The Watchtower, August 15, 1955
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The WATCHTOWER
Announcing
JEHOVAH'S
KINGDOM
AUGUST 15, 1955
Semimonthly
GOSSIP CAN DESTROY YOU!
YOU CAN CRUSH GOSSIP!
OVERCOMING THE FEARS
OF THIS GENERATION
VISITING JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES
IN CENTRAL AMERICA
KEEP UP WITH THE GOOD EXAMPLES
©WTB&TS
“YOU ARE MY WITNESSES,” SAYS JEHOVAH.—Isa. 43:12 THE PURPOSE OF "THE WATCHTOWER"
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
CONTENTS
Keep Up with the Good Examples 483
Overcoming the Fears of This Generation 485
Modern History of Jehovah's Witnesses
Part 16: Publishing Under a New
Name, Theocratically 489
P.V.P. 100 Per Cent Effective 492
Visiting Jehovah's Witnesses in
Central America: Part 4 493
Gossip Can Destroy You! 496
You Can Crush Gossip! 501
Congratulations, Formosa! 510
Questions from Readers 511
Jehovah's Witnesses
—the New World Society 511
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Dy - Catholic Douay version
Ro - J. B. Rotherham's version
ED - The Emphatic Diaglott
RS - Revised Standard Version
Le - Isaac Leeser's version
Yg - Robert Young's version
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KEEP UP WITH THE GOOD EXAMPLES
MANY persons of the old world seek material possessions in a mad scramble to "keep up with the Joneses." Dedicated persons of the new world would rather keep up with the Isaiahs and Jeremiahs, the Peters and Pauls. They are more interested in spiritual treasures than in earthly riches: "Stop storing up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break in and steal. Rather, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. No one can be a slave to two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stick to the one and despise the other. You cannot be slaves to God and to Riches."—Matt. 6:19-21, 24, NW.
To heap up material possessions far beyond our needs, to be determined to accumulate showy riches, is to endanger our spiritual welfare and flouts the warning: "For we have brought nothing into the world, and neither can we carry anything out. So, having sustenance and covering, we shall be content with these things. However, those who are determined to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and many senseless and hurtful desires which plunge men into destruction and ruin. For the love
of money is a root of all sorts of injurious things, and by reaching out for this love some have been led astray from the faith and have stabbed themselves all over with many pains."—1 Tim. 6:7-10, NW.
Wealth feeds greed, and the more you get the more you want, and in the end you do not have money but it has you, and the inspired saying proves true: "He who loves money will not be satisfied with money; nor he who loves wealth, with gain: this also is vanity." Again, "His eyes are never satisfied with riches." Materialism will crowd out the spiritual if you let it: "The flesh is against the spirit in its desire, and the spirit against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, so that the very things that you would like to do you do not do." So Christians should not stumble into the vain snare of an envious race to keep up with the materialistic "Joneses": "Let us not become egotistical, stirring up competition with one another, envying one another."—Eccl. 5:10; 4:8, RS; Gal. 5:17, 26, NW.
Riches accumulated beyond any reasonable need not only lack enduring value but also identify you as materialistic and witness against you and your spirituality: "Your riches have rotted, and your outer garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their rust will be as a witness against you and will eat your fleshy parts.
Something like fire is what you have stored up in the last days." With wealth a man may make a showy splash, but it lasts no longer than the waves from a rock plunked into a pond. "The sun rises with its burning heat and withers the vegetation, and its flower drops off and the beauty of its outward appearance perishes. So, too, the rich man will fade away in all his ways of life." "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." Jas. 5:2,3;1:11;1 John 2:16,17,NW.
So it is the unseen things of the spirit that last, and not the eye-filling material things that many are now competitively accumulating. Like the apostle Paul, true Christians appreciate this and eye the lasting spiritual treasures as more desirable: "We keep our eyes, not on the things seen, but on the things unseen. For the things seen are temporary, but the things unseen are everlasting."—2 Cor. 4:18, NW.
The prophet Moses turned his back on material treasure to look toward the reward for spirituality: "By faith Moses, when grown up, refused to be called the son of the daughter of Pharaoh, choosing to be ill-treated with the people of God rather than to have the temporary enjoyment of sin, because he esteemed the reproach of the Christ as riches greater than the treasures of Egypt, for he looked intently toward the payment of the reward." So also
did the prophet greater than Moses, Christ Jesus. Satan the Devil offered him ruler ship over all the kingdoms of earth, but this material wealth and pomp and power Jesus rejected, holding instead to integrity and true worship of Jehovah. And later materialistic Jews wanted to make him king because he gave them bread. Again he rejected kingship contrary to Jehovah's arrangement, and when he advised these Jews to seek, not bread that perishes, but Himself as the bread from heaven that brought life eternal, they balked at this spiritual provision.—Heb. 11:24-26; Matt. 4:8-10; John 6:15, 26-66, NW.
So what will Jehovah's witnesses do? "To this course you were called, because even Christ suffered for you, leaving you a model for you to follow his steps closely," said Peter. "Become imitators of me, even as I am of Christ," and "Keep your eye on those who are walking in a way that accords with the example you have in us," said Paul. "Brothers, take as a pattern of the suffering of evil and the exercising of patience the prophets, who spoke in the name of Jehovah," wrote James. Yes, take these faithful prophets and witnesses of Jehovah as examples and imitate them, keep your eye on them, try to keep up with them, and not with the materialistic Joneses of this old world that is perishing! Why try to keep up with the Joneses when we do not want to go where the Joneses are going? Instead, try to keep up with the good examples, for we want to go where they are going and be with them in the new world of righteousness.—1 Pet. 2:21; 1 Cor. 11:1; Phil. 3:17; Jas. 5:10, NW.
FEAR has enveloped this
generation. Everywhere people are in fear. They fear insecurity. They fear hunger. They fear disease. They fear neighbors. They fear governments. They fear war. They fear knowledge. They even fear fear. That is why, not long ago, Adlai Stevenson declared: "The tragedy of our day is the climate of fear in which we live."
Recent reports show that the Russian people are dominated in all situations by fear. But the so-called free world is little better. A wave of neighbor fear has so paralyzed thinking that Dr. F. H. Sanford, executive secretary of the American Psychological Association, said that a "what will people think?" disease is driving mankind, from cab driver to scientist, toward strait-jacketed thinking and lock-step living.—Science News Letter, April 16, 1955.
Throughout history, whenever there were times of crisis or disaster, men still looked to the future, if not with confidence, at least with hope. Now that has changed. "Since the breakdown of public order during the First World War," writes Walter Lippmann in The Public Philosophy, "there has been no security for multitudes and no ease of mind for anyone."
Do you fear the wrong things? Most people do. It is because they lack knowledge of the cause and meaning of the world's fears. This article proves that you can really overcome fear and find the happiness and confidence that stem from knowledge.
Scientists, who know the power of the atom as no layman does, rightly fear the future. Even before the destructiveness of the hydrogen bomb was fully realized, Dr. Harold C. Urey, Nobel Prize winner and atomic scientist, declared: "Freedom from fear? We will eat fear, sleep in fear, live in fear and die in fear."
Philosophers, despite their clever cogitations, cannot ignore or dispel the climate of fear. Bertrand Russell, writing for the New York Times Magazine of September 27,1953, said: "Ever since 1914, everybody conscious of trends in the world has been deeply troubled by what has seemed like a fated and predetermined march toward ever greater disaster." Then he spotlighted the gloom for the future by saying: "Many serious people have come to feel that nothing can be done to avert the plunge towards ruin."
Politicians and statesmen cannot find the way out of the anguished climate of fear. Bewildered and dismayed, they speak words of pessimism. For instance, Adlai Stevenson candidly looked at the future this way: "We are never going to solve many of the hard problems of the world, but will simply have to learn to live with them for years and maybe for centuries." (Time, November 22, 1954) For a politician that is straight talking. No rosy promises, just the unvarnished facts.
OVERCOMING FEAR WITH KNOWLEDGE
"In losing the easy optimism of a preceding generation," said the secretary-general of the United Nations recently, "we must not act as though we had also lost the deep conviction of our predecessors of the value of knowledge." Yet that is what great masses of mankind have done. They fear knowledge, a prime weapon to combat fear. So do not fear knowledge. What is that knowledge that is of paramount importance in overcoming fear? It is knowledge of the meaning of the odd characteristics of this generation, its unprecedented global fear and fear of the future.
Who can give us the key to the meaning of such things as this? Certainly it is futile to imbibe the mental regurgitations of fear-struck worldlings, who readily admit they are floundering in the fog of fear. Rather we must go to one who speaks authoritatively, namely, the Son of God, Christ Jesus. In response to a question concerning the consummation of this system of things, the greatest prophet who ever lived said: "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be great earthquakes and in one place after another pestilences and food shortages, and there will be fearful sights." Luke 21:10, 11, NW.
"Fearful sights" were thus foretold as a sign of the "last days." These "fearful sights" in themselves do not make up the "last days" sign; but when they occur with the other foretold woes upon one generation, as they do now, the sign of the "last days" has become visible.
These "fearful sights" were not to be the usual fearful sights, the kind of fears that man has often had. Oh no, for the great Prophet stressed the uniqueness of these "fearful sights" when he said that there would be "on the earth anguish of nations, not knowing the way out because of the roaring of the sea and its agitation, while
men become faint out of fear and expectation of the things coming upon the inhabited earth." (Luke 21:25, 26, NW) Note what this means: First, such anguish and fear among the nations that even the most astute statesmen will not be able to find a way out; in other words, such intense fear world-wide that it stands unprecedented in the history of man. Second, men becoming "faint out of fear." Why? Because of "expectation of things coming," fear of the very future itself. The odd characteristics of our time mark the fulfillment of Jesus' prophecy.
So since 1914 this generation, the generation that knows fear as no other generation has, is living in the "last days," "the time of the end," or that time when a corrupt, wicked system of things is doomed to pass away to make room for a righteous new world of God's making. It is at the culmination of this transition period that the war of Armageddon will occur. It will be the greatest fear-inspiring event of all ages, past or future, for as Jesus declared it is that "great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world's beginning until now, no, nor will occur again."—Matt. 24:21, NW.
Most people, then, fear the wrong things. They fear their neighbors or they fear nations. Rather, they should fear Armageddon. They should fear it because it will destroy their world and them, too, if they remain with it. But of this the mass of mankind are ignorant. And ignorance breeds fear of the wrong things. So now is the time to face the facts fearlessly, especially since it is this generation that is face to face with Armageddon. Warned Jesus: "Truly I say to you, This generation will by no means pass away until all things occur [including Armageddon]."—Luke 21:32, NW.
Really, you need not even fear Armageddon if you obtain knowledge and act upon that knowledge.
Why? Because the woes and events that go to make up the "last days" sign call for joy, not sadness; for confidence, not fear. Sound strange? Not when we hear these words of the Master, words telling true Christians to exult when they see the world in its unprecedented state of fear with its wars, anguish of nations, fears and gloom for the future,
pent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth; he was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him." The result: "Woe for the earth and for the sea, because the Devil has come down to you, having great anger, knowing he has a short period of time."
earthquakes, famines and other woes: "As these things start to occur [upon one generation], raise yourselves erect and lift your heads up, because your deliverance is getting near."—Luke 21:28, NW.
Deliverance into a righteous new world is possible. That is why the apostle Peter, after telling of the destruction of this system of things, goes on with the comforting assurance: "But there are new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according to his promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell." (2 Pet. 3:13, NW) So all the world's woes and fears are a cause for re-
MAKING JEHOVAH YOUR HELPER
Knowing now that we are living in a most marvelous time in human history, you are in position to overcome fear. But you must pursue the course of taking in knowledge. Make time for this. Study God's Word with the help of the many Bible study aids that Jehovah's witnesses are bringing the people for the fight against fear. Remember the Bible advises: "A wise man is better than a strong man, and a man of knowledge than a man of might; for by wise guidance you wage war, and victory lies in a wealth of counselors." Since a "man
joicing because they mean just this: they are a prelude to God's new world of righteousness.
But knowledge of the meaning of the world's fears is not enough. One must go on to obtain knowledge of the cause of a fearstruck world. Without this knowledge one is battling a foe in the dark. God's Word, the Bible, throws the searchlight on the foe of man, the producer of fear, the arch foe of Jehovah, namely, Satan the Devil. No wonder the earth is in seething turmoil: since 1914, as a result of a war in heaven,
of knowledge" is better than a "man of might," he is the one equipped to overcome fear. By obtaining wise guidance from counselors, kings and rulers plan to wage war. So to wage war against fear and such a formidable foe as Satan the Devil you need the very best counselors. No better counselors can be had than Jehovah God and Christ Jesus. Follow their advice. By heeding the counsel of God's Word you will wage war successfully and be able to take up the words: "Jehovah is my helper; I will not be afraid."—Prov. 24:5, 6, AT; Heb.
Satan has been hurled to the earth, where he now stirs up distress and violence. The Bible enlightens us, at Revelation 12:7-10, 12 (NW):
"War broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels battled with the dragon, and the dragon and its angels battled but it did not prevail, neither was a place found for them any longer in heaven. So down the great dragon was hurled, the original ser-
13:6, NW.
God's Word is like a sword, and knowledge obtained from it is like a suit of armor. In ancient times, when a soldier went out to wage war, a sword and a suit of armor were not enough; he also needed a shield. So since a Christian's warfare is really "against the machinations of the Devil" and his "wicked spirit forces in the heavenly places," the Bible advises you to "take up the complete suit of armor from God," and, above all things, to "take up the large shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the wicked one's burning missiles."
How important faith is, then, to overcome fear, fear caused by the Devil's machinations! Do you know how powerful faith is? Faith that results in a confident reliance upon God's Word is so powerful that the apostle said: "This is the conquest that has conquered the world, our faith." You need that kind of faith for the conquest of fear.—Eph. 6:11-17; 1 John 5:4, NW.
THE CLIMATE OF LOVE
Even more than faith and knowledge is required for overcoming the fears of this generation. For one must abandon the climate of fear and enter into the climate of love. Why? Because "there is no fear in love, but perfect love throws fear outside." (1 John 4:18, NW) What kind of love is this that "throws fear outside"? Only such love that Jesus identified could be so powerful. It is the love embraced by the two great commandments of life: "You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind." "You must love your neighbor as yourself."-Matt. 22:37-39, NW.
To love Jehovah means to stop fearing men. Really, it is foolish to fear men. They cannot give you life. God can. Men may take one's life away, but they cannot take away one's right to future life in the new world. But God can! So Jesus counsels: "Do not become fearful of those who kill the body but can not kill the soul; but rather be in fear of him that can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna." Love of Jehovah, then, requires fearing the right One. Fear Jehovah. It is not a degrading fear such as the fear of men is. "The fear of man bringeth a snare," but "the fear of Jehovah is clean, enduring for ever."
Finally, love for Jehovah is demonstrated by obeying his commandments: "This is what the love of God means, that we observe his commandments."—Matt. 10:28, NW; Prov. 29:25; Ps. 19:9, AS; 1 John 5:3, NW.
As for our neighbors, we are to love them, not fear them. Love will cast out fear. The best way to show love for one's neighbor is to bring him a fear-dispelling message, namely, the good news of Jehovah's new world.
Yes, tell others of the only remedy for a world of fear, God's new world. For that new world will be a world of tranquillity and peace, of life and health, of happiness and joy. Gone will be fears of all kinds! No more fear of the future. No more insurance policies, not even life insurance, because Jehovah guarantees your future: "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith Jehovah, so shall your seed and your name remain." (Isa. 66:22, AS) Never, nevermore will there be fear of sickness or fear of death, because God "will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be any more." (Rev. 21:4, NW) And never again will men fear fear, because freedom from fear will be an absolute reality. God says so: "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." (Mic. 4:4, AS) The climate of fear will have given way to the climate of love.
Even now you can have freedom from the fears of this generation. Acquire knowledge, faith and love. One other step is necessary. You need the climate of love now; you need the climate of fearlessness now. If you associate with the old world you will be contaminated by fear. Rather associate with fearless people and partake of their fearlessness.
Yes, face the future confidently with the fearless New World society, never failing to show love for
your neighbors by inviting them to join with Jehovah's witnesses and now "say to those whose hearts beat wildly, 'Courage, fear not!'"—Isa. 35:4, AT.
Part 16
PUBLISHING UNDER A NEW NAME, THEOCRATICALLY
UPON Judge Rutherford's return from Britain to New York city on October 2,1938, he delivered a timely stinging lecture before an audience of 7,000 on the subject "Fascism or Freedom." This soon appeared in booklet form and was circulated by the millions to alert the people as to Fascism's imminent blood bath of war. The following summer, June 23-25, 1939, another multicity convention was successfully held, New York city's Madison Square Garden being the key center. Twenty-eight conventions all together several in Australia, ten in Britain including London, one in Honolulu and several in the United States—formed the international audience of 75,000 persons to hear the convention's climactic public talk "Government and Peace" delivered by the Watch Tower Society's president. About halfway through this forceful lecture a riot, plotted by Vatican-inspired "Father" Coughlin's "Christian Front" WMCA (radio station) picket marchers, broke out at the New York key assembly. It required the Garden ushers (all of them Jehovah's witnesses) about fifteen minutes to quell the mob by overpowering and removing from the Garden the 500 Fascist disturbers.
The disturbance began by booing, hissing and yelling "Heil Hitler" and "Viva Franco," etc. At the same instant, by wire and wireless communication, thousands in many other places of earth heard the actual riot taking place. Applause after applause by the Garden audience gave the speaker, Rutherford, lusty support as he masterfully continued to speak over the microphone to outride the storm.a Nothing came of the charges that the Society legally pressed against the ringleaders of this Catholic mob. However, in the fall of 1939 the three-judge Special Sessions Court of the City of New York (composed of two Roman Catholics and a Jew) not only exonerated three of the ushers (Jehovah's witnesses) but commended them for reasonably exercising necessary firmness against the mobsters when the city police wholly failed to do their duty to preserve order when the vast public assembly in the Garden was suddenly threatened with disruption. Those three ushers had been falsely arrested, accused and prosecuted on complaint of several of the Catholic mobsters whom the ushers forcibly removed from the Garden.b Another incident of note: At London, England, on Saturday, June 24, 1939, the I.
R. A. (Irish Republican Army, a Catholic terrorist movement that had been carrying out a campaign of bombing throughout Britain for the previous several months) telephoned an "official" threat to the Society's London office, warning that they would take violent action if the London-
VAH, restoring it to the topmost position it deserves in universal affairs, for is not Jehovah the glorious Sovereign of his entire universe?—Ps. 83:18; Acts 3:19-23; 4:24-30; 1 Cor. 15:28; Rev. 11:15; Dan. 7:13, 14; Isa. 9:6, 7.
The above "new name" resolution and the text of Rutherford's convention address were published in the booklet The
Belfast circuit of Rutherford's overseas lecture for June 25 (from New York's Madison Square Garden) were not canceled. Scotland Yard police were immediately informed, and they surrounded the Society's assembly halls for protection. One bomb was exploded near Kingsway Hall, the Saturday convention center in London, but not one of the witnesses was harmed although several pedestrians were killed. c On both sides of the Atlantic Catholic elements resorted to violence to frighten the witnesses away from their freedom of worship
Kingdom the Hope of the World, soon thereafter printed in many languages. During the following October a campaign was conducted for delivering personally to all the rulers a copy of this booklet. In the United States and Canada alone 132,066 were served with the booklet, of which 88,009 were clergymen, 19,103 politicians, 22,869 financiers and 2,085 military leaders. e In ensuing months this booklet reached the homes of five million others in all parts of the earth. f The new name had come to stay.
During this strenuous period of prodigious activity from 1929 to 1939 were there any significant organizational developments? Yes, there were. At the Columbus (Ohio) convention in 1931 (July 24-30) some 15,000 attended, to adopt the resolution embracing the new name, JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES d —truly a meaningful name based on the words of Jehovah himself recorded by Isaiah (43:10-12, AS). With what joyous acceptance this new name was received world-wide! In weeks that followed, at fifty extension conventions in all
In an earlier part of this history we saw how finally, in 1938, after a twenty-year gradual process, congregational government came to be wholly conformed to the theocratic pattern preserved in the Scriptures, whereby the Society made direct appointments of all servants. This made possible the next step toward theocratic integration or gathering together into a more solid, unified society. It had been learned from the experiences of divisional campaigns (operated from 1933 to 1935), where congregations in a given area banded together in open field witnessing
parts of the earth Jehovah's people met to embrace joyfully this remarkable new name. How distinctive it is! With it comes great responsibility. Surely the name has come to be recognized earth-wide since 1931. All this testifies that it aptly fits the ones who are blessed in bearing it. They are zealously advocating the name JEHO-
to withstand persecution and opposition, that unusual unity and strength thus were manifested and deepened. So in October, 1938, the next step in theocratic organization of the inhabitants of "Beulah" land occurred with commencement of the zone service. About twenty congregations in a particular area were formed together as a "zone."
The Society appointed a "zone servant" to spend one week with each congregation, to organize it better and aid it in its field witnessing activity. Frequently a "zone assembly" would be held, the twenty or more participating congregations getting together for mutual contact and upbuilding. Special servants were sent from the Society's headquarters to serve at these assemblies. A new set of organization instructions was issued, becoming effective among all of Jehovah's people October 1, 1938. g
This new arrangement proved to be a great forward movement drawing the national and international organization into a complete whole. Almost immediately a further increase in publishers as well as general field activity was manifest. In 1942, under a rearrangement, the visiting representative sent by the Society came to be called the "servant to the brethren." After October 15, 1946, what formerly had been called a zone became known as a "circuit," assembling twice a year in local convention. Later, in 1948, several circuits were formed into a larger unit known as a "district," which also met in major assembly about once a year. The one in charge of a district became known as the "district servant" and the new name for the "servant to the brethren" came to be "circuit servant."
Among other developments to note was that resulting from the visit of the Society's president to the Hawaiian Islands in 1935. Then a branch office was established in Honolulu and arrangements were made for construction of an assembly hall in connection with the new branch building there being erected. k At the dedication this hall was appropriately designated "Kingdom Hall," thus commencing the practice of Jehovah's witnesses the world over of calling their congregational meeting centers Kingdom Halls. In the fall of 1937 what had formerly been known as the "London Tabernacle" was now redecorated and renamed "Kingdom Hall." 1
Consolation appeared in its first issue on October 6,1937, this being the new name for The Golden Age, the Society's magazine (now Awake!), which since October, 1919, had been regularly circulated every other week. m
Australia became favored in the spring of 1938 with its first visit of a president of the Society. Jehovah's witnesses there received Judge Rutherford with great enthusiasm. There in Sydney's Sports Ground 25,000 eagerly listened to Rutherford's famous lecture "Warning." This climaxed the Sydney convention, to which witnesses had come from every part of the South Pacific—Malaya, Java, French Indochina, Shanghai, New Zealand and all states of the Commonwealth of Australia. n
Magazine distribution on street corners, offering The Watchtower and Consolation, was inaugurated by the Society in February, 1940. 0 Specially designed magazine bags, each hanging from the shoulder of one of Jehovah's witnesses—young or old—quickly became a weekly sight among passers-by in village, town and city as the early days of this effective publicity work sped by. Since 1940 hundreds of millions, in nearly every land of earth, have viewed these witnesses standing weekly on the street corners, heralding their arresting announcement of the theocratic government. This work, too, has become a potent force in God's judging of the minds of men, and in having men as well as women and many children become trained for a large share in even more effective magazine work of today and tomorrow.—Matt. 25:31-46; Prov.
1:20-23, AS; RS.
To round out the picture as to the gigantic distribution performed in this period, the accompanying table will aid every
thoughtful reader to understand through comparison: In four successive periods (shown in the table) the preparatory and final work of "announcing Jehovah's kingdom" became progressively world-wide during the 65-year epoch embraced in the table.
Christians make a more constant use of scripture, or memorize it in greater quantities than the Witnesses. To argue successfully with them on scriptural grounds, one must know his scriptures better than most members of even the fundamentalist churches do today. . . Against any sort of opposition they press ahead. They
“ANNOUNCING JEHOVAH'S KINGDOM”
Four periods of sixty-five-year epoch
Books and booklets distributed (not including magazines or millions of free tracts)
Highest number of active world-wide associates
1874 to 1892
1,535,000q
400r
1893 to 1918
9,737,224r
21,274t
1919 to 1930
93,500,000u
23,988v
1931 to 1939
215,984,991w
61,589x
Truly Jehovah's witnesses as irresistible "locusts" were 'diligent in the business' of their Father and His unconquerable King during the decade ending in 1939. (Prov. 22:29; Luke 2:49) Much happened to them organizationally; and at the same time their unending resistance of apostate opposers prominently brought them forth onto the world stage as champions of freedom of speech and of worship. From a nontheocratic source its concluding commendatory words are here included:
"Jehovah's Witnesses have literally covered the earth with their witnessing. . No modern
fight by every legal means for their civil rights, the right of public assembly—sometimes denied them—the right to distribute their literature, the right of conscience to put God above every other loyalty.
They have performed a signal service to democracy by their fight to preserve their civil rights, for in their struggle they have done much to secure those rights for every minority group in America. When the civil rights of any one group are invaded, the rights of no other group are safe. They have therefore made a definite contribution to the preservation of some of the most precious things in our democracy."p
(To be continued)
d These Also Believe, by C. S. Braden (1950), pp. 370, 380, 382.
q Harvest Siftings, pp. 97, 114; Watch Tower, 1892, p. 10; W 1893, p. 380.
v 1950 Yearbook, p. 24 (average number of publishers for 1928).
x Average number of publishers, to compare with Informant, February, 1940.
P.V.P. 100 PER CENT EFFECTIVE
The International News Service in March, 1954, reported on the dramatic use of P.V.P. by New York Doctors, which, when put in the veins, "in an emergency, will do the life-saving job of restoring blood volume, fighting shock, and preventing the loss of electrolytes and other precious body fluids just as well as real blood plasma." Two doctors at two New York hospitals "reported dramatically effective results of P.V.P. transfusions on 224 critically hurt patients. These patients had suffered third-degree burns, lacerated wounds, fractures, penetrating wounds of chest and abdomen, or head injuries. Some had suddenly gone into shock on the operating table or in the maternity's delivery room. The P.V.P. was transfused, the doctors reported in the New York Journal of Medicine, and 'prompt and sustained improvement was observed in all cases.' Of the 224 patients, 220 recovered. None of the four deaths was due to blood loss or shock."
VISITING JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES in Central America
WHEN it was learned that the president of the Watch Tower Society,
law marriage; but, now having heard the truth, they wanted to be acceptable to the New World society. Just before the day the
N. H. Knorr, would visit Panama for five days, arrangements were made for two district assemblies, one for Spanish-speaking publishers and the other for English-speaking witnesses.
Jehovah's witnesses in Panama, as far as the two language groups go, are about equal in number. For both assemblies the commodious Pacific Clubhouse in the Canal Zone was used. Radio, newspapers and other channels of communication gave good publicity to the assemblies. This was greatly appreciated and helped considerably in the attendance at the public meetings. The
assembly began another couple was married in order to be good witnesses for Jehovah. A third marriage was performed a day after the assembly. The branch office in Panama does everything it can to help persons legalize their marriage and thus keep the marriage bed undefiled. Now the government officials realize that all that become Jehovah's witnesses and that have been living in common-law marriage are going to get legally married, legalizing it on the books regardless of how old they are or how long they have lived together. The people of Panama when speaking about
the attendance at the public meetings. The Spanish assembly was held Wednesday and Thursday, December 22 and 23. Brother Knorr arrived Wednesday afternoon and spoke that evening through an interpreter to 369, pointing out how wonderfully the work had increased in the past ten years. In Panama, in 1944, there were 43 publishers; now a new peak had been reached, 891 publishers. With all these announcers of the Kingdom now sharing the load of responsibility, certainly much work can be done with the two journals, The Watchtower and Awake! Each publisher here is
one's becoming a witness of Jehovah, remark that if you do become one you have to live a clean life. That is the way they ought to talk, and it is the Catholic people who are talking. Do you not think it strange for "good Catholics" to be living in common-law marriage? The Catholic Church forbids divorce even if one of the marriage partners commits adultery and lives with someone else. They have forced many of their parishioners to feel it is better not to be married at all. Another reason for many in Central and South America for
trying to place nine magazines every month, and they are having good success. Next morning Jehovah's witnesses met together again and seventeen of our Spanish-speaking brothers were baptized.
On Thursday, between sessions, a marriage was performed in the convention hall. This involved a couple who for years had been living as "good Catholics" in common-
not getting married is because of the high fees charged by priests. They cannot even afford it. Persons who are seeking truth and righteousness and clean living certainly rejoice when they begin to meet with Jehovah's witnesses. They are different because they follow the Bible teachings and the high principles set forth by Christ Jesus on morals.
The Spanish assembly was climaxed Thursday night when the branch servant delivered the public discourse "God's Love to the Rescue in Man's Crisis," in Spanish. There were 517 in attendance.
No convention session was held Friday (December 24), but all were kept busy at the branch office discussing problems with the branch servant and missionaries, and preparing for the English assembly to begin Saturday.
On December 25 the weather was sunny and warm, uncomfortably so for Panama's visitors but ideal for the joyous group of Kingdom announcers who again met at the Clubhouse, this time Panama's English-speaking witnesses of Jehovah. Here the same spirit was evident that had been shown among the Spanish-speaking brothers. All were happy and delighted, and even many of the Spanish-speaking brothers that understood English came back to this Clubhouse session.
Everyone at the assembly was wondering how many would come out for the public meeting Sunday evening at eight o'clock, and they were overjoyed to see the fruitage of their diligent efforts in advertising the public talk; for 1,023 persons packed out the assembly hall to hear the public talk "God's Love to the Rescue in Man's Crisis," delivered by Brother Knorr. This was the highest attendance ever had at an assembly in Panama. In January the publishers in Panama moved ahead to a new peak of 906. They are anxious to help the "other sheep" study and gain information concerning Jehovah's new world of righteousness.
TOUCHING SOUTH AMERICA
The Society's president had just finished visiting all the countries of Central America and now was on his homeward turn. In proceeding to other necessary stops it was convenient to pause at Barranquilla,
where the branch office for Colombia is located. Knowing of his coming, the congregation in Barranquilla arranged for an assembly. He was met at the airport and there was an Arab brother very anxious to take him into town in his car. The reason was soon apparent, for the brother was overjoyed and had news for Brother Knorr. He was a very active publisher, zealous and new in the truth; but now, that very day, his wife had symbolized her dedication to Jehovah God and this was his joy. He had hoped and prayed that some day his wife would see the truth as he did, and now she had; and he was so anxious to tell the president, because only a year previous he himself had come into the truth. Now he and his wife together could bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of Jehovah and together help them on into the New World organization. It was a most pleasant trip and one that always makes a Christian's heart warm, for another "sheep" has been gathered under the arrangements of Christ Jesus.
As soon as we arrived at the Kingdom Hall at Barranquilla Brother Knorr was invited to speak to an audience of 401. It seemed like just yesterday that the speaker had been there, having visited a year previous on his South American trip. For this night a public meeting had been arranged in the Kingdom Hall, and their patio, too, was crowded when 655 came out to hear.
The Society has missionaries situated in different parts of Colombia and they are doing excellent work, but the number of them is limited. One of the fine things about this country is that when the "other sheep" come into the truth and grow on to maturity they appreciate the value of the pioneer service. The missionaries have talked it and lived it. Many of them have engaged in it and it is through their splendid efforts, going out in the field in different parts of Colombia and eventually getting into the special pioneer service, that the work there is moving ahead so rapidly.
By January they had reached a new alltime peak of 624 publishers. This is well over their 20 per cent of the previous year's average.
The missionaries the Society has there now love the people and love the congregations. Those in Barranquilla take out groups of people every day and work with them in the field, training them to be good publishers and pioneers. Then it is not long until they get into the special pioneer service and they are off on their own in some isolated territory.
It would have been good to remain longer, but connections had to be made in Venezuela at Maracaibo, to fly on to Curaçao. So on the afternoon of December 29 good-by was said to a smiling group of witnesses at the airport and away the president went to Maracaibo. In a short while he was met there by more publishers in another land. They had arranged for a public meeting in the patio of a brother's home. It was the biggest public meeting they had had in this city for Jehovah's witnesses, 207 coming.
Venezuela is doing very well. In November there were 780 reporting field service,
but by February of 1955 the total had moved up to 832. Scattered throughout all Venezuela there are 31 missionaries and they have been taking the lead in preaching the good news of the Kingdom. A most prosperous country, its oil, iron and other commodities are in great demand. Money is plentiful, and often it is hard to turn the minds of people away from material things of this world to spiritual things; but, despite this, publishers in Venezuela have been making good progress in gathering together the "other sheep."
The president of the Society found it a real pleasure to be able to live in the missionary home and to talk with the missionaries about their problems. The branch servant had come from Caracas to go over some matters, taking advantage of the president's one-day stopover in Maracaibo. Just a year previous Brother Knorr had visited all the missionary homes in Venezuela and the branch office and they had had a general convention, but just now this was only a jumping point for the islands in the Caribbean and there was little time for discussion. It was good to learn that the new branch home purchased by the Society was in proper order and everybody happy with his new location in Caracas.
Who Leads Whom?
Britain's archbishop of York recently gave a speech in the House of Lords in which he backed Britain's decision to make hydrogen bombs. Several shocked churchgoers sent letters to the Manchester Guardian Weekly on the matter. One of these letters to the editor, in the issue of March 24, 1955, said: "Sir,—The Archbishop of York's speech in the Lords justifying the making of the hydrogen bomb was a very powerful utterance, more convincing than anything our political leaders have said on the subject. Yet in one passage he undermined his position as a Christian leader and his right to speak as such. He conceded virtually that the true Christian position is to be prepared to suffer wrong rather than inflict it. 'It is an argument that must appeal to every Christian.' Yet amazingly he proceeded to dissociate himself from that position because it did not express 'the deliberate convictions of the great majority.' That means that almost the highest churchman in the land cannot take the full Christian position until he has the consent of the untutored and largely pagan masses."
false. Really, we should not be ignorant of Satan's devices. We should be on guard against gossip, a weapon of the Devil.
OSSIP started with Satan the Devil. Eve listened to his slanderous tale about Jehovah, believed it,
acted upon it, spread it to her husband, and the final result was that the first human pair was separated from their best Friend. From that time to this men have gossiped and men have suffered for it. Few, if any, have not been guilty of it or victimized by it. Often those repeatedly guilty of it are the most indignant when they become its target. When it is about them they hate it. When it is by them they gloss it over. Many preface their gossip with an apology and thereby betray a guilty conscience. Frequently they begin, "I don't like to say this, but . . ." and then proceed with relish to say it. Or the opening may be, "I don't know whether this is true or not, but . . ." and proceed to tell what they suspect is
2 Be on guard against whom? Against ourselves. As you read this, think. Think how it applies to you, not to your neighbor. True, it applies to your neighbor. He admits it. But the important thing is for you to admit it applies to you, for you to apply it to yourself. You can change yourself. You may not be able to change your neighbor. Concentrate on yourself. hen when you have become
faultless in this matter help your neighbor to become that way also.
When you have removed the rafter from your own eye you may then try to extract the straw from your neighbor's. We are prone to be easy on ourselves and hard on others. For our own safety, reverse it and be hard on ourselves and easy on others.—Matt. 7:1-5.
What is gossip? It is talk that works injury. It may be done maliciously and with intent to injure, but often it is innocently performed with no desire to hurt anyone. A harmless statement upon repetition becomes harmful because it is colored or twisted or exaggerated to add spice to it. Without malice a person may do this to make the tale more enticing, more acceptable to hearers, capable of causing a more gratifying reaction of surprise or dismay or shock, and in his zeal to spice up the tale the gossiper never thinks of the harm he inflicts on the one involved in it. His mouth becomes a snare in which he puts his own foot and he is caught violating Jehovah's command: "You must not go around among your people for the sake of slandering."
"You must not take up an untrue report" and "you must not follow after the crowd for evil ends." Even though an untrue report is repeated by many, we do not have to follow that crowd and join in slandering our brother. If we are not sure the report is true we should not repeat it. And sometimes even if it is true we should not repeat it. "He who goes about as a tale bearer reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing hidden." "He who goes about gossiping reveals secrets; therefore do not associate with one who speaks foolishly." One who discloses secret matters of no concern to others is speaking foolishly, is meddling, busybodying, talebearing, gossiping. He betrays a trust and works injury.—Lev. 19:16; Ex. 23:1, 2, NW; Prov. 11:13; 20:19, RS.
Sometimes a secret must be told even though someone is injured. When you know someone is secretly sinning and jeopardizing his standing with Jehovah and marring the purity of the congregation you must speak. Speak to whom? Everyone in the congregation? There is no reason to. To so spread it would be wrong, harmful to both the individual and the congregation. In some cases it may be sufficient to speak to the individual involved; more often it will be necessary to talk to the servant committee of the congregation. To make such a report may result in what seems injurious to the guilty person, but actually the ultimate result will be to his good. No discipline seems joyous at the time, but one submitting to it and trained by it finally reaps benefit from it. The point to remember is that when such a secret is revealed it should be to those able or delegated to correct the matter, and not to
gossips for them to cluck about. Paul wrote to the Corinthians: "For the disclosure was made to me about you, my brothers, by those of the house of Chloe, that dissensions exist among you." Were those of the house of Chloe gossiping about the brothers at Corinth? No, the report was made for their good. It was made to one who could remedy matters by authoritatively correcting them and putting their feet back on the path of life and in the footsteps of Jesus.—1 Cor. 1:11; Heb. 12:11, NW.
5 Jehovah's law provided for witnesses to testify against wrongdoers. We are not forbidden to bear witness; we are only forbidden to bear false witness. Many in the world condemn as "squealing" the disclosure of facts that expose another. Especially is this the code of the underworld, which says it is all right to remain silent or to testify falsely to shield a criminal, but it is odious to tell the truth if it exposes a wrongdoer. In the Christian congregation it is a mistaken sense of loyalty to a brother to shield his sins when those sins jeopardize both his life and the congregation's purity. The true friend of the brother and of Jehovah's congregation will rebuke him, or if necessary will report to the committee so that a rebuke of greater force can be given to shock the sinner back to his senses. A true friend will inflict this temporary wound for the sinner's eternal healing: "Sincere are the wounds of a friend; but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy." So the friend that conceals a continuing sinful practice is not a real friend, but is actually an enemy. He may be commended by the code of the underworld, but he is condemned by the scriptural principles of the new world.—Prov. 27:6, AT. 6 Hence it is not gossip to report to the proper servants a continuing sinful practice, but it would be gossip to spread it to others in the congregation who are in no position to take corrective measures, and it would be wrong to reveal a past sin of one who had truly repented and reformed and who was demonstrating it by making straight paths for his feet.
Nor is it gossip to talk about our brothers, what they are doing, where they are going or what is happening to them. We are interested in people, and especially in our brothers, and there is no harm in discussing their activities if we are accurate and if it results in no injury to them. But this talk becomes gossip when we probe into their personal, private affairs, or when we raise questions about their motives or cast doubts or plant suspicions about their conduct. Is your talk disparaging of the person? Does it hurt his reputation? Does it cause his friends to separate from him? Does it hurt his feelings or sow discord? Does it cause him to lose privileges of service? Is it true? If true, has it been exaggerated or colored until the impression it leaves is untrue? Is it spoken with a feeling of superiority, smugness, envy, malice or bitterness? Can you say it with a conscience that is clear, so clear that you would say it to the person's face in exactly the same tone and words? And what is the result of your words? Is the fruit of your talk good or evil? By its fruit it can be recognized.
7 Not all individuals have the same weaknesses. To counter our weaknesses we must first know them. Do you have a weakness for gossip? If you do, admit it; millions of others keep you company. Admit it, and fight it! How else can you overcome it? Though it may not be pleasant for women to hear, the Bible seems to indicate that women trespass with the tongue more often than men. This is not to say men do
not gossip. They do. Some gossip more than women. But women as a group are guilty of gossip more than are men as a group. The Bible specially cautions women: "Let the aged women be reverent in behavior, not slanderous." Also, "Women should likewise be serious, not slanderous." It is when discussing women that the Bible states: "At the same time they also learn to be unoccupied, gadding about to the houses, yes, not only unoccupied, but also gossipers and meddlers in other people's affairs, talking of things they ought not." Not the male tongue, but the female tongue is the one singled out as the irritant in households: "A wife's quarreling is a continual dripping of rain." Again, "A continual dripping on a rainy day and a contentious woman are alike; to restrain her is to restrain the wind or to grasp oil in his right hand."—Titus 2:3; 1 Tim. 3:11; 5:13, NW; Prov. 19:13; 27:15, 16, RS.
Why is this? Is it because men have higher principles in this regard? Not necessarily. A man's aggressive tendencies make his trespasses take a different direction. As a group men are more prone than women to commit physical violence or murder. But women like to talk more than men do, and they are very much interested in people, the activities and problems and romances of people. When women talk they discuss what interests them, which means they talk about people, which in turn means there is an ever-present danger that the talk may deteriorate into gossip. Men are more interested in subjects, in science, world events, economics or their work, and when they talk about these things the danger of gossip is not so great as when discussing people. Talking in itself is not bad. Women's flair for talking can be and often is put to good use. It is by their talkativeness that small children learn to speak.
Because of their ready speech women ministers may present the truth to others more easily than men, and they may make more of a contribution to congregational meetings by volunteering comments when the program calls for audience participation. But this asset can become a snare when the tongue breaks loose and runs uncontrolled in gossip. Hence both men and women will examine themselves to see whether they have a weakness for gossip, and if they find they do they will keep a special watch over their tongue.
9 Jehovah's Word repeatedly warns against gossiping. Gossipers are meddlers and busybodies, tending to the business of others while neglecting their own. Christians are cautioned: "Certain ones are walking disorderly among you, not working at all but meddling with what does not concern them." If we suffer it should be for maintaining Christian integrity, not for busybodying: "Let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a busybody in other people's matters. But if he suffers as a Christian, let him not feel shame." Rather than noisily intrude in the affairs of others, "make it your aim to live quietly and to mind your own business." "Every fool will be meddling," the Bible tells us. Why fit into the description of a fool?—2 Thess. 3:11; 1 Pet. 4:15, 16; 1 Thess. 4:11, NW; Prov. 20:3.
10 Meddling gossips make trouble. They babble the business of others, color and exaggerate, misrepresent and distort, and heap high their inflammatory whisperings: "For lack of wood the fire goes out; and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases. As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for
kindling strife. The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body." Rather than the words' being spoken aloud to the person's face, they are whispered behind his back and the slander is greedily swallowed by ears gluttonous for gossip. These whisperings make no mere superficial impression, but they sink in deep to be thoroughly chewed and digested. "A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity," but the whisperer is no friend. Just when the person needs friends and brothers most, when he is in some trouble or undergoing adversity, then is when the whisperer strikes the hardest to deprive the sufferer of his friends: "A whisperer separates close friends." "He who repeats a matter alienates a friend." —Prov. 26:20-22; 17:17; 16:28; 17:9, RS. 11 "He who utters slander is a fool." Most gossip is slanderous. Any truth once present is soon magnified till the bulk of the tale is lies. Friends begin to shy away from the one being slandered, and Jehovah's hatred comes upon the gossiper "who sows discord among brothers" in the congregation. Slandering is one of the sins predicted to flourish in the last days and which makes this old world worthy of destruction; so Christians especially should shun "hypocrisy and envies and all kinds of backbiting." (Prov. 10:18; 6:19, RS; 1 Pet. 2:1; 2 Tim. 3:3, NW) Often gossip is not malicious and no harm is intended, but harm follows nonetheless. If you accidentally kill a man he is just as dead as if you meant to do it. If you spread lies thinking them truths, they are still lies and you are lying. You may try to shift the blame to another, saying he told the tale to you. All right, he lied. But when you repeated it you lied. According to the libel laws if one repeats a lie in print he is guilty, regardless of who started it or whom he was quoting.
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