesus: “‘You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole strength and with your whole mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’” This is practical advice. It works. This is because love casts out fear and heals: “Love is long-suffering and obliging. 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.”—Luke 10:27; 1 Cor. 13:4, 5, NW.

Are the Bible’s answers practicable, that is, can they be put into practice? Indeed they can! There is living proof of this: an organization of people that are applying the Bible’s answers to all problems of life. This is the New World society of Jehovah’s witnesses, Christians who day by day, every day, live and apply the Bible’s principles. Regardless of race or nationality they love one another, are at unity with one another, are happy wherever they are. In the new world, the Bible declares, “righteousness is to dwell.” Those of the New World society know that to gain life then one must begin to practice righteousness now.—2 Pet. 3:13, NW.

No one knows true happiness until he has come to know Jehovah God and his purposes. Such joy-producing knowledge can be obtained only from the Bible. This means, then, that only when one acquires knowledge from the great instruction Book on living and in turn applies its answers to everyday problems of life does one really begin to live. For going through the ‘narrow gate’ of obedience to God’s instruction leads to happiness now and in the new world everlasting life.—Matt. 7:14, NW.

The whole motto of this system of things is summed up in this: from the cradle to the grave. Is that practical? But the Bible is modern and practical because it answers man’s great problem: how to live forever. “From infancy you have known the holy writings which are able to make you wise for salvation.” From the cradle to never-ending happiness and life—that is real living! Begin living now. Read the Bible. Do more. Study the Bible in company with Jehovah’s Witnesses. And you will learn that life is just beginning for those who ever live up to this counsel: “Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.”—2 Tim. 3:15, NW; Eccl 12:13.

Okay friends, I’m not sure if the issue of the Bible’s reliability is answered to your satisfaction, but let’s hope I’ll touch later on it whenever I feel that my readers are getting the sense that I am confining everything in it, and therefore ignore basic reasoning or any reputable lateral sources and so forth. By the way, I am aware that so far I may have used several abbreviations that you may not be familiar with. Well, sorry for that. Now I’d like to give you many them even if I may quote from all. They are: The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, 1984 edition (NW). Explanations of the abbreviations used to designate other translations of the Bible are provided below:

AS - American Standard Version (1901; as printed in 1944), American Revision Committee. AT - The Bible—An American Translation (1935), J. M. Powis Smith and Edgar J. Goodspeed. By - The Bible in Living English (published in 1972), Steven T. Byington. CBW - The New Testament—A Translation in the Language of the People (1937; as printed in 1950), Charles B. Williams. CC - The New Testament (1941; as printed in 1947), Confraternity of Christian Doctrine Revision. CKW - The New Testament—A New Translation in Plain English (1963), Charles K. Williams. Da - The ‘Holy Scriptures’ (1882; as printed in 1949), J. N. Darby. Dy - Catholic Challoner-Douay Version (1750; as printed in 1941). ED - The Emphatic Diaglott (1864; as printed in 1942), Benjamin Wilson. Int - The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures (1969). JB - The Jerusalem Bible (1966), Alexander Jones, general editor. JP - The Holy Scriptures According to the Masoretic Text (1917), Jewish Publication Society of America. KJ - King James Version (1611; as printed in 1942). Kx - The Holy Bible (1954; as printed in 1956), Ronald A. Knox. LEF - The Christian’s Bible—New Testament (1928), George N. LeFevre. LXX - Greek Septuagint Version. Mo - A New Translation of the Bible (1934), James Moffatt. NAB - The New American Bible, Saint Joseph Edition (1970). NE - The New English Bible (1970). NTIV - The New Testament in an Improved Version (1808), published in London. Ro - The Emphasised Bible (1897), Joseph B. Rotherham. RS - Revised Standard Version, Second Edition (1971). Sd - The Authentic New Testament (1958), Hugh J. Schonfield. SE - The Simple English Bible—New Testament, American Edition (1981). TC - The Twentieth Century New Testament, Revised Edition (1904). TEV - Good News Bible—Today’s English Version (1976). We - The New Testament in Modern Speech (1929; as printed in 1944), Richard F. Weymouth. Yg - The Holy Bible, Revised Edition (1887), Robert Young.

So friend, as you’ve seen, the light keeps shining brighter and brighter as you go along reading this book. Sorry for the many Bible scriptures as if you are reading a lexicon. Remember, we are trying to build one solid theme through sound arguments, observations and the ultimate scriptural light. But I must apologise if so far you’ve discovered that I somehow indiscreetly condemned your current belief, profession or organisation and thereby alluded anything unwise and improper to it, especially from a personal point of view and not necessarily from what the Bible directly condemns or may approve, cause that’s obviously resolute and fixed from above or heavenly and no man can amend it to suit his wayward or blemished course.

So I’m only apologetic from a personal point view or opinion but never from divinely set standards as found in the Bible. But still, friends I wont refrain from apologizing if need be, bearing in mind that I’m also imperfect and my personal view may lack true justice or real soundness of mind at times. Technically speaking, there is no one evil or wicked existing confirmed up until the time Jesus does the judging among mankind. He is the Final Arbiter placed by Jehovah God to finally decide that who is a true sheep and that who is a goat as pointed out in Matthew 25:31-34. So, if you understand all that I wrote previously in this light, it’s only then you can pardon yourself or me in that case if either of us seemed to go beyond the fence in comprehension. Stay calm my friend and enjoy the rest of this book. Note, however that the way we choose to live our lives now matters a lot to Jesus and his Father as this will serve as a basis on which to judge us as conscious beings that have been brought to his knowledge and that of his Father. This answers the question that what will happen to individuals who die prior to the judgement time of Jesus. Jesus will simply decide their resurrection based on whether they knew him and his Father or that they deliberately rebelled like Pharaoh of old. The same principle works on those who commit suicide, Jesus will weigh all factors involved and judge as to whether the person showed a true lack of appreciation of life and so forth. Also, the category of those who died when there was no evangel brought to them at all will also be encompassed on Jesus decision on who to bring back to life on earth and who to leave dead forever. Just compare these verses when you have time: John17:3; Hosea 4:6a; Romans 6:7; Acts 24:14; Isaiah 26:19; Matthew 25:41,46.

So with all this in mind we can now clearly see that it is not a trivial matter of how we use our lives now as we do not know whether we will live to see the time of judgement by Jesus or that we may die before that time arrives. One thing is certain, all those deemed unworthy of being brought back to life here on earth will not undergo an eternal torment or what many call “the hell fire.” This teaching is contrary to God’s mercy as he simply told Adam that he will return to the ground and not migrate to eternal fire. While it is not a desirable condition either to ‘peacefully’ die eternally, it ought to show us the pure distinction between life and death, just like how you may be infuriated when your child tells you, “ I wish I wasn’t born!”

So to you as a parent it does make a big difference for your child to exist, even at times the child may use his or her’s involuntary being as an excuse for wrong doing and unwittingly expect you to withhold all necessary punishment for any misdemeanour procured. So, the same applies with us as individuals in God’s eyes, we simply cannot yearn to die ‘peacefully eternally.’ We have to be responsible for our deeds and not live a care-free life all the name that we didn’t ask to live and that dying forever in ‘peace’ is still fine, since there is no torment. No my friends, we ought not to reason that way. Life is a beautiful thing and to obey simply means longevity in a true sense, delight and true ecstasy, far more rewarding than the illusive or hallucinatory methylenedioxymethamphetamine.

Okay friends, I hope you are enjoying everything so far except for when you feel like I’m too self-condemnatory or self-denouncing as if I’m unsure of what I’m trying to portray to you. Well if this may seem to be the case then it means I’m like one of those people who jump into the rear seat whenever they are given a lift or sit at the back chairs whenever they enter a hall or classroom. Is it true modesty, lack of ego, a cultural background or just trying to hide away from who I am originally, as in character and will. Unfortunately some men use this approach when they enter into a marriage. They reason: For you to be a happiest husband you need to take a back seat and let her do the steering, driving or controlling. Such an approach is usually employed by men who want less headache and more fresh air. They reason that if using authority makes you unwelcome, rather relinquish it and enjoy the peace of not steering at all.

So, most men don’t like opposition especially when they know that they are doing the right thing. Anything that poses a threat simply causes mental debilitation, frenzy and awkwardness. That is why there can’t be two bulls in a ring. So, instead of fighting and arguing endlessly, men seek peace, not as sign of compromise, but to avoid needless conflict, arguments and confrontations.

So I am trying to apply a similar approach here in writing this book. If the reader wants to be the boss in review and scrutiny, then so be it. I have the powers of writing, but you have the power of analysis, comprehension, agreement or disharmony. But as a candid writer, I don’t go around doubting or weighing my readers’ motives and intentions. I simply use trust, love and an honest yearning for positive outcomes in everyone reading this material. Also, if you’ve discovered that it has largely been a copy and paste of the Jehovah’s Witnesses literature, then I wouldn’t argue much with you if you believe that you’ve found true sense or compatibility in all that you’ve been reading. They say Solomon built the temple, but the material was largely from David. Same, information can be derived from paternity, be it physical or spiritual, from observation and experience. It is in this vein that Paul told Timothy the words in 2Timothy3:14: “But you remain in the things which you have learned and have been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them.” – The World English Bible

So friend, our good book continues, sorry if it sounds as if I’ve been scolding or brandishing someone. You know, this character of mine is in fermentation, don’t worry friend, it will all come out for good or according to its Maker’s perfect specifications in a near future, not only mines, but yours too. A true new personality in a perfect sense. Wow, can’t wait for that time! You know friend, as I go on along trying to describe about how I feel and trying to get a picture of you wherever you may be, I notice that the more I try to touch on these the more erroneous I become, and the more I just I justify it is the more guilty, sullen and sunken I become emotionally. Proverbs 17:14 in the Good News Bible is rendered this way: “The start of an argument is like the first break in a dam; stop it before it goes any further.” The God’s Word Bible puts the same verse this way: “Starting a quarrel is like opening a floodgate, so stop before the argument gets out of control.”

Man has a big problem of falling on unpalatable extremes, both ends are undesirable. So now that I admit to falling victim of unjustifiable temper, I think it would be best if temper or wrath can be put to intense scrutiny in this umbrella of human imperfection, and maybe later on we can we view or try to diagnose this subject or issue of the marriage setting or arrangement. Sometimes it’s good to be honest with ourselves, some people may simply associate temper with rudeness, lack of respect, attitude and as being savage. Well, I don’t stem or insist so. Just saying, you know, in-case others see it that way.

Now friends, let’s say your sister ruins your favourite blouse. Your teacher gives you an unfair mark on a test. Just when you need it the most, your hair dryer refuses to work. For many youths, any such intrusions, injustices, and inconveniences can trigger great feelings of anger.

An article in Health magazine by Dr. Georgia Witkin-Lanoil explains: “As the brain reacts to an infuriating event, the autonomic nervous system is aroused. Adrenaline, released from the adrenal glands, begins to pour into the bloodstream, increasing heart rate and respiration, and stimulating the release of stored sugars for energy.”

With what results? “Actions we take under the influence of our own adrenaline,” continues Dr. Witkin-Lanoil, “are often overreactions. We scream, hurl hateful semi-truths, hit, damage, destroy or leave the scene in a huff.” An article in ’Teen magazine similarly observed that anger “can make you say things you didn’t mean, lose your friends—and even physically ache inside.”

Did you ever lose your temper? If so, you are not alone. Like most of us, you no doubt felt quite foolish afterward and wondered, ‘Why did I do that?’ Yes, why is it so difficult for some to control their temper? Is it worth the effort to try to do so?

Why We Get Angry

Part of the reason we are capable of feeling angry from time to time is that we are made “in God’s image.” (Genesis 1:27) God himself can get angry! For example, the apostle Paul said: “For God’s wrath is being revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who are suppressing the truth in an unrighteous way.”—Romans 1:18.

Note, though, that Jehovah God’s wrath results from a love for righteousness and justice. God’s wrath is not a matter of his simply ‘losing his temper.’ He controls his anger and expresses it in a righteous way. Thus, when he brought destruction on a wicked world by a global flood, he did not lose control of the situation. Rather, he kept “Noah . . . safe with seven others.” (2 Peter 2:5) Jehovah can therefore be described as “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in loving-kindness and truth.”—Exodus 34:6.

Because God created humans in his image, we have a built-in sense of justice. So when faced with unfair treatment or injustice, we may quite naturally feel anger rise within us. This happened to a number of godly people in Bible times.

For example, Moses, leader of the Israelite nation, became angry when several men led a rebellion against him. (Numbers 16:1, 15) And even Jesus Christ expressed anger! When he observed that men were carrying on commercial business in God’s temple of worship, he indignantly commanded: “Take these things away from here! Stop making the house of my Father a house of merchandise!” (John 2:13-16) Righteous anger is thus quite appropriate for a Christian.

Unfortunately, most of our anger is not righteously motivated. This is because, as the Bible says, we “are all under sin.” Therefore it continues: “There is not a righteous man, not even one.” (Romans 3:9, 10) So, then, our own imperfections—and the failings of others—are potent sources of frustration. “Sometimes people get on your nerves too much,” says young Stephanie.

But we are often angry without just cause! Unlike Jehovah who sees everything, we have a limited view of any matter. (Hebrews 4:12, 13) For example, the wise man Solomon observed that “a word causing pain makes anger to come up.” (Proverbs 15:1) Sometimes, though, “a word” is spoken in innocence, or is just a poorly timed joke or a playful bit of teasing. Not realizing this, we bristle.

Finally, there is the fact that temperaments vary, and some of us appear to be more prone to anger than others. And as a youth, you are just beginning to learn to control all the new desires and urges that puberty brings. You may feel unsure of yourself, overly sensitive to criticism. Until you gain some mastery over your feelings, you are vulnerable to provocation—especially from within the family circle. “I lose my temper with my sister,” confesses 15-year-old Lorie. “She knows how to provoke me by saying something stupid or by correcting everything I say.” Tensions can similarly flare up between you and your parents.

Really, though, just about anything can make you angry if you let it. The question is, How do you handle those feelings of anger?

The book Reaching Your Teenager observed that “many people don’t know how to express anger sensibly.” Some throw childish tantrums. Some become violent, either verbally or physically. Others are outwardly calm but inwardly seething. As one young woman said: “When I get angry I don’t yell, I become cold and untalkative.” Still others get behind the wheel of their car and take out their anger in the way they drive.

“Man’s wrath does not produce God’s righteousness.”—James. 1:20.Anger in itself is not evil. The anger of Jehovah is the justifiable reaction of the wholly righteous God against sin, wickedness and all forms of unrighteousness. “Because of the aforesaid things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience.” God’s wrath is completely under the control of his attributes of justice, wisdom, love and power. “Jehovah is slow to anger”—this the prophets Nahum, Joel and Jonah affirm. The psalmist says: “Jehovah is gracious and merciful, slow to anger.” And Jehovah himself gives this description at Exodus 34:6: “Jehovah went passing by before [Moses’] face and declaring: ‘Jehovah, Jehovah, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in loving-kindness.’” Thus Jehovah sets the example in being slow about wrath.—Eph. 5:6; Nah. 1:3; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2, AS; Ps. 145:8.

How fitting, then, that God should require us to be slow about wrath. Explaining why slowness about wrath is especially important for imperfect humans, the inspired writer James said: “For man’s wrath does not produce God’s righteousness.” This is true for many reasons. Man’s anger is often excited without sufficient cause; it often transcends the cause, if any cause really exists. Man’s anger tends to operate without due regard to consequences; hence it inclines one toward all kinds of injuriousness. Human anger often leads to loss of self-control—to stormy rages and violent “fits of anger,” and this is classed among those unrighteous things of which the Bible says: “Those who practice such things will not inherit God’s kingdom.” No, man’s wrath does not lead one to live by the righteous standards set by God.—Jas. 1:20; Gal. 5:20, 21.

A person seeking God’s favour is therefore keenly interested in being slow about wrath, that he may win the approval of the righteous God. “Jehovah is righteous in all his ways,” and the expression of his wrath is therefore righteous. But when a man acts in anger, he usually does not work out divine righteousness; indeed, he usually does something that he himself will later regret. The divine rule is certain: “The stupid is becoming furious and self-confident. He that is quick to anger will commit foolishness.” It has not escaped our notice that when men and women are quick to anger they usually make fools of themselves. This fact should make a deep impression on us. Not only does the one quick to anger tend to make himself appear foolish, but the result of his actions will be so much foolishness. Those who are quick to anger usually injure others, either by verbal or physical blows. Human anger thus tends to be selfish and injurious.—Ps. 145:17; Prov. 14:16, 17.

Unselfish, righteous anger is called indignation. When one’s conscience has been trained according to the righteous laws of God, it reacts spontaneously against what is wrong or evil in God’s sight. Jesus’ indignation resulted in firm speech and actions that worked out God’s righteousness. (Mark 3:5; John 2:14-17) The righteous anger of Christ Jesus was always under his control, always based on the grounds of truth and righteousness. The indignation of imperfect humans, however, could lead to unrighteousness, if prompted by misunderstanding and false reasoning. While Jesus was in Bethany a woman poured perfumed oil upon his head. “At this there were some expressing indignation among themselves: ‘Why has this waste of the perfumed oil taken place? For this perfumed oil could have been sold for upward of three hundred denarii and been given to the poor!’ And they were feeling great displeasure at her. But Jesus said: ‘Let her alone. Why do you try to make trouble for her? She did a fine deed toward me.’” Jesus went on to explain why their indignation was improperly aroused. So even when it comes to what men call indignation, it is the part of wisdom to be slow in expressing it, by allowing opportunity for all the facts and circumstances to be understood.—Mark 14:3-9.

Before coming to a knowledge of the divine will, a person is often quick about anger, perhaps given to explosive fits of temper, resulting in filthy speech and violent actions. “We all at one time conducted ourselves in harmony with the desires of our flesh, doing the things the flesh and the thoughts willed.” After one comes to a knowledge of Jehovah’s righteous will, he must make a change. God’s Word commands Christians: “Now really put them all away from you, wrath, anger, injuriousness, abusive speech, and obscene talk out of your mouth.” Note what unrighteousness is closely linked with wrath and anger—“injuriousness, abusive speech, and obscene talk.” How vital to make this change from being quick to anger to being slow to anger!—Eph. 2:3; Col. 3:8.

PUTTING ON THE NEW PERSONALITY

Being slow about wrath is part of the identifying mark of what the Bible calls “the new personality.” Describing the change that must be made by those seeking divine approval, the apostle writes: “Put away the old personality which conforms to your former course of conduct and which is being corrupted according to his deceptive desires; but that you should be made new in the force actuating your mind, and should put on the new personality which was created according to God’s will.” So it is God’s will that this change be made. God’s spirit is the force by which one makes his mind over, by which his mind must be actuated. Accurate knowledge of the divine will also plays a key role in effecting this change: “Strip off the old personality with its practices, and clothe yourselves with the new personality which through accurate knowledge is being renewed according to the image of the one who created it.” The “new personality” is not some kind of beautiful-looking mask that one puts on over “the old personality.” No, the “new personality” is not character development in which one develops outwardly sweet manners but inwardly he is still the same “old personality,” the mind not really being renewed according to God’s spirit and the divine will. There is no insincerity or hypocrisy associated with the “new personality.” It is genuine. It is not the “old personality” in disguise. It really shows heart-deep evidence of the fruits of God’s spirit: “The fruitage of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, mildness, self-control.”—Eph. 4:22-24; Col. 3:9, 10; Gal. 5:22, 23.

It is not impossible to make the change that God wills. Some persons are skeptical, especially those who may not yet fully embraced and conformed to the truth of God’s word. Many of these persons study this matter of conforming one’s mental attitude according to God’s will as a mere beautiful theory. They do not get the spiritual sense, the impulsive force. They do not understand the power of accurate knowledge, the power of God’s spirit, the power of a dedication to God for the doing of his will. The truth about the “new personality” is that it is not a theory; it is not man-made at all. “The new personality,” said Paul, “was created according to God’s will.”—Eph. 4:24.

God’s Word, then, is not written with the idea that a change cannot be made. It is written with the idea that a change can be made and must be made. God does not accept the excuse of a professed Christian who might say: “Why, I have always had a quick temper; it’s my temperament; I can’t change now.” In stating God’s will at Ephesians 4:31, the apostle makes no exception for those whose temperaments make them prone to be quick about wrath. Emphatically he states God’s will: “Let all malicious bitterness and anger and wrath and screaming and abusive speech be taken away from you along with all injuriousness.” So the common belief that the quick and explosive temper is an inherited trait and beyond restraint or change is false. There is abundant evidence that the change can be made. Thousands of persons in Jehovah’s witnesses once had quick tempers; today they are “slow about wrath.” They have truly put on the “new personality,” knowing that the Bible is written with the idea, not that we cannot change, but that we can!

What must one do to make the change? One must seek accurate knowledge of God’s Word. This requires private study of the Bible. It requires association with those who are doing the divine will and who have put on the “new personality.” By attending congregational meetings of Jehovah’s witnesses, one is continually built up spiritually, enabling one to make constant progress in putting on the “new personality.” True, it takes time to become a new personality, but, by setting the mind to make the necessary changes, one gains God’s approval and help. Pray for God’s spirit to actuate your mind.

Remember, too, that “an enraged man stirs up strife.” On the other hand, “one that is slow to anger quiets down contention.” (Prov. 15:18) Since peace and unity must prevail in Jehovah’s organization, there is no room for those who let their quick tempers stir up trouble and strife among God’s people. If one associating with the New World society persists in allowing his uncontrolled temper to stir up strife, Jehovah’s angels will take action against such offender and remove him from God’s organization. It is a serious matter to resist God’s will and spirit by refusing to put on the “new personality.”

MAN’S WRATH PRODUCES UNRIGHTEOUSNESS

In ruling against being quick to wrath, God’s Word roots out the cause of so much injuriousness. By even a casual glance at the newspapers, we observe how human anger readily associates itself with the desire to injure others or to inflict pain on them. Since there is usually a loss of self-control at the same time, what monstrous violence can result from a quick temper! Newspapers often tell about fights and killings caused by quickness about wrath. One newspaper recently told about a young boy who killed his mother “in a fit of rage” because she refused him the use of the telephone. How many murders have been committed in a fit of anger! They are beyond counting. Even husbands and wives, newspapers disclose, not infrequently kill one another, because someone has lost self-control in a fit of anger. The Bible tells how “Cain grew hot with great anger.” The result was the murder of his brother. King Saul hurled a spear at his own son Jonathan. “Saul’s anger grew hot against Jonathan. . . . At that Saul went hurling the spear at him to strike him.” No wonder the Bible outlaws the quick temper and fits of anger and tells Christians to let all anger and wrath be taken away from them with all injuriousness.—Gen. 4:5; 1 Sam. 20:30, 33.

Lawmakers make laws against murder, but they do not make laws against “fits of anger.” They do not legislate against quickness about wrath. But God’s law forbids these very things. So divine law gets right down to the root cause of so much injuriousness.

The Law of Moses outlawed murder, but the law that Christ Jesus laid down is much more far reaching: “You heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You must not murder; but whoever commits a murder will be accountable to the court of justice.’ However, I say to you that everyone who continues angry with his brother will be accountable to the court of justice.” (Matt. 5:21, 22) One might have good reason for anger, but if he continues angry with his brother he may sin, since anger too long protracted tends to become revengeful. So God’s Word commands: “Be angry, and yet do not sin; let the sun not set with you in a provoked state, neither allow place for the Devil.” By sleeping upon anger, we nurse it and keep it warm—this gives the Devil a chance, as it were, and we may play into his hands, because “man’s wrath does not produce God’s righteousness.” So not only the quick temper produces unrighteousness but also the one nursing his anger, letting it simmer and turn into revenge or vindictiveness. “Return evil for evil to no one,” says God’s Word. “Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but yield place to the wrath.”—Eph. 4:26, 27; Jas. 1:20; Rom. 12:17, 19.

MISTAKEN BELIEFS

Many are the mistaken beliefs regarding man’s anger. To give way to an angry temper, for instance, is sometimes believed to be a proof of strength of personality. Thus some persons may believe that an explosive temper is a proof of strength. How foolish! When a person flies into a fit of anger, we say he has lost his temper. He has really lost self-control. How could there be any real power in the absence of self-control? Oh, there is power but it is destructive, ruinous, deadly. A mighty conqueror might capture a city, but without self-control he could bring that city to ruin by some foolish outburst of temper. So what is real strength and might? God’s Word answers: “He that is slow to anger is better than a mighty man, and he that is controlling his spirit than the one capturing a city.” Being slow about wrath is strength—strength greater than that of a mighty warrior. The person who rules his temper is the strong person, not the one who loses his temper. Fits of anger not only displace reason and self-control but turn them out of doors and bolt the door against them. Fits of anger and an angry rage are not to be viewed as strength or indignation.—Prov. 16:32.

There is, of course, a place for indignation and firm action based on it, as Jesus took in the case of the money-changers in the temple. (John 2:13-17) There are times when not to be indignant would be wrong and would show a sympathy with the wrong or a lazy fear of the result of opposing it. So, in this case simply bottling up one’s anger and pretending it is not there may not be righteous either. But just because a person has fits of temper does not mean that he is more indignant than those who are slow to anger. A person with self-control may contain twice as much feeling, but he directs it, like explosions in the cylinder of a gasoline motor, to righteous results.

Since man’s anger does not bear fruit that is acceptable to God, overseers of God’s people must set the right example. They must be slow about wrath, slow to take offense. The quick temper is a sign of weakness. It is the kind of weakness that disqualifies one from overseer privileges in God’s congregation. One could hardly be trusted as an overseer of Jehovah’s flock if such a person had not learned how to rule his temper. “An overseer must be free from accusation as God’s steward, not self-willed, not prone to wrath, . . . [but] self-controlled.” (Titus 1:7, 8) If an overseer were prone to wrath, he could bring trouble and discord upon a congregation, even ruin. So God’s Word disqualifies those persons who are quick about wrath; they are too weak to be overseers!

There is a belief that giving full vent to one’s anger is a good way to work off something bad, a good way to release pent-up emotions. This is false. What if some psychiatrists believe that it may be good to blow off steam in this manner? Christians should let God’s Word direct their conduct, not the theories of men. Jehovah’s Word has no good thing to say about those who give full vent to anger, nor does it say that such actions accomplish any good.

Even looking at it from the physical standpoint, there is no good arising from fits of anger. Man’s Creator says: “A heart that is joyful does good as a curer, but a spirit that is stricken makes the bones dry.” (Prov. 17:22) A person stricken by the emotions of anger and resentment and revenge is only injuring himself. More and more doctors are learning of this injuriousness. In Your Body and Your Mind Dr. Frank G. Slaughter writes: “Studies by Drs. B. Mittelman and H. G. Wolff showed that in patients with ulcer, resentment and anger caused increased secretion of highly acid gastric juice, marked increase in stomach contractions, and a generalized increase in the flow of blood through the mucous membrane lining of the stomach and duodenum. . . . Since these changes are usually associated with a heightening of ulcer symptoms, resentment thus actually caused acute pain. . . . stomach mucous membrane is delicate and easily injured, and normally is covered with a protective layer of mucus, keeping the stomach lining from being digested by the hydrochloric acid which continually bathes it. In studies of the normal stomach, much of the mucus layer was seen to be washed away when increased acid secretion occurred from emotional causes. Also small hemorrhages and actual breaks in the mucous membrane lining of the stomach and duodenum were common. We have here, then, all the necessary factors to bring about ulceration; if repeated often enough they undoubtedly do just that.”

But the effects of anger and rage can be far more serious than the harm that may be done to one’s stomach. “A calm heart is the life of the fleshly organism,” says the Bible. (Prov. 14:30) Recently seven heart experts offered advice on how to avoid sudden heart attacks. They advised a calm heart, the avoiding of anger and rage. One of the doctors, Dr. Harry Gold, professor of Clinical Pharmacology at the Cornell University Medical College, said, as reported by the New York Times of December 1, 1955: “We must convince our patients that in rage and anger, when they are endeavouring to kill someone else, they are actually accomplishing just the opposite—they are killing themselves.” These heart experts who warned against anger and rage may have had in mind the case of the famous Scottish surgeon, John Hunter. He had a heart attack that nearly killed him. Being a doctor, he knew the importance of emotions in affecting the heart. When he recovered, he said: “My life is in the hands of any rascal who chooses to annoy and tease me!” He was unable to keep his temper under control, however, and one day he lost control in a fit of rage when contradicted by another doctor; he had a heart attack that killed him. How wise it is to follow the counsel of man’s Creator: “Let anger alone and leave rage; do not show yourself heated up only to do evil”!—Ps. 37:8.

What folly to think that losing self-control in a fit of anger is a good way to work off pent-up emotions! “As a city broken through, without a wall, is the man that has no restraint for his spirit.” (Prov. 25:28) So God’s Word does not agree with those beliefs that a quick temper may sometimes be a proof of strength of personality and that it may be good to release pent-up emotions in a fit of angry temper. Temper explosions do not cleanse the atmosphere; they poison it. The poison may contaminate others, so Jehovah warns: “Do not have companionship with anyone given to anger, and with a man having fits of rage you must not enter in, that you may not get familiar with his paths and certainly take a snare for your soul.”—Prov. 22:24, 25.

It is not merely to avoid injuring one’s own health that the Christian avoids quickness about wrath. Primarily he is interested in doing the divine will, living according to the righteous principles found in the Holy Scriptures. Though some persons may not be ashamed of their bad tempers and may even be quite proud of them, the true Christian takes the course of wisdom and becomes slow about wrath: “A man of discernment is cool of spirit.” “All his spirit is what a stupid one lets out, but he that is wise keeps it calm to the last.” “He that is slow to anger is abundant in discernment, but one that is impatient is exalting foolishness.”—Prov. 17:27; 29:11; 14:29.

Being slow about wrath also means being slow about taking offense. This guards against peevishness—undue sensitivity to trifles, annoyance at them far beyond what their real significance warrants. The new personality does not and can not possess an oversensitive spirit, a spirit that is ready to fly into a rage over fancied or real affronts. No, the new personality, created according to God’s will, does not become easily offended: “Do not hurry yourself in your spirit to become offended, for the taking of offense is what rests in the bosom of the stupid ones.” (Eccl. 7:9) If some unkindness really does come our way, we are still at fault in God’s sight if we are swift to take offense, swift to become angry: “The insight of a man certainly slows down his anger, and it is beauty on his part to pass over transgression.”—Prov. 19:11.

What, then, is the cure for the quick temper? It is the same remedy as for the ear that is not swift to listen and the tongue that is not slow about speaking. It is this: The firm desire to do God’s will and to have his approval. Such a person will put on the new personality and do his “utmost to be found finally by him spotless and unblemished and in peace.”—2 Pet. 3:14

In ancient times, an unwalled city, or one whose walls had been breached by an enemy horde, was helpless indeed. Yet, a man lacking control of his temper is quite the same. Says Proverbs 25:28: “As a city broken through, without a wall, is the man that has no restraint for his spirit.” Such a man is without true balance. He lacks insight too, for Proverbs 19:11 states: “The insight of a man certainly slows down his anger.” Such a man should think of Christ. Jesus said of himself: “I am mild-tempered and lowly in heart.” He pronounced mild-tempered ones happy. (Matt. 11:29; 5:5) So if you feel the urge to explode in a fit of anger, meditate on his words and follow his example.—Heb. 12:1-3.

However, you may feel that it was relatively easy for Jesus, a perfect man, to control his spirit, while with imperfect humans it is quite another story. But is it? Abraham and Lot were just imperfect humans, though they were righteous men. (Gen. 15:6; 2 Pet. 2:7) When their herdsmen became enmeshed in angry dispute, what did Abraham and Lot do? “Abram said to Lot: ‘Please, do not let any quarreling continue between me and you and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we men are brothers.’” They separated but remained on good terms, as “brothers.” (Gen. 13:5-12) Well, are not Christians spiritual brothers? Yes, of course. Then they too should resolve difficulties, not in a spirit of anger, but with self-control. How unchristian it would be to act otherwise!

Perhaps you recall two fleshly brothers, sons of Jacob, who forfeited a better blessing because they were violent men, given to wrath. Regarding them Jacob said in his deathbed blessing of his sons: “Simeon and Levi are brothers. Instruments of violence are their slaughter weapons. Into their intimate group do not come, O my soul. . . . Cursed be their anger, because it is cruel, and their fury, because it acts harshly. Let me give them a portion in Jacob, but let me scatter them in Israel.” (Gen. 49:5-7) These violent sons of Jacob acted harshly and with anger. They lacked self-control, whereas Abraham and Lot possessed it. Certainly Christians should avoid the course of Simeon and Levi and should imitate that of Abraham and Lot.

Unrestrained temper damages relationships with others and it shows that one is not wise. “All his spirit is what a stupid one lets out,” says Proverbs 29:11, “but he that is wise keeps it calm to the last.” Aptly, the Congregator of old declared: “Better is one who is patient than one who is haughty in spirit. Do not hurry yourself in your spirit to become offended, for the taking of offense is what rests in the bosom of the stupid ones.” (Eccl. 7:8, 9) Wisdom is not displayed by one who is egotistical. And “he that is quick to anger will commit foolishness.” (Prov. 14:17) So, do not quickly take offense. Rise above petty annoyances. “Do not say: ‘I will pay back evil!’ Hope in Jehovah, and he will save you.” (Prov. 20:22) Seek ways to turn aside the anger of others, remembering that “an answer, when mild, turns away rage, but a word causing pain makes anger to come up.” (Prov. 15:1) Even if others cause offense, act quickly to rectify matters. Heed Paul’s words: “Be wrathful, and yet do not sin; let the sun not set with you in a provoked state.”—Eph. 4:26; Matt. 5:23, 24.

A true friend of God cannot afford to lose self-control and fly into a rage, showing hatred instead of love, nor should they harbor such enmity. (Prov. 26:24-26) If they did so, they would be in darkness. The apostle John wrote: “He that loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in his case. But he that hates his brother is in the darkness and is walking in the darkness, and he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.” (1 John 2:9-11) Regardless of where you are or the nature of prevailing circumstances, maintain self-control. In the home, for example, do not be a harsh husband, a nagging wife or a pouting, ill-tempered child. (Col. 3:18-20) Uncontrolled tempers lead to rage and regret. But those who are kind, not harsh, considerate, not critical, and mild-tempered rather than ill-tempered will have heavenly approval in these respects.

Naturally, to control your temper you have to control your tongue. James wrote: “Out of the same mouth come forth blessing and cursing. It is not proper, my brothers, for these things to go on occurring this way. A fountain does not cause the sweet and the bitter to bubble out of the same opening, does it? My brothers, a fig tree cannot produce olives or a vine figs, can it? Neither can salt water produce sweet water.” (Jas. 3:10-12) Yes, James was discussing the tongue, and the powerful point he made is plain. Christians must surely restrain the tongue.

Obscene speech, gossip and slander have no place in the Christian’s life. “Let a rotten saying not proceed out of your mouth,” Paul told the Ephesians, “but whatever saying is good for building as the need may be, that it may impart what is favorable to the hearers. . . . Let all malicious bitterness and anger and wrath and screaming and abusive speech be taken away from you along with all injuriousness.” (Eph. 4:29-31) Shun unclean speech. And watch what you say about others. (Ps. 15:1-3) Do not spread or even listen to gossip. As stories are repeated, they are often embellished. Gossip may thus develop into slander, concerning which the Israelites were told: “You must not go around among your people for the sake of slandering.” (Lev. 19:16) Heed those words. In this and in other ways control your tongue.

But if you are to shun gossip, slander and obscene speech, you must control your thoughts. So, if what is improper or unclean comes into mind, exercise restraint. Bring to mind and meditate on things that are righteous, chaste, lovable, well spoken of, virtuous and praiseworthy. (Phil. 4:8, 9) Pray to Jehovah for greater self-control. This means to avoid materialistic thinking and worry too. After all, Jesus said that “even when a person has an abundance his life does not result from the things he possesses.” (Luke 12:15) So why be anxious? Jehovah knows your needs in the way of food, drink and clothing. Christ wisely declared: “Keep on, then, seeking first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all these other things will be added to you.” (Matt. 6:25-34) What good advice! Follow it, exercising self-control, and you will be happy indeed.

DISPLAY SELF-CONTROL IN EATING, DRINKING AND RECREATION

While we should not be unduly concerned about acquiring food or drink, once we have it we should display self-control. Proverbs 23:20, 21 warns: “Do not come to be among heavy drinkers of wine, among those who are gluttonous eaters of flesh. For a drunkard and a glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe one with mere rags.” Of course, one’s eating may not quite reach the point of outright gluttony. But overeating can mean a lethargic, unfruitful ministry and drowsiness at Christian meetings or at workplace. Therefore, exercise self-control in eating. And by all means avoid drunkenness. It degrades a person. Furthermore, if a the one professing to be a true Christian became inebriated, this might stumble others and bring reproach upon believers or true adherents of God’s ways. Drunkenness can easily ruin one’s life entirely, for a habitual and unrepentant drunkard must be disfellowshiped from the Christian congregation. He surely pays for his lack of self-control!—1 Cor. 6:9, 10.

Even when he relaxes, a true friend of God cannot forget self-control if he is to please God. When enjoying recreation, he must be moderate. Sports, for example, must be kept in a proper place. “Bodily training is beneficial for a little,” wrote Paul; “but godly devotion is beneficial for all things, as it holds promise of the life now and that which is to come.” (1 Tim. 4:8) In seeking recreation, the true Christian will not yield to imperfect inclinations of the fallen flesh, but will select types of entertainment or amusement that will have an upbuilding effect upon him. However, he will also use good judgment in not keeping late hours, which may injure his health and reduce his effectiveness in the ministry. So, off to bed he will go early Saturday night, for instance, so that he will be fresh and alert for ministerial activity on Sunday morning. Why dissipate energies foolishly in the pursuit of recreation, only to defeat its very purpose through a lack of self-control? Act wisely. Be moderate, exercising self-control in this aspect of life too.

It is apparent, then, that, like the exquisite natural pearl, self-control is neither gained nor developed further without earnest effort. But it is worth all the work you put into gaining and manifesting it. Just consider its value and importance. By developing and displaying self-control in these last days, you will please Jehovah. And, by remaining faithful to him, we will be the happy recipients of his blessing now and in his promised new order.

Okay friend, let’s veer now. I come to have these questions as we go along in our book: Why are we humans so highly conscious as to what is wrong or faulty and less likely to be caffeined at what is spotless or simply good and chaste? Why do we see a tiny dot in a white page and not primarily see the vast whiteness of the page or paper? If you were asked to describe yourself, why would you want people to know your good side and your bad side? Why can’t it be natural for us to express ourselves without being apologetic of anything, as if it is binding for the ‘unseen’ or ‘unknown’ mischief also to come to the fore? When you introduce yourself to someone, do you also make sure that they see your rear view, or you are just content with them having seen just your face and upper half of your body? If we natural introduce our physical structure in this limited and sufficing way, then why do we do the opposite in our character, personality? Is it enough just to know the good side of you without knowing the downside of you? You see friend, that’s what makes this book highly interesting, talking real human imperfection, from corner to corner, whim to whim and meditation to meditation.

We as humans lack the grasp of perfection. God uses perfect scales so as to manoeuvre his actions and dealings and he constantly acts within those righteous and precise standards. Our minds function on imperfect scales and perceptions, making it difficult to naturally dwell on what is altogether wholesome, not deliberately, but inadvertently. So, it’s our natural chronic disease of perception. Training these can only enhance our sense of well being and acceptance to God, but cannot fully blot out the natural impairment. Hence God has ‘reasonable’ or ‘soundly attuned grounds’ on which to judge us, not primarily on the native mind’s woeful delegation, but on what was ‘in our control’ and thereby obstinately misdirected. The biggest sin or misdemeanour in this regard is a lack of faith in God. Cause we are judged ‘righteous’ primarily by means of faith in God and Jesus, and not necessarily through works, as some hermits and recluses may profess or have tried to achieve such ends. So, it is within the power, comprehension, will, capability and reach of an imperfect man to have, manifest and exhibit faith as a sole or primary requisite for divine favour and acceptance, unless of course of any serious mental retardation or impairment which others have borne in different ways, wherein the concept of faith cannot be contained by such individual as a biological or chemical deformity etc., as we’ve shown in the early pages of this book. I know that some may argue that it is impossible or very hard to separate faith from works, as faith must be exhibited or demonstrated via works. True.

But think of an evildoer that was nailed next to Jesus and tell me if he gained the resurrection hope via faith or works. So, what exactly did he exhibit, faith or works? So, this is what I mean by saying that God has ‘adjusted’ scales on which to accept us, and the demonstration of faith on our part is what he yearns for, not belittling or undermining the importance of works too that are also sought after on those professing to love God. If I don’t give you scriptures to back up my statements, please pardon me as I sometimes feel that these are too many at times. But as for the issue of faith and works that you can find in Romans 4:13-14 and James 2:26. Sorry if these verses seem to clash as many observers seem to conclude that Paul’s description of faith or approval by God differs from how James explains faith. Somewhere between the context, the two faithful Christians do harmonize. Just be patient in your understanding and you will do a great deal of mercy to yourself. I’d like to thank you if you find this book to be spiritually enriching, edifying and enlightening so far! Don’t forget, it’s written by Andronicus, a true “man conquering!”

Okay friends let’s try to quickly touch the issue of human imperfection and marriage in a greater depth before I forget this pivotal issue of the society’s fibre. In many lands today, there is very little regard on the part of the people for the marriage arrangement and for continuing that which God has yoked together. Divorce has reached what could be described as epidemic proportions in country after country. In lands where divorce is not legally permitted by the government, the picture is no brighter, for in such lands people often leave marriage mates and take up living with someone else. So the worthy advice of Jesus at Matthew 19:6 is not being heeded by millions of people in Christendom and elsewhere. Is this because the advice Jesus gave is bad, or is it because people do not listen when Jesus speaks, and they care little about the advice of Jesus in this regard?

The evidence is that a large percentage of people do not view marriage as a lifetime contract if it interferes with their own life-styles and desires. To such ones, a marriage need be only a temporary arrangement if it interferes with one’s pursuits, likes, or dislikes. So it would almost seem that as easily as one sheds a coat or a hat, others shed a marriage mate, never thinking for a moment about the advice Jesus gave to those who enter into the marriage relationship.

With this everybody’s-doing-it attitude so prevalent, those wishing to follow the secure advice of the Bible can be influenced in a manner that leads them away from the good teaching of God’s Word. Fine counsel is given by the printed page and orally, but failure to heed the Bible’s advice can lead to marriage problems. (Compare Psalm 19:7-11.) If we adopt the attitude that anything in marriage interfering with our life-style, our pleasures, our desires, can be changed by our not abiding by God’s directions on marriage, then we are in danger. To have such an attitude brings us face to face with one of mankind’s greatest problems, that of selfishness. For generally it is selfishness that lies at the root of marriage problems. Why do we say that?

The Role of Sin

Men and women, offspring of Adam and Eve, are born in sin and imperfection. This means that because of the inheritance of sin, man misses the mark and is lawless to one degree or another. (1 John 3:4) The apostle Paul spoke of the tremendous burden sin places upon mankind, for he found himself doing what he did not want to do and not doing what he should do. (Romans 7:15-20) Anyone deliberately breaking God’s law is selfish. With some individuals it may be selfishness on a small scale, but with others it becomes the total way of life, and their selfishness becomes gross.

In the arrangement of marriage instituted by God, it is selfishness that is often at the root of a problem between marriage mates. The woman who wants to be waited on hand and foot, as the expression goes, as she may have been spoiled by her mother or father, is basically selfish. The man who wants to continue a life-style of singleness, that of always being with the “boys” after his marriage, is basically selfish. Think about all the ways in which husband and wife have differences, and you will see that selfishness is at the root of so many of the problems.

In striving to cope with the problems occurring in marriage, how does one overcome this inborn tendency toward selfishness? There are a number of things that can be done and which, when applied, can help a marriage that is foundering. But each partner in the marriage arrangement has to be willing to do his or her share. It is not a one-way street. Let us examine some of the factors involved.

Unselfishness in Marriage

Marriage is a sharing, meaning that neither marriage partner can take the other for granted and feel that only as long as one of the partners gives and the other takes will all be well. That will not work to the blessing of either. For example, the relatives on both sides have to be taken into consideration. This should not be allowed to become a sore point in the marriage arrangement, so that one’s own parents or other relatives are taken into consideration and not those of one’s mate. Where a family will spend vacations or other periods of relaxation should not always be one-sided decisions. Thoughtful concern shown in such matters will help make a marriage successful. Never take each other for granted but display unselfishness.—Philippians 2:4.

The Age Factor

Because of the prevailing view among many of this generation that if a marriage does not work out it can be terminated in divorce, many young people start out with that light view of the marriage arrangement. This can and does lead to breakups of many teenage marriages. It also leads to bringing many unwanted children into the world. These young ones often grow up never knowing what it is to have a mother and a father who deeply love and care for them.

How old should a person be before considering marriage? It would not be the course of wisdom to make rules on this score. Yet the Scriptures give good advice on what constitutes mental and spiritual maturity—the kind of maturity needed by those entering married life. Please read Galatians 5:22, 23, wherein you will find listed the fruitage of the spirit. Examine carefully each one of the fruits there mentioned. Those are the qualities that one needs to cultivate in life. It is not after marriage that a person should begin showing such qualities but long before in his daily life as a Christian.

For example, are you a person who is joyful in life, happy to be alive, serving the interests of the Kingdom of Christ? Are you at peace with others, promoting peaceful relations with them? Or are you contentious, given to fits of anger and abusive speech? Are you long-suffering, able to put up with the weaknesses of your brother or sister, mother or father? Or are you short-tempered and prone to anger if others do not immediately line up with what you want? Do you find that you show kindness to others in your dealings with them, being mild and doing good to them? Or are you selfish, egotistical, lacking in self-control, apt to fly off at others with the least provocation? Have you genuine love for others, wanting to help them, going out of your way, giving of yourself and your resources to bring happiness to others? Or do you want others to show love toward you, always giving to you from their resources?

It is correct to say that none of us have these qualities in a perfect way. However, the man or the woman who has been molded by some years of life, and who has had an opportunity to cultivate such spiritual qualities, is in a fine position to make a success of marriage—a much better position than that of the person who does not start trying to master these fruits of the spirit until after the marriage vows.—Compare 2 Peter 1:5-8.

Why not honestly examine yourself, your likes and dislikes? Do you not see that your appreciation for life has been enhanced by the passage of time? Did you have the same values at 13 that you had at 5, or the same values at 20 that you had at 13? Has your understanding and appreciation for life grown or lessened as you have gained greater experience over the years? Do you now, as an adult, look for the same qualities in people that you did as a child? Is it not often true that the “only” boy in a girl’s life when she is 16 or 17 years old is long forgotten as she grows to womanhood and attaches greater importance to a man’s godly traits and personality? Her view at 22 or 23 years of age will likely be centred more on the spiritual, mental, and emotional aspects of a man than on the physical characteristics. The same can be said for the young boy growing to manhood. His hopes and aspirations as far as a wife is concerned ripen as he matures. In his later years, as values change, what he will look for in a marriage mate is someone who is understanding and kind, who has ability to be a homemaker and a mother, and who has in her heart a deep-seated desire to please first her Creator, Jehovah, and to do his will.—Proverbs 31:10, 26, 27.

The point of the matter is that time changes a person’s outlook on values. Therefore, rushing into matrimony at a young age is fraught with many dangers. It may not be possible to persuade two very young persons to wait for some time to pass before entering into a marriage. But parents, especially in the early years of their children’s lives, can encourage them to think seriously about life, about being spiritually, emotionally, and mentally prepared for marriage before entering into a lifetime contract with another individual for better or for worse.

This is not to say that marrying when one is older is the total answer either. There can be problems then as well, especially if the attitude of selfishness is allowed to creep in and drive a wedge between two people. The mental, emotional, and spiritual needs of each one in the marriage bond must be taken into consideration. Some Christians have allowed themselves to become deeply involved in secular work, to the exclusion of congregational activity, including attending meetings and sharing in the preaching and disciple-making work. Then they try to make up for what they feel is a lack in their lives by indulging in a lot of recreation. They seem to think that as long as they are occupied, their problems will somehow be solved for now, and then in the New Order of things they will get around to each other’s needs emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. But life does not work that way. Paul’s advice was that a man should care for his wife as he does for his own body. (Ephesians 5:28) That means giving attention now to the needs of his mate, even as he daily gives attention to his own needs. The same can be said for the woman.

A Balanced Approach to Married Life

A balanced approach to life will assist in a balanced approach to marriage. The balanced person will realize that due to inherited selfish tendencies he must at all times work to overcome such blemishes. It is so easy never to think of the needs of others as coming before one’s personal wants. The small child wants all the toys and generally, if not properly trained by the parents, will not share these with others. His selfishness will, in later years, stretch into other fields. Thus we often find the teenagers and young adults wanting things exclusively their own way, and in their quest for satisfying their wants, they are unconcerned that others may be hurt or suffer. In later adult years, such persons are always craving what they like, not caring in the least about the needs of others.

The balanced person will not deprive himself entirely, but he will manage his individual life so that others, too, are taken into consideration. He will ask what he can do to assist others, to give of himself and of what he has to benefit others. He will not insist on having his own way first, last, and always. The book of Proverbs says: “The generous soul will itself be made fat, and the one freely watering others will himself also be freely watered.”—Proverbs 11:25.

Following such a course in single life will be most beneficial to a person later in married life. His or her mate will always be taken into consideration in any decisions made. Rather than thinking of marriage as an experiment or a temporary arrangement, such a person will look at marriage as the permanent arrangement Jehovah God had in mind when he joined the first human pair together in Eden. (Genesis 2:22-24) At every turn, efforts will be made to keep the marriage together, to help the mate, as both grow in appreciation for God and for each other.

“What God has yoked together let no man put apart.” Yes, those words of counsel by Jesus are filled with meaning for the true Christian. Marriage is no experimental arrangement that can be dropped if one finds the going difficult. We must constantly battle the imperfect flesh to keep the human tendency to selfishness in check and so gain God’s approval. (Compare Romans 7:21-25.) To make a success of the marriage contract, both partners must learn to give and take, to provide and be provided for, and never to take the other for granted.—Ephesians 5:21-23, 28, 33.

And while no set age can be insisted upon as a rule of law for a person wanting to get married, beyond that which is set as the legal age by government, each one can certainly bear in mind the need to grow spiritually in harmony with Galatians 5:22, 23, in order to be a well-qualified marriage mate. Time does indeed change the outlook of a person. Hence, no one should rush into marriage. First, let each one cultivate the Christian personality so as to be properly prepared for the marriage yoke. And never forget that no one should put apart that which God has joined together.—Matthew 19:4-6.

By taking the balanced approach to life and then to marriage, one can find genuine joy and happiness in the arrangement ordained by Jehovah God himself for man and woman, as shown by the first marriage in Eden. (Proverbs 5:18)

Okay friends let’s quickly move on to the issue of human imperfection and politics. Well, do you enjoy solving a mystery? To do so, you look for clues that help you work your way toward the solution. In his inspired Word, God provides the needed clues with regard to the number 666, the name, or mark, of the wild beast of Revelation chapter 13.

We will now look at four main lines of reasoning—vital clues—that will reveal the meaning of the mark of the beast. We will consider (1) how Bible names are sometimes chosen, (2) the identity of the wild beast, (3) what is meant by 666 being “a man’s number,” and (4) the significance of the number 6 and why it is written in triple digits, namely, 600 plus 60 plus 6, or 666.—Revelation 13:18.

Bible Names—More Than Just Labels

Bible names often have special significance, particularly when given by God. For example, because Abram would become the father of nations, God changed the patriarch’s name to Abraham, meaning “Father of a Multitude.” (Genesis 17:5, footnote) God told Joseph and Mary to call Mary’s future child Jesus, which means “Jehovah Is Salvation.” (Matthew 1:21, footnote; Luke 1:31) In harmony with that meaningful name, through Jesus’ ministry and sacrificial death, Jehovah made possible our salvation.—John 3:16.

Accordingly, the God-given number-name 666 must symbolize what God sees as defining attributes of the beast. Naturally, to understand those traits, we need to identify the beast itself and learn about its activities.

The Beast Exposed

The Bible book of Daniel sheds much light on the meaning of symbolic beasts. Chapter 7 contains a vivid tableau of “four huge beasts”—a lion, a bear, a leopard, and a fearsome beast with big teeth of iron. (Daniel 7:2-7) Daniel tells us that these beasts represent “kings,” or political kingdoms, that rule in succession over vast empires.—Daniel 7:17, 23.

Regarding the beast of Revelation 13:1, 2, The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible points out that it “combines in itself the joint characteristics of the four beasts of Daniel’s vision . . . Accordingly, this first beast [of Revelation] represents the combined forces of all political rule opposed to God in the world.” This observation is affirmed by Revelation 13:7, which says of the beast: “Authority was given it over every tribe and people and tongue and nation.”

Why does the Bible use beasts as symbols of human rulership? For at least two reasons. First, because of the beastly record of bloodshed that governments have accrued over the centuries. “War is one of the constants of history,” wrote historians Will and Ariel Durant, “and has not diminished with civilization or democracy.” How true that “man has dominated man to his injury”! (Ecclesiastes 8:9) The second reason is that “the dragon [Satan] gave to the beast its power and its throne and great authority.” (Revelation 12:9; 13:2) Accordingly, human rulership is a product of the Devil, thus reflecting his beastly, dragonlike disposition.—John 8:44; Ephesians 6:12.

This does not mean, however, that every human ruler is a direct tool of Satan. Indeed, in one sense, human governments serve as “God’s minister,” giving structure to human society, without which chaos would rule. And some leaders have protected fundamental human rights, including the right to engage in true worship—something that Satan does not want. (Romans 13:3, 4; Ezra 7:11-27; Acts 13:7) Still, because of the Devil’s influence, no human or human institution has ever been able to bring lasting peace and security to the people.—John 12:31.

“A Human Number”

A third clue to the meaning of 666 lies in its being “a man’s number,” or as The Amplified Bible puts it, “a human number.” This expression could not refer to an individual human, for Satan—not any man—has authority over the beast. (Luke 4:5, 6; 1 John 5:19; Revelation 13:2, 18) Rather, the beast’s having “a human number,” or mark, suggests that it is a human entity, not spirit or demon, and that it therefore manifests certain human traits. What might they be? The Bible answers, saying: “All [humans] have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) The beast’s having “a human number,” therefore, indicates that governments reflect the fallen human condition, the mark of sin and imperfection.

History bears this out. “Every civilization that has ever existed has ultimately collapsed,” said former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. “History is a tale of efforts that failed, of aspirations that weren’t realized . . . So, as a historian, one has to live with a sense of the inevitability of tragedy.” Kissinger’s honest appraisal testifies to this fundamental Bible truth: “To earthling man his way does not belong. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step.”—Jeremiah 10:23.

Now that we have identified the beast and discerned how God views it, we are in a position to examine the final part of our puzzle—the number six and why it is written in triple digits—that is, 666, or 600 plus 60 plus 6.

Six Repeated Three Times—Why?

In the Scriptures, certain numbers have symbolic significance. The number seven, for example, is often used to symbolize that which is complete, or perfect, in God’s eyes. For instance, God’s creative week comprises seven ‘days,’ or extended time periods, during which God completely accomplishes his creative purpose regarding the earth. (Genesis 1:3–2:3) God’s “sayings” are like silver that has been “clarified seven times,” thus perfectly refined. (Psalm 12:6; Proverbs 30:5, 6) The leper Naaman was told to bathe seven times in the Jordan River, after which he was completely healed.—2 Kings 5:10, 14.

Six is one short of seven. Would it not be a fitting symbol of something imperfect, or defective, in God’s eyes? Yes, indeed! (1 Chronicles 20:6, 7) Moreover, six repeated three times, as 666, powerfully stresses that imperfection. That this is the correct view is supported by the fact that 666 is “a human number,” as we have considered. Thus, the beast’s record, its “human number,” and the number 666 itself all point to one unmistakable conclusion—gross shortcoming and failure in the eyes of Jehovah.

The portrayal of the beast’s deficiencies calls to mind what was said about King Belshazzar of ancient Babylon. Through Daniel, Jehovah said to that ruler: “You have been weighed in the balances and have been found deficient.” That very night Belshazzar was killed, and the mighty Babylonian Empire fell. (Daniel 5:27, 30) Likewise, God’s judgment of the political beast and of those with its mark spells the end of that entity and its supporters. In this instance, however, God will eradicate not just one political system but every vestige of human rule. (Daniel 2:44; Revelation 19:19, 20) How important, therefore, that we avoid having the deadly mark of the beast!

The Mark Identified

Immediately after disclosing the number 666, Revelation mentions 144,000 followers of the Lamb, Jesus Christ, who have his name and the name of his Father, Jehovah, written on their foreheads. These names identify the bearers as belonging to Jehovah and to his Son, about whom they proudly bear witness. Likewise, those having the mark of the beast proclaim their servitude to the beast. Thus, the mark, whether on the right hand or on the forehead, figuratively speaking, is a symbol that identifies its bearer as one who gives worshipful support to the beastlike political systems of the world. Those having the mark give to “Caesar” that which rightly belongs to God. (Luke 20:25; Revelation 13:4, 8; 14:1) How? By giving worshipful honour to the political state, its symbols, and its military might, to which they look for hope and salvation. Any worship that they render the true God is merely lip service.

In contrast, the Bible urges us: “Do not put your trust in nobles, nor in the son of earthling man, to whom no salvation belongs. His spirit goes out, he goes back to his ground; in that day his thoughts do perish.” (Psalm 146:3, 4) Those who heed that wise counsel are not disillusioned when governments fail to deliver on their promises or when charismatic leaders fall from grace.—Proverbs 1:33.

This does not mean that true Christians sit back and do nothing about mankind’s plight. On the contrary, they actively proclaim the one government that will solve mankind’s problems—God’s Kingdom, which they represent.—Matthew 24:14.

Now, the following quotation in italics is the public address which was delivered by the president of the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, Nathan.H.Knorr, to audiences in Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, Philippine Islands, Japan, and other places in the Pacific Ocean area during March, April and May of 1951. Because of its cheerful theme and importance I am reproducing it here for reading enjoyment and for close study.

His talk, address or delivery was based on Leviticus 25:9 and 10 which says: “In the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.”

“This is the day for liberty to be proclaimed throughout all the earth, among all races and nations. That is the reason for the message here delivered, and we purpose to show that it rests on the right foundation and sounds the right note of liberty.

The proclaiming of liberty denotes that people are to be made free. Its proclamation will be welcome news to all those who love justice and truth and who yearn for a true liberty for ALL mankind, and not for just their own nation or race. Since the close of World War I, in the year 1918, the hunger for liberty has been gnawing at the vitals of humanity as never before. Violent endeavours are being made by many to satisfy that hunger. For centuries great masses of people have lain under the oppression of the few, whether those few be a few men as rulers or be a few powerful nations. With conditions in the world continually growing worse, it makes the conditions of oppression seem more and more unbearable. Discontent is everywhere. Certain ideas and systems of rule have long operated, and the sense of revolt against them is growing and spreading, especially under the lash of radical agitators. The long-oppressed ones, being so many more in number, are expressing sympathy toward one another and are feeling their numerical strength. Through their representatives they are growing more outspoken and insistent in their demands.

Many sincere men have taken up the cause of the liberty of the people, but what can they offer the people? Only a human theory or scheme of liberty, which falls far short of the true liberty and leaves the people at last disappointed. At the same time many men, greedy for power, have marked the craving of the masses for release from long-established tyrannies and oppressions and have put themselves forward as liberators in order to exploit the people’s desire for liberty to their own advantage and ambitious designs. As a result the masses come under new robbers of liberty. Their plight becomes no better, if not worse, under new rulers who are slaves of their own ambition. As someone of old time with a prophetic vision nicely expressed it: “While they are promising them freedom, they themselves are existing as slaves of corruption.”—Quoted from 2 Peter 2:19, NW.

It is quite generally thought that to have an independent government and to enjoy self-rule means real liberty. In many lands democracy, which means the rule by the people through public servants of theirs, is held to be the peak of liberty. To win the people’s support and to justify the entering of the United States of America into World War I President Wilson invented the slogan, “Make the world safe for democracy.” But today, after more than thirty years, so-called “democracy” has never been in greater peril. True, many absolute monarchies or kingdoms have disappeared since then, and yet the oppressions upon the people have not decreased nor has their freedom been enlarged.

There are men who have a contempt for the ability of the people to rule themselves by servants whom the people select and who draw their power from the consent of the people they govern. Certain political figures and certain religious hierarchies resent the effort of the people to gain greater liberties and to have more control of the government over them and to make their rulers answerable to the people. And so to fight against the liberation of the people, they establish totalitarian governments or personal dictatorships or strict authoritarian rule. They glorify the political state. They believe that the state has the absolute right to plan all the activities of human society and to demand the unquestioning obedience of all the citizens. Thus today mankind in general is divided between two political ideas of rule and two ideas of how far the freedom of the people may go. Hot and cold wars that are being fought over these political considerations rage and the liberties of the people are suffering great restrictions and damage. True freedom by human means appears farther off than ever, despite all the modern-day slogans.

NOT ORIGINAL WITH DEMOCRACY

The United States of America enjoys what some people call a democracy or people’s rule, and some effort is being made to popularize it among other peoples. But not all peoples seem to want the democracy or kind of democracy that the American people enjoy, for they see in it what look like serious flaws; and the way the democracy is being carried out in practice comes under criticism from many quarters. Yes, even in the United States of America, with all its worthy democratic features, the people do not enjoy the real liberty. Even there there is need for the great liberation. There as well as in all other parts of the world it is very fitting to proclaim the great message of true liberty.

It was this American Republic that popularized the famous words contained in the subject of this address. After the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed on July 8, 1776, the Liberty Bell was rung from Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On this bell appears the quotation, “Proclaim Liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.—Lev. xxv, 10.” But these words are really no part of any American propaganda. They did not originate with American republicanism or democracy. They originated with THEOCRACY, which means “God’s rule”. They are not the words of man, even though uttered by the Hebrew prophet Moses. They are the words of God. The God whom the Hebrews worshiped is named “Jehovah”, and these words are a part of His law to them. It is Jehovah God who is the great Liberator and the great Proclaimer of liberty for the people. The spirit of true freedom comes down from Him. Just as one of his proclaimers of liberty wrote under inspiration: “Now Jehovah is the spirit; and where the spirit of Jehovah is, there is freedom.”—2 Cor. 3:17, NW; Ps. 83:18.

So the new-born man-made American Republic in 1776 merely adopted the historic words of liberty, but it did not carry out the real meaning of the words. The Republic used the words merely as a slogan to further its rebellion against the sovereignty of the British government. It mixed up these words with a political revolution, a change from a colonial status to independence as a responsible government among the family of nations. A sanguinary revolution followed, which finally made independence secure. However, our proclaiming of liberty throughout all the earth in these uneasy days is not meant to stir up any such things as those political events of 1776. When we examine the words in their original setting, we see they were the words of liberty gained by obedience to the Most High God, liberty through peaceful procedure. We see that this liberty was sounded throughout the land, not by ringing a man-made bell, but by blowing a ram’s horn, the trumpet of Jubilee.

Let me quote the original words and context according to a modern translation: “You must hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants; it is to be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his own possessions, and each of you shall return to his own family. The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you, when you must not sow, nor reap any aftergrowth in it, nor gather grapes from the undressed vines in it; for, being a jubilee, it is to be sacred for you; you must eat its produce out of the field. In this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his own possessions.”—Lev. 25:9-13, AT.

In the sixteenth century before our common era or our Anno Domini period, the prophet Moses handed that down as God’s law to his chosen people, the nation of Israel. That law is not being kept today, and so it would have nothing more than a passing historical interest for us in these troublous years if it were not for the fact that that Jubilee law was prophetic in its meaning. It was a good thing for that ancient nation of Israel, and it was a shadow of substantial good things to come in the then distant future, but a future which is now close upon us today.

God, whose name alone is Jehovah and who is the great Liberator, was there making a picture of a great liberation to come, not merely to people of the nation of Israel, but to all mankind. One of his inspired proclaimers of liberty tells us this in plain words, saying: “The Law has a shadow of the good things to come.” (Heb. 10:1, NW) Also the man with whom the great movement of real liberation began referred to that ancient Jubilee prophecy and indicated that it foretold the work he was going to do. That man was a son of God, and he had come down from heaven to earth to live for thirty-three and a half years as a man in order that he might begin this liberation movement and its proclamation. His name was Jesus Christ, who was born in the royal line of David, the king of Jerusalem for many years. This Jesus Christ began the proclamation and laid the foundation for the great liberation nineteen hundred years ago. So now his true followers today must take up the joyful proclamation and must boldly sound it as with a trumpet blast to all races, peoples, nations and languages.

Toward the beginning of his proclamation work or preaching, Jesus gave a public talk in the religious meeting place of his home town, Nazareth, in the land of Palestine. On that occasion the attendant of the Jewish synagogue handed him the scroll containing the book of the prophecy of Isaiah. The prophet Isaiah had also made some reference to the Jubilee year of release for Jehovah’s people. So now Jesus found this passage of Isaiah’s prophecy and read it, saying: “Jehovah’s spirit is upon me, because he anointed me to declare good news to the poor, he sent me forth to preach a release to the captives and a recovery of sight to the blind, to send the crushed ones away with a release, to preach Jehovah’s acceptable year.” Then Jesus said to his listeners: “Today this scripture that you just heard is fulfilled.” And with that introduction he gave them a talk that made them all marvel. (Luke 4:16-22, NW) In this way Jesus Christ set out on a work of release or liberation which was to spread beyond the Jews or nation of Israel and to reach all peoples. His work of release was a work greater than that done by the ancient prophet Moses. The Law given through Moses foreshadowed this great benefit to all mankind through Jesus Christ. In fact, Jesus Christ was a Greater Moses, and the ancient prophet Moses himself foretold that Jehovah God would raise up a Prophet like Moses but greater than him. That Greater Prophet was Jesus Christ, and he brings a liberation to mankind which was prefigured by the Jubilee law of release.—Deut. 18:15-19; Acts 3:19-23.

ANCIENT PATTERN OF LIBERATION

Let us then briefly examine that ancient Jubilee law and see how it means the grandest of things for us today. For more than eighty years the people of Israel, to whom the prophet Moses belonged, had been slaves under cruel, exhausting labor in the land of Egypt. Backed by mighty military power, the oppressive government was trying to wipe out these Israelites. Then Almighty God, Jehovah, sent the prophet Moses to his people and, by means of marvelous miracles, delivered the Israelites from wicked Egypt and brought them to Mount Sinai in the land of Arabia. Jehovah God promised to give them the land of Palestine, and now he was leading them there. But before bringing them into the Promised Land he gave them his laws, theocratic laws, for their government when they were finally established in the Promised Land. Among the laws was this one to celebrate the Jubilee every fifty years, and it is set out in detail in Leviticus, chapter 25.

Among the great problems facing mankind today are the distribution of the land, the preservation of the land in good condition, and the wiping out of poverty among all the people, and the putting of all members of human society on an equal level. The Jubilee law illustrated how these vital problems will be solved by the all-wise God whose name is Jehovah. He is the Author of the Jubilee law and also of its grand fulfillment upon all mankind. It was a just law. It worked no injustice and hardship even to those who up till the Jubilee year had become rich. By a miracle Jehovah God brought the Israelites into the Promised Land, and by further miracles he freed that land of the wicked, devil-worshiping people who had no right in the land. This took years, and then the distribution of the land to the Israelites took further years, fourteen years all together according to tradition, after which the land could be peacefully worked and the Jubilee system begin to count. So the land was a God-given land, and Jehovah had a right to dictate how it should be used. All the earth is his creation. He made provision, no, not for great land barons to hog the land and crowd the common people into the cities, but for every family to have a fair-sized piece of land which was to continue in that family from generation to generation. Not even the king could legally take away this ancestral inheritance from a family. One king tried to do it by underhand means and Jehovah God had him executed for it.

God promised the Israelites that if they kept his law there would be no poor in the land. (Deut. 15:4) But God foresaw that because of sin, imperfection and selfishness in this world many Israelites would become poor, whereas some would become rich and would selfishly want to hold onto their riches at the expense of their fellow Israelites. So he added these words: “The poor will never cease to be in your land; that is why I am commanding you to open wide your hand to your poor and needy fellow-countryman in your land.” (Deut. 15:7-11, AT) To meet their expenses some Israelites would become obliged to sell part of their ancestral land or even all of it and thus for the time become landless. Others would have to sell members of their families or sell even themselves to be slaves to their fellow Israelites or to foreigners in the Promised Land. If a relative was not able to buy back his land for him or to settle his debt and procure his release, or if meantime he did not acquire the means to secure these benefits for himself, then the Jubilee year held out bright hope for him.

The Jubilee year was one of release, of liberation. It took care of all these unfortunate developments, for in that year all such Israelite slaves were to be set free. All ancestral estates that had been sold were to be returned to the rightful owners, and families were to be reunited. As for the land itself, the Jubilee was a year of rest for it. Every seventh year was a sabbath year for the land, when it must lie fallow. The forty-ninth year was thus a sabbath year, but in addition to that the fiftieth year was also a sabbath year for the land, so that it got an extra year to revitalize itself. What grew of itself could be eaten, but it must not be harvested and stored up. Thus not only did the Israelites have a chance to recuperate materially and start out on a new basis, in possession of property and on a level with their fellows, but also the land had an opportunity to build up its productive strength again. By God’s blessing for their faithfulness the forty-eighth year would have yielded such a rich harvest that it would provide food for three successive years, till they reaped the crops they sowed the next year after the Jubilee.

Because of what this wise and loving provision foreshadowed for all mankind’s future, God took this sabbath-year and Jubilee-year arrangement seriously. For improperly keeping these sabbath years he punished the Israelites by exiling them that the God-given land might rest for seventy years while the disobedient Israelites were captives in the land of Babylon. They had sold themselves into this captivity by their sin against Jehovah’s law. But in the spirit of the sabbath-year benefits he acted mercifully as their Liberator. He broke the enemy oppressor’s power and restored them to their homeland. Here again Jehovah displayed himself as the God and Author of liberty.

By requiring slaveholders to free their Israelite servants and by requiring buyers to restore ancestral estates to their rightful owners God committed no unfairness with those who had made legal purchases. All purchases were required to be made based on the number of years that remained till the Jubilee. Furthermore, the land all belonged to earth’s Creator. That is why his law said: “The land must not be sold in perpetuity; for the land is mine, since you are only resident aliens and serfs under me.” (Lev. 25:23, AT) They must all remember, too, that they were liberated slaves, once oppressed in Egypt and later on in Babylon. And just as Jehovah had had mercy upon them for his name’s sake and had delivered them from servitude in the enemies’ land, so they must show the divine quality of mercy and let their Israelite slaves go free on the Jubilee year in obedience to the great Liberator’s command. “For it is to me that the Israelites are slaves, being my slaves whom I brought out of the land of Egypt, I, the LORD, your God.” (Lev. 25:55, AT) Thus the entire arrangement was just and merciful. It was carried out without violent revolution and bloodshed. The Jubilee horn therefore sounded peace and joy throughout all the land.

This foretells a greater release from debt and slavery for mankind and a greater revitalization of the earth. And to think, it is just at our doors! That man has been enslaved by his fellow man there is no question. This is so, whether it has been done by military power, by usurpation of political power, by great monopolies, cartels and commercial and industrial systems, or by the trickery and hypocrisy of religious clergymen. Moreover, the land has been gobbled up by the selfish, the rulers and the aristocrats and the religious clergy. In recent years there has been some breaking up of the great landed estates and the distribution of these to the people. But this has been brought about with great reluctance on the part of the owners, and only by pressure from governments that favored such a policy. In Italy, the cradle of Roman Catholicism, there have been loud complaints and violent moves because of the slowness of the republican government in carrying out its election promise to distribute the land to the poverty-stricken people. One Oriental ruler has recently announced his purpose to have his large estates broken up and apportioned out to his subjects the people. But this is no part of the fulfillment of the promised Jubilee for mankind. It is only part of the desperate efforts of the rulers and systems of this world to perpetuate man’s rule of man or the people’s rule of themselves independent of Jehovah God. Even if all the workable lands of the earth were distributed among all the families of the earth, there would still remain a great liberation to be effected from mankind’s great oppressors.

THE ESSENTIALS OF TRUE FREEDOM

The chief oppressor of the human race is Jehovah God’s great adversary, Satan the Devil. His very name Satan means “opposer”, whereas his name “Devil” means “slanderer, false accuser”. Jehovah God stands for true liberty of all his creatures. Satan the Devil stands for their enslavement. He opposes the divine purpose to free them, because this means freeing them from the Devil’s power. For this reason he slanders and falsely accuses the true and living God and wants to have all creation believe that Jehovah is the one who is the tyrant. Satan the Devil has coveted the earth as his possession, and he has sought to wrest it from God’s universal sovereignty. Satan claims all mankind as his slaves. He has challenged God to put on earth a man who would assert his independence of Satan’s rule and swear his allegiance to God and keep it faithfully under the most extreme test. He saw the opportunity to enslave all mankind in man’s original home, the garden of Eden, which lay somewhere over in the Orient in the neighborhood of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. At that time he was a son of God and was a mighty angel whom Jehovah the Creator had stationed over the first man and his wife as their “covering cherub”. (Ezek. 28:13-18) By getting control of our first parents, Adam and Eve, he could make all their offspring his slaves from birth.

So the “covering cherub” rebelled against Jehovah’s universal sovereignty and transformed himself into Satan, or God’s opposer. Then to win over the man to join in the rebellion he now approached the man’s wife Eve. He made himself a Devil or slanderer by falsely accusing Jehovah God to her, telling her that God was keeping her in ignorance by his commandments and was holding back what would make her and Adam like gods, independent and able to decide for themselves what was right and wrong, good and bad. He said that God’s threat of death to rebels was beyond carrying out, because they certainly would not die for eating the forbidden fruit. So they should make a break for liberty and eat what they saw to be good for themselves. Thoroughly deceived by this fraudulent liberator, Eve broke God’s law and afterward gave some of the fruit to her responsible head, her husband Adam. Under inducement by his wife, Adam ate, and this act spelled his willful rebellion against his Maker and God, Jehovah.

In this way slavery began in God’s universe. Satan the Devil became the slave of his own selfish ambition. By their rebellion Adam and Eve lost their true liberty under God and became slaves of God’s opposer, Satan the Devil. For the sake of selfish appetite they sold us all into a slavery from which it is impossible for any of us to make ourselves free. Hence all of mankind, down to us today, have been born from slave ancestors.—Genesis, chapter 3.

Since then Satan the Devil has built up his organization all about the earth. He not only led mankind into rebellion against the Creator but also induced spirits of heaven, angels who were once sons of God and just as holy as man’s “covering cherub” had been, to desert God’s free organization and join that of Satan the Devil. They have become devils or demons and have flooded the earth with demon worship in one form or another. Deceivers that they are, they have led men under the pious idea of worshiping their ancestors into the worshiping of demons instead of worshiping the true God. So the invisible part of Satan’s organization is superhuman and it is utterly impossible for mankind, or any government of mankind, including the United Nations, to break the power of the invisible satanic control and set men free. Resent our saying it as much as they want to, men cannot rid human society and human governments of the dominating influence and interference of Satan the Devil. He has made himself what the sacred Scriptures call him, “the god of this system of things” who blinds men’s minds to the truth. This accounts for the corruption, the decline and the fall of every man-made government that has existed on the face of the earth.—2 Cor. 4:4, NW.

Men who lift themselves up and pose as the liberators of the people are deceiving themselves and also those who follow them as leaders. Democracies and people’s republics do not blaze the trail to freedom. It is THEOCRACY, God’s Government, his great Jubilee Kingdom, that is to deliver mankind. It will wrest this earth, God’s creation, from the grasp of the oppressive land baron, Satan the Devil, and will restore earth’s domain and its inhabitants to the sway of Jehovah’s universal sovereignty, as free members of his universal family of intelligent creatures.

BONDAGE OF CORRUPTION

But there are other things besides Satan’s organization from which mankind needs to be emancipated. The son of God, “the man Christ Jesus,” plainly pointed out what these things are. He showed, too, how release from them will be brought about. He was not deceiving the people when he presented himself as the Apostle of liberty, but his heavenly Father Jehovah God sent him on this mission to give rest to mankind from all their troubles. He was anointed with his Father’s spirit. So he rightly took upon his lips the prophecy of Isaiah and applied to himself the commission there stated, “to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the year of Jehovah’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn.” (Isa. 61:1, 2, AS) He was opposed, no, not specially by the political rulers Pontius Pilate and King Herod, but by the religious oppressors of the people, namely, the priests and their scribes and the religious sects of the Pharisees and Sadducees, clergymen, who, as Jesus said, “bind up heavy loads and put them upon the shoulders of mankind, but they themselves are not willing to budge them with their finger.”—Matt. 23:1-4, NW.

To prevent the people’s liberation, these religious opposers wanted to kill Jesus, and he said to them: “You are from your father the Devil and you wish to do the desires of your father. That one was a manslayer when he began, and he did not stand fast in the truth, because truth is not in him.”—John 8:44, NW.

On this same occasion Jesus showed in what way they were slaves who could not escape by their own efforts, and how he must loose them from all enslavers. Yes, they were in the power of Satan the Devil, but they were subject besides to something more personal than the Devil. Slaveholders use lies to get the people in their power. Hence Jesus the Son of God said: “If you remain in my word, you are really my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” The Jews showed they felt hurt at this hint that they were slaves. And so Jesus exposed the servitude in which they were by saying: “Most truly I say to you, Every doer of sin is a slave of sin. Moreover, the slave does not remain in the household forever; the son remains forever. Therefore if the Son sets you free, you will be actually free.”—John 8:31-36, NW.

These words of the Son of God prove that all mankind are slaves of sin, because all are doers of sin. The Jews to whom Jesus spoke were descendants of the faithful patriarch Abraham and God had given them his law through Moses. Because of being descendants of Abraham by his free woman, his wife Sarah, the Jews thought themselves to be free, and not subject to the power of Satan the Devil. Also they tried to establish their own righteousness by keeping the law of Moses, and they had a priesthood under this law to offer animal sacrifices for their sins against the Law; and so they considered themselves righteous and not the slaves of sin. But that very law of Moses, instead of declaring the Jews to be righteous, condemned them as sinners and as being liable to God for punishment for sins. They were sinners like all the rest of the world and their mouths could not brag of self-righteousness. By that law of Moses and its ten great commandments we get the knowledge that we are, not self-righteous, but sinners unable to help ourselves. “Now we know,” says the apostle Paul, “that all the things the Law says it addresses to those under the Law, so that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become liable to God for punishment. Therefore by works of law no flesh will be declared righteous before him, for by law is the accurate knowledge of sin.”—Rom. 3:19, 20, NW.

How is it, then, that all the world are slaves of sin and in the bondage of corruption? It is not because all the visible, material creation is evil, corrupt, or bad in itself; it is not because the great Creator Jehovah God made man and woman evil at the start. That is an impossibility, for Jehovah God is not the source of sin, imperfection and corruption. Showing us that the fault lies with us and not with Jehovah God, we read: “His work is perfect; for all his ways are justice: a God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and right is he. They have dealt corruptly with him, they are not his children, it is their blemish.” The wise man King Solomon agrees with those words of Moses and says: “Only see this which I have found, that God made mankind upright, but they have sought out many contrivances.” (Deut. 32:4, 5, AS; Eccl. 7:29, AT) The inspired account of man’s creation informs us that God made Adam and Eve absolutely perfect, put them in the paradise of Eden, and commanded them to produce perfect children to fill this earth and to spread out their perfect paradise home to the ends of the earth. But before ever producing any children, Adam and Eve joined Satan the Devil in his rebellion and became sinners against their Creator and Lawgiver.

By this they became the slaves of sin, and were driven out of the paradise of Eden into the uncultivated, unsubdued earth. Themselves now slaves of sin, they could not bring forth perfect, righteous children. Hence all of us their descendants were born as slaves to sin. From our birth we were imperfect and subject to corruption. We were also born into the wicked world of Satan the Devil, “the god of this system of things.” Consequently we were born subject to his power.—Gen. 1:26-28; 2:7, 8.

Together with these circumstances another merciless king has been ruling over us and we have suffered as his subjects and been burdened down with sorrow and mourning. Who is that king who has filled our lives with such grief and heartaches? It is death, and the countless graves are a bitter testimony to his unrelenting rule. How did death become king over all mankind? It is because our first parents sinned against the great Lawgiver and Life-giver before any of us were born. God had warned the first man Adam that if he disobeyed God and sinned he would die. On the other hand, if Adam continued to obey God he would live on the paradise earth forever and would be the father of an earth full of perfect children. But Adam and his wife sold themselves into sin, and God rightfully sentenced them to death. He told the woman Eve that she would bring forth children with great pain and sorrow. Not perfect children, but imperfect, sinful children, condemned to death from their birth. For we read: “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.” (Job 14:4) So we were all subject to the cruel king death from our birth by being born from Adam, and not even the law of Moses proved to be a way of escape from his reign. This explains why everybody is sinful, imperfect, and dies.

Hence we read: “Through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because they had all sinned—. For until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not charged against anyone when there is no law. Nevertheless, death ruled as king from Adam down to Moses, even over those who had not sinned after the likeness of the transgression by Adam.” But, whereas the law of Moses only showed up all mankind, including the Jews, to be sinners, God’s undeserved kindness came to man’s rescue and provided a way for fallen mankind to gain righteousness, the reward of which is everlasting life in a righteous new world. So we read further: “But where sin abounded, undeserved kindness abounded still more. To what end? That, just as sin ruled as king with death, likewise also undeserved kindness might rule as king through righteousness with everlasting life in view through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Everlasting life in a restored world of righteousness is therefore possible only through Jesus Christ the Son of God. In proof of this fact, the foregoing Scriptural argument goes on to say: “The wages sin pays is death, but the gift God gives is everlasting life by Christ Jesus our Lord.”—Rom. 5:12-14, 20, 21; 6:23, NW.

THE COST OF LIBERATION

Now we can appreciate why Jesus Christ the Son of God said: “If the Son sets you free, you will be actually free.” We cannot, and no human government on earth can, free us from the slavery to sin, error, death and Satan the Devil. If the law of Moses failed to do it, then no earthly human government can make us righteous by law and give us a clean standing before God. How, then, can we be freed from the condemnation to death which rests upon us because of being born in sin? Only by what God’s undeserved kindness does for us through his Son Jesus Christ. Only through him can we gain a Jubilee rest from the slavery of sin and death under Satan the Devil. This was foreshadowed by the Jubilee-year arrangement. How?

Mark this important fact about that prophetic law: It was on the tenth day of the seventh Jewish month, that is to say, “on the day of atonement,” that the Jubilee trumpet was to be blown, not before the sacrifice for the atonement of the people’s sin had been offered, but after. Thus the Jubilee year could not begin until first the sins of the entire people of Israel against the law of God had been atoned for by the sacrifices made at God’s temple by his priests. (Lev. 25:9, AT) Those atonement sacrifices on the atonement day all pictured the one sufficient sacrifice which the “man Christ Jesus” as High Priest would offer to God for the sins of all mankind. This sacrifice was not some lower animal like a bull or a sheep or a goat, but was his own human life; and he presented the value of this human sacrifice, not in the temple in Jerusalem on earth, but in heaven itself, in God’s very presence, for Jehovah God does not reside in man-made temples on earth. On this we read: “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 and obtained an everlasting release for us. For Christ entered, not into a holy place made with hands which is a copy of the reality, but into heaven itself, now to appear before the person of God for us.”—Heb. 9:12, 24, NW.

Jesus, who had been born perfect by God’s miraculous power, kept his sinlessness, and he died, not because of sinning, but as a sacrifice. He died at the hands of his religious enemies, because he bore witness to the truth and preached the coming kingdom of God to be the only rightful rule of the earth and the only hope of all mankind. In order that Jesus’ human sacrifice might not be taken back but might remain for mankind’s benefit, God raised his Son Jesus Christ from the dead as a glorified spirit Son, clothed upon with immortal life. Because he had died faithful to Jehovah God’s universal sovereignty, God resurrected him from the dead to be the heavenly King of the new world.—1 Pet. 3:18, 22.

From this we can see that the grand Jubilee release for mankind could not really begin until first after the atonement sacrifice that takes away sin had been laid down by God’s High Priest Jesus Christ on earth and had been presented to God in heaven.

It is interesting to note this fact: The Jubilee was the fiftieth year. Correspondingly, fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection from the dead came the Jewish feast of weeks or Pentecost. (Pentecost means “fiftieth day”.) It was on this feast day of Pentecost that the faithful disciples had God’s holy spirit poured out upon them, and they began a great work of preaching and of spiritual liberation.

This pouring out of the spirit on them was a visible sign that Jesus Christ had ascended to heaven and entered into God’s presence and offered to him the value of his human sacrifice. It was proof that Jesus Christ was now sitting at God’s right hand in heaven as the great Priest and King like the ancient Melchizedek, who was “priest of the most high God”. (Acts 2:1-36; Gen. 14:18; Heb. 7:1-27) Thus those faithful disciples of Jesus Christ who began to receive the holy spirit on that Pentecostal or Fiftieth day were released from the condemnation of sin and were freed from bondage to Satan the Devil, who is “god of this system of things”. The Holy Scriptures inform us that these anointed disciples who prove faithful till death will finally number 144,000. They, too, are to experience a spiritual resurrection from death, a resurrection to immortal life in heaven, there to reign with their Leader Jesus Christ in his heavenly kingdom of the righteous new world.—Rev. 14:1, 3; 2:26-28; 3:21.

THE GOVERNMENT OF EMANCIPATION

Now, after nineteen hundred years in which humanity in general has suffered, groaned and died in servitude to sin, imperfection, selfishness, Satan’s world-wide organization, and death, NOW has come the time to sound out the good news of the great Jubilee of the new world as by a blast on a trumpet. At man’s beginning the great Liberator Jehovah permitted mankind to come under bondage to sin, death and Devil, but he never purposed that mankind should forever continue in such bondage. Away back there in the paradise of Eden immediately after sin had entered into the world through Adam and along with it death and the rule of Satan the deceitful Serpent, Jehovah God sounded out a prophecy of liberation for mankind by a Liberator, the Seed of God’s woman. This Seed of his woman, God prophesied, would bruise or crush the head of the great Serpent, Satan the Devil, the originator of what is evil and bad. (Gen. 3:15) That Seed of God’s woman is his Son Jesus Christ. God is the great Timekeeper, the One who fixes times and seasons and who runs things exactly according to his scheduled time. So he fixed a definite time for Satan’s rule to end. That meant he also fixed a set time for himself to rule over the earth by his promised kingdom. We are now in the “time of the end” of Satan’s rule. It began some thirty years ago, in 1914. That date can be determined by the time schedule in God’s Book, the Bible.

There the “appointed times of the nations” ran out, because those nations are subject to Satan the Devil and are oppressors of God’s people. The nations, subject to the devilish enslaver, have misruled the earth and failed to bring liberation to the oppressed people. As their “appointed times” of power expired in 1914, the time then arrived for God the Creator to resume his power over the earth, his creation, the same as over all the rest of the universe. (Luke 21:24, NW) This he did by installing his kingdom in the heavens for the government of the earth and its peoples from then on, and this government he put in the hands of his anointed King, Jesus Christ. There need be no uncertainty about this in any honest person’s mind. Shortly before his sacrificial death Jesus foretold the sign which was to give evidence that we were in the “time of the end”, in the “consummation of this system of things”, and that the accomplished end of this oppressive world of slavery was drawing near. We now see the sign. Every informed person knows the world’s history since 1914. It began with the first total war, whole nation ranged against whole nation, entire kingdom against entire kingdom.

This first world war was attended by the horrors of food shortages, pestilence, earthquakes, violent persecution of true Christians who are heirs of God’s kingdom, failure of all peace efforts and peace alliances, rising fears of the nations with no knowledge of the way out by human means. ALL these experiences of this generation were foretold by Jesus Christ as stamping our time the “time of the end” of Satan’s world and the time for God’s kingdom to rule in the midst of all its enemies seen and unseen. Jesus said: “When you see these things occurring, know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I say to you, This generation will by no means pass away until all things occur.”—Luke 21:31, 32, NW.

God’s kingdom by his Son Jesus Christ is the one and only government of liberation. The great atonement sacrifice of Christ Jesus the High Priest has been presented in heaven, and during the past nineteen centuries his faithful followers have received the benefits of it through faith. Now in addition Jehovah’s theocratic government with Christ as King has been established. As the people’s emancipator it must completely destroy the Devil’s world organization, visible and invisible, and bring it to a complete end. This it will do at the universal war of Armageddon, the final battle toward which all the nations are now being marched under the influence of Satan and his demons.—Rev. 16:14-16.

With the covering of mankind’s sins now possible through Christ’s sacrifice and with God’s kingdom now set up, NOW is the time for proclamation of the Jubilee for all mankind to be blasted forth. Who is to proclaim it? Christ’s anointed followers and all persons of good will who receive the message with faith and joy. Jesus said: “This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for the purpose of a witness to all the nations, and then the accomplished end will come.”

Jesus included this preaching of the Kingdom to all nations among the many features of the sign which would mark the “time of the end” and the time of his presence in the Kingdom. In a notable way since 1919 this good news of God’s established kingdom has been preached by Jehovah’s witnesses everywhere on earth to all nations. Every year this Kingdom witness increases in spite of religious, political, judicial and military opposition and persecution. Here, then, we have another powerful visible proof that the Kingdom for mankind’s emancipation is in power, ruling now in the midst of its enemies before it destroys them at Armageddon.—Matt. 24:3-14, NW; Mark 13:4-9; Luke 21:7-28.

When the Kingdom witness, the modern-day sounding of the Jubilee trumpet, has been given everywhere to the extent that God has decreed, then at his own appointed day and hour the battle of Armageddon will come suddenly like a thief upon Satan’s world. Its enslaving control over this earth and its inhabitants will be smashed and forever removed. All who continue in willful slavery to it will be destroyed with it. For this reason it is that NOW the Jubilee trumpet must be sounded by giving the witness to God’s kingdom, the government of everlasting life in a free new world. By the power of the truth concerning God’s kingdom the people of good will who hear the Jubilee trumpet must make their break for liberty from Satan’s world of slavery. They must flee to God’s kingdom as the rightful government of all mankind, the one and only answer to the prayer Jesus taught us, “Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified. Let your kingdom come. Let your will come to pass, as in heaven, also upon earth.” (Matt. 6:9, 10, NW) He also assured us, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” He said, too, that God’s Word in the Holy Bible is the truth. (John 17:17) So now in this short period before Armageddon listen to the Jubilee proclamation, learn the truth, and then act upon it without further delay, that you may gain your freedom. Then, as free men and women, join your forces world-wide to “proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all the inhabitants thereof”. By that course you may live through Armageddon and never die!

The righteous war of God at Armageddon will free mankind of Satan’s domination. Then the new world will begin and will complete mankind’s liberation. King Death will reign no more, but all the sinful effects of our birth from Adam which brought death will be removed from all those who obey God’s kingdom. Yes, death will be forced to release those whom it holds lifeless in the graves, for Christ Jesus will utter his voice and all those in the graves will hear his voice and come out. All will be taught the righteous requirements and the truth of the Most High God, and all the obedient will be lifted out of their sinful, imperfect condition to perfect manhood and womanhood.

Forever it remains true, “The earth is Jehovah’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” (Ps. 24:1, AS) No more will greedy land barons monopolize the land, or wars for territorial expansion and for natural resources rage and ruin the earth’s surface and reduce the people to homeless poverty. Nor will soil erosion and exhaustion lay the land desolate and uninhabitable. The King Christ Jesus will allot each faithful subject a place in the earth to cultivate and enjoy to Jehovah the great Landowner’s pleasure. Under divine blessing the earth will become most fertile and will yield plenty for all human needs. Paradise will become an earth-wide reality.

The benefits of his perfect human sacrifice Christ Jesus the King will bestow upon all his obedient subjects, to fulfill the prophecy, “His name shall be called . . . Everlasting Father.” (Isa. 9:6, AS) Those who then prove their allegiance to the universal sovereignty of Jehovah and to his King will be declared worthy of the right to everlasting life in the endless world of peace, health and happiness.

Here, then, the great heavenly Liberator, Jehovah God, will vindicate the word which he has given, “that the creation itself also will be set free from enslavement to corruption and have the glorious freedom of the children of God.” (Rom. 8:21, NW) Let the glorious good news of this liberty now at hand be loudly proclaimed throughout all the land to all of earth’s inhabitants. Do your part.

They shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of Jehovah of hosts hath spoken it. For all the peoples walk every one in the name of his god; and we will walk in the name of Jehovah our God for ever and ever.—Mic. 4:4, 5, AS.” What powerful public address he gave.Wow!

Governments “by the people” appear unsure of their political future. They are finding it increasingly difficult to cope with mounting problems.In the case of many democratic, capitalistic governments, economic growth and material prosperity have become almost synonymous. This has kept most people comparatively satisfied. But now the financial strength of the capitalistic world faces its greatest challenge. Economic growth has ground almost to a halt and, in some cases, reversed. Dissatisfaction is on the increase. What has happened?

Skyrocketing energy costs have dampened the fires of economic growth. This is threatening to tumble the living standards to which millions have become accustomed. Many people, therefore, feel that greater governmental control will definitely be needed to cope with the resulting problems.

The noted British historian Arnold Toynbee voiced the opinion that “progressively more severe” living standards will be forced upon industrial nations, creating growing social unrest among people who are used to having more. As a result, he predicts, “a new way of life—a severely regimented way—will have to be imposed by a ruthless authoritarian government” to force people to accept declining standards of living.

Even the then United States Secretary of State Kissinger warned that international rivalries could create economic crises that would force democratic governments to “move more and more to authoritarian models” while ‘Western civilization disintegrates.’

To increasing numbers of people the idea of dictatorships seems less objectionable than in the past. In Great Britain, says London columnist Bernard Levin, “talk of dictatorships of the right or the left is the common parlance of the day.” This was “unthinkable” just a few years ago.

Why Authoritarian Rule?

People want solutions. Inflation, unemployment and rocketing crime cause real hardships. All of this creates frustrations and the feeling: “Why doesn’t somebody do something about it?” Democratic processes begin to appear slow and cumbersome to people already out of work or suffering a declining standard of living. They want action—fast. The means of getting it becomes less and less important to them.

The ability of strong governments to “restore law and order” and take decisive economic action becomes more appealing. This is what happened in Germany after the first world war. As democratic regimes proved unable to find a way out of the depression, those advocating stronger governmental control found more and more listeners.

The way was opened for Adolf Hitler to come into power. Under his iron rule, economic and social recovery was rapid. Business prospered. Unemployment ended—along with personal freedoms.

In the opinion of many observers, the capitalistic world faces far more critical times than those, as problems with food, population, pollution, energy and other resources bear down relentlessly in the days ahead. Respected economist Professor Robert Heilbroner, in his book An Inquiry into the Human Prospect, forecasts:

“Candor compels me to suggest that the passage through the gantlet ahead may be possible only under governments capable of rallying obedience far more effectively than would be possible in a democratic setting. If the issue for mankind is survival, such governments may be unavoidable, even necessary.”

To put it bluntly, in many areas democracy may give way to dictatorship. But are authoritarian governments the way to cope with the problems? What are the alternatives?

“Pursuit of Political Myths”

Humanity has experimented with government for thousands of years. Just about every kind imaginable has been tried: monarchies, democracies, socialism, Communism, Nazism, Fascism, church rule, military rule, the feudal system and others.

But the time for experimenting is past. Questions of political power, says the Encyclopædia Britannica (1974 ed.), are “more urgent today than they have been in any earlier historical period,” because mankind can now “destroy itself in pursuit of political myths.”—Vol. 14, p. 685. (Italics added)

Which human government today is no mere ‘political myth’ of broken promises and frustrated ideals? While it must be admitted that human governments each may have certain desirable features, which of them does not fall far short in other matters that are just as important or even more so?

For example, the collective viewpoint of democratic systems and their emphasis on freedom have definite advantages. Yet history shows that they also provide fertile soil for political corruption, soaring crime and violence, damaging strikes and class distinctions.

Some people feel that authoritarian governments have a certain ability to “get things done.” Such governments may partially succeed in limiting some of the problems plaguing democracies—but at what a price! Maintaining control often requires stripping subjects of the freedom even to express their true feelings.

More recent political experimenting centers on the desperate hope that the nations will somehow ‘recognize their interdependence,’ as urged by Mr. Kissinger. They hope to reach global political solutions, thus staving off the authoritarian threat to democracy. But is this another myth, or reality?

Being frank about it, the Britannica (1974) says: “Almost everywhere” attempts to achieve international cooperation “have foundered on the rocks of nationalism.” (Vol. 14, p. 719) And economist Heilbroner observes that this nationalistic aspect of “‘human nature’ makes it utopian to hope that we will face the global challenges of the future as an international brotherhood of men.”

Should not the facts of history tell a thinking person something about man-made governments? Has it not proved true, as long ago recorded in the Bible, that “man lords it over man to his hurt”? Also, that “the course of man is not in his control, nor is it in man’s power as he goes his way to guide his steps”?

“But,” you may say, “that is just hopeless, negative thinking; and besides, there is no alternative. We have to keep trying.” However, after six thousand years of “trying,” is it negative thinking or is it realistic thinking that points to such conclusions? Facing up to the truth may be bitter medicine, but it is the best medicine, because it may also open otherwise closed minds to the real solution.

In the case of government, there is an alternative. It is bitter medicine only to those who insist on doing things in their own way regardless of the consequences. For honest-hearted persons, it is the answer that they really seek. What is it?

Government by Man’s Maker

The Maker of mankind has for too long been left out of account by many people. But consider this: When you make something with your own hands, something in which you take pride, do you not have the right to decide how it will be used? Even copyright and patent laws reflect this right as a legal principle.

What, then, about our Creator? The marvellous complexities of creation reflect a Maker who takes pride in his work. What care and attention to detail went into His designing of the “extras” that enhance our lives—the infinite variety of beauty in nature, of pleasing colors, aromas, tastes and sounds to delight the senses. Surely the One who designed creatures that have a capacity to appreciate such things has in mind the very best for mankind.

Since all creation belongs to him, certainly government of the world by its Maker would be right and proper. The reasonableness and legal soundness of His claim to that position is cited in the Bible: “God, you are worthy of . . . power, because you made all the universe and it was only by your will that everything was made and exists.” Is not our Designer and Maker the One who knows humans best and, therefore, most qualified to govern human affairs successfully?—Rev. 4:11, Jerusalem Bible.

However, humans have generally rejected this principle as unrealistic and hence refuse to seek their Creator’s guidance. Why, then, has man’s Maker not just asserted his right to govern? Because He chose to let his creation demonstrate for all time the futility of living outside his guidance. Rather than finding “freedom” without God’s control, more and more of humanity now face the possibility of oppressive, often corrupt, authoritarian rule, without freedom.

Will human creation ever see an end to the futility to which unsubmissive men and their governments are subject? Note God’s purpose in the matter:

“For the [human] creation was subjected to futility . . . on the basis of hope that the creation itself also will be set free from enslavement to corruption and have the glorious freedom of the children of God.”—Rom. 8:20, 21.

How will humanity gain the “freedom of the children of God”? Bible prophecy reveals that, in our generation, “the God of heaven will establish a kingdom [a government] which . . . shall never pass to another people.” Thus “people,” humans, will never again be allowed to usurp their Maker’s legal right to govern, or dictatorially to ‘lord it over man to his hurt.’—Dan. 2:44, New English Bible; Eccl. 8:9, Revised Standard Version.

But what about the present patchwork of nations with their boundaries and political and tariff barriers that make global cooperation impossible? There is only one solution: “[God’s kingdom] shall shatter and make an end of all these kingdoms,” answers the prophecy, “while it shall itself endure for ever.”—Dan. 2:44, New English Bible.

A Government of True Freedom

With the removal of divisive and corrupt human political regimes, the way will be open for the “freedom of the children of God” to fill the entire earth. Does that “freedom” mean that God will exercise little or no authority over his human children?

Well, most parents exercise some control over their children, do they not? Why? Because a child’s understanding is limited. He does not fully comprehend all the many factors that affect what he does. Parental direction is motivated by love and not the cold efficiency of a dictator trying to control people. But wise parents also grant their deserving children much freedom, as long as they do not harm themselves or others.

Likewise, Jehovah God, by means of his kingdom in the hands of Jesus Christ, will exercise only such control as is needed to ensure the lasting welfare of humankind. That kingdom will be no dictatorship. All its loyal subjects will find pleasure in responding to its direction. This will be just as natural for them as eating, drinking and breathing. They will not feel restricted in any way. Even if absolute independence were possible, they would choose to remain submissive to their loving Maker, Jehovah God.—Compare Psalm 97:10; 119:104, 128, 163; Jeremiah 9:24.

Think of the benefits that will come to the free “children of God” under his loving rule. Humans today admittedly have a very incomplete understanding of their environment—hence, the pollution crisis. Their limited knowledge even of the weather prevents them from providing enough food for humanity.

But the Maker of earth and life upon it has a thorough understanding of all the physical principles involved. So does his Son, Christ Jesus, who, as a “master worker,” assisted in creation and now serves as the King in the kingdom of God. They will be able to guide mankind in a course that will root out the fundamental causes of pollution, food shortages and all other problems. Even while on earth Jesus demonstrated his understanding and control of natural phenomena when he calmed a storm. “Even the wind and the sea obey him,” marvelled observers.—Prov. 8:22-31; Mark 4:37-41; Isa. 9:6, 7.

It was also reported of Jesus that “he needed no one to give him testimony about human nature. He was well aware of what was in man’s heart.” Think how he can use this searching quality to eliminate the root causes of racial and national prejudices, selfishness and greed. In their place, he will inspire love and genuine concern for one’s fellow.—John 2:25; 13:35, New American Bible.

Even now, “in the final part of the days,” over 8,000,000 persons in “all the nations” are learning the divine “law” and “ways” that will prevail then—and are practicing them. Despite living in a divided world, Jehovah’s Christian witnesses enjoy a marvelous unity. They have been able to rise above racial and national barriers and ‘learn war no more.’ Their success amid the failing governments of this world proves that, not more governmental control by man, but only government by our loving Father and Maker can meet the challenges ahead.—Isa. 2: 2-4; Mic. 4:1-3.

There is therefore no reason to question that Jesus Christ is the One designated by God to rule this earth as King for a thousand years. We have to accept this if we profess to believe the Bible. And his life course proves he will be a Ruler, not seeking his own interests, but looking after the people’s interests in harmony with the will of God. But what about his associate rulers, his entire governmental organization? For the Bible does speak of kingly associates of Christ “bought from among mankind.” It numbers them as 144,000, who “will be priests of God and of the Christ, and will rule as kings with him for the thousand years.”—Rev. 14:1, 4; 20:6.

These kings will not be successors of Jesus Christ, either in priesthood or in kingship. He is the King. The 144,000 are associate kings under his direction. Christ is immortal; he lives forever. (1 Tim. 6:16; Heb. 7:24) There is certainly nothing to fear from the rulership of Jesus Christ, who gave his life in behalf of mankind. And likewise there is nothing about which to be uneasy as to the rulership of the 144,000 who were once ordinary men and women. God himself long ago arranged for this government because of his own love for mankind. How do we know?

Well, the apostle Paul wrote to fellow Kingdom heirs: “Now we know that God makes all his works cooperate together for the good of those who love God, those who are the ones called according to his purpose; because those whom he gave his first recognition he also foreordained to be patterned after the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Moreover, those whom he foreordained are the ones he also called; and those whom he called are the ones he also declared to be righteous.”—Rom. 8:28-30.

When man rebelled against God in the Garden of Eden, God was concerned about the government for a new system of things over mankind. Therefore he gave “first recognition” to this governmental class and expressed it when he pronounced sentence against “the original serpent,” Satan the Devil, saying: “I shall put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He will bruise you in the head and you will bruise him in the heel.”—Gen. 3:15; Rev. 12:9.

Jesus Christ is the principal one mentioned in this prophecy, but his 144,000 associates are also associated with him in the bruising of the Serpent’s head, as the apostle Paul indicated when he wrote to fellow Christians: “The God who gives peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly.”—Rom. 16:20.

ARE THE ASSOCIATE RULERS TRUSTWORTHY?

As to being able to trust the associate rulers of Christ, note this comforting statement: “Those whom he gave his first recognition he also foreordained to be patterned after the image of his Son.” (Rom. 8:29) This assures that they will be righteous, trustworthy rulers, even as the Son is. While on earth they make over their personalities by the help of God’s holy spirit. (Eph. 4:22-24) As brothers of Christ, they are not divided among themselves when on earth, and when he resurrects them to the heavens Jehovah will make them righteous as perfect spirit persons in harmony with their righteous personality.—1 Cor. 1:10.

Jesus revealed the principle by which his associate rulers will operate when he corrected a wrong spirit in his apostles, saying: “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. But let him that is the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the one acting as chief as the one ministering. For which one is greater, the one reclining at the table or the one ministering? Is it not the one reclining at the table? But I am in your midst as the one ministering.”—Luke 22:24-27.

These associates, while on earth, have received their training for rulership by serving as ambassadors for God’s kingdom to the people. They follow their Leader, Christ, who served as direct Ambassador from God to the people. He came to earth, not with a political mission, but to do what no political ruler can do or has done, namely, to reconcile people of all nations to God, to bring them back into peaceful, friendly relations with the great Life-Giver, Jehovah.—Rom. 5:8-11.

Doing the same work as Christ did, these associate rulers can say: “We are therefore ambassadors substituting for Christ, as though God were making entreaty through us. As substitutes for Christ we beg: ‘Become reconciled to God.’”—2 Cor. 5:20.

A NONPOLITICAL WORK TODAY

As such ambassadors they do not go to the political nations, trying to bring about the reconciliation of a whole nation at once, neither do they meddle in political affairs. Rather, they go directly to the people—to individuals. But they do not try to turn individuals toward any earthly ruler, or seek to win them over to any political ideology. They confess: “Our citizenship exists in the heavens, from which place also we are eagerly waiting for a saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Phil. 3:20) They appeal to people to look to the kingdom of God for relief. Accordingly, if they should get involved in the affairs of this world, taking part in political activities, holding office or voting, they would lose their status as ambassadors and brothers of Christ, and would never attain to heavenly rulership with him.

Today we see nationalism growing in all countries. More and more is pressure exerted upon people to render worship to the “wild beast,” this world’s human political organization under the influence and control of Satan the Devil. (Rev. 13:1, 2, 11, 12) But the Kingdom ambassadors and prospective rulers with Christ do not worship this “wild beast,” knowing that it will soon be destroyed, cleared out of the way, so that the Kingdom can have full sway over earth for a thousand years. (Rev. 19:19-21; Dan. 2:44) Still, they respect the governments of earth as long as God allows these governments to remain. This is because they respect the responsible positions the rulers hold and the power and opportunity they have to do good toward their subjects.

These “ambassadors” therefore follow God’s command at Romans 13:1-7 to show “subjection to the superior authorities” of this world, paying their taxes and obeying the laws of the nations. Only when the rulers go so far as to make or execute laws that clash with the laws and rulings of the Most High God do these Christians refuse obedience. This they do on the principle and after the pattern set by the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ when before the Supreme Court in Jerusalem. When told to stop preaching the good news of the Kingdom, thereby forsaking their God-ordained ambassadorship, they replied: “We must obey God as ruler rather than men.”—Acts 5:29.

The 144,000 faithful ones will therefore carry none of the political uncleanness of this self-seeking world into the heavenly kingdom of the Christ. They have undergone severe trials and testings on earth and have stood firm for God’s sovereignty and for his kingdom, preaching its coming blessings to the people. Of them, it is stated: “These are the ones that did not defile themselves with women; in fact, they are virgins.” (Rev. 14:4) Yes, they are faithful to Christ, not adulteresses, as some were warned by the disciple James: “Adulteresses, do you not know that the friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever, therefore, wants to be a friend of the world is constituting himself an enemy of God.”—Jas. 4:4.

Also of these associate rulers, it is stated: “No falsehood was found in their mouths; they are without blemish.” (Rev. 14:5) Today falsehood is almost considered “stock in trade” for political rulers. This has brought about much corruption and has ruined their credibility among the people. But Christ’s associate rulers cannot follow this pattern and be approved by Christ. They are proved truth-tellers. All these statements about them, inspired by God himself, give absolute assurance that they are not interested in their own aggrandizement and glory (in fact, as heavenly rulers they could desire no material thing from their subjects), but are concerned with the people’s interests and everlasting welfare.

Individuals who want life as subjects of that righteous kingdom, on hearing what these “ambassadors” of God say, must do more than give mere mental assent, merely waiting for the Kingdom to crush this world’s system of things. Action motivated by the heart is required. All who believe that God will provide mankind with rulers for the people’s interests must support the work of these “ambassadors” by sharing with others the good news of the Kingdom. It is a lifesaving activity that no sincere believer in God can shun.

Okay friends, now we are swift again, now lets move on to talking about human imperfection and pornography. Greedy money lovers, and those who have “gone out after flesh for unnatural use,” have flooded the world with highly contagious material in movies, videos, plays, books, magazines, and music—a plague of pornography. (Jude 7) Thus the U.S. Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography, in visits to just 16 stores, was able to catalogue “2,325 separate magazine titles, 725 books, and 2,370 film titles” of pornographic matter.

With little thought as to the havoc they create in the lives of others, these “pornocrats” callously lower the moral climate of society and contribute to the epidemics of fornication, adultery, incest, sexually transmitted diseases, perversions, divorces, broken homes, disturbed children, and physically and psychologically damaged marriage mates.

Can you protect your family from this plague? If you have become addicted to porn, is there any way to break free? The answer to both questions is yes! How?

Porn problems thrive in an environment of infectious wrong attitudes where there exists little resistance to “the works of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:19) Such problems flourish when people lack or ignore accurate knowledge and allow wrong information to pollute the mind. Our best defense against porn, then, is to build spirituality and individual immunity by cultivating healthy attitudes based on sound knowledge. To do this requires that we uncompromisingly embrace, as antidotes to porn, the following Bible viewpoints.

Right Attitude Toward Sex

The first prevalent wrong attitude to resist is that toward sex itself. Jehovah God created the male and the female with sexual desire for the purpose of procreation, as well as to bring them pleasure as a married couple. (Genesis 1:27, 28; 2:18; Matthew 19:4-6) Thus if sexual relations are viewed as a means of mutual expression of love by marriage mates and not as a means of exploiting others or merely for the gratifying of self, it will help us to resist pornography.—1 Corinthians 7:3; Acts 20:35.

To abuse sex dishonors its Designer and brings harm to the abuser. Hunger for food is also designed by God for our good and pleasure. But if abused by excesses or by ingesting polluted food, harm can result. Therefore, do not become greedy—idolizing sex. Rather, control “your body members . . . as respects . . . sexual appetite, hurtful desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”—Colossians 3:5, 6; Ephesians 5:5.

When ancient cultures idolized sex, they “exchanged the truth of God for the lie and venerated and rendered sacred service to the creation rather than the One who created.” That led to “disgraceful sexual appetites,” excesses that polluted them. Thus, “both their females changed the natural use of themselves into one contrary to nature; and likewise even the males left the natural use of the female.”—Romans 1:25-27.

Right Attitude Toward Women

Many pornographic presentations nowadays are of women subjected to rape, degradation, and violence. So your family must see pornography as a vicious attack upon womankind. Porn conveys the seductive idea that females are meant to be and even want to be thus maltreated—that they actually experience pleasure when raped and otherwise hurt. That is a base lie.

No decent male can have such an attitude toward women. God made both male and female. The woman was to be man’s complement, not his inferior deserving of ill-treatment. (Genesis 2:18) Rather than maltreat the body of any woman, the Bible tells men to deal with “older women as mothers, younger women as sisters with all chasteness.” (1 Timothy 5:2) And instead of subjecting wives to the perversions that porn advocates, “husbands ought to be loving their wives as their own bodies.”—Ephesians 5:28, 29.

Right Attitude Toward Children

Annually, children by the thousands—often just tots—are sexually abused, some by their neighbors and family friends, others by incestuous practices of their own parents and other family members. Porn plays a big part in suggesting that this abuse is acceptable. Thousands more are kidnapped, raped, and prostituted by sexually depraved pornographers. What an unfeeling betrayal of innocent, defenseless children!

“Sons are an inheritance from Jehovah,” the Bible says. (Psalm 127:3) Your family members need to respect that inheritance and its Source and not entertain unwholesome attitudes toward the young in their own or other families. Sexual abuse of minors does physical and emotional damage and corrupts. It is a cruel lie to say that children are benefited by such abuse.

Hence, pornography is based upon God-dishonoring lies, wicked misrepresentations as to sex, women, and children. The sickening fruitage from propagating the lies tells us who the father of such lies must be. (John 8:44) In view of this, genuine Christians who wish to maintain a clean relationship with their heavenly Father cannot have anything to do with pornography!

Other Perilous Attitudes

Various excuses are made to justify use or tolerance of pornography. You must see the danger in these excuses if you are to be immune to the harm that can be wrought by this plague.

‘Use of porn can enhance your married sex life.’ The reverse—degeneration—has resulted for many. Some, feeding on porn, are no longer able to enjoy normal sex lives. Fantasizing with lurid magazines, one husband went from forcing perversions on his wife to bisexual affairs. His wife plaintively asks: “[Why can] my husband have sex with magazines but not with me?” Another wife says that her husband stays up all night to watch TV porn, yet he ‘has no interest in normal sexual relations.’ In other cases, marriages disintegrated when husbands insisted on practicing the perversions seen in movies or magazines.

‘A little soft porn won’t hurt anyone.’ That is as deceptive as saying that ‘a little use of soft drugs won’t hurt anyone.’ A clinical psychologist explains: “I find there is an escalation factor in which the person increasingly wants to see and be exposed to more and more deviant obscene material . . . more explicit material to give the person his ‘kicks.’” Others agree, pointing to the present trend to more violent hard-core material.

‘There are some well-written articles on interesting topics in some of the better-class sex magazines. As long as I just read those and only admire the excellent photography, it won’t hurt me.’ But why look through a garbage can for wholesome food? And do not forget the real danger to “everyone that keeps on looking at a woman so as to have a passion for her.” (Matthew 5:28) As for the excellent photography, slick paper, and first-rate reproduction, remember, gold-plating a garbage can doesn’t change the contents.

Breaking Free From Porn Addiction

But what if you have a strong attachment to porn and find it hard to give it up? The psychologist quoted before also said: “I find that there is an addiction to pornography. The individual . . . gets ‘hooked’ . . . and comes back again and again for more.” Yet, as with other addictions, one can break free.

If you have the problem, an obvious first step is to stop feeding your mind on the filth itself, cutting off the source of contamination. (Matthew 5:29, 30) Yes, get rid of all the material that would be a temptation to resort to fantasizing. Would you tolerate an ancient phallic image in your home? Then why permit these modern expressions of sex worship there? Early Christians were quick to dispose of even costly items that posed a threat to their clean relationship with Jehovah.—Acts 19:19.

And, as with other addictions, to break free requires the addicted person humbly to admit that he has the problem, that he really wants to quit it, and then earnestly seek qualified help. The Christians just referred to were quite willing to seek help from mature believers of their time. (Acts 19:18) Your own sincere prayers and those of your spiritual brothers will provide a source of strength not available elsewhere.—James 5:13-16.

Flushing out the mind with clean waters of truth and keeping it filled with pure teaching that expresses the “perfect will of God” will make it possible for unhealthy mental images gradually to fade. In this way the circuits that would keep these mental images vivid and still infectious will be erased.—Romans 12:2; Ephesians 4:17-24.

Genuine love for God and neighbuor will help you break the porn habit as well as protect you from ever again becoming involved with it. Pornography is the message of modern sex worship. It stands for everything that is opposed to God and righteousness. It must be rejected outright. Avoid it like the plague it is!

There are those who advocate ignoring it as a passing thing that will cure itself when people get filled or bored with it. But is that the way to handle life-threatening filth? We do not fix a leaking cesspool by ignoring it, allowing it to overflow, hoping it will somehow heal itself. You must take action!

What Will You Do?

It may be true that not all are affected alike by such material. However, if we admit that the intent of such material and the reasons why it is viewed are not wholesome, then we have a conscientious decision to make, just as we would have with any other threat to our well-being. This plague must be resisted.

Face the fact that the porn plague is a reflection of the declining morals of our times as foretold in the Bible. (2 Timothy 3:1-6) History and experience tell us that despite laws and regulations, people who want pornographic material will find a way to make, distribute, and consume it.

Thus there are feminists who vehemently deplore exploitation and maltreatment of women by pornographers and porn addicts but who nevertheless will, at the same time, express reservations about a total ban on smut. They speak favourably of “erotica” for their own use that portrays what these feminists call “sexual expression between two people who desire each other and who have entered this relationship with mutual agreement.” Gay men also wish to reserve for themselves the right to make and view their own “victimless” homosexual pornography.—2 Peter 2:18, 19.

Obviously, if we listen to the self-serving excuses of these and others who are ‘sowing with a view to the flesh,’ we will soon get lost in a maze of hairsplitting philosophical arguments as to what is and what is not porn, erotica, and art. (Galatians 6:8) No matter what people call the material, when it displays for sexual arousal what the Bible calls unnatural and obscene—fornication, adultery, homosexuality, bestiality, incest, rape—then a Christian knows such is not fitting for him to view, since such should “not even be mentioned among” Christians.—Ephesians 5:3-5; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Leviticus 18:6-30.

From all the above, it should be clear that pornography must be included among those things “shameful even to relate.” It animalizes sex. So, “let no man deceive you with empty words, for because of the aforesaid things the wrath of God is coming . . . Therefore do not become partakers with them . . . Quit sharing with them in the unfruitful works that belong to the darkness, but, rather, even be reproving them.”—Ephesians 5:6-15.

Yes, successfully resist the plague of pornography by seeing it for what it is: a medium for sex worship. Vigorously reject it and its lies, uncleanness, and idolatry. Remember: “Those who practice such things will not inherit God’s kingdom.” True Christians have “impaled the flesh together with its passions and desires.” So, “keep walking by spirit and you will carry out no fleshly desire at all.” (Galatians 5:16-24) Succumbing to the porn plague means death, but doing God’s will means life.—1 John 2:15-17.

Friends, let’s now venture to the ‘obnoxious’ or rather a more controversial issue of human imperfection and masturbation. Masturbation was once quietly discussed only in private circles, as “secret sin” or “solitary vice.” Today it is fast becoming a common household word. Dictionaries describe it as ‘the act of rubbing one’s genital organs until excitement is climaxed by orgasm, but without intercourse.’ The modern “sexual revolution” with its “new morality” is largely responsible for making the practice popular, as the following sampling of current opinion shows.

A headline in the Chicago Daily News reads: “Masturbation Not Physically Harmful.” Beneath the bold half-inch-high letters it tells how a university professor of health urges teachers and youth counselors to help “dissipate the fears and anxieties” about the practice. It is also reported that a “prominent sex expert,” during a sex-education class in school, told the students to “go ahead and masturbate.” A pamphlet widely distributed in the classrooms of France recommends masturbation, saying it “can fill the emptiness of an hour’s class or a boring evening.”

Many religious leaders also encourage the practice. For example, a report overwhelmingly adopted by the General Assembly of the 3.1 million members of the United Presbyterian Church says, in part: “We find no evidence for any theological, psychological or medical strictures against masturbation per se. . . . There is even some argument for the positive values of masturbation.” In a film that the Methodists produced they too claim that masturbation ‘is a valuable alternative to intercourse.’ This movie shows explicitly how both males and females can masturbate.

Medical authorities generally take the same position. As one doctor says: “I stress the normalcy of masturbation, its universality, and its harmlessness.”

A MOST COMMON PRACTICE

In this age of promiscuity one must agree with the doctors about the general “universality” of masturbation. Look at the statistics: “Every serious statistical study that we have shows clearly that . . . at least ninety-five per cent of boys and young men between thirteen and twenty-five years of age pass through periods of habitual masturbation of varying lengths,” says one authority on the subject. As for girls, this source says that “forty to fifty per cent are found to actually masturbate.”

Some people say that these figures prove “normalcy,” and that the “absence of masturbation in a healthy youth is a matter of concern.”

Now what do you think? Do you agree that because it is a very common thing, almost a ‘universal’ practice, that this makes masturbation a natural, normal function of the body? Lying and stealing are exceptionally common today, as is the use of tobacco. Yet you would not say that this makes them natural and proper, would you? The “common” cold is quite universal but this certainly does not make it normal or natural, does it?

Then what about the claim that masturbation is harmless? Are the synonyms that have been used in the past—such as “self-defilement” and “self-abuse”—no longer valid? What are the facts?

WHAT ARE THE HABIT’S EFFECTS?

In the nineteenth century, and until relatively recently, it was thought that masturbation would ruin one’s physical health, causing such things as pasty complexion, exhaustion, insomnia, tuberculosis, sterility, feeblemindedness, deformity of the genitals and other physical harm. However, today it is well established that masturbation does not cause these things. Only in extreme cases where males masturbate excessively are they infertile or have semen of poor quality. One authority sums up the medical opinion, saying: “There is no scientific evidence that masturbation is biologically harmful.”

If not biologically harmful, what about the mental, emotional and moral health of the masturbator?

Quite significantly, the doctors who assure us that there is no physical harm nevertheless are obliged to discuss the mental and emotional damage caused by the practice. Says the Encyclopedia Americana: “The most modern attitude toward masturbation is that the deleterious effects so often observed . . . come not from any injury to the body but from the guilty feelings of those who abuse themselves and from the tendency it has to remove them from the true relations with their fellows.”

Of course, the claim is made that such feelings of guilt exist only because individuals from childhood have been trained to view masturbation as indecent. Many say these guilt feelings are unwarranted. But is that the case?

Most persons will acknowledge that, actually, few parents take the time or interest to discuss masturbation with their children. So, then, why is it that the young boy (or girl) who engages in masturbation for the first time nevertheless feels a sense of guilt, of self-accusation? Why is it that by far the majority who engage in the practice do so in a secret, furtive way?

Because masturbation is unnatural. Granted, small children have little concept of the sexual relationship of male and female. But with adolescence comes an inner awareness that tells the male his satisfaction of sexual desire is to be found in the female, and vice versa. Masturbation (like homosexuality) ignores or bypasses that natural arrangement. It is one form of leaving “the natural use of the female” for “one contrary to nature.” The vestige of God-given conscience that is inherent in all humans, therefore, makes itself heard in disapproving of such practice, causing an internal sense of guilt.—Compare Romans 1:26, 27; 2:14, 15.

So, while many psychiatrists and doctors make it appear that guilt feelings about masturbation are attributable entirely to one’s ‘social indoctrination and upbringing,’ the opposite may well be the case. That is, it is more likely that, where there is an absence of such feeling of guilt, this is due to the individual’s previously having been influenced by others to believe that the practice of masturbation is really “all right,” “normal,” even “beneficial.” In reality modern propaganda tries to stifle or undermine God-given conscience.

Because the practice is one “contrary to nature,” the masturbator pays a mental penalty. The habitual practice cripples his social and emotional development, hinders his attaining a healthful outlook and attitude toward the other sex and toward people in general. It can ‘turn the person inward’ upon himself, making him introverted. Or it can, and frequently does, lead into homosexuality, in which the person, not satisfied with his lonely sexual activity, seeks a partner for mutual sex play. Though speaking of the ‘normality’ of masturbation, medical and psychiatric authorities are obliged to recognize the frequency with which habitual masturbation becomes a real hindrance to a happy and contented marriage later in life. The facts show that it is not uncommon for the practice to persist after marriage to the point where the masturbator feels obliged to seek psychiatric help. Why so, if the practice is “normal,” “natural” and “beneficial”?

However, to view the matter with greater insight, it is helpful to understand certain things about the way we humans are formed—physically, mentally and emotionally.

HOW WE ARE MADE

During adolescence, as the boy or girl develops sexually into an adult, many changes take place in the body. Hormones, secreted by the pituitary gland, gonads and other glands, are at work causing these changes. For a boy, this causes his testicles to begin producing sperm cells. These pass into a tube and from there into internal storage vessels known as the seminal vesicles, alongside the bladder. When these storage vessels are full, the sexual interest of the male may be more susceptible to stimulation.

It is natural therefore for a healthy, normal male to feel a measure of sexual ‘drive.’ The marriage arrangement provides the means for satisfying such sexual desire. But what of those not married? Is masturbation the only means—short of fornication—for relieving the pressure of such desire? And if masturbation is not indulged in, will the buildup of semen have some damaging effect?

The answer to these questions is, No. There are other ways to reduce or relieve sexual pressure. One is “sublimation”—that is, redirecting the pressure toward various physical and mental activities. Thus the growing boy and young man can keep busy and happy working hard in various projects and personal hobbies.

What of the buildup of semen in the body? There is no danger of this reaching the point of causing any physical damage. And, in reality, sexual interest is governed far more by what the individual entertains in his mind. Then, too, the male body normally reduces the amount of semen through periodic nocturnal or nighttime emissions during sleep. Less than 5 percent of nineteen-year-old boys, for example, are said not to experience these. (Though one does not have such emissions, this does not necessarily indicate any sexual deformity.) What occurs with the average male is that, during the night as the bladder fills with urine, pressure develops on the adjoining seminal vesicles. This may periodically trigger an involuntary emission of semen during one’s sleep.

Explaining why such nocturnal emissions are called “wet dreams,” and are often accompanied by irrational, strange and absurd dreaming, sociology professor Herbert J. Miles writes:

“The increasing need for emptying the bladder causes the person to move gradually out of sleep where the conscious mind is at rest toward active mental consciousness, that is waking. During this gradual shift from sleep toward waking the mind is in a kind of ‘twilight zone’ in which the subconscious mind is operating. Ideas and thoughts are mixed, confused, and may move swiftly from one idea, experience, or act to another. These fumbled, topsy-turvy, indiscriminate ideas may involve sexual thoughts or activities that would not be tolerated if the conscious mind were directing thought.”—Sexual Understanding Before Marriage, pp. 160, 161.

There is no need, then, for the individual to feel guilty because of such emissions or the dreams contributing to them—unless he knows that he had been letting his thoughts dwell immorally or in an unhealthy way on sexual matters.

But, is not masturbation more effective and satisfying in relieving sexual tension than these nocturnal emissions?

No; for instead of a simple and immediate release of tension, the masturbator finds that his whole nervous system is thrown into a high state of excitement as tension is built up due to the self-stimulation. Afterward this may leave him with a feeling of nervous frustration and dissatisfaction. Yet he soon has a compelling desire to repeat the act. It is a vicious cycle that is hard to break and that gives no genuine satisfaction.

That masturbation is abnormal and unnatural is also indicated by the fact that abnormal, mentally deranged people are notorious masturbators. Somewhat similarly, The Bremerton Sun (Washington) states that many mentally disturbed priests and nuns are chronic masturbators.

THE CHRISTIAN’S VIEW OF MASTURBATION

It is general knowledge that today people of the world, including a large percentage of churchgoers, being “past all moral sense,” encourage and recommend the unnatural practice of masturbation. (Eph. 4:19) In striking contrast, true Christians seek to learn and follow what God’s Word the Bible says on matters of sex and morals. True, the words “masturbation” and “self-abuse” are not in the Bible. The Mosaic law speaks of “emission of semen,” but as Bible commentators point out, the reference is to involuntary nocturnal emissions, not self-induced ejaculations. (Lev. 15:16) However, there are Bible principles that adequately cover the subject of masturbation.

For example, Colossians 3:5, 6 says: “Deaden, therefore, your body members that are upon the earth as respects fornication, uncleanness, sexual appetite, hurtful desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these things the wrath of God is coming.” As we have seen, masturbation is indeed a “hurtful desire.” It is also “uncleanness,” for it is an immoral practice, and this explains why the masturbator generally is ashamed of himself and hides his repugnant act from the sight of others.

The Christian apostle Paul’s counsel is right to the point: “God called us, not with allowance for uncleanness, but in connection with sanctification.” And again he writes: “Therefore, since we have these promises, beloved ones, let us cleanse ourselves of every defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in God’s fear.”—1 Thess. 4:7; 2 Cor. 7:1.

What about the “sexual appetite” of the masturbator? Is it ‘deadened’? Or does he constantly feed and enliven his sexual craving, yes, even to the point of “planning ahead for the desires of the flesh,” contrary to the Bible’s advice?—Rom. 13:14.

The scripture mentions that “covetousness, which is idolatry,” should also be ‘deadened.’ This would apply here, for the masturbator’s affection is diverted away from the Creator and is bestowed upon a coveted object, in this case his genitals, which take on undue importance. This practice then could border on idolatry, as in the ancient practice of phallic worship so hated by God. Instead of being devoted ‘whole-souled to Jehovah’ (Col. 3:23), the person can become a slave to his fleshly sexual impulses, desires and appetite and make these the object of his devotion. “Such men,” the apostle says, “are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own base passions,” “their appetites are their god.”—Rom. 16:18; Phil. 3:19, An American Translation.

“Autoerotism” literally means self-love or erotic love of oneself. It is another term that fittingly applies to masturbation, for the persistent practice causes a person’s thoughts to be turned inward so that he becomes self-centred and selfish, with problems in trying to relate himself to others. For this reason some psychologists have labelled self-gratifying masturbation as narcissism, after the Greek mythological god Narcissus, who fell in love with his own image, to his destruction. Did not the Bible warn that “men will be lovers of themselves” in these “last days”?—2 Tim. 3:1, 2.

Cultivating singleness as “eunuchs on account of the kingdom of the heavens” has many advantages in this time of the end. (Matt. 19:12; 1 Cor. 7:32-38) But let no one think that resorting to masturbation is the way to do this. Rather, self-control is the key to making a success of singleness. ‘Without self-control, let them marry,’ is still the best advice.—1 Cor. 7:9.

‘But won’t suppressing sexual emotions damage my personality and wreck my nervous system?’ someone may ask. Answers the book Why Wait Till Marriage?: “There is no evidence that self-control hurts your sex life. . . . It is the fellow or the girl who goes around with his emotions all unbuttoned who is in the greatest danger. The self-controlled person can bear to wait.” And this is no great problem if one has God’s spirit, for the fruitage of the spirit includes “self-control.” With self-control the Christian can avoid all forms of self-abuse, and in turn reap many dividends—mental, emotional and spiritual benefits that are far more satisfying than the death-dealing “works of the flesh.”—Gal. 5:19-23.

But how does this habit that bothers the conscience of so many people ever get a hold on them in the first place?

PREVENTION AND CURE

If one understands the cause, it is easier to implement the prevention and cure of a bad habit. Did you know, for example, that mothers and fathers who stroke the genitals of their fretful babies to keep them quiet are unwittingly encouraging them to become masturbators later on? Boys and girls may start to play with their private parts during puberty and, not receiving any counsel against this, the first thing they know they are “hooked” on the habit. And if some know nothing about such self-abuse before entering high school, the chances are they will learn of it from either fellow students or the teachers themselves.

Investigations indicate that a high percentage of masturbation is not due so much from a buildup in erotic pressure as from the same kinds of tension and anxiety that cause insomnia. Youths and many older people who are tense with emotional difficulties resort to masturbation as an escape route from their physical and emotional discomforts—a sort of pacifier or tranquilizer, they think, to take their minds off their worries. So, too, persons suffering from boredom, unemployed persons and prisoners, especially if they have been on drugs, often masturbate.

By avoiding these things that cause and encourage the practice, a person goes a long way toward preventing the tenacious habit from getting started in the first place. But what can the thousands of persons who now have the habit do to break it?

Many things are suggested. Avoid keeping company either with pornographic literature or with those who have loose morals. Stay busy working hard, physically and mentally. Do not let problems build up tensions, which cause anxieties that depress the mind. This is not too difficult if one follows the Bible’s counsel at Matthew 6:25, 33 and at Philippians 4:8. Never be a “loner,” seeking to isolate yourself. So, at night-time arrange to share a bedroom with other members of the family. Sleep on the side, not on the back or stomach. These are a few suggestions for arranging the daily routine.

However, one can never hope to break the habit without having a heartfelt desire to quit. As long as “the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes” are stronger than one’s desire to please Jehovah, it is difficult to stop. (1 John 2:16; compare James 1:14, 15.) Once having a genuine desire to break free of the undesirable habit, arm yourself further with these all-important weapons—willpower, determination and self-control—if you hope to win the battle. Then, too, prayer cannot be overlooked, for Jehovah promises to help those asking for help in handling all our problems.—Phil. 4:13; Col. 4:2; 1 Pet. 4:7.

Some persons find it most difficult to discontinue the habit abruptly. So, when they occasionally relapse—usually in a state of semiconscious sleep—they develop deep feelings of guilt and of being unworthy of Jehovah’s mercy. For these reasons it is not only helpful but often advisable to seek the aid and encouragement of a Christian elder. When a girl has the problem she may want to approach either an elder or a mature, respected Christian sister for help.—Titus 2:2-4.

Another motivating force to help one to break the habit may be the desire to be of greater service in the Christian congregation. If a man is “reaching out” for such privilege he should note that one of the requirements for Christian eldership is ‘self-control.’ (1 Tim. 3:1; Titus 1:8) If a man regularly and habitually masturbates, could he measure up to such standards? True, one who already occupies such position may have a temporary bout with the problem and, if he fights it and gains the victory, he need not feel disqualified. But the habitual practicer of masturbation, lacking self-control, is in danger of succumbing to still more serious wrongs. He is hardly in position to serve as ‘an example to the flock.’ (1 Pet. 5:2, 3) Desire to be of loving service to God and one’s brother, then, can also aid one to free oneself from the practice of self-abuse.

So my dear friend, as you can see, I tried to cover as many topics as possible that affect all imperfect persons and have tried to come with meaningful solutions. I know that there are many topics out there that I cannot fit in right now, but requires more time and space. But I’ve tried to cover as many topics as possible, especially those that were close to my heart, not saying that others are not that important. However, I do understand that you also have many questions to ask me. You see friends, I did not only content myself by raising questions, but I also tried to find an amicable answer to suit your moral needs. So, trying to identify in detail what human imperfection exactly entails is one thing, and trying to address the problems associated with it is another. So the source or root needs to be identified and clarified and the symptoms or consequences treated.

But so far I think you must be the happiest person ever in finding such a wealth of rich information, aren’t you friend? Oh yes, I see you nodding your head in agreement! Thank you my friend for feeling this way, I also feel happy to give or share such information with you. Shoo! It hasn’t been easy gathering all this information just for you, as I had to edit, modify, cut, paste, mix and try to make it ‘perfect,’ just for you. I know the word ‘perfect’ excites great interest in you. Writing or preparing this book is interesting in all corners. For every word I say, it triggers something else. How nice! I just told myself that writing this book will end when I see the pit, if not, it will continue until I attain to full real perfection in Christ millennial reign, and then it’s topic will be null and void cause we would all have attained to real relative perfection and thereby no-longer needing to analyse human imperfection and it’s consequences as we do presently. Ah! I can’t wait for that blissful time. This book will be thrown away just like how a person who would have recovered eyesight will throw away correcting glasses. Let thy kingdom come, yes let it come, Andronicus has reiterated!

Right friend, now is your time to take a breather, go outside, take a stroll, drink some water, stretch your arms and fingers and don’t let the weight of this book to contract your muscles. Take a gasp and spend a little time with those in the house now, so that you can regain mental powers and come back more energetic. I’ll welcome you gladly when you’ve returned. Okay, thank you for obeying such simple rules.

Right friend, after a short interval and some aspirin if you took some, now let’s brace our minds for yet further adventure. What can you tell me, or is it me again who should initiate some on-going topic? Ah friend, I know that by the time you took a break you thought of some interesting avenue of exploration, now it’s just that you can’t whisper it to me. Okay fine, that’s not a problem, let’s your lovely author do something about this. Okay, let me assume that you were thinking of the cyber-world, that how does human imperfection relate to it since you make no physical contact with such persons yet some stimuli generated may be real, whether for good of for bad. Well, to some extent this can make perfect sense as we can also somehow refer or relate to God as being in a ‘greater cyber world’ now that he is real and yet able to interact with mankind in his invisible state or that which is not tangible.

Ok, what exactly do you want to know about this ‘world’ friend? Do you want to know whether is it proper or improper to use the internet or do you want to know how expansive or damaging human imperfection is in this field of interaction? Ok, let’s see what we can find out for you or deduce in your case. Okay friend I found your piece of info remedy. Now read more carefully friend.

The invention of printing, centuries ago, changed the way in which people communicate with one another. The invention of the Internet in modern times has been compared to that. This practical tool has been called a global tool of communication, and rightly so. As you travel down the “information superhighway,” you can pick up facts, statistics, and opinions on a wide variety of subjects.

The ability to communicate is a wonderful gift from our Creator. It enables us to exchange ideas and share information with others. Jehovah was the first to communicate with his human family, providing clear, unambiguous information on how to lead a meaningful life. (Gen. 1:28-30) As made evident by what happened early in human history, however, the gift of communication can be misused. Satan gave utterly false information to Eve. She accepted what he said and passed it on to Adam, who led humankind into a course of calamity.—Gen. 3:1-6; Rom. 5:12.

What can be said about using the Internet? While the Internet can provide valuable information, save us time, and serve a useful function, it can also misinform us, consume an inordinate amount of our time, and corrupt us morally. Let us consider how we can use this global tool to our benefit.

Information—Reliable or False?

Never assume that all information found on the Internet is good and beneficial. Internet search engines might be compared to a legion of mushroom pickers who tirelessly collect all types of mushrooms—edible as well as poisonous—throwing them into a single container and dishing them out for us to eat. Would you start eating these mushrooms without carefully examining each one? Of course not! Internet search engines use a huge number of computers to harvest or select from billions of Web pages containing everything from the very best to the very worst. We need discernment to separate the wheat from the chaff, as it were, lest we poison our minds with misinformation.

In 1993 a well-known magazine had a cartoon showing two dogs in front of a computer. One dog explains to the other: “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.” Long ago, Satan hid behind a serpent to start a “chat” with Eve and told her that she could be like God. Today, anyone with an Internet connection can become a desktop professor, pretending to be in the know, without even revealing his name. And there are no rules on who can publish ideas, information, images, and suggestions.

Do not become an “Internet Eve.” Be critical and suspicious of the information. Before trusting it, ask: (1) Who published this material? What are the author’s credentials? (2) Why was this published? What motivated the writer? Is there any bias? (3) Where did the author get the information? Does he supply sources that can be checked? (4) Is the information current? In the first century, the apostle Paul gave Timothy advice that applies with equal force today. Paul wrote: “Guard what is laid up in trust with you, turning away from the empty speeches that violate what is holy and from the contradictions of the falsely called ‘knowledge.’”—1 Tim. 6:20.

Saves Time or Takes Time?

If used wisely, the Internet can undoubtedly save us time, energy, and funds. We can conveniently buy something without leaving home. Comparing prices may help us save money. Online banking has made the life of many people easier; financial matters can be handled at any time in the comfort of our home. The Internet provides essential tools to work out a convenient and economical itinerary for a trip we may be planning and helps us make the necessary bookings. With a little effort, we can look up phone numbers, addresses, and various ways to get to our intended destination. Worldwide, branch offices of Jehovah’s Witnesses use many of these services to save time, personnel, and funds.

There is, however, a dark side to be considered. It concerns the amount of time that using the Internet may consume. For some, the Internet has become a fascinating toy instead of a helpful tool. They spend excessive amounts of time playing, shopping, chatting, e-mailing, searching, and surfing. Eventually, they may start to neglect the more important things involving family, friends, and congregation. The Internet can even become addictive. For example, an estimate published in 2010 indicated that 18.4 percent of Korean adolescents were affected by Internet addiction. German researchers stated that “more and more women are complaining about the addiction [of] their partners.” One woman complained that dependence on the Internet has changed her husband dramatically to the point that it has destroyed their marriage.

A branch office of Jehovah’s Witnesses received a letter from an individual who called himself an Internet junkie. He sometimes spent up to ten hours a day on the Internet. After remarking that “at first, it all seemed so innocent,” he added: “In time, my meeting attendance dwindled and I stopped praying.” When he went to the meetings, he was unprepared and his mind was at home longing to “be able to log on again.” Happily, he realized the seriousness of the problem and took measures to correct it. May we never get to the point that using the Internet has become an addiction for us.

Information—Worthy or Not?

At 1 Thessalonians 5:21, 22, we read: “Make sure of all things; hold fast to what is fine. Abstain from every form of wickedness.” We need to determine whether the information we find on the Internet is worthy of God’s approval, meeting his high standards. It should be morally unobjectionable and appropriate for a Christian. Internet pornography has become especially pervasive, and if we are not careful, it can easily lure us into its trap.

We are wise to ask ourselves, ‘Is what I see on the screen something I would quickly hide from my mate, my parents, or my Christian brothers if they entered the room?’ If the answer is yes, we would do well to use the Internet only when others are present. The Internet has indeed changed the way we communicate and shop. In addition, it has opened up a completely new way to ‘commit adultery in our heart.’—Matt. 5:27, 28.

To Forward or Not to Forward?

Using the Internet includes getting information as well as distributing it. Though we have the freedom to obtain and pass on information, we also have the responsibility to ascertain its truthfulness and morality. Can we vouch for the accuracy of what we write or forward to others? Do we have permission to pass the information on? Is it worthwhile and upbuilding? What are our motives in making it available? Do we want to do so simply to impress others?

If used properly, e-mail can be a blessing. It can also flood us with information. Are we overloading others by broadcasting the latest news or trivia to long lists of acquaintances, perhaps consuming their valuable time? Should we not examine our motives before we hit the send button? What do we really want to accomplish? People used to write letters to share their own experiences with family and friends, keeping them up-to-date with what was going on in their life. Should this not be the focus of our e-mail? Why pass on to others something we cannot verify?

So, then, what should we do with regard to the Internet? Shun it altogether? That may be necessary in some cases. The Internet junkie mentioned earlier did that in order to overcome years of addiction. On the other hand, using the Internet can benefit us, provided we let ‘thinking ability keep guard over us and discernment safeguard us.’—Prov. 2:10, 11.

Okay friend, let’s think of part two now on the matter of internet and it’s usage, and see what we learn further. Think about this, in a remote village in India, a farmer checks the price of soybeans in Chicago, U.S.A., to determine the best time to sell his crop. At the same moment, a pensioner smiles as she reads an E-mail from her grandson, a traveller sees the weather forecast at his destination, and a mother finds helpful material for her child’s homework—all through the Internet. With an estimated 600 million people connected worldwide, the Internet revolution has transformed the way the world communicates and does business.

Especially has the younger generation, sometimes called the Cyber Generation, embraced the Internet. Increasingly, students use it to replace the library as a primary source of news and research. “In a nutshell, these students are . . . virtually 100 percent connected,” said Deanna L. Tillisch, director of a study involving college seniors in the United States. Yes, the Internet is a valuable tool in our modern society.

Generally, the more powerful a tool is, the more dangerous it can be. A gas-powered chain saw can accomplish far more than a handsaw; yet, it must be used carefully. The Internet is likewise extremely powerful and useful, but we must exercise caution when using it, as it also poses serious dangers. Concern about these dangers has caused more than 40 member nations of the Council of Europe to draft an international treaty aimed at the protection of society against cybercrime.

Why all the concern? What are some of the dangers that are of particular concern to Christians? Should they cause you to avoid using the Internet? What guidance does the Bible provide?

Need for Caution

Centuries ago, the Bible warned of dangers posed by evil men described as “master[s] at evil ideas” and “scheming to do bad.” (Proverbs 24:8) The prophet Jeremiah described them as “wicked men” whose “houses are full of deception.” Like birdcatchers, they “set a ruinous trap” to catch men and “gain riches.” (Jeremiah 5:26, 27) Technology has provided modern-day “wicked men” with deceptive traps of new dimensions. Let us consider some schemes that can present grave dangers for Christians.

Internet pornography is a 2.5-billion-dollar-a-year industry. The number of pornographic Web pages has grown at the explosive rate of nearly 1,800 percent over the past five years. It is estimated that there are currently over 260 million of such pages, and the number continues to grow at an unprecedented rate. “Pornography is becoming so prevalent on the Internet that it is now difficult to avoid unwanted exposure, and this makes cybersex addiction more likely,” said Dr. Kimberly S. Young, executive director of the Center for On-Line Addiction.

The Bible tells us that “each one is tried by being drawn out and enticed by his own desire.” (James 1:14) Viewing anyone with a computer as a potential victim, peddlers of pornography employ a variety of tactics to appeal to each one’s “own desire,” that is, “the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes.” (1 John 2:16) Their intent is to entice—or as Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words explains, “to lure by a bait”—unsuspecting Internet users whom they “try to seduce.”—Proverbs 1:10.

Like wicked men in Bible times, pornographers frequently employ deception. It is estimated that as part of an aggressive effort to attract new customers, some two billion pornographic E-mails are sent each day. Often the unsolicited E-mails have subject lines that make them appear harmless. However, opening one can launch a barrage of immoral images that is difficult to stop. Requests to be removed from the mailing list may result in a deluge of further unsolicited pornographic messages.

A birdcatcher carefully places seeds along a path. An unsuspecting bird pecks at one tasty seed after another until snap! the trap is sprung. Similarly, curiosity leads some to nibble at sexually stimulating imagery. And the viewers hope that no one is watching them. Finding it arousing, some return to this exciting and powerful imagery with increasing frequency. Shame and guilt may plague them. In time, what was once shocking becomes ordinary. For those inclined to view pornography, the Internet is like fertilizer that causes desires rapidly to grow into sinful actions. (James 1:15) Eventually such individuals may develop “a ‘dark side’ whose core is anti-social lust devoid of most values,” reports Dr. Victor Cline, a clinical psychologist who has treated hundreds of patients who were caught in this snare.

The Dangers of Chat Rooms

Internet chat rooms can be time wasters and are increasingly associated with relationship breakdowns. Expressing frustration over the amount of time his wife spends on-line, one man wrote: “When she gets in from work, the PC goes on and it can be five or more hours before she logs off. Our marriage is suffering as a result.” Yes, time spent on the Internet is time spent away from your mate and family.

Angela Sibson, chief executive of the marriage guidance service Relate, says that the Internet “is a gateway to other relationships. They can be very potent and break up existing relationships.” What starts as a friendly on-line conversation in a chat room can quickly become something more serious. Intent on engaging in immoral relations, those “cunning of heart” use “smoothness of the tongue” to tell potential victims what they want to hear. (Proverbs 6:24; 7:10) Nicola, a 26-year-old victim from the United Kingdom, explains: “It was like a love bombardment. He kept saying how wonderful I was and I fell for it.” Dr. Al Cooper, editor of Sex and the Internet: A Guidebook for Clinicians, says that we need to “warn people about the slippery slope that starts with online flirting and too often ends in divorce.”

Children are even more vulnerable to exploitation and harm by “computer-sex offenders.” Using “crookedness of speech” and “deviousness of lips,” pedophiles target inexperienced children. (Proverbs 4:24; 7:7) Engaging in a practice known as grooming, they shower the child with attention, affection, and kindness to make the youngster feel special. They seem to know everything a child is interested in, including that one’s favourite music and hobbies. Minor problems at home are accentuated in order to drive a wedge between the child and his or her family. To fulfil their evil desires, predators may even send their target victim a ticket to travel cross-country. The results are frightening.

Bible Principles Can Safeguard You

After assessing the dangers, some people have concluded that it is better for them to avoid using the Internet altogether. However, it must be acknowledged that only a small percentage of sites on the Internet pose a danger and that most users have not experienced serious problems.

Thankfully, the Scriptures provide guidance to “safeguard” us from danger. We are encouraged to acquire knowledge, wisdom, and thinking ability. Such qualities will ‘keep guard over us’ to ‘deliver us from the bad way.’ (Proverbs 2:10-12) “But wisdom itself—from where does it come?” asked God’s ancient servant Job. The answer? “The fear of Jehovah—that is wisdom.”—Job 28:20, 28.

“The fear of Jehovah,” which “means the hating of bad,” is the basis for developing godly attributes. (Proverbs 1:7; 8:13; 9:10) Love and reverence for God, along with a healthy respect for his power and authority, result in our hating and avoiding the bad things he hates. Clear thinking ability, coupled with godly knowledge, helps us recognize dangers that can poison our mind, heart, and spirituality. We come to abhor selfish and greedy attitudes that can wreck our family and destroy our relationship with Jehovah.

So if you use the Internet, be aware of the dangers. Be resolved to keep God’s commandments, and avoid flirting with trouble. (1 Chronicles 28:7) Then, if Internet dangers confront you, you will wisely flee from them.—1 Corinthians 6:18.

Friends, now let’s try to think of human imperfection as exhibited in organizational or religious institutions as we did earlier on in the book but with greater elevation this time.

The truth is that everyone needs hope. So, hope springs eternal in the human breast.” So said the English bard Alexander Pope in his “Essay on Man.” Two thousand years earlier Greek poet Theocritus put it this way: “There is hope as long as one is alive.” Much earlier still the Jewish wise man Solomon wrote: “For a man who is counted among the living there is still hope.”—Eccl. 9:4, The New English Bible.

Yes, men of all sorts have at all times needed hope. Today, there are millions who say that the only hope is a better world through Communism. They believe that revolutionary changes will bring in better times for the masses. They quote French Communist martyr Gabriel Péri in saying that, thanks to Communism, future generations will experience “happy tomorrows.” True, many people have seen the disappointing results achieved by governments that follow Marxist principles and have become disillusioned. Nevertheless, Communism is still the “hope” of millions among mankind who are seeking a world of social justice.

The Koran offers some half billion Muslims the hope of everlasting bliss in a paradise called “the Garden,” where the blessed will enjoy luxuries in their resurrected bodies. Many Muslims even hope for a millennium or 1,000-year reign of peace on earth before Judgment Day. Those rejected by Allah will be cast into “the Hot Place” for everlasting torment.

The hope of the hundreds of millions of Hindus and Buddhists is to attain the goal of Nirvana. For the Hindus, this represents literally a “blowing out” or extinction of the flame of life through absorption into Brahman or the impersonal universal soul. For the Buddhists, Nirvana is “the state of perfect blessedness achieved by the extinction of individual existence and by the absorption of the soul into the supreme spirit.”

Then for the hundreds of millions of people who claim to be Christians, hope is said to be one of the three “theological virtues,” together with faith and love. Of these three virtues, M’Clintock and Strong’s Cyclopædia states: “Faith is the root, love the fruit-bearing stem, and hope the heaven-reaching crown of the tree of Christian life.”

Agreeing with this Protestant work that hope for members of Christendom’s churches means going to heaven, The Catholic Encyclopedia says, under “Hope”: “[Hope] is defined to be a Divine virtue by which we confidently expect, with God’s help, to reach eternal felicity . . . All of this is intelligible only on the basis, which we take for granted, that there is such a thing as the supernatural order, and that the only realizable ultimate destiny of man in the present providence of God lies in that order. . . . hope has as its main object union with God in heaven.” (Italics ours)

So for Catholics and most Protestants the only hope set before them is “eternal felicity . . . in heaven.” If that fails, there is no hope whatsoever. Says A Catholic Dictionary: “The damned in hell cannot hope, for they can have no expectation of salvation.” The notice Dante imagined posted above the gates of hell read: “All hope abandon, ye who enter here.”

But is the alternative for all those who believe in God and Christ either “eternal felicity” in heaven or a hopeless state of eternal punishment in “hell”? Since Christianity’s roots sink deep into the Bible, how do the Scriptures define the Christian hope and any alternative punishment?

Furthermore, since the millions of people fascinated by Communism are obviously not lured by the “heavenly bliss” held out as the only hope by the churches of Christendom, could it be that the Bible offers such people—not for the brief span of a lifetime, but for eternity—the very hope they think they have found in Communism, namely, a world of “social and economic equality for all” in a “classless society”?

Could it even be that the Bible holds out to the millions of Muslims a hope that is similar to the paradise “Garden” offered them by the Koran, but without the danger of ending up in “the Hot Place”?

And what of the hundreds of millions of practicers of certain Oriental religions who have been taught that all material existence means suffering and for whom, therefore, life on earth is evil? Would these people seek to cancel out their individual existence in Nirvana if they could convince themselves that life on earth was never meant to be a time of suffering such as they have known? Might the Bible not be able to change their outlook on life and give them a hope that corresponds more to the natural yearnings of intelligent humans?

With these questions in mind, let us examine the Bible and religious history to see if the only hope offered to mankind is that of “going to heaven.” And since, according to the Bible, mankind was given a hope even before the founding of Christianity, let us first go back and see what hope the ancient Jews had.

Well, today there is little to choose among the hopes and the fears of the average Catholic, Protestant or Jew. They nearly all believe in the inherent immortality of the human soul and in its related beliefs of heavenly bliss in an ethereal world, or eternal torment in some kind of “hell.”

Since the religions of Christendom claim kinship with the monotheism of the Jews and accept the Jewish Scriptures as inspired, it will be interesting to see if the present-day hopes of Jews and those of “Christians” correspond with the hope set forth in the Hebrew Scriptures and with the early beliefs of the Jews.

THE MESSIANIC HOPE

On the basis of such scriptures as Genesis 3:15; 22:15-18; 49:10 and Deuteronomy 18:18, to cite only four of the 456 Hebrew Bible texts considered by the ancient Jewish Synagogue to be Messianic, what exactly were the Jews expecting? What was their hope?

An authoritative Jewish reference work provides the following information: “ . . . the idea of a personal Messiah runs through the Old Testament. It is the natural outcome of the prophetic future hope. The first prophet to give a detailed picture of the future ideal king was Isaiah (ix. 1-6 [2-7 in non-Jewish Bibles], xi. 1-10, xxxii. 1-5). . . . The ideal king to whom Isaiah looks forward will be a scion [offspring] of the stock of Jesse, on whom will rest the spirit of God as a spirit of wisdom, valour, and religion, and who will rule in the fear of God, his loins girt with righteousness and faithfulness (xi. 1-3a, 5). He will not engage in war or in the conquest of nations; the paraphernalia of war will be destroyed (ix. 4 [5]); his sole concern will be to establish justice among his people (ix. 6b [7b]; xi. 3b, 4). The fruit of his righteous government will be peace and order throughout the land. The lamb will not dread the wolf, nor will the leopard harm the kid (xi. 8 [6]); that is, as the following verse explains, tyranny and violence will no longer be practised on God’s holy mountain, for the land will be full of the knowledge of God as the water covers the sea (comp. xxxii. 1, 2, 16). The people will not aspire to political greatness, but will lead a pastoral life (xxxii. 18, 20). Under such ideal conditions the country can not but prosper, nor need it fear attack from outside nations (ix. 6a [7a], xxxii. 15). The newly risen scion of Jesse will stand forth as a beacon to other nations, and they will come to him for guidance and arbitration (xi. 10). He will rightly be called ‘Wonderful Counselor,’ ‘Godlike Hero,’ ‘Constant Father,’ ‘Prince of Peace’ (ix. 5 [6]).

“This picture of the future fully accords with Isaiah’s view, that the judgment will lead to a spiritual regeneration and bring about a state of moral and religious perfection.”—The Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. 8 page 506.

So much for the Messianic hope given to the Jews in the Holy Scriptures. There was certainly nothing very “heavenly” about it! But what of the non-Biblical Jewish writings? The same reference work states a little farther on: “In the rabbinical apocalyptic literature the conception of an earthly Messiah is the prevailing one, and from the end of the first century of the common era it is also the one officially accepted by Judaism.”—Page 510.

AN EARTHLY HOPE

Thus, the original hope of the Jews was an earthly one. There is no Scriptural evidence that their faithful ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob hoped to go to heaven. The Law given through Moses offered no such hope. The same can be said of the poetical books of the Hebrew Scriptures and the Prophets.

To this effect, the authoritative Dictionnaire de Théologie Catholique states: “Observe in the Old Testament all the temporal prosperity that the religious person hoped for, on the basis of God’s promises to him, his family and his country. In addition, he had the hope of spiritual and moral gifts, the hope of the coming of the Messiah and of his kingdom.” (Italics ours)

The Protestant Dictionnaire Encyclopédique de la Bible confirms this. We read: “The hopes set out in the O. T. [Old Testament] were developed gradually. They start with earthly benefits, political restoration and resettlement of the inhabitants. . . . That hope developed and became universal. Jehovah is the Master of the world. . . . The ‘Eternal’s Servant’ will come; by his suffering and his humiliation he will save his people. Isaiah 42:1-4 shows that the world hopes in his teaching. Then will come the glory of the Eternal’s Servant, the Messianic era and a renewed humankind.” (Italics ours)

This earthly hope of the Jews is nicely summed up in The Jewish Encyclopedia, as follows: “ . . . the Prophets developed the hope of an ideal Messianic future through the reign of a son of the house of David—the golden age of paradisiacal bliss . . . It would come in the form of a world of perfect peace and harmony among all creatures, the angelic state of man before his sin (Isa. xi. 1-10, lxv. 17-25: ‘new heavens and a new earth’). . . . ‘the conversion of all creatures to become one single band to do God’s will’ is the foremost object of Israel’s Messianic hope; only the removal of ‘the kingdom of violence’ must precede the establishment of God’s kingdom. . . . The Perso-Babylonian world-year of twelve millenniums, however, was transformed in Jewish eschatology [study of the ultimate destiny of mankind and the world] into a world-week of seven millenniums corresponding with the week of Creation, the verse ‘A thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday’ (Ps. xc. 5 [A.V.4]) having suggested the idea that the present world of toil (‘‘olam ha-zeh’) is to be followed by a Sabbatical millennium, ‘the world to come’ (‘‘olam ha-ba′’ . . . ).”—Vol. 5, pages 209-211. (Italics ours)

RESURRECTION, NOT INHERENT IMMORTALITY

For centuries the Jews did not share the pagan belief in the immortality of the human soul. The Jews were an educated people, and any literate Jew could read scores of texts in the Hebrew Scriptures that state in no uncertain terms that the “soul” (Hebrew, ne′phesh) can die. Here are just a few: Genesis 19:19, 20; Numbers 23:10; Joshua 2:13, 14; Psalm 22:29 (verse 30 in Jewish Bibles); Ezekiel 18:4, 20.

So the early Jewish hope of life on earth in a paradise restored by the Messiah rested on the belief in the resurrection, not in inherent immortality. The Jewish Encyclopedia confirms this, stating: “Resurrection formed part of the Messianic hope (Isa. xxvi. 19; Dan. xii. 2). . . . At first resurrection was regarded as a miraculous boon granted only to the righteous . . . , but afterward it was considered to be universal in application and connected with the Last Judgment . . . Whether the process of the formation of the body at the Resurrection is the same as at birth is a matter of dispute between the Hillelites and Shammaites.”—Vol. 5, page 216.

This same authoritative Jewish reference work states concerning “Gehenna” (Christendom’s “hell”): “There is no Scriptural basis for the belief in retribution for the soul after death; this was supplied by the Babylonians and Persians, and received a Jewish coloring from the word ‘Gehinnom’ (the valley of Hinnom), made detestable by the fires of the Moloch sacrifices of Manasseh (II Kings xxiii. 10).”—Ibid., page 217.

So how is it that today Jewish theologians generally teach the doctrines of inherent immortality and of eternal punishment? The Supplément au Dictionnaire de la Bible supplies us with the following information: “[For the Jews] Salvation was first thought of as being on earth . . . ; however bright the Messianic hope was and however long the future reign was due to be—some even appearing to believe that it would be everlasting—the national and earthly nature of that religious era was fundamental. Then a new prospect asserted itself: the ‘discovery’ of a happy existence after death.” (Italics ours)

How did the Jews “discover” that man has a “soul” that survives the death of the body? Once again, authoritative reference works provide conclusive information. The Jewish Encyclopedia admits: “Only through the contact of the Jews with Persian and Greek thought did the idea of a disembodied soul, having its own individuality, take root in Judaism.” This is confirmed by the Dictionnaire Encyclopédique de la Bible, which states: “The concept of immortality is a product of Greek thinking, whereas the hope of a resurrection belongs to Jewish thought. . . . Following Alexander’s conquests Judaism gradually absorbed Greek concepts.”

If anyone doubts that the Jews did not originally believe in the immortality of the soul, suffice it to say that as late as the first century of the Common Era the question was still not settled in Jewish minds, as proved by the fact that the Pharisees believed in immortality, whereas the Sadducees did not.—See Josephus, Antiquities, Book 18, chapter 1, paragraphs 3, 4; Wars, Book 2, chapter 8, paragraph 14; compare Acts 23:8.

ORIGINAL MESSIANIC HOPE TRANSFORMED

Just as the Jews gradually abandoned their hope for a future life through the resurrection and adopted the pagan idea of inherent immortality of a separate “soul,” so their original Messianic hope became transformed. By the first century of the Common Era the Jewish Messianic hope had become a nationalistic political hope.

Confirming this, The Jewish Encyclopedia reads: “Not until after the fall of the Maccabean dynasty [second century B.C.E.], when the despotic government of Herod the Great and his family, and the increasing tyranny of the Roman empire had made their condition ever more unbearable, did the Jews seek refuge in the hope of a personal Messiah. They yearned for the promised deliverer of the house of David, who would free them from the yoke of the hated foreign usurper.”

In his Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Alfred Edersheim wrote: “All that Israel hoped for was national restoration and glory. Everything else was but means to these ends; the Messiah Himself only the grand instrument in attaining them. . . . The Rabbinic ideal of the Messiah was not that of ‘a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of His people Israel’—the satisfaction of the wants of humanity.”

Edersheim further points out that, by the first century of the Common Era, the Jewish religious leaders no longer hoped in a Messiah-Redeemer. He states: “So far as their opinions can be gathered from their writings, the great doctrines of Original Sin, and of the sinfulness of our whole nature, were not held by the ancient Rabbis. . . . In the absence of felt need of deliverance from sin, we can understand how Rabbinic tradition found no place for the Priestly office of the Messiah, and how even His claims to be the Prophet of His people are almost entirely overshadowed by His appearance as their King and Deliverer. This, indeed, was the ever-present want, pressing the more heavily as Israel’s national sufferings seemed almost inexplicable.”

Thus, the original hope of the Jews was gradually lost to sight. The hope of a Messianic king who would not only rule over the Jews but also be “a beacon to other nations” gave way to the fanatical hope of a national leader who would lead them to victory over their political and religious enemies. The earthly hope of a “Sabbatical millennium” during which the Messiah would bring about a “golden age of paradisiacal bliss,” “a world of perfect peace and harmony among all creatures,” was replaced by a vague heavenly hope based on the concept of inherent immortality borrowed from the Babylonians, the Persians and the Greeks.

The years went by. No such political Messiah came to deliver the Jews or, after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E., to regather and resettle them. So even this transformed Messianic hope faded in Jewish hearts. As Edersheim put it: “Why are the redemption of Israel and the coming of the Messiah so unaccountably delayed? It is here that the Synagogue finds itself in presence of an insoluble mystery. The explanations attempted are, confessedly, guesses, or rather attempts to evade the issue. The only course left is authoritatively to impose silence on all such inquiries—the silence, as they would put it, of implicit, mournful submission to the inexplicable, . . . the silence of ever-recurring disappointment and despair. Thus the grand hope of the Synagogue is, as it were, written in an epitaph on a broken tombstone, to be repeated by the thousands who, for these long centuries, have washed the ruins of the Sanctuary with unavailing tears.”

Happily, the original hope of earthly Paradise restored under the rule of the Messiah is still available for sincere Jews, and some already have availed themselves of it and dried their tears. But for many others of our readers the question remains: How did the coming of Jesus Christ the Messiah affect the hope of a “Sabbatical millennium” of “peace and harmony among all creatures” on earth? And if Christ confirmed that hope, why is it that virtually all Protestant and Catholic “Christians” do not share that millennial hope?

Heaven or hell! What an alternative! Yet those are the two prospects placed before millions of Catholics, Protestants, Jews and Muslims. As for Catholics, there is also purgatory en route to heaven. But even this fear and this hope are so vague that many sincere believers doubt if they are valid.

Little wonder that French religious writer Jacques Duquesne was able to record the following conversations with two practicing Catholics: (With a man) “Do you believe in hell?—Not at all, ah no! . . .—And heaven?—I don’t think it exists, any more than hell.” (With a woman) “In your opinion, what happens to us when we die?—When we die? Well, for several years now I have ceased to believe there is anything.—What do you mean?—Nothing survives. Of course, everyone can see that the body is dead. Well, it’s the same for the soul. I don’t know. I really don’t know. . . .—But you still believe firmly in God?—Yes, definitely.—What moves you to believe?—So as to have hope.”—God for Men of Today (French).

Very evidently the Catholic Church has not given its members a hope that engenders firm belief. In fact, doubts and even unbelief are some of the bad fruits now being reaped by all the traditional religions of Christendom. In many predominantly Catholic countries the vague and hazy hope of “heavenly bliss” has proved insufficient to prevent millions of people from losing faith and turning to Communism for the fulfillment of their natural and legitimate desire for a decent life on earth. In exchange for an uncertain hope of “eternal felicity” in heaven, many appear to be willing to settle hopefully for “threescore years and ten” of happy life on earth. And even that hope is proving to be illusive.

CONTEMPT FOR “MILLENNIALISM”

Many people today have become lukewarm “Christians,” more interested in the here and now than in the fulfillment of the Christian hope. One reason is that Christendom’s churches have distorted that hope. They speak with contempt of sincere Christians who place their hope in the millennium or 1,000-year reign of Christ. For example, the very highly respected and voluminous French Dictionnaire de Théologie Catholique defines “millennialism” as follows: “False belief professed by those who were awaiting a temporal reign of the Messiah, the length of which was sometimes considered by them to be a thousand years. . . . Since the fifth century, millennialism has no longer been spoken of, or very rarely, by a few cranky sects.”

Yet, while speaking contemptuously of those who believe in the 1,000-year reign of the Messiah, this authoritative Catholic work admits that millennialism was spoken of before the fifth century. In other words, the millennial hope was lost sight of during the fifth century. Why? Does history confirm what the Bible itself reveals, namely, that the early Christians believed in the 1,000-year reign of Christ? And if so, how were millions of Catholics and Protestants robbed of the millennial hope? Let us see what reputable reference works and history books reveal in answer to these questions.

TESTIMONY FROM “CHURCH FATHERS”

Catholic reference works recognize that many of the earliest “Church fathers” believed in and taught the 1,000-year reign of Christ, or millennium. The Catholic Encyclopedia states: “Later among Catholics, Bishop Papias of Hierapolis, a disciple of St. John [the apostle], appeared as an advocate of ‘millenarianism.’ He claimed to have received his doctrine from contemporaries of the Apostles, and Irenæus narrates that other ‘Presbyteri’ [elders], who had seen and heard the disciple John, learned from him the belief in millenarianism as part of the Lord’s doctrine. . . .

“Millenarian ideas are found by most commentators in the Epistle of St. Barnabas [early second century] . . . St. Irenæus of Lyons, a native of Asia Minor, influenced by the companions of St. Polycarp, adopted millenarian ideas, discussing and defending them in his work against the Gnostics . . . St. Justin of Rome, the martyr, opposes to the Jews in his Dialogue with Tryphon (ch. 80-81) the tenet of a millennium . . . A witness for the continued belief in millenarianism in the province of Asia is St. Melito, Bishop of Sardes in the second century. . . .

“. . . Tertullian, the protagonist of Montanism, expounds the doctrine . . . that at the end of time the great kingdom of promise, the new Jerusalem, would be established and last for the space of one thousand years. All these millenarian authors appeal to various passages in the prophetic books of the Old Testament, to a few passages in the Letters of St. Paul and to the Apocalypse [Revelation] of St. John.”—Italics ours.

WHO ARE TRULY “APOSTOLIC”

Now one of the main arguments of the Roman Catholic Church in favor of its superiority over the Protestant churches, and also over Jehovah’s Witnesses, is its claim to be the sole guardian of Christian tradition as handed down from the time of the apostles. As A Catholic Dictionary puts it: “The Roman Church is Apostolic, because her doctrine is the faith once revealed to the Apostles, which faith she guards and explains, without adding to it or taking from it.”—Italics ours.

Yet the men quoted by The Catholic Encyclopedia as teaching the millennial hope are recognized by the Catholic Church itself as being among the earliest “Church fathers.” Two of them (Polycarp and Papias) are said to have seen and heard the apostle John and to have met disciples who knew Christ himself and other apostles. All the others quoted are second-century or early third-century “Fathers” or “Doctors,” and they all believed in the 1,000-year reign of Christ.

The very authoritative Dictionnaire de Théologie Catholique goes so far as to say that contemporaries of Papias who were even more “intelligent” and “shrewd” than he was “shared his belief in the thousand-year reign and considered this belief to be one of the essential dogmas of the Christian faith.” This same Catholic reference work says of Justin Martyr that although he knew that some of his contemporaries did not share his views on the millennium, he considered that on this matter he was the “guardian of the more completely orthodox doctrine.” Referring to Irenaeus, this dictionary states: “For him, millennialism is a part of traditional teachings. . . . Saint Irenæus appears to think that one cannot give a correct explanation of the Scriptures without millennialism.”—Volume X, columns 1761, 1762 (Italics ours).

So who is closer to the true apostolic teaching and tradition, the Roman Catholic Church that slightingly calls those who still believe in the 1,000-year reign of Christ a ‘cranky sect’—or Jehovah’s Witnesses, who cherish the millennial hope? How did it come about that this hope was dropped from Catholic dogma?

APOSTASY DISTORTS THE CHRISTIAN HOPE

In the previous article we have seen that through the apostasy that took place in the latter centuries before the Common Era the Jews replaced their hope in the resurrection with the pagan belief in the inherent immortality of the soul and transformed their original Messianic hope into a political hope. Similarly, the apostasy that was foretold to occur among Christians (Acts 20:29, 30; 2 Thess. 2:3; 1 John 2:18, 19) brought about a distortion of the millennial hope.

Jewish scholar Hugh J. Schonfield states: “Christian shifting away from the hope of the terrestrial Kingdom of God did not prevail until the second century.” “Despite pleas for constancy, loyalty and endurance, many more Christians were disillusioned and either left the Church or followed those teachers who offered less earth-bound interpretations of the nature of Christianity.”

Concerning this “shifting away” from the hope of paradise restored on earth by means of the heavenly Messianic kingdom or government, The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology states (Vol. 2, under “Paradise”): “In the further course of church history many extra-biblical motifs, pictures and ideas were absorbed into the conception of paradise. . . . The speculations in the church concerning paradise and the conceptions of popular piety are also linked with the fact that the doctrine of the immortality of the soul came in to take the place of NT [New Testament] eschatology with its hope of the resurrection of the dead and the new creation (Rev. 21 f.), so that the soul receives judgment after death and attains to paradise now thought of as other-worldly.”—Italics ours.

Thus, with the infiltration of the Greek doctrine of the immortality of the soul apostate Christians transferred paradise from earth to heaven and abandoned the original millennial hope. Confirming this, The Encyclopædia Britannica (1977) admits: “The influence of Greek thought upon Christian theology undermined the millenarian world view.”

NEOPLATONISM REPLACES THE MILLENNIAL HOPE

The millennial hope was, therefore, a victim of the apostasy. Its enemies stopped at nothing to combat it. Listing the adversaries of millennialism, the Dictionnaire de Théologie Catholique says of Roman priest Caius (end of second century, beginning of third) that “in order to conquer millennialism he unequivocally denied the authenticity of the Apocalypse [Revelation] and of the Gospel of St. John.” This same authoritative Catholic reference work also reveals that “Saint” Dionysius, third-century bishop of Alexandria, wrote a treatise against millennialism, and, “in order to prevent those who adhered to this opinion from basing their belief on the Apocalypse of Saint John, did not hesitate to deny its authenticity.”

We further learn in that 15-volume Catholic dictionary that third-century “Church Father” Origen condemned those who believed in the earthly blessings of the millennium because they “interpret the Scriptures like the Jews.” Why else was Origen so opposed to millennialism? The Catholic Encyclopedia informs us: “In view of the Neo-Platonism on which his doctrines were founded . . . , he [Origen] could not side with the millenarians.” Sharing Plato’s belief in the inherent immortality of the soul, Origen was obliged to transfer the earthly blessings of the 1,000-year Messianic reign to the spiritual sphere.

AUGUSTINE DECIDES THAT “THERE WILL BE NO MILLENNIUM”

But the man who gave the coup de grace to the millennial hope for Catholics and even Protestants was doubtless “Saint” Augustine, described by The Encyclopædia Britannica as “the greatest thinker of Christian antiquity” and “the crucible in which the religion of the New Testament was most completely fused with the Platonic tradition of Greek philosophy.” Augustine came out energetically against the original hope of paradise restored on earth during the 1,000-year reign of Christ. To quote The Catholic Encyclopedia: “St. Augustine finally held to the conviction that there will be no millennium. . . . the great Doctor . . . gives us an allegorical explanation of Chap. 20 of the Apocalypse. The first resurrection, of which this chapter treats, he tells us, refers to the spiritual rebirth in baptism; the sabbath of one thousand years after the six thousand years of history, is the whole of eternal life . . . This explanation of the illustrious Doctor was adopted by succeeding Western theologians, and millenarianism in its earlier shape no longer received support.”

Not only have Catholics thus been robbed of the original, Scriptural millennial hope, but so have Protestants. The 1977 Britannica Macropædia reveals: “Augustine’s allegorical millennialism became the official doctrine of the church, and apocalypticism [expectation of the ultimate destruction of evil and triumph of good] went underground. . . . The Protestant Reformers of the Lutheran, Calvinist, and Anglican traditions were not apocalypticists but remained firmly attached to the views of Augustine.”

Catholic and Protestant theologians mistakenly apply to all the righteous the heavenly hope held out in the Bible to a limited number of Christians called to rule with Christ as kings, priests and judges. (Rev. 20:4-6; Luke 22:28-30) These theologians offer their “faithful” a vague hope of “eternal felicity” in heaven. God’s purpose to have his will “done in earth, as it is in heaven” is totally absent from their expectations. (Matt. 6:10, Authorized Version) Yet the Bible offers the wonderful hope of eternal life, not only in heaven for a chosen few but also on earth for countless others.

The Roman Catholic Church and, indeed, most of the large, well-established Protestant religions never mention the millennial hope to churchgoers. They speak disdainfully of that hope as “millennialism,” and of those who share it as “millenarians.” But Jehovah’s Witnesses are not ashamed of this belief, for irrefutable historical facts show that the millennial hope was shared by the early Christians.

EARLY CHRISTIANS WERE CALLED “MILLENARIANS”

Referring to Christians who believe in the 1,000-year reign of Christ, the Encyclopedia Americana states: “Those who hold such views are called millenarians or chiliasts, and their tenet chiliasm (Gr. chilioi, 1,000). It is admitted on all sides that these views were, if not general, at least very common in the ancient church.” The French Encyclopædia Universalis informs us: “In Western Christendom millennialism was very active in Judeo-Christianity during the first three centuries. . . . Millennialism was very deep-rooted during the first centuries of Christianity.”

There is evidence that the hopes connected with the 1,000-year reign of Christ were shared by Christians even before the apostle John received the Revelation at the end of the first century C.E. By reading the Jewish prophets, they had received foregleams of the wonderful millennial hope given by Christ in Revelation, chapters 20 and 21. Interestingly, the Encyclopædia Britannica (1966 edition) confirms this, stating: “Among early Christians the idea of millenarianism . . . was derived chiefly from Jewish eschatological expectations [expectations concerning the ultimate destiny of mankind and the world].” On this same point the 30-volume New Encyclopædia Britannica (1977) has this to say: “In the Book of Revelation the assimilation of Jewish apocalypticism [expectation of the ultimate destruction of evil and triumph of good] to Christianity was completed. . . . During the first hundred years of Christian history [33-133 C.E.], this form of millenarianism, or chiliasm (from the Greek word for 1,000), was commonly taught and accepted within the church.”—Italics ours.

Some may retort: ‘Perhaps, but the millennial hope for these early Christians did not concern the earth. It was a heavenly hope.’ Yet, what do the historical facts and the Bible show? Let us see.

PARADISE ON EARTH STILL HOPED FOR

There is an abundance of evidence that the early Christians never imagined that all the prophecies and promises in the Hebrew Scriptures concerning the restoration of paradise on earth had been canceled out by the coming of Messiah or Christ. The Dictionnaire de Théologie Catholique itself admits: “The origins of millennialism reach back beyond the Christian era. The belief in an earthly reign of the Messiah had its beginning in the hopes of Israel.”

In A History of Christianity, historian Kenneth Scott Latourette says of the early Christians who were hoping for the second coming of Christ: “Many held to the view that before the final end of history and the full accomplishment of God’s purpose in the perfect doing of His will, a hope which was common to all Christians, Christ would return, set up his kingdom on earth and reign for a thousand years. . . . The conception of an age or ages of a thousand years duration was not confined to Christians, but was also to be found in Judaism.”

Thus, there is cumulative evidence that the early Christians were “millenarians,” insofar as that name was applied to those who were hoping for the 1,000-year reign of Christ the Messiah. Jesus had revealed that he would rule from heaven, but he did not annul the original Messianic hope of the Jews, the restoration of paradise on earth during that millennium. Interestingly, the Catholic Supplément au Dictionnaire de la Bible admits that “in Jewish writings, as in early Christian literature, the word paradise is not usually synonymous with heaven.”—Italics ours.

CHRIST DID NOT ANNUL THE MILLENNIAL HOPE

In his famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus stated: “Do not think I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I came, not to destroy, but to fulfill.” (Matt. 5:17) Or, as Today’s English Version renders the last sentence: “I have not come to do away with them, but to make their teachings come true.” Since Jesus came to make the teachings of the prophets come true, his coming was a guarantee that their prophecies concerning the restoration of paradise on earth would be fulfilled. Here are just a few: Psalms 37:11, 29; 72:1-8,16-19; 115:16; Isaiah 9:6, 7; 11:1-10; 45:18; Daniel 2:34, 35, 44, 45; 7:13, 14.

Also in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus showed quite clearly that the earth is due to play a part in the outworking of the divine will or purpose. He taught his followers to pray: “Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified. Let your kingdom come. Let your will take place, as in heaven, also upon earth.” (Matt. 6:9, 10) He linked the accomplishment of God’s will on earth with the coming of God’s kingdom, which is none other than the Messianic kingdom. Hence, the Lord’s Prayer, repeated literally millions of times by Catholics and Protestants throughout the centuries, is, in fact, among other things, a prayer for the fulfillment of the Messianic promises tied in with the millennial hope.

THE MILLENNIAL HOPE FULLY REVEALED

A quarter of a century after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 C.E. (which put an end to Jewish hopes of national deliverance by a political Messiah) Jesus, the true Messiah, fully revealed the true millennial hope. In his record of the Revelation that he received from God through Jesus Christ, the apostle John wrote:

“And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven with the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he seized the dragon, the original serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. . . .

“And I saw thrones, and there were those who sat down on them, and power of judging was given them. . . . Happy and holy is anyone having part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no authority, but they will be priests of God and of the Christ, and will rule as kings with him for the thousand years.

“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; . . . With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: ‘Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them . . . And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.’”—Rev. 20:1-6, 21:1-4.

A “SACRED SECRET” EXPLAINED

Can you not see the resemblance between this description of the millennial reign of Christ and the original Messianic hope of the Jews, “the hope of an ideal Messianic future . . . the golden age of paradisiacal bliss . . . a world of perfect peace and harmony among all creatures . . . ‘new heavens and a new earth,’” to requote The Jewish Encyclopedia?

However, undeniably, there were important details concerning the Messianic kingdom that the Jews did not understand and that even the 12 apostles and other early disciples of Christ had difficulty in comprehending. Shortly after giving his Sermon on the Mount, in which he taught his disciples to pray for God’s kingdom to come and for God’s will to take place on earth, as in heaven, Jesus said to his disciples: “To you the sacred secret of the kingdom of God has been given, but to those outside all things occur in illustrations.”—Mark 4:11.

Throughout his earthly ministry Jesus taught his disciples many things concerning the Messianic kingdom. In fact, even after his death and right up to the time he ascended to his heavenly Father he continued telling them “the things about the kingdom of God.” Yet, in spite of this, the very last question they put to him was: “Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?”, thereby revealing that they were still expecting the Messiah to restore the fleshly kingdom of Israel. (Acts 1:3, 6) They were right in thinking that the Messianic kingdom concerned rulership, government, but they mistakenly thought that Messiah would reign on earth and that his government would be purely Jewish.

Only after the outpouring of the holy spirit at Pentecost did Christ’s disciples break free from the concept of a nationalistic Messianic kingdom and come to comprehend new and important features of “the sacred secret of the kingdom of God.” One aspect of that “sacred secret” was that the Messiah would be a heavenly king and that his government would be located in heaven. (John 18:36; Acts 2:32-36; 1 Tim. 3:16) Other features of that “sacred secret”—truths new and revolutionary for faithful Jewish minds molded by the Scriptures and not by Greek philosophy—were that a limited number of humans would be chosen as “holy ones” to become associates with the Messiah in his kingdom, that these would reign with him in heaven, and that they would be chosen not only from among the Jews but also from among the Gentiles or non-Jews.—Dan. 7:13, 14, 27; Luke 12:32; 22:28-30; John 14:1-3; Eph. 3:3-6; Col. 1:26, 27.

A REVOLUTIONARY NEW HOPE

All of this was something quite new. As we have already seen in the article “Origin of the Millennial Hope,” the Jews’ original Messianic hope was an earthly hope, and it was only under the influence of false religious traditions and philosophy that, very late in their history, some of them came to believe in an immortal soul. The faithful Jewish remnant that stuck to the inspired Hebrew Scriptures and accepted Jesus as the true Messiah certainly did not believe in inherent immortality. So for these the idea of a Messiah ruling the earth from heaven and of themselves becoming corulers with him in heaven was all the more revolutionary.

In a letter to early Christians who had received this very special call to become priests and kings with the heavenly Messiah, the apostle Peter wrote: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for according to his great mercy he gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an incorruptible and undefiled and unfading inheritance. It is reserved in the heavens for you . . . But you are ‘a chosen race, a royal priesthood.’”—1 Pet. 1:3, 4; 2:9.

The apostle Paul also wrote about this exceptional call to heavenly life, saying: “He saved us and called us with a holy calling . . . now it has been made clearly evident through the manifestation of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has abolished death but has shed light upon life and incorruption.” (2 Tim. 1:9, 10) If life in heaven had been the hope of the faithful remnant among the Jews, why did Christ have to “shed light” on this “holy calling” to incorruption? No, this call to heavenly life was clearly something quite new for these early Christians chosen from among the Jews and the Gentiles.

THE HEAVENLY HOPE FOR A LIMITED NUMBER OF “CHOSEN ONES”

But do all those who accept Christ and hope to live forever receive this “holy calling” to incorruptible life in the heavens? Indicating that this special calling is meant for a limited number of ‘elect’ (Authorized Version) or “chosen ones,” Paul adds: “On this account I go on enduring all things for the sake of the chosen ones, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in union with Christ Jesus along with everlasting glory. Faithful is the saying: Certainly if we died together, we shall also live together; if we go on enduring, we shall also rule together as kings.”—2 Tim. 2:10-12.

If all who are saved are called to “everlasting glory” in order to “rule together as kings” with Christ Jesus, over whom are they due to rule? And if all are to become “a royal priesthood,” on behalf of whom are they to act as royal priests?

Consider the following: In his letter to the Galatians, Paul says of Christians chosen from among Jews and non-Jews who have been “baptized into Christ” that they “are really Abraham’s seed, heirs with reference to a promise,” and he calls them “the Israel of God.” (Gal. 3:26-29; 6:16) And in his letter to the Romans, the same apostle speaks of the “sacred secret” of non-Jews being called by God because of the “lack of faith” of many Jews, adding—and this is a key passage—“until the full number [“complete number,” TEV] of people of the nations has come in.” He explains that “in this manner,” that is, by Gentiles being called to fill out the required number, “all Israel will be saved.” Obviously this refers to spiritual Israel, the “ones chosen” from among Jews and non-Jews who are “really ‘Israel’” or “truly Israel.”—Rom. 11:7, 17-26; 9:6 (The New English Bible); 2:28, 29.

Since non-Jews would receive this “holy calling” only until the “full number” was reached of those making up “the Israel of God,” logically the number of such spiritual Israelites is limited. Well, what is that number? Look up Revelation 7:1-8. There a definite limit is set on the number of Christians who are “sealed” to become a part of spiritual Israel. That this limited number is not chosen from among the angels is proved by Revelation 14:1-4, where this same number is said to be “bought from the earth,” “bought from among mankind as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.”

For these 144,000 spirit-begotten, anointed Christians their Bible-based hope is a heavenly hope. After having part in “the first resurrection,” they “will be priests of God and of the Christ, and will rule as kings with him for the thousand years.”—Rev. 20:6.

But if these “ones chosen” are “firstfruits,” logically other fruits are to follow. And if they are to “rule as kings,” who will be their subjects and what is the hope of such? Again, ask yourself this question: When the long-awaited Messiah came to the Jews, did he confirm their original belief in a future life through resurrection, or did he come out in favor of their newly found pagan concept of inherent immortality of the soul? In bringing to light a heavenly hope, did Jesus Christ mean that all those saved would go to heaven? Or do both the Hebrew and the Christian Greek Scriptures hold out to millions the hope of everlasting life on earth?

FUTURE LIFE BY RESURRECTION

Far from teaching the pagan concept of inherent immortality of the human soul, Jesus showed that any hope for future life depends on the resurrection. He stated: “For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted also to the Son to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to do judging, because Son of man he is. 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, those who did good things to a resurrection of life, those who practiced vile things to a resurrection of judgment.”—John 5:26-29.

Interestingly, some modern-day theologians of Christendom are coming around to the idea that inherent immortality is unsupported by either the Hebrew or the Christian Greek Scriptures. For example, The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (Vol. 3, 1978) emphasizes “how unfamiliar the OT [Old Testament] is with the concept of a soul separate from the body, or a soul which becomes separate from the body at death.” And again: “Matt. 10:28 teaches not the potential immortality of the soul but the irreversibility of divine judgment of the unrepentant. . . . The NT [New Testament] sees man essentially as a unity and promises the transformation of the whole person, and not just the survival of a part. . . . there can be no immortality without prior resurrection.”

A HEAVENLY AND AN EARTHLY HOPE

Jehovah’s Witnesses do not deny that the Christian Greek Scriptures teach that some Christians receive “the heavenly calling.” (Heb. 3:1) What they do deny is that such “heavenly calling” does away with God’s original purpose to have the earth cultivated into a paradise and filled with a righteous race of men and women. They cannot accept the idea that all the prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures foretelling the restoration of paradise on earth have become dead letters. They are all the more convinced of this because the promise of “a new earth” in which “righteousness is to dwell” is confirmed in the Christian Greek Scriptures.—2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21:1-4.

Serious Bible study has led Jehovah’s Witnesses to believe that the Christian Scriptural hope is twofold: The gift of immortality in heaven for a limited few, and everlasting life on earth for the greater number. The heavenly hope to “rule as kings” with Christ is offered as an exceptional “grace” (AV) or “undeserved kindness” to 144,000 “elect” (AV) or “chosen ones,” starting with the apostles and early disciples of Christ. (Luke 12:32; Rom. 5:17; 8:33; Rev. 5:9, 10; 7:1-4; 14:1-4) Of these, only a few “remaining ones” of those who have ‘survived to the presence of the Lord’ are at present alive on earth.—1 Thess. 4:14-17; Rev. 12:17.

The earthly hope is the original hope to which Adam and Eve could have attained, if they had stayed under Jehovah God’s sovereignty and not sought moral independence. (See the first three chapters of Genesis.) Man “is earthly by nature.” (1 Cor. 15:47, The Jerusalem Bible) His natural aspirations and yearnings are earthly. “To Jehovah the heavens belong, but the earth he has given to the sons of men.” (Ps. 115:16) And the Bible states plainly that Jehovah ‘did not create the earth for nothing, but formed it to be inhabited.’ (Isa. 45:18) Therefore the hope of everlasting life on earth in paradisaic conditions is both natural and Scriptural. It is nothing of which to be ashamed.

THE MILLENNIAL HOPE FOR TWO GROUPS

Since the 144,000 spiritual Israelites are the “seed” or “true descendants of Abraham” and the “true heirs of his promise” (Gal. 3:26-29, Phillips), then it is well to remember that the promise given to Abraham also stated: “By means of your seed all nations of the earth will certainly bless themselves.” (Gen. 22:16-18) The prophet Daniel also spoke of “peoples, national groups and languages” over whom the “son of man,” Jesus Christ, will exercise from “the heavens” the “kingdom and the rulership.” This he does together with the “chosen ones,” spoken of as “the holy ones of the Most High.”—Dan. 7:13, 14, 27, footnote; 2 Tim. 2:10.

The early Christians were not unfamiliar with these prophecies that speak of two groups: the “seed” and the “nations,” the “holy ones” and the “national groups.” Confirming this, after having spoken of those who will be “joint heirs with Christ” and who will be “glorified together” with him in heaven, the apostle Paul speaks of human “creation” whose “eager expectation” is to be “set free from enslavement to corruption,” or sin, and to “have the glorious freedom of the children of God.” (Rom. 8:15-21) Writing to Christians who, like himself, shared the heavenly hope, the apostle John spoke of Christ as “a propitiatory sacrifice for our sins [those of the “chosen ones”], yet not for ours only but also for the whole world’s.”—1 John 2:2; 3:1-3.

When John wrote those words, most likely he had already received the Revelation in which, after having seen the 144,000 “sealed” spiritual Israelites, he saw “a great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues.” These survive the “great tribulation” and are guided by the “Lamb,” Christ Jesus, “to fountains of waters of life.” (Rev. 7:4-17) And, of course, it was in that same Revelation that John also had a vision of the millennial reign of Christ, which again mentions two groups: those “having part in the first resurrection,” who “will rule as kings,” and “mankind,” who will be blessed by God and who “will be his peoples.”—Rev. 20:1–21:8.

Today, the millennial hope triumphs in the hearts of those of the “little flock” called to “sit on thrones” with Christ in heaven to reign for a millennium. (Luke 12:32; 22:28-30) That hope of the millennium has been embraced also by those of the “great crowd” who have joined the remaining anointed Christians in proclaiming “this good news of the kingdom . . . for a witness to all the nations.” (Matt. 24:14) These two groups were represented at the celebration of the Lord’s Evening Meal held on March 31, 1980. Those partaking of the emblems of the bread and the wine were only 9,564 worldwide, indeed just a few “remaining ones” of the 144,000 who are to rule with Jesus in his millennial kingdom. But along with these, 5,717,092 others attended as observers, thus showing appreciation of Jehovah’s grand arrangement made possible through the sacrifice of his Son. These rejoice in the prospect of everlasting life on a paradise earth.

THE MILLENNIAL HOPE STILL LIVES!

Yes, the millennial hope remains very much alive today. It will become a reality following the “great tribulation,” as Christ and the 144,000 “chosen ones” commence their reign in heaven for 1,000 years, and the “great crowd” of sheeplike ones, together with billions of resurrected ones on earth, enter into untold blessings in the earthly realm of that Messianic kingdom.—Matt. 25:34; Rev. 20:12, 13.

Mankind is in dire need of such a hope today. Worldly-wise men are not unfamiliar with this hope. Thus, the 1977 Britannica Macropædia defines the millennium as follows: “This 1,000-year period, known as the millennium, is viewed as a time during which man’s yearnings for peace, freedom from evil, and the rule of righteousness upon earth are finally realized through the power of God. . . . millennialism is concerned with the earthly prospects of the human community. . . . millennialism attempts to answer in vivid imagery such questions as: What will be the final end of this world? Will mankind ever fulfill the agelong dream of dwelling in an earthly paradise or will all men be destroyed in a cataclysm of fire brought on by their own folly or God’s judgment?”—Italics ours.

For certain encyclopedia writers and faithless religious leaders, those questions may be merely of academic interest. But for many honest-hearted people in all lands they are very realistic present-day problems of burning interest. Jehovah’s Witnesses have found the answer to these questions in the Bible. For them, the hope of living forever “in an earthly paradise” is not an “agelong dream.” That hope has sure foundations, being based on sound Bible scholarship. Both the Hebrew and the Greek Scriptures show that God will not allow wicked men to destroy the earth “in a cataclysm of fire.” (Rev. 11:18; Isa. 45:18) Neither is he going to destroy the earth himself. (Ps. 104:5) After creating man and placing him in a localized paradise, God revealed to him His purpose, namely, for man to “subdue” the earth by extending paradise conditions worldwide, and to “fill [not overfill] the earth” with a righteous race of men and women ‘made in the likeness of God.’—Gen. 1:26-28; 2:15.

Such is still God’s “will,” which, through his Messianic kingdom, will be done “on earth as in heaven.” (Matt. 6:10, JB) The whole tenor of the Bible shows beyond doubt that God has not abandoned this original purpose. (Isa. 46:9, 10) The millennium, or 1,000-year reign of Christ, fits into God’s “eternal purpose,” part of which is “to gather all things together again in the Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth.” (Eph. 3:11; 1:8-10) In other words, the millennium is not an end in itself; it is a means to an end, the carrying out of God’s original purpose for the earth.

NOT A “MATERIALISTIC DREAM”

Religious adversaries deride Jehovah’s Witnesses for preaching the millennial hope. Yet these scoffers are perfectly happy to send all the good to heaven and all the wicked to everlasting torment in hell, thus leaving the earth completely out of God’s “eternal purpose.” For example, French Dominican priest H. C. Chéry, who has made a speciality of criticizing Jehovah’s Witnesses, calls the hope of paradise restored on earth “a materialistic dream.”

First, this Catholic priest should be reminded that the millennial hope has never been formally condemned by the Catholic Church or defined as heretical. This is not surprising, since it is based on the Bible and was considered to be “one of the essential dogmas of the Christian faith” by most of the earliest and best-reputed of the “Church Fathers.” Were Polycarp, Papias, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr and Tertullian also ‘materialistic dreamers’?

True, some of these, and others in later times, discredited the millennial hope, by giving the foretold millennial blessings a carnal application or even a sociopolitical twist. But nobody can in good faith accuse Jehovah’s Witnesses of doing this today. Even now, in a pleasure-oriented world, these Christians are putting up a hard fight against materialism and pleasure-seeking in their own lives and within their congregations. They put the accent on spiritual values. They fully realize that if any fall victim to materialism in this “time of the end,” they may never see the millennium. (Luke 21:34-36; Dan. 12:4) Furthermore, they have no hopes of bringing in the millennium through human programs of social reform. They rely entirely on God’s intervention through his Messianic king. At the head of heavenly combat forces, this “King of kings” will fight to put an end to all wickedness on the earth.—Rev. 19:11–20:3.

PARADISE—SPIRITUAL AND PHYSICAL

Jehovah’s Witnesses are already living in a spiritual paradise. Moreover, they look forward with confidence to their becoming more spiritual throughout the 1,000-year reign of Christ, when symbolic “scrolls” revealing God’s requirements will be “opened.”—Rev. 20:12.

From a careful reading of scriptures that speak of the millennial reign of Christ (for example, Revelation 20:11–21:8), Jehovah’s Witnesses know also that the millennium will call for much self-sacrifice on the part of those who share the earthly hope. There will be much work to do in cultivating and beautifying the earth, but they will not selfishly cultivate paradise conditions just for themselves and their families. Christ’s 1,000-year reign is in fact a “day” of judgment for those who survive the fast-approaching “war of the great day of God the Almighty” (Acts 17:30, 31; Rev. 16:14, 16); it is also the judgment day for the millions of the dead who will be resurrected and judged according to the works they will practice in paradise on earth. (John 5:28, 29; Luke 23:42, 43) These innumerable resurrected ones will need to be unselfishly taught the ways of righteousness by those who are already living under the millennial rule of the Messiah. (Compare Isaiah 11:1-9.) No “materialistic dream” that! It will mean much hard work, also, on a spiritual level.

What is more, the millennium will be just a beginning. After a final test, when the 1,000 years have ended, those men and women who remain faithful to God’s universal sovereignty will be ushered into an eternity of life on a paradise earth.—1 Cor. 15:24-28; Rev. 20:7-10.

A HOPE THAT CAN BECOME YOURS

Such is the hope now cherished by over 8,000,000 Christian witnesses of Jehovah in over 200 lands. It is very much alive in their minds and hearts, so much so that they are always happy to give others the ‘reason for the hope that is in them.’—1 Pet. 3:15.

Since 1914, world events in fulfillment of Bible prophecy show that we are now living in the “time of the end,” and that the unprecedented “time of distress” is near. (Dan. 12:1-4; Matt. 24:3-21) The remnant of the “chosen ones” and the “great crowd” of their companions have been promised survival through that “great tribulation.” (Matt. 24:22; Rev. 7:9, 10, 14) Thereafter, their respective millennial hopes will be fulfilled. Do you believe that? “May the God who gives hope fill you with all joy and peace by your believing, that you may abound in hope.”—Rom. 15:13.

Now, friends, Jehovah God is the One to whom all the poor of the earth should look in this day of world distress. He does not despise their abject condition. His ears are not closed to their sighs and groans, but he takes note of their need and holds forth the true relief to them right now. Abraham Lincoln, a man who rose from poverty to the presidency of the United States of America, once said: “God must love the poor, because he made so many of them.” But God is not the one who made man poor and who made the few rich and the many poor. It is not he who has created class distinctions between rich and poor. He has not willed for the many to be poverty-stricken so long that now, finally, the poor in their masses are rising up under communistic leaders to overthrow the rich capitalists and to equalize all people socially and economically under communist dictators. God’s adversary, Satan the Devil, is the one who has done this. It is this wicked one who now proposes false political and economic systems of relief for the oppressed masses so as to turn them away from the only effective means of relief, that provided by Jehovah God. The applying of these human emergency measures to improve the conditions of the poor and to help the backward areas of the world will result only in increasing the burdens of the people, impoverishing them and oppressing them more. But God Almighty has always come to the rescue of the poor of his people. Now he will completely vindicate their cause and usher them into riches surpassing even those which the first man and woman had at mankind’s start in Eden. The means God uses is his kingdom in the hands of his Son Jesus Christ.

The people’s poverty is not only with regard to material riches. It is principally with regard to the spiritual riches. The clergy of the orthodox Christian and Jewish religious systems are now obliged to admit they have left the people in spiritual poverty. They have been partial to the worldly rich and winked at and kept silent at their oppression of the poor, and all the while they have put on an appearance of great righteousness. Spiritual riches, however, would have lightened the lot of the people amid the injustice and hardships of this world. Such riches would have prevented their violent, radical uprising against the constituted world arrangement today. A person does not need selfish material riches in order to be really wealthy, happy and contented.

Jesus Christ on earth as a man was among the poorest of the poor measured by earthly goods. He was laid in no fine cradle at birth, but in an animal’s manger, because there was no room for visitors at the village inn. As a preacher of God’s kingdom he had no home of his own. “Foxes have dens and birds of heaven have roosts, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay down his head.” (Matt. 8:20, NW) But because of his spiritual riches he had real and loyal friends, particularly his Father in heaven and the people of good will on earth. He had a joy no creature could remove. He was the happiest person on earth, so that he could well describe true states of happiness in his sermon on the mount, beginning with “Happy are those who are conscious of their spiritual need, since the kingdom of the heavens belongs to them”. (Matt. 5:3, NW) By getting acquainted with him all poor people can now be made spiritually rich and can enjoy hope of early being made possessors of all other riches in the equitable new world under his kingdom.

Back there Jesus knew that Satan’s world was to last without God’s interference till the “appointed times of the nations” ended in 1914. So he endeavored to make those people who were conscious of their spiritual need rich spiritually with the message of God’s kingdom and with the increasing understanding of His recorded Word. He showed that the time had come for God to turn the tables on those who were rich in worldly goods, political power and religious control and influence, and to lift up those who felt their spiritual need. He illustrated this in a parable which he gave, the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. “Parable,” we say, because if we interpreted this description of the affairs of the rich man and Lazarus literally, it would reduce Jesus’ interesting word picture to an absurdity. Because of its clear meaning to us now we shall take up a consideration of this comforting parable. As we go along we shall note the points which show it could not be a literalism such as the religious clergy say it is, to terrify people into their power for fear of being tormented in literal fire and brimstone forever after death.

THE RICH MAN

When Jesus gave this parable, members of the strict religious sect of the Pharisees were listening, and it was doubtless for a warning to them. “Now the Pharisees, who were money-lovers, were listening to all these things, and they began to sneer at him.” So after some fitting remarks Jesus said: “To continue: A certain man was rich, and he used to clothe himself with purple and linen, enjoying himself from day to day with magnificence.” (Luke 16:14, 19, NW) “Di′ves” was not his name, but the Latin Vulgate Version of the Bible uses that word respecting him because it is the Latin word meaning “rich man”. So the rich man they generally call “Di′ves”, and we may do so. But now the question is, Who is this rich man?

Jesus did not dignify the rich man with a given name, but merely described him in order to describe the class of persons he represents. In keeping with his riches he clothed himself with purple and linen, and daily enjoyed himself with magnificence, including a bountifully spread table. Since Jesus uttered his words directly to the Jews, the rich man pictures first a class among them with privileges and advantages like those described. In the final application of the parable in our own day, he pictures a similar class now, the counterpart of that in Jesus’ day. Jesus was talking partly for the benefit of the Pharisees, who were listening in, and they were money-lovers. So the facts and the Scriptures bear out that the rich man stands for a class of religious leaders who are rich in spiritual privileges and opportunities and who conduct themselves as the rich man did.

Clothing is a symbol of position, rank, material means, and identity. Purple was a color of royalty. When the Roman soldiers mocked Jesus’ royal claims and lineage, they “arrayed him with a purple outer garment” and said to him: “Good day, you king of the Jews!” (John 19:2-5, NW; Mark 15:16-20) The leaders claimed to be in line for God’s kingdom, remembering God’s words to them through Moses at Mount Sinai: “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.” (Ex. 19:5, 6) Jesus even referred to them as the “children of the kingdom” and disclosed to us who they were, saying: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you shut up the kingdom of the heavens before mankind; for you yourselves do not go in, neither do you permit those on their way in to go in.” Because of this course of action Jesus said: “The kingdom of God will be taken from you and be given to a nation producing its fruits”; and the chief priests and the Pharisees took note that he was speaking about them. (Matt. 8:12; 23:13; 21:43, 45, NW) So here already we have the rich man identified as representing the hypocritical Pharisees, scribes, and chief priests, which included the Sadducees; and these constituted the Jewish clergy or religious leaders.

The rich man clothed himself not alone with purple, but also with linen. This is significant, for in Scripture linen pictures righteousness: “the fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the holy ones.” (Rev. 19:8, NW) If there was one class on earth that laid claim to righteousness, self-made righteousness, it was these Jewish religionists. Why, when the Pharisees were sneering at Jesus, he said to them just before he told about the rich man and Lazarus: “You are those who declare yourselves righteous before men, but God knows your hearts; because what is lofty among men is a disgusting thing in God’s sight.” (Luke 16:15, NW) Thus he told them they figuratively clothed their exterior with linen. But it was to cover over a disgusting interior. He later pointed this out in these words: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you resemble whitewashed graves, which outwardly indeed appear beautiful but inside are full of dead men’s bones and of every kind of uncleanness. In that way you also, outwardly indeed, appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” (Matt. 23:27, 28, NW) For this reason he gave the parable of the Pharisee and the despised tax collector, because the Pharisaical crowd “trusted in themselves that they were righteous and . . . considered the rest as nothing”. (Luke 18:9-14, NW) But the tax collector went home really more righteous than the Pharisee.

Showing off in their fine linen, they paraded their righteousness publicly in order to be visible to men, sounding a trumpet before them when they made their distribution of charity so as to call attention to themselves and win applause. (Matt. 6:1, 2) The apostle Paul was once a zealous member of that strict sect of the Pharisees and considered himself blameless as far as righteousness by means of the Mosaic law is concerned. But he abandoned that false course of self-righteousness, that he might gain real righteousness: “not my own righteousness which results from law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which issues from God on the basis of faith.” (Phil. 3:4-6, 9, NW) As a Christian he deplored the course of the Israelites under the leadership of their clergy and said: “Israel, although pursuing a law of righteousness, did not attain to the law. For what reason? Because he pursued it, not by faith, but as by works. . . . For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God; but not according to accurate knowledge; for, because of not knowing the righteousness of God but seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the accomplished end of the Law, so that everyone exercising faith may have righteousness.” (Rom. 9:31, 32; 10:2-4, NW) So the linen with which the “rich man” class clothed themselves was not the kind that God gives through Christ. It was self-righteousness, and Jesus courageously exposed it as such.

PERSONS WITH A PEDIGREE

One thing that strengthened the “rich man” class in their self-assurance and haughtiness was something the parable later shows, namely, that they were the natural descendants of Abraham. To Abraham Jehovah God upon his own oath had given the promise: “By myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah, . . . I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” (Gen. 22:16-18, AS) Hence they said to Jesus: “We are Abraham’s offspring and never have we been slaves to anybody.”

Jesus replied: “I know you are Abraham’s offspring; but you are seeking to kill me, because my word makes no progress among you.” He said that, if they were Abraham’s children, then they ought to do the works of Abraham. But even before Jesus, John the Baptist warned them against depending too much upon natural descent from the faithful friend of God. When he caught sight of many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to the baptism he said to them: “You offspring of vipers, . . . do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘As a father we have Abraham.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.” (John 8:33, 37, 39 and Matt. 3:7-9, NW) They were of the stock of Abraham naturally, like the natural branches in a cultivated olive tree. But they did not appreciate that they could be broken off from that stock because of not believing in the Son of God, the principal Seed of Abraham, Jesus Christ. Besides that, branches from a wild olive tree could be miraculously grafted into the places vacated by them. Another thing: Abraham had two natural sons, Ishmael and Isaac; and they could be cast away as Ishmael was, leaving Isaac the full heir, because he was miraculously born in fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham.—Rom. 11:1, 17-24; Gal. 4:29, 30.

Being so highly favoured naturally because of their descent from the faithful forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they enjoyed themselves from day to day amid magnificence. The “rich man” class could feast at a sumptuous table, because, Jesus’ parable notifies us, they had rich spiritual provisions, “Moses and the Prophets.” Moses represented the Law and the first five books of the Bible which he wrote, whereas the Prophets included the writings of the early and later prophets; and linked with these were the Psalms or collection of Bible books headed by the Psalms. All together, these comprised the Hebrew Scriptures, and it was from these that Jesus continually quoted to prove he was the Messiah or Christ, the promised Seed of Abraham. “And commencing at Moses and all the Prophets he interpreted to them things pertaining to himself in all the Scriptures.” He said: “All the things written in the law of Moses and in the Prophets and Psalms about me must be fulfilled.”—Luke 24:27, 44, NW.

Consequently, with this God-given treasure the circumcised Israelites had an advantage over all the Gentile nations. Paul asks: “What, then, is the superiority of the Jew, or what is the benefit of the circumcision? A great deal in every way. First of all, because they were entrusted with the sacred pronouncements of God.” (Rom. 3:1, 2, NW) Standing before the Jewish San′he·drin presided over by the high priest, the Christian martyr Stephen said to them: “This is the Moses that . . . came to be among the congregation in the wilderness with the angel that spoke to him on Mount Sinai and with our forefathers, and he received living sacred pronouncements to give you.” (Acts 7:37, 38, NW) The apostle Paul spoke of them as “my brothers, my relatives according to the flesh, who, as such, are Israelites, to whom belong the adoption as sons and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the sacred service and the promises; to whom the forefathers belong and from whom Christ sprang according to the flesh”. (Rom. 9:3-5, NW) Jehovah God indeed set an exclusive feast before his chosen people, and hence the psalmist said: “He showeth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his ordinances unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation; and as for his ordinances, they have not known them. Praise ye Jehovah.”—Ps. 147:19, 20, AS.

This privilege of feasting was specially true of the religious leaders in Israel, the “rich man” class back there. They had the “key of knowledge” therefore, and it was their privilege to teach the common people. But though they feasted at the rich man’s table, reclining in magnificence and assuming to be Abraham’s promised seed, yet they did not recline in the “bosom of Abraham” and obtain his chief favor. Jesus disclosed the reason when he said to his religious opposers: “Woe to you who are versed in the Law, because you took away the key of knowledge; you yourselves did not go in, and those going in you hindered!” (Luke 11:52, NW) Certainly the “rich man” represents a selfish lot of religionists both back there and today. Though furnished with such a sumptuous table of spiritual food, they let very little drop from it or be thrown away from it for the poor people to enjoy.

THE POOR BEGGAR LAZARUS

Jesus now shifts our view from inside the rich man’s palace to outside his gate, with the words: “But a certain beggar named Lazarus used to be put at his gate, full of ulcers and desiring to be filled with the things dropping from the table of the rich man. Yes, too, the dogs would come and lick his ulcers.” (Luke 16:20, 21, NW) The beggar Lazarus had a right to be at the rich man’s gate, for God’s law specifically taught the well-to-do to be openhanded toward the poor. If the “rich man” class had conducted themselves unselfishly according to God’s law, with love for their neighbor as for themselves, there would have been no poor in the land. But now that there actually were poor in the land because of the self-seeking world organization, the rich man was under orders by the Law and also under warning by the Prophets to consider the poor and to give some relief to them.—Deut. 15:4, 7, 9, 11; Ps. 41:1, 2.

Just as the selfish rich man represented a class of persons, so the beggar or poor man represented a class back in Jesus’ day as well as now. By discerning the class in Jesus’ day we can identify the class that is the modern counterpart now. From 1881 till the end of 1939 it was taught that the rich man represented the Jewish nation as a whole and that the beggar pictured the Gentiles or all the nations aside from Israel. But Jesus gives the beggar the name Lazarus, which was a Jewish name indicating him to be a Jew, not a Gentile. It is a Greek form of the name “Eleazar”, which means “God is helper”. The facts show that this “beggar” class began with Jews, but it was enlarged to include Gentiles, so that today it is mostly Gentile. Lazarus was of the same Jewish community with the rich man. There was no wall of partition between them because of race or natural extraction. The difference between them was because of the superiority and privileges which the religious clergy had selfishly assumed to themselves.

The beggar Lazarus therefore pictures the poor people, of the Jews then and of Christendom now. The religious clergy and leaders deny them proper spiritual nourishment and privileges and attention, to which they have a right according to God’s will and commands. In Jesus’ day the “rich man” class included the Pharisees, and these treated the common people with supreme contempt. History tells us they called them ‵am ha-arets or people of the earth as being beneath their feet and notice. Worthy of a resurrection to eternal life? Not such people! Men who became disciples of the Jewish rabbis or teachers were thought to be in a much better position for this. When they paid the rabbis well, they bought the favorable opinion of such teachers. How fittingly Luke’s account says that the Pharisees were listening in on Jesus’ parable and that they were money-lovers and sneered at Jesus of Nazareth, from which obscure town it was thought no good thing could come! They “trusted in themselves that they were righteous and . . . considered the rest as nothing”.—John 1:46; Luke 18:9-11, NW.

By such religious leaders, clothed in their linen of self-righteousness, the poor unlearned people were looked down on as spiritually diseased, just like Lazarus covered with ulcers. They viewed the poor just as Job’s three self-righteous friends viewed him when the Devil, Satan, had stricken him with boils from head to foot in order to make it appear that God’s hand was against Job. Contemptuously the chief priests and Pharisees said concerning the people who believed in Jesus: “This crowd that does not know the law are accursed people.”—Job 2:1-13; John 7:49, NW.

So they classed such people as under God’s curse and fit to associate intimately only with dogs, which could eat the flesh of animals torn by beasts in the field and to which no holy things were to be cast. Let them prowl around the city like hungry scavenger dogs at nightfall, howling if they find nothing to eat. The uncircumcised Gentiles were classed as dogs, and let these lick the ulcers of the poor and give them some soothing relief. (Ex. 22:31; Matt. 7:6; 15:26, 27; Ps. 59:6, 14, 15; Mark 7:27, 28) Being spiritually neglected by the lofty leaders who held them in disdain, they would naturally become ulcerous and sick spiritually. It was to such neglected and diseased ones that Jesus came to minister God’s healing Word. When the Pharisees complained to his disciples, “Why is it that your teacher eats with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus said: “Persons in health do not need a physician, but the ailing do. Go, then, and learn what this means, ‘I want mercy, and not sacrifice.’ Accordingly, I came to call, not righteous people, but sinners.”—Matt. 9:11-13, NW; Mark 2:16, 17.

The beggar Lazarus was put at the rich man’s gate, for he wanted to be filled with the things that dropped from the rich man’s table. Whatever was thrown away from that sumptuous table would never be missed by the rich man. It could be turned over to the beggar without a fanfare of trumpets to call public notice to his charitableness to the poor. Some of the community put Lazarus at his gate. Like Lazarus, they thought the religious clergy to be the ones from whom alone spiritual nourishment could come from God, and so they directed the Lazarus class of poor unlearned people to look to the religious leaders and teachers for all spiritual supplies.

The Lazarus class hunger and thirst for righteousness, conscious of their spiritual need and desiring spiritual food to put them in a healthy state of heart and mind and to strengthen them to serve God aright. They want more than the empty, futile philosophies of men; but this is what the “rich man” class gives them. It gives them the precepts of men and the traditions of religious elders which overstep God’s commands and make his Word of no force. Seeking ease for themselves, they bind and put heavy burdens upon the shoulders of mankind. Not wanting themselves to go into the kingdom of heaven through Jesus Christ, they try to prevent the Lazarus class from going in. Consequently only morsels of real spiritual food have they let drop for the health and strength of the Lazarus class. Only a little comfort have these received from God’s Word and arrangements, while the self-righteous “rich man” class apply all the main blessings to themselves. (Col. 2:8; Matt. 15:1-9; 23:4, 13, NW) Small wonder that Jesus publicly castigated the religious “rich man” class and called them “hypocrites, fools, blind guides, serpents, offspring of vipers”! How noble that he took up the cause of the poor and uplifted and comforted them!

In his sermon on the mount Jesus said: “Happy are those who are conscious of their spiritual need, since the kingdom of the heavens belongs to them. Happy are those hungering and thirsting for righteousness, since they will be filled.” In contrast with these words pronouncing such kind of persons happy he said: “But woe to you rich persons, because you are having your consolation in full. Woe to you who are filled up now, because you will go hungry. Woe, you who are laughing now, because you will mourn and weep.” (Matt. 5:3, 6 and Luke 6:24, 25, NW) Jesus illustrated these changes for poor and rich in his parable of the beggar Lazarus and the rich man. He pictured the changes as coming by death.

Jesus said: “Now in course of time the beggar died and he was carried off by the angels to the bosom position of Abraham. Also the rich man died and was buried. And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, he existing in torments, and he saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in the bosom position with him.” (Luke 16:22, 23, NW) The New World Translation, in its footnote, says of this “bosom position” that one occupying this position is “as when reclining in front of another on the same couch at a meal”. It denotes a position of favor with Abraham. Death ended the beggar condition for Lazarus and put him in a favored place. The question now is, When did he die, and in what sense? There are facts to give answer.

The Lazarus class died when the Kingdom news began to be told to the poor ones whom the religious clergy despised and neglected. They were sinners needing repentance, the harlots, the publicans, the circumcised Samaritans, and finally the uncircumcised Gentiles; and these accepted the news and became followers of the Messiah, Christ the King. This began in the days of John the Baptist, for he came preaching in the wilderness: “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near. I, on the one hand, baptize you with water because of your repentance; but the one coming after me is stronger than I am, whose sandals I am not fit to take off. That one will baptize you people with holy spirit and with fire.” (Matt. 3:1, 2, 11, NW) About six months after John began Jesus was baptized by him and was anointed with God’s spirit to be the Christ. After forty days of temptation in the wilderness he came back to John and began gathering his disciples. Particularly after John’s arrest in the following year Jesus retired to Galilee and began preaching like him: “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.” En route to Galilee he even preached to the despised Samaritans.—Matt. 4:17, NW; John 4:1-42.

While in the synagogue of his hometown of Nazareth he read to the congregation his preaching commission from the prophet Isaiah: “Jehovah’s spirit is upon me, because he anointed me to declare good news to the poor, he sent me forth to preach a release to the captives and a recovery of sight to the blind, to send the crushed ones away with a release, to preach Jehovah’s acceptable year.” With that he added: “Today this scripture that you just heard is fulfilled.” (Luke 4:16-21, NW) Some time later John the Baptist in prison sent to him for some verification that he was really the One that was to come. Jesus told John’s messengers: “Go your way and report to John what you are hearing and seeing: The blind are seeing again, and the lame are walking about, the lepers are being cleansed and the deaf are hearing, and the dead are being raised up, and the poor are having the good news declared to them.” (Matt. 11:2-5, NW) Ah, yes, the Lazarus class were having the good news preached to them, and that led to their death as a beggar class, spiritually diseased and hungry. No longer were they going to the “rich man’s” gate for food, but were flocking to Jesus the Messiah. Those conscious of their spiritual need and hungering and thirsting for what was right were being filled and comforted.

After John’s messengers left Jesus said: “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of the heavens is the goal toward which men press, and those pressing forward are seizing it. For all, the Prophets and the Law, prophesied until John.” (Matt. 11:12, 13, NW) Jesus said something very similar just before he gave his parable of Lazarus and the rich man. After exposing the self-righteousness of the money-loving Pharisees who were listening in, Jesus said: “The Law and the Prophets were until John. From then on the kingdom of God is being declared as good news, and every kind of person is pressing forward toward it.” (Luke 16:16, NW) Or, to quote Moffatt’s translation: “And anyone presses in.” Every kind of person, or, anyone? Yes; the lowly Lazarus class, which once begged from the “rich man”, was pressing forward toward the kingdom and seizing it. In view of this fact Jesus finally told the chief priests and the religious elders: “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and the harlots are going ahead of you into the kingdom of God. For John came to you in the path of righteousness, but you did not believe him. However, the tax collectors and the harlots believed him, and you, although you saw this, did not feel regret afterwards so as to believe him.” (Matt. 21:23, 31, 32, NW) So the Lazarus class died to those religious leaders and were conducted to the right source for food, comfort and relief.

DEAD TOWARD THE LAW, BUT NOT BURIED

Now God’s kingdom was being preached and anyone or every kind of person was pressing toward it to enter it, especially after the apostle Peter was authorized to use the “keys of the kingdom”. Even the Lazarus class was pressing toward it. So it was time for the law of Moses to be fulfilled down to the last particle of a letter. Hence Jesus went on to say: “Indeed, it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one particle of a letter of the Law to go unfulfilled. Everyone [Anyone, Mo] that divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he that marries a woman divorced from a husband commits adultery.” (Luke 16:17, 18, NW) As a son of a Jewess, Jesus came to be under the law of Moses. But he as a perfect Jew did not come to destroy that Law from God; he came to fulfill it. He had to prove himself to be the Seed of Abraham which was first foretold in Moses’ writings. As such Seed he must be sacrificed on God’s altar, in the same way that Abraham’s beloved son Isaac was offered on the altar at God’s command, this resulting in God’s oath-bound promise, “In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.”—Gen. 22:1-18.

As prescribed in Moses’ law, Jesus must fulfill it by being offered up as the real passover lamb, “the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” Yes, he must be offered in sacrifice like those animals slain at Mount Sinai, whose blood Moses as mediator sprinkled on the book of the Law and the people in order to validate the Law covenant between God and Israel. But Jesus’ blood validates a new covenant between God and spiritual Israel, by which God really forgives sins beyond remembrance. To fulfill the many prophetic pictures in the Law, Jesus also had to be offered like the bullock and Jehovah’s goat on the day of atonement, the blood of which sacrifices was taken by the high priest into the Most Holy and sprinkled before the divine mercy seat. Only Jesus had to rise from the dead and ascend as High Priest into heaven itself and appear in God’s most holy presence to offer there the blood or value of his sacrificed human life for believers on earth. By these means his followers on earth could gain true righteousness from God. In fulfilling these and other features of the Mosaic law Jesus fulfilled the purpose of it. So it was taken out of the way and was nailed to the torture stake on which he died.—Ex. 12:1-13; John 1:29; Ex. 24:3-8; Lev. 16:1-19; Heb. 9:11-28; 13:10-13; Rom. 10:4; Col. 2:14.

Because the Law of Moses was then being fulfilled and removed from his believers, Jesus declared that the divorce provision in the Law whereby a man could have more than one living wife did not apply after this to his followers. (Deut. 24:1-4) The Law covenant through Moses was passing out and the new covenant through the Greater Mediator, Jesus Christ, was superseding it. Under it if a Christian got a divorce from a marriage mate on any grounds other than sexual unfaithfulness, then if either of these remarried that one would be guilty of adultery. The Christian standard of marriage under the new covenant would be that established by God in the garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. The man had but one living wife given him for the purpose of raising children to fill the earth and subdue it to a paradise state. (Matt. 19:3-9; Gen. 1:28; 2:21-24) God provided no divorce for the perfect pair. Likewise a married Christian must be the mate of only one living partner and should be faithful to that one. This statement of Jesus on the marriage situation must have irritated the Pharisees who followed Talmudic teachings on marriage and who were listening in.

Showing how the Jewish members of the Lazarus class had died to their former beggarly condition under the Law covenant, the apostle Paul addresses some of them: “Can it be that you do not know, brothers, (for I am speaking to those who know law,) that the Law is master over a man as long as he lives? For instance, a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is alive; but if her husband dies, she is discharged from the law of her husband. So, then, while her husband is living, she would be styled an adulteress if she became another man’s. But if her husband dies, she is free from his law, so that she is not an adulteress if she becomes another man’s. So, my brothers, you also were made dead to the Law through the body of the Christ, that you might become another’s, the one’s who was raised up from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. For when we were in accord with the flesh, the sinful passions that were excited by the Law were at work in our members that we should bring forth fruit to death. But now we have been discharged from the Law, because we have died to that by which we were being held fast, that we might be slaves in a new sense by the spirit, and not in the old sense by the written code.”—Rom. 7:1-6, NW.

Thus the Lazarus class had died to the Mosaic law and was no longer subject to the “rich man” class or dependent upon that Jewish clergy class for anything. They had “died together with Christ toward the elementary things of the world” which the “rich man” class taught. Their life was now “hidden with the Christ in union with God”. They no longer begged from the “rich man”. No, they followed Jesus’ command, “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy,” and avoided them.—Col. 2:20; 3:3 and Luke 12:1, NW.

But did you notice one interesting point? What? That, though Lazarus died, the parable does not say the beggar was buried and put in Hades, as was the case with the rich man. In place of being buried and going to Hades, the beggar was “carried off by the angels to the bosom position of Abraham”. Thus the Lazarus class is not pictured as a dead class, “dead in your trespasses and sins,” but as very much alive, “alive toward God.” (Eph. 2:1; Gal. 2:19, NW) All these features about Jesus’ story here prove that it does not tell of a literal Jewish “rich man” and of a literal beggar in Israel named Lazarus. Why should a literal Jew named Lazarus be carried at his death to Abraham’s bosom just because he was a beggar covered with ulcers and licked by dogs? Furthermore, the literal Abraham had been buried eighteen centuries before this and his bosom had moldered in the grave, in the cave of Machpelah, near Hebron. He was not reclining at a feast and able to entertain Lazarus. (Gen. 25:8-10) Abraham’s son Isaac was buried with him at his death. (Gen. 35:27-29) Abraham’s grandson, surnamed Israel, was also buried with him at death. (Gen. 49:29 to 50:13) When speaking of his death, Jacob said: “I will go down to Sheol [into hell, Dy] to my son mourning.” (Gen. 37:35; 42:38, AS) Since Jacob was gathered to his people at death and was buried with his fathers, and thus went to Sheol or hell, Abraham must also be in Sheol or hell, that is, in the common grave of mankind, or Hades.

The religious clergy of Christendom teach that Abraham is in the hell taught in their creeds. That hell is in two parts, in the center of the earth: one part is called paradise or limbo, where the souls of those faithful ones went who died before Christ’s sacrifice; the other part is called Gehenna, with literal flames of torment, where the rich man is. Hence to be in Abraham’s bosom means to be in an underground paradise. If that is true and if that is where a literal beggar named Lazarus went at death, how is it that angels carried him there? Do angels carry dead beggars to the center of the earth to Abraham’s bosom? Who, then, carried the rich man to the flames of torment—demons? The Scriptures say Jesus went to hell, but got out again by God’s resurrection power. (Ps. 16:10; Acts 2:27, 31, 32) The Revelation or Apocalypse tells us: “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.” (Rev. 20:14) So Jesus got out of hell in time, so as not to land with it into the lake of fire. If, now, hell is at the center of the earth, as religionists claim, then what becomes of the earth when hell is cast into the lake of fire?

Now look here, says someone, paradise or Abraham’s bosom has been transferred from hell to heaven since Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension to heaven! But how can that be? On the day of Pentecost, ten days AFTER Jesus’ ascension, the inspired apostle Peter said: “David did not ascend to the heavens.” So neither did Abraham nor anybody in his bosom. (Acts 2:1, 29, 34, NW) Moreover, Jesus told his parable of the rich man and Lazarus some weeks at least before dying on the torture stake at Calvary. So Jesus had not yet ascended to heaven and paradise could not yet have been transferred from hell to heaven at the time he spoke. And yet Jesus said angels carried the dead Lazarus to Abraham’s bosom.

So from all the absurdities into which the religionist falls by arguing that Jesus’ story is literal, it is apparent that he spoke a parable. And this will show up more and more as we look at further absurdities and contradictions in a literal interpretation. It follows, therefore, that the Abraham to whose bosom angels carried Lazarus is symbolic, just as Lazarus and the rich man are. This symbolic Abraham is not in hell. Why not? Because Abraham in the parable represents Jehovah God himself. When faithful Abraham, “the friend of God,” offered up his only son Isaac on Mount Moriah, he was a prophetic picture of Jehovah God offering up his only-begotten Son Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul wrote his fellow Christians to say: “Those who adhere to faith are the ones who are sons of Abraham. . . . You are all, in fact, sons of God through your faith in Christ Jesus. Moreover, if you belong to Christ, you are really Abraham’s seed, heirs with reference to a promise.” This proves that Abraham pictured Jehovah God, who is the real One in whom all the families of the earth will be blessed. In further proof, the apostle tells the Lazarus class: “Now we, brothers, are children belonging to the promise the same as Isaac was”; and Isaac was the son of Abraham.—Gal. 3:7, 8, 26, 29; 4:28, NW.

IN THE FAVOR OF THE THEOCRACY

To lie in the bosom of someone at a banquet meant to occupy a place of loving favor with that one. For example, concerning Jesus we read: “No man has seen God at any time; the only-begotten god who is in the bosom position with the Father is the one that has explained him.” (John 1:18, NW) The apostle John occupied such a favored place at the last passover, for we read: “There was reclining in front of Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, and Jesus loved him. So the latter leaned back upon the breast of Jesus and said to him: ‘Master, who is it?’” (John 13:23, 25, NW) To be carried by angels into Abraham’s bosom means, therefore, to be transferred from the despised beggarly condition of Lazarus at the rich man’s gate into the loving favor of the Greater Abraham, Jehovah God. It means to be adopted by him as a son of God to be associated with the promised Seed of Abraham, Jesus Christ. It means to have close fellowship with Jehovah and his Son and to feast with them at the “table of Jehovah”. As it is written: “This partnership of ours is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. . . . if we are walking in the light as he himself is in the light, we do have partnership with one another and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 Cor. 10:21 and 1 John 1:3, 7, NW) How fitting, then, the beggar’s name Lazarus! It means “God is helper”.

We see, then, that, to begin with, the beggar Lazarus pictured the remnant of natural Jews who exercised faith in God, accepting the message of his servant John the Baptist and of his Son Jesus Christ. Remember how Jesus said of the despised chief tax collector Zacchaeus after his conversion: “This day salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man came to seek and to save what was lost.” (Luke 19:9, 10, NW) John and Jesus were as angels, or messengers, to conduct the Jewish remnant into this position of Abrahamic favor. Mark 1:2 says respecting John: “Here I am, sending forth my messenger [or, angel] before you, to prepare your way.” (NW; margin) Jesus confirmed the application of that prophecy to John, at Matthew 11:10, 11. And referring to Jesus Christ himself, the prophecy at Malachi 3:1 said: “And the Lord whom ye seek will suddenly come to his temple, and the Angel of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he cometh, saith Jehovah of hosts.”—Da; Dy.

But Jesus started off the preaching to the Samaritans, too, and he foretold the extension of the Kingdom gospel to the Samaritans and finally to the Gentiles. (Acts 1:8) So the Lazarus class came to include the believing Samaritans and the believing Gentiles, beginning with the Italian centurion Cornelius. Thus these also were transferred from a poor beggarly state in this world into the bosom of divine favor. So we read: “Now the Scripture, seeing in advance that God would declare people of the nations righteous due to faith, declared the good news beforehand to Abraham, namely: ‘By means of you all the nations will be blessed.’ Consequently, those who adhere to faith are being blessed together with faithful Abraham.”—Gal. 3:8, 9, NW.

In the second year of Jesus’ public ministry a Gentile centurion or army officer, whether Cornelius or not, we do not know, manifested unusual faith in Jesus’ healing power. This was a sample of what faith was to be found among the despised Gentile “dogs”, as the self-righteous Jews called them; and so Jesus predicted a conducting of these poor, sin-diseased, hungry people of the Gentile nations into the “bosom position of Abraham”. In his amazement Jesus said: “I tell you the truth, With no one in Israel have I found so great a faith. But I tell you that many from eastern parts and western will come and recline at the table with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens; whereas the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the darkness outside.”—Matt. 8:5-12, NW.

This was not saying that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob of old were then reclining at a table in the kingdom of the heavens; for these three men were not prophets greater than John the Baptist, and Jesus said, “A person that is a lesser one in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than him.” (Matt. 11:11, NW) In Jesus’ words Abraham represents the Greater One in whom all families of the earth will be blessed, Jehovah God the Great Father. Therefore Isaac, Abraham’s only son by his wife Sarah, represents God’s only-begotten Son Jesus Christ, whom God anointed to be King of kings.

Jacob received life from Abraham through Isaac and so was Abraham’s grandson. Likewise, the Christian congregation receives life from God through Jesus Christ. “The Christ also loved the congregation and delivered up himself for it.” “The Christ also is head of the congregation, he being a savior of this body.” (Eph. 5:23, 25, NW) “That one surrendered his soul for us.” (1 John 3:16, NW) At the time when God declares the members of the congregation righteous the perfect human life that Jesus surrendered is counted to them. To that extent Jesus becomes father to them, just as Isaac was father to Jacob, and just as much as Jesus will become the “Everlasting Father” to believing obedient mankind in the new world. (Isa. 9:6) But that human life imputed to his congregation is sacrificed in imitation of Jesus Christ and for the vindication of God’s supremacy and name. So Jehovah God the Greater Abraham begets them by his life-giving spirit. They become his spiritual sons, adopted members of the Seed of Abraham, members of Christ’s body. Hence in this trio of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom the Christian congregation is well pictured by the last one, Jacob, and it is made up of joint heirs with Jesus Christ in the Kingdom. It has a Jewish remnant or nucleus to begin with and the Gentile believers are added later.

In that way Abraham, Isaac and Jacob stand for God’s kingdom arrangement, The Theocracy. Hence when Jesus marveled at the Gentile centurion’s faith and predicted that many people of the non-Jewish nations would come from east and west and recline with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the heavenly kingdom, he meant that many Gentiles would exercise faith when the Kingdom gospel was preached to all the nations. By reason of their faith in God’s message about his Christ they would be transferred from a pauper condition of alienation from God and spiritual starvation, and would be brought like Lazarus into Abraham’s bosom. That is, they would be received into Jehovah God’s favor and taken to his heart and adopted as his sons and heirs of the Kingdom with Jesus Christ, the Seed of Abraham. They would come into the favor of The Theocracy where the Jewish remnant was, and would feast at the “table of Jehovah” on spiritual riches of Scriptural truth and sacred service as his witnesses. This has been going on during the past nineteen centuries, and has reached a climax in our day.

But other interesting and important parts of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus remain yet to be discussed to complete our understanding of the matter, especially as it pertains to our own day.

In previous paragraphs we discussed the parable of Rich Man and Lazarus down to the first part of Luke 16:22. The Scriptural proof was offered to show that the favored rich man and the beggar Lazarus symbolized two classes: the rich man the highly favored religious clergy among God’s professed people, and the beggar Lazarus the despised, neglected people who realize their spiritual need and who hunger and thirst after truth and righteousness from God. The parable had its first application to the Jews or Israelites to whom Jesus spoke the parable. Among them the “rich man” class included the chief priests, the scribes, the Pharisees and Sadducees, and other religious leaders, who opposed Jesus and sneered at his teachings. Because Jesus and his disciples preached the good news of the Kingdom to the poor and afflicted ones who listened to him with pleasure, this enriched them with the truth of God and with privileges of serving him aright. It meant death to their beggarly, diseased spiritual condition. It relieved them of dependence on the “rich man” class for what religious instruction they got. It brought them into the favor of Jehovah God, who was represented by Abraham, where they could feast to the full at the spiritual “table of Jehovah”. In this way it was that, to quote the parable, “the beggar died and he was carried off by the angels to the bosom position of Abraham.”

What now occurs to the “rich man” is the opposite of the favor to the beggar Lazarus. Luke 16:22, 23 tells us: “Also the rich man died and was buried. And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, he existing in torments, and he saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in the bosom position with him.” (NW) The “rich man’s” death did not mean the physical death of any members of that class. It pictured their death to the privileged, advantageous position that they had till now enjoyed and in which they had treated the Lazarus class as despised, diseased beggars. So when and how did the “rich man” class die and get buried?

It was at the same time that the Lazarus class experienced their change of condition for the better. What worked for the removal of the disadvantageous condition of this poor class worked for the death of the “rich man” class to their special privileges seemingly in God’s favor. This occurred when John the Baptist came preaching repentance because God’s kingdom was near. He turned the people to Jesus as the “Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world”, the Anointed One, the Christ. John exposed their self-righteousness and called them the “offspring of vipers” and showed them they were in danger of being baptized with fiery destruction in the coming wrath of God on Israel. They needed repentance just as much as the sinful poor people who were condemned by Moses’ law. They need not think they were the promised “seed of Abraham” due to their natural descent from that faithful Hebrew.—Matt. 3:7-12, NW.

But Jesus himself was still more deadly to the “rich man” class in their linen and purple clothing and at their sumptuous table. Declaring themselves righteous, they once appeared lofty in the eyes of the Lazarus class, but they were actually disgusting in God’s sight. Jesus exposed them as such to the Lazarus class. (Luke 16:15, NW) Thus he stripped them of their linen of self-righteousness. He disrobed them of their purple claims to royalty in God’s kingdom when he declared that the harlots, sinners and tax collectors of the beggar class went into the Kingdom before them. He climaxed this with the awful judgment: “The kingdom of God will be taken from you and be given to a nation producing its fruits.” (Matt. 21:43, NW) He spoiled their religious table for them when he turned from them and committed the Kingdom mysteries and the privilege of Kingdom preaching to the poor of the Lazarus class and said: “I publicly praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intellectual ones and have revealed them to babes. . . . Come to me, all you who are toiling and loaded down, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you and become my disciples, 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.” (Matt. 11:25-30 and Luke 10:21-24, NW) When the “rich man” class willfully rejected him and procured his death, this sealed their death as spiritually privileged ones. Their religious table became a trap and their feast a deadly snare to them.—Rom. 11:7-9.

We have already noted that the parable avoids saying that Lazarus was buried and went to hell, Hades or Sheol. But it does say of the rich man that he “died and was buried” and found himself “in Hades”. His death was openly certified by that day of Pentecost ten days after Jesus ascended to heaven to appear in God’s presence with the value of his human sacrifice. Then the holy spirit was poured out on the first members of the Lazarus class. The spirit was an evidence of their being accepted with God and of having Christ’s righteousness imputed to them and of becoming heirs of God’s kingdom. The spiritual food concerning his kingdom by Christ did not fall on that day of Pentecost from the “rich man’s” table for the poor people. No; it came through those disciples who had been taken into the “bosom position of Abraham”. There Peter, and not the “rich man” class, began using the “keys of the kingdom of the heavens”. About 3,000 Jews turned to the table of the Greater Abraham and were baptized and got the outpoured spirit. Thus the Lazarus class began to be lifted out of deadness in trespasses and sins and to be seated “together in the heavenly places in union with Christ Jesus”. (Acts 2:1-42; Matt. 16:19; Eph. 2:1-6, NW) So how could the parable describe Lazarus as in Hades, Sheol, hell, or the common grave of mankind? It could not.

But as for the “rich man” class: By refusing Jesus and stubbornly holding onto the works of the Law to justify themselves to life they proved themselves cursed by the Law. So they died to the privilege of being associated with Jesus Christ as the promised Seed of Abraham. Till their physical death they lived on in the flesh, just like the gadabout woman of whom the apostle wrote: “The one that goes in for sensual gratification is dead though she is living.” (1 Tim. 5:6, NW) The Law to which they held proved to be death to them, condemning them to death as accursed sinners. (Rom. 7:9-11) Living on in the flesh, though they were dead in God’s eyes, they could see what happened with the Lazarus class and could be chagrined by it.

As far as the Jews are concerned, the “rich man” was buried three and a half years after Pentecost. Why then at the latest? Because then the good news of God’s kingdom was preached to the despised uncircumcised Gentiles for the first time, at the home of the Italian centurion Cornelius. The “rich man” class among the Jews were not the ones to do the preaching. No; they were not the ones proving to be a blessing to all the nations of the earth in harmony with Jehovah’s promise to Abraham. The one preaching to Cornelius was a member of the despised Lazarus class, the apostle Peter equipped with the “keys of the kingdom”. (Acts 10:1 to 11:18) The “rich man” class was without any life-giving message and was inactive in God’s service, and hence was as dead and buried.

But, you ask, how is it that the rich man is pictured as talking in hell if it is just the common grave of mankind? It is because this is a parable. So dying, being buried and being in hell are used in a symbolic way. This fact shows that it is a parable, because if the “rich man” class were actually in the Bible hell, they could not talk or see a thing. “Let the wicked be put to shame, let them be silent in Sheol” (AS)—“be silent in the grave” (AV)—“be brought down to hell” (Dy). So says Psalm 31:17. (Ps. 30:18, Dy) And at Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10 we read: “For the living know that they shall die, but the dead know nothing more, . . . Whatsoever thy hand is able to do, do it earnestly: for neither work, nor reason, nor wisdom, nor knowledge shall be in hell [(Dy)—in Sheol (AS)—in the grave (AV)], whither thou art hastening.” If one is in the condition like Sheol, hell, or the grave, he is not active in God’s service nor learning any of the truth. There the “rich man” class find themselves and can see the Lazarus class’ change of condition and can talk and complain. It is as when the psalmist despondently said concerning himself: “My life draweth nigh unto Sheol. I am reckoned with them that go down into the pit; I am as a man that hath no help, cast off among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more, and they are cut off from thy hand. Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in dark places, in the deeps. Thy wrath lieth hard upon me.”—Ps. 88:3-7, AS.

HOW IN TORMENTS

But if Hades, Sheol, or hell is the common grave of mankind, where there is no sensation, knowledge or activity, how is it that the parable says of the rich man in Hades, “he existing in torments”? In the next verse he says it is due to a “blazing fire”. Does that not show there is fire and torment of conscious human souls in Hades, Sheol, or hell? Not at all. This is a parable, and Sheol or Hades is used to picture the condition of the “rich man” class while still here among us on earth. Hence this class can be pictured as being in Sheol or Hades or hell and at the same time existing in torments from a blazing fire. The rich man could not be pictured as in Gehenna, because then he could not be pictured talking, for Gehenna or the “lake of fire that burneth with brimstone” symbolizes “second death”, utter destruction from which there is no resurrection.—Rev. 19:20, AS; 20:14. See footnote.

ABRAHAM SEEN AFAR OFF

The “rich man” class, although living in their religious realm, were dead to God and were as buried in Hades or hell as far as his active service is concerned. For this reason they could be pictured as dead and buried in Hades or the grave and yet be alive and able to look up and see afar off and also to experience torment. What they saw helped to contribute torment to them: “he saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in the bosom position with him.” That means the “rich man” class saw they were not getting the blessing as Abraham’s natural seed. They saw the Greater Abraham, Jehovah God, far off from them and his favor going to the Jewish remnant and Gentiles who believed on Jesus and followed him. Far from being the promised seed of Abraham for a blessing to all the families and nations of the earth, they were a curse to them. Said Paul: “They are not pleasing God, but are against the interests of all men, as they try to hinder us from speaking to the nations that these might be saved, with the result that they always fill up the measure of their sins.” (1 Thess. 2:15, 16, NW) Both Paul and Barnabas said to them: “It was necessary for the word of God to be spoken first to you. Since you are thrusting it away from you and do not judge yourselves worthy of everlasting life, look! we turn to the nations. In fact, Jehovah has laid commandment upon us in these words, ‘I have appointed you as a light of nations, for you to be a salvation to the most distant part of the earth.’”—Acts 13:46, 47, NW.

So they see the Lazarus class in the bosom position with Abraham, hence at meal or at banquet with Abraham and on the first couch with him, to betoken being in his special love and favor. (John 13:23, 25; Deut. 13:6; 28:54, 56; 2 Sam. 12:3, 8; Mic. 7:5) That means they are in the bosom favor of the Greater Abraham, Jehovah God, and are having fellowship with him. They have been adopted as sons of God to be associated with Jesus Christ, the true Seed of Abraham, and so they are feasting at the “table of Jehovah” on the Kingdom mysteries and truths and on the pure worship and service of God. (1 John 1:3, 7; John 4:34; Jas. 1:27) But the “rich man” class are on the outside of all this favor, afar off. The Lazarus class are like Isaac, Abraham’s son by his beloved wife Sarah, the son who was made Abraham’s heir. As God said: “It is in Isaac that your seed shall be called.” (Rom. 9:7; Gal. 4:28, NW) But the “rich man” class are like Ishmael, Abraham’s son by the slave girl Hagar. God rejected Ishmael as the seed and he was therefore cast off and sent away so as not to threaten Isaac’s life. So, although those in the “rich man” class might be Abraham’s natural descendants, they were cast off from God’s favor. So they persecute the Lazarus class in envy and revenge, as Ishmael did.—Gal. 4:22-30, NW.

No wonder the “rich man” class are in torments. In Jesus’ day his message tormented them. After he exposed their religious traditions and precepts as contrary to God’s Word and commands, the disciples said: “Do you know that the Pharisees stumbled at hearing what you said?” When he pronounced woes upon them for their religious hypocrisy and self-righteousness, one of them said: “Teacher, in saying these things you also insult us.” This did not quiet Jesus, but he went on further to tell them they had taken away the key of knowledge from the people. Tormented at the report that Jesus was teaching in the temple, they dispatched officers to arrest him, but the officers refused to do so and came back with the tormenting confession: “Never has another man spoken like this.” When he spoke his parable of the vineyard and they saw that the murderers in it meant them, they tried to seize him in their mental anguish, but did not do so, for they feared the people there.—Matt. 15:12-14; Luke 11:45; John 7:32, 45, 46; Matt. 21:45, 46, NW.

Thinking to reduce their torment, they finally had him killed. But their torments were only renewed through the Lazarus class from Pentecost onward. For example, the priests, temple captains and Sadducees were annoyed because Peter and John taught the people in the temple about Jesus and his resurrection. But arrests and imprisonment did not intimidate and silence the apostles. They became bolder and the preaching in Jerusalem was intensified, exasperating the religious heads still more. At Stephen’s testimony before them they felt cut to the heart. Gnashing their teeth and shrieking they rushed on him en masse, threw him outside the city and stoned him to death. Saul of Tarsus, who witnessed this, pushed a rabid persecution of the Lazarus Christians. Being extremely mad against them, he breathed threats and murder against them. But for him it was like the kicking of an ox against the goads and getting deeply pricked. When Saul changed and became the apostle Paul and he and Barnabas preached to great crowds of people, the religious leaders were filled with jealousy and blasphemously contradicted what these said to the people, and then persecuted them for turning with the message to the non-Jews. Repeated are the reports of their uprisings in rage against Paul and his missionary companions. What a torment they were in! How the heat of the flaming message of denunciation and exposure scorched and sizzled them!

MODERN COUNTERPART

The religious officials and leaders of Jewry who made up the “rich man” class of that first century find their modern counterpart in the clergy and religious leaders and supporters of Christendom today. They represent systems that have become entrenched among human society and have great antiquity and age-old traditions. So with their wealth and their influence with the rulers of this world, they have gained for themselves a place of great prominence, respect, influence and control over the people. Outwardly they have appeared very righteous and sacrosanct to men, so that to criticize them seemed sacrilegious, blasphemous and irreligious. They have basked in the favor of the wealthy and the rulers and have wielded mighty political influence. They have appropriated to themselves the Kingdom promises of God’s Word and imagined they were first in the favor of God, the Greater Abraham, and that through them God’s kingdom was to be established over the earth. They have gone in for educational, social and political advantages and have looked down upon the common people as the laity, unlettered, and utterly dependent upon the betitled, educated clergy and their religious systems for Scripture information.

They have given the people little of God’s Word and service and have deceived them with the sectarian traditions and pagan philosophies, leaving them in their spiritual hunger and ulcerous disease. They have taken away the key of knowledge opening the meaning of God’s Word. They have turned the people away from God’s kingdom as humanity’s sole remedy and turned them to the political schemes and policies of worldly rulers and blessed them for engaging in the sanguinary combats of the nations. At this end of the world they have no saving message for the distressed people, but leave them spiritually poor, starving and diseased with only the forlorn hope of a League of Nations or United Nations organization as their best hope for world peace, stability and prosperity.

Now these religionists are in a spiritually dead state like the “rich man” of the parable. Certainly they are not alive to the fact that the “appointed times of the nations” closed in 1914 (A.D.) and that there God’s kingdom was put in power over the earth with the promised Seed of Abraham, Christ Jesus, in the throne. They despise the remnant of the Lazarus class, Jehovah’s modern witnesses, for preaching such a message. In the face of the sign of the consummation of this system of things and the presence or pa·rou·si′a of Jesus Christ in Kingdom power, they should have believed the message, at least by the end of World War I in 1918. Yet they did not come to life and activity and take up that Kingdom message and proclaim it to mankind. The remnant of the Lazarus class did so after they recovered from the oppressions of their foes during that world war. They reorganized in 1919 and became alive and increasingly active in preaching “this good news of the Kingdom” to all nations for a witness before the end of this world arrives at Armageddon. But the religious “rich man” class scorned the prophetic meaning of world events. They turned down the message taken up by modern “Lazarus” and sought refuge in a human substitute for the Kingdom, that futile thing called the League of Nations. So they demonstrated no activity for proclaiming and advancing the Kingdom. They showed they were dead and buried toward God; and his judgment, written aforetime in his Word, pronounces them so.

SEEKING THE THEOCRACY

All through the Christian era the prophecy at Luke 13:27-30 has been working toward its climax now. In that prophecy Jesus told of the time when the door would be closed in the face of people once religiously privileged and said: “He will speak and say to you: ‘I do not know where you are from. Get away from me, all you workers of unrighteousness!’ There is where your weeping and the gnashing of your teeth will be, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves thrown outside. Furthermore, people will come from eastern parts and western, and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God. And, look! there are those last who will be first, and there are those first who will be last.” (NW) After Jerusalem was destroyed by Rome’s imperial armies A.D. 70, the coming of those from east, west, north and south was mostly of the non-Jews or Gentiles from all nations reached with the good news.

In previous paragraphs we saw how Abraham, whose name means “Father of a multitude”, pictured Jehovah God, the Father of the promised Seed of Abraham. Abraham’s son Isaac, who was offered in sacrifice, pictured the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who chiefly fulfills the role of the Seed of Abraham for blessing all mankind. Jacob, the son of Isaac and grandson of Abraham, pictured the congregation of Christ’s followers, for God adopts them as his spiritual sons and makes them part of the promised seed of Abraham. Jacob’s name was changed to Israel; and they are spiritual Israelites, “the Israel of God.” (Gal. 4:28; 3:26-29; 6:16, NW) The expression “all the prophets” also represents the congregation of spiritual Israel, the members of the “body of Christ”. In the prophecies such ancient prophets were used to foreshadow these spirit-begotten Christians and to forecast their role or course of action. So together, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and all the prophets picture the Theocratic Government. Our seeing them “in the kingdom of God” means seeing with the eye of understanding that Jehovah, Jesus Christ and his congregation of spirit-begotten followers form the kingdom of God and are the ones in that heavenly kingdom.

Hence when people from all directions come and recline at the table in that kingdom, it means that these believers are taken into the class of Kingdom joint heirs and feast on Kingdom truths and privileges at the “table of Jehovah”. So there is no need to wait till Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and all the prophets are resurrected from the dead in order for us to see this prophecy fulfilled.

Now, the clergy and religious leaders of Christendom took it for granted that they, just like the “rich man”, were first in line for the Kingdom and sure of it. Now they find themselves, since A.D. 1919, to be last and out of the Kingdom privileges altogether. On the other hand, those whom they despised as the last ones in any chance for God’s kingdom, the remnant of the beggar Lazarus class, these are now first in the enjoyment of Kingdom privileges at the “table of Jehovah” as His witnesses. The facts prove it so. They are the ones to whom the Kingdom interests are now entrusted. They are conscientiously caring for them by obeying Christ’s command to preach this Kingdom gospel to all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations.

They were falsely accused and misrepresented as hypocritical sinners by the religious clergy, just as the bereft, disease-stricken Job was accused by his three self-righteous friends. This remnant of the Lazarus class have now experienced a glorious change of condition, in the same way that Job, nearly dead and seemingly afflicted by God, was healed and given a new lease on life for 140 years, was blessed with twice as much as he had before, was re-joined with his wife and was blessed with seven sons and three lovely daughters the same as before. (Job 42:10-17) Once those of the remnant of the Lazarus class were lying as dead and inactive, like the “two witnesses” of Revelation, chapter 11. Taking advantage of World War I, the “rich man” class intimidated and maneuvered them into deathlike inactivity toward Jehovah’s witness work and they lay like ‘corpses’ on the broad way of the great city of Christendom, modern Sodom! But in 1919 God’s spirit began restoring them to life in his service to be his witnesses and Kingdom ambassadors. So they came into the favor of the Greater Abraham, Jehovah God, and received his invitation, “Come on up here.” They responded to this invitation to come to life in his exalted service in the interest of the kingdom of heaven. So with regard to this, Revelation 11:12 says: “And they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies beheld them.”—NW.

Yes, their enemies, the “rich man” class in Christendom, beheld them enjoying these royal privileges at the “table of Jehovah”, in the bosom position of Abraham, whereas they themselves were cast out and denied these Kingdom opportunities. They have been left to the darkness, gloom and desperation of this world with its selfish alliance of nations for world peace. There they weep and gnash their teeth at this reversal of conditions against them and in favor of Jehovah’s witnesses. They are as dead and buried in Hades (or hell, the grave) as regards God’s approved service, and yet they are in torment because of seeing how the remnant of the Lazarus class have been taken into this service and are being used in it so mightily world-wide. God has withheld his sorely needed message from them and they suffer from a spiritual “famine . . . of hearing the words of Jehovah” among themselves.—Amos 8:11, AS.

They see themselves far off from the bosom position of the Greater Abraham, Jehovah God. And just as the Jewish clergy and religious leaders were tormented at the message and activities of Jesus and his disciples, so the religious heads and notables of Christendom today are in torment at observing and feeling the activities of Jehovah’s witnesses. Hundreds of thousands they behold responding and attaching themselves to the Lazarus class, just as a large family of ten new children were added to Job after his recovery from God’s seeming disfavor due to Satan’s machinations. Jehovah’s message by his witnesses is like a flaming fire against the “rich man” religionists: “Is not my word like fire? saith Jehovah.” (Jer. 23:29, AS) To them the activities of the Lazarus class in proclaiming the day of Jehovah’s vengeance are like the locust plague foretold at Revelation 9:1-11 and Joel 2:1-11.

These “locusts” are the army of Jehovah’s witnesses, and as to their effect upon Christendom’s “rich man” class Revelation 9:5-7, 10, 11 says: “It was granted the locusts, not to kill them, but that these should be tormented five months, and the torment upon them was as torment by a scorpion when it strikes a man. And in those days the men will seek death but will by no means find it, and they will desire to die but death keeps fleeing from them. And the likenesses of the locusts resembled horses prepared for battle, . . . Also they have tails and stings like scorpions; and in their tails is their authority to hurt the men five months. They have over them a king, the angel of the abyss. In Hebrew his name is A·bad′don [Destruction], but in Greek he has the name A·pol′lyon [Destroyer].” (NW) Not surprising that the effort is made throughout Christendom to destroy Jehovah’s witnesses.

PLEA FOR RELIEF TURNED DOWN

Mark, now, that what the parable next tells of the rich man in Hades and torment has undergone fulfillment in this consummation of the system of things. “So he called and said: ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in anguish in this blazing fire.’” (Luke 16:24, NW) The Jewish clergy cried out, “Father Abraham!” in a plea for favor as his natural seed. They were his natural descendants and had expected treatment better than this from God because of such natural relationship to that ancient “friend of God”. Oh for relief from God on the basis of this relationship! Likewise today Christendom’s religionists, the modern counterpart, address the Greater Abraham, God, as “Father” and plead with him for mercy in their tormented condition.

If Jesus was not telling a parable but the “blazing fire” was literal, then how absurd for the rich man to ask to have Lazarus dip his finger in water to cool the rich man’s tongue! But how could the Lazarus class bring the “rich man” class any relief now? Well, by a drop of the water of truth that would refresh the religious clergy in their spiritual anguish and torment. How could this be accomplished? Only by having the Lazarus class stop preaching the “day of vengeance of our God” and stop exposing hypocritical religion and pronouncing the fiery judgments of Jehovah against Christendom. So they want the Greater Abraham to have the ones in his bosom favor to compromise. Let them not preach the naked truth, but preach nice things for the religious clergy and give them a better appearance in people’s eyes. That is, do not do as Jehovah commanded the prophet Jeremiah, who pictured his witnesses today: “Whatsoever I shall command thee thou shalt speak. . . . And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee, saith Jehovah, to deliver thee.” The “rich man” class speak thus in a manner like that of the Israelite priest Amaziah to the prophet Amos, but they get an unsatisfying, tormenting answer like that which Amos returned to Amaziah.—Jer. 1:7, 19, AS; Amos 7:10-17.

What, now, does the Greater Abraham reply? The parable goes on to tell: “But Abraham said: ‘Child, remember that you received in full your good things in your lifetime, but Lazarus correspondingly the injurious things. Now, however, he is having comfort here but you are in anguish. And besides all these things, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you people, so that those wanting to go over from here to you people cannot, neither may people cross over from there to us.” (Luke 16:25, 26, NW) Because the Jewish clergy were natural descendants, Abraham could properly address them as “Child!” But this only condemned them, because, though being his natural offspring, they had willfully rejected the divine favor and had come under God’s condemnation. So because of their professions to be God’s children the Greater Abraham addresses the complaining “rich man” religionists as “Child!” in the same way that Joshua addressed the troublemaker Achan when on trial for life. (Josh. 7:19) They are in the position of a child that justly needs punishment. Psalm 82:6, 7 says to them: “I said, Ye are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High. Nevertheless ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.” (AS) The “blazing fire” they now experience is just an advance token of the destruction that awaits them. But God defends and delivers the poor and needy, and rids them out of the hand of the wicked.—Ps. 82:1-4.

“In your lifetime!” Yes, in the rich man’s time before divine judgment came, on natural Israel back there and on Christendom down here since God’s kingdom was set up and Jesus Christ was made the “chief cornerstone” in that royal structure. Before the “rich man” religionists were exposed as dead and buried toward God they had little concern for the people’s real spiritual need. They made a good living from their clerical profession and sought honor and worldly respect and led an easy life. They gave the people very little Bible intelligence and did not go out seeking the lost sheep. They remained silent about their oppressors and oppressions and let them hope for relief and comfort only in heaven. Likewise the “evil slave” class seek only their own heavenly salvation and leave the “other sheep” to shift for themselves until the Millennium. They offer no assistance now to such sheep to escape the world tribulation of Armageddon and to survive into the Millennium. (Matt. 24:48-51) So the “rich man” religionists have taken the good things of this life and have held the good things of the Bible in reserve for themselves. But now those days are gone forever, and they are seriously disturbed, disillusioned and in great anguish.

In those days when Christendom’s religious set flourished, the Lazarus class received the “injurious things”, and that largely at the hands of the “rich man” religionists. People who gave them a bit of soothing relief were looked down on as dogs that came and licked their ulcers. They were made to appear spiritually diseased and outcasts, under God’s curse, “as having nothing,” like beggars. (2 Cor. 6:8-10, NW) But now since God has reversed matters and showed whom he really favors and has taken to his bosom, they are comforted. Of course, they are still verbally abused and violently persecuted by the “rich man” class; but they are comforted with God’s comfort and refreshed and renewed by the good things from his table. They eat, drink, rejoice, sing for joy of heart, and are blessed, whereas the “rich man” religionists hunger, thirst, feel shame, cry and howl sorrowfully, leave their name for a curse, and face destruction. (Isa. 65:13-16) It is as when Job was healed and comforted, and his family, relatives and friends were restored.

The remnant of the Lazarus class are spiritual Jews. Upon their “skirt” we now see “ten men . . . out of all languages of the nations” take hold and go up with them as companions to Jehovah’s theocratic organization. (Zech. 8:20-23) They are like Job’s brothers, sisters and acquaintances who came to comfort him, besides those beautiful children whom he fathered in his old age. (Job 42:11; see also The New World, pages 364, 365) They are the “other sheep” whom Jehovah’s Right Shepherd, Jesus Christ, brings into unity with the Lazarus remnant, making them one flock under one Shepherd. In this way, too, these “other sheep” become intimate companions with the remnant and come into the bosom favor of the Greater Abraham, and they share in the present “good things” and comfort of the remnant. (John 10:16) They are the first ones of the earthly class to receive benefits from the Greater Abraham through his Seed, Jesus Christ and his body of joint heirs.

A GREAT CHASM

But that “great chasm”! The rich man had not thought of that when pleading to Abraham for relief. The people where he is cannot cross it and force themselves into Abraham’s bosom. Nor can the Lazarus class leave Abraham’s bosom and cross over it to the relief of the “rich man” class. The chasm pictures God’s judgment, which cannot be reversed and which divides the two classes. It forbids any mercy or relief to Christendom. She is abandoned since making her decision following World War I. She then decided against God’s established kingdom and favored the international conspiracy for ruling the earth by human agents in defiance of His rightful sovereignty and in opposition to his King Jesus Christ, whom he put on the throne in 1914 to rule amidst his enemies. To the “rich man” class the King Jesus Christ says: “Serpents, offspring of vipers, how are you to flee from the judgment of Gehenna?” (Matt. 23:33, NW) The Kingdom is here to rule in triumph. Now this world, including Christendom and its religious powers, must be abandoned to destruction. Her “rich man” class are like Esau, who sold his birthright for selfishness and moved to Mount Seir. Afterward when he wanted to inherit the blessing he was rejected, for, “although he earnestly sought a change of mind [in Isaac] with tears, he found no place for it.”—Heb. 12:16, 17, NW; Deut. 2:1-5; Ezek. 35:1-15

The terms for getting adopted as members of Abraham’s seed according to God’s promise cannot be set aside. The Kingdom class of blessing is now about complete, only a remnant on earth being yet destined for it. The “rich man” has not met those theocratic terms and requirements but has chosen the wisdom of this world. The last ones from his standpoint are now first in their participation in the Kingdom interests, and the reputedly first ones are now last. There can be no fusion of the two classes, no fraternizing! “Come out of her, my people,” calls the divine voice from heaven, “touch not the unclean thing.” The Lazarus remnant have left the Babylonish world and its religious confusion that they might be clean to bear Jehovah’s vessels of worship. God is determined to keep the organization of his people clean now. Only the real thing is kept there; all hypocrites are thrown out. The rich man cannot be brought in contrary to Jehovah’s decree. But now in this short period of God’s patience before the world destruction at Armageddon the “other sheep” class hear the Right Shepherd’s voice sounding the divine call to come out of worldly Babylon. They do so, flee to the upraised Signal of Jehovah’s kingdom, and gain entrance to the one flock under his royal Shepherd. These sheep the Shepherd puts to his right and divides them off from the “goats”. The great unbridgeable chasm of divine judgment allows for no fellowship between faithful persons and those who unbelievingly reject the Kingdom. “Thy judgments are a great deep.”—Ps. 36:6.

PLEA FOR THE FIVE BROTHERS

The “rich man” class have their own ideas about the salvation of the people. “Then he said: ‘In that event I ask you, father, to send him to the house of my father, for I have five brothers, in order that he may give them a thorough witness, that they also should not get into this place of torment.’” (Luke 16:27, 28, NW) He still calls Abraham “father”, but he confesses he has a closer relationship to another father and has five brothers. Who this father is Jesus told this class: “If you are Abraham’s children, do the works of Abraham. . . . If God were your Father, you would love me, for from God I came forth and am here. You are from your father the Devil and you wish to do the desires of your father. That one was a manslayer when he began, and he did not stand fast in the truth, because truth is not in him.” (John 8:39, 42, 44, NW) So the “rich man” class show their real sonship by the resemblance of their works to those of the Devil.

The “rich man” and his five brothers total six. This is a number distinguishing the organization of imperfection and sin, the enemy organization. (1 Sam. 17:4, 7; 2 Sam. 21:20; Rev. 13:18) So they are the visible seed of the great Serpent, as Jesus called them. (Gen. 3:15; Matt. 23:33; 3:7) Back there the five brothers stood for all the Jewish brothers of the “rich man” class, all natural Israelites of a like attitude, spirit and fatherhood. They were the seed of Abraham by natural descent but were not the spiritual sons of the Greater Abraham nor the brothers of Christ. At this end of the world they picture all those professed Christians of Christendom who associate with the religious leaders, follow their guidance and act goatishly toward Christ’s remnant of brothers. Their works betray who is their father.—2 Tim. 2:25, 26, NW.

The rich man admits that Lazarus is a witness of Jehovah, saying: “That he may give them a thorough witness.” Is the rich man here approving of the Lazarus class of Jehovah’s witnesses and asking for his five brothers to be helped to become Jehovah’s witnesses too? The facts fulfilling the parable do not indicate this. Actually, the rich man wants the Greater Abraham to send Lazarus away from his bosom to preach to his brothers in such a way and with such a message that it will not show them up to be dead toward God. It should not put them in mental torment. On the contrary, it should give them the false assurance that they are still in divine favor, reposing, like Lazarus, in the bosom of the Greater Abraham with all the promised New World blessings in view.

As in apostolic times, the “rich man” class of today want God to make his witnesses change their unorthodox way of preaching and also change their message. Soft-pedal this message of the “day of vengeance of our God” and let up on ‘overturning the strongly entrenched things’ of error, false religion and worldly friendship. The “rich man” class wants his brothers in his father’s organization to be spared the torment he suffers from the proclamation of the pure Word of God, exposing their hypocrisy and worldliness. So their prayer is really to their true father, Satan the Devil, and is that he will prevail upon the Lazarus class to make them a part of this world, compromising with the “rich man’s” organization. Then they will not torment unfaithful Christians.

“But Abraham said: ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to these.’” (Luke 16:29, NW) This shows that, at the time Jesus spoke his parable, only Jewish persons were meant, for then the Gentile nations did not have the Mosaic Law and the Prophets or the other section of the Hebrew Scriptures headed by the Psalms. Abraham’s answer showed he did not agree with the rich man’s request concerning Lazarus. Just so, too, the Lazarus class was not to be allowed to take away Moses and the Prophets or to ignore them or to take from them or add to them. The Scriptures which they had already must stand without change or compromise. The “rich man” class and their “five brothers” today have, not only Moses and the Prophets or the Hebrew Scriptures, but also the Greek Scriptures of Christ’s disciples. The “rich man” class had not strictly heeded these Scriptures and conformed his life and teaching to them. Hence he suffered. So if the “five brothers” or other members of the religious part of the Devil’s organization listen to these Scriptures and regulate their lives by them, only then will they not get into the “rich man’s” hopeless, tormented condition.

DEMANDING A SIGN

The rich man thinks he knows better than the Greater Abraham. “Then he said: ‘No, indeed, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them they will repent.’” (Luke 16:30, NW) So he contradicts God: Moses and the Prophets are not enough. He admits that his brothers need repentance, but he wants their repentance to be worked out, not by heeding the Scriptures Jehovah’s witnesses preach, but by a sign. He reveals himself to be like a “wicked and adulterous generation” which “keeps on seeking for a sign”. Yes, “the Jews ask for signs and the Greeks look for wisdom.” (Matt. 16:1-4; 12:38, 39, NW; Luke 23:8; John 4:48; 1 Cor. 1:22, NW) He wants his brothers’ repentance to take place by this sign without the Law of Moses and the Prophets, as if a sign were an indispensable addition to them and they were not sufficient in themselves. Give them an awe-inspiring sign, and do not remove the traditions of the religious elders and the precepts of men which overstep God’s commands and make his Word invalid. (Matt. 15:1-9) So this class in Hades insist on their own way of saving mankind, a way that dispenses with being tormented by the Lazarus class.

The clerical “rich man” today does not want to part with religious traditions, age-old ceremonies and pagan philosophies, which they have sanctified into their religious systems and teachings. They let the people have the Bible, but they do not recommend to their congregations the pure teaching of Moses and the Prophets and now the rest of the inspired Scriptures written to show the fulfillment of Moses and the Prophets. They do not want Jehovah’s witnesses, the Lazarus class, to recommend the Holy Scriptures to the people, exposing the religious traditions, ceremonies and philosophies. No, but let God, the Greater Abraham, give some supernatural sign that will show whether the Lazarus class are true or false and that will not result in such pain for the rich man’s “five brothers”. Again we see how Jesus must have been speaking a parable. For if this were all literal, then how could the rich man ask dead Abraham to send back Lazarus from the dead, when Abraham himself is dead and is unable to resurrect even his own self, not to speak of another person? It is “God who makes the dead alive”. (Rom. 4:17, NW) But will the Greater Abraham do something miraculous with the Lazarus class of Jehovah’s witnesses so as to have them make a forced impression on the rich man’s “five brothers”?

“But he said to him: ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.’” (Luke 16:31, NW) So a sign according to their specifications will not be given them, just as Jesus elsewhere told them: “A wicked and adulterous generation keeps on seeking for a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish three days and three nights, so the Son of man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. . . . look! something more than Jonah is here.” (Matt. 12:39-41, NW) He took a correct measurement of their religious attitude when he said: “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.” And he showed he agreed with Abraham’s words, when he said: “You are searching the Scriptures, because you think that by means of them you will have everlasting life; and these are the very ones that bear witness about me. And yet you do not want to come to me that you may have life. . . . Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father; there is one that accuses you, Moses, in whom you have put your hope. In fact, if you believed Moses you would believe me, for that one wrote about me. But if you do not believe the writings of that one, how will you believe my sayings?”—John 4:48; 5:39, 40, 45-47, NW.

All that the Lazarus class could bring them would be Moses and the Prophets and the message of the risen one, Jesus Christ. But no adulterated, compromising message! You cannot really believe the message of the Risen One, and now also the message of his established kingdom, without also believing Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms. For the Christian Greek Scriptures are based on the Hebrew Scriptures. Also the ancient Hebrew Scriptures find their fulfillment in the Christian Scriptures and in the facts of today respecting his kingdom. So if you do not want to believe Moses and the Prophets just for the truth of those Scriptures, then you will not be willing to believe because of a man who has been made alive to God’s favor and who reclines in his favor, no longer a spiritual beggar but an active witness of Jehovah. Besides such a spiritual enlivening of the Lazarus class, Jesus Christ actually did rise from the dead and sent his witnesses, first to the Jews and then to the nations. (Acts 10:40-42) Now his followers as witnesses of Jehovah go preaching the risen Christ and his kingdom to the survivors of the “rich man” class, his “five brothers”. Yet this makes no difference with them. Why not? Because they do not choose to believe Moses and the Prophets and the rest of the inspired Scriptures. They do not want to exercise faith; they want to see a sign.

Will God change his method for the sake of these willful unbelievers? Never! The yawning chasm of his uncompromising judgment still remains there between us and them. So apart from our change of condition since 1919, which is like Jonah’s coming out of the huge fish’s belly to live on earth as Jehovah’s witness and preach to the Ninevites, a sufficient sign, the Lazarus class of Jehovah’s witnesses need not expect God to work any astounding miracle upon them or with them so as to hasten the repentance of the rich man’s brothers’ class. We need no support now by a resurrection of faithful witnesses of old. We are not authorized to compromise the divine message for this day of judgment of the nations by holding back from telling all the counsel of God. We are commanded to use Christendom’s own possession of the Scriptures, Moses and the Prophets and the inspired testimony about the risen Christ and his kingdom. Thus equipped, we are to preach fearlessly. Recognizing God’s favor upon us, we no longer look to the goatish religious leaders and go to them as beggars for spiritual favors. We keep ourselves in the Greater Abraham’s bosom of favor and we preach as he commands us.

Let the goats stop their ears and persecute us in their religious anguish and torment. We cannot compromise and predict any relief from God for them. But seeing we have been so greatly comforted by the Greater Abraham, Jehovah God, we are obliged to go forth and “comfort all that mourn” with the comfort with which He has comforted us through Christ. (Isa. 61:1, 2; 2 Cor. 1:3, 4) Let those who have ears to listen, listen and be comforted. In that way many more straying sheep will hear the Right Shepherd’s voice and turn from their beggarly, sin-diseased, downtrodden condition in this world and come into the favor of the Greater Abraham along with the remnant of the Lazarus class. Thus the great crowd will continue increasing, to swell the voice that is heard saying: “Praise Jah, you people, because Jehovah our God, the Almighty, has begun to rule as king.”—Rev. 19:6, NW.

Okay friends, now lets try to talk about forgiveness. Jewish scholar and writer Joseph Jacobs once described forgiveness as “the highest and most difficult of all moral lessons.” Indeed, many find the words “I forgive you” very difficult to say.

Forgiveness, it seems, is much like money. It can be spent freely and mercifully on others or can be hoarded stingily for oneself. The former is the godly way. We should cultivate generous spending habits when it comes to forgiveness. Why? Because God encourages this and because an unforgiving, vengeful spirit may only make matters worse.

Often heard are the words: “I don’t get mad; I get even!” Sadly, this statement is a guiding principle in many lives today. One woman, for example, refused to talk to her sister-in-law for over seven years because, as the woman says, “she did me unbelievable dirt and I have never been able to forgive her.” But such silent treatment, when used as a lever to pry an apology from the accused or as a weapon with which to punish, rarely satisfies the desire for revenge. Rather, it may simply prolong the controversy, allowing a full-fledged grudge to develop. If this cycle of pain is not broken, the powerful clutches of vengeance can ruin relationships and even one’s health.

The Harm of an Unforgiving Spirit

When a person is unforgiving, the resulting conflict creates stress. In turn, stress can lead to serious illnesses. Dr. William S. Sadler wrote: “No one can appreciate so fully as a doctor the amazingly large percentage of human disease and suffering which is directly traceable to worry, fear, conflict, . . . unwholesome thinking and unclean living.” Really, though, how much damage does emotional turmoil cause? One medical publication answers: “Statistics . . . indicated that two thirds of the patients who went to a physician had symptoms caused or aggravated by mental stress.”

Yes, bitterness, resentment, and spite are far from harmless. These caustic emotions are like rust that slowly corrodes the body of a car. The car’s outside may appear beautiful, but under the paint a destructive process is taking place.

Even more important, our refusing to forgive when there is a basis for mercy can also harm us spiritually. In Jehovah God’s eyes, we might become like the slave in Jesus’ illustration. The slave was forgiven an enormous debt by his master. Yet, when his fellow slave pleaded with him to forgive a comparatively paltry debt, he was harsh and unforgiving. Jesus made it clear that if we are similarly unwilling to forgive, Jehovah will refuse to forgive us our sins. (Matthew 18:21-35) If we are unforgiving, therefore, we might lose our clean conscience before God and even our hope for the future! (Compare 2 Timothy 1:3.) What, then, can we do?

Learn to Forgive

True forgiveness stems from the heart. It involves pardoning an offender’s error and giving up any desire for revenge. Thus, final justice and possible retribution are left in Jehovah’s hands.—Romans 12:19.

It must be noted, however, that since “the heart is more treacherous than anything else and is desperate,” it does not always lean toward forgiveness even when it should. (Jeremiah 17:9) Jesus himself said: “Out of the heart come wicked reasonings, murders, adulteries, fornications, thieveries, false testimonies, blasphemies.”—Matthew 15:19.

Thankfully, our heart can be trained to do what is right. However, the training we need must come from a higher source. We cannot do it alone. (Jeremiah 10:23) A divinely inspired psalmist recognized this and prayed for God’s direction. He beseeched Jehovah in prayer: “Teach me your regulations. Make me understand the way of your own orders.”—Psalm 119:26, 27.

According to another psalm, King David of ancient Israel came to “understand the way” of Jehovah. He experienced it firsthand and learned from it. Hence, he was able to say: “Jehovah is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in loving-kindness. As a father shows mercy to his sons, Jehovah has shown mercy to those fearing him.”—Psalm 103:8, 13.

We need to learn as David did. Prayerfully study God’s perfect example of forgiveness, as well as that of his Son. Thus, we can learn to forgive from the heart.

Yet, some might well ask: What about serious sin? Must all sins be forgiven?

Seeking a Balance

When a person has been grievously wronged, the pain can be immense. This is particularly true if one is the innocent victim of a serious sin. Some may even wonder, ‘How can I forgive someone who viciously betrayed and hurt me?’

On a rare occasion, though, you may have prayed about the matter and tried to forgive, but you feel that you cannot. What then? Jesus urged going to the other party and trying to resolve the difference privately to achieve peace. “If, then, you are bringing your gift to the altar and you there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar, and go away; first make your peace with your brother, and then, when you have come back, offer up your gift.”—Matthew 5:23, 24.

Significantly, Jesus did not say to go to your brother to convince him that you were in the right and that he was in the wrong. Maybe he was. More probably, there was some fault on each side. In any case, the goal should not be to get the other party to concede, to grovel, as it were. If that is how you approach the discussion, failure will be almost certain. Nor should the goal necessarily be to review every detail of the real or imagined offense. When calm discussion in the spirit of Christian love reveals a sad misunderstanding at the core of the problem, you can both try to clear that up. But even if the discussion does not lead to total agreement, is that always necessary? Would it not be better if you at least could agree that you both sincerely want to serve our forgiving God? When you face that reality, it may be easier for each to say from the heart, “I am sorry that in our imperfection we had this difference. Please, let us pass beyond it.”

In any case, much may depend on the offender. Since the wrongdoing has there been any sign of sincere repentance? Has the sinner changed, perhaps even attempted to make real amends? In Jehovah’s eyes such repentance is a key to forgiveness even in the case of truly horrendous sins. For example, Jehovah forgave Manasseh, one of the most wicked kings in Israel’s history. On what basis? God did so because Manasseh finally humbled himself and repented of his vile ways.—2 Chronicles 33:12, 13.

In the Bible genuine repentance involves a sincere change in attitude, a heartfelt regret over any wrongs committed. Where appropriate and possible, repentance is accompanied by an effort to make restitution to the victim of the sin. (Luke 19:7-10; 2 Corinthians 7:11) Where there is no such repentance, Jehovah does not forgive. Moreover, God does not expect Christians to forgive those who were once enlightened spiritually but who now willfully, unrepentantly practice wrongdoing. (Hebrews 10:26-31) In extreme cases, forgiveness may well be inappropriate.—Psalm 139:21, 22; Ezekiel 18:30-32.

Whether forgiveness is possible or not, a victim of serious sin may want to weigh another question: Must I remain in severe emotional turmoil, feeling intensely hurt and angry, until the matter is fully resolved? Consider an example. King David felt intensely hurt when his general, Joab, murdered Abner and Amasa, “two men more righteous and better than [Joab] was.” (1 Kings 2:32) David expressed his outrage orally and undoubtedly to Jehovah in prayer. In time, though, the sheer intensity of David’s feelings likely subsided. He was not dominated by outrage to the end of his days. David even continued to work with Joab, but he did not simply forgive this unrepentant killer. David saw to it that justice was done in the end.—2 Samuel 3:28-39; 1 Kings 2:5, 6.

It may take some time and work before those hurt by the serious sins of others get over their initial anger. The healing process may be much easier when the offender acknowledges his wrong and repents. However, an innocent victim of sin should be able to find comfort and solace in his knowledge of Jehovah’s justice and wisdom and in the Christian congregation, regardless of the wrongdoer’s course.

Recognize, too, that when you do forgive a sinner, this does not mean that you are condoning the sin. For the Christian, forgiveness means trustfully leaving the matter in Jehovah’s hands. He is the righteous Judge of all the universe, and he will carry out justice at the right time. That will include judging treacherous “fornicators and adulterers.”—Hebrews 13:4.

The Benefits of Forgiving

The psalmist David sang: “For you, O Jehovah, are good and ready to forgive; and the loving-kindness to all those calling upon you is abundant.” (Psalm 86:5) Are you, like Jehovah, “ready to forgive”? The benefits are many.

First, forgiving others promotes good relations. The Bible urges Christians: “Become kind to one another, tenderly compassionate, freely forgiving one another just as God also by Christ freely forgave you.”—Ephesians 4:32.

Second, forgiveness brings peace. This is not just peace with fellow humans but inner peace as well.—Romans 14:19; Colossians 3:13-15.

Third, forgiving others helps us to remember that we ourselves are in need of forgiveness. Yes, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”—Romans 3:23.

Finally, forgiving others clears the way for our sins to be forgiven by God. Jesus said: “If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”—Matthew 6:14.

Imagine the many things that must have occupied Jesus’ mind on the afternoon of his death. He was concerned about his disciples, the preaching work, and especially his integrity to Jehovah. Yet, even when he was suffering intensely on the torture stake, what did he speak about? Among his last words were, “Father, forgive them.” (Luke 23:34) We can imitate Jesus’ perfect example by forgiving one another from the heart.

Okay friends, let’s now move on to talking about human imperfection in the content of sex.There is no denying that sex can trouble an adult who has normal desires but who does not have a mate. Many persons in this situation have been led to believe that the solution rests in having affairs, visiting prostitutes or practicing self-abuse.

But why say, “have been led to believe”? Psychologist M. Edwards pointed out: “Sex is sold like any other product, and you are told that if you’re not consuming your share there’s something wrong with you.” Yes, the sales propaganda about sex abounds in movies, magazines and books. A widely published view is that “human beings are sexual beings and without the constant stimulation of regular and frequent sex they tend to fade.” But, taking strong exception to this view, psychologist Edwards stated: “People can abstain from sexual intercourse for long periods of time and still show no ill effects. Whether you are a man or a woman, it is mostly a matter of adapting to the facts of a situation.”

Ask yourself: Why should I allow this overemphasis on sex, this sales propaganda, to lead to a greedy abuse of my body or to immoral relations? Why should I be “sold” into being exposed to painful emotional experiences, the possibility of unwanted pregnancy, ruinous venereal diseases and a violation of God’s perfect moral standards? (Heb. 13:4) A wiser course is to realize that a single person can keep normal desire in check by exercising self-control. One widow sought sexual satisfaction by immoral affairs. Yet, in time, even though she was not restrained by an interest in having God’s approval, she ceased such immorality. Why? Because it brought, not happiness, but frustrations and disappointments. She said: “I’m not a woman to live happily without sex. But I have learned that I can.”

Mature reasoning and self-discipline can help a person to lessen sex longings by avoiding things that stimulate them. Illustrating this, a divorcée in Brooklyn said that she is very strict with herself in this regard. She keeps far away from romantic or sex-oriented novels and movies. She added: “Sometimes I won’t listen to certain records or songs because they would play on my emotions. When I am feeling sentimental, I turn them off or skip them, for they would only fan romantic longings.”

Still, in this age of AIDS, promiscuous sex is unquestionably dangerous. Yet, many youths seem to view sex as little more than a harmless game. Some American youths, for example, blithely speak of “hooking up”—a harmless-sounding euphemism for casual sex. They talk about having “a friend with benefits”—a sexual partner who makes no emotional demands.

Author Scott Walter describes the orgylike parties some suburban youths throw while their parents are at work. At one such party, a young girl announced that “she was going to have sex with all the boys there. . . . Children as young as 12 were involved in the parties.”

Shocking? Not to experts who have studied teenage sexual behavior. “Over the past 20 years,” writes Dr. Andrea Pennington, “we have seen the average age for teenagers engaging in sexual activity grow younger and younger. It is no longer unusual to find boys and girls starting out as young as 12 years of age.”

Particularly distressing was a report in the newspaper USA Today: “Increasing numbers of the country’s youngest teens . . . are having oral sex. . . . Kids have convinced themselves that ‘this is not really sex.’” According to one survey of 10,000 girls, “eighty percent said they are virgins, but 25% had had oral sex. And 27% described that act as ‘something you do with a guy for fun.’”

Such views on sex have made inroads elsewhere. “Asia’s youth are becoming increasingly susceptible to HIV through heterosexual relationships with many becoming sexually active at a younger age,” reports UNESCO, adding: “Teenagers are increasingly shirking their parents’ ‘Asian values’ by having premarital sex, often with multiple partners.”

Well, the truth is that we live in a world saturated with sex, and this has affected both young and old. You may feel as did one young man, who said: “Everything around us focuses on sex. It is as common as breathing and sleeping. Every time you pick up a magazine, or turn on the TV, there it is. When you’re at the store, driving your car, at work, at school—there it is! The way persons act, speak and dress is constantly drawing attention to the human body and sex. It is the number one topic of conversation.” Recent statistics show that, worldwide, unprecedented numbers of teenagers—even preteens—are engaging in premarital sex relations.

GREAT BRITAIN: “Only one in six girls leaving her teens is still a virgin and one in four first has sexual intercourse before 16,” a 1980 survey reveals.

CANADA: “An ‘epidemic’ of unwed teen mothers,” says a 1979 government report.

UNITED STATES: ‘Four out of five young men and two out of three young women have had sex by 19,’ a 1981 study indicates.

JAPAN: In some cities ‘unmarried mothers in their late teens and early twenties have registered a sixtyfold increase between 1970 and 1979.’

FRANCE: “More than half of France’s schoolgirls claim to take part in sexual relationships on a regular basis,” a 1980 survey shows.

“Teen Pregnancy Growing World Problem,” says a headline of a recent newspaper article in the Brazil Herald. The article documented such increases in England, Wales, East Germany and Russia. As much as 85 percent of all reported cases of venereal disease occur in young persons. Such diseases have become epidemic worldwide.

Yet not all young persons have taken up the chant “Chaste makes waste.” Many have decided that they will wait till marriage before enjoying sex relations. But it is not easy for them to preserve their chastity and “abstain from fornication,” as the Bible commands. (1 Thess. 4:3) They may rightly ask: ‘Is there any power available to help a person to cope with the awesome tidal wave of sexual promiscuity?’

Yes, there is. Startling evidence of this power was seen 2,000 years ago during one of the most morally degenerate periods in recorded history.

“THE MONSTROUS MORALS OF ROME”

The Roman statesman Seneca was an eyewitness of conditions in the Roman world at the time when Christianity had its beginning. He admitted: ‘Every day the desire for wrongdoing is greater. Wickedness has gained such power over the hearts of all that innocence is not rare—it no longer exists.’ Juvenal, who also lived during that period, writes of “the monstrous morals of Rome.”

“Past all moral sense” is how a Bible writer described the people of his day. (Eph. 4:19) Promiscuous sex relations were viewed as the norm. Ancient historian Lampridius said of that era that an unmarried person had to have a girl with whom he could have sex relations habitually, “because it was impossible that he could exist without one.” But what helped create such a sordid atmosphere?

‘IF A GOD DOES IT, WHY NOT I?’

The gods of the Romans, for the most part borrowed from the Greeks, were looked to as patterns of behavior. But what immoral characters! Venus and Flora were brazen-faced prostitutes, Bacchus was a drunkard, Mercury was a highway robber and Apollo was a seducer of many women. Even Jupiter, the chief and wisest of the gods, is said to have committed either adultery or incest with 59 women!

How did these examples affect the people? One of the plays during that era portrays a young man contemplating whether he should or should not commit fornication with a beautiful young girl. He then notices a picture of Jupiter seducing a woman. “If a god does it, why should not I, a man?” he reasons, and “so I decided to do it.” This play reflected real life, for Seneca wrote that sexual immorality no longer had any shame for a man “when he saw the gods were no better than himself.” No doubt the invisible masterminds behind these concepts of gods were the ‘sons of God’ who rebelled in Noah’s day, coming down to earth to have immoral relations with the daughters of men. Though these sexual perverts returned to the spirit realm, they have continued to saturate the society of mankind with the spirit of immorality.—Gen. 6:1-4; Jude 6, 7.

“A MARKET FOR FORNICATION”

Second-century writer Athenagoras charges that some at that time had set up “a market for fornication, and established infamous resorts for the young for every kind of vile pleasure.” Included in this “market” that publicly “sold” illicit sex was the theater. The themes of the shows dwelt on the immoral love life of the gods. The performers often dressed in “close-fitting dress” that gave the appearance of nudity. Additionally, on the walls of homes and temples, often in full public view, were paintings of “indescribable lewdness,” at times even portraying sexual intercourse. The statues of the immoral gods, often portrayed nude, were in public view for even the youngest of eyes. Also, literature containing some of the filthiest language and descriptions ever recorded circulated freely among the youth. Minds were contaminated from an early age by reading, or by having others read to them, the escapades of the gods and goddesses.

Add to this the very popular public baths, used by the masses, which were considered little better than “houses of prostitution under a respectable name”; the gymnasiums, where many young and old men exercised in the nude, and which became dens of homosexuality; and the festivals, which were often just public sexual orgies. The situation became exactly as that described in the apostle Paul’s letter to the Roman Christians. Referring to those who ‘rendered sacred service to the creation rather than the Creator’ and who followed the then-current morals, he wrote: “God gave them up to disgraceful sexual appetites, for both their females changed the natural use of themselves into one contrary to nature; and likewise even the males left the natural use of the female and became violently inflamed in their lust toward one another, males with males, working what is obscene.” (Rom. 1:24-27) Paul’s description was shockingly accurate, for the moral depravity of the Graeco-Roman world led to one of the most disgusting practices in history—the sexual abuse of young boys by older men. This filthy practice was glorified by poetry and plays, and the whole society was infected with it.

If you had lived then, and everywhere you turned you saw moral filth, how difficult it might have been to keep clean! Yes, for a young man or a young woman to have remained virtuous would indeed have required moral strength and adherence to principle. Yet, in the midst of all of this, and as by a miracle, some did display such virtue.

A MORAL MIRACLE

After listing the type of immoral persons that filled the ancient city of Corinth—fornicators, adulterers, homosexuals and the like—the apostle Paul, in his letter to the Christian congregation located there, wrote: “That is what some of you were. But you have been washed clean.” (1 Cor. 6:9-11) The teachings of genuine Christianity had imparted moral strength so that its adherents could change and stay free of sexual immorality.

“Perhaps the most marked originality of the Christian doctrine was the stress it laid on chastity,” concluded William Sanger in his book The History of Prostitution, which discusses ancient morals at length. He adds: “From the first, the Christian communities make a just boast of the purity of their morals.” What brought about such a reputation? With help from God they were able to imitate a better “image” than that of the sex-maddened gods.

THE BETTER “IMAGE”

“Clothe yourselves with the new personality,” advised the apostle Paul, “which through accurate knowledge is being made new according to the image of the One who created it.” (Col. 3:10) Through information from the inspired Scriptures and from the teachings and example of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Christians were able to come to an “accurate knowledge” of the qualities of the true God, Jehovah. His “image” stood in stark contrast to that of the Roman gods.

True Christians saw their Creator as their heavenly Father who loved and cared for them. (1 Pet. 5:6, 7) They learned how he always acted with justice, righteousness and mercy. He was pure and holy. (Deut. 32:4; 1 Pet. 1:15, 16) They were moved by his qualities, and strove to follow the inspired counsel: “Become imitators of God, as beloved children.” (Eph. 5:1) They saw God as revealed through Christ as an ever-present friend. They could love him. The spirit of genuine love filled their hearts and motivated them to Christian works.

God helped these early Christians by means of his holy spirit, which gave them “power beyond what is normal.” Also, at their religious meetings they were reminded of the need to keep chaste. By sticking close to their associates within the Christian brotherhood they managed to be faithful. (2 Cor. 4:7; Heb. 10:24-26) “We who formerly delighted in fornication, now strive for purity,” stated second-century professed Christian Justin Martyr. Still, such striving for moral purity was not easy.

A DAILY STRUGGLE

We should not forget that the early Christians lived in a depraved world. Some who became Christians were of “the household of Caesar.” (Phil. 4:22) At the time, Nero was the Caesar, and his shocking moral outrages are well known. He arranged the lewdest of entertainment. He even “married” a young man “with all the forms of regular wedlock.” Yet those of his “household” who were Christians (perhaps government officials or servants) remained chaste despite the environment.

The Christians in Rome were objects of much peer pressure and ridicule. For instance, Seneca reflects the common view when he writes: “Whoever has no love affairs is despised.” “Chastity is simply a proof of ugliness.” Others reportedly would complain: ‘What a woman she was! How sensual, how gay! What a youth he was! How loose, how lustful! Now they have become Christians—what a pity!’

But those early disciples were not to be pitied. They could hold their heads up with self-respect. They had clear consciences. As “children of light” they spread their pure message far and wide without any embarrassment. (Eph. 5:8) Would you not have counted it a privilege to have been identified as one of these moral “rocks” in that sea of mud? Their truly satisfying way of life contrasted sharply with that of the people of the nations ‘who did not know God and indulged their covetous sexual appetite’ to their hurt.—1 Thess. 4:5.

For instance, during that first century, life for many had become meaningless. They had drunk the intoxicating cup of pleasure to the dregs—exhausting every avenue of enjoyment. No charm, no delicacy, was left—and also no satisfaction. According to the writings of Juvenal, one homosexual, who at an older age was rejected by his lover, pleaded: “What’s my best move now after all these wasted years and disappointed hopes? The bloom of life will wither too soon, our miserable span on earth is running out: While we drink, while we’re calling out for garlands and perfumes and girls, old age creeps up on us, unregarded.” However, no disappointment and misery befell those faithful Christians.

Even though Jesus’ true followers had to struggle daily to keep themselves morally clean, their peace of mind was worth it. Sexual morality was possible.

Do we see similar moral strength today? Yes. Countless young people worldwide will say that sexual morality is possible. These are youths associated with the congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Despite the corrupting moral influences in entertainment and the social life of today’s society—not one step behind that of ancient Rome—these young persons, as a group, stand out as shining examples of purity.

At Proverbs 4:1-4, King Solomon urges youths: “Listen, O sons, to the discipline of a father . . . For I proved to be a real son to my father, tender and the only one before my mother. And he would instruct me and say to me: ‘May your heart keep fast hold of my words.’” It is evident that Solomon was able to discuss even intimate things with his father; Solomon himself goes on to discuss sexual immorality in a very frank manner.—Proverbs 5:1-19.

Among Jehovah’s Witnesses, many families are maintaining a similarly open dialogue with their children—and with great success! They do more than simply tell their children “No!” regarding sexual relations. The Bible helps them give their children sound reasons for avoiding promiscuity. Consider, again, Solomon’s words. At Proverbs 5:3, 4, he encourages young men to avoid sexual relations with a prostitute. “As a honeycomb the lips of a strange woman [prostitute] keep dripping, and her palate is smoother than oil.” Yes, the prospect of immorality may seem quite enticing. However, warns Solomon: “The aftereffect from her is as bitter as wormwood; it is as sharp as a two-edged sword.”

Like Solomon, parents can reason with their children on the aftereffects of sexual relations. A troubled conscience, unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS—these are bitter returns for a few moments of enticing pleasure. Solomon further exhorts youths not to “give to others [their] dignity.” (Proverbs 5:9) Does it not show a lack of self-respect for a youth to give of himself or herself to someone who is not interested in marriage? Is it not humiliating to serve merely as a means of satisfying one’s own or someone else’s selfish passions? Parents can help their children to appreciate these facts.

Solomon gave further advice about dealing with an immoral person: “Keep your way far off from alongside her, and do not get near to the entrance of her house.” (Proverbs 5:8) Similarly, parents can give youths practical advice in avoiding compromising circumstances. They can urge them not to date unprincipled individuals. And when they reach the point of being qualified to pursue courtship, they can be encouraged to take practical steps to avoid sinful conduct. For example, the courting couple might arrange for someone always to accompany them on dates. Old-fashioned? Perhaps. But it is better to take reasonable precautions than to “have to groan in your future when your flesh and your organism come to an end. And you will have to say: ‘How I have hated discipline . . . And I have not listened to the voice of my instructors.’”—Proverbs 5:11-13.

Okay friends, let us now please shift our attention and try to encompass the sphere of human imperfection as seen in the business world. The phrase “as good as money in the bank” once meant that the investment or possession was considered to be very safe. This comparison was made because banks were regarded as very safe places to put money.

But times have changed. Today many people are not so sure about the safety of the money they have in banks. And there is good reason to feel that way. The financial experts are not so sure either.

The Wall Street Journal declared in a headline: “Fears About Stability of the Banking System in West Are Spreading.” It noted that many banks in the Western industrial nations are in trouble. Their financial position has deteriorated. An increasing number of economists feel that the banks are in worse shape now than at any time since the Great Depression that began in 1929.

Recent bank failures have been a shock. In October 1974 the Franklin National Bank in New York was declared insolvent. It had been the nation’s twentieth-largest bank, the largest to collapse in the history of the United States. Several others closed during the year. In Germany four banks failed, including the largest private bank, I. D. Herstatt. Some other European banks closed, while still others announced huge losses. And a growing number of banks were stretched to the limit of their resources.

These problems brought to mind the grim days of the Depression. At that time banks all over the world failed. In the United States about half the banks closed, 4,000 in 1933 alone. Most never reopened.

Could such a thing happen again? Are the banks heading for another catastrophe? Just how safe are they now?

Growing Anxiety

Banks are directly connected with overall economic conditions. So they reflect the health of the economy and the direction it is taking.

All indicators show that the world’s economies, especially those of the Western world and Japan, are in a very serious state. Never have so many countries had such economic difficulties at the same time.

French president Valéry Giscard d’Estaing summed up the feelings of many. He warned that the world was in the grip of a general economic crisis and that “all the curves are leading us to catastrophe.” Country after country has been hit with rampant inflation, money shortages, declining real income of workers, persistent unemployment and poverty.

The seeds for this condition were sown decades ago. But the situation was made much worse by the recent fourfold rise in oil prices. Now nearly every oil-importing nation has been going deeply into debt to try to pay its staggering oil bills.

Thus, after several European banks closed and others, including a Swiss bank, suffered sharp losses, The Wall Street Journal said: “The system is sick.” It added:

“Not even the highly vaunted Swiss banking system is immune. So is anything really safe today? . . .

“There never has been a time when so many imponderables hung over markets and over those elements which control actions of markets. . . .

“When even the biggest Swiss bank is clipped in a foreign exchange deal, then one might well ask: What’s the world coming to? Pessimists already are answering the question.”

Why Are Banks Troubled?

Why are so many banks troubled? Why have some of the largest failed? For much the same reason that any business or individual fails financially. That happens when expenses grow faster than income; and when it continues too long, bankruptcy ensues.

Bank expenses include such things as the interest paid out to depositors, the salaries and benefits to employees, and the cost of operating buildings. But some banks have lately added another growing cost: they have relied more on borrowing money themselves so that they could loan it out to others. But the cost (in interest payments) to the bank borrowing such money is usually high.

During 1974, in a period of recession, banks were hurt in other ways. Some made too many high-risk loans. When borrowers could not pay the loans back as scheduled, or at all, due to bad business conditions, the banks incurred losses. Also, banks that had money invested in such things as stocks and bonds suffered when these lost value. And some banks lost very heavily by speculating, and guessing wrong, on foreign money markets, where the exchange rates of currencies fluctuate in relation to one another.

During the year some banks were additionally hurt by withdrawal of money by depositors. Out of fear, or to invest in other areas that brought greater returns, money was pulled out of some banks in substantial quantities. This meant that the bank did not have that money to loan out to make a profit, and income suffered.

Hence, for a variety of reasons, bank expenses have mounted. But in too many cases income has not kept pace. Resources were stretched thin. And for some banks it stretched too far, like a balloon that has been inflated too much and bursts.

The startling bank problems during 1974 have officials worried. Among the things that concern them is how so many authorities could have been caught unawares. Business Week noted: “Now there are the recriminations and the questions about how not only the banks but also the banking regulators could have made so many wrong guesses over the past 10 years.” This business publication further commented:

“Taken as a whole, the [U.S. banking] system is in more trouble today than at any time since the 1930s, with a distressing number of banks over-loaned, over-borrowed, over-diversified, and undercapitalized. . . .

“There may very well be an unprecedented wave of bank mergers and consolidations as weaker fish seek shelter, and there almost certainly will be some failures.”

Basic Cause

Why all this economic instability? There are various factors, of course. But of all the answers, one stands out above the others. It is repeated by economists over and over again as being a main cause of the problems: too much debt!

For decades now, people, businesses and governments have been living far beyond their incomes. They have been borrowing more and more money to finance their affairs. Their desires have grown faster than their ability to pay. To make up the difference they have resorted to ever-increasing amounts of debt.

But sooner or later the time comes for debts to be paid off. If income does not rise enough, debts cannot be paid. And if more money cannot be borrowed because of becoming a bad credit risk, then failure or bankruptcy follows. That is what is taking place now to a growing number of individuals, businesses, and even banks. In the book The Coming Credit Collapse, investment adviser Alexander Paris writes:

“There does indeed exist a single fundamental cause of all the financial ills. They may all be traced to a long trend of excessive credit [debt] growth, which is rapidly approaching its final phase. . . .

“Over the entire postwar period [since 1945], the amount of credit outstanding has grown at a rate that, on the average, has consistently been two to three times faster than the growth in the nation’s ability to produce goods and services. Moreover, the rate has been accelerating in recent years. . . .

“This trend in credit has resulted in a growth in demand that has been highly artificial and, through its primary and secondary effects, has been responsible for most of the economic and financial problems facing the investor today.”

Business Week also singled out this basic cause, saying:

“The United States, like the world around it, is in sad shape today. Having borrowed too much in the expectation of perpetual plenty, Americans are desperate for answers to questions for which there are no pat answers. . . .

“The world’s great economies were running out of control long before [the huge price rise in oil] . . . and all that the oil situation has done is to hasten an inevitable day of reckoning.”

Extent of Debts

The extent of debt has become truly staggering. During 1974 the debt in the United States reached over two and a half trillion dollars! That is more than the total value of goods and services produced in an entire year. Of that debt, corporations owe about one trillion dollars, the federal government about $500 billion, state and local governments about $200 billion, consumers about $200 billion, and the mortgage debt was about $600 billion.

Now corporate debt amounts to more than fifteen times after-tax profits, about double what it was in 1955. Household debt is about 93 percent of income left over after other basic expenses are paid, a huge increase in recent years. And the mount of money available in the entire country is only a small fraction of the total debt.

The world’s debt is estimated to be far over $20 trillion. It is not likely that it will ever be paid back. The debt psychology has permeated every corner of the economy. The Western world is so geared to debt that living within current income would wreck it as easily as would continued inflation. Why so?

If borrowing were cut back to pay current bills, people would not buy as much, nor would businesses or governments. Production would have to be cut back drastically. Masses of people would be thrown out of work. The industrial way of life, which has concentrated so many people off the land and into cities, could not absorb such shocks.

The “prosperity” of the Western nations has been built on borrowed money. It has not been genuine. Now the bills are coming due and cannot be paid. And that is an aspect of the problem that frightens leaders. So many people, businesses and governments are near bankruptcy that even a small number of them failing could start a chain reaction that would bring the Western world’s economy to its knees. The New York Times observed: “The impact of a staggering increase in oil prices on top of already soaring inflation and rising deficits in payments abroad has sent governments reeling everywhere.”

How Banks Would Be Affected

With debt at such an all-time high, major defaults could wreck the banking system. Business Week noted that “corporations are sick—and they are sick largely as a result of their overdependence on debt.” Consumers are also “sick,” as are most governments—due to debt.

Every bank lives with the knowledge that if a few major customers that have borrowed money cannot pay it back, the bank can be in deep trouble. If, due to economic difficulties, many businesses and individuals default on their payments, there is no way that any government can make up the difference, since most governments are also deeply in debt, much of it owed to banks!

For instance, during 1974 a U.S. federal agency, the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) insured individual bank deposits up to $20,000, then later in the year raised this to $40,000. But this agency had only about $5 1⁄2 billion in its reserve, while the deposits it “insured” were nearly $470 billion! Obviously, the closing of even a small number of banks would bankrupt this insurance agency.

Yet banks themselves are much to blame for their present condition. Investment adviser Alexander Paris states: “The banking system has been a willing partner in the long postwar financial deterioration that has occurred in the United States and the world.” He observes that the financial health of the banking system “by all measures, has deteriorated steadily throughout the entire postwar period, and all former limits of propriety have been far exceeded in the pursuit of profit maximization.”

The Coming Collapse

Does this mean that the banks will soon collapse? Authorities point out that there is much that governments can do to prevent this, for a while. No doubt some measures will help, temporarily.

It is suggested that governments can pump more money into the banking system. But that creates more debt, and furthers inflation. It only postpones the day of reckoning and makes the final reckoning more severe. As one financial expert stated: “This cannot be the cure. It is analogous to giving a drunk a drink to sober him up.”

There are many people who say that authorities will simply not allow a banking collapse. But if that were so, then why have they allowed the situation to get so desperate? If they had the solutions, the world’s economies should already have been stable, secure, prosperous, instead of near collapse. Remember, “authorities” were saying that the Great Depression could not happen just weeks before it did!

In Western “free” economies, events have a force of their own. They cannot always be controlled. This is obvious by the fact that there already have been depressions and crises in such countries. In this regard, Hyman Minsky, a professor of economics at Washington University, says:

“There is a greater likelihood of a serious financial crisis now than at any time since the nineteen-thirties.

“Conventional wisdom has it that a financial collapse and deep depression cannot happen again because the Federal Reserve and the Government will not let it happen.

“However, in today’s financial environment the authorities are not that powerful: What they do to slow inflation is likely to trigger a financial crisis, and what they do to abort a crisis and offset unemployment tends to accelerate inflation. . . .

“The margins of safety have decreased markedly over the postwar period. When safety margins are thin the financial system is unstable: One failure can lead to many failures. A wave of failures, especially among financial institutions, constitutes a financial crisis. . . . The deep depressions of history followed financial crises.”

Other economists speak of this as the “domino theory,” a few big failures triggering a chain reaction. The Wall Street Journal describes it this way:

“Even some of the practical men involved in daily dealings privately confess to fearing the worst. . . .

“In its starkest form, the domino theory holds that the collapse of a single sizable bank could weaken many others around the world that had money in it, provoking panicky withdrawals of large deposits that could send them tottering, too.

“Triggering the initial collapse could be anything from speculative foreign-currency losses to the default of a big borrower, either a government beset by staggering oil-import costs or a corporation caught in an inflationary slump.”

Franz Ulrich, managing director of Düsseldorf’s Deutsche Bank, says: “Sometimes I am not able to rid myself of the feeling that such a day cannot be too far off.” And Guido Carli, governor of the Bank of Italy for fourteen years, states: “The world cannot go on this way indefinitely. We will have to accept the consequences of a recession. It will start in the weaker countries, like Italy, and spread to the stronger ones. And the monetary and trade system we built after World War II will disintegrate.” As a financial adviser told a New York reporter: “The old system is finished.”

Hence, Wall Street Journal writer Ray Vicker concludes: “So there are no real havens anywhere, no matter how men might seek them.”

Is this to say that people who have money in the bank should withdraw it? What any individual chooses to do with his finances is his own responsibility. But how secure is any other place where you might put your money today? Keep in mind that when a collapse comes, money itself often becomes worthless.

Is another financial collapse near? Yes, and it will be a total one. In that coming collapse, no money of any nation will be safe. That will be true no matter where it is—in a bank, safe deposit box, cookie jar, invested, or hidden under a mattress.

How can we be so sure? Because God’s Word, Bible prophecy, tells us that the very governments that have issued the money will be put out of business, crushed completely. (Dan. 2:44) Indeed, it shows that even precious metals will afford no protection against the execution of judgment on a self-seeking world: “Into the streets they will throw their very silver, and an abhorrent thing their own gold will become. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them in the day of Jehovah’s fury.”—Ezek. 7:19; Zeph. 1:18.

That will pave the way for an entirely new system of God’s making. In that new order, gone will be the contrasts of abject poverty alongside extreme wealth, as exist now. Deep depressions and rampant inflations will be things of the past. All of earth’s economic affairs will be justly administered by the heavenly government of God for which Jesus Christ taught his followers to pray.—Matt. 6:9, 10.

Running a business is a risky undertaking these days. A business starting now has, at best, a 50-50 chance of survival, according to a Chicago expert in the business-administration field.

A factor that makes a businessman’s life hard is widespread business dishonesty. When competitors resort to bribery, kickbacks, cheating customers and “cutting corners” on taxes, it is harder for the honest businessman to give full, correct weight and measure, with good service, and still make a reasonable profit.

The extent to which dishonesty has permeated the retail-business field was revealed in a recent three-state survey. Various items of merchandise were checked—vitamin pills, nails, paper clips, electronic parts, facial tissues, foods—packaged goods labelled to contain a certain number of items. It was found that the percentage of packages that shortchanged the customer was alarming—in foodstuffs, for example, 40 percent. In a box of “eight” frozen lobster-tails there were only six. A bottle of “100” vitamin pills contained 85. All products examined turned out to average from 10 to 30 percent short.

Furthermore, stealing by employees and executives has become so great as to outstrip all losses from shoplifting and robbery. This adds to the burden of all businessmen.

With all these things working against him, can a man be honest and survive in a selfish business world? And are there any practical advantages in applying Bible counsel to business?

The Bible advises: ‘All things that you want men to do to you, you also must likewise do to them.’ (Matt. 7:12) And as regards business dealings: “You must not commit injustice . . . in weighing or in measuring . . . You should prove to have accurate scales, accurate weights.” (Lev. 19:35, 36) “Two sorts of weights [one for selling and one for buying] are something detestable to Jehovah, and a cheating pair of scales is not good.”—Prov. 20:23.

A businessman who has regard for God will follow these principles. It is true that doing so may cause him to be looked upon as strange, even foolish. He may encounter inconveniences and troubles. But if he maintains a good conscience, which is of great value in the eyes of God, this will be worth more than money. Moreover, many have followed the course of honesty and still have a flourishing business.

This is because honesty is a more powerful weapon than many suppose. On the other hand, dishonesty can be a “two-edged sword” that can turn against its user and bring him to ruin. If a businessman is found to be dishonest, his customers will often forsake him. But the honest businessman gains the confidence of his customers, his suppliers and creditors. Also, his employees will respect him and will tend to be honest with him.

No businessman can afford to underrate the value of prompt, efficient service and a quality product that gives the consumer his money’s worth, along with friendliness and honesty in dealing with customers. Without these qualities, a business is in greater danger of complete collapse than is the honest one. This fact is highlighted in the experiences of some of Jehovah’s witnesses.

For example, consider the experience of an owner of three grocery stores in the southern United States. When medical evidence brought to light the health-damaging effects of tobacco, he gave serious thought to the matter. Not wanting to be responsible for selling his customers something detrimental to their health (he felt that, conscientiously and in all honesty, he could not advertise, display and sell such a product) he consulted with his store managers, getting their agreement to remove all tobacco products from his stores. This was a risk, not only because tobacco sales were profitable, but also because people tended to trade where they could get tobacco when they bought their groceries.

What was the result? For three months the sales in the three stores dropped sharply. Then they began to go up, finally returning to their normal level. Why? The customers appreciated the honest, friendly, considerate service in these stores and were willing to buy their groceries there and get their tobacco elsewhere.

DEALING WITH EMPLOYEES

An employer can benefit his business by applying Bible principles in his relationship with his employees. The Bible counsels: “Let all malicious bitterness and anger and wrath and screaming and abusive speech be taken away from you along with all badness.” (Eph. 4:31) Threats and shouting, “bossing” men around, make them unhappy and therefore damage a business. The Bible states why: “An answer, when mild, turns away rage, but a word causing pain makes anger to come up.”—Prov. 15:1.

An employer must remember that those in his employ are not slaves. But the Bible’s advice to slave owners and slaves applies with equal force today to both employer and employee: “Whatever you [slaves] are doing, work at it whole-souled as to Jehovah, and not to men, for you know that it is from Jehovah you will receive the due reward . . . the one that is doing wrong will receive back what he wrongly did, and there is no partiality. You masters, keep dealing out what is righteous and what is fair to your slaves, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.”—Col. 3:23–4:1.

HONESTY AS AN EMPLOYEE

As employees, there is often strong pressure to be dishonest. Employers sometimes encourage employees to misrepresent or lie about the quality of merchandise. Cheating on weights and measures is practiced. Subordinate supervisors may encourage “loafing” or a “slowdown” for various reasons.

However, it has often been found that employers appreciate an employee who sticks to upright principles. They feel that the employee will be loyal and will not steal from them or lie to them.

An instance of this occurred in a West African country. An official in the government invited an efficient young man under his employ to work as his private secretary. The job carried with it a big pay raise and other benefits. The young man explained that he would be happy to take the position, but there was one thing he could not do. When the country’s president phoned at a time when the official should be working in his office but was absent, he explained, he could not conscientiously give the customary answer that the official was in the men’s room. The official argued that others in the office, even religious persons, did not mind telling such “white lies.” The young man replied that a good name with God was more important than position or money, saying: “I would not like to do anything that would displease God.” The official was favorably impressed and said that the country needed trustworthy men like him.

In New York city, employees at a firm having several branch stations had been under surveillance because they were suspected of stealing. Finally a meeting was held. Each employee was interviewed. Each one, in turn, was fired because he had been observed stealing, until four men who lived by Bible principles were interviewed. The detectives who had been investigating commended the men, for they were the only ones who had not stolen anything. These men, all of them Jehovah’s witnesses, were then offered managerial jobs.

Similarly, a grain mill in a Latin-American country was losing money in its flour department, because sacks of flour were being stolen from the shipping room. Flour was scattered over the floor and the excuse was made that sacks had been broken. The owner then hired a man to take charge of the floor and noticed that for the first time in years he began making a profit in that department. On investigation, he found that the recently hired man, as one of Jehovah’s witnesses, lived by Bible principles and had put a stop to the stealing. The owner made the man manager of his entire mill.

These experiences show that there are people that appreciate honesty, and that honesty is rewarded. Even though some may have to resign or lose their jobs because of pressure against them to be dishonest, applying Bible principles as an employee pays, and the person who sticks to what is right finds encouragement in the words of the psalmist, who said: “A young man I used to be, I have also grown old, and yet I have not seen anyone righteous left entirely, nor his offspring looking for bread.” (Ps. 37:25) Also, Jesus comforted his disciples with the words: “Never be anxious and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or, ‘What are we to drink?’ . . . Keep on, then, seeking first the kingdom and [God’s] righteousness, and all these other things will be added to you.”—Matt. 6:31-33.

So, whether a businessman or an employee, one who truly applies Bible principles can take courage from the Bible’s words: “The eyes of Jehovah are upon the righteous ones [for their good],” and can keep confidently in mind that “the righteous are the ones whom good rewards.” (1 Pet. 3:12; Prov. 13:21) And the greatest reward of all will be a good conscience before God and men.

Right, friends let’s now try to think of technology and human imperfection.In Goethe’s fairy tale The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, made popular by Paul Dukas’ music and Walt Disney’s movie Fantasia, the apprentice hit upon the idea of putting to use his master’s uncanny power to lighten his own work. He set a broomstick to work to carry water for him. Not knowing how to control it, he soon found that the obedient but mindless slave carried so much water into the house that a flood resulted. The story, of course, had a happy ending—the master came to the rescue.

Like the apprentice’s broomstick, technology is basically a powerful tool. It can be put to use to make our work easier, more efficient, and perhaps even more enjoyable. But when it is not properly controlled or when it is misused, it, too, can become a force with disastrous, even fatal, consequences.

A prime example of this is the automobile. There is no question that the automobile has brought many advantages and benefits to society in general. Yet, who can deny the harmful side effects, such as air and noise pollution, and deaths and injuries due to accidents and careless driving? This technological innovation is at best a mixed blessing.

But the effect of technology goes much further than that. So pervasive has technology become in our modern world that it is changing not only the way we work and live but also our values, our view of ourselves and of society as a whole. The question arises: Have we used technology wisely to our own blessing, or has technology dominated our way of life to our hurt?

Without doubt, in one way or another most people living today have benefited from the advancement of science and technology. In developed and developing nations alike, technology has brought numerous material advantages in nearly every aspect of life. First and foremost, the use of machines, fertilizers, pesticides, and improved seeds has increased the food supply and nutrition for much of the world’s population. Advancements in medical science have resulted in better health and a longer life span for many. The automobile and the airplane, along with developments in electronics, computers, and satellites, have made it possible for people to travel and to communicate with others around the world with relative ease. On a more personal level, technology has eliminated much of the drudgery and labor both at work and at home.

Although some people in the technologically advanced countries are fond of talking about the ‘good old days,’ few are ready to give up the vast number of time- and labor-saving devices that they have come to take for granted or have grown accustomed to in their daily lives. Technology has indeed become a useful slave, making it possible, as one observer put it, for ordinary people today to live “as kings of an earlier time never could.”

The picture, however, is not altogether a bright one. “Although the massive infusion of technology into society during the past few decades has brought immense benefits,” wrote Colin Norman, a researcher with the Worldwatch Institute, “there is mounting evidence that some technological developments may aggravate, rather than solve, many pressing social and environmental problems.”

Consider, first of all, technology’s impact on the environment. Calling it a “quiet crisis,” former Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall described the situation in the United States:

“This nation leads the world in wealth and power, but also leads in the degradation of the human habitat. We have the most automobiles and the worst junkyards. We are the most mobile people on earth and we endure the worst congestion. We produce the most energy and have the foulest air. Our factories pour out more products and our rivers carry the heaviest loads of pollution. We have the most goods to sell and the most unsightly signs to advertise their worth.”

Thus officials and the public are beginning to take note of the heavy price we are paying for the rapid technological growth that we endorse so willingly. Governments, however, could prevent further damage to the environment simply by taking action against the polluters, if they would. But industries and businesses do provide employment for the people, prosperity for the communities, and revenues for the governments. Especially is this true in the developing nations. Thus, it is argued, the material benefits created by technology outweigh the price to be paid in clean air, water, and land.

Another defense for technology is that sooner or later it will come up with the solutions to take care of the problems. The truth of the matter is that the technological know-how already exists to stop or even reverse much of the damage done. But to do the job will cost money, and cost a great deal. For example, just to clean up the 786 toxic-waste dump sites designated by the U.S. government as hazardous would require setting up a fund of $7.5 billion to $10 billion—a sum no one is quite prepared to pay.

Technology’s impact on work and employment has been a much debated topic right from the beginning. The fear has always been that new machines would put people out of work. Early in the Industrial Revolution, textile workers in Nottingham, England, felt so threatened that, led by a Ned Ludd, they destroyed hundreds of the newly introduced machines in the notorious Luddite riots of 1811-12.

The success of the Industrial Revolution makes all such actions seem ludicrous today. Yet, the introduction of computerized automation and robots in offices and factories is rekindling fears in certain quarters. Some, however, dismiss such fears by pointing out that computer technology generates its own jobs—high-tech jobs such as computer operators, designers, programmers, and so on—that will absorb the displaced workers after retraining. But others, brandishing high worldwide unemployment statistics, argue that high tech has not lived up to its promises in this respect.

Recent research at Stanford University finds that “not only will technical innovations displace workers, but the industry itself will employ comparatively few people.” The researchers point out that people are often impressed when they hear about the many new jobs opened up by the computer industry. But in reality, this is only a small fraction of the overall job market. For example, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that about 600,000 high-tech jobs were created in the United States from 1972 to 1982. Yet, these made up only about 5 percent of the total job growth in that period. In other words, on an average, only one person in 20 in the job market was absorbed by the high-tech industries.

If technology’s ability to provide new jobs is disappointing, some feel that its failure to elevate the nature of work as anticipated is still more so. Most people envision a degree of sophistication with high-tech jobs. But one labor expert observed that while some such jobs are “spirit-enlarging and mind-challenging,” most are “incredibly mind-stunting, mind-dulling.” Rather than doing away with drudgery, most jobs in the high-tech industry are repetitive, highly supervised, and require little technical skill. Unlike the traditional jobs they replaced, many of them also pay below-average wages.

Of all the things that technology is said to have done, it is perhaps what it has done to us as humans that is of most concern. One common complaint is that mass-production techniques and computerized automation tend to decrease the value of worker individuality, judgment, and experience. This view is expressed by Karen Nussbaum, director of a workers’ association, who argues that for the sake of efficiency “the jobs become monitored and increasingly specialized—meaning that workers do smaller and smaller fractions of the larger task. People are used as extensions of machines. This is dehumanizing.”

What results is a feeling of alienation, or lack of a sense of purpose and accomplishment. Most people find it difficult to develop any real interest in their jobs when they work, day in and day out, in large institutions, doing repetitive piecework. Seldom do they see the end product of their labor, nor do they share in the profit, except in their paychecks. This, in the opinion of Murray Turoff, a professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, will produce “a generation of employees who feel no loyalty to the company and who are, in general, apathetic.”

Even those who do not work in a technological environment are not freed from its influences. In many areas, technology has become so pervasive in people’s daily life—appliances, transportation, entertainment, and so on—that many probably would find it difficult to survive in a less technologically developed society. In fact, Jacques Ellul, in his book La Technique, observed that “modern man’s state of mind is completely dominated by technical values and his goals are represented only by such progress and happiness as is to be achieved through techniques.” In the view of Professor Clark, quoted earlier, as we “rush to embrace technology, we have adopted a very temporal system: A hedonistic society that ignores the future.”

Much has been said about the threat of total destruction facing mankind today. But there is no denying that much of this has been brought about by the technological development that has produced the fearsome weapons of war—from the crossbow to the laser space-weapon. The height of such development, no doubt, was that in just three years, from June 1942 to July 1945, scientists and technicians were able to develop the first atom bomb.

But what has this unprecedented technological feat accomplished? It started and fueled the spiraling arms race, which has created the situation ironically labeled MAD—Mutual Assured Destruction. Perhaps of even greater concern is the fact that more and more nations are gaining the technology to build nuclear devices.

“It is obvious that something has gone wrong during the past few decades,” observed renowned scientist and environmentalist René Dubos. “Increased control over nature is not providing safety and peace of mind; economic prosperity is not making people healthier or happier; technological innovations create problems of their own, which continually necessitate the development of new counter-technologies.” He added: “The feeling prevails that scientists have not yet learned how to direct their attention to the distressing aspects of the modern world that have their origin in scientific technology.”

Thus, unlike the story about the sorcerer’s apprentice, in real life we cannot count on the “master”—scientists and technologists—to come to our rescue. In this case, they also are floundering in the sea of problems created by the shortsighted misuse of technology. Clearly, what is most urgently needed is not more technology but an agency, a government, a superpower that can do away with all the divisive elements in order to come to man’s rescue.

The Bible speaks about such a government: “The God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms [in existence today], and it itself will stand to times indefinite.” (Daniel 2:44) That Kingdom is none other than God’s Messianic Kingdom in the hands of Jesus Christ.

Under the peaceful rule of God’s Kingdom, what modern technology can only hope to achieve will be realized. Deserts and parched ground will become productive. There will be worthwhile and interesting work for all to do. The blind, lame, deaf, and mute will be rid of their afflictions. And even death itself will be conquered.—See Isaiah 35:1, 5-7; 65:21-23

Friends let’s now please focus our attention to human imperfection as seen in spiritism or witchcraft Well, in recent times the practice of witchcraft has reared its head in sophisticated society. Witchcraft or sorcery, of course, is nothing new.

The Bible mentions sorcerers as well as magic-practicing priests in Egypt back in the sixteenth century B.C.E. (Ex. 7:11) During the Middle Ages in Europe, those suspected of witchcraft were put to death. However, for centuries witchcraft and voodoo have been more or less freely practiced in Africa, Asia, South America and islands of the sea as major religions.

But what is the reason for its prominence and increasing acceptance in Western countries, such as the United States, where, according to one report, there are “tens of thousands . . . dabbling in Satanism, witchcraft, voodoo and other forms of black or white magic”?

Mysticism, witchcraft and the occult have presented a strong appeal to youth. They are quite common on the college campus today. One investigator claims that there is “at least one witch and sometimes a coven, or organized assembly of witches,” on each campus. While only a minority of the students actually engage in witchcraft rites, many view it with favour. They say they are searching for something to hold onto, that they need to be recognized, wanted and loved. They feel, as they say, the need to ‘return to the sacred.’

CHURCHES, SCIENCE FAIL TO SUPPLY NEED

Why, then, have these youths not gone back to the organized religions of Christendom? As reported by Dr. Andrew M. Greeley, a Roman Catholic priest who is in the National Opinion Research Center, University of Chicago, one student voiced the reason when he said:

“Who in the world would expect to find anything sacred in the churches?”

But have not science and the rationalistic, materialistic approach given the answers? No. In fact, their failure is cited as one of the strongest reasons for the ‘return to the sacred.’ As another student expressed himself:

“Let’s face it, science is dead. While the newspapers and magazines were giving all the attention to the death of God, science was really the one that was dying.”

Another added: “Science hasn’t ended war, it hasn’t ended injustices, and it doesn’t respond to most of man’s needs.”

We cannot deny the fact that man’s needs and problems cannot be met by materialistic philosophy. By no means all the things man needs are suppliable by modern-day computerized science. Man has a spiritual side to his life, an awareness that there are powers superior to himself. He must have a reason for living, and a hope. He must also have love, which finds no place in materialistic philosophy. And since Christendom’s religions have become an integral part of this materialistic world, they too have failed to bring any real answers. They have not come to grips with reality. Said a student:

“What we’re really concerned about is whether anything is real, I mean, whether it is really real. Is there something that is so powerful that it can even make us real?”

DANGERS

In this search, have those turning to witchcraft or the occult found the answer? Or is there a real danger in getting involved in these things, even to experiment with them? A warning to all who dabble in witchcraft is contained in the words of Dr. Greeley, who says: “Satanism can be dangerous, as the Manson case and other ritual murders should make clear.”

Some of those professing witchcraft claim they practice “white magic,” but avoid “black magic.” (Black magic includes casting harmful spells, conducting rituals or making potions to harm others.) Nevertheless, there is a great deal of similarity between much of their ritual and that of the ‘black magicians,’ many of whom are “Satanists.” Witchcraft’s degrading peril was pointed out by one of the “black magic” witches himself, who admitted that witchcraft “can be extremely dangerous even if you don’t believe in it. . . . It can freak you out simply because it renounces God and brotherhood and every good concept that is natural in a person.”

There is danger from many directions for those engaging in any form of witchcraft. Often their leaders merely want to exploit them. The witch is not really concerned with those on whom he practices his art. One expressed the true nature of the practice when he said: “I’ve found I have more power over people from it. You can con them and play games with them. It’s an excellent ego trip.”

More than this, there is strong probability that those dabbling in witchcraft will be drawn into the use of drugs and into degraded, immoral and disgusting sex practices. Above all, they are in the greatest peril of coming completely under the control of the demons, where they may commit almost any crime, including suicide or murder, or may go insane.

Are these “demons” actual persons, real personalities? Or are they mere forces of evil in man, as some say? Let no one be deceived into thinking they are not actual persons. The Bible corroborates what has been said about the dangers involved in witchcraft and gives us definite identification of the demons. It shows that the demons are spirit persons, chief of whom is Satan the Devil. Some may deny his existence, which makes them more vulnerable to his deceptions. Belief in God’s Word is a safeguard, “that we may not be overreached by Satan, for we [who believe what that Word says] are not ignorant of his designs.”—2 Cor. 2:11.

ORIGIN OF THE DEMONS

The Bible makes clear that Satan is the archenemy of God and man. God’s Son, who had been alongside his Father in heaven before coming to earth, had seen and encountered the Devil personally. He called Satan “the father of the lie.” (John 8:44; 17:5; Job 1:6; Jude 9) This one rebelled against God, challenging God’s sovereignty and inducing the original human pair to sin. (Gen. 3:1-5) In the days of Noah, before the global flood, an unstated number of other angels also pursued a rebellious course, leaving their position in God’s service and their proper place in the invisible spirit realm. They took on human bodies in order to indulge a perverted passion, marrying humans though they themselves were from the spirit realm. (Gen. 6:4, 5) This explains why the rituals of witchcraft are so often accompanied by nudity, fertility symbols and dances, even sex orgies.

The apostle Peter wrote: “God did not hold back from punishing the angels that sinned, but, by throwing them into Tartarus, delivered them to pits of dense darkness to be reserved for judgment.” Peter goes on to speak of God’s destruction of that demon-corrupted pre-Flood world. (2 Pet. 2:4, 5) Jesus’ half brother Jude also spoke of the judgment passed on these angels, saying: “The angels that did not keep their original position but forsook their own proper dwelling place [God] has reserved with eternal bonds under dense darkness for the judgment of the great day.” (Jude 6) They have not been allowed by God to have any further divine enlightenment and service assignment, and are restricted. There is evidence that, since the Flood, they have not been able to materialize, but, in order to indulge their perverted desire for fleshly connections, they have possessed or inhabited and controlled humans. When God’s Son Jesus Christ was on earth, he encountered such possessed persons in pitiful condition and healed them, expelling the demons.—Matt. 12:22; Mark 5:1-6.

The resurgence of witchcraft, voodooism and other forms of demonism in these times is truly a fulfillment of the Scriptural description of the “last days” of this system of things. The demons know they are soon to be destroyed, and so whip up violence and corruption in the earth in order to carry everyone to destruction with them, if possible.—2 Tim. 3:1-5; Rev. 12:9, 12; Matt. 8:29-32; Mark 1:23, 24.

GOD PROTECTS THE TRUE CHRISTIAN

Should the true Christian living in a community where witchcraft or voodoo is practiced fear the god or demon worshiped, or the witch? No, for “the name of Jehovah is a strong tower. Into it the righteous runs and is given protection.” (Prov. 18:10) Jehovah the Almighty God is the One who has sentenced the demons to destruction. The true Christian, therefore, by prayer to Jehovah in Christ’s name can rely on that power to protect him from any demon or any spell cast by a witch. God’s Word the Bible comfortingly tells us: “The angel of Jehovah is camping all around those fearing him, and he rescues them.”—Ps. 34:7.

Accordingly, one putting trust in God will take the course that Jehovah’s witnesses take in all parts of the earth. They do not cringe in fear or follow the customs of the fearful ones around them. They follow the Bible command: “This is what Jehovah has said: ‘Do not learn the way of the nations at all, and do not be struck with terror . . . For the customs of the peoples are just an exhalation.”’—Jer. 10:2, 3.

For instance, in Africa the children of Jehovah’s witnesses are not seen with black and white threads on their necks or wrists to protect them from the god “Sambio.” They do not join the villagers in breaking off branches of trees, throwing stones or cursing, to prevent certain night birds called “witch birds” from resting in the trees, in order to keep death from striking the village. Christians know that these birds are God’s creations, coming forth in the night-time to search for insects or rodents. Neither do they refrain from catching so-called “sacred” fish to eat. They have ignored the local custom and have recognized the local gods as really no gods at all, and such worship as worship of demons. (Gal. 4:8; 1 Cor. 10:20; Jer. 16:20; Ps. 96:5) The village people have waited expectantly for the Witnesses to die. But when they did not die, many of the people began to listen to Bible truth from the Witnesses and have broken free from their superstitious bondage.

An example of the freedom with which the truth has set thousands of persons free from witchcraft and superstition is a man named Fallah John, formerly a fetish priest who headed a secret African bush society. He relates:

“I exercised tremendous influence among my elders and among people in many villages over a wide area in our chiefdom. I had uncanny power and strength to fight up to twenty-five persons at one time. My ‘medicine’ was partly made with a portion of a cremated human body. Because of this special power given me by the demons I was especially fond of fighting and was esteemed, yet dreaded, by my fellow tribesmen. When Jehovah’s witnesses came with the Bible message and explained who Jehovah is and what his purpose is, I accepted their invitation to have a Bible study in my home. I came to know that Jehovah’s power is far superior to that of Satan and his demons. It was not long before I made up my mind that instead of being a devil’s priest, I wanted to serve Jehovah and draw on his strength.”

Fallah John is now serving as a full-time pioneer minister of Jehovah’s witnesses. He is now a peacemaker.

Today many persons see the failure of this world’s religions and philosophies. They are hunting for something that gives them a firm hope. Jehovah’s witnesses have made such a search, and they have found something real to believe in. They enjoy associations in which they are wanted and loved. Outsiders, observing their local and international assemblies, have remarked on the peace, unity and brotherhood of the Witnesses as, from all races and backgrounds, they gather and work together. One who visited an assembly in North Carolina, viewing “the higher ratio of ethnic mixture than most other religious groups,” wrote: “The business of ‘brother and sister’ is not pretended.” “They witness to a happy deity,” commented a staff writer for the Shreveport, Louisiana, Journal. And the news director of an Atlanta, Georgia, radio station concluded: “Your young folks not only have answers about the Bible, but they also have answers concerning the drug problem.”

Jehovah’s witnesses have found that which thousands of disillusioned young people are actually seeking. Why not visit the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in your community, to see for yourself? You will be warmly welcomed, and will be under no obligation but to listen to the educational, upbuilding discussion of the things that lead to life and peace.

Now friends I’d like us please to consider the issue of friendships. Well, lonelines is not an illness,” states the book In Search of Intimacy. “Loneliness is a healthy hunger . . . , a natural sign that we are lacking companionship.” Just as hunger moves us to take in nourishing food, feelings of loneliness should move us to seek out good friends.

Yet, as Yaël, a young woman in France, observes, “some people avoid all contact with others.” But isolating ourselves, for whatever reason, solves nothing and inevitably makes us feel lonelier than ever. A Bible proverb says: “One isolating himself will seek his own selfish longing; against all practical wisdom he will break forth.” (Proverbs 18:1) So first we need to recognize our need for friendship and then resolve to do something about it.

Take Practical Steps Toward Friendship

Instead of feeling sorry for yourself or envying those who seem to have more or better friendships, why not adopt a positive attitude, as did Manuela, from Italy? She says: “Particularly as a teen, I felt that I was being left out. To overcome this, I studied people who had good friends. Then I tried to develop the good qualities they had, to make myself a more pleasant person.”

One practical step is to take care of yourself physically and otherwise. A healthful diet, proper rest, and adequate exercise all help you to look and feel your best. Being neat, clean, and well-groomed not only makes you more desirable to be around but also gives you a healthy measure of self-respect. However, do not fall into the trap of becoming overly concerned about outward appearances. “Wearing fashionable clothing doesn’t make any difference in finding real friends,” notes Gaëlle, from France. “What good people are looking for is the inner person.”

After all, our innermost thoughts and feelings affect what we talk about and even how we look. Do you have a confident outlook on life? This will help you to have a happy expression on your face. A genuine smile is the most attractive thing you can wear and, explains body-language expert Roger E. Axtell, “it is absolutely universal” and “is rarely misunderstood.” Add to that a good sense of humor, and people will be naturally drawn to you.

Remember, such good qualities come from the inside. So actively fill your mind and heart with wholesome, positive thoughts and feelings. Read about interesting and meaningful subjects—current events, different cultures, natural phenomena. Listen to uplifting music. But avoid passively allowing TV, movies, and novels to clog your mind and emotions with fantasy. The relationships usually portrayed on the screen are not real life, not real friendships, but the product of someone’s imagination.

Open Your Heart!

Zuleica, who lives in Italy, recalls: “When I was younger, I was shy, and I found it hard to make friends. But I knew that if we want to have friends, we have to take the initiative, make ourselves known, and get to know others.” Yes, to have real friends, we must open up to others—let them get to know who we really are. Such communication and sharing are far more important to true friendship than having good looks and a charismatic personality. “People with deep and lasting friendships may be introverts, extroverts, young, old, dull, intelligent, homely, good-looking; but the one characteristic they always have in common is openness,” observes counselor Dr. Alan Loy McGinnis. “They have a certain transparency, allowing people to see what is in their hearts.”

This doesn’t mean wearing your heart on your sleeve or revealing your innermost secrets to people you don’t feel comfortable with. But it does mean selectively and progressively revealing your true thoughts and feelings to others. Michela, from Italy, says: “At first, I had the problem of concealing my feelings. I had to make changes, to try to manifest my feelings more, in order for my friends to understand what I was feeling and to feel closer to me.”

Even if you are naturally gregarious, however, it still takes time and shared experiences for mutual trust to develop between friends. In the meantime, try not to be overly anxious about what others may think of you. Elisa, in Italy, recalls: “My problem was that every time I wanted to say something, I was afraid it wasn’t going to come out right. Then I thought, ‘If people really are my friends, they will understand.’ So if something came out wrong, I just laughed at myself, and everyone laughed with me.”

Therefore, relax! Just be yourself. Putting on an act doesn’t help. “No one can be more attractive than by being his or her sincere, best self,” wrote family counselor F. Alexander Magoun. People who are truly happy don’t have to fake it or try to impress others. Only by being genuine can we enjoy genuine friendship. Likewise, we need to let others be themselves. Happy people accept others as they are, not fretting over minor foibles. They don’t feel the need to remake their friends to conform to their own preconceived ideas. Work to be that type of happy, noncritical person.

To Have a Friend, Be a Friend

There is an even more important factor—the most fundamental one. Nearly 2,000 years ago, Jesus showed that the key to success in all human relations is unselfish love. He taught: “Just as you want men to do to you, do the same way to them.” (Luke 6:31) This teaching has come to be known as the Golden Rule. Yes, the only way to have real friends is to be an unselfish, giving friend yourself. In other words, to have a friend, be a friend. To be successful, friendship must be more about giving than about getting. We must be prepared to put our friend’s needs ahead of our own preferences and convenience.

Manuela, quoted previously, notes: “Just as Jesus said it would, true happiness comes from giving. The person receiving is happy, but the giver is even happier. We can give simply by sincerely asking how our friends are, by trying to understand their problems, and by doing all we can without waiting for them to ask.” So reach out to others, including the friends you already have. Strengthen your relationships. Do not sacrifice friendship for less-noble and less-fulfilling pursuits. Friends deserve time and attention. Ruben, in Italy, comments: “Taking time is fundamental to finding and keeping friends. First of all, it takes time to be a good listener. We can all improve in listening and in showing our interest in what others say by not interrupting.”

Show Respect for Others

Another key element of happy, long-term friendships is mutual respect. This includes showing consideration for others’ feelings. You want your friends to be tactful and discreet when their tastes or opinions differ from yours, don’t you? Shouldn’t you treat them the same?—Romans 12:10.

Another way we show respect is by not smothering our friends. Real friendship is neither jealous nor possessive. At 1 Corinthians 13:4, the Bible states: “Love is not jealous.” So guard against the tendency to want your friends all to yourself. If they confide in others, do not take offense and perhaps even shun them. Learn that we all need to widen out in our friendships. Allow your friends to develop other friendships too.

Consider also your friends’ need for privacy. Individuals, as well as married couples, need time for themselves. While you should not hesitate to reach out to others, be balanced and thoughtful, and do not wear out your welcome with your friends. The Bible cautions: “Make your foot rare at the house of your fellowman, that he may not have his sufficiency of you.”—Proverbs 25:17.

Do Not Demand Perfection

Of course, when people get to know each other, they become more aware of the other’s weaknesses as well as strengths. Still, we should not let this hold us back from making friends. “Some expect a bit too much from potential friends,” comments Pacôme, in France. “They want them to have only good qualities, but that’s not possible.” Not one of us has perfection to offer, and we do not have the right to demand it of others. We hope our friends will accept us despite our imperfections and make allowances for us. Shouldn’t we try to overlook our friends’ shortcomings too, by not imagining or overemphasizing them? Author Dennis Prager reminds us: “Flawless friends (i.e., those who never complain, are always loving, never have moods, are fixated on us, and never disappoint us) are known as pets.” If we don’t want to end up with pets as our closest friends, we need to heed the apostle Peter’s advice to let ‘love cover a multitude of sins.’—1 Peter 4:8.

It has been said that friendship doubles our joys and halves our sorrows. However, to be realistic, we cannot expect our friends to fill all our needs or solve all our problems. That is a selfish view of friendship.

Loyal Friends Through Thick and Thin

Once we have made a friend, we should never take his or her friendship for granted. When separated by time and distance, friends think about each other, pray for each other. Even if they can get together only rarely, they can quickly catch up on each other’s lives. Especially in times of difficulty or need, it is vital to be there for our friends. For the most part, we must not withdraw when friends have problems. That may be when they need us most. “A true companion is loving all the time, and is a brother that is born for when there is distress.” (Proverbs 17:17) And when true friends have misunderstandings, they are quick to make amends and forgive each other. Real friends do not abandon their friends just because the road gets bumpy.

By having unselfish motives and by approaching others with a positive attitude, you can gain friends. But the kind of friends you have is also important. How can you select good friends?

A young woman we will call Sarah poured out her heart in distress. A man she had thought of as a friend turned out to be a murderer. ‘If someone I trusted could do such a thing, how can I trust anyone?’ she asked. Her listener asked Sarah if she had known what kind of values the man had. She responded, “What do you mean?” Sarah didn’t even know what was meant by “values.” What about you? Do you know what your friends’ values are?

The answer to that question can literally mean life or death, as Sarah’s experience bears out. One Bible proverb puts it this way: “He that is walking with wise persons will become wise, but he that is having dealings with the stupid ones will fare badly.” (Proverbs 13:20) Yet, like Sarah, many people select friends merely on the basis of whether they “hit it off” or not—how they feel when they are around them. Naturally, we like to be with people who make us feel good. But if that is the only criterion for our choice, with little or no thought given to a person’s real inward qualities, we may be headed for great disappointment. How can you know whether a person has good values?

The Need for High Moral Values

To begin with, we must have our own good values. We need to know what is right and wrong, good and bad, and hold firmly to high moral principles all the time. Another Bible proverb states: “By iron, iron itself is sharpened. So one man sharpens the face of another.” (Proverbs 27:17) When two people bring ironlike moral strength to a friendship, they can help each other to grow, and the bonds of friendship between them will be stronger.

Pacôme, from France, says, “For me, a true friend is one who listens to me and speaks kindly to me but who is also capable of reprimanding me when I do something stupid.” Yes, our best friends—whether they are young or old—are those who help us to stay headed in the right direction and who correct us when we are about to do unwise things. The Bible says: “Faithful are the wounds of a friend.” (Proverbs 27:6, King James Version) To strengthen ourselves morally and spiritually, we need to associate with others who have love for God and his principles. “When there was no one else in my school who shared my Christian values and beliefs,” recalls Céline, from France, “I learned the importance of having real friends in the Christian congregation. They have helped me tremendously to keep my balance.”

Sizing Up Potential Friends

If you are interested in making friends with someone you have met, you might want to ask yourself, ‘Who are his or her friends?’ The type of close associates someone has tells much about the person himself. Also, what opinion do mature and respectable people in the community have of him? In addition, it is wise to consider not only how potential friends treat us but also how they treat others, particularly those from whom they have nothing to gain. Unless a person displays good qualities—such as honesty, integrity, patience, and consideration—at all times and to all people, what guarantee is there that he will always treat you well?

Getting to know someone’s true character requires patience and skill, as well as time to observe the person in real life. The Bible states: “Counsel in the heart of a man is as deep waters, but the man of discernment is one that will draw it up.” (Proverbs 20:5) We need to talk to potential friends about serious subjects—those that reveal their true personality, motivations and, yes, values. What sort of people are they? Are they kind or cold? Basically positive and cheerful or negative and cynical? Unselfish or self-serving? Trustworthy or disloyal? If a person talks critically about others to you, what will prevent him from talking negatively about you behind your back? “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks,” said Jesus. (Matthew 12:34) When it does, we should listen.

The Most Important Things to Have in Common

Some think that their friends must have exactly the same tastes as they do. One little boy asserted, “I could never be friends with someone who doesn’t like cheesecake.” It is true that friends need to have enough in common to be able to understand each other, and it is best if they share the same basic moral and spiritual values. But they do not have to be identical in personality and background. In fact, differences in life experience can bring richness and mutual benefit to a friendship.

Two timeless examples of friendship in the Bible—that of Jonathan and David and of Ruth and Naomi—were based on a shared devotion to God and to his principles. Significantly, in both cases the friendship transcended great differences in age and background. They thus teach us something else about friendship: Young ones and older ones have much to offer one another as friends.

Benefiting From Differences in Age

Having friends who are older or younger than we are can be mutually enriching. Consider the following expressions from young people based on their personal experiences.

Manuela (Italy): “I made friends with an adult couple a while ago. I opened up to them, and what makes me happy is that they also opened up to me. They didn’t underestimate me just because I was young. This moved me to draw close to them. Their friendship is very helpful when I experience problems. I find that when I discuss my problems with people my own age, at times my girlfriends give me advice that isn’t well thought out. But my older friends have experience, discernment, and a certain balance that we young ones have not yet acquired. With their help I manage to make better decisions.”

Zuleica (Italy): “At gatherings we include not only young ones but also some who are older than we are. Personally, I have noticed that when older and younger ones get together, we all feel really encouraged at the end of the evening. We enjoy ourselves because everyone sees things differently.”

Older ones, you too can reach out to younger ones. As shown by the foregoing comments, many younger ones greatly appreciate your depth of experience and enjoy your company. Amelia, a widow in her 80’s, says: “I take the initiative to keep in touch with the younger ones. Their energy and vitality uplift my spirits!” The good results of such mutual encouragement can be far-reaching. Many happy young adults give much of the credit for their success to friends of their youth who were at least a little older and who served as good examples and gave them good advice.

Improving Your Friendships

To have good friendships, you don’t necessarily have to make new friends. If you already have worthy companions, why not see what you can do to strengthen your friendship with them? Longtime friends are a particularly precious treasure, and we should treat them as such. Never take their loyalty for granted.

Above all, remember that true happiness—and true friendship—come from giving of yourself, your time, and your resources. The rewards are more than worth the effort and sacrifices involved. However, if you think only of yourself when choosing friends, you will never succeed. So when considering potential friends, do not restrict yourself to those you look up to or those from whom you can gain something. Reach out to those whom others might overlook or who may have difficulty making friends themselves. Gaëlle, from France, says: “When we are getting a group together to do something and we know of young people who are lonely, we invite them along. We say: ‘You don’t want to stay home all by yourself. You can come with us. Let’s get to know one another.’”—Luke 14:12-14.

On the other hand, when good people extend friendship, do not be quick to refuse it. Elisa, in Italy, notes: “Perhaps a bit of resentment can well up inside you when you feel you have been left out in the past. You may start thinking, ‘After all, friendships are not so important to me.’ So you close up, solitude sets in, and you just think about yourself. Instead of looking for friends, you create a barrier.” Rather than letting unfounded fears or selfish interest cause you to avoid making new friends, open up to others. We have reason to be deeply grateful when people care enough about us to want to be our friends.

You Can Have True Friends

It takes more than wishing, waiting, and reading articles like these to have true friends. Learning to make friends is like learning to ride a bicycle. We cannot learn either skill entirely from books. We have to get out and practice, even if it means falling down a few times. The Bible shows that the firmest relationships are deeply rooted in shared friendship with God. But God cannot bless our efforts to make friends if we do not make those efforts. Are you determined to have real friends? Do not give up! Pray for God’s help, reach out unselfishly, and be a friend.

Okay my friend, I again entreat you to now observe with me the role of media in society. On May 10, 1927, a special edition of the French newspaper La Presse reported that the first successful nonstop flight across the Atlantic was made by two French aviators, Nungesser and Coli. The first page featured pictures of the two fliers as well as details about their arrival in New York. But this story was a fabrication. Actually, the aircraft had been lost, and the fliers killed.

Yet, false news reports are more common than perhaps most people suspect. In 1983 intimate notes, supposedly Hitler’s, were published in important weekly magazines, especially in France and Western Germany. They turned out to be fakes.

Similarly, in 1980 a story about a young drug addict was published in the Washington Post. The account won the author a Pulitzer prize, the highest award for a journalist in the United States. But later the story was revealed to be fictitious, a fabrication. Under pressure from investigators, the author submitted her resignation, saying: “I apologize to my newspaper, my profession, the Pulitzer board and all seekers of the truth.”

Yet, news fabrications, or false reports, are not the only obstacles to arriving at the truth regarding what is happening in the world.

News Selection and Presentation

Journalists and editors often select news that fascinates the public but that may not be of real significance. Priority is given to what is sensational or eye-catching so as to increase circulation and ratings. Stars of the entertainment and sports worlds are featured, regardless of what kind of role models they provide for the young. So if one of them takes a lover, marries, or dies, it often makes the news.

Television news generally features subjects that have visual appeal. The head of a major television broadcasting firm, as reported in TV Guide magazine, “declared he wanted ‘moments’ on the broadcasts—gut-wrenching, sensational moments to lure the viewer in every story.” Indeed, attracting viewers is usually of greater concern than is educating the public.

The way events are portrayed may fail to provide the whole picture. As an example, a weekly supplement to the French daily Le Monde told of “three television sets exploding [in France] in just fifteen days.” Although this was presented as something unusual, the number of explosions of television sets for that 15-day period was actually smaller than normal.

Also, important news may sometimes be presented in a biased way. Parade Magazine reports that officials and politicians often “channel their deceptions through the media, distorting the news in order to influence your thinking. They deal in selective facts instead of the whole truth.”

This bothers many news commentators. French Encyclopædia Universalis states: “Since the end of the 1980’s, the important media, and especially television, have been condemned on all sides, by professionals and laymen, by the man on the street, and by public figures, for what is said and what is left unsaid, for the way it is said and for various insinuations.”

Free interchange of news on a worldwide scale is also a problem and was the subject of a heated debate at UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization). Developing countries complained that they were only mentioned in the news when catastrophes or serious political problems occurred. After saying that certain Western press agencies carry much more news about countries in the Northern Hemisphere than about those in the Southern Hemisphere, an article in the French daily Le Monde added: “This has given rise to a serious imbalance affecting public opinion in industrialized countries as much as in developing countries.”

Pressure Groups

The pressure that advertisers exert on news editors further affects the news the public receives. In the 1940’s a U.S. magazine lost advertisements from piano manufacturers when it published an article showing the advantages of using the guitar to accompany singing. An editorial was later published in the magazine in high praise of the piano! Thus, the relative scarcity of articles exposing the dangers of smoking should not be surprising in view of the number of magazines for which cigarette ads are a major source of revenue.

Another pressure area involves the readers or viewers themselves. Raymond Castans, former director of a popular French radio station, explained that listeners were mostly conservative, so care had to be exercised not to upset them. Is it therefore surprising that in a country where a certain religion is predominant, unsavory facts about it have been hushed up or toned down?

Pressures are also brought to bear by extremist groups or individuals who feel that not enough attention is given to their opinions in the media. A few years ago, the terrorists who kidnapped Aldo Moro, ex-prime minister of Italy, insisted that their claims be given full coverage on television, by radio, and in Italian newspapers. Similarly, terrorists who hijack planes and take hostages make TV headlines and thus obtain the publicity they seek.

Newsmen are sometimes accused of being conformist, of perpetuating established systems and opinions. But can we expect that an industry seeking to gain a maximum of readers or listeners would propagate ideas and views contrary to those of the majority of the people they serve?

A related problem is that in many countries rising costs have caused daily papers to merge, thus forming literal “press empires” in the hands of small groups or even one person. If the number of owners continues to decrease, this will limit the variety of published opinions.

Influence on the Public

There is no question that the news media have also contributed to the molding of social values. This is done by presenting as acceptable, moral standards and life-styles that would have been rejected only a few years ago.

For example, in the early 1980’s, a middle-aged man, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, had a discussion on homosexuality with his father, who then lived not far from San Francisco, California. Earlier in his life, the father had conveyed to his son his view that homosexual behavior was shocking. But then, decades later, influenced by the news media, the elderly father defended homosexuality as an acceptable alternative life-style.

The Encyclopedia of Sociology (French) asserts: “Radio and television may very well . . . inculcate new ideas, encourage innovatory or troublemaking trends. Because of a taste for sensational news, such media boost them from the start and exaggerate their importance.”

If we do not want our values to be molded by the media, what can we do? We should follow the wise counsel found in the Bible. This is because its standards and principles remain valid for any society at any time in history. Moreover, they help us understand how important it is to be fashioned by God’s standards and not by popular ideas of the modern world.—Isaiah 48:17; Romans 12:2; Ephesians 4:22-24.

Okay friend, let’s now briefly review what we’ve earlier called the ‘works of the flesh’ and the ‘fruitage of the spirit.’ The spirit of this world produces the “works of the flesh.” They are very manifest. Paul says they are “fornication, uncleanness, loose conduct, idolatry, practice of spiritism, hatreds, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, contentions, 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.” (Gal. 5:19-21) These are some of the things, then, one must be sure to get rid of if he wants everlasting life. Paul’s description surely fits this world today just as it did the ancient Roman world he lived in. But can a Christian live today in a world like this and change? Yes, even though surrounded by people doing “the works of the flesh.” The Christian can produce the fruitage of the spirit. Certainly Paul and all the other inspired writers would not tell us to do so if it could not be done through Jehovah’s spirit.

EXERCISING LOVE

In order to produce the “fruitage of the spirit” the Christian must first of all love Jehovah God, which would mean following the great commandment that Jesus quoted, namely: “You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind.” Jesus added: “The second, like it, is this: ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matt. 22:37, 39) That means loving a lot; but it means your life too.

In Galatians 5:22 love is described by Paul as the first fruit that must be manifest on the part of a Christian. This great lover of God and of his Son, Jesus Christ, fought for Christianity with the “sword of the spirit.” He defined it as God’s Word. (Eph. 6:17) Paul did not hate men; he loved men. He wanted men to know the truth. Paul, being a man full of love, had a lot to say about it, but he found it was rather difficult to give a concise description of love. In the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians he tells us that even ‘though he spoke with the tongues of men and of angels, if he did not have love, he would sound like a piece of brass or a clashing cymbal. Even if he had the gift of prophesying and understood all the sacred secrets of God and had the greatest faith of any man in the world, sufficient to transplant mountains, but did not have love, he would amount to nothing.’ What a traveler and worker Paul was! What energy he spent in the service! He did not spare his life. He poured it out in preaching the good news. To a Greek Paul was a Greek, to a Jew a Jew. Yet, if he did not have love, love for Jehovah God, his Son, and his Christian brothers, Paul said: “I am nothing.” Love, he said, is obliging. Paul did things for people, not wanting or expecting a return. When observing the success of a brother he was not jealous of such an individual, because love is not jealous.

A Christian must be interested in just one thing, and that is the true worship of Jehovah. In performing that worship the Christian does not brag about what he has done. Love never gets puffed up because of accomplishments; and certainly love never behaves indecently. Love is expressed in good conduct. A Christian showing love does not continue to live like the world, even though he is in it. Love makes him change his course of action so as to follow the right way.

Producing this first fruit of the spirit, love, the Christian will not always be looking after his own interests, always being first and superior. He will not be provoked at every little thing that someone else does, because love does not become provoked. And when someone does something against the Christian, or even goes so far as to injure him, he, having this fruit of the spirit, love, will not even keep account of the injury. When something happens to a Christian that is not right or just, love is not going to rejoice over unrighteousness. There is only one thing that love can rejoice in, and that is the truth.

Love is an attribute that Jehovah God put in the perfect man, Adam. Why not reinstate it? Furthermore, “God is love,” and he is the one we worship. Love is a necessary quality for every Christian. He cannot get along without it. It is urgent that every Christian stop to think once in a while as to how much he loves other people. How much does he love his brothers? The measuring rod whereby one can determine whether he is a Christian or not is love. Jesus said: “By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love among yourselves.”—John 13:35.

Are you afraid to talk to people about your belief in the Bible? Do you claim to be a Christian, and still have fear in going from house to house, doing the same kind of work Jesus and his disciples did? Are you afraid to express yourself even to your own brothers in a congregation meeting? Do you say, “Yes, I am afraid”? Then you do not have perfect love, and you know there is room for improvement. John, who truly loved the Master, wrote this: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love throws fear outside, because fear exercises a restraint.” (1 John 4:18) Is there a restraint on you that holds you back from expressing your Christian belief? If that fear exists, then there is some branch cleaning to be done so that the bearing of more fruit will be possible. Jesus said: ‘Every branch bearing fruit he cleans, that it may bear more fruit’; and he also said: “Every branch in me not bearing fruit he takes away.” (John 15:2) Do you want to be built up by being pruned or be completely lopped off the vine as a nonproducer of the fruitage of the spirit?

“Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.” (1 Cor. 8:1) Christians must show love and build. Love is not just a word to be used promiscuously. It is a word full of expressive meaning. Love is alive, active. An individual who has this quality, love, will show it every day and in everything that he does. “In brotherly love have tender affection for one another. In showing honor to one another take the lead.” (Rom. 12:10) Love, while just one of the fruitages of the spirit, is the principal one. It is basic, fundamental, because all the other fruits of the spirit are different aspects of the expression of love. They all keep love in action. Therefore cultivate these qualities and show forth more love.

JOY AND PEACE

Joy is something a Christian must have, or get, because it is the second fruit of the spirit mentioned by Paul. What does it mean to have joy? Joy is “an emotion of keen or lively pleasure arising from present or expected good.” (The American College Dictionary) A Christian’s greatest joy comes because of preaching, from hearing good news and experiences of those who have done so. That is how it was with the early Christians. We read at Acts 15:3: “Accordingly, after being conducted part way by the congregation, these men continued on their way through both Phoenicia and Samaria, relating in detail the conversion of people of the nations, and they were causing great joy to all the brothers.” How was this “great joy” caused? By “relating in detail the conversion of the people of the nations.” They had talked to people about God’s kingdom. They had had wonderful experiences in field service to tell others. This brought great joy to the hearers and the tellers. Hearing about other people listening to the truth and then coming into the truth brings joy. Love made the disciples preach; joy was the result.—Acts 13:45-52; 2 Cor. 7:13.

Peace is a fruitage of the spirit. One who is peaceful is “free from strife or commotion.” He is serene or tranquil. Peter admonished Christians to “seek peace and pursue it.” The way he told them to pursue this wonderful way of life was like this: “He that would love life and see good days, let him restrain his tongue from what is injurious and his lips from speaking deceitfully, but let him turn away from what is injurious and do what is good; let him seek peace and pursue it.” (1 Pet. 3:10, 11) For one to enjoy peace with his fellow man he has to watch his tongue. Words can cause a great amount of trouble, especially the injurious ones. Good words establish good relations. But when one starts speaking deceitfully and injuriously, peace soon flees. A peaceful individual, with a peaceful message can talk about Jesus Christ and the kingdom of the heavens and how God will bring “upon earth peace among men of good-will.” (Luke 2:14) A Christian will use his tongue to bless. Paul told the Corinthians: “Live peaceably, and the God of love and of peace will be with you.”—2 Cor. 13:11; Matt. 10:12-14.

LONG-SUFFERING

“Long and patient endurance of injury or provocation” is what is termed long-suffering. This is a fruitage of the spirit. Some people’s long-suffering has reached its limit in about thirty seconds, others’ in one or two minutes; but some are able to suffer the injury or provocation for a long time. Remember Paul said that “love is long-suffering and obliging.” (1 Cor. 13:4) And he mentioned God’s long-suffering toward mankind when he wrote to the Romans: “Do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and long-suffering, because you do not know that the kindly quality of God is trying to lead you to repentance?” (Rom. 2:4) Jesus certainly showed long-suffering toward Saul, who finally became converted and who said: “Nevertheless, the reason why I was shown mercy was that by means of me as the foremost case Christ Jesus might demonstrate all his long-suffering for a sample of those who are going to rest their faith on him for everlasting life.” (1 Tim. 1:16) Paul must have often reflected back to the days when he was a Pharisee persecuting the Christians, proud of his position and delighting in the ruination of the Christian organization. He was then a destroyer, not a builder. But ‘as he approached Damascus a light flashed around him’ and he heard a voice say: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” The facts show that Paul appreciated the long-suffering of Christ Jesus in that it allowed him to come to a knowledge of the truth.

All persons on earth today, and especially Christians, ought to show such gratitude to Jehovah God and Christ Jesus for their long-suffering in allowing them to live this long. Now they, too, can be long-suffering toward others when hearers do not agree with them. Doing so, they try to show them the way to everlasting life in God’s new world of righteousness. Show long-suffering toward your brothers too.—1 Thess. 5:14.

KINDNESS

Kindness, the fifth fruitage of the spirit listed, is something that can be expressed in so many ways. When one is kind he shows a ‘good or benevolent disposition, is considerate and helpful.’ Kindness is not something we show only to those we like. We must be kind to people we do not even know. Paul received such kindness and he made mention of it, saying: “And when we made it to safety, then we recognized that the island was called Malta. And the foreign-speaking people showed us extraordinary human kindness, for they kindled a fire and received all of us helpfully because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold.” (Acts 28:1, 2) These Maltese went out of their way to help the shipwrecked ones. They did not know these total strangers. They could have been invaders of the island. But these foreign-speaking people did not look at it that way. Here was an opportunity to show extraordinary human kindness.

Every Christian has that opportunity, sometimes in more ways than one. Jehovah’s witnesses try to show extraordinary human kindness by taking the message of life directly to the people in their homes, making back-calls on interested ones and conducting Bible studies, and this at great expense to themselves and with the use of much time. They ask nothing in return. Many people do not appreciate this kindness shown on the part of Jehovah’s witnesses. But still the kindness must continue, as this is the will of God. The Scriptures declare that all mankind must know that Jesus bought the whole human race by laying down his life. By so doing he has offered all men the gift of everlasting life, though not all will accept it. That will be each individual’s responsibility.

If a Christian is going to have this fruitage of the spirit, kindness, then it will have to be manifested in his daily activity toward all people, not just a selected few.

GOODNESS

Goodness is something to be admired. It means “moral excellence, virtue.” In order for Paul to emphasize goodness he makes it stand out by contrast. He says: “Let fornication and uncleanness of every kind or greediness not even be mentioned among you, . . . neither shameful conduct nor foolish talking nor obscene jesting. . . . For you know this, recognizing it for yourselves, that no fornicator or unclean person or greedy person—which means being an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of the Christ and of God.” (Eph. 5:3-5) Paul then advises Christians that they must be separate from this type of people. There is no room in the lives of Christians to be associated with them. He says: “Therefore do not become partners with them; for you were once darkness, but you are now light in connection with the Lord. Go on walking as children of light, for the fruitage of the light consists of every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth.” (Eph. 5:7-9) Right, decent, respectable living, that is goodness. Even in this evil, degenerate world it is a necessary fruitage of the spirit, says Paul.

Goodness is a quality that must be guarded, and certainly it must be the goal of one who is dedicating his life to Jehovah’s service. Before anyone can be called a Christian he must put away shameful conduct. If we are going to produce within ourselves the fruits of the spirit and qualify ourselves for living in God’s new world, then we certainly must have this fruitage of the spirit, goodness.

FAITH

“Faith is the assured expectation of things hoped for, the evident demonstration of realities though not beheld.” (Heb. 11:1) That is the way Paul defined faith. A Christian cannot be without faith, because “without faith it is impossible to win his good pleasure, for he that approaches God must believe that he is and that he becomes the rewarder of those earnestly seeking him.” (Heb. 11:6) The disciple James showed his faith, and he pointed out that faith must be backed up with works. (Jas. 2:26) If one believes in Jehovah God, Christ Jesus and his kingdom, then he will prove his belief by what he says, by what he does, by the way he lives.

A man’s faith can die, or become weak. Many individuals who at one time believed in Jesus Christ as the Redeemer and Savior of mankind have fallen away. They have turned to evolution. They reject the Bible. And still, such people call themselves Christians and go to Christendom’s churches. James would say to them: “Thus, too, faith, if it does not have works, is dead in itself.” (Jas. 2:17) Faith is expressive. It makes proclamation. Paul said: “For with the heart one exercises faith for righteousness, but with the mouth one makes public declaration for salvation.” (Rom. 10:10) One’s faith becomes stronger when he uses his heart, mind and mouth in making a public declaration of his belief in God’s kingdom as man’s only hope. Jesus said: “This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for the purpose of a witness to all the nations, and then the accomplished end will come.” (Matt. 24:14) This is being done today not only by a remnant of the “little flock” who have faith and whom Jesus began gathering nineteen hundred years ago, but also by a “great crowd” of people from all nations who have the same kind of faith. Because of this faith on the part of the many Christian people great works have been done in these very troublesome days.

MILDNESS

Mildness is sometimes misunderstood for weakness. When one reads the life of Christ as told by the writers of the four Gospels he sees Jesus as a mild-tempered man. But be sure to read the 23rd chapter of Matthew and see Jesus as a forceful denouncer of wickedness. He was fearless. He had perfect love, and such love throws fear outside. With those who wanted to learn he was amiably gentle, tempered in his feelings and behavior toward all. Because of his mildness Jesus was able to teach people. He told them: “Become my disciples, for I am mild-tempered and lowly in heart, and you will find refreshment for your souls.” (Matt. 11:29) They put confidence in him. They did not become afraid when Jesus spoke plain truth, because he did it in love. They were ready to listen. Paul knew the value of mildness and said to Timothy: “A slave of the Lord does not need to fight.” Fighting is not the way to help one gain the truth. Paul went on to say: The Lord’s slave “needs to be tactful toward all, qualified to teach, keeping himself restrained under evil, instructing with mildness those not favorably disposed.” (2 Tim. 2:24, 25) The Word of God properly stated is what makes a person repent, not force.

What a different course the Roman Catholic Hierarchy, which still wields great power in the world today, took during the years of the Inquisition. That false religious body can never live down its history of torture, putting men and women on the rack, tearing their limbs out of their bodies, hanging persons by their thumbs. These inquisitors professing to be Christians—yes, priests, who arranged for Jews, Moors and “heretics” to suffer excruciating pain—certainly did not have a mild spirit. These religious leaders fought to drive people into the Roman Catholic Church. What have they accomplished by their wars and tortures? A world of peace and unity? No! False religion has been driving people away from God with its wars and crusades. Christianity will never be brought about by the use of carnal weapons. If anyone accepts the truth it will be because the minister is mild and patient toward those not favorably disposed toward the Bible message. Jesus used that method, and so did the apostles. True Christians today must use the same method. Mildness is a fruitage of God’s holy spirit, and its use brings lasting results in declaring God’s kingdom.

SELF-CONTROL

Self-control is hard for imperfect men to practice. Why make excuses? Try to exercise it. It is one of the fruits of the spirit. So it must be attainable. To have self-control means to be able to control oneself, one’s actions, words, eating and drinking habits, yes, one’s feelings. In Paul’s eyes one not able to have some self-control gets classified with a rather despicable crowd of people. Those having no self-control he classes with very disreputable individuals who the Bible says would be prevalent in the last days. In writing to Timothy he said: “But know this, that in the last days critical times hard to deal with will be here. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, self-assuming, haughty, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, without gratitude, with no loving-kindness, having no natural affection, not open to any agreement, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, without love of goodness.” (2 Tim. 3:1-3) Why be classed with such delinquents because of lack of self-control? Solomon wrote: “All his spirit is what a stupid one lets out, but he that is wise keeps it calm to the last.” (Prov. 29:11) If a Christian has no self-control, or loses what he has, how easy for him to slip back to the ways of the flesh and be disqualified so as not to inherit the blessings of God’s kingdom! How foolish, then, not to strive to produce this fruitage too, namely, self-control! One shows love if he has self-control.

All these fruitages of the spirit Paul contrasts with the works of the flesh. A change must take place when a believer dedicates himself to do the will of God. No longer can he act as the world does, but “those who belong to Christ Jesus impale the flesh together with its passions and its desires.” (Gal. 5:24) There must be a change, a building up of the individual. “If we are living by spirit, let us go on walking orderly also by spirit. Let us not become egotistical, stirring up competition with one another, envying one another.” (Gal. 5:25, 26) Bringing forth the fruitage of the spirit qualifies one to be in Jehovah’s New World society. So ‘paying constant attention to yourself and to your teaching’ does something for you. You will save both yourself and those who listen to you.” (1 Tim. 4:16) Build yourself up by paying attention to your fruitage of the spirit, and at the same time help in making Jehovah’s New World society grow. Christians must be at unity with one another, showing oneness “like a flock in the pen, like a drove in the midst of its pasture.” Feed with Jehovah’s sheep and keep at unity, for “in the house of the righteous one there is an abundant store, but in the produce of the wicked one there is troublesomeness.”—Prov. 15:6.

Now my dear friend, you’ve been trustworthy and constant in reading this book until now, thank you so much for your unwavering patience and mental strength. I’d like to applaud and congratulate your vehement support and compatible spirit. I’m very glad and cheerful of you. Now, as the next turn in conversation, let’s try to answer some of these questions: Why has Jehovah permitted his servants to suffer violence from the time of Abel down to our day? Into what compromising situations has persecution of professed Christians forced many? Is it possible to keep integrity behind the Iron Curtain? What does it take to defeat persecution?

It should not surprise us to find Christians suffering persecution in this twenty-first century. Why not? Because in spite of all its claims to Christian civilization the fact remains that Satan is still the “god of this system of things.” He still walks about “like a roaring lion, seeking to devour someone.” And full of wrath, he wages war on those “who observe the commandments of God and have the work of bearing witness to Jesus.”—2 Cor. 4:4; 1 Pet. 5:8; Rev. 12:17, NW.

Besides, are there not still with us religious leaders whose hatred of the light—because it exposes the errors of their teachings and their selfish practices—and whose envy of the prosperity of Jehovah’s servants blind them to the justice of freedom of worship? And are there not still oppressive political powers, totalitarian governments, who resent the Christian’s giving his allegiance to Jehovah God and their being told that they will be replaced by God’s kingdom? Yes, there certainly are, and these and others of like selfish mind combine to bring persecution upon Jehovah’s servants today even as did their counterparts in the days of Jeremiah, Christ Jesus and the apostles.

Of course, we can avoid persecution by compromising. Shortly after World War II a United States official interviewed many of the clergy in Germany endeavoring to ascertain their justification for co-operating with Hitler and his Nazis. In answer to their excuses he reminded them of the fearless course taken by Christ Jesus. Replied one bishop: “Yes, but look what they did to him!”

Organized religion likewise found it convenient to compromise in Japan in connection with the worship of the emperor cult. Although Shinto was the state religion they blithely presumed to believe that it was purely a political matter and that therefore Christians could take part in such rites. How one could bow down to the emperor without bowing down to him as a descendant of the gods when his political office was based on his religious claims, was a question that did not seem to bother their religious consciences.

In Russia, as soon as the avowedly godless government showed a little favour to organized religion by appointing a churchman to an official position, back in 1942, “churchmen vied with one another in sending cordial messages to Stalin.”—Saturday Evening Post, September 11, 1954.

In East Germany organized religion gave such support to the Communists’ peace propaganda, “even though the movement took on a political and strictly secular character,” that it was easy to identify Jehovah’s witnesses by their refusing to have anything to do with it.

In Poland some 2,000 Catholic priests at mass meetings urged all priests to join the Communists’ National Front, and in a memorandum dated May 8, 1953, the bishops of Poland admitted having leaned over backward in supporting Communists’ policies even when such were contrary to church interests saying: “We are seeking a positive solution, which would benefit both the Church and the State. Nothing is farther from our minds than to introduce dissension.”

But to avoid persecution by compromising is being lukewarm, and Christ warns that all lukewarm ones he will vomit out of his mouth.—Rev. 3:16, NW.

PERSECUTION CAN BE DEFEATED!

In striking contrast with all such compromising is the course of action taken by Jehovah’s witnesses throughout the world. The fearless record they made in Nazi Germany, where 10,000 entered the concentration camps and 8,000 returned from them, is well known to all. They lived to see the end of their tormentors. And in Canada, where the work was banned during the greater part of World War II, the end of the ban saw twice as many witnesses as there were when the ban was first imposed. Certainly that was defeating persecution!

In French Equatorial Africa two natives came in touch with the Kingdom message and began preaching to others about Jehovah. The government refused to allow either missionaries or printed literature to enter the country. Yet, in spite of this ban and much persecution, in six years those two ministers increased to 666 in April of 1954; an increase all the more remarkable in view of racial and language barriers.

At the time the Dominican Republic proscribed the work of Jehovah’s witnesses, back in 1949, they had a peak of 274. Though many were imprisoned, the witnesses there have not compromised but have fearlessly kept on preaching underground. As a result, in 1954 a peak of 371 took part in the preaching work, this amounting to an average yearly increase of seven per cent. No question about their defeating persecution.

In 1950 upward of 20,000 witnesses were regularly preaching the good news in Eastern Germany when the Communists banned the work and took into custody all the brothers serving at the headquarters office at Magdeburg, the traveling representatives and the local overseers. In all, more than 2,000 were arrested and at the present time there are 1,283 in prisons. In spite of the increased difficulties of preaching under ban, the threat of imprisonment being always present, their ranks have again filled in so that today there are again upward of 165,000 active witnesses in Germany. Many are the expressions of joy coming from the witnesses in Eastern Germany, both from those inside and those outside prisons.

The fearless course of Jehovah’s witnesses in Eastern Germany arouses the admiration of many. For example, after the New World society conventions in 1953 the house-to-house activity was stressed in Eastern Germany. In one congregation twenty took part in this work, completely covering their town. Two of them, while engaged in this campaign, happened to call upon the mayor. Asked if they were Jehovah’s witnesses, they countered by asking who he thought Jehovah’s witnesses were. The mayor then frankly stated: “I know that you are, but you do not need to be timid. I marvel at your zeal and courage.” The two witnesses were able to give good testimony regarding their beliefs and work and made arrangements to call further on him. Many such experiences could be related showing how Jehovah’s witnesses are defeating persecution in Eastern Germany.

In Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Poland and Yugoslavia, where the work of Jehovah’s witnesses has been banned for years, we see a like defeating of persecution. In 1946 there were 11,131 Christian witnesses of Jehovah active in those lands; in 1950 their numbers had increased to 28,183, and in 1954 there were how many? Almost four times as many as in 1946, that is, 42,767.

DEFEATING PERSECUTION IN RUSSIA

But perhaps of greatest interest is the record of Jehovah’s witnesses’ defeating persecution in Russia. In 1946 there were 6,000 witnesses in Russia; in 1949 there were 10,000. How did they get there? Some became witnesses because of having been witnessed to while serving with the Russian army in Germany, others because of meeting Jehovah’s witnesses in German prisons and concentration camps. Most of them, however, came to be within Russia because of Russia’s taking over the Baltic States and parts of Poland, Hungary, Romania and Czechoslovakia.

However, to what extent they were defeating persecution was not known, due to the effectiveness of the Iron Curtain, and so year after year since then the witnesses of Jehovah in other parts of the world looked in vain in their annual Yearbook for reports regarding the witness in Russia. In 1951 the president of the Watch Tower Society met a radioman in Vienna, Austria, who had been a prisoner in Russia and who had met many witnesses of Jehovah while in prison. In December, 1953, one of Jehovah’s witnesses, who had been sent to a Russian prison camp in 1948 because of having witnessed to two Russian soldiers, was released on account of ill health, being over sixty years of age. He told of his witnessing to the Russians while at the camp and of meeting some witnesses there who were overjoyed to meet him.

Then, in February, 1954, several articles appeared in The Observer, London, England, on conditions in Russian work camps, written by a German journalist, Frau Brigette Gerland, who had just recently been released from one of them. She had been arrested in 1946 in Germany and sentenced to seven years at forced labor in Communist prison camps. Eventually she was sent to Vorkuta, capital of Arctic Russia, where there are some half million prisoners.

She gave a fine report of the prisoners at Vorkuta. Among those she described were “the believers, who, refusing to work for the state on grounds of conscience, had, after years of bitter struggle, forced the camp administration to respect their scruples and so employed them only in work that was for their fellow prisoners. Their success proved that resistance was possible within the camp.”

She made special mention of one woman believer, a trained technician who had once been a member of the Communist Youth movement but was not contented. Accidentally stumbling across a “New Testament,” she was converted thereby to Christianity. At her job in a factory she met a young woman who believed in the gospel and who introduced her to others that likewise did. The two young women abandoned their jobs and went to Central Asia, Siberia, where they worked in a hospital and preached the Bible. The secret police heard of their activity and sentenced them to fifteen years of hard labour for religious agitation. Says Frau Gerland regarding them: “The story of their conversion [preaching activity] and arrest is typical of the fate of hundreds whom I met and of thousands of others, and it is a story of a movement that is still alive outside the camps.”

In reply to an inquiry regarding Jehovah’s witnesses in Russia, Frau Gerland replied: “I met a lot of them in the Arctic camps. Most of them had been Western Ukrainians [formerly Polish] or people of the Baltic States, but there were among them also Russians and other Soviet peoples, even Tartars and Armenians. I think that in the camp district of Vorkuta alone there must have been more than two thousand, maybe even three thousand. They have been very kind and helpful people and all the prisoners liked them. By the camp chiefs they were not bothered because of their beliefs.”

The foregoing record of Jehovah’s witnesses’ defeating persecution in Russia calls to mind the confidence expressed regarding them in the 1950 Yearbook, that, “regardless of where they are, they continue to preach the good news. Jehovah’s witnesses everywhere will offer prayers to Jehovah to the end that he will bless and guide and direct these faithful brothers that they too may have a share in the vindication of Jehovah’s name by maintaining integrity despite the distressing times they endure. Their outstanding faith is a stimulus and inspiration to all of Jehovah’s witnesses, for they are faithfully continuing in the service of Jehovah.”

And what does it take to defeat such persecution today? First of all, knowledge. Without knowledge of Jehovah and his attributes, purposes and will for them and why he permits them to suffer they could not have resisted the Red terror. And that knowledge must result in a living faith, for one ‘can have strength for all things’ if he has faith, for it all is “according to your faith.” And it also takes hope, for hope is to the Christian what an anchor is to a ship and a helmet to a soldier, namely, a protection in time of danger.—Phil. 4:13; Matt. 9:29; Heb. 6:19; Eph. 6:17, NW.

To defeat persecution also requires Jehovah’s holy spirit, for it cannot be accomplished by human might or power. (Zech. 4:6) And, above all, it requires love, for without love we are nothing. Besides, “there is no fear in love, but perfect love throws fear outside.” (1 John 4:18, NW) Yes, true Christians can and do defeat persecution even as is demonstrated by the witnesses of Jehovah throughout the world.

Okay my friend, let’s veer off again and try to discuss baptism as a step to gaining true emancipation with regards to the issue of human imperfection as it now has a rather tight grip on us. “Biggest Mass Baptism of Modern Times.” Thus read the headlines of the Associated Press dispatch that reported on the immersion of 4,640 witnesses of Jehovah at the Riverside Cascade Pool on July 22, 1953, in connection with their international New World Society Assembly held at Yankee Stadium, New York city.

Reporting on a similar baptism, held two years before at London’s Lido Beach as part of the international Clean Worship Assembly, under the heading “Galilee Comes to the Lido,” the London Daily Herald told of 1,123 witnesses’ being immersed. Among other things its reporter was impressed by the “frightening earnestness” of the witnesses who had come to the Lido to be baptized, and, after commenting on the baptism of the men, went on to say: “Then came the women. Some women were old, many middle-aged and many young. And some of the swim-suits were as attractive as their wearers. But don’t doubt the sincerity of these people, disagree with them as you may. One crippled man with a walking stick was helped down and immersed. There was a grey-haired great-grandmother of 76, [and] an 86-year-older—a thin little wispy-haired woman.”

They manifested a “frightening earnestness,” says the reporter for the London Daily Herald; and “don’t doubt the sincerity of these people.” Yes, Jehovah’s witnesses take baptism seriously. Can it be that they take it too seriously? The reporter for another London newspaper, the Sunday Chronicle, seemed to think so, for he just could not understand why Jehovah’s witnesses insisted on total immersion, and spoke of it as a “trivial detail of a ceremony” that had become “an idée fixe in a multitude of fanatical minds.”

True, most religious organizations practice baptism of infants and that by sprinkling. Thus the New York Herald Tribune, on November 8, 1953, published a picture of a chaplain at the Bellevue Hospital, baptizing an incubator baby through the portholes of its incubator.

What is the truth about baptism? What do the Scriptures have to say about it? Is total immersion a mere “trivial detail”? Who may or should be baptized and when and how?

In view of the fact that many religions teach that John the Baptist set the formal pattern for baptism of Christians, let us first consider why John preached and what his baptism meant.

JOHN’S COMMISSION

The angel Gabriel, who appeared to the priest Zechariah as he was performing his priestly duties and informed him that he and his wife Elizabeth, although childless until now, would have a son in their old age, gave specific instructions as to the rearing of this son, whose name was to be John, and foretold the work he would do: “He must drink no wine and strong drink at all, and he will be filled with holy spirit right from his mother’s womb, and many of the sons of Israel will he turn back to Jehovah their God. Also he will go before him with Elijah’s spirit and power, to turn back the hearts of fathers to children and the disobedient ones to the practical wisdom of righteous ones, to get ready for Jehovah a prepared people.”—Luke 1:15-17, NW.

In due time the promised son was born and “the young child went on growing and getting strong in spirit, and he continued in the deserts until” the spring of A.D. 29, when he began his public ministry with the electrifying announcement, “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.”—Luke 1:80; Matt. 3:2, NW.

Why was it necessary for John the Baptist to serve as a messenger to prepare the way before Jehovah’s coming in the person of Jesus Christ? Did not the nation of Israel have the law of Moses, the very purpose of which was to serve as a tutor to lead them to Christ, by protecting them from pagan worship, by impressing upon them their need of a ransomer to take away their sins, and by making prophetic patterns of the work their Messiah was to do?—Gal. 3:24; Deut. 7:16; Heb. 10:1.

True indeed, but the Israelites had not been faithfully adhering to that law or Jehovah would not have let them go into captivity to Babylon. And even that chastisement had only a temporary salutary effect upon them as a people, for after the deaths of Ezra, Nehemiah and Malachi, and particularly with the rise of Greece to the position of the fifth world power, their worship became a formalistic, nationalistic Judaism that, while holding to the external features of the Law, became contaminated with pagan Grecian philosophy and more and more steeped in oral traditions that made God’s Word of no effect.

The religious leaders became very self-righteous, exalted themselves instead of Jehovah’s name and Word and viewed with contempt the common people, most lowly of whom were the tax collectors and harlots. A preparatory work was certainly sadly needed if they were to be ready to recognize and accept their Messiah when he arrived!

In preaching the much-needed message of repentance John the Baptist spared no one. Not only did he instruct the tax collectors not to overcharge or extort, a common practice in those days, and tell the military not to harass or falsely accuse anybody and to be content with their provisions, etc., but he even publicly, and repeatedly at that, rebuked the king, Herod Antipas, for his adulterous marriage to Herodias, telling him: “It is not lawful for you to be having the wife of your brother.” And especially did he lash out against the religious leaders of his day, in language similar to that which Jesus was later to use against them: “You offspring of vipers, who has shown you how to flee from the coming wrath? Therefore produce fruits that befit repentance. And do not start saying within yourselves, ‘As a father we have Abraham.’ . . . Indeed, the ax is already in position at the root of the trees; every tree, therefore, not producing fine fruit is to be cut down and thrown into the fire.”—Mark 6:18; Luke 3:7-14, NW.

SIGNIFICANCE OF JOHN’S BAPTISM

With his preaching John also baptized. Why? Did it in either a literal or figurative way take away the sins of the Israelites who were baptized? This is the thought of Christendom in general, as most religions teach that baptism is for the purpose of washing away the sin inherited from Adam. The Scriptures, however, do not support any such conclusion.

In the first place let it be noted that John was sent only to the nation of Israel, to prepare them for their Messiah. (Acts 13:24) Further note that John’s baptism was separate and distinct from that which was performed in the name of Jesus, or Paul would not have rebaptized certain disciples at Ephesus in the name of Christ Jesus but would have been content with their having been baptized with John’s baptism. (Acts 19:1-6) The purpose of John’s preaching being to bring about a change of heart, a repentance so as to prepare the Israelites for their Messiah, those who did thus repent and confess their sins were baptized by John in public acknowledgment of that fact. The repentance brought about the “remission of sins,” the baptism itself was because of their repentance, or conditioned on it, a token or a picture of it, the repentance.

Particularly do the modern versions of the Christian Greek Scriptures make this clear. According to them John the Baptist stated, as recorded by Matthew at 3:11, “I, on the one hand, baptize you with water because of your repentance.” (NW) “I am baptizing you in water in token of your repentance.” (AT) “I am baptizing you in water to picture your repentance.” (C. B. Williams) According to modern versions Luke tells, at 3:3, that John the Baptist came or went all over “preaching baptism of those repenting for forgiveness of sins” (NW); “preaching a baptism conditioned on repentance” (Williams); “announcing a baptism whereby men repented, to have their sins forgiven.”—Knox.

The same meaning is apparent from the way these render Paul’s words to the Ephesians regarding John’s baptism as recorded at Acts 19:4: “John baptized with the baptism of those repenting [mar., baptism of repentance].” (NW) “John’s baptism was a baptism in token of repentance.” (AT) “John baptized with a baptism that was an expression of repentance.” (Williams) Clearly the foregoing indicate that it was the sinner’s act of repentance, not God’s act of forgiveness, that was pictured by the baptism.

That this was the understanding of the early Christians appears from a footnote in Williams’ translation in explanation of rendering Acts 2:38 as follows: “You must repent—and, as an expression of it, let everyone of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ—that you may have your sins forgiven.” The footnote states that the explanatory phrase, “as an expression of it,” is “implied from context and usage in the early church.”

Since John baptized with the “baptism of repentance,” he could not understand why Jesus came to him to be baptized: “I am the one needing to be baptized by you, and are you coming to me?” Jesus did not take time to explain, but simply said: “Let it be, this time, for in that way it is suitable for us to carry out all that is righteous.”—Matt. 3:13-15, NW.

Why did Jesus insist on being baptized although having no sins to repent of? What meaning do the Scriptures attach to his baptism?

Well, we have noted that John’s baptism was only for Jews. We have also seen that it was part of his preparatory work to make ready the Jews for their Messiah. Further we have seen that it was a picture, not of what God did in forgiving their sins, but of what they themselves did in that they repented, and that it was separate and distinct from the baptism performed in the name of Christ Jesus.

What is the meaning of baptism today? Since it is performed in obedience to Jesus’ command, it is reasonable to conclude that it would also be in imitation of the example he set. That being so, the meaning of his baptism would also be the meaning of baptism for his followers today. And what was that meaning? It was a symbol or picture, performed publicly, showing that he had dedicated himself to the doing of his Father’s will as that will was revealed to him in his Father’s Word.

This is apparent from Psalm 40:7, 8, which Paul at Hebrews 10:5, 7 applies to Jesus Christ: “Hence when he comes into the world he says: ‘“You did not desire sacrifice and offering, but you prepared a body for me.” Then I said, “Look! I am come (in the roll of the book it is written about me) to do your will, O God.”’”

Paul applies this prophecy to the time when Jesus came into the world. When was that? At the time of his birth in a manger in Bethlehem? Hardly, for as an infant he could not express any determination to do Jehovah’s will. Then was it at the age of twelve? Well, all we know about Jesus’ activities from the time he was twelve years old until he became thirty is that he learned the carpenter trade. Clearly, doing God’s will involved more than merely being a carpenter. Jesus came to earth to bear witness to the truth, to maintain integrity under pressure and so vindicate his Father’s name, and to give his life a ransom for many. (John 18:37; Heb. 5:8; Matt. 20:28) That being so, would Jesus say, ‘Look! I am come to do your will,’ and then wait eighteen years before commencing to do that will?

In keeping with God’s law for the Levitical temple service, Jesus, at the age of thirty, shortly after he had been baptized, commenced to preach. (Num. 4:2, 3; Luke 3:23) So we cannot conclude other than that he came into the world to do God’s will at the time of his baptism and therefore it was a symbol or picture of his dedication. At the same time it was a public confession of that fact. The baptism he commanded as part of the work of making disciples of all nations would therefore likewise picture dedication to do God’s will.—Matt. 28:19, 20.

THE PROPER SYMBOL

How should baptism be performed? By aspersion (sprinkling) or effusion (pouring) or by immersion? The form most frequently used throughout Christendom is that of sprinkling. Those using this form generally agree that immersion was used in apostolic times but defend sprinkling on the grounds of convenience.

To refer to sprinkling as a baptism is to use a misnomer, for the original Greek word báptisma means a dipping under water, an immersion. Thus we read in Greek literature that the cork, floating on the top of the water, was not baptized, but the net, being submerged, was; also that the bulrushes by the sea were baptized only when the high tide covered them.

It is not surprising, therefore, to note that extremely literal translations of the Bible, such as those by Rotherham and Wilson, use the various inflections of “to dip” or “to immerse.” Because baptism means an immersion, Paul likens the passing of the nation of Israel through the Red Sea, with water on each side of them and with the cloud above them, to a baptism. And so Peter speaks of following Noah into the ark before the flood came as a baptism. Incidentally, on each of these occasions two baptisms took place: a baptism to salvation for Jehovah’s servants, and a baptism to destruction for Jehovah’s enemies, namely, Pharaoh and his hosts by the Red Sea, and the wicked world of Noah’s day by the Deluge.—1 Cor. 10:1-3; 1 Pet. 3:20, NW.

A further Scriptural illustration showing the correct meaning of baptism relates to the Syrian general Naaman, who was a leper. Concerning his baptism we read, according to the Septuagint version: “So Naaman went down and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the word of Elisaie, and his flesh returned to him as the flesh of a little child and he was cleansed” of his leprosy. (2 Ki. 5:14) The Greek word here rendered “dipped himself” is the past tense of baptízein, and means “baptized himself.” The only other reference to baptízein in the Septuagint, as far as the canonical books are concerned, is at Isaiah 21:4, where we read that “transgression overwhelms me” (where a footnote indicates that a literal rendering would be “transgression baptizes me”), although the root word báptein occurs many times.

The argument is advanced that sprinkling is merely a matter of convenience. But would it not also have been convenient for John and Jesus to resort to sprinkling? Certainly; but they did not let that enter into their consideration. Rather, they went out of their way, and caused the multitudes that wanted to hear them to go out of their way, so that they would be where there was sufficient water, even as we read at John 3:23 (NW) that they were “baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was a great quantity of water there.”

The case for immersion is made conclusive when we recollect that baptism is not a symbol of the washing away of sins but of the dedication of oneself to do God’s will. Fittingly immersion pictures what has taken place, the being dipped under the water illustrating one’s burial or death to one’s own will, and the being raised up again illustrating one’s being made alive to do the will of Jehovah God. Yes, the example of the apostolic Christian congregation, the meaning of the words themselves, the manner in which these words are used by Scripture writers and the fitness of the symbol all combine to prove immersion to be the proper form of baptism.

What about infant baptism or pedo-baptism? In view of the foregoing it should not surprise us that not once do we read of any infants’ being baptized, much less a command to that effect. What negligence on the part of Jesus and his apostles not to warn parents of the eternal misery that would await their children if they died before being baptized, as some teach, if such were actually the case! The very silence of the Scriptures in this respect is strong circumstantial evidence that infants were neither baptized nor considered as fit subjects for baptism. Baptism was for those who repented and accepted the truth heartily. Infants can do neither.—Acts 2:41, NW.

BAPTISM TODAY

Repeatedly the Scriptures speak of those who were baptized in apostolic times as receiving the holy spirit; Cornelius and his household received the holy spirit even before baptism. (Acts 2:38; 19:5, 6; 10:44-48) God’s will for those who then dedicated themselves to him was that they should become spiritual sons, and these were said to be “baptized into Christ’s body.”—Gal. 3:27; 1 John 3:2, NW.

However, this baptism was limited to comparatively few, only a “little flock” of 144,000. These have the hope of sharing heavenly glory with Christ as his bride or body and reigning with him a thousand years. (Luke 12:32; Rev. 7:2-4; 14:1, 3; 20:5, 6; 21:2, NW) For all such baptism is also a picture of being immersed into Christ’s spiritual body, and that they are to be buried with him in the likeness of his death. (Rom. 6:4; Col. 2:12; 2 Tim. 2:11, NW) Bible prophecy and its fulfillment indicate that this number has been about completed and that only a “remnant” of these yet remain on the earth. This remnant have for some time been faithfully fulfilling their commission to bear witness to Jehovah’s name and to comfort those that mourn with the good news of the Kingdom.—Isa. 43:10-12; 61:1-3; Matt. 24:14.

As a result of this preaching work a class of Christians has manifested itself whom Jesus termed “other sheep” and whom the apostle John described as a “great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues.” These John saw “standing before the throne and before the Lamb,” as distinguished from the “little flock” who will share the throne with Christ Jesus.—John 10:16; Rev. 7:9; 3:21, NW.

Manifesting faith in Jehovah God and recognizing Christ Jesus as their Savior and Ransomer, these also dedicate themselves to the doing of God’s will so that they also may gain his approval and everlasting life, not in the heavens, but right here on earth; for the Bible shows that this earth will abide forever and that one day it will become a glorious place with God’s will being done on it even as it is in heaven.—Eccl. 1:4; Isa. 60:13; Matt. 6:9, 10.

In accordance with Jesus’ instructions recorded at Matthew 28:19, 20 (NW) these are baptized in the name of the Father, meaning that they recognize the office and authority of Jehovah God as their Father and appreciate their relationship to him. They are also baptized in the name of the Son in that they recognize the office and authority of Christ Jesus as God’s Son, what he did for them, and their obligation to obey him and follow his example. And they are baptized in the name of the holy spirit in that they are cognizant of the function and purpose of God’s holy spirit or active force, without which they could not fulfill their dedication vows.

AN ORDINATION CEREMONY?

The Associated Press dispatches reporting on the 1953 mass baptism of Jehovah’s witnesses in connection with their international assembly stated that Jehovah’s witnesses considered their baptism as an ordination ceremony and that each baptized witness was an ordained minister. Upon what grounds do they base their position?

In the first place, it, the baptism, being performed at God’s command, is recognized by him as authoritative. It represents their agreement to follow in the footsteps of Christ Jesus, who certainly was the minister of Jehovah God. This ordination is further recognized as authoritative by the instrument God is using at the present time to give an effective and harmonious witness to his name and kingdom, namely, the Watch Tower Society. And on November 30, 1953, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that this baptism of immersion by Jehovah’s witnesses is a valid ceremony of ordination within the meaning of the law for Jehovah’s witnesses. Incidentally, the 1954 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses shows that 50,665 ministers were thus ordained during 1953.

But is it not necessary to go to a theological seminary to be qualified as a minister? If it were, then neither Jesus nor his apostles, with the exception of Paul, could have been recognized as ministers. In fact, some asked regarding Jesus: “How does this man have a knowledge of letters, when he has not studied at the schools?” And the educated class at the time wondered at the boldness of Peter and John, for they noticed that Peter and John were unlettered and ordinary men. But that did not keep them from preaching the good news. And not only they, but all the early Christians preached. (John 7:15; Acts 4:13; 8:4, NW) One can become adequately equipped to preach by studying at home evenings and week ends, and by attending the various Bible classes arranged for under the direction of the Watch Tower Society.

It follows, then, that a diploma from a theological seminary is likewise not a ministerial prerequisite. The very best proof that one could have that he is a minister is the same to which Paul pointed as his letters of recommendation, namely, individuals who, due to one’s efforts, have dedicated themselves to Jehovah God.—2 Cor. 3:1-3, NW.

Once having dedicated ourselves to God and symbolized it by water baptism, we may never let that fact slip out of our consciousness, for it is better not to have vowed than to vow and then not to pay our vows. (Eccl. 5:5) Jesus was ever conscious of having agreed to do God’s will and he spoke of God’s will as a cup he was drinking and a baptism with which he was being baptized and had yet to be baptized with. (Matt. 20:22, 23; Luke 12:50, NW) Only by keeping integrity to God and by associating with God’s people, the New World society, may we hope to survive the destruction of this wicked world in the coming battle of Armageddon and enter into the new world of righteousness even as Noah and his family entered a new world after the flood.—Matt. 24:37-39; 2 Pet. 3:7, 13; Rev. 16:14, 16.

To sum up: we have seen that John’s baptism was a picture of repentance; that Christian baptism in water is a picture of dedication to do God’s will; that only complete immersion is water baptism, that only it fittingly pictures dedication and that it serves both as a public confession of one’s dedication and as an ordination ceremony; that neither a theological seminary training nor a diploma is a prerequisite to being a minister of Jehovah God, and that by keeping integrity we can hope to survive the destruction of this wicked system of things to enter into the new world of righteousness as members of the New World society.

But friend, someone may ask: I understand that John’s baptism was for remission of sins committed against the Mosaic law, but that water baptism in Jesus’ name is not for remission of sins. It symbolizes the person’s dedication to do Jehovah’s will. However, those who believe water baptism now washes away sins quote Acts 2:38 as proof. Does this text support their claim?

Acts 2:38 (NW) reads: “Peter said to them: ‘Repent, and let each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the free gift of the holy spirit.’”

Well, John’s baptism was for Jews under the law covenant and indicated their repentance of sins they had committed against that law. Their being baptized by John’s baptism showed their repentance and Jehovah forgave them their sins. But this case at Acts 2:38 was different. Peter was talking to opposers. It is unlikely that they had submitted to John’s baptism in preparation to receive Christ; anyway, they did not receive him but opposed him and must bear responsibility for his impalement, being a part of the house of Israel upon whom the blood of Jesus came. When Peter’s hearers heard of their responsibility for Jesus’ death, either personal responsibility or community responsibility, they were stabbed to the heart, saw their error, and asked what they could do to correct matters. Peter said they should repent and be baptized in Jesus’ name to get their sins forgiven. These were not sins against the law covenant but were sins against Jesus. These were the sins they must repent of. How could they show this repentance and gain forgiveness?

The way for forgiveness was no longer through animal sacrifices offered at the temple in Jerusalem. That law arrangement for forgiveness through temple sacrifices was no longer effective. Now the effective sacrifice was Jesus, his shed blood, and there was no other name given whereby men could be forgiven and saved. Accept him and get forgiveness from God through him, through Jesus, through the merit of his shed blood. This repentance of sins and acceptance of Jesus and his cleansing blood was to be shown by baptism in the name of Jesus. The baptism was only a symbol. This immersion in water did not in itself effect forgiveness of sins, washing them away like a bath does dirt. If that were the case, then one would have to be baptized again and again, repeatedly washing away new sins, just as we bathe to get clean, then later on have to bathe again. The animal sacrifices did not actually and effectively remove sins either, being merely pictorial and having to be repeated over and over again. It is Jesus’ blood that cleanses from sin, not water, and “unless blood is poured out no forgiveness takes place.”—Heb. 9:22, NW.

Acts 22:16 (NW) states: “And now why are you delaying? Rise, get baptized and wash your sins away by your calling upon his name.” Not by mere water immersion, but by calling on his name are sins washed away. Cornelius called on Jehovah’s name and he accepted Christ Jesus and was baptized by holy spirit. For this to happen his sins must have been forgiven, yet it was all before he was baptized in water. If one repents and accepts Christ and trusts in His shed blood one’s sins can be forgiven. Water immersion in Jesus’ name is important, but only as a symbol and public demonstration of repentance of sins and acceptance of Jesus and dedication to do Jehovah’s will faithfully, as Jesus did.

Now my friend, in trying to describe what true success is in this imperfect world, I’d like to share with you the talk, public address or speech that was delivered by the president of the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, Nathan.H.Knorr, at the graduation exercises of the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead at 3 p.m. Sunday, July 30, 1950, at the Yankee Stadium, New York city, as the opening feature of the 8-day international assembly of Jehovah’s witnesses. There are some principles we can learn from it and try to apply in our lives too. I am quoting it in italics.

“Then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”—Josh. 1:8.

JEHOVAH is conducting a Government school of success. There is nothing else on earth like it. Since it graduated a Master Instructor it has been in operation for nineteen hundred years. The wonderful course that it offers through him is an education and training for life through all eternity to come. You will not graduate from this school until you have proved yourself worthy of the right to everlasting life. Gaining this right is the measure of a person’s real success, and it is a credit to the School Instructors and a lasting joy and blessing to the successful graduate. Success is really to be measured in terms of living, and not in the fleeting superficial things of this world. The One who gained the highest type of life, immortality in the heavens, said: “What benefit will it be to a man if he gains the whole world but forfeits his soul? or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matt. 16:26, NW) To what greater success could any man or woman attain than to gain endless life in happiness, that with it he might serve the God who bestows this prize? Next to that, what sweeter privilege could we have than to help someone else to gain such life with us? None. Then how to make such a success is the question, and Jehovah’s theocratic school of success supplies the answer.

To enter this school we have to turn ourselves over fully to the great Conductor of the school, Jehovah God. We have to submit ourselves fully to his course of instruction and be willing to learn according to his way. That means we have to choose to serve God and to enter into an agreement with him to do his will, desiring his will to be done in everything. We want him to make out of us what he wants, and not what this world thinks we ought to be. After more than four thousand years of existence this world has proved itself a dismal failure, showing that it has no life of freedom, of tranquillity and of joy to offer. All the schools it has established till now have failed to teach its students how to gain such a life. And so the glowing plans that this world wants to map out for us according to its idea of success are doomed to end up in bitter disillusionment for us, in this modern electronic age the same as in all previous ages. The days of this world are numbered, and all those who are studying and aiming for success in this world will pass out with it in destruction.

But Jehovah God wants his students to find a permanent place in the free new world which he creates and which will never pass away. That is his desire for us who enter his school. His beloved Son Jesus said: “Likewise it is not a desirable thing with my Father who is in heaven for one of these little ones to perish.” (Matt. 18:14, NW) He wants to have us attain to eternal life in the world to come, and he knows just the course of study, training and activity that we need for us to succeed. It is, therefore, essential that we obey his will as Teacher.

This rule for success he emphasized long ago. The prophet Moses was soon to climb Mount Nebo for a look at the Promised Land of milk and honey and die and, before parting, he led the Israelites into a covenant of faithfulness toward Jehovah God and said: “Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do.” (Deut. 29:1-9) Through Moses Jehovah God gave the Book of the Law to the Israelites. He appointed Moses’ faithful servant Joshua to be his successor to lead the nation of Israel into the Promised Land. Joshua’s success as the one taking Moses’ place would be measured by his leading the people of God’s covenant triumphantly across the Jordan river and subduing and clearing out the enemies that then occupied the land. When Joshua comes back in the resurrection from the dead and you ask him what worked for his success, he will tell you it was obedience to these words of Jehovah God to him: “Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”—Josh. 1:7, 8.

That settles it for us: The way to good success lies in loyal obedience to our divine Teacher, Jehovah. But to obey we have to familiarize ourselves with his will. He has given us his written Word, but we have to meditate on it day and night that we may make out what his will is for us, what work he wants us to do. That Word must not depart from our mouths, but we must keep it on our tongue and discuss it with others and must declare it to others for their guidance to success. Our loving Teacher is ever ready to help us to learn his will and know the truth. He watches our line of action in trying to do his will and is always there to guide us. Assuringly he says to us: “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will counsel thee with mine eye upon thee. Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding; whose trappings must be bit and bridle to hold them in, else they will not come near unto thee.” (Ps. 32:8, 9, AS) If we have better sense than a horse and a mule we will come willingly to our great Master Jehovah God and will look to him for instruction and teaching, and will always try to carry these out, knowing that his eye is upon us to watch how we do and correct us when we make mistakes. So he keeps us from going the wrong way, which ends up in failure. We could not have a more devoted teacher than he is, one who is sincerely and lovingly interested in the lasting welfare of his pupils and concerned for their ultimate success.

Jehovah’s beloved Son Jesus Christ was his greatest pupil, and if we copy his example we shall be certain to succeed as he did. Jesus was completely resigned to doing what his Father and Teacher showed to be his will and speaking what He taught him to say in this world. For doing his Father’s will to the limit, he was lifted up with his hands and feet nailed to a torture stake. Not a success in this world’s eyes, of course. But it proved the Devil a liar in saying no man could be completely faithful to God in this world, and it showed Jesus’ perfect integrity and obedience to God as Sovereign Ruler over all. Therefore Jesus said to the Jews: “When once you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing of my own initiative, but just as the Father taught me I speak these things.” (John 8:28, NW) Jesus admitted to being taught by his God and Father, and for us to follow in his footsteps we must have the same Teacher as he had. Persons of this world pride themselves on having gone to a certain school or college and having had certain renowned ones as instructors. But we could not have a teacher grander and more competent than Jehovah God, nor any schooling higher than what he gives, for this leads to sure success.

Because of Jesus’ faithfulness Jehovah sent him forth into this world to teach us. Hence we must become Jesus’ disciples or learners. We cannot gain entrance into Jehovah’s school of success unless through Jesus, for he said: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6, NW) And so Jehovah’s entire school system has been organized with Jesus Christ as the main Teacher under Jehovah God himself. And as Jehovah taught Jesus that he might teach others, so we too, after ourselves being taught, must teach others. God’s bringing us into his school is for an unselfish purpose. It is not a school where mere theory is taught, but it is a most practical school. The purpose of our attending there is that we might learn to do what is in harmony with our Creator and may teach others for them also to win life from God through Jesus Christ.

STAYING BY THESE THINGS

This world and its invisible ruler the Devil are opposed to God’s will. It is in the midst of this world that we must live just now, but, thank God, it is now only a “short period of time” before the Devil and his world-rulers of this darkness are bound and put out of the way. But during this remaining “short period of time” in which this world stands we have to live in it, and for this special reason we must pursue our studies and learning in the divine school. We cannot afford to drop out or play hooky. We cannot afford to be dismissed from it for improper conduct, rebelliousness against our Teachers, and unfaithfulness. In order to be crowned with success we must keep on with our studies of God’s Word and with our efforts to teach others also. Some of us may have been privileged as full-time ministers of God to attend the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead and graduate from it and receive a diploma of merit. That has been a great blessing to all such graduates, and it has put them far ahead in understanding God’s will and in being able to study his Word and to teach others. But that is not the end of study and schooling for even such graduates. No; it is the beginning of living under a greater responsibility before God. Graduates of Gilead as well as all the rest of us must continue on in the greater school of Jehovah God by Christ Jesus, which is open to all of us. In this divine institution we must all carry on our studies as long as we are in this wicked enemy world, that we may not be destroyed with it.

Success, which leads to everlasting life in the new world, will never be attributed to us until we have finished our career in this old world and have kept the divine approval upon us down to the finish. It was only at the finish that the apostle Paul could say for himself: “The due time for my releasing is imminent. I have fought the right fight, I have run the course to the finish, I have observed the faith. As for the rest, there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me as a reward in that day.”—2 Tim. 4:6-8, NW.

Hence Gilead graduates must press on with their studies, and thus put to practical use the training they so graciously received through Jehovah’s organization. They must now push their personal studies, no longer under the pressure of the Gilead School schedule or because of facing examinations or for the sake of winning passing grades; no, but for the sake of meeting the demands made on them by the great teaching work which they have to carry on after leaving school. Graduating from such a school and being able to exhibit a diploma is not the final goal. Your succeeding in finally saving your own soul and helping in the salvation of others is the great objective of all the schooling Jehovah gives through Jesus Christ. All this plays its part in vindicating Jehovah as a Father who gives life to obedient children who are devotedly attached to him and who are a credit to him. To such he says: “My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him that reproacheth me.” (Prov. 27:11) It is not only by our personal study of the Bible and the publications of the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society at our abodes that we carry forward our study in the heavenly Father’s Word, but by “not forsaking the gathering of ourselves together” but “encouraging one another, and all the more so as you behold the day drawing near”. (Heb. 10:25, NW) Our attending a public or private school with other pupils has its instructive benefits. So our gathering together with fellow Christians for study, prayer and field-service instruction has its invaluable benefits. If we get the largehearted spirit of our great Teachers, we just love to be together with persons who are studying and training with us in the same divine school.

But as with Gilead graduates, we cannot just drop our studies as soon as we leave school or classroom. When we close our Bibles and our Bible-study books after a personal study, or when we leave a meeting-place and part from fellow Christians, we cannot forget the things we have learned. That would be a waste of time, money and mental effort. We must meditate on those things and apply them as we meet life’s daily problems and also tell these things out to others. We must put our acquired knowledge to work; as it is written: “Become doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves with false reasoning.” (Jas. 1:22, NW) Keep always in view the sublime purpose of your schooling under the tutelage of Jehovah God and Jesus Christ. That purpose is that, after our study hours, we may do God’s work to his glory and for the salvation of ourselves and of others. And this we are obliged to do in the midst of an unfriendly world. Remember, a great part of our own schooling comes through trying to teach others.

NOT FORSAKING MOTHER’S LAW

When Joshua marched across the Jordan river into hostile territory he needed great courage and unswerving devotion to Jehovah’s purpose. So with us now. We today march forward to the work for which our great Teacher has schooled us under Jesus Christ, and we do so in a world filled with foes. We know what we have been instructed to do, but we cannot successfully do it in our own strength and according to our natural understanding of things. We need the guidance, help and backing of the One who sends us out from his Theocratic school. He does not send us out and forget about us. He is keenly interested in how his pupils use the precious knowledge he has given them through his Theocratic organization under Christ. He has promised to be with them, but only if they carry out his commandments and act according to the way they have been taught. Naturally he would not be with those who prove disobedient and are not doers of his Word. The enemy world tries to compel us to act and live contrary to divine teaching, so that all our schooling may go for nothing, wasting God’s goodness. For that reason we need all the more to be fearless and to adhere strictly to what God has commanded and taught us. He does not guarantee us prosperity and good success in his service if we do otherwise.

But be sure of this one thing: He has not sent us forth on a vain mission, but he will grant us prosperity and good success if we carry out his Word; for his word never returns void and unfulfilled to him.—Isa. 55:11.

To be successful for life eternal we have to listen to God’s instruction through his Theocratic organization and to abide by it even under circumstances of great stress. Speaking to his pupils as children, God says: “My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law [or, teaching] of thy mother.” The heavenly Father here likens his organization for teaching his children to a woman, a mother who is very devoted to her husband and to their children. (Prov. 1:8, AS, margin) The heavenly Father wants us to have respect for his educational organization, and so he says: “My son, keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother: for the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life.” (Prov. 6:20, 23) If we keep our Father’s instruction and commandment, not only will he be with us, but his “woman”, our “mother”, will also be with us. Every normal woman is attached to her children. Jehovah, who made woman, asks: “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.” (Isa. 49:15) God’s woman, or Theocratic organization, is like him. She never forgets her children, those whom she teaches and brings forth as witnesses and representatives of her husband, the Most High God. We should show our love for her by not forsaking the law of our mother. It would be foolish to give up her law and treat it with contempt. “A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish man despiseth his mother.”—Prov. 15:20.

A person who thinks he can get along without God’s organization and can study the Bible on his own and can do God’s work independently as he thinks best apart from all organization is very foolish. He lacks all understanding of how God has dealt with his servants in times past. We must not forget that God instructs us through his organization, his woman, our mother. He respects his woman and appreciates the work that she does in behalf of His sons and daughters. So he does not like it when any professed Christian disrespects the “mother” organization. To disrespect her means to disrespect Jesus Christ, for God has made this beloved Son the head of the Theocratic organization. He who robs the organization of the respect due this symbolic mother is working to destroy the organization, not build it up. He is guilty of transgressing against her divine husband, Jehovah our heavenly Father. What you do against her you do against him. “Whoso robbeth his father or his mother, and saith, It is no transgression; the same is the companion of a destroyer.” And the great destroyer is Satan the Devil. (Prov. 28:24) Let us, then, not rob and destroy, but show love and respect for our mother by never forsaking her law and teaching as the Devil did. Let us ever be obedient to her, doing so as to Jehovah, her Husband and Head.

She is a worthy woman. She is no adulteress or fornicator with the Devil, and we are not illegitimate children when we confess her motherhood. She is Theocratically subject to her Husband, the Most High God. We can therefore trust her to lead us in ways pleasing to Jehovah the Giver of everlasting life. Her loving concern is for His children, and she looks well to that, using all her organizational means and powers for their welfare. The thirty-first chapter of Proverbs likens her to a virtuous woman. The description it gives of such a woman inspires confidence in the organization and helps us to love and appreciate it.

The description was given to King Lemuel, whose name means “belonging to God” or “sacred to God”. The virtuous woman was described to him by his own mother. As mother to a king, she occupies the relation of a queen to her great Husband, Jehovah the King of eternity, the Father of the “kings of the earth”. So she can rear and instruct kings sacred to God. By her description she shows what we ought to look for in His Theocratic woman or organization. “A prudent wife is from Jehovah,” and the Theocratic woman or organization is His creation and was made for our motherhood.—Prov. 19:14, AS.

Showing loyalty to her Husband, she warns her children against overindulging in intoxicants or drinks which stupefy and benumb our powers and senses. Why? Lest her children be overcome and deprived of a sound mind and forget the law of God. (Lev. 10:8-11) She builds up the stature and strength of her sons and daughters by feeding them with food. It does not matter that she at times has to import the food from afar, like merchants’ ships coming from distant ports. So, to feed her children in outlying territories or distant lands, the Watch Tower Society imitates her by bringing workers from distant points to the Bible School of Gilead and sends these missionaries back or sends them to other distant points that by these she may feed spiritual nourishment to all her children. All those who serve her, whether they be directly her children or not, she feeds and strengthens for service, for, it is written, she gives “a portion to her maidens”. (Prov. 31:15) She rises early while it is yet dark in order to have food ready on time for all her household.

Besides feeding, she also sees to the clothing of her children. She works up materials with which to clothe them, that they may be presentable with a godly, Christian identification of which they need never be ashamed. She clothes them with the identity of witnesses of her Husband, Jehovah. So “she is not afraid of the snow for her household”, for she knows God’s children by her are well clothed to bear the cold hatred of this world. She is always providing for their well-being in the future, looking ahead to what they will need in time to come, that she may “rejoice in time to come” at having met the needs.

She “looketh well to the ways of her household”. Hence it is an orderly, well-conducted, industrious and godly household, of which it is a blessing to be a member. In this behalf it may be necessary sometimes for her to use the rod and administer a reproof to one or all her children. But by letting us go our own way it would never work to our eventual success or bring honor to her organizational methods. She knows that “the rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame”. (Prov. 29:15) She does not want to be ashamed of how she brought up God’s children and she does not want us to be a grief and reproach to him. At the same time “she openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness”. (Prov. 31:26) Thus by reproof and by kindly counsel she gives wise teaching and maintains God’s law.

In organizational operation and structure the world may not think she is beautiful of feature or graceful and it makes fun of her primitive simplicity characteristic of apostolic days. Ah, but she fears Jehovah, and that is what makes her wise and virtuous and wins her lasting praise from Him. She has a big love, stretching out her hand to the poor and reaching forth her hand to the needy; and so she instills in her children generosity and neighbor love. She wants them to share with others the spiritual blessings from their heavenly Father, imparting to the poor and needy the food of his Kingdom truth and clothing them with garments to identify them with his King.—Prov. 31:30, 20.

VISIBLE REPRESENTATIVES LIKE HER

In this world it is customary to speak of a high school, college or university from which a person graduates by the heathen expression “alma mater” (fostering mother). But the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead is not the great mother organization of the Gilead graduates. The Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society is not the great mother organization of Jehovah’s witnesses who have received the Kingdom truth through it and who cooperate with it world-wide, using it as their legal and business servant and advisory governing body. No; as Jehovah’s witnesses we represent something greater than these minor visible organizations. The great “mother” is Jehovah’s universal organization, which he created and of which he is the faithful Husband. (Isa. 54:5; Gal. 4:26) By her he brings forth his beloved children for his purpose. By her he gives us law and instruction, provides for us, guides us and looks out for our welfare with a view to our everlasting life. In her we find fulfilled all the traits of a virtuous woman so lovelily described to King Lemuel. Just now, when God’s kingdom is the paramount issue, his “woman” is chiefly concerned with bringing forth successfully to kingship with Jesus Christ in heaven the remnant of his royal “little flock”. Yet she is interested also in the many, many “other sheep” who will eventually become her earthly children in God’s image and likeness. Her heart is big enough to hold a love now for them all and to gather all these “other sheep” to her warm, loving bosom.—Luke 12:32; John 10:16.

However, what we see exemplified in God’s woman, his heavenly universal organization, we should look to see in his visible organization. Why? Because his higher, greater universal organization uses it as her earthly instrument. That is why we do see those motherly traits, those traits and acts of a virtuous woman, in the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead and in the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, because these profess to represent and serve God’s woman. We thank God for providing and using them. So we stand up respectfully and bless his faithful organization, his queenly “woman” in heaven which makes all these loving provisions for us as children of God.—Prov. 31:28.

If we have an appreciation of all these truths, what shall we say is the way of success? All the examples and the teachings of the Word of God agree that it is the way marked by faithful, loving obedience to God and to the commandments he issues through his Theocratic organization. Hence keep in touch with the central organization, God’s Theocratic “woman”. Keep in tune with it by accepting the Theocratic organization rules and instructions which God issues to us through it. Never forsake these, but be teachable, as trustful children. Hold fast to the Bible.

Serve God where he places you. Remember that the great Director of the organization knows his tools or instruments. He knows which to use and where and how to use it. So lend yourself to his use when he chooses you. His choice of you is never accidental and unpremeditated. Go to the territory or position to which he designates you. Show your fitness for the place to which you are thus assigned. Work in unity with the organization as a whole. Draw all the good out of whatever reproofs are administered to you for your proper conduct. Carry out instructions with all respect for the great “mother” organization. And never quit your assigned work of your own accord. Build up your ability and competence for the work by staying with it and familiarizing yourself with it more and more. Take to heart the apostle’s organizational instruction to the young overseer Timothy: “Ponder over these things, be absorbed in them, that your advancement may be manifest to all persons. Pay constant attention to yourself and to your teaching. Stay by these things, for by doing this you will save both yourself and those who listen to you.”—1 Tim. 4:15, 16, NW.

In this way you will prove yourself a worthy child of God by his “woman”. You will show what he can make of you by his instruction through his “woman”. Thus you will have a part with Jesus Christ in vindicating Jehovah’s rightful sovereignty over all intelligent creatures who live in the universe. That is what spells the highest success for you for all life to come.”

My friend, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this book, now it’s time to kiss and say good-bye. This was my first attempt to write or compile such a book. But still, on a positive note, the quest for progressive enlightment shall never end, nor has everything been touched in this book. I give all respect to Jehovah and his earthly visible organisation for helping me know the truth. I’d also like to thank the spiritual guidance my parents gave me from youth up. I only wrote few pages of my own initiative while more than half the book is largely the material from the Watchtower and Awake magazines published by Jehovah’s Witnesses under the label or registered name of The Watchtower Bible & Tract Society.

I don’t want to go back and touch the issue of human imperfection all over again. But I sincerely hope that you’ve enjoyed everything and that now the ball is in your court. I’d like to once again apologize to any who may have been offended by anything in this book, if that may be the case. If any would like to send some grievances they are more than welcome to do so at this e-mail: tekzo82@yahoo.com, and not necessarily to the Watchtower Society or the Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, as I do not claim to have written this book under their authorization. But if any would like to thank, they are also welcome to do so, even if they may want to directly thank the Watchtower Society, and not me as an individual. But the greatest thanks should be directed to Jehovah by the way we choose to live our lives, as he is the greatest Doctor of human imperfection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Imprint

Text: Largely by the Watchtower Society
Editing: Teboho Kibe
Publication Date: 08-04-2013

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
I'd like to dedicate this book to my parents, my siblings, my JW friends. I'd like to thank my high school Azara in Lenasia for having produced a good writer like myself. I'd also like to dedicate this book to all the 'colpoteurs' or all spiritual foot soldiers out there with regards spreading the kingdom message!!! This book, I actually dedicate to the whole world or everyone out here.