The Watchtower, July 15, 1955

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WATCHTOWER Announcing

JULY 15,1955 Semimonthly WAR FROM HEAVEN BRINGS PEACE TO EARTH

Announcing JEHOVAH'S KINGDOM

THE PEACE THAT FOLLOWS WAR FROM HEAVEN

SHOULD THE BIBLE BE YOUR GUIDE?

HOW BIBLE PRINCIPLES APPLY TO YOUR LIFE

MODERN HISTORY OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES

Literal towers in Bible times were elevated vantage points from which watchmen could observe happenings, warn of danger, or announce good news. Our magazine figuratively occupies such a vantage point, for it is founded on the very pinnacle of wisdom, God's Word. That elevates it above racial, national and political propagandas and prejudices, frees it from selfish bias. It is not bound by any traditional creed, but its message advances as the light on God's purposes and works increases.—Habakkuk 2:1-3.

It sees things Scripturally. When it observes this generation afflicted with greed, delinquency, hypocrisy, atheism, war, famine, pestilence, perplexity and fear, and persecution of unpopular minorities, it does not parrot the old fable about history repeating itself. Informed by Bible prophecy, it sees in these things the sign of the world's time of the end. But with bright hope it also sees opening up for us just beyond these woes the portals of a new world.

Thus viewed, "The Watchtower" stands as a watchman atop a tower, alert to what is going on, awake to note signs of danger, faithful to point out the way of escape. It announces Jehovah's kingdom established by Christ's enthronement in heaven, feeds his kingdom joint-heirs with spiritual food, cheers men of good will with glorious prospects of eternal life in a paradise earth, comforts us with the resurrection promise for the dead.

It is not dogmatic, but has a confident ring in its voice, because it is based on God's Word. It does not privately interpret prophecy, but calls attention to physical facts, sets them alongside prophecy, and you see for yourself how well the two match, how accurately Jehovah interprets his own prophecy. In the interests of our salvation, it keeps sharp and faithful focus on Bible truth, and views religious news generally.

'Be watchful in these perilous times,' God admonishes. So keep on the watch by regularly reading "The Watchtower".

PUBLISHED BY THE WATCH TOWER BIBLE & TRACT SOCIETY

117 Adams Street

Brooklyn 1, N. Y., U. S. A.

N. H. KNORR, President

GRANT SUITER, Secretary

"They will all be taught by Jehovah."—John 6:45, NW; Isaiah 54:13

<tr><th>CONTENTS

Should the Bible Be Your Guide?

How Bible Principles Apply to Your Life

Training to Be a Clergyman

Modern History of Jehovah's Witnesses<br>Part 14: Fight Carried into<br>the Law Courts

Visiting Jehovah's Witnesses in<br>Central America

War from Heaven Brings Peace to Earth

The Peace That Follows War from Heaven

Questions from Readers

Charlemagne Pious? Yes—Christian? No!

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Should the Bible Be Your Guide?

THERE is a common view that Bible principles do not apply today, that they will not work in this twentieth century. What the Bible says about honesty, justice and integrity is often far from the world's mind. In fact, even some religious leaders do not think these principles really apply now. One clergyman went so far as to say that those who preach the Sermon on the Mount "have no expectation of trying to practice it, for if they did they would be summarily entombed in wards for the mentally ill."*

Rather than the Bible's high principles, enlightened selfishness is often honored today. There is a general view that if you are a businessman a little crime may pay; that if you are a lawyer a certain amount of dishonesty may be the best policy; that integrity is of value only so long as it is financially profitable. A world following the Bible's principles of peace, unity, upright morals and real Christian love would be so drastically changed from today's customs that it would seem almost beyond human recognition!

But is the rejecting of such Bible principles practical? Has the materialistic view proved better than the Biblical one? Are two world wars within this generation practical? Is political corruption? the soaring divorce rate? the rising tide of crime and dope addiction? Or do these things show that Jeremiah's words are true: "It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps"?—Jer. 10:23.

Vast quantities of books have been written and published giving men's ideas on morals, ethics, human guidance. Probably millions of hours have been spent reading them. "Of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh." (Eccl. 12:12) But have these books solved the moral and ethical problems? No, these problems are getting worse. The shoddy contention of self-centered men that God's Word is impractical falls flat in the light of the evidence that Bible principles do work today. Men who say they will not work identify themselves as men who have not tried them. If they say Bible principles are "visionary," then they are men without vision. "Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he."—Prov. 29:18.

Bible principles are the basis of the laws of many nations. They have found their way into our everyday speech, and are the foundation of many of our common ideas. Most people will say that they agree with the Bible's principles. Probably you do too. But, unhappily, today's world is not really living by those principles. The Southern Baptist Convention, representing the thirdlargest religious group in America, stated that the cause for the decay in the standards of public and private morality lie in the thinking and practices of a public that has "all but lost sight of such virtues as honesty, integrity and truthfulness in both public and private and civic affairs."

This has reached such a point that when we say that the narrow principles of Christianity are of the greatest value today, you may be asking: "What! Do you mean that Bible principles really work now? and that I should apply them even when the people with whom I am dealing do not?" Yes, that is exactly what we mean. An intelligent person cannot afford to overlook them. Come with us through the next article to see that this is true.

HOW BIBLE PRINCIPLES APPLY TO YOUR LIFE

The most vital book of all time! What do you really know about it? How will it make you genuinely happier, healthier, more contented? What does it really mean to you? This article presents the clear and simple answer.

For example, delinquency could be eliminated through following the Bible's principles on child raising. Divorces and broken homes can be saved through following its principles on family life. Feelings of anxiety, hostility, inferiority, envy, etc., can be overcome through following its instructions. Even further, religious differences are abolished when the Bible really is accepted by both sides. These are practical

DO YOU think Bible principles really apply today, that they are a sound guide for your life? Some people will admit that they do not think these principles are practical. Other people, while not admitting this, will show by their course of action that they do not believe such principles apply now. But let us assure you that the Bible's principles really do work, that they will make your life a healthier, happier, longer and more enjoyable one.

matters; they concern your everyday life. But they are only the beginning of the information that the Bible has for you. That further information will be considered in this article after we first see how it is that the Bible's principles really will improve your daily life.

FAMILY LIFE, CHILD TRAINING, MORALS

The instructions the Bible gives about family life are pointed, simple and clear. Anyone can understand and apply them. Note, not the part that applies to the rest of the family, but the part that applies to you. Apply it, and your family life will be a much happier one: "You wives, be in subjection to your husbands, as it is becoming in the Lord. You husbands, keep on loving your wives and do not be bitterly angry with them. You children, be obedient to your parents in everything, for this is wellpleasing in the Lord. You fathers, do not be exasperating your children, so that they do not become downhearted."

(Col. 3:1821, NW) Do you say there is no reason for you to apply this instruction to your life because the rest of the family does not? Then remember, their part of it is not your responsibility; your part is. Would the rest of the family's attitude change if yours changed? Are you setting the right example, or the wrong one? Following this right instruction that puts everything in proper order will overcome contentiousness and reduce personal family dissensions. Try it; it really does work!

The instructions about child training? The responsibility is upon the parents to train the children in the right way. "Train up a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old he will not depart from it." Proper parental authority must be exercised: "Withhold not correction from the child; for if thou beat him with the rod, he will not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from Sheol." However, this should never be in anger, just to ease the parent's emotions, but should be tempered with mercy, justice and love, and should be consistent, just as Jehovah tempers his discipline with mercy, justice and love and is always consistent. To parents who themselves set the right example, and who properly discharge this obligation, delinquency is no problem.—Prov. 22:6; 23:13, 14, AS.

What about adult morals and the increasing crime that fills our prisons to overflowing? Following the one command, "You must love your neighbor as yourself," would solve the entire problem. The people do not follow that command? Then their religious leaders have fallen down in teaching the real importance of following such principles today, as the previous article shows. True Christians really do follow that instruction. Further, they remember Paul's instruction to the Corinthians:

"What! Do you not know that unrighteous persons will not inherit God's kingdom? Do not be misled. 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. And yet that is what some of you were." Yes, any previous course can be changed to the high standard that the Bible commands. And if one wishes to be a true Christian he has no choice but to conform to those high principles. Matt. 19:19; 1 Cor. 6:9-11, NW.

Jehovah's witnesses today are living testimony to the fact that Bible principles really are practical in this second half of the twentieth century. The joy, orderliness and unselfish co-operation shown at the assemblies of these people cause much comment. Following the Bible's principles there are no social inequalities, racial prejudices or nationalism, but these have been replaced with love. It is recognized that all men who serve God are equal. "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor freeman, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in union with Christ Jesus." There is no room for racial hatreds, social inequalities or nationalism among such people. Bible principles have overcome these divisive problems. Gal. 3:28, NW.

EMOTIONAL DISTURBANCES

Is anxiety a problem? Then practice love, love of God and love of your fellow man. "Practice giving, and people will give to you. They will pour into your laps a fine measure, pressed down, shaken together and overflowing. For with the measure that you are measuring out they will measure out to you in return." Remember, too, Jesus' counsel: "Quit being anxious about your souls as to what you will eat or about your bodies as to what you will wear. Who of you by being anxious can add a cubit to his life span?

If, therefore, you can not do the least thing, why be anxious about the remaining things?" And, as Paul pointed out, Jehovah has promised his servants: "I will by no means leave you nor by any means forsake you." Thus, to the true Christian, anxiety should be no problem. Luke 6:38; 12:22, 25, 26; Heb. 13:5, NW.

Are you hostile, having personal hatred toward others? Then follow the instruction: "Let the sun not set with you in a provoked state." Do you feel inferior? Then remember: "God chose the ones who are poor respecting the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to those who love him, did he not?" Do you envy others? Then remember that all that we have that is of real value comes from God, and if we have his favor we have the greatest thing. And remember, also, that the antidote for envy is generosity, loving one's fellow as oneself. "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." How many of today's problems love would solve!—Eph. 4:26; Jas. 2:5; 1 Cor. 13:4, 5, NW.

Such love allows no room for hostility inferiority or envy, and removing these things from the mind improves not only your mental but also your physical health because the mind has a great effect upon the body's well-being. Thus, it is true that "a liberal man will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered." And, "A man who is kind benefits himself." Prov. 11:25, 17, RS.

WHY APPLY SUCH PRINCIPLES?

me?" "Why should I be honest with people who steal?" "Why should I take my time to help people who have never helped me?" These are common questions. But why not do these things? Why restrict your own happiness just because others throw theirs away? Why follow their bad example rather than letting them see your good one? Just to spite the world, do not take a course of greed that adds to your own unhappiness. You can avoid that by following the right course that Jesus set out. "To this course you were called, because even Christ suffered for you, leaving you a model for you to follow his steps closely. He committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth. When he was being reviled, he did not go to reviling in return. When he was suffering, he did not go to threatening, but kept on committing himself to the one who judges righteously." Can you find a better course to follow than that one? Are you really happier for trying to follow a different course? Then show the strength, determination and integrity necessary to follow the sound, life-giving Bible principles that have here been set out.—1 Pet. 2:21- 23, NW.

"But why should I practice these principles when other people do not?" "Why should I show love to people who hate

Serving God may not always prove the most profitable course financially or socially, but it is better even to take a material loss than to lose God's favor and everlasting life. Not just a more contented life today, but the spiritual benefit that the Bible provides is the most important thing for us. Right thinking is needed. Not religious formalism—the lighting of candles, counting of beads, fasting, singing or just attending a Sunday sermon—but a real warmhearted devotion to righteousness is what we must have. The world's thinking is vastly different from what God outlined in the Bible. Why is this true? Because Satan is responsible for the world's thinking. "The god of this system of things has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, that the illumination of the glorious good news about the Christ, who is the image of God, might not shine through."

But you do not have to follow the world's wrong thinking. You can reject the ways of the present system sponsored by the father of disobedience, Satan, and take the course that is outlined in the Word of the Father of life, Jehovah. To do this you must gain a right knowledge of God's Word and "quit being fashioned after this system of things, but be transformed by making your mind over, that you may prove to yourselves the good and acceptable and complete will of God." 2 Cor. 4:4; Rom. 12:2, NW.

We must remember that while today's clergy often try to please almost everyone, the Bible does not try to please anyone. Anyone who wants to put things in their right order and please God can follow it, but it does not come down to the level of those who do not wish to do that, no matter how many of such people there might be. This Book offers safeguards for the minds and hearts of the men who will accept it. It reveals the mind of the Creator. Through getting a right knowledge of what it says we can make our minds over, putting things in the right order and pleasing God. Psalm 119:9 (AS) puts it very simply: "Wherewith shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word."

Now, in all probability your home has a Bible. Most homes do. But just having it is not the important thing. You must know what it says, believe it, apply its instructions, use it as your life guide. As Paul advised Timothy, you must be "a workman with nothing to be ashamed of, handling the word of the truth aright."—2 Tim. 2:15, NW.

What do you learn from God's Word? First, that you must avail yourself of

Christ's ransom sacrifice, doing something about it. We read that "the Son of man came . . . to give his soul a ransom in exchange for many." Note: not for all, but for many. Yes, it is a free gift, but it takes two to make a gift, a giver and a receiver. To accept the ransom you must take a positive action, taking advantage of its provisions. You must recognize Jehovah God as the Supreme Ruler of the universe, the Father of the ransomer, the one to whom "salvation belongeth," and you must obey the instructions that are contained in his Word. It is through thus faithfully serving him that you show appreciation for the loving provisions that he has made.

Matt. 20:28, NW; Ps. 3:8.

Further, you learn that this is not an isolated action on your part but that you must faithfully and regularly assemble with God's people, "not forsaking the gathering of ourselves together, as some have the custom, but encouraging one another, and all the more so as you behold the day [of the old world's end] drawing near." (Heb. 10:25, NW) Where can you assemble with such people to study such things? Certainly not in the majority of church organizations today where people have been members for forty or fifty years and still are unable to explain the elementary doctrines of Christianity. But you do meet people who can give you such encouragement, and you really do study God's Word when you attend the regular meetings at the more than 14,000 Kingdom Halls of Jehovah's witnesses throughout the world.

A third thing you learn when you study the Bible is that you must be diligent in presenting this message to others, telling them of the good things you have learned. In true Christianity there is no room for the apathy that marks most of today's religions. One whose heart really is filled with joy at receiving the truth will feel compelled to speak it out. "For out of the heart's abundance his mouth speaks."

It is commanded that the Christian publicly declare this good news, telling it to others; thus this is necessary for your own salvation as well as for the salvation of those who listen to you. "For if you publicly declare that 'word in your mouth', that Jesus is Lord, and exercise faith in your heart that God raised him up from the dead, you will be saved."—Luke 6:45; Rom. 10:9, NW.

You learn, too, that this activity is not just a hobby, diversion or casual pastime, but that it is of vital importance and is a permanent way of life. It is in fulfillment of such a vital mission that, world-wide, Jehovah's witnesses go from house to house with the message of God's kingdom, visiting the people in their homes with the good news of his Word. Like the psalmist, they say: "I will sing unto Jehovah as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have any being." Can one honestly claim to be a Christian while offering God less than that? How much of your effort is thus being spent in helping others to learn of God's way?—Ps. 104:33, AS.

THE VALUE OF THIS SERVICE

Why is this course of such great value? First, it brings happiness and contentment now. Second, and far more important, it provides Jehovah's protection through the impending time of trouble. The Bible's

prophecies refer to our day. They warn that ours is earth's most crucial period when the "accomplished end" of Satan's wicked rule is at hand. (Matt. 24:14, NW) The graft, violence, insecurity and worry that are so evident today are soon to be abolished. They will cease and righteous conditions will replace them. God has promised: "I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered, nor come into mind." Would you like to live under those conditions? Then follow the instructions of God's Word and receive his favor, because "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will we not fear, though the earth do change, and though the mountains be shaken into the heart of the seas."—Isa. 65:17; Ps. 46:1, 2, AS.

Thus, following the Bible's principles will improve your family life, will help you to raise better children and to have a more peaceful, contented mind. Further, you will see that Christ's ransom makes it possible for you to benefit from God's provisions, but that to accept that ransom you must take a positive course of action, must assemble with other Christians and participate with them in God's service. So, study God's Word, learn how it will benefit you and what is expected of you. Then follow its sound principles and obey its righteous instructions. Doing so is of vital importance, because it means your very life!

Training to Be a Clergyman

At Pasadena, California, 22-year-old Bernard York, a theological student at Pasadena Nazarene College, pleaded guilty in municipal court to a charge of cattorturing. The youth admitted that he doused a cat with alcohol and then set the cat ablaze, watching the flames and hearing the shrieks. The judge, who placed the boy on a year's probation with no jail term, commented that the youth is a "normal, intelligent and industrious student with a background of Christian training and anxious to become a minister." (Los Angeles Examiner, April 16, 1955) One cannot help but wonder if the boy is training to become a teacher of the sizzling flames and shrieks that make up the fictitious clergy-inspired hell of eternal torment.

MODERN HISTORY of Jehovah's Witnesses

Part 14 FIGHT CARRIED INTO THE LAW COURTS

THE Watch Tower Society's bitter religious opposers next tried to put a legal stop to the thunder of phonographic activity that from 1933 onward had circumvented their radio censorship stranglehold. In a Connecticut court, on complaint of two Roman Catholics, one of Jehovah's witnesses was convicted as having incited a breach of the peace on April 26, 1938, by playing in their hearing the phonograph record of Judge Rutherford's speech entitled "Enemies," boldly exposing activities of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy. That wrongful conviction was appealed all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States. On May 20, 1940, the high tribunal's nine justices (including Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes) unanimously ruled in favor of Jehovah's witnesses. It was held that playing in the hearing of Catholics a phonograph record containing a strong attack upon all religion, and particularly Roman Catholicism, is right conduct fully secured by the United States Constitution and does not amount to a breach of the peace or incitement to commit a breach of the peace. The court said:

"In the realm of religious faith, and in that of political belief, sharp differences arise. In both fields the tenets of one man may seem the rankest error to his neighbor. To persuade others to his own point of view, the pleader, as we know, at times, resorts to exaggeration, to vilification of men who have been, or are, prominent in church or state, and even to false statement. But the people of this nation have ordained in the light of history, that, in spite of the probability of excesses and abuses, these

liberties are, in the long view, essential to enlightened opinion and right conduct on the part of the citizens of a democracy."a

And in 1948, in another Supreme Court triumph for Jehovah's witnesses, that court said:

"Loud-speakers are today indispensable instruments of effective public speech. The sound truck has become an accepted method of political campaigning. It is the way people are reached. . . Annoyance at ideas can be cloaked in annoyance at sound. The power of censorship inherent in this type of ordinance reveals its vice."b

So in the decade of the 1940's Christendom's archers failed again to stop the sound witness work that Jehovah's people kept on performing, globally. As to their way of worship, the witnesses came off the religious battlefield victors, by Jehovah's undeserved kindness!

In modern American history Jehovah's witnesses have left their indelible mark as fighters for civil liberties not only for themselves but for all honest, upright people. Consider what historians say:

"Seldom, if ever, in the past, has one individual or group been able to shape the course, over a period of time, of any phase of our vast body of constitutional law. But it can happen, and it has happened, here. The group is Jehovah's Witnesses. Through almost constant litigation this organization has made possible an everincreasing list of precedents concerning the application of the Fourteenth Amendment to freedom of speech and religion. . . More recently the same test has been applied to state legislation under the Fourteenth Amendment.

And so, a body of precedent crystallizing rules regarding the limits of encroachments by the States has been developing. To this development Jehovah's Witnesses have contributed the most, both in quantity and in significance." c

" . . . Whatever may be said about the Witnesses, they have the courage of martyrs. And they have money to hire lawyers and fight cases through the courts. As a result in recent days they have made more contributions to the development of the constitutional law of religious liberty than any other cult or group. Believe me, they are making it fast. Sometimes they win and sometimes they lose." d

"It is plain that present constitutional guaranties of personal liberty, as authoritatively interpreted by the United States Supreme Court, are far broader than they were before the spring of 1938; and that most of this enlargement is to be found in the thirty-one Jehovah's Witnesses cases (sixteen deciding opinions) of which Lovell v. City of Griffin was the first. If 'the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church,' what is the debt of Constitutional Law to the militant persistency—or perhaps I should say devotion—of this strange group?"e

What is the background of this story of the battle in the courts of the nations? Phil. 1:7, NW.

As already indicated, Christendom's crusade of arrests of Jehovah's people began in 1928 at South Amboy, New Jersey. Arrest statistics were not at first kept, but in 1933 for the United States alone there was record of 268; in 1934, of 340; in 1935, of 478, and in 1936, of 1,149.f In New Jersey and neighboring states repeatedly Kingdom publishers were brought into court falsely charged with selling without a license, disturbing the peace, peddling without a permit, violating Sunday sabbath laws, and being classed as solicitors or itinerant merchants rather than ministers of the gospel.g Jehovah's people felt it their duty and high privilege to resist such lawless encroachments. The Society established a legal department in Brooklyn to render counsel and aid in the all-out fight that was developing. An "order of trial" was issued and all publishers carefully studied it, so that they could make their own defenses in court.h A policy was pursued of appealing all adverse decisions. Had the thousands of convictions entered by the magistrates, police courts and other inferior tribunals not been appealed, a mountain of adverse precedents would have piled up as a mammoth obstacle in the field of worship. 1 But by appealing they have achieved an opposite result, because the superior courts have come to the rescue of the witnesses to confirm their rights of freedom of worship and speech as ministers of the good news "announcing Jehovah's kingdom."

So once again Jehovah's witnesses had seized the initiative in defiance of this clergy crusade of framing mischief against them by law. At Revelation 9:7-9 the witnesses are likened to "locusts" in battle performance. This began to appear in a remarkable way in 1933. Then 12,600 publishers volunteered as being ready on quick call for house-to-house field service on special missions in areas of civic opposition. They were organized into 78 divisions throughout the United States. Ten to 200 automobiles with five workers each comprised a division. Special tactics of witnessing were employed, depending upon the type of clergy-police opposition anticipated and encountered. When some witnesses were arrested in the ordinary field work, a report was sent forthwith to Brooklyn, whereupon a call was flashed to the nearest division to go into operation on a Sunday soon thereafter for a thorough witness, covering in one or two hours every home in the entire community.

Whenever an emergency call was sent out for the division to respond for duty, all car groups reported at a specially announced rendezvous field some miles away from the town to be "besieged." Here detailed instructions and individual car groups were duly assigned. When the "locusts" were in action in these communities where civic agents, at behest of the clergy, tried totally to forbid and suppress the Kingdom preaching work, the interrupters were overwhelmed by a host of witnesses. There was nothing they could do except arrest 20 or 30, the local jail's capacity quota. In this way no matter how "hot" the territory, practically every house was preached to by sheer numbers.

The New Jersey battle front, being the hottest, frequently required the large New York and New Jersey divisions of 200 car units each (comprising a thousand "locusts" each) to go into action alternately, depending upon the weekly arrests. For further enlightening residents of the "besieged" community, the effective services of Watchtower radio station WBBR were regularly tied in with these eastern divisional-campaign exploits. Dan.11:32, 33, AS.

At Brooklyn Bethel a number of experienced actors, good at imitating, formed what was called "The King's Theatre." They became expert in faithfully reproducing modern court scenes and Bible dramas. k When during the week a clergy-influenced judge conducted a trial of the handful of witnesses of Jehovah falsely charged before him, a full stenographic record was made of all that took place. Indeed there were almost always some choice, prejudicial, uncontrolled and misaimed remarks by the ecclesiastical and civic spokesmen,

clearly proving their purpose and attempt to "frame" the accused witnesses. Quickly rehearsing from the prepared script based on the stenographic record, and after wide advance publicity to build up a large radio audience, the following Sunday the King's Theatre actors openly demonstrated to uncounted eager listeners the travesty of justice in the local courts. Turning this floodlight of publicity upon misguided police, prosecutors and petty judges soon made many of such public servants more astute as to their handling of Jehovah's witnesses.

However, for years this struggle went on in New Jersey until finally November 22,1939,the United States Supreme Court gave the victory to Jehovah's witnesses in Schneider v. New Jersey. 1 This decision was based on the initial victory for Jehovah's people in the case of Lovell v. Griffin. (The Lovell case, 303 U.S. 444, had been unanimously decided by the Supreme Court of the United States, the court's opinion being written and announced by its Chief Justice, Charles Evans Hughes, on March 28, 1938, on an appeal from the State of Georgia.) After that eleven-year struggle New Jersey and adjoining states almost wholly discontinued their persecuting prosecutions in which they had kept on falsely applying irrelevant municipal ordinances and state statutes.

FLAG SALUTING

By 1934, irked by yet another vexation, opposers of Jehovah's witnesses began to try to "frame" them as to their exclusive allegiance to the Supreme Sovereign, Jehovah. The flag-salute issue was unfurled. Two years before, the Nazis in Germany pushed compulsory flag salute to the fore as a means of regimenting the people in continental Europe under Hitler's swastika. Now a similar wave of false demonstration of patriotism swept the United States and Canada.

In the autumn of 1935 the press gave much publicity to the case of Carleton B. Nichols, Jr., an American schoolboy of tender years, son of one of Jehovah's witnesses, who declined to salute the American flag. The Associated Press asked the Watch Tower Society's president to state the official view of Jehovah's witnesses on this new issue. On October 6, 1935, by means of a radio broadcast, Judge Rutherford gave the reply in his famous lecture "Saluting a Flag," which immediately was published in a 32-page booklet entitled "Loyalty" and distributed in millions of copies. In this Scriptural reply to the American press it was pointed out that Jehovah's witnesses respect the flag but that their Biblical obligations and relationship to Jehovah strictly forbade them to salute any image or representation, which, to them, amounted to an act of worship contrary to the principles of the Second of the Ten Commandments. (Ex. 20:4-6) Furthermore it was shown that Christian parents have the primary responsibility to teach their children the true religion and right conduct as they see it defined in the Bible.

Thousands of innocent children of Jehovah's witnesses were caught in the very core of this national controversy. What a wonderful testimony these little hearts boldly gave of their primary devotion to the living God, Jehovah, above any for the state! Their noble stand against jeers and ostracism of the majority of their schoolmates put to the test the quality of the parental home Bible training of these youngsters. By remaining steadfast in their loyalty to Jehovah they made history, also bringing consternation into the highest councils of the nation. On November 6, 1935, Lillian and William Gobitis, children of Walter Gobitis, one of Jehovah's witnesses, refused to salute the flag and were expelled from the public school at Minersville, Pennsylvania. Their case, pressed in the federal courts, attracted nationwide attention, becoming the test case for the entire country. It was fought up to the Supreme Court at Washington. Seventy-year-old lawyer J. F. Rutherford, president of the Watch Tower Society, personally appeared before the United States Supreme Court and argued the case on behalf of Jehovah's witnesses. While the federal and state judiciary was taking half a decade to make its top decision, Jehovah's witnesses, for the education of their children, had to organize and finance private schools, known as "Kingdom Schools." These private boarding schools were operated in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maryland and Georgia. Finally on June 3, 1940, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled 8 to 1 against Jehovah's witnesses, rendering the opinion that it was up to the school boards, not the courts, to determine what rules shall be enforced upon children in the schools. A major loss in the struggle for freedom of worship was this. This blow of defeat set off a further wave of bitter persecution until June 14, 1943, when the Supreme Court reversed itself. As to the reaction of the 1940's, this is described in the next part.

(To be continued) Visiting Jehovah's witnesses in

IN British Honduras for weeks and months Jehovah's witnesses had been looking forward to the announced visit of N. H. Knorr, the Society's

(PART 2)

president. They had arranged for a threeday assembly, December 3, 4 and 5, to be held in the Memorial Park in Belize.

December begins the rainy season, with uncertain weather; so a temporary assembly structure was put up. The president had not been here for five years. Local witnesses of Jehovah did considerable advertising, putting signs in stores, on buildings, cinemas, trucks, boats, etc. There were newspaper announcements, letters of invitation and thousands of handbills. Also, a large banner was stretched across the main street of the capital city, and announcements were broadcast regularly on the radio. Jehovah's witnesses were planning a big assembly and wanted every willing one to attend.

The Memorial Park is certainly situated at a pleasant spot. You look out onto the turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea. The octagon-shaped bandstand served as a fine speakers' platform, and the brothers had beautifully decorated the grounds immediately in front of it with flowers and plants. It was a surprise when 241 persons gathered at the opening session to hear N.H.Knorr speak on "Not Forsaking the Gathering of Ourselves Together." This was most unusual, for there were only 90 publishers reporting in the month of November; so there must be many other persons interested in the convention and in the message of the Kingdom.

On Saturday nineteen symbolized their dedication to Jehovah God by being baptized the Caribbean. After

this immersion a bicycle parade

covered the city advertising Sunday's lecture, "God's Love to the Rescue in Man's Crisis." The local brothers, all descendants from their ancestors in Africa, certainly enjoyed riding with Brother Knorr in this bicycle parade that wound in and out of the streets of the city for ten miles. They had a motorcycle-police escort. This final reminder helped along with all the other advertising, because at eight o'clock Sunday evening 689 persons gathered in the park. That surely stimulated this country's 90 regular witnesses to see that still many others are desirous of hearing the good news, and it is going to keep them busy helping such.

After the assembly was over, a gentleman who had complained about Jehovah's witnesses' getting the use of the park changed his mind about their actions, for he stated that they did not beg for money but simply gave plain and pointed instruction from the Bible. They were nothing like those revivalists who used the park a year ago. A policeman also told one of the witnesses that he enjoyed the assembly very much and wished other people would follow the example of Jehovah's witnesses, for it would make his work much easier. Another interested person said, "I have heard dozens of evangelists and preachers, but that is the first man to visit here that really convinced me we are in the last days." She wanted to get the magazines, The Watchtower and Awake! regularly.

The brothers saw results from the assembly, because their January report showed 104 engaging in preaching this good news of the Kingdom throughout all of British Honduras.

HONDURAS

Two days before President Knorr's arrival in Honduras the constitutional government had fallen. The political situation was tense. Also, a very grave situation had developed within the congregation of Jehovah's witnesses itself. Brother Knorr would have to appoint a new branch servant because the one formerly in charge had disqualified himself and he was therefore disfellowshiped. Here for Jehovah's people there was tension within and without. For the past four years Jehovah's witnesses had been blessed and many were being gathered into the New World society. In 1950 there were 208 publishers in the country and by the time the service year of 1954 had closed there was an average of 410. The missionaries along with the local publishers had done well, but when corruption was found within the organization it disturbed some of the weaker ones, as they were looking to man rather than to Jehovah God. In checking the February, 1955, report it is found that there are now only 392 publishers, a decrease from the 1954 average and far below the peak of 460 publishers in April, 1954. It will take hard work on the part of the missionaries and other mature brothers in the congregation to aid, strengthen and bring on to maturity those who once had taken a stand for the Kingdom. Those who corrupt Jehovah's organization by immoral living have something to answer for before Jehovah God.

A little sister reported the misconduct of the branch servant to one of the missionaries. It was this information that led to the uncovering of the scandal that had

corrupted the local organization. This girl had told how she had seen the branch servant, a married man, making regular calls at the one-room house of a prostitute. It was hard for the missionary to believe the report. So then she wanted to see with her own eyes. She did, and she reported the matter to some brothers, missionaries, and for several days the branch servant was watched and his conduct checked. Some days he made as many as three calls to see this girl of ill fame. Sometimes he would take her to the theater. The matter was then reported to the president's office and instructions were sent out to make a very thorough check and to have a sufficient number of witnesses watch this man's actions. Even the branch servant's wife was invited to go along on a back-call near the harlot's home so she too could see exactly what her husband was doing before the charges were presented to him and disfellowshiping would take place.

The Society's president had given instructions for the man to have a fair hearing, but from the very start he tried to lie his way out. He even said he had not gone to the place. But there were a sufficient number of witnesses who were wholly devoted to Jehovah God observing daily what had taken place and in the face of all of his lies the man was disfellowshiped.

If a person wants to live as the world lives, then let him stay in the world. When we find men in the organization like those Jude described—"ungodly men, turning the undeserved kindness of our God into an excuse for loose conduct and proving false to our only Owner and Lord, Jesus Christ" then they should be removed from the organization, and quickly.Jude 4,NW.

In Catholic countries, like those of Central and South America, common-law marriage and having a mistress is not an uncommon thing. So, many of the Catholic people look upon this course of action as a usual practice of all men everywhere.

The Catholic Church does nothing to correct these immoral practices but allows such men to remain in the Catholic organization. Not so with Jehovah's witnesses. Many newly associated with Jehovah's witnesses were not surprised when announcement of the disfellowshiping was made in the congregation, because many of the world already knew of the unclean conduct of the offender and were talking about it. However, with Jehovah's organization it makes no difference whether one guilty of brazen immorality is in high or low place, for he will be disfellowshiped as any other baptized person would be. The organization, the New World society, must remain clean. The native brothers and missionaries in Honduras are of heavy heart because Jehovah's name and his organization have been brought low in Honduras. Our faithful brothers in Honduras pray that 'Jehovah will show undeserved kindness toward them.' Further they stated that 'they hoped the reproach brought upon Jehovah's name from this land will be removed by their own proper conduct in the future, and they pray that in the future they will with faithfulness await the time when he again will prosper them.'

Undoubtedly Jehovah's witnesses everywhere will pray to Jehovah that he will bless our faithful brothers in Honduras, to give them strength to feed properly and bring on to maturity those of good will, and that this blot of immorality will not stand in the way of those loving righteousness.

So with this sense of distress and sorrow Jehovah's witnesses went ahead with their three assemblies. The first assembly opened on Sunday, December 5, in the San Pedro Sula football stadium. Not far distant there was another assembly under way in La Lima.

But something else was going on in Honduras. The political situation was a bundle

of nerves around the capital building in Tegucigalpa, and the army was on guard with rifles and machine guns. The government had fallen; the president desired to keep peace and to preserve it at all costs. Therefore announcement was made that all public gatherings were to be banned. Curfews went into effect in troublesome areas. While the brothers in the stadium were having their evening meal in a wellarranged cafeteria, soldiers arrived with orders from the government that there were to be no further meetings and that they had to vacate the stadium. However, permission was granted for them to retire to their local Kingdom Halls and to have their customary study of The Watchtower. So both conventions came to a close as far as a central assembly was concerned. In La Lima a curfew went into effect at 6 p.m. and at San Pedro, at 9 p.m.

It was in the middle of all this that the president of the Society, Brother Knorr, arrived at San Pedro Sula. Because of the tension throughout the land only a few of the missionaries and the acting branch servant met him at the airport. After passing customs, the Society's president went to the American consul to get the latest information on the existing emergency. He learned the facts; so meetings continued on in the Kingdom Hall. They were joyful, enthusiastic and thrilling.

Necessary admonition to the brothers was given as to keeping the organization clean, and going on faithfully in serving Jehovah. Also there were admonitions to use the spirit of a sound mind in preaching the good news in the present political emergency, to avoid doing anything rash or out of line with orderly authority. On that first evening in Honduras, at San Pedro Sula, all of those who were attending the convention crowded into the back yard of the missionary home and there a delightful assembly was carried on. The Kingdom Hall that was in the home was too small to hold all, so they gathered in the back yard or patio.

The spirit on the part of the brothers was high and they were anxious to go ahead regardless of internal or external trouble. Many in the city wanted to know where they now could hear the lecture "God's Love to the Rescue in Man's Crisis," and 265 came to the missionary home. The next day the president of the Society went over to La Lima and there also all convention activities had been transferred to the Kingdom Hall, but a joyful time was had by everyone, 108 being present. However, before 6 p.m. the travelers had to leave town because of the curfew, so all meetings were held during the afternoon. The big convention was to be held in Tegucigalpa, but everyone was advised not to travel because of prevailing difficulties.

Thursday Brother Knorr flew to Tegucigalpa by plane along with some missionaries, including Brother Muscariello, newly graduated from the 23d Gilead class, who was now to be appointed as the branch servant. In Tegucigalpa, too, it was impossible to use the large city stadium. So all meetings were confined to the Kingdom Hall, but this proved to be much too small. Some 198 persons packed out the hall and crowded into the streets outside. Windows and doors were opened so that everyone could hear. The meeting was very orderly and there was no disturbance whatever, even though it was in the heart of town. Busy days were these, with much to do,

and the responsibilities of carrying on the witness work in the entire country had to be turned over to the new appointee. We have full confidence in Jehovah God and in His organization that our brothers in Honduras will work together in unity, and even though now there are fewer publishers, a drop to 392, we trustingly look to Jehovah God to pour his spirit upon these and make them strong, so that they will use the spirit of a sound mind and keep on preaching the good news regardless of the failure of one. It strengthens us to see that we are not following man, and while a man may stumble some, still the corrupted one will be removed, to keep the New World society clean in every country of earth, for they are one society under the holy Sovereign Ruler of the universe, Jehovah God. It behooves everyone to be careful and, with his brothers, to walk circumspectly before Jehovah. It makes one determine anew to seek not his own pleasure, because everything rightfully should be done for the good of Jehovah's organization. "Do not be loving either the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him; because everything in the world—the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the showy display of one's means of life—does not originate with the Father, but originates with the world. Furthermore, the world is passing away and so is its desire, but he that does the will of God remains forever."—1 John 2:15-17, NW.

(To be continued)

DISAPPOINTED BOY BURNS CHURCH

The Bible counsels Christians to instruct their children at a very tender age in the truths of God's Word. When this is done the parents avoid much heartache and pain. But when parents become negligent, even in instructing youngsters on proper prayer, the consequences could be disastrous. At Milwaukee, Wisconsin, an eight-year-old boy confessed that he set a fire in St. Stanislaus church, causing some $200 damage. The boy's motive? He said he "wanted to get even with God" for not answering his prayers. Could the church have failed to instruct the parents on right matters for prayer?

War from Heaven Brings Peace to Earth

"Come, behold the works of Jehovah, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariots in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. Jehovah of hosts is with us."—Ps. 46:8-11, AS.

IN THE Himalayas there is a peak that towers skyward twenty-nine thousand feet. Its slopes are sheathed

in snow and ice. Temperatures drop far below zero. Freezing winds shriek their way through the surrounding crags and passes. The air on this highest peak on earth is so thin that a man suddenly placed on its heights would be unconscious very quickly because of oxygen shortage. At such high altitudes muscles, nerves and mind itself begin sharply to deteriorate and a lassitude that is dangerous sets in. Nevertheless, for many years men have tried to scale the pinnacle of Mount Everest. Only after years of training and experience do mountaineers tackle its challenging slopes and brave its many dangers. Yawning crevices of dizzying depth open up at the feet of the climbers, and avalanches of snow and ice thunderously hurtle down from the heights above. Despite being bundled up in the warmest of clothes, the climbers are quickly robbed of their heat and energy by the raging winds, and frostbite is an everpresent menace. Burdened by packs and oxygen tanks on their backs for breathing, they chop their way step by step with

ice axes and toil upward with an unspeakable weariness over treacherous footing where one slip would send them plummeting thousands of feet downward to their death. Many have tried to conquer its heights, many have died in the attempt. On May 29,1953, two men triumphed and stood on its windswept crown.To do it they had the backing of an expeditionary force of more than four hundred and fifty men. Four hundred and fifty to get two to the top!

2 Do you think you could do it? Christ Jesus warned us to flee to the mountains. These mountains symbolize a place of refuge which is associated with God's mountain: "And it shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain of Jehovah's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many peoples shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths." (Isa. 2:2, 3, AS) Note that this mountain of Jehovah is on top of all other mountains, above all other hills.

If it is literal, it means it is higher than Everest! If you cannot climb Everest, how could you hope to scale this still higher one? Yet the Bible shows men and women and children from all nations, a great crowd of them, making a successful climb to the mountain of Jehovah. Obviously, the mountain we ascend is not a literal one but is something symbolized by mountains.

Mountains are used as symbols of governments or world ruling powers that rise above the seas of humanity that support or bear them up. When Babylon was a world power laying waste many nations Jehovah spoke of it as a mountain: "Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith Jehovah, which destroyest all the earth; and I will stretch out my hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain." In Revelation the seven world powers are referred to as seven kings and are pictured by the seven heads of the beast there described, and of these heads or world powers it states: "The seven heads mean seven mountains." Even Christ's kingdom and its realm are spoken of as a mountain. In the book of Daniel it says that Christ's kingdom "shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever." This is pictured by a stone smiting and toppling an image that represents Satan and his demons and the kingdoms of this old world, and it states: "The stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth." The symbolic mountain, the mountain we are to come to, is the Kingdom arrangement under Christ with the new system of things now being set up on earth. From this new royal government Jehovah's law and word go forth, and to it persons of all nations

are now coming to learn Jehovah's ways and to walk in his paths.—Jer. 51:25, AS; Rev. 17:9, NW; Dan. 2:44, 35.

4 Ascending a literal mountain higher than all others would be not only impossible for most of us but also ineffective in securing safety from Jehovah's wrath: "Though they dig into Sheol, thence shall my hand take them; and though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down. And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and it shall bite them." (Amos 9:2, 3, AS) But flight to Jehovah's new system of things is now made possible for peoples of all nations, and since it is of Jehovah's making it will be a place of safety, untouched by his wrath. And just as Isaiah's prophecy spoke of the mountain of Jehovah as being above all other mountains, so this holy place of worship under Christ is superior to and above all earthly governments of this old world.

THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON

5 Why did Jesus advise "fleeing to the mountains"? To escape "great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world's beginning until now, no, nor will occur again." That tribulation is a war, a war from heaven, and the field where it is waged is "called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon." (Matt. 24:16, 21, NW; Rev. 16:16) Is the war at Armageddon a manmade war? Men fight modern wars in the skies, and from the immediate heavens their flying fortresses rain bombs on the earth—and what was a city becomes rubble, what were homes become ashes, what were peoples become mangled and scattered flesh. As modern warfare has become more and more horrible men have become more and more prone to refer to their wars or prospective ones as Armageddon.

Especially is this so since the explosion of the hydrogen bomb.

In calling for a showdown with Russia on control of atomic weapons the New York Daily Mirror said editorially: "Or shall we wait and let the world drift to Armageddon?" A Los Angeles newspaper remarked concerning the next war: "It will be the most titanic in history. It will be Armageddon." Tempo magazine referred to an approaching "nuclear Armageddon." Addressing a joint session of Congress General MacArthur repeated a warning he had previously sounded: "Military alliances, balances of power, leagues of nations, all in turn failed, leaving the only path to be by way of the crucible of war. The utter destructiveness of war now blocks out this alternative. We have had our last chance. If we will not devise some greater and more equitable system, our Armageddon will be at our door." Senator Flanders declared: "In very truth the world seems to be mobilizing for the great battle of Armageddon." Lastly, in the wake of the hydrogen bomb tests in the Pacific a staff writer of the New York World-Telegram and Sun said: "In blunt words, American, free-world and Soviet leaders are frightened. The past eight or ten weeks have made them all aware that they are face to face with Armageddon. . . Today fear is a blanket that hangs over both capitals, Washington and Moscow."

7 Actually, for men to call one of their wars Armageddon is robbery. It robs a word of its true meaning. It throws men off guard as to what Armageddon really is. It is not a war by men, and to envision it as the possible atomic holocaust of World War III is to be blind to the real meaning of Armageddon. It is a Bible term, and

therein it is specifically defined as "the war of the great day of God the Almighty." (Rev. 16:14, NW) It is Jehovah's war fought by heavenly forces under Christ and it will uproot all wickedness from earth and plant instead permanent peace: "And I saw the heaven opened, and, look! a white horse. And one seated upon it is called Faithful and True, and he judges and carries on war in righteousness. Also the armies that were in heaven were following him on white horses, and they were clothed in white, clean, fine linen. And out of his mouth there protrudes a sharp long sword, that he may smite the nations with it, and he will shepherd them with a rod of iron. He treads, too, the press of the wine of the anger of the wrath of God the Almighty. And he seized the dragon, the original serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years." —Rev. 19:11, 14, 15; 20:2, NW.

8 Jehovah's fury descends upon men and nations and their armies because they have sinned against him, and no bribes can avert Armageddon: "The great day of Jehovah is near, it is near and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of Jehovah; the mighty man crieth there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm, against the fortified cities, and against the high battlements. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against Jehovah; and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of Jehovah's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he will make an end, yea, a terrible end, of all them that dwell in the land.

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The Watchtower, July 15, 1955