Published Semimonthly By

WATCH TOWER BIBLE & TRACT SOCIETY

117 Adams Street -   - Brooklyn, N.Y., U. S. A.

officers

N. H. Knorr, President__________W. E. Van Ambukgh, Secretary

“And all thy children shall be taught of Jehovah; and great shall be the peace of thy children.’* - Isaiah 54:13.

THE SCRIPTURES CLEARLY TEACH

THAT JEHOVAH is the only true God, is from everlasting to everlasting, the Maker of heaven and earth and the Giver of life to his creatures; that the Logos was the beginning of his creation, and his active agent in the creation of all things; that the Logos is now the Lord Jesus Christ in glory, clothed with ail power in heaven and earth, and the Chief Executive Officer of Jehovah.

THAT GOD created the earth for man, created perfect man for the earth and placed him upon it; that man willfully disobeyed God’s law and was sentenced to death; that by reason of Adam’s wrong act all men are born sinners and without the right to life.

THAT JESUS was made human, and the man Jesus suffered death In order to produce the ransom or redemptive price for obedient ones of mankind; that God raised up Jesus divine and exalted him to heaven above every creature and above every name and clothed him with all power and authority.

THAT JEHOVAH'S ORGANIZATION is a Theocracy called Zion, and that Christ Jesus is the Chief Officer thereof and is the rightful King of the world; that the anointed and faithful followers of Christ Jesus are children of Zion, members of Jehovah’s organization, and are his witnesses whose duty and privilege it Is to testify to the supremacy of Jehovah, declare his purposes toward mankind as expressed in the Bible, and to bear the fruits of the kingdom before all who will hear.

THAT THE WORLD has ended, and the Lord Jesus Christ has been placed by Jehovah upon his throne of authority, has ousted Satan from heaven and is proceeding to the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth.

THAT THE RELIEF and blessings of the peoples of earth can come only by and through Jehovah’s kingdom under Christ, which has now begun; that the Lord’s next great act is the destruction of Satan’s organization and the establishment of righteousness in the earth, and that under the kingdom the people of good will that survive Armageddon shall carry out the divine mandate to “fill the earth" with a righteous race.

ITS MISSION

HIS journal Is published for the purpose of enabling the people to know Jehovah God and his purposes as expressed in the Bible. It publishes Bible Instruction specifically designed to aid Jehovah’s witnesses and all people of good wilL It arranges systematic Bible study for its readers and the Society supplies other literature to aid in such studies. It publishes suitable material for radio broadcasting and for other means of public instruction in the Scriptures.

It adheres strictly to the Bible as authority for its utterances. It Is entirely free and separate from all religion, parties, sects or other worldly organizations. It Is wholly and without reservation for the kingdom of Jehovah God under Christ his beloved King. It Is not dogmatic, but invites careful and critical examination of its contents in the light of the Scriptures. It does not Indulge in controversy, and its columns are not open to personalities.

Yeart.-v Subscription Price

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Please address the Society in every case.

(Translations of this journal appear in several lanpuapes.J

All sincere students of the Bible who by reason of Infirmity, poverty or adversity are unable to pay the subscription price may have The Watchtower free upon written application to the publishers, made once each year, stating the reason for so requesting it. We are glad to thus aid the needy, but the written application once each year la required by the postal regulations.

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Entered as second-class matter at the post office at Brooklyn, N. 7., under the Act of March S, ISIS.

“COMFORT” TESTIMONY PERIOD

To Jehovah’s witnesses the month of August is known as the “Comfort" Testimony Period. During these 31 days a special effort will be made on the part of Jehovah’s witnesses to comfort as many people as they possibly can with the truths as set forth in the Word of Jehovah God. To aid those who love righteousness the book Children along with the booklet Hope will be offered to the people on a contribution of 25c. These two publications set forth a message which shows there is something worth while living for. Those persons who trust in Jehovah’s kingdom and know that this is the only hope for the world will proclaim the message contained in these publications and make them available to as many persons as they can possibly meet during August. “Comfort” Testimony Period will be a blessing to all those who share in the preaching of the gospel. Make your report of activity to your local company servant, or if you are not associated with a company, report direct to the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society.

“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES

Week of August 16: “Defeat of Persecution,” fl 1-14 inclusive, The Watchtower July 15, 1942.

Week of August 23: “Defeat of Persecution," fl 15-27 inclusive, The Watchtower July 15, 1942.

Week of August 30: “Defeat of Persecution,” fl 28-40 inclusive, The Watchtower July 15, 1942.

“CONSOLATION”

Do you find enlightenment and joy in reading The Watch-towerf Then you are certain to find enjoyment and profit in reading its companion magazine, Consolation, put out by the same publishers. With many thousands Consolation serves a vital and important need in building them up in faith, hope and courage in these days of spreading infidelity, hopelessness and fear, and thus brings its readers solid comfort. It does not, of course, take the place of The Watchtower, which is devoted exclusively to Bible study and instruction. Consolation actually complements this magazine by publishing true-to-fact, uncensored news concerning world conditions and happenings which the commcicial publications fear and refuse to print but which the trusting public should learn so as to be warned of the operations and purposes of deadly enemies, and so be able to free oneself from their power and influence and thus avoid disaster. Consolation further publishes in each issue several pages of unusual reports on the strange work and experiences of those throughout the world who are announcing to men of good-will the ideal government which the great “God of all comfort” is now setting up for the relief and blessing of all faithful and obedient humankind. Consolation is a 32-page magazine, published every other Wednesday. A year’s subscription, of 26 issues, is just $1.00 in the United States, or $1.25 abroad. Forward your subscription to Watchtower, H7 Adams St., Brooklyn, N. Y.

ANNOUNCING JEHOVAH'S KINGDOM

No. LXIII                                     July 15,1942                                        No. 14

DEFEAT OF PERSECUTION

"Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word"—Acts 8:4.

TEHOVAH has "with great long-suffering endured I the activity of persecutors for several thousands J of years. The persecution on earth has ever been directed at one and the same class: those who down through all that stretch of years have upheld the honor of His name, worshiped him and pointed to the coming of his promised government of righteousness. It has always been the unrighteous who have persecuted the righteous, and in all cases the persecutors have been religionists. Religion was organized for that very purpose. It provides a seemingly worthy reason for the persecutors to carry on their wicked pursuit of Jehovah’s righteous ones to cause them pain, loss, reproach and death, in order to turn them out of the way of righteousness and godliness. To “persecute” means to “pursue persistently in a manner to injure, grieve and afflict; and to beset one with cruelty or malignity for holding to the pure and faithful worship of Jehovah God”. Religion screens the hateful heart back of the persecution by the claim that religion is the proper mode of worship of God and hence alone has the right and warrant from God to exist without opposition, criticism or investigation. Multitudes have been deceived by that claim and been made persecutors, verily thinking that they have been doing God a service thereby.—John 16:1,2.

² Back of the religionists in doggedly harassing those who love and obey Jehovah God and who advocate for his government is the great persecutor, who schemes for an “opposition government”. He is the mighty prince of the organization of demons and is the author of religion, which is demonism. His legions of wicked spirits he has used without letup ever since he began his program of persecution in the days of Abel. There has been one set purpose behind the persecution, namely, to bring the name of Jehovah into contempt and reproach; to make it unpleasant and painful to serve and obey him; to prevent the setting up of the Government of Righteousness; and to turn all creatures away from it and its Creator.

* That Government means glory and vindication to the name of its Author and Builder. It means the blessing of all those subject to it with life in perfect

persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” —Matt. 5:10-12.

^! When one thus suffers as the target of reviling, and evil false charges, and other forms of persecution, it is a proof that such one is on the side of righteousness for which Jehovah’s glorious Government stands. The reward to such faithful one is “great... in heaven”, because the Rewarder of faith and faithfulness is in heaven. The reward which He bestows is sure and unfading and infinitely greater than any selfish rewards that all the enemy organization on earth could bestow upon anyone yielding to its persecution. All the faithful prophets which were before Christ Jesus underwent persecution, and the apostle of the Lord writes that it was because they were witnesses, witnesses for Jehovah. (Heb. 11:1-40; 12:1) Christ Jesus was and is Jehovah's greatest prophet, greater even than Moses, and he is the One whom Jehovah has “given ... for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people”. (Isa. 55:4) He died because standing faithfully for the Government of truth and righteousness and in opposition to the rebellious opposition government. This proved him worthy of the reward of “the first resurrection” from the dead, and of the rightful title, “The Faithful and True Witness.” (Col. 1:18; Rev. 1: 5; 3: 14; 19: 11) He showed himself no mere man’s witness, but God’s chief “Government witness”. As such he clearly marked out what is the primary thing to which to bear witness when he acknowledged on trial his appointment to be the King of that Government and added: “My kingdom is not of this world: ... To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.” (John 18: 36, 37) Those who hear his voice and repeat what he says must therefore take up his witness and testify to the same Theocratic Government as he confessed, and which Government he refused to renounce under persecution to the death. Thereby these obedient and faithful witnesses become of the same class of “blessed” ones whom God mentions with honor in his Word, including those persecuted prophets of old and, chief of all, Christ Jesus, the King of The Theocracy.

’ Religionists of different creeds have fallen to the subtle “good neighbor” policy gotten up by the Hierarchy of Vatican City, for self-protection. Before that they persecuted one another. Such persecution endured for religion is, however, not “for righteousness’ sake”, because religion, which indulges in persecution, is not righteous. All religions, though fighting and differing among themselves, unite together in friendship with this world and in opposition to Jehovah’s Righteous Government under his Anointed King. When religious organizations are curbed for meddling in the politics and public affairs of this world’s governments, that is not persecution for righteousness’ sake, but for busybodying. (1 Pet. 4:15) Only that which comes because of advocating and pointing the people to Jehovah’s Government that vindicates His name is the persecution “for righteousness’ sake” and for the suffering of which the reward is great in heaven. Righteousness is the purpose of that Government. Christ Jesus so indicated when he said: “But be seeking first the kingdom and its righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matt. 6:33, Rotherham’s translation) “For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the holy spirit.” (Rom. 14:17, Am. Rev. Ver.) Those who hate “iniquity” or lawlessness toward God and who come out for the righteousness of Jehovah’s Theocratic Government are anointed to be fellows with his God-like Son in that kingdom: “But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, 0 God. is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom: thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God even thy God [Jehovah], hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.”—Heb. 1: 8, 9.

^T Said the righteous King: “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him [Jehovah God] that sent me. He that hateth me hateth my Father [Jehovah] also.” (John 15:18-21, 23) What was the “world” that hated and persecuted Christ Jesus? Not the publicans, harlots, sinners and men of the street who came to Jesus; neither the “common people” with weaknesses inherited from sinner Adam, for “the common people heard him gladly”. (Matt. 11:19; 21:31,32; Mark 12: 37) It was Satan the Devil and the demons of whom he is prince, and also the official element of Satan’s visible organization, particularly the priests and other religious clergy. Those religious leaders led the blinded people to cry, “Crucify him, crucify him,” and, “We have no king but Caesar.” (John 19:6,15) This proves beyond all contradiction that religion is not of God nor of Christ, and hence not righteous. It is demonism and is opposed to God and his Kingdom or Theocracy under Christ. Religion is therefore a part of this world and is the Devil’s chief instrument in persecution. History to date establishes that.

CONDUCT UNDER PERSECUTION

’ On occasions the dark purposes of the religious persecutors caused Jesus to proceed quietly and alone, for a time, until God’s appointed time for him to come forth boldly. (Matt. 12:14-16; John 7 :1-10; 11:54; 12; 36) He did not recklessly tempt the Lord God, but acted with wisdom equaling the serpent’s and with the harmlessness of a dove. (Matt. 10:16) The final assault upon Jesus by religionists scattered his disciples from him. It drove them for a short period “underground”. They met behind closed doors; or they gathered in an isolated mountain in Galilee. (John 20; 19, 26; Matt. 28:10,16-18) The feast day of Pentecost came. Then Jehovah God, by the spectacular pouring out of his spirit upon the faithful apostles and the others assembled in an upper room in Jerusalem, forced or brought forth his devoted servants into the public eye. Then a tremendous witness was given, in many languages, beginning that very day. The work of witnessing from house to house, as Jesus had instructed his disciples to do, was brought to the attention of the three thousand souls that were baptized and added to the company of servants of Jehovah God. (Matt. 10:12-14; Luke 10: 5-7 ; 19: 5-9) “And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking [spiritual] bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God, and having favour with all the people [whose homes they visited]. And the Lord added to the church daily.” —Acts 2: 41-47.

’ The clergy of the “Jews’ religion” claimed for themselves the right to teach the people. They did not believe the meaning of Jesus’ judgment words to them: “Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits [the revealed mature truths] thereof.” (Matt. 21:43,23,45) Hence those clergymen had no ordination from God to preach. Neither did the Lord God by his spirit put into their hands the fruits or revealed truths of the Kingdom to bear them forth to the common people. From and after Pentecost and its outpouring of God’s spirit the faithful witnesses of Jehovah had something that the religious clergy did not have; they had the spiritual ordination from Jehovah God himself. Hence the fruits of the Kingdom were put in their hands to bear them forth and hold them out to the people who were willing and anxious to take them and feed upon them. To receive this ordination the witnesses were not first required to attend the theological school or seminary at Jerusalem and sit at the feet of the great professor of religion, Gamaliel, “Doctor of Laws.” (Acts 5: 34; 22: 3) To the contrary, members of the faculty of that theological school and also students attending it persecuted those who were anointed with Jehovah’s spirit and who were thereby ordained of Him to preach and be Jehovah’s ministers of the gospel. (Acts 7:1,54-58; 9:1-3; Gal. 1:13,23; Acts 22:3) The religious priesthood and clergy felt that their territory was being invaded and their flocks were being broken up. They complained that their vested interests were being damaged by these Christians who publicly witnessed for Jehovah without ordination by the clergy.

• ¹⁰ Unable otherwise to prevent the Christians from witnessing publicly and from house to house, the religious leaders raised a persecution against those Jehovah’s witnesses. "Why? The record shows the key grievance nursed by the religionists: “And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.” (Acts 4:1,2) Jehovah's witnesses were therefore haled before the high court composed of the high priest, rulers, elders and scribes. What finding did that court make as to training to fit the disciples to bear witness as God's ordained ministers to the people? The record answers: “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus”; with Jesus, a man whom the theological school had condemned as illiterate. (Acts 4:13; John 7:15) After giving a fearless and faithful witness to that court, Jehovah’s witnesses were released, also being threatened “that they speak henceforth to no man in this name”. To that threat of persecution Jehovah’s witnesses replied: “Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”— Acts 4:19, 20.

• ¹¹ When those disciples returned to the company of Jehovah’s witnesses and made report of the trial, the whole company saw in these experiences the fulfillment of prophecy, and they prayed: “And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak thy word, by stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the holy [spirit], and they spake the word of God with boldness.” (Acts 4:17-31) Persecution had now begun upon them without the visible presence of their Leader, Christ Jesus, in their midst. Instead of scattering them in confusion and fear, this unified them and stirred them to greater boldness, even as it required boldness to continue preaching. (2 Thess. 1:3,4) Also they “put on more steam” in the witness work. The official persecution that continued upon them thereafter did not embarass them into inactivity nor frighten them into a failure to carry out their ordination to preach. They considered it no disgrace to keep on witnessing under official disapproval: “And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.” (Acts 5:41, 42) Persecution there met a signal defeat, when Jehovah’s witnesses declared: “We ought to obey God rather than men.” On they went with the regular public and house-to-house witnessing.

• ¹² When the persecution took on the very ugly form of great violence, Stephen, the so-called “first Christian martyr”, was stoned to death; the religious gestapo invaded the Christian homes and dragged off the servants of Jehovah to prison. The high clergy of religion approved this and granted letters of authority to the persecutors. (Acts 9:1,2) This caused a forcible scattering of God’s faithful witnesses. But did it crush the witness work and narrow it down to a few secret meeting-places of the witnesses? The record shows how the persecution defeated its own ends and how all others of Jehovah’s witnesses in the future should carry on when subjected to like violent action and scattering. “And Saul [of the theological school] was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judsea and Samaria, except the apostles. . . . Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.”—Acts 8:1-5; 11:19-21.

¹⁵ Note that the visible headquarters (the apostles) kept together, by the Lord’s grace and protection, but that the scattering of others of Jehovah’s witnesses caused only a spreading of the witness to parts not reached before. The scattered ones took joyfully the spoiling of their goods. (Heb. 10:34) They realized that wherever God’s providence permitted them to be scattered they must there be true to His commission to them as His witnesses, “preaching the word.” These faithful ones were not like those described in Jesus’ parable of the sower, some of whose seed fell upon stony places: “He that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it: yet hath he not root in himself, but dure th for a while; for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word [preached], by and by he is offended.” (Matt. 13: 20,21) Being thus scattered, each individual was obliged to “bear his own burden”. However, each faithful individual the Lord used to accomplish an effective witness, as in the case of Philip, who aforetime had been one of seven chosen men assigned to special duties at Jerusalem.

“ Philip, being driven away from the apostles, went to a class of people despised and avoided by the religionists; he went to the Samaritans. At their chief city he gave a mighty witness, “preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ.” (Acts 8:5-12) Though without the electrified and rapid-transit means of communication of modern days, the scattered witnesses of the Lord God managed, by secret, underground means, to keep in touch with the visible headquarters at Jerusalem. Thus it was that Philip got word through, and two of the apostles from headquarters, Peter and John, went up to Samaria to further organize the company of believers of that city and to equip them to give a more effective witness. Through the apostles the Lord imparted the spirit to the Samaritan believers. Philip did not return to headquarters with the apostles, but kept on going in the field, witnessing on the highway to Queen Candace’s Ethiopian eunuch and baptizing him. Then under the spirit’s leading he proceeded to the Philistine city of Ashdod (Azotus); “and passing through, he preached in all the cities, till he came to Ctesarea.” (Acts 8:14-40) In that city Philip brought up his family “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord”. His children became, like himself, witnesses for Jehovah and his King: “the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy.” (Acts 21:8,9) The first wave of persecution dispersed the Christian witnesses of Jehovah, but the early church survived and increased. The intended destructive effects thereof did not materialize, but a wider witness and the growth of the church resulted. Jehovah God helped his faithful witnesses overcome then; he can likewise help and bless them under like conditions now.

CLIMAX OF PERSECUTION

¹⁵ Jesus foretold that the persecution would reach a climax at the end of the world, where we have been since A. D. 1914. It was the so-called “Christian" nations that began the World War that year. Jesus detailed the events that positively show that the “time of the end” for Satan’s world began in 1914. Jesus showed that one of the strong evidences of the end would be the persecution of Jehovah’s witnesses: “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you [witnesses of Jehovah] up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. . . . But he [the remnant] that shall endure unto the end [at Armageddon], the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached [in spite of the persecution] in all the world for a witness unto all nations: and then shall the end [the final end at Armageddon] come.⁵'— Matt. 24:7-14.

” Only a small remnant of his anointed followers or body members would be upon the earth at that time, to give the final warning and Kingdom witness to the world. That these would be subjected to the fire of persecution from the demon organization Christ Jesus showed symbolically in The Revelation, chapter twelve. He pointed out that the “gospel of the kingdom”, that is, the proclamation of Jehovah’s Theocratic Government under Christ, would be the real reason for the persecution. The beginning of operation of that Government is symbolized as the birth of a “man child” by God’s “woman” (his universal organization Zion). Since that new Government is God’s capital organization, it must exercise universal domination in God’s name over all. At its birth the opposition government conducted by Satan the Devil in heaven must get out and be pushed down to the place where at last it and all its backers shall be destroyed, namely, the earth. “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” (Rev. 12:7-9) That “man child” Government must do more than this clearing out of the demons; it must dash all nations on earth to pieces as with a “rod of iron”, iron symbolizing the warfare of Armageddon.—Rev. 12:5; 2: 25-27.

¹⁷ What action did the humiliated demon organization then take! “When the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant [on earth] of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” (Rev. 12:13,17) Do the remnant of Christ’s body members give in to the persecution by the dragon organization! Do they disobey the commandments stated by God in the terms of their commission and discontinue giving the testimony, 'which testimony Christ Jesus shares with them! Do they withdraw from the testimony work because of the false accusations hurled against them of being “seditious”, “subversive,” “illegally operating,” “a potential danger to the state,” and suchlike! To the contrary, God’s faithful remnant will overcome and keep on with the testimony. “And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb [Jesus Christ], and by the [preached] word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” (Rev. 12:10,11) They maintain their integrity in God’s service though it may cost them their lives; they stop not till death.

” The persecution is due to the great issue of world domination. It is part of the Devil’s program of action for snatching out of God’s hands, if possible, the domination of the universe, thus becoming “like the Most High”, supreme. This would mean eliminating Jehovah God, and either the coming over of His organization to Satan or its destruction. Herein the Devil will fail ingloriously. Remember that the question related to that primary issue of universal domination is, Can Jehovah God retain in service in His organization any creatures who are exposed to the bitter persecution of the dragon organization! This related question applies not only to the anointed remnant of God’s “little flock”, but equally as much to their earthly companions in service, the Lord’s “other sheep”, whom He is now gathering into his fold. (John 10:10,16) Both the remnant and these “other sheep” have the honored opportunity of deciding this question to God's glory and Satan's rebuff. The faithful will do so.

” The prophecy is reaching a climax of fulfillment. Since the Devil with his demons was cast down from heaven the persecution has burst forth and increased from year to year. Not a nation on earth where it has not raged, and the worst persecutor has been “Christendom”, her name notwithstanding. In all the nations the target thereof has always been the same class, Jehovah’s •witnesses, comprising both the remnant and their companions. This shows that the persecution is all directed from a central powerhouse, or headquarters, to wit, the demons. It also shows that, no matter in what nation they are found, Jehovah’s witnesses are not of this world of which the nations are a part; wherefore all nations hate them. Religion is the same demonism today as it was in Jesus’ day. Religion is still a part of this world and is the spiritual adviser of the visible part of Satan’s organization. Therefore it is the prime promoter and is back of the persecution of Jehovah’s witnesses now. The very people who attend the religious organizations do not have to be told this; they know.

¹⁰ Immediately after the Nazi dictator signed his concordat with “Christendom’s” chief religious organization, Vatican City, in July, 1933, the persecution of Jehovah’s witnesses in Nazi-Fascist lands blazed. Why! Because, following the example of Jesus and his apostles, they were witnessing to God’s Righteous Government publicly and from house to house and so instructing many honest people. The religious “fifth column” agents of the Vatican had been planted in positions of official favor and popularity and judicial and police power, and by these agents the persecution has been carried into lands long the bulwarks of democracy and of free worship of God. But neither by such demonized harassment nor by flattering promises have the faithful who understand the issue and who love The Theocracy been coerced into unfaithfulness to their commission as Jehovah’s witnesses. The prophecy has well stated it: “And they that understand among the people shall instruct many; yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days. Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries. And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the [final] end: because it is yet for a time appointed.”—Dan. 11:33-35.

“ One of the darkest pages in American history was written in 1940, when the Roman Catholic Hierarchy in America, on instructions from Vatican City, set out to grab the American government in that year and to amend, change or blot out the United States Constitution. Craftily they timed it so that, when the Nazis were sweeping over Continental Europe with lightning war against republics and democratic countries, the Hierarchy launched their most vicious persecution of Jehovah’s witnesses who were exposing the joint Nazi-Hierarchy plot for world domination. In forty-four states out of forty-eight of the Union brutal mob violence by the offspring and dupes of that religious organization raged. Local and national police power appeared helpless, indifferent, or fearful of organized religious power back of the terrible atrocities committed against Jehovah’s witnesses. These, however, held faithful to The Theocratic Government and to their commission to represent it. Alas for the Vatican! the blitzkrieg of her Nazi concordat-partner failed to take Britain’s island fortress by storm, and the Hierarchy’s plans to synchronize their capture of the American citadel of democracy with Nazi-Fascism’s conquest of all Europe and of Protestantism’s stronghold of Britain proved premature and miscarried. In support of the above a quotation is made from The Church Gazette, published in Rushden, Northamptonshire, England, and dated March, 1942:

Southern Ireland is predominantly Roman Catholic and is the only part of the British Empire which did not respond when the Mother Country was assailed.

Northern Ireland was keen to have conscription, but the opposition from the Roman Catholics in Northern Ireland prevented this being done.

In Canada, it is notorious that it is Roman Catholic Quebec which has been, and is, fighting and opposing conscription in that country. (See The Times’ leading article, 2nd February, 1942.) While, in 1939, Ontario voted 78-0 in favour of support to Britain if the crisis led to war, nine French Roman Catholic Societies of Quebec sent a joint telegram to Premier King saying: “The entire population of Quebec (i. e., the French R. C. population) absolutely opposed to Canada’s participation in foreign War.” Hence, now, to salvage something of the conquests for the totalitarian aggressors the religious head of Vatican City radiocasts a plea for peace between totalitarian rulers and democratic nations, on May 13, 1942. The United Nations refused to alter their plans to suit him.

” God’s Word sets it down as truth that the persecution of His witnesses will not cease until the religious organization and its demon-backers are destroyed. Hence, though the Vatican’s plans for world conquest in 1940 got the shock of an unexpected setback that very year, the infliction of pain, cruelty, loss of liberty and rights and property, and other un-Christian injustices upon Jehovah’s inoffensive servants continues. The state of Mississippi stands as a flagrant example of a political organization being maneuvered by religious agents of Vatican City into a course of fighting against God, a course which honest-hearted lovers of democracy in that state do not approve. Those who have the welfare of the people of America at heart are concerned for good cause. They realize that if the fight to maintain freedom to publish the truth, freedom to speak what is comforting and beneficial to fellow Americans, freedom to assemble for open discussion and study of what is to the highest interest and everlasting welfare, and freedom to worship God according to the commandments and instructions in his Holy Word, is lost, then all is lost. “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” —Ps. 9:17.

” In other lands boasting of democracy the same religious organization of persecution has used the state of world turmoil as the big chance to vent its spleen and to remove a serious obstacle to its wicked scheme for world domination by dictators. It has caused such lands to declare it a crime to bear the name of Jesus’ Father, Jehovah, yes, to declare it “illegal” to do what God Jehovah commands, namely, to follow Jesus’ example and be a witness for His Father and to preach The Theocratic Government for which Jesus taught his disciples to pray to His Father: ‘Thy kingdom come; thy will be done in earth as it is done in heaven.’ The ostensible reason for so-called “Christian” nations to take this anti-Christ action are the same false charges as the religious leaders brought before the political ruler of Rome against Jesus to have him nailed to a post and have his witnessing for Jehovah and His Theocracy stopped by murder.

THEOCRATIC COUNSEL

” No one can Scripturally decree that for faithful Christians under these spreading conditions of persecution to do what Christ Jesus says to do under such conditions is criminal, illegal, and anti-government toward God Almighty, the Father of our Lord and King Christ Jesus. Such a course is obedience to The Higher Powers and leads to life. In some localities violent opposition has gone to such lengths, and all with official approval and without due police protection, that it has there become impossible to Jehovah’s servants to carry on their commissioned work. What shall such do? Jesus foretold such opposition and gave this instruction: “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake; but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.”—Matt. 10:22,23.

” Be it observed that the servants of the Lord are already in the city when the persecution arises. They did not hesitate to go to the city because of the threat of persecution. If assigned that territory for witnessing to the Kingdom and if sent thither by the Lord’s organization, they go there and face the carrying out of the threat. The apostle Paul was repeatedly warned that to go to Jerusalem meant for him to be mobbed and bound hand and foot and delivered over to the Godless; but, recognizing it to be the Lord’s will to go, he went, not just to run into trouble, but to prove his integrity and to be a witness for Jehovah and his King. (Acts 20:16,22-24; 21: 4,10-14) This faithfulness of Paul opened up to him the greatest privileges of witnessing before rulers, including the imperial ruler of the world power, Rome. Faithfulness opens up the way to many privileges of this kind, in fulfillment of Jesus’ own words. (Mark 13:9) It is for a testimony against such official rulers.

²⁸ Where, now, faithful witnesses have gone to their territory and begun the work in a city or locality, and where, besides the persecution, the opposition becomes so organized and all-embracing that it is impossible to further witness there publicly and from house to house, then it is time to consider Jesus’ instruction. From 1922 on, particularly from 1931 down to 1941, the official ruling elements, political, commercial, judicial, military, and religious, of “Christendom” and of heathendom have been warned by all the means of reaching them with the witness, so that they are now without excuse for opposing the Kingdom. If these elements now do not choose to do good to the brethren on earth of “the Son of man” who sits upon the throne of glory, attended by all his holy angels, then they willfully put themselves in the group whom the Lord classifies as “goats”. By intelligent refusal or failure to take a positive stand in favor of and in support of the King on His throne, they show they are against Him. The King said: “He that is not with me is against me; and he that gath-ereth not with me scattereth.” (Matt. 12: 30) He is now gathering to his right side of favor his “sheep”, the ones who take positive action to the help and support of the “remnant” because these represent the King and preach his Kingdom. The remnant are “gathering with" the Lord; but the officials who refuse to aid the remnant and their companions in the gathering of the Lord’s “other sheep”, and who interfere with or do not protect these Christians in their right to do this gathering work, such officials are “scattering”. They are against Christ, that is, anti-Christ, because against His gathering.

²⁷ Christ Jesus stated the rule clearly when Saul, who later became Paul the apostle, was persecuting the Christians. The Lord stopped him on the way to a new field of persecution and said: “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” Saul asked: ‘"Who art thou, Lord?” and the reply was: “I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.” (Acts 9:4,5) According to the same rule, to those who do good to the persecuted ones suffering hunger, thirst, nakedness, and imprisonment for the testimony they give Jesus says: “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”—Matt. 25:40.

²⁸ Jehovah God has now’ called the attention of his commissioned servants to the fact that now is the time to hunt for his “other sheep” wherever they have been scattered, and to comfort them as commanded: “Comfort all that mourn.” (Isa. 61:2) If therefore the “goats” conspire and rise up en masse in a city and locality and make it impossible to keep on giving the witness there in an open and general w’ay, then to spend further time upon them would be to no avail. Seek the Lord’s “other sheep”, the mourning ones needing comfort, outside of such goatpen. It is the individual burden of every servant of the Lord to consider where and when it is the occasion and time to apply the Lord’s instruction, “Flee ye into another [city or locality].” In that connection the Lord mentioned ‘going over the cities’, thereby meaning that there is other territory to be reached and covered. Therefore the servant should proceed where the door is still open and there is a possibility of “other sheep” to be hunted and found.

²⁸ This is not a running away in fear; for right after giving instruction to take the above course Jesus added: “Fear them not therefore:... fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matt. 10:26-28) It is not running away from a mere threat of violence, but is a turning away from an unworthy city or some section of a city as one would from an unworthy house and leaving it to its destiny: “And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.” (Matt. 10:14,15) The blood spilled at Armageddon rests upon the heads of the opposers.

” The going away is not simply to escape persecution, because now there is no place where one can avoid persecution; but it is a following of the Lord’s leading and going where more work can be done. If it were a case of trying to avoid persecution, then the witness would quit the work altogether and not take up the same work in another city or place with the sure and certain possibility of meeting like persecution there. As it is written: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. . . . what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” (2 Tim. 3:1,11,12) If there are any “sheep” known to be in the city where the “goats” forcibly prevent the public and house-to-house activity, then back-calls can be made directly upon such “sheep” to strengthen and encourage and feed them.—Acts 9: 22-30; 13: 50-52; 14:19, 20.

“ This strategic move is far different from that of the prophet Urijah, who was a contemporary of the prophet Jeremiah, but who took the course opposite to that of Jeremiah. Urijah was sent to prophesy against the land of Judah and its capital, Jerusalem. When he had delivered the warning sufficiently to attract public notice King Jehoiakim and his officers “sought to put him to death; but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt.” In his terror he fled out of his assigned territory altogether and quit the witness work by taking refuge in the land where Jehovah God had ordered his covenant people never to return, namely, Egypt, symbol of Satan’s world. Therefore Jehovah did not protect Urijah as he did his prophet Jeremiah, but permitted Urijah to be caught by his enemies in the enemy organization, dragged back to the territory he had abandoned, and executed. (Jer. 26:20-23) True, the prophet Elijah fled from before the wicked Queen Jezebel, but he fled to the mountain of God, Horeb, for meditation and communion with him. When the Lord set before him further work to do in the land of his religious persecutors, Elijah went back and did it faithfully until being taken away.

“Jeremiah was sent to deliver the warning message in the temple at Jerusalem. While so engaged he was seized by the mob at the instigation of the religious clergy. Then Jeremiah warned the court that heard his case that they would bring innocent blood upon themselves if they killed him for the message he proclaimed at God’s command. Therefore the Lord protected him against the bloodthirsty religious harassers. He never forsook the Lord’s assignment of territory to him. He continued carrying on in the land of Judah, and the Lord spared him to see the vindication of Jehovah’s name, the fulfillment of God’s prophecies by the mouth of Jeremiah, and the overthrow of his religious persecutors. Jeremiah always warned against going down to Egypt, even after Jerusalem was destroyed and the few people that were left in the desolated land became panickv. —.Jer. 42:1-22; 43:1-13.

“ When one quits the service as a witness in order to escape the wicked actions of the opposers of The Theocracy, he is fleeing like Urijah down to Egypt, that is, Satan’s world; for there are only two organizations. If any are ashamed to confess the Lord's Theocratic organization, and thuswise deny it, then they cannot have the protection of the Great Theo-crat and his Theocratic King, but are seeking protection from the world, which world can withhold injury if anyone lines up with it and obeys it instead of God. This has been demonstrated in lands where the totalitarian dictators have taken control and outlawed the witness work. Those who in fear have quit witnessing and renounced The Theocracy’s protection have been punished by the totalitarian authorities or have earned their contempt. Others trust in Jehovah’s protection and continue witnessing with discretion, alertness, patience, and courage, and the Lord protects and uses them in reaching the “other sheep”. In Canada, the city, provincial and mounted police give the organization of the “evil servant” class a “completely clean sheet” to operate, and assure them of protection. On the other hand, the Dominion Government outlaws Jehovah’s witnesses; nevertheless the Christians faithful to their commission continue on preaching the Theocratic message as the apostle Paul did, and Almighty God protects them and the “hunt” for the “other sheep” continues and they are still being gathered there. Those who, like Jeremiah, are apprehended while actively performing their Christian commission and consigned to prison, dungeon, or concentration camp, are not forsaken by the Lord, not if keeping their integrity toward him although they suffer the agonies of Job for their devotion and faithfulness. The Scriptures give good promise that there are those of that number whom He will preserve alive and will deliver when he destroys “Christendom” at Armageddon. They shall survive, but all their persecutors and prison-keepers will be destroyed, down to the last man. This was foreshadowed in Jeremiah’s own case.—Jeremiah, chapters 39 and 40.

“In so-called “democratic” lands the intolerant, malicious religious forces have prevailed upon the political element to officially decree Jehovah’s organization not licensed or authorized to operate, and the acting as one of Jehovah’s witnesses to be an “illegal” act punishable with fine and imprisonment. This antiGod move by dupes of religion in such lands does not in any wise cancel or nullify the covenant of Christians there to do Jehovah God’s will as Christ Jesus gives the example. It does not blot out or make null and void the commission which God lays upon his consecrated servants to declare His name throughout all the earth and to preach the good tidings of his Righteous Government and to comfort all that mourn. This commission is binding upon them until the end, and therefore they will follow the apostolic course to “obey God rather than men”. They will continue, and they do continue, to preach as Christians, even if obliged to do this individually and with merely the Bible. Because the legal corporation which acted locally as their servant has been dissolved by official decree, that does not release God’s covenant people from acting individually as ministers of the gospel, following the method of preaching that Jesus and his apostles used. The bearing of the Lord’s name not in vain is by acting according to the commission from him rather than by merely labeling oneself and introducing oneself by the “new name” which Jehovah’s mouth has named. Religionists label themselves by the name “Christian”, but are not such in action. “Tea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.”—Jas. 2:18.

³⁵ The Lord Jesus Christ, the King of The Theocracy, is Jehovah’s liaison (unifying) officer between all his followers. If all these act in harmony with his instructions as set out in his Father’s Word, and which instructions he has taught them from the temple, then, even if scattered bodily by enemy action, yet they will all be doing the same thing. They will be acting, not as a legal organization dissolved by political law, but as God’s organization, which organization no human or demon power can dissolve or stop functioning. The bond of unity of this organization leaps all space and distance and man-made barriers; it constrains or holds together the scattered ones in a unity of purpose and action. Identical devotion to The Theocracy is the tie, the spirit of God in his servants is the moving power, and the message is God’s.—Eph. 2:13,14; Col. 3:14,15; 2 Cor. 5:13-15.

“ It is time for all worldly governments to face this fact, whether it pleases them or not: As in the case of the great scattering of the Christians in the days of the apostles, so now. The scattered ones will go “every where preaching the word”, every one of them knowing the instructions to him from the Lord and every one of them understanding full well the Lord’s command: “Let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden.” (Gal. 6:4,5) The persecution and scattering puts each one on his individual own, to make manifest his individual choice and determination to do God’s will independently of what any or all other humans may or may not do. And as it was in the apostolic days, the Lord God by his angels frustrates the enemies and contrives to get communications through and to keep his faithful active servants in touch with “the Lord’s table” and his servant thereat. These faithful ones know the issues involved. They know it means their destruction to be unfaithful to their commission, thereby supporting the Devil's side of the issue. The remnant and the “other sheep” will uphold God’s side of the issue. No political government on earth, not to speak of Satan’s entire organization or world, will succeed by the faithful remnant and “other sheep” in proving that Jehovah cannot put to the test creatures who under persecution by Satan’s organization will faithfully abide in God’s organization, so maintaining their integrity. Let worldly governments face that fact, and know that they must bear the full responsibility for what they do to try to injure God’s organization and drive his consecrated witnesses out of it. On Sunday, October 7, 1934, the Hitler Government at Berlin, Germany, was warned by hundreds of cabled and special delivery messages from assembled companies of Jehovah’s witnesses all over the world, in this identic message, which we quote: “Hitler Government, Berlin, Germany: Your ill-treatment of Jehovah’s witnesses shocks all good people of earth and dishonors God's name. Refrain from further persecuting Jehovah’s witnesses; otherwise God will destroy you and your national party.”—1 Cor. 3:17, marginal reading.

^3T Worldly governments, in dealing with Jehovah’s faithful witnesses, are being forced to learn that they are coping with those in whom Almighty God has put the spirit of unbreakable love for The Theocracy as expressed at Romans 8: 31, 35-39: “If God be for us, who can be against us! Who shall separate us from the love of Christ! shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword! As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor [political] powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God [the Great Theocrat], which is in Christ Jesus our Lord [the King of The Theocracy].” Such ones ‘more than conquer’ because, besides gaining a personal triumph over the aims of the enemy, they serve for the vindication of Jehovah’s name and foil the Devil’s plot to use them in support of his challenge.

” The wicked purpose back of persecution will be defeated, proving Satan a liar. The persecutions yet to come may crowd Jehovah's witnesses sorely; they may cause them perplexity as to what way to take; they may cause them to be pursued by political, military, judicial, newspaper, and commercial allies of religion; they may cause them to be cast down in the public eye and deprived of legal and constitutional equality with citizens of the world. Yet such persecutions will never wipe out Jehovah's witnesses, nor distress them into desperation and cause them to take the compromising course where God will abandon and deny them as unfaithful. Not in their own strength and power can they bear up under the persecution, and hold fast the treasure of the ministry as ambassadors of The Theocracy and witnesses of the Most High. They are in frail flesh, in earthly vessels, and hence it must be Jehovah’s great power in and through them that must excel and surpass the power of those assailing their integrity. The members of the “body of Christ” live for no other purpose than to follow the same course as Jesus in bearing witness to Jehovah’s name and kingdom. As expressed by the apostle: “Howbeit we have this treasure [ministry] in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves; on every side pressed hard, but not hemmed in; without a way, but not without a by-way; pursued [persecuted], but not abandoned; thrown down, but not destroyed; at all times the [enemy’s] putting to death of Jesus in our body bearing about, in order that the life also of Jesus in our body may be made manifest; for evermore we, the living, unto death are being delivered for Jesus’ sake, in order that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in our mortal flesh.”—2 Cor.4:1,7-12,Rotherham; 12:9,10.

DELIVERANCE AND RETRIBUTION

” The “wolves” frame mischief by law in order to prey upon Jehovah’s “sheep” and provide a legal excuse and saving of face for their unjust and violent course. (Matt. 10:16) They try to trap Jehovah’s “sheep” into a course of compromise, fornication with the world, where He will reject and destroy them. The persecutors, though, shall fall into the trap and themselves be destroyed by Jehovah’s Executioner. They simply prepare destruction for themselves. (Pss. 35:3-8; 7:1-13; 119:84-86,157,161) Their plea of defending religion will not justify their hatred and opposition to Jehovah and troubling his witnesses: “Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; . . . when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord.”—2 Thess. 1: 6-9; Gal. 5:10; Ps. 69: 26,28.

*° In the fiery furnace of persecution Jehovah’s witnesses, like Jeremiah, pray to Him: “0 Lord, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy long-suffering: know that for th}* sake I have suffered rebuke.” Jehovah God gives his trusting ones the assurance that the persecution shall fail and that they shall share in His vindication, saying: “I will make thee unto this people [persecutors] a fenced brazen wall; and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee to save thee, and to deliver thee, saith the Lord. And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.” (Jer. 15:15, 20, 21) And that God’s retributive action in for ever settling the account with the persecutors will be primarily to settle the issue of his universal domination, the inspired prayer at Psalm 83:15-18 petitions God: “So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm. Fill their faces with shame; that they [the righteous] may seek thy name, O Lord. Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish: that men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the Most High over all the earth.”

ON Monday, as is regular, but this day exceptionally a week later than the usual time for adjournment, June 8, 1942, the nine men were seated in solemn session upon the bench of the Supreme Court of the United States. The courtroom was packed that afternoon. First, an opinion concerning Wages and Hours was disposed of; and then the entire courtroom assumed a solemn air. Expectant, all waited to hear the opinion of moment, one touching upon the most precious right of free men in a democracy as guaranteed by the Constitution and its Bill of Rights, the right to worship Almighty God according to one’s conscience as enlightened by the Word of Jehovah God.

Solemnity befitted the occasion. When obliged to render a decision affecting the liberty of His consecrated witnesses to worship the Most High God, it is the Supreme Court that is on trial, before the bar of the Supreme Judge of the universe, rather than the witnesses concerning whom the majority of the Supreme Court essays to express a final opinion. In framing the opinion about to be pronounced, did the Court realize that awful fact? Did it care ?—Psalm 2:1-12.

The question of which the Court tries to relieve itself is, in substance, Can the secular state classify the printed message of God’s Kingdom as peddlers’ wares and tax its distribution by those who are commanded by God’s supreme law to bear witness to his kingdom under Christ? The justice from the state of Kentucky begins delivering the opinion on the three related cases of Jehovah’s witnesses under appeal. Which way the fateful decision for this land of the Constitution shall fall becomes clear suddenly when the justice reads: “One man, with views contrary to the rest of his compatriots, is entitled to the privilege of expressing his ideas by speech or broadside to anyone willing to listen or to read. . . . But that hearing may be limited by action of the proper legislative body to times, places and methods for the enlightenment of the community which, in view of existing social and economic conditions, are not at odds with the preservation of peace and good order. This means that the proponents of ideas cannot determine entirely for themselves the time and place and manner for the diffusion of knowledge or for their evangelism, any more than the civil authorities may hamper or suppress the public dissemination of facts and principles by the people.”

Let it here be known that Jehovah's witnesses are not the “proponents of ideas”, but are proclaimers, preachers, of the revealed Word of God, which Word is the truth. (John 17:17) Let it be known also that Jehovah’s witnesses have not determined, nor can any man or legislative or judicial body determine, “for themselves the time and place and manner for the diffusion of knowledge or for their evangelism.” It is the Great Lawgiver, Jehovah God, who has determined that and stated it expressly in his Word. It is the Son of God, who is always in harmony with the supreme law of his Father, that set the method and manner of diffusing the knowledge of God by himself going and also instructing his disciples to go preaching from house to house. He also designated the time as after the World War, when, after mentioning it, he added: “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations: and then shall the end come.” (Matt. 24: 7,14) For this preaching, so he declared to his followers who keep this commandment, “ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.” (Vs. 9) Surely the clergy are not hated for such cause.

Because Jehovah’s witnesses dissent from the course of action taken by the religious clergy and boldly stand up for Jehovah’s Righteous Government by preaching it from house to house throughout every city and village of the United States and all other nations, the clergy stir up great hatred of them among lawmakers, judges and politicians and law-enforcement officers. The orders in council and decrees banning and prohibiting Jehovah’s witnesses entirely in the lands of religious dictators and in other lands where the Hierarchy of the most totalitarian religious system on earth hold power and influence are too well known. In this ‘fland of the free” there is still some hesitation to practically destroy the Constitution by an outright decree banning Jehovah’s witnesses. The dupes and agents of the religious Hierarchy resort to more subtle and sly means to halt the Christ-like and apostolic way of preaching the Kingdom gospel. How? Under the guise of taxation laws locally enacted but wrongly applied to Jehovah’s covenant people who keep his commandments to go and preach to the people. Such laws indeed properly apply to the sale and peddling of ordinary articles of merchandise, but have been wrongly construed by the enemies of the truth to cover the preaching activities of Jehovah’s witnesses, under the false claim that such activities constitute “peddling” and “selling” because contributions of money are made by some of the many who accept the printed Kingdom message

During recent years illegal convictions under such local ordinances have occurred in every state in the Union, and from which convictions hundreds of Jehovah’s witnesses have appealed. Many intermediate courts have rightly held that such ordinances are not applicable to the gospel preaching done by Jehovah’s ■witnesses by word of mouth and printed page. In the case of Cincinnati versus Mosier, 22 N. E. 2d 418, the Ohio Court of Appeals, speaking of one such ordinance applied against this Jehovah’s witness, said: “On the other hand, it is apparent that it can have no more application to the defendant for the act charged in the affidavit than it could if it were attempted to apply it for an act performed outside the State, county or city.”

The Georgia Court of Appeals in Thomas vs. Atlanta, 1 S. E. 2d 598, also says: “We do not think it is the duty of an ordained minister of the gospel to register his business with the city. Neither is it peddling for sueh minister to go into homes and play a victrola or to preaeh therein or to sell or distribute literature dealing with his faith if the owner of such home does not object.”

Many other state courts of highest rank have also held that such laws taxing and licensing peddlers cannot be properly applied to Jehovah’s witnesses, and have repeatedly set aside the convictions of these.¹ When such laws

have been wrongfully applied, the highest state courts have in most instances held them unconstitutional. *

A different course of action was taken by the highest courts in the states of Alabama, Arizona, and Arkansas, where the validity of such laws were ruled upon as applying to Jehovah’s witnesses’ circulating the printed message. In due time these cases were brought before the United States Supreme Court for review. They were properly and fully argued and briefs thereof w’ere submitted by counsel for Jehovah’s witnesses. The Scriptural and legal reasons and arguments were presented showing that the state courts in these cases had taken a seat in the throne of iniquity and God could not approve their mischief against His cause: “Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law!”—Ps. 94:20.

FREE SPEECH TO BE CONTROLLED

On the said Monday, June 8, five justices, the majority of the U. S. Supreme Court, knowingly or unknowingly, joined in the religious conspiracy to “get” Jehovah’s witnesses. They affirmed the state-court judgments of conviction and held the license tax laws were applicable and not unconstitutional. There the highest tribunal of America ended its career as the last bulwark of American liberties and broke down the Constitution. The train of events that are sure to follow will show that those justices let in the unseen demons and their visible dupes, the Fascists, the antiliberty, anti-Jehovah, anti-Theocracy, religious elements to rampage and overrun the states in the effort, the vain effort, we say, to stop Jehovah’s Kingdom message.

The gist of the Supreme Court decision is that if, due to enemies of the truth, a minister of the gospel is tagged as a peddler by the state, he can be treated and convicted as such and denied his constitutional rights, despite the fact that he is not a peddler. The Court also holds that freedom of v rship by distribution of Bible literature means that the person exercising the right must give it away free of charge; and that, if contributions of money are received in return for the literature distributed, such constitutes and is selling, which makes the one exercising his constitutional rights subject to conviction and treatment as a criminal for his failure to procure a license tax from the officials of the state and city as a condition precedent to engaging in such activity. The Supreme Court in this holding is clearly wrong. It has committed a mistake which has led the nation into totalitarian practice and forgetting of Jehovah God; with what end in sight! “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.”—Ps. 9:17.

The Court has made void the words of the Constitution, but, by God’s grace, they cannot make void the Word of God, regardless of how hard they try. Nor will they succeed in stopping Jehovah’s witnesses, as some may think; because these are His ordained preachers, have His backing, and obey His supreme commands. (Matt. 24:14) Instead of destroying them, the Court has destroyed the Constitution and liberties of Americans. Lovers of liberty arc protesting, loudly.

DISSENTERS GIVE RIGHTEOUS OPINION

Four right-thinking justices, members of the Court, filed dissenting opinions also protesting against the majority decision. Taking the lead among these dissenters was Chief Justice Stone, gratefully remembered as the lone dissenter in the Flag case of 1940. He was joined in his opinion by Justices Black, Douglas and Murphy. Justice Murphy also filed a separate opinion stating his objection to the position taken by the majority. Justices Black and Douglas joined in this opinion also. So cogent, logical, forceful and righteous are the dissenting opinions that The Watchtower considers it appropriate to quote from them. Among other things, Mr. Chief Justice Stone said:

The case presents in its baldest form the question whether the freedoms which the Constitution purports to safeguard can be completely subjected to uncontrolled administrative action . . . That purpose cannot rightly be defeated by so transparent a subterfuge as the pronouncement that, while a license may not be required if its award is contingent upon the whim of an administrative officer, it may be if its retention and the enjoyment of the privilege which it purports to give is wholly contingent upon his whim. ... As appears by stipulation or undisputed testimony, the defendants are Jehovah’s witnesses, engaged in spreading their religious doctrines in conformity to the teachings of St. Matthew, Matt. 10:11-14 and 24:14, by going from city to city, from village to village, and house to house, to proclaim them. After asking and receiving permission from the householder, they play to him phonograph records and tender to him books or pamphlets advocating their religious views. For the latter they ask payment of a nominal amount, two to five cents for the pamphlets and twenty-five cents for books, as a contribution to the religious cause which they seek to advance. But they distribute the pamphlets, and sometimes the books, gratis when the householder is unwilling or unable to pay for them. The literature is published for such distribution by non-profit charitable corporations organized by Jehovah’s witnesses. The funds collected are used for the support of the religious movement and no one derives a profit from the publication and distribution of the literature. . . . Few would deny that a license tar laid specifically on the privilege of disseminating ideas would infringe the right of free speech. . . . The First Amendment prohibits all laws abridging freedom of press and religion, not merely some laws or all except tax laws. It is true that the constitutional guaranties of freedom of press and religion, like the commerce clause, make no distinction between fixed-sum taxes and other kinds. But that fact affords no excuse to courts, whose duty it is to enforce those guaranties, to close their eyes to the characteristics of a tax which render it destructive of freedom of press and religion. ... It seems fairly obvious that if the present taxes, laid in small communities upon peripatetic religious propagandists, are to be sustained, a way has been found for the effective suppression of speech and press and religion despite constitutional guaranties. The very taxes now before us are better adapted to that end than were the stamp taxes which so successfully curtailed the dissemination of ideas by eighteenth century newspapers and pamphleteers, and which were a moving cause of the American Revolution. ... In its potency as a prior restraint on publication the flat license tax falls short only of outright censorship or suppression. The more humble and needy the cause, the more effective is the suppression.

Mr. Justice Murphy said, in part:

When a statute is challenged as impinging on freedom of speech, freedom of the press, or freedom of worship, those historic privileges which are so essential to our political welfare and spiritual progress, it is the duty of this Court to subject such legislation to examination, in the light of the evidence adduced, to determine whether it is so drawn as not to impair the substance of those cherished freedoms in reaching its objective. . . . And the protection of the Constitution must be extended to all, not only to those whose views accord with prevailing thought but also to dissident minorities who energetically spread their beliefs. ... It is not disputed that petitioners, Jehovah’s witnesses, were ordained ministers preaching the gospel, as they understood it, through the streets and from house to house, orally and by playing religious records with the consent of the householder, and by distributing books and pamphlets setting forth the tenets of their faith. It does not appear that their motives were commercial, but only that they were evangelizing their faith as they saw it. . . . The testimony of ten clergymen of Opelika that they distributed free religious literature in their churches, the cost of which was defrayed by voluntary contribution, and that they had never been forced to pay any license fee, was also excluded. . . . There is no suggestion in any of these three cases that petitioners were perpetrating a fraud, that they were demeaning themselves in an obnoxious manner, that their activities created any public disturbance or inconvenience, that private rights were contravened, or that the literature distributed was offensive to morals or created any “clear and present danger” to organized society . . . With so few potential purchasers it would take a gifted evangelist, indeed, in view of the antagonism generally encountered by Jehovah’s witnesses, to sell enough tracts at prices ranging from Sve to twenty-five cents to gross enough to pay the tax. . . . But whatever the amount, the taxes are in reality taxes upon the dissemination of religious ideas, a dissemination earned on by the distribution of religious literature for rebgious reasons alone and not for personal profit. . . . Liberty of circulation is the very lifeblood of a free press . . . and taxes on the circulation of ideas have a long history of misuse against freedom of thought. ... We need not shut our eyes to the possibility that use may again be made of such taxes, either by discrimination in enforcement or otherwise, to suppress the unpalatable views of militant minonties such as Jehovah’s witnesses. . . . Freedom of speech, freedom of press, and freedom of religion all have a double aspect—freedom of thought and freedom of action. Freedom to think is absolute of its own nature; the most tyrannical government is powerless to control the inward workings of the mind. But even an aggressive mind is of no missionary value unless there is freedom of action, freedom to communicate its message to others by speech and writing. ... It matters not that petitioners asked contributions for their literature. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press cannot and must not mean freedom only for those who can distribute their broadsides without charge. There may be others with messages more vital but purses less full, who must seek some reimbursement for their outlay or else forego passing on their ideas. . . . Important as free speech and a free press are to a free government and a free citizenry, there is a right even more dear to many individuals—the right to worship their Maker according to their needs and the dictates of their souls and to carry their message or their gospel to every living creature. These ordinances infringe that right, which is also protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. . . . While perhaps not so orthodox as the oral sermon, the use of religious books is an old, recognized and effective mode of worship and means of proselytizing. For this petitioners were taxed. The mind rebels at the thought that a minister of any of the old established churches could be made to pay fees to the community before entering the pulpit. These taxes on petitioners’ effort to preach the “news of the Kingdom” should be struck down because they burden petitioners’ right to worship the Deity in their own fashion and to spread the gospel as they understand it. . . . One need only read the decisions of this and other courts in the past few years to see the unpopularity of Jehovah’s witnesses and the difficulties put in their path because of their religious beliefs. An arresting parallel exists between the troubles of Jehovah’s witnesses and the struggles of various dissentient groups in the American colonies for religious liberty which culminated in the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 and the First Amendment. In most of the colonies there was an established church, and the way of the dissenter was hard. All sects, including Quaker, Methodist, Baptist, Episcopalian, Separatist, Rogerine, and Catholic, suffered. Many of the non-conforming ministers were itinerants, and measures were adopted to curb their unwanted activities. The books of certain denommations were banned.

Liberty of conscience is too full of meaning for the individuals in this nation to permit taxation to prohibit or substantially impair the spread of religious ideas, even though they are controversial and run counter to the established notions of a community. If this Court is to err in evaluating claims that freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion have been invaded, far better that it err m being overprotective of these precious rights.

JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES FOLLOW HIGHER RULING

It is manifest that some members of the Supreme Court have no respect for The Higher Powers, Jehovah God and Christ his King, and hence despise and oppose the Theocratic message. This has caused them to stultify their high office, lose their judicial balance, and sear their consciences in their stubborn efforts to find some way to halt Jehovah’s witnesses. The final outcome will show they have erred, and that in the face of due warning. Their efforts are vain. Until Jehovah’s “strange work” is finished, no man or group of men can stop His witnesses from obeying His commission and command to them to proclaim His Kingdom message, because Jehovah Most High is their Lawgiver and Guide and Protector. Christ Jesus is their Leader, Counselor and Battle-fighter. Jehovah has promised to guide the meek or teachable in judgment and to preserve and deliver the faithful. He has forewarned them that “they shall fight against thee”, but has also promised the faithful that “they shall not prevail against thee”. It will yet further be demonstrated that Jehovah’s witnesses trust not in any human document of guarantees or bill of rights, nor in any political government, nor in any worldly institution or official. Their trust is entirely in The Higher Powers, God and Christ. As Hitler and the Roman Catholic Hierarchy have failed to stop Jehovah’s witnesses on the continent of Europe, likewise the anti-Theocracy forces in America shall fail, and thereafter miserably be destroyed.

Jehovah’s witnesses both appreciate and have fought for the righteous principles of the Constitution, but now the Supreme Court by its attempt to judge their Kingdom publication off the field has gravely hurt the American public by making null and inoperative the one vital guarantee to democracy and liberty, namely, the Constitution.

Jehovah’s witnesses have not lost His favor and His work by reason of the Court’s decision, but the people of the nation have lost much. There is nothing now to keep the Constitution from being thrown to the ash-can; what has befallen an unpopular minority is certain soon to overtake all the people. The Bill of Rights is now a scrap of paper.

THREE MEMBERS SEE A WRONG WAS DONE

In 1940, at the oral argument before the Supreme Court and in behalf of the Gobitis (Flag) case, Judge Rutherford’s final words were: “God save this honorable court from committing an error that will lead this people of the United States into a totalitarian class and destroy all the liberties guaranteed by the Constitution.” Contrary to this warning, the Supreme Court in deciding that case slipped and fell deep into the pit of error and of eventual destruction because ruling against Jehovah’s law as obeyed by his witnesses. Each further step the Court has taken in that direction has carried it so far from the fundamentals of liberty that it is now difficult to recover. Three members of the Court have recognized their serious mistake in the light of the ferocious persecution of Jehovah’s witnesses that has disgraced America ever since. Mr. Justice Black, speaking for Mr. Justice Murphy and Mr. Justice Douglas and himself, said:

The opinion of the Court sanctions a device which in our opinion suppresses or tends to suppress the free exercise of a religion practiced by a minority group. This is but another step in the direction which Minersville School District vs Gobitis, 310 U. S. 5S6, took against the same religious minority and is the logical extension of the principles upon which that decision rested. Since we joined in the opinion in the Gobitis case, we think this is an appropriate occasion to state that we now believe that it was also wrongly decided. Certainly our democratic form of government functioning under the historic Bill of Rights has a high responsibility to accommodate itself to the religious views of minorities however unpopular and unorthodox those views may be. The First Amendment does not put the nght freely to exercise religion in a subordinate position. We fear, however, that the opinions in this and in the Gobitis case do exactly that.

The only way that the people of the nation can escape God’s wrath and receive his protection from destruction at the battle of Armageddon is to turn toward The Theocracy and recognize Jehovah’s supremacy in the field of law and obey Him rather than men. Should the rest of the Supreme Court follow the above judges in retracting the Gobitis case it would be a step with benefit to themselves and the people.

CHOOSE WHOM YOU WILL SERVE

Officials of many cities and municipalities have, like buzzards, been impatiently waiting for the majority decision of the Supreme Court on the license tax ordinance in relation to Jehovah’s witnesses. It is to be expected that some cities and municipalities will promptly press home the majority opinion with lusty glee. Let such not blind themselves to this fact: that, if the administrative and judicial officers of some cities thus follow the majority opinion, they will don the garments of identification with that majority and show themselves fit for annihilation by Jehovah’s great Executioner at Armageddon, which final battle is very near. God’s prophecies foretold such conduct of persecutors as due to immediately precede the final end of all nations, and, instead of being discouraged, Jehovah’s servants lift up their heads with inward rejoicing at this additional evidence that “your deliverance draweth nigh The faithful remnant will be privileged to fill up the sufferings left behind for members of the body of Christ. They will, together with their companions, bear the same reproaches and afflictions as borne by Him and will with him have a privileged part in proving the Devil a liar as to integrity of God’s servants.

Other towns, cities, villages and hamlets, guided by wiser counsels, will not enforce such laws even if on their statute books, but will stand for the Constitution and righteousness and avoid fighting against God. The majority opinion, likely to give a comforting sop to the Roman Catholic Hierarchy and other religionists whose nuns and agents go from house to house with religious odds and ends, recognizes this matter of voluntariness of action, in these words: 'It may well be that the wisdom of American communities will persuade them to permit the poor and weak to draw support from the petty sales of religious books without contributing anything for the privilege of using the streets and conveniences of the municipality.”

The majority opinion does not amount to a general law applicable throughout the entire United States. Although many cities have such ordinances, they have not yet applied them and may not do so in the future. They are not obliged to do so under the majority decision. Under the minority opinion such application is held to be unconstitutional. It is therefore left up to each city, town or village to determine which course it will take. It may be that even the local state courts will hold sueh ordinances not applicable to preaching the gospel, as did several state courts in cases cited in Notes 1 and 2 above.

The continued faithful obedience of Jehovah’s witnesses to their commission from Him everywhere throughout the land will put all communities to the test. Until the arrests in each city or locality have reached such proportions and the continued repetition thereof has been threatened against Jehovah’s servants, they follow the words and example of their Leader Christ Jesus and his apostles to push the battle to the gate, to plunge Ehud’s dagger in till the fat covers the hilt, always trusting in the Lord. His Word admonishes them not to discontinue work for mere threats, but to put the responsibility squarely upon each city, including officials and people, on this issue, to wit: Will such city line up with that unrighteous, unlawful, and unconstitutional majority decision by arresting the faithful witnesses for keeping on preaching from house to house by God-given right!

When persecution begins in the form of arrests in a city under the type of local ordinance requiring a license for “selling” literature and “peddling” within the city, first then Jehovah’s obedient witnesses will wisely act by prayerfully considering the things set out as fitting and timely in the foregoing article, “Defeat of Persecution.” Such persecuted ones will act according thereto, on all occasions using the spirit of a sound mind in the proper bearing each one of his own burden, by God’s grace and guidance. Fear not to be a dissenter for righteousness as was Jehovah’s Son Christ Jesus on earth.

¹

’See South Holland vs. Stein, 26 N. E. 2d 868; Reid vs. Brookville, 39 Fed. Supp. 30; Douglas vs. Jeannette, 39 Fed. Supp. 32; State vs. Woodruff, 2 So. 2d 577; Commonwealth vs. Reid, 20 A. 2d 841; State vs. Greaves, 22 A. 2d 497; Borchert vs. Ranger et al., 42 Fed. Supp. 577; Blue Island vs. Kozul, 41 N. E. 2d 515; McConkey vs. City of Fredericksburg, 19 S. E. 2d 682; Donley vs. Colorado Springs, 40 Fed. Supp. 15; and many other cases, too numerous to mention.