The Watchtower, October 15, 1955

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WATCHTOWER Announcing JEHOVAH'S

OCTOBER 15,1955 Semimonthly

THE TRIUMPHANT MESSAGE OF "THE KINGDOM"

AN EXPRESSION OF HIS TRIUMPH

WAS PETER THE FIRST POPE?

BUSINESS TEACHES CHURCHES MORALITY?

Announcing JEHOVAH'S KINGDOM

QUESTIONS FROM READERS

"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".

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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

Business Teaches Churches Morality? 611

Was Peter the First Pope? 612

Modern History of Jehovah's Witnesses

Part 20: Theocratic Warfare by Christian Neutrals During World Conflict 617

Missionary Comforts Japanese Mother 620

The Triumphant Message of "The Kingdom" 621

An Expression of His Triumph 635

How Today's Churches Would View Paul 637

Questions from Readers 638

Truth Found in Garbage Heap 639

Check Your Memory 640

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Business Teaches Churches Morality?

IN ANCIENT Bible times the people were instructed in what was right and what was wrong by the Levite priests. "The priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth; for he is the messenger of Jehovah." There were instances, however, when the priests sank so low that they outraged the moral sense of the people whom they themselves were supposed to instruct in what was right and wrong, a case in point being the delinquent sons of priest Eli. Mal. 2:7; 1 Sam. 2:12-17, 22-25, AS.

The facts today indicate that the leaders of religion in Christendom furnish a modern counterpart to those wayward sons of Eli. These likewise occupy the position of teachers before the people and yet are willing to stoop to such questionable methods that others are impelled to preach morals to the religious leaders. An instance of this appeared in the April 11, 1955, issue of Advertising Age.

The editorial said, in part: "It continues to amaze us that those whose conduct in all regards should be above suspicion are so willing to use fund-raising devices which smack of the carnival come-on. Most commercial advertisers wouldn't dare touch this sort of thing, because they know they'd be severely censured. But religious and charitable groups apparently believe it's all right for them to use devices of doubtful ethical virtue because they're being used 'in a good cause.' This strikes us as a moral sophistry of the highest order, if there is such a thing."

Big business has no monopoly on morals, to put it mildly. However, corrupt as big business is, it at least is serving some purpose, as industry and commerce are necessary, whether conducted honestly or not. And it must also be admitted that even a corrupt government is better than none at all. But when organized religion, which has arrogated to itself to represent God and teach the people morals, becomes hypocritical, of what use is it?

The foregoing calls to mind God's judgment on ancient Jerusalem. Because of its wayward course, its failure to bring forth righteous fruits, Jehovah likened it to a scorched vine that was good for nothing but to be burned, for one could not make any work with it such as a peg on which to hang things. "As the vine-tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem." "The fire shall devour them; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah, when I set my face against them. And I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, saith the Lord Jehovah." That fire will be Armageddon.—Ezek. 15:1-8, AS; Rev. 16:14, 16.

02-081904

Is Peter the rock on which Christ built his church? What are the keys that Jesus gave to Peter? Were the keys handed down to successors? Did Peter claim to be the first pope? Did he act like a pope? Here are the answers from God's own Word.

the First Pope?

HONEST-HEARTED persons do not object to an examination of the pope's titles "Vicar of Jesus Christ" and "Successor of St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles." Are they Scriptural? Priests refer any inquirer to Jesus' words at Matthew 16:18, 19 in the Catholic Douay Bible: "I say to thee: That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church. And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven." Does this mean, as the Roman Catholic Church claims, that Jesus appointed Peter the head of his church and the first pope?

To understand what Jesus meant it is well to examine, with the benefit of an accurate, modern translation of the Bible, Jesus' words and their context. One day, while Jesus and his apostles were in the neighborhood of Caesarea Philippi, he asked them: "Who are men saying the Son of man is?" The various answers people gave were wrong. So Jesus asked his apostles: "You, though, who do you say I am?" Simon Peter was quick with an answer: "You are the Christ, the Son

of the living God." To this Jesus replied: "I say to you, You are Peter [Petros, 'a stone,' in the masculine gender], and on this rock-mass [Greek, petra, 'a rockmass,' in the feminine gender] I will build my congregation."—Matt. 16:13-18, NW.

What readily becomes apparent is this: the rock on which Christ built his church is not the same original Greek word that Jesus used when he referred to Peter. Petros, the name Jesus gave Peter, is in the masculine gender and means a movable stone, a piece of rock; but petra, the rock on which the church is built, is in the feminine gender and means a "rock-mass." If Jesus had meant for Peter to be the head of his church he would have said the obvious: "You are Petros and on this Petros I will build my church." But Jesus never said that! Nor did he say: "You, Peter, will build my church." Rather, Jesus said: "I will build my church." Who, then, is this petra, the "rock-mass," upon which Christ builds his church?

To "make sure of all things," as the Bible says we must, it is vital to search the Scriptures to find out how Peter himself understood Jesus' words. Did Peter really think he was the petra, the rockmass foundation? On the contrary! He understood that foundation to be Christ himself: "Then Peter, filled with holy spirit, said to them: '...

in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you impaled but whom God raised up from the dead, by this one does this man stand here sound in front of you. This is "the stone which was treated by you builders as of no account that has become chief cornerstone".'”—1 Thess. 5:21; Acts 4:8- 12, NW.

mony. Declared the apostle Paul concerning Christ: "He is the head of the body, the congregation." And again: "You have been built up upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, while Christ Jesus himself is the foundation cornerstone." Rev. 21:14; Col. 1:18; Eph. 2:20, NW.

If there was any doubt remaining as to the identity of the rock-mass, it would

If Peter was the rock on which the church was built, he certainly would have known it; and if he knew it he would have made that powerfully clear in his own epistles. But even in his own writings Peter never calls himself pope or speaks of himself as the head of the church. Rather, he identifies Christ as the rockmass foundation: "Coming to him as to a living stone, rejected, it is true, by men, but chosen, precious, with God, you yourselves also as living stones are being built up a spiritual house for the purpose of a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacbe utterly shattered by the apostle's words at 1 Corinthians 10:4 (NW), which make unmistakably clear the identity of petra, the rock-mass: "They used to drink from the spiritual rock-mass which followed them, and that rock-mass [Greek, petra] meant the Christ."

So when Jesus spoke those words at Matthew 16:18, he meant that he himself, the one who had just been identified by Peter as the Messiah, was the rockmass foundation on which the Christian congregation would be built.

When did the doctrine that Peter is

rifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. . . It is to you, therefore, that he is precious, because you are believers; but to those not believing, 'the identical stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,' and 'a stone of stumbling and a rock-mass of offense'." 1 Pet. 2:4-8, NW.

Peter recognized himself as only one of the living stones that make up the Christian church. True, being an apostle of Jesus Christ, Peter was in the foundation of the Christian church: "The wall of

the head of the church and that he supposedly has successors begin? It was established in the Roman Catholic Church in the Nicene Creed, A.D. 325 and 381. But the pure, uncorrupted Christians living in the days of the apostles never knew such a doctrine. Indeed, up till the fourth century professed Christians did not hold to such a teaching. When the Austrian Roman Catholic bishop Joseph Strossmayer made his speech before the college of cardinals in 1870, the time when the dogma of the infallibility of the pope was discussed, he made that point clear:

the city also had twelve foundation stones, and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb." But no Bible writer names Peter as the head of the church. Not a literal building, the church is a spiritual temple made up of 144,000 living stones, who form the bride of Christ, the Christian congregation. That Christ is the head of the congregation the Bible provides abundant testi-

"Of all the doctors of Christian antiquity St. Augustine occupies one of the first places for knowledge and holiness. Listen then to what he writes on his second treatise on the first epistle to St. John: 'What do the words mean, I will build my church on this rock? On this faith, on that which said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.' In his treatise on St. John we find this most significant phrase—'On this rock which thou hast confessed I will build my church, since Christ was the rock.'

The great bishop believed so little that the church was built on St. Peter that he said to the people in his thirteenth sermon, 'Thou art Peter, and on this rock (petra) which thou hast confessed, on this rock which thou hast known, saying, Thou art Christ the Son of the living God, I will build my church—upon Myself, who am the son of the living God: I will build it on Me, and not Me on thee.' That which St. Augustine thought upon this celebrated passage was the opinion of all Christendom in his time [about 400 A.D.]."

KEYS OF THE KINGDOM

What, though, of the keys that Jesus gave to Peter? Do they prove that Peter was the first pope? To answer we need to know what the keys were. A key is used Scripturally to represent the privilege of unlocking hidden truths. For example, the scribes and Pharisees were duty-bound to explain the truths of God's Word to the people, but they failed to do this; even worse, they took away from the people the opportunity to understand. So Jesus said of those religious leaders: "Woe to you who are versed in the Law, because you took away the key of knowledge." The keys that Jesus gave Peter, then, are not literal, but they symbolize or represent the unlocking of the knowledge of opportunity of entering into the kingdom of heaven.—Luke 11:52, NW.

The knowledge that Christ was to have a heavenly kingdom and that 144,000 from among mankind would reign with him in his kingdom was for long a secret. But at Pentecost, A.D. 33, God through Christ used Peter to unlock the meaning of the sacred secret to the Jewish believers. Thus Peter, being directed by heaven, unlocked

the meaning of "the sacred secret which was concealed from the past systems of things and from the past generations." Col. 1:26, NW.

For three and a half years the apostles preached the gospel to the Jews exclusively. Then the time came for Peter to use the second key. This was A.D. 36. Heaven directed Peter to go to the home of the Roman soldier Cornelius, a Gentile, to explain the good news. Cornelius and his family believed. And to the surprise of the Jewish Christians God's holy spirit was poured out on non-Jewish believers: "While Peter was yet speaking about these matters the holy spirit fell upon all those hearing the word. And the faithful ones that had come with Peter who were of those circumcised were amazed, because the free gift of the holy spirit was being poured out also upon people of the nations." And the "sacred secret" had vital meaning for people of the nations for the first time. For now the door of opportunity to enter into the heavenly kingdom was open to people of any nation. "In other generations this secret was not made known to the sons of men as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by spirit, namely, that people of the nations should be joint heirs and fellow members of the body and partakers with us of the promise in union with Christ Jesus through the good news."—Acts 10:44, 45; Eph. 3:5, 6, NW.

So Peter was blessed with the privilege of unlocking the door of opportunity into the heavenly kingdom, first to the Jews and then to the non-Jews. Said Peter: "Brothers, you well know that from early days God made the choice among you that through my mouth people of the nations should hear the word of the good news and believe."—Acts 15:7, NW.

Notice Peter's words: "God made the choice among you." Always God through Christ directed matters.

Never did Peter have the prerogative to teach whatever he felt was right to teach. Heaven directed all of Peter's moves. Said Jesus: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens, and whatever you may bind on earth will have been bound in the heavens, and whatever you may loose on earth will have been loosed in the heavens." Peter had the power to teach only what was already loosed in heaven by Christ. In other words, Peter was not to formulate any teaching of his own, but must wait for Christ to loose it in heaven. So Peter's receiving of the keys never gave him absolute supremacy over the church in the matter of teaching.—Matt. 16:19, NW.

Moreover, once Peter used the keys there was no further use for them.

NO RESEMBLANCE TO ANY POPE

If Peter had been the first pope, would he not have known it? Yet never once did he call himself "Supreme Pontiff" or pope. Nowhere in his writings did he claim supremacy, infallibility or the right to have a successor. On subjects so important as this it is unthinkable that Peter would remain silent.

If Peter was the vicar of Jesus Christ, how is it that he never acted like a pope? Peter never established himself in a sumptuous residence. He never hired a small army of soldiers to guard him. He never dressed in clothes drastically different from his brothers. He never had himself carried about by his brothers on a papal chair similar to one used by Egyptian kings. Why did he never act like a pope? Because he obeyed Jesus' command: "Do not call anyone your father on earth, for One is your Father, the heavenly One. Neither be called 'leaders', for your Leader is one, the Christ."—Matt. 23:9, 10, NW.

Peter had ample opportunity to act as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church

does, but he never did. When Peter used the second key and brought Jehovah's way of salvation to Cornelius, the Bible account says: "As Peter entered, Cornelius met him, fell down at his feet and did obeisance to him. But Peter lifted him up, saying: 'Rise; I myself am also a man.'" (Acts 10:25, 26, NW) Did Peter extend a ring to the prostrate Cornelius? No, Peter lifted Cornelius up, saying: "Rise; I myself am also a man." Who ever heard of a pope lifting up a man prostrate before him, admitting his own comparative unimportance and equality with other men?

And where is the resemblance in the matter of simony? Simon the magician tried to bribe Peter into giving him the privilege of conferring the holy spirit on anyone he wished. Peter refused. Yet the popes are notorious for accepting and offering bribes. Alexander VI, in 1492, gained the papacy by bribery. When the reformer Savonarola made a list of this pope's crimes, the pope tried to silence him by holding out a cardinal's hat! Pope Benedict IX sold his popehood to Gregory VI. Julius II, says The Catholic Encyclopedia, "did not hesitate to employ bribery" to gain the papal crown. Though ostensibly opposed to simony, popes have resorted to it so often that in the matter of papal elections alone The Encyclopedia Britannica (ninth edition under "Conclave") says: "A study of the history of the Papal conclaves leaves the student with the conviction that no election untainted by simony has ever yet been made, while in a great number of instances the simony practiced in the conclave has been of the grossest, most shameless, and most overt kind." Peter acted most unpopelike when he refused Simon's bribe: "May your silver perish with you, because you thought through money to get possession of the free gift of God."—Acts 8:9-24, NW. If Peter was the first pope, how is it that Jesus did not choose one that could set the proper example for future popes?

For popes are not allowed to experience the marital state; yet Peter was married. Both Mark and Luke spoke of "Simon's mother-in-law." And the apostle Paul wrote: "We have authority to lead about a sister as a wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the Lord's brothers and Cephas [Peter], do we not?" But popes do not have this authority.—Mark 1:30; Luke 4:38; 1 Cor. 9:5, NW.

If Peter was an infallible pope, how is it that he showed up so many times to be in error? Just a few moments after Christ spoke the words of Matthew 16:18, Peter appeared far from infallible; and Jesus had to rebuke him, saying: "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumblingblock to me." Would Christ address the infallible head of his church with terms such as "Satan" and "stumblingblock"? Time and again Peter showed he was not infallible. Once he lost faith while walking on water, and sank. Once he used his sword when he should not have. He even denied knowing Jesus. And after Christ's death he still did not understand that Christ must be raised from the dead. Later Peter slipped into a wrong practice and had to be corrected by the apostle Paul.—Matt. 16:22, 23; 14:29-31; Luke 22:31-34; John 18:10, 11; Gal. 2:11, NW.

NOT "PRINCE OF THE APOSTLES"

The pope is called "Successor to St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles." But the Bible does not give the slightest trace that he was "prince of the apostles." On the contrary, it gives abundant evidence that he was just one of the apostles and not the chief one. At Galatians 2:9 (NW) Paul writes of "James and Cephas [Peter] and John, the ones who seemed to be pillars." Yet he puts James first. Would Paul have

slighted the "prince of the apostles" by putting his name second in this list, if Peter was really chief of apostles? At a meeting in Jerusalem Peter made a speech but it was James who presided and made the decisions. If Peter was chief apostle it is unthinkable that he would have allowed James to preside over a most important meeting.—Acts 15:13-19, NW.

Finally, the last living apostle was John, not Peter. This would not be the logical arrangement if Peter was a pope. And here is something thought-arousing: The Catholic Encyclopedia lists four popes as succeeding Peter, St. Linus, St. Anacletus I, St. Clement I and St. Evaristus, the last of whom reigned about A.D. 99. Now the apostle John lived until about A.D. 100 or later. Yet John, in his writings, never once mentioned the name of any of these popes or even the fact that any pope existed. Why the silence on such extremely vital matters? Stranger yet is the fact that four popes supposedly succeeded Peter during the life span of the apostle John. Yet, if there was to be a successor, John, the beloved disciple of Jesus and apostle of the Lamb and one of the twelve foundation stones, would be the most logical choice.

What conclusion must we come to, then? That Peter never had a successor. That Peter was merely one of the apostles, one of the twelve foundation stones and not the chief cornerstone or rock-mass upon which the congregation is built. That Peter used the keys of the kingdom and that the keys cannot be used again or passed on to another. That Peter was not "prince of the apostles." That Peter never acted like a pope. That the rock on which Christ builds his congregation is Christ himself. Thus in the error-destroying light of God's Word lies exposed one of the most colossal hoaxes of all time. Peter was not the first pope.

MODERN HISTORY of Jehovah's Witnesses

Part 20 THEOCRATIC WARFARE BY CHRISTIAN NEUTRALS DURING WORLD CONFLICT

IN 1940 the United States passed the Selective Training and Service Act that authorized the conscription for military service of all young men over 18 years of age. Provision was made in Class IV-D for the exemption of those who were duly ordained ministers. General Lewis B. Hershey, the director of Selective Service for the United States, published an opinion in June, 1941, that members of the Brooklyn (N.Y.) Bethel family and pioneers may be granted exemption. However, like all others, they must establish such claims before the local draft boards.a Then on November 2, 1942, General Hershey published an amended opinion as to whether Jehovah's witnesses may be placed in Class IV-D as regular or duly ordained ministers of religion exempt from military training and service. In this opinion he expressly shows that Jehovah's witnesses constitute a religious body.

"The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, Inc., is incorporated under the laws of the State of New York for charitable, religious and scientific purposes. The unincorporated body of persons known as Jehovah's Witnesses hold in common certain religious tenets and beliefs and recognize as their terrestrial governing organization the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, Inc. By their adherence to the organization of this religious corporation, the unincorporated body of Jehovah's Witnesses are considered to constitute a recognized religious sect."b

This administrative opinion aided many to clarify their respective positions under the legal classification "minister of religion."

In actual fact Jehovah's witnesses are already dedicated as ministerial 'soldiers of Jesus Christ.' Therefore they cannot take on another dedication to serve in the armies of Caesar. (2 Tim. 2:3) Most of the male witnesses were able to establish their ministerial status before their local draft boards successfully. However, due to local draft board prejudice, some who claimed the status were not granted recognition. This necessitated the bringing of many of such before the courts, with eventual imprisonment from one to five years. Consequently several aspects of the draft issue have been brought before the Supreme Court of the United States, involving cases of Jehovah's witnesses. Some have been won, others lost. Two thirds of all the thousands of criminal prosecutions of those claiming conscientious objector status under the Selective Service Act involved Jehovah's witnesses.

"This surprising number of prisoners is composed almost two thirds of Jehovah's Witnesses, practically all of whom demanded recognition as ministers of the gospel and were denied it by their draft boards." c

To take care of the many prisoners who were witnesses, special camps under the supervision of various federal prisons were established. Upward of 3,500 young ministers were thus confined during the war.

d However, these young men did not idle their time away but rather spent their spare hours in vigorous study of the Scriptures and other subjects to equip themselves better for the ministry upon their release. These prisoners were allowed to have weekly group studies of the Bible and at regular intervals were permitted the visit of a special minister sent from the Society's headquarters to serve them spiritually. The integrity of these young men served as a great witness to the nation. It took more courage to stand for one's principles of neutrality than to go along with the crowd.

All these legal actions have built up a monumental record that can be read by all men. Note how the late Mr. Justice Murphy, of the United States Supreme Court, put it:

"From ancient times to the present day, the ingenuity of man has known no limits in its ability to forge weapons of oppression for use against those who dare to express or practice unorthodox religious beliefs. And the Jehovah's Witnesses are living proof of the fact that even in this nation, conceived as it was in the ideals of freedom, the right to practice religion in unconventional ways is still far from secure. Theirs is a militant and unpopular faith, pursued with a fanatical zeal. They have suffered brutal beatings; their property has been destroyed; they have been harassed at every turn by the resurrection and enforcement of little used ordinances and statutes. See Mulder and Comisky, 'Jehovah's Witnesses Mold Constitutional Law,' 2 Bill of Rights Review, No. 4, p. 262. To them, along with other present-day religious minorities, befalls the burden of testing our devotion to the ideals and constitutional guarantees of religious freedom."e

So at great cost to themselves of time, money and personal suffering the witnesses in the United States during the war period vigorously pursued a consistent

course of neutrality. They made a fighting effort to keep open the door of freedom of worship through which to expand their preaching activities. At the close of the war much of the great flood of opposition ceased and they entered calmer waters in which to continue their God-given ministry. Incidentally, the United States Supreme Court up to 1955 has decided fifty cases involving Jehovah's witnesses, 23 favorable decisions in 37 cases and 10 unfavorable decisions in 13 cases.

Following the end of World War II in 1945 Jehovah's witnesses dug themselves out of the debris of war. Thousands began to return from concentration camps and prisons. Those first hours of freedom were sweet. Immediately on the way home the witnesses began to preach. f Many are the reports of the moving reception the witnesses were given in their preaching from house to house. To the public they seemed to be as ones resurrected from the dead. Efforts were made to reassemble the witnesses into congregations for organized field-service activity. Branch offices were reopened in country after country as the Nazi armies retreated to final defeat. There was a great demand for organizational servants with sufficient health to become circuit servants. In their poverty, makeshift equipment was gathered together to start the wheels of the publishing work again, to supply printed literature and other Bible helps. Food and clothing were secondary considerations. The prime objective was the re-establishment of the Biblical feeding service, first for the witnesses themselves and then for the vast spiritually starved public of good will.

In the more fortunate countries the witnesses immediately organized a worldwide relief campaign that went into operation January, 1946. The thousands of brothers in the United States, Canada, Switzerland and Sweden voluntarily shared with their less fortunate brothers clothing and money to buy food.

The relief program covered two years and a half to rehabilitate the witnesses in the following war-torn countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, China, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Philippine Republic, Poland and Romania. The total shipments of clothing amounted to 1,056,247 pounds and of food 718,873 pounds, besides 124,-110 pairs of shoes. All of this came to the value of $1,322,406.90. This figure does not include the value of many hours of time spent in gathering and distributing the materials. Surely this manifests love on the part of the brothers to share their blessings, which flowed both ways. In the one direction flowed material aid and, in exchange, in the other direction flowed the record of integrity that made world news, bringing the witnesses to global fame as champions of Christian principles. Thus the witness work to Jehovah's praise was made easier in all parts of the earth. (2 Cor. 8:13-15) All of this serves as evidence that Jehovah's people are a unified world-wide family under the loving direction of a theocratic New World society motherly watching over them.

How did their publishing activities fare during the heavy years of the war? Though in many countries the vast distributions of literature were greatly cut down and thousands of ministers were imprisoned, nevertheless the world distribution is a sizable figure. But the amazing thing is that the peak number of active ministers almost doubled, demonstrating that the heat of war hastens the bringing forth of more honest-hearted ones into the preaching ranks of the witnesses. Note the following global activity figures.

Period

Distribution of books and bookletsh

Peak of associates or publishers

1874-1892

1,535,600

1893-1918

9,737,224

21,274

1919-1930

93,500,000

23,988

1931-1939

215,984,991

73,469

1940-1945

158,315,308

141,6061

The spreading of Bible truth grandly moves on, war or no war. This is the time of the end when the good news of the established kingdom is being preached in every continent of earth. Men and demons cannot stop it for long. If they try to fight against God and the irresistible power of his holy spirit, they put themselves in the way of eventual destruction, as well exemplified by that infamous puny fighter against God and his witnesses—that one named Hitler.

(To be continued)

h Not counting the placement of scores of millions of magazines and free tracts.

i 1946 Yearbook, p. 218.

"WHERE THERE IS A WILL THERE IS A WAY"

During the 1955 Watchtower subscription campaign one part-time minister in Michigan obtained 204 subscriptions, and this in spite of the fact that this part-time minister works 75 hours a week in an automobile plant, thus giving him very little time to go from house to house preaching and obtaining subscriptions. However, because of the strenuousness of his job he works at it only an hour at a time and then rests an hour, etc. Instead of resting idly this part-time minister uses the time to preach to his fellow employees all over the plant. And like all mature ministers of Jehovah he is following through with return visits on those from whom he has obtained subscriptions.

MISSIONARY COMFORTS JAPANESE MOTHER

THAT there is much preaching work to be done in all parts of the earth cannot be gainsaid. However, it also is true that the Watch Tower missionaries who graduate from Gilead are sent to where the need is the greatest. That there are blessings commensurate with what it costs to be a missionary is apparent from the following report from one in Tokyo, Japan:

"In going from house to house with the good news of God's kingdom I met a woman who told me that she was so glad I called, as about a year ago she had lost her little girl about four years old, and since then she felt that her world had ended. The fact that her husband was a very kind man, and that she also had a son, did not seem to compensate for the loss of the little daughter she had so grown to love.

"She had been brought up in the very old Japanese 'Kitsune' religion, and recently, because she was often feeling so sad, she thought of attending some church in the hopes that this might change her frame of mind. She was looking for someone to tell her about the true God, one who could help her and give her some hope. I told her briefly of Jehovah's precious promises and of the powerful hope of the resurrection. She listened intently and subscribed for The Watchtower, and then asked, 'When can you come back and talk to my husband and me?' A time was set and two days later I called back. They both came to the door to welcome me, the husband saying: 'My wife has been talking about your visit ever since you called two days ago, and has been waiting impatiently since for your visit tonight.'

"After the first study she was quick to understand God's purpose and concluded by saying, 'Oh I'm so glad that I didn't go to some church, because if I had I would not have wanted to listen to you when you came to my door.' Two days later I received a letter from her thanking me very much for my visit

and telling me that she sets aside two hours each day for personal study, and, please, how soon could I come again, because the day we study together is the best day of the week?

"After each study she insists on walking to the station with me because she says that way we can continue our conversation about Jehovah as we walk along. The other day as I was passing by I dropped in unexpectedly and asked her, 'Are you busy right now?' She replied, 'Just come and look.' I followed her into the room and there on the table was the Bible and the booklet Basis for Belief in a New World, being carefully studied and underlined, on the table.

"After just three studies she came to hear a Bible lecture at the Kingdom Hall and as I walked home with her she said, 'I think it's just wonderful the way you missionaries leave your homes, come here to Japan and learn our difficult language, and all for the purpose of leading us on to the right road.' Regarding the meeting she said, 'I'm overjoyed, for I met the finest of people.'

"The next day when I passed her house she was looking for me and asked, 'Have you a songbook with you? Ever since I sang that song, "Blessed Bible," I keep trying to remember the words and the melody, so please come in and teach me the song.' After about ten minutes the 'singing lesson' ended, for she had learned the tune, and as I left I could hear her singing it as she went about her work in the kitchen.

"Upon leaving her yesterday after the fourth study she said: 'Now I have entered Jehovah's organization; the next thing is baptism and then preaching.'"

Truly those young men and women who leave their own homes and native lands to go to faraway countries and strange peoples to preach the good news of God's kingdom and to comfort all that mourn do have heartwarming experiences.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of tender mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those in any kind of tribulation through the comfort with which we ourselves are being comforted by God. 2 Cor. 1:3, 4, NW

he Triumphant Messa

"And this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for the purpose of a witness to all the nations, and then the accomplished end will come." Matt. 24:14,NW.

MORE than nineteen centuries ago, in the spring of A.D. 33, a man sat upon the

Mount of Olives, looking at the temple of Jerusalem in the distance. The four men with him were concerned about what he had said about that temple. So they asked him a question about it and other world-important events that were due to take place. In proceeding with his lengthy answer to their threefold question, he said: "And this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for the purpose of a witness to all the nations, and then the accomplished end will come." (Matt. 24:14, NW) Today, in this year 1955, the temple of Jerusalem is no more, as he foretold that it would not be, but his prophecy concerning "this good news of the kingdom" is being fulfilled among more and more of earth's inhabitants and all the nations are being given a witness respecting "the kingdom" by a preaching campaign to which they cannot shut their ears. Triumphantly this message of "the kingdom" has gone out since first it began

to be preached, and the preaching of it sounds out as a proof not only that Jesus Christ the prophesier of it is true but that we are approaching the fully accomplished end of earth's present system of things. The preaching had to come before the end. The end could not come until after the preaching had been done on such a scale that it would be heard in all the inhabited earth and all the nations would have been witnessed to.

2 How much time has been allotted to this preaching? Down to the middle of the year 1920 it was thought that about nineteen hundred years had been allotted to the preaching of the good news of the Kingdom and that the preaching had begun A.D. 33 at Jerusalem, on the day of Pentecost when Jesus' disciples were anointed with the holy spirit and began preaching miraculously in foreign languages to the great crowd that gathered at the miracle, and that the preaching had continued through the centuries till now. It was thought to be the preaching of a kingdom yet to be established in answer to the prayer that Jesus taught, "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."—Matt. 6:9,10.

An honest examination of history, however, shows that shortly after the death of all twelve of Jesus' apostles by the end of the first century the message of even a coming kingdom of our heavenly Father began to die out. The church came to be understood as the Kingdom, and the Kingdom would come when the church was visibly or powerfully established in the earth. Less and less the emphasis was laid on the coming kingdom as the church fell away more and more from the true Christian hope and became allied to the Roman state. When finally the Roman emperor, Constantine, claimed to be converted and became a Roman Catholic, the religious clergy felt that the Kingdom had come and they sought to increase the rule of this religio-political kingdom. In 800 (A.D.), when the Holy Roman Empire was established by Charlemagne's being crowned emperor by Pope Leo III at Rome, it was felt still more that God's kingdom had been established and that, although the kingdom of God was one, it manifested itself in two directions, in the temporal direction through the political empire and in the spiritual direction through the Roman Catholic pope.

4 The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century was mixed up with politics of western Europe and this led to the marriage union of the Protestant sects with the political states. The political rulers of such religio-political states were declared to rule by divine right and to be the visible representatives of God on earth, ruling in His name. This understanding of matters affected all views regarding God's kingdom, and although missionaries were later sent out to all parts of the earth their proclamation concerning God's kingdom was bound to be incorrect because they misunderstood the subject and they preached the teachings of the church systems that had become a part of this world.

5 On the other hand, Jesus, when on trial for his life, told the Roman governor of Judea: "My kingdom is no part of this world. If my kingdom were part of this world, my attendants would have fought that I should not be delivered up to the Jews. But, as it is, my kingdom is not from this source." (John 18:36, NW) In no way, therefore, could the preaching that the Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic and Protestant missionaries did during past centuries be interpreted as fulfilling Jesus' prophecy at Matthew 24:14.

In this prophecy Jesus did not mean the preaching by such missionaries of apostate Christian religions. The Kingdom-preaching that he predicted had to wait until this twentieth century in order to go into action. God's timing of events made it so. What is the kingdom the good news of which was to be preached earthwide to all nations at the foremeant time? The point of the question that the four apostles put to Jesus determines the right answer. They said: "Tell us, When will these things be, and what will be the sign of your presence* and of the consumption of the system of things?" (Matt. 24:3, NW; Mark 13:3, 4) It was about Christ's actual presence in his God-given kingdom that those apostles asked. And concerning his "coming" into that kingdom Jesus said in later verses of his same prophetic answer: "Then the sign of the Son of man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will go to wailing and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

And he will send forth his angels with a great trumpet-sound . . . When the Son of man arrives in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit down on his glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another." (Matt. 24:30, 31; 25:31, 32, NW) Consequently the kingdom about which this good news would be preached is the kingdom with Jesus Christ present in it in power, on his throne of active rulership. The Kingdom is, not one yet to be set up, but one now established.

The news of its being established is not good news to everybody, for, instead of everybody's rejoicing over its establishment in the heavens, Jesus said that all the tribes of the earth would go to wailing at it and that he as King and Shepherd would separate people of all the nations over the matter of the Kingdom, just as a shepherd separates goats from among his sheep. God's scheduled time to establish that heavenly kingdom with his Son on the throne was at the end of the "appointed times of the nations," or 2,520 years from when the kingdom of Jerusalem in the land of Judah was desolated in early autumn or in the seventh Jewish month of the year 607 B.C. Those seven "appointed times of the nations" ended in the early autumn of 1914, about October 1. Before then the "good news" of the established kingdom could not be preached.

In December, 1879, in the sixth issue of the magazine now known as The Watchtower, it called attention to the fact that these times would run out in 1914. Did the professed Christian nations of Christendom take notice of this with any faith or joyful expectation? No! In the early autumn of 1914 the nations of Christendom were in no joyful mood over the establishing of God's heavenly kingdom with Christ in the throne as his anointed King. The nations were raging in their first world war over world domination, and the religious clergy, Catholic and Protestant, were nationalistically backing up their sides in the gory fight, praying for God to give victory to one part of Christendom over the other part of Christendom. This first world war affected all the world. Ever since then "all the tribes of the earth" have gone wailing, and to this day they have not stopped, even though the sign of the Son of man's having come into his longexpected kingdom is very clear and convincing to every eye not blinded by the enemy, Satan the Devil. These wailing tribes are not the people that the Shepherd-King Jesus Christ separates to his right side as sheep.

In its issue of July 1, 1920, the magazine The Watch Tower published the article "Gospel of the Kingdom." It was not till then that Jehovah's witnesses throughout the earth saw that the "good news" or gospel was about the now established kingdom and that the good news of this kingdom must begin to be preached now, after the "beginning of pangs of distress" experienced during the period of World War I; and that the preaching must continue until the battle of Armageddon, the great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world's beginning until now, no, nor will occur again."

(Matt. 24:7, 8, 21, NW) Now, in the "time of the end" of this satanic system of things, is when "this good news of the kingdom" must be preached everywhere possible.Now is when it is being preached. It will keep on being preached until this system of things ends and the new system of things, God's new world of "new heavens and a new earth," is ushered in with all its blessings. The missionaries of Christendom throughout the earth number into the thousands. Despite all these, it is not too much to say that Jehovah's witnesses are the only ones preaching "this good news of the kingdom." Why? Because they are the only ones that see the established kingdom in the light of modern events interpreted by Bible prophecy, and they are the only ones with the faith and courage from God to preach it.

10 Because Jesus called it "good news" let no one think that it does not take courage and faith in God to preach it. It is indeed God's kingdom by Christ that is preached, which fact should ordinarily make it a most welcome message. But do you know what preaching it to this anguished world means? It means preaching the news of an enemy kingdom and preaching it in enemy lands. Why? Because the world, including Christendom, is no friend to God's kingdom, neither are Jehovah God and his Christ friends to this world. The Revelation, which gives a vision of God's organization giving birth to his kingdom in 1914, pictures that fact this way: "She gave birth to a son, a male, who is destined to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod. And her child was caught away to God and to his throne." (Rev. 12:5, NW) That "iron rod" in the hands of God's kingdom is for dashing the nations of this world to pieces like frail potters' vessels at Armageddon, as foretold at Psalm 2:7-9. It is no wonder that

since 1914 the nations have raged in two world wars, with many lesser wars in between and since, and that they have meditated vain things like the League of Nations and the United Nations and have taken counsel together against Jehovah and against his anointed King Jesus Christ, as that same psalm foretold. (Ps. 2:1, 2, AS) Hence when a true Christian comes preaching the only really "good news" he comes as a publisher of a kingdom that is prophesied to destroy the nations of this world. This fact makes the preaching a work calling for courage that only God can supply.

11 On April 23, 1955, at a Y.M.C.A. luncheon in New York city Dean James A. Pike of New York Cathedral said he sometimes felt it was unfortunate that "being a Christian is such a safe thing." When this orthodox clergyman said that, was he thinking about Jehovah's witnesses as preachers of this established kingdom? No! Those whom the dean really meant are people who profess to be Christians because they are members of the respected religious systems of Christendom, membership being popular and having the protection of the political governments of Christendom.

12 Jehovah's witnesses are endeavoring to be true Christians in accord with the Bible requirements, but they do not find it a "safe thing" anywhere on earth. Even in Christendom they have experienced what Dean Pike next goes on to observe, namely, that in its beginning years Christianity was an "illegal" and "subversive" doctrine and its advocates often came to the attention of the "un-Roman activities committee." Christianity, Dean Pike contended, has to return to its early dynamism if it is to be completely successful

is because Jehovah's witnesses have returned to the dynamism of the Christianity of apostolic days that even today, after the hysteria of World War II, they are "illegal" in a number of lands in Christendom, not to speak of Communist lands, and that they are falsely accused by their religious foes of being "subversive" and security risks, being classed at one time as Nazis, at another time as Communists, in Communist lands as spies and agents of imperialist countries, and elsewhere as secret agents of Jewish Zionism, any old charge being leveled at them to rouse public feeling against them, to stir up government action against them and to make their existence unsafe.

13 But this does not succeed. Jehovah's witnesses today continue to make a public declaration of their faith and hope and to preach the good news of the Kingdom in the midst of the greatest unsafety in the concentration camps and forced labor camps and prisons of Communist lands and of other lands under totalitarian rule and dictatorship. They triumph over these forms and operations of Devil rule, even as described in Revelation 12:11 (NW): "They conquered [Satan the Devil] because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their witnessing, and they did not love their souls even despite

the danger of death." Nowhere is being one of Jehovah's witnesses an "easy religion" nor is one safe from some form of hatred and assault by servants and governments of the invisible "ruler of this world," Satan the Devil. Communists and other totalitarian rulers try to make Jehovah's witnesses show that theirs is an inferior religion, not able to hold out against this world, but the faithfulness of the witnesses under these efforts to force them to give up their religion administers a defeat to the Communists and other totalitarians. As Dean Pike also said: "Communism is a world religion. It can only be defeated by a better religion. Nothing else can defeat it." The failure of the ban and persecutions by Communists against Jehovah's witnesses to stamp them out or to halt their increase is an eloquent testimony that among Jehovah's witnesses they have met up with the one "better religion," and it serves notice upon these radical fighters against Jehovah God that his witnesses will be here triumphant after communism and other radicalisms have gone. Their religion is as imperishable as Jehovah's kingdom that they preach.—New York Times, January 11, 1955.

HOW

14 The manner in which Jehovah's witnesses preach "this good news of the kingdom" has come in for criticism. They do not preach in the orthodox, formal way, which is the easy way, in clergy dress in a church pulpit and with one's religious flock gathered inside before the preacher or priest. This ceremonial, orthodox way of preaching in Christendom has failed to fulfill the command of Jesus to his disciples: "Go [yes, Go] therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, .

. . teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you." (Matt. 28:19, 20, NW) Because Christendom's orthodoxy has failed to convert the world or convert even the people in lands called "Christian" and has failed to halt the invasion of the big cities by paganism, the religious systems of Christendom try to force the people to adopt religion or religious practices and confessions by having the law-makers force religion upon unwilling people by law. This might be in harmony with the treaty of peace of Westphalia ending the Thirty Years' War in Europe in 1648 and which ruled that the religion of each province of the Holy Roman Empire was to be thereafter determined by the religion of the particular ruler of that province, be he Catholic, Lutheran or Calvinist. But it has failed to save Christendom's form of Christianity from corruption, decay and worldliness. This means that orthodoxy, which has held sway in Christendom for centuries, has not worked. It is a failure.

15 The outstanding way by which Jehovah's witnesses obey Jesus' command at Matthew 24:14 and preach "this good news of the kingdom" is by going from country to country, from city to city, from village to village and from house to house. This may not be the way that is orthodox with the clergy and laymen of Christendom, but it is apostolic, yes Christlike. After the apostle Peter and the other apostles had told the Jewish Supreme Sánhedrin at Jerusalem, "We must obey God as ruler rather than men," and had been flogged and told to stop preaching about Jesus Christ, these apostles went away rejoicing, and, says the account, "every day in the temple and from house

to house they continued without letup teaching and declaring the good news about the Christ, Jesus."—Acts 5:29, 40- 42,NW.

At that time Paul was not among those apostles in their house-to-house preaching, but years later he said in a farewell talk to the older men of the congregation of Ephesus: "I did not hold back from telling you any of the things that were profitable nor from teaching you publicly and from house to house. But I thoroughly bore witness both to Jews and to Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus. . . I went preaching the kingdom." (Acts 20:20, 21, 25, NW) When writing to the Christians at Corinth the apostle Paul said: "Become imitators of me, even as I am of Christ." (1 Cor. 11:1, NW) In house-to-house preaching Paul was an imitator of Jesus Christ, for, besides preaching in various public places, Jesus was often reported in the houses of the people telling the occupants about the Kingdom. When sending out his twelve apostles and later also seventy evangelists to preach, he told them what to say at the doors of the people upon whom they called: "Wherever you enter into a house say first: 'May this house have peace.'" (Luke 10:1, 5, NW) "When you are entering into the house, greet the household; . . . Wherever anyone does not take you in or listen to your words, on going out of that house or that city shake the dust off your feet." (Matt. 10:5, 12-14, NW) As a result of preaching in this Christlike, apostolic way Paul could write out from his prison in Rome and say that the good news "was preached in all creation that is under heaven. Of this good news I Paul became a minister. I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for you." (Col. 1:23, 24, NW) All creation under heaven was mainly pagan then.

17 After nineteen hundred years Jehovah's witnesses are still wholeheartedly given to the house-to-house way of preaching in this "time of the end," because it means obeying theocratic instructions in the Bible; it means imitating successful preachers like Jesus Christ and his apostles. Jehovah's witnesses today have faith in that original way, that it will prove just as successful with them as with Christ and his apostles. They are not too lazy to follow that way because it is harder than standing in a church pulpit. They are not afraid to do it because it is the unsafe way, exposing them to ridicule, abuse, violent opposition and religious persecution. Instead of imitating the clergy and appealing to the "sword of the state" for help, they wield the "sword of the spirit, that is, the word of God," and let it do the converting. They use the direct, practical, thorough method of Bible education, giving the people home instruction, private, personal, individual instruction in God's Word, leaving literature containing printed Bible sermons with the people called upon, then returning later to answer Bible questions and to start home Bible studies. This is the aggressive, sensible way that halts the invasion of paganism into many homes or rescues many individuals from the swelling tide of paganism. For example:

18 New York city is reputed to be one of the biggest pagan cities on earth; yet by diligent house-to-house work reaching every home possible in this city of over seven million people Jehovah's witnesses have increased from just one congregation in 1935 to fifty-five congregations thus far in 1955, with 7,048 reporting activity in preaching the good news to others. This

means there is now about one active witness of Jehovah to every one thousand persons in the city. In the United States as a whole 187,120 reported activity in preaching during April of 1955, which means that among America's 165,000,000 inhabitants there is one preaching witness of Jehovah to less than one thousand persons.

19 In the face of this is it any wonder that the clergy are beginning to make some observations and recommendations? Without themselves setting the example, the frightened clergy are now belatedly voicing the need for the laity (the members of their congregation) to get out and do some preaching, though not emphasizing the need to do house-to-house preaching. The general secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches recently declared there was need for "the witness of Christ in our professional lives as well as our family lives. . . . The only way to bring people to the Christian church is to make them aware of the tremendous grace that is the gift of Christ." (New York Times, July 12, 1954) Said the minister of Riverside church, New York city: "Overlooked is the fact that religion is, first and foremost, the glorifying of God amid the everyday activities of life. The world is the place where religion needs to be seen in action."—New York Times, July 5, 1954.

20 In a report to a meeting of the World Council of Churches at Evanston, Illinois, in 1954, one layman, an army colonel, said: "One of the most important factors bearing on the future of the church is the responsibility of the laity to carry their faith to their jobs, homes, everywhere. We need more everyday Christians rather than the so-called Sunday Christians." At that same assembly of the World Council at Evanston, in connection with a call for the churches to "break out in a spirit of evangelism of the apostles," the chairman of the section on Evangelism said: "Evangelism is not a special assignment of missionaries, but a normal action of every disciple.

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The Watchtower, October 15, 1955