ANNOUNCING JEHOVAH’S KINGDOM

Vol. LXIX                              June 1, 1948                                  No. 11

TESTING THE SPIRITS IN THE WORLD CRISIS

"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false, prophets are gone out into the world"—1 John 4:1.

JEHOVAH God foresaw thousands of years in I advance the final crisis that is now upon this J world. The people have reached the fork of the road, and for their warning he foretold the going forth of spirits of falsehood that would turn the careless people down the branch that leads to destruction with this world in the terrible catastrophe of Armageddon. With accurate sign-language he portrayed for us the fast-moving world situation in these words in the Revelation, the last book of his Holy Scriptures : “The sixth [angel] emptied his bowl upon the great river Euphrates, and its waters dried up to make the way ready for the kings from the east. Then I saw three foul spirits like frogs emerge from the mouth of the dragon and from the mouth of the animal and from the mouth of the false prophet. They are demon spirits that perform wonders, and they go out to the kings all over the world to muster them for battle on the great Day of God Almighty. ... So they mustered the kings at the place called in Hebrew Armageddon.”—Rev. 16:12-16, An Amer. Trans.

² For a quarter of a century* wide-awake students, benefiting by the light of fulfilled prophecy, have seen that the above-mentioned dragon pictures the wicked organization of Satan the Devil, “the prince of the demons.” The animal, or wild beast, pictures the Devil’s visible organization on earth and which has risen up out of the abyss of the sea of humanity; and the false prophet pictures the outstanding part of that visible organization and which makes deceptive predictions of things to come in order to keep humanity under control. The mouth is one of the organs of speech. What comes forth from the mouth pictures the utterance, prediction, or teaching. What comes forth must have something for its inspiration; and the question is, Who inspired it? God’s Word fearlessly declares that what issues from the mouth of the dragon, the wild animal and the false prophet has for its inspiration the demons,

• See The Watch Tower of January 1, 1921, pages 12-15, and of March 1, 1925, pages 68-70.

1. How did God warn us of spirits that lead men to Armageddon? 2. What do the dragon, animal, false prophet and frogs picture? of whom Satan the Devil is the prince. God’s Word speaks of these demons as unclean or foul, and therefore what is inspired by them is also unclean. In the Scriptures frogs are unclean animals, which God’s chosen people were forbidden to eat; and, quite fittingly, the spirits or messages that issue from the mouth of the dragon, wild animal and false prophet are pictured as “three foul spirits like frogs”, and they are identified as “demon spirits that perform wonders”. Wonderfully, the kings and rulers all over the world listen to their croakings and then regiment the total population and drive them down the road that leads to Armageddon.

• ³ Those spirits have come forth, not from God, but from the demons, and are misleading rulers and people alike into a showdown fight with Jehovah God. The human race under its misled kings and rulers does not have the shadow of a chance of winning in that fight, for it is a battle against God Almighty, whose time to set up his own Government of a new world of righteousness has come. Except for the small minority of men and women who try the spirits and who prove that these are unclean demon-spirits and who refuse to follow such, the mass of humanity are now being marched in doublequick time by their rulers to the Armageddon of sudden destruction at Almighty God’s hand. Just because the rulers are taking the lead in following these spirits, it does not prove that they are right spirits and are of God. Although the world rulers refuse to believe it, the influences mustering them out to battle and hurrying them on in their frantic course are the spirits from demons. In this world crisis the rulers have yielded to the demons in opposition to the kingdom of God, and now the people as individuals must test the spirits abroad in the land to prove for themselves whether such spirits are of God or not. Then, regardless of who or how many choose to follow the demon spirits to destruction, those who love God and his kingdom of life must choose to follow only his spirit.

• 3. Who follow such spirits, and who do not? and why?

* This course of trying out the spirits is urged upon all lovers of righteousness by the Word of God. “Beloved,” it says, “believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1) Let us not imagine that the “spirits” to be tried are invisible spirit persons, for, if this were the case, then how would we be able to see and hear them so as to test them? Rather, by the word “spirits” is to be understood messages or utterances that have some invisible inspiration behind them. Hence Revelation 16:13 pictures such spirits as issuing forth from the mouth.

“ For example, if the government of a totalitarian country hands a certain statement out to all the country's newspapers for required publication, it is not a free and independent message, but is spoken of as an “inspired statement”. By carefully examining the statement and testing its teachings and principles we can arrive at the unseen source that inspired it and its publication. Likewise, at 1 John 4:1, the word "spirits” means messages or utterances that are circulated throughout the earth by “prophets” or spokesmen and that have some source of inspiration behind them, either God or the opposing demons under Satan the Devil. For this reason An American Translation renders 1 John 4:1 as follows: “Dear friends, do not believe every inspired utterance, but test the utterances to see whether they come from God, for many false prophets have come out into the world.” The demons inspire utterances that lead men into opposition to God and down to destruction. Hence your life depends upon obeying this warning command and making the test, now!

’ God’s Word speaks of Satan the Devil as “the prince of the demons” and “the god of this world”, and Jesus spoke of him as “the prince of this world”. (Matt. 12:24-27, Am.Stan. Ver.; 2 Cor. 4:4; John 12: 31) So, when you test an utterance that declares Jehovah is not God and has no right to the sovereignty of our earth and cannot put men and women on earth who will remain true and faithful to Him under the pressure of this world crisis, then be sure of this: such utterance is inspired by the “prince of the demons” and it hopped out of the mouth of the Devil’s dragon organization.-When you test an utterance that declares man-made governments of this world stand for Jesus Christ the King and are appointed to rule this earth forever in their imperfect way in order to keep the sea of humanity calm and in check, then you can be sure that such utterance is inspired by the demons and has hopped out of the mouth of the visible organization of Satan the Devil, “the god of this world.” When you test the utterance of the Anglo-American political combina-

• 4, 5. What are the spirits that we must test? and why test them? 6. Ho* are the three spirits like frogs proved to be not of God? tion that declares our civilization is best for mankind and that the United Nations is the only hope of mankind and will succeed and establish a lasting peace and justice and universal brotherhood, then you can be sure such prophecy is demon-inspired and hopped out of the mouth of the “false prophet”. None of such three “spirits” are of God, because not one of such spirits or inspired utterances agrees with the spirit or inspired utterance from God. The testing of them by God’s written Word proves it.

^T As to the manner of testing, the apostle John goes on to say: “Hereby know ye the spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.” (1 John 4:2, 3) Once again modern translation presents the meaning of the apostle’s words in a sensible, understandable and Scriptural way, as follows: “You can tell the spirit of God in this way: all inspiration that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in human form comes from God, and any inspired utterance that does not acknowledge Jesus does not come from God; it is the inspiration of the Antichrist. You have heard that it was coming, and here it is already in the world.” —1 John 4: 2, 3, An Amer. Trans.

⁸ Back there in those apostolic times, nineteen hundred years ago, it was of antichristian inspiration for anyone to deny that Jesus had come to earth as a man and suffered and died and been raised from the dead. So now, in this twentieth century, it is equally of unchristian inspiration for men of this world to say that Jesus Christ does not need to come as King to rule the earth; but that politicians, together with clergymen as spiritual advisers, can govern the earth for themselves, and that all we need is, not Jesus Christ in his rightful kingdom power, but merely a United Nations or a Federated World or a man-made Federal World Government. Leaders in Christendom are foremost in making such utterances, but their being of Christendom does not mean such utterances are Christian and are inspired by the spirit of God and cannot be of demon-inspiration. By what test do we know for certain that they are of antichrist and are not inspired by God’s spirit? By testing such utterances with what is taught in the Bible. And why with the Bible? Because the Bible was produced by means of the spirit of Jehovah God, and so anything contrary to Bible teachings would be contrary to the spirit of God.

’ The apostle Peter shows the necessary part that God’s spirit performed in producing the Bible by saying: “No prophecy of scripture is of private inter-

7, 8. How do we prove today which spirits are of antichrist?

9. With what benefit do we use the Bible as the touchstone? pretation. For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but men spake from God, being moved by the holy spirit.” (2 Pet. 1:20,21, Am. Stan. Ver.) All persons who use the Bible as the touchstone to try the spirits will safeguard themselves against deception and will preserve their eternal interests.

OPERATIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

IN PREVIOUS. issues of The Watchtower it has been proved at some length by the Bible that the “holy spirit” that moved the Bible writers is not a person. It is not the “third person” of a religious "trinity”, but is the invisible active force of Almighty God; and this active force or energy proceeds from God and through his Son Jesus Christ¹. To prove this it has been necessary to test or try the spirit, the inspiration, of the “trinity” doctrine to see whether it is of God or of the demons. By testing the doctrine against the Word of God it has been proved to be demon-inspired and antichristian and anti-God. Nevertheless, many persons will ask, If the holy spirit is not an intelligent person but is God’s invisible active force used by him to accomplish his will, how is it that the Bible speaks of the holy spirit as hearing, talking, teaching, interceding and performing other operations of a personality? Hence, for the benefit of readers who are still troubled by such Bible expressions concerning the spirit, we take up a consideration of the Scripture texts involved.

² Not a single text can be produced that says the holy spirit is God, but many Scripture texts do show that the holy spirit is associated with God, issues forth from him, and brings his will to pass. Jesus said: “God is a spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4: 24) That means God is an invisible, active, powerful Person, and not a material person like us humans. But that is not the same as saying that 'the holy spirit is God and is one with God and of the same substance and equal in power and glory with God’, as trinitarians unscripturally claim. Trinitarians put two scriptures alongside and say that such two scriptures together prove the holy spirit is Jehovah God. The conclusions the trinitarians draw do violence to the rest of the Bible and put senseless confusion and contradiction into that harmonious and reasonable Book. Without straining or wresting the Scriptures, what the Bible says concerning the operations of the holy spirit of God can be sensibly explained in harmony with all the other scriptures. Let us now test this statement out.

COMFORTER

’ A few hours before dying on the tree Jesus Christ the Son of God promised to send his disciples the holy spirit after he was resurrected from the dead. He spoke of this spirit as “the comforter, helper, or advocate”. According to An American Translation, he said: “And I will ask the Father and he will give you another Helper to be with you always. It is the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot obtain that Spirit, because it does not see it or recognize it; you recognize it because it stays with you and is within you.” “I have told you this while I am still staying with you, but the Helper, the holy Spirit which the Father will send in my place, will teach you everything and remind you of everything that I have told you.” “When the Helper comes whom I will send to you from the Father—that Spirit of Truth that comes from the Father—he will bear testimony to me, and you must bear testimony too, because you have been with me from the first.” “If I do not go, the Helper will not come to you, but if I go I will send him to you. When he comes, he will bring conviction to the world about sin and uprightness and judgment; I have much more to tell you, but you cannot take it in now, but when the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into the full truth, for he will not speak for himself but will tell what he hears, and will announce to you the things that are to come. He will do honor to me, for he will take what is mine and communicate it to you. All that the Father has belongs to me. That is why I said that he will take what is mine and communicate it to you.”—John 14:16, 17, 25, 26; 15:26, 27; 16:7, 8, 12-15; also Rotherham.

* If the holy spirit were the third person of a “trinity” and were equal in power and glory with Jesus, why could it not come to Jesus’ disciples without his first going away and leaving them ? and why would the holy spirit have to wait to be sent by Jesus? The reason is that the holy spirit is not such a coequal, co-powerful person, but is the invisible active force proceeding from God. In the same discourse Jesus said: “The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.” This proves that the holy spirit which is sent is not equal to Jesus the Sender. (John 13:16) Because this invisible, holy, active force would be a comfort, help and support to the disciples Jesus spoke of it as a "comforter”, "helper,” or “advocate”. In the Greek text of the Bible the word for “comforter”, “helper,” or “advocate" is in the masculine gender, and hence Jesus would refer to it with the

4. Why did Jesus refer to such holy spirit with the pronoun het masculine pronoun “he”. However, in the Greek text the word for “spirit” is in the neuter gender, and hence the Bible speaks of the holy spirit as “it”.

’ After his resurrection and ascension to heaven Jesus was not to be personally or bodily with his disciples; and, therefore, by means of this invisible active force projected from heaven down upon his disciples he would help, instruct, and guide them. How he could do this at such a distance as at the right hand of his Father in heaven is easier to understand now that we are in the atomic age, with its use of radio broadcasting, television, bouncing radar beams off the moon, the discovery of cosmic rays from unknown sources away out in space, the harnessing of atomic energy. All these modern developments disclose to us how marvelous unseen forces can be directed by scientific minds knowing how to control them and having the means or equipment for it. What man has accomplished in these fields does not compare with all the power Jesus has in heaven and earth since his resurrection.—Matt. 28:18.

• ⁸ Remember what Jesus said to his disciples about the holy spirit comforter as we now consider its operations described for us in the book of Acts of the Apostles. When telling of the coming of this holy spirit comforter to them, Jesus did not speak of it as a person, but spoke of it as an active force, energy. He said: “I send forth the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city [Jerusalem], until ye be clothed with power from on high.” “But ye shall receive power, when the holy spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be my witnesses.” (Luke 24:49 and Acts 1: 8, Am. Stan. Ver.) Likewise, when the disciple Luke tells of the sending down of holy spirit upon the disciples waiting there at Jerusalem on the day of the feast of Pentecost, he describes it as energy rather than as a person. Notice the language of his account: “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, like a violent wind rushing; and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And divided tongues appeared to them, like fire, and one rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with holy spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:1-4, The Emphatic Diaglott; Rotherham) When explaining afterward what had just taken place, Peter also emphasizes the thought of power rather than of personality for the holy spirit. He says: “God raised up this Jesus, of which we all are witnesses. Having been, therefore, exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the holy spirit, he poured out this which you both see and hear.”—Acts 2: 32, 33, Diaglott.

' Any idea of the holy spirit as an intelligent, corporeal person, the “third person of the most blessed trinity”, makes the language of Luke and Peter laughable. In all seriousness try to imagine a corporeal person splitting himself up and distributing himself bit by bit to the hundred and twenty disciples, and thus all of them being filled with this corporeal personality. In all soberness think of Jesus’ receiving from his heavenly Father this holy spirit “person” and then pouring him out or shedding him forth like liquid fire upon a hundred and twenty men and women so as to fill them. ‘Pouring out’ is God’s own way of expressing it at Joel 2: 28, 29, the prophecy which Peter quoted on the day of Pentecost.

• ⁸ Getting filled with the holy spirit was not to be confined to the first hundred and twenty, but, as Peter said to the multitude before him: “Reform, and let each of you be immersed in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins; and you-will receive the gift of the holy spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God may call.” (Acts 2:16-18,38,39, Diaglott) The Scriptural number of 144,000, who make up the complete Christian congregation or “body of Christ", all receive that spirit, and they are exhorted: “Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the spirit.” “For by one spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one spirit [saturated with one spirit].”—Eph. 5:18; 1 Cor. 12:13; An Amer. Trans.

’ All such is not language befitting an intelligent, corporeal person, for it would be unreasonable and not understandable. But when we face the fact that God’s holy spirit is his invisible active force by which he can operate upon matter and mind and accomplish his will, then the language becomes simple and comprehensible to us. This makes it reasonable for the Christian congregation, the “body of Christ” of 144,000 members, .to be the temple of God. Being such a temple does not mean that God personally or bodily dwells in the fleshly bodies of the members of this spiritual temple, for that would be destructive. Jehovah God told Moses: “Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.” (Ex. 33:20) If the mere sight of God would be destructive to a human creature, how, then, could a man have God occupy him bodily and live? Man could not. Not according to what Stephen said: “Solomon built him an house. Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things?” And Paul said: “God 9*11. (a) Why does God not dwell bodily in the church as & temple? (b) How does God dwell in it, and with what effect?

that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands.” (Acts 7:47-50; 17:24) Hence the way that the Most High God dwells in the Christian congregation as his temple is by means of his holy spirit, his active force which is devoted to holy purposes. To this effect we read the following quotations:

• ¹⁰ “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you! If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” (1 Cor. 3:16,17) And to this temple class, which is the “body of Christ”, it is furthei' written: “Know ye not that your body is a temple of the holy spirit which is in you, which [spirit] ye have from God! and ye are not your own; for ye were bought with a price: glorify God therefore in your body.” (1 Cor. 6:19,20, Am. Stan. Ver.) “You are built upon the apostles and prophets as your foundation, and Christ Jesus himself is the cornerstone. Through him every part of the building is closely united and grows into a temple sacred through its relation to the Lord, and you are yourselves built up into a dwelling for God through the spirit.” (Eph. 2:20-22, An Amer. Trans.) “No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his spirit.”—1 John 4:12,13.

• ¹¹ Compare these scripture quotations and relate them together; and yet no honest person can claim they say the holy spirit is God, a personal God. The whole force of these scriptures is to show God does not directly, in a bodily way, dwell in the Christian congregation as his temple, but he does so by filling it with his holy spirit, his invisible energy. In this way it is true that “God is he who is working effectually among you, both to will and to perform, on account of his benevolence”.—Phil. 2:13, Diaglott.

SPEAKING, HEARING, TEACHING, REMINDING

• ¹² Luke’s account regarding the hundred and twenty disciples on the day of Pentecost says that “the spirit gave them utterance”, to speak foreign languages. (Acts 2:4) God through Jesus Christ at his right hand poured out his spirit upon them. He radioed it down upon them, thereby causing them to utter speech in foreign phrase, just as a radio transmitting station can make loud-speakers of radio sets in millions of homes produce speech, music and sounds when such sets are turned on, dialed, and tuned in on the radio station many miles away. Whatever the electrical energies or impulses pick up at the radio station, or, so to speak, whatever they “hear” at the station, they send out to the radio receiving sets, causing such sets to speak accordingly. In like manner, whatever the spirit of God hears, that the spirit speaks to the disciples, and it shows them things to come and reminds them of what Jesus said or did. Then those disciples upon whom the spirit operates speak the things the spirit has heard or picked up from God. They speak prophecies or whatever the spirit has to teach them. The spirit or active force emanating from God is the means of transmission by which He conveys teaching, prophecy, or foreign-language powers to his receptive, obedient servants on earth. Just as the electrical impulses from the radio television station send out and project a moving vision upon the video screen of a far-off television set, the spirit of God could even more easily produce a vision before the eyes of his prophets on earth.

• ¹³ In many texts the Scriptures testify to the operation of the spirit or active force of God in this way. Peter says: “Brethren, it was needful that the scripture should be fulfilled, which the holy spirit spake before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who was guide to them that took Jesus.” (Acts 1:16, Am. Stan. Ver.) As to the spirit’s speaking by David, Jesus said this: “How then doth David in spirit [or, by inspiration] call him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.” (Matt. 22: 43, 44; Diaglott) “For David himself said, by the holy spirit, ‘Jehovah said to my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, till I put thine enemies underneath thy feet.’ David himself, therefore, calls him Lord.” (Mark 12: 36, 37, Diaglott) Jesus’ disciples also declared God’s spirit spoke by David, for they prayed to God, saying: “Who by the holy spirit, by the mouth of our father David thy servant, didst say, Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples imagine vain things!” (Acts 4:25, Am. Stan. Ver.) Even David himself testifies that God moved him to speak prophetically by means of His holy spirit, for David confessed: “The spirit of Jehovah spake by me, and his word was upon my tongue. The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me.” (2 Sam. 23:2,3, Am. Stan. Ver.) The holy spirit did not in itself speak, as if it were a person, but this active force of God spoke by means of the intelligent person upon whom it acted. Thus God, by means of his spirit, spoke through such inspired person.

¹⁴ The apostle Paul calls attention to the same method of operation of the spirit. Concerning the visit the Jews paid him as a prisoner in Rome, we read: “And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the holy spirit through Isaiah the prophet unto your fathers, saying, Go thou unto this 13. How was it that King David spoke prophetically?

14. Why does Paul say the spirit spoke by Isaiah and Psalm 95? people, and say, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall in no wise understand.” (Acts 28:25,26, Am. Stan. Ver.) In his book of Hebrews Paul quotes Psalm 95:7-11, and says: “Wherefore, even as the holy spirit saith, To-day if ye shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, like as in the day of the trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tried me . . . They shall not enter into my rest.” (Heb. 3:7-11, Am. Stan.Ver.) Who wrote Psalm 95 we do not know. Hence we cannot say that in Psalm 95 the spirit spake by so-and-so. The main point is that the psalmist was inspired to speak by God’s spirit, and so Paul explains it by saying “the holy spirit saith”. The real speaker talking about entering into rest is Jehovah God, but he used his holy spirit to express himself through the anonymous writer of Psalm 95.

• ¹⁵ Once again, to show that the human creature was not speaking his own mind, but spoke under divine inspiration, Paul quotes Jeremiah’s prophecy, and says: “Moreover, the holy spirit also testifies this to us, for after it had said, ‘This is the covenant which I will covenant with them; After those days, says the Lord, I will put my laws in their hearts, and on their minds will I inscribe them;’ [it adds,) ‘and their sins and iniquities I will remember no more.’ ” (Heb. 10:15-17, Diaglott) By his spirit God also inspired the prophet Moses to arrange the ceremonies at the sacred tabernacle. Therefore Paul says: "The holy spirit this signifying, that the way into the holy place hath not yet been made manifest, while the first tabernacle is yet standing.”—Heb. 9: 8, Am. Stan. Ver.

• ¹⁸ Both Jeremiah and Moses spoke and acted under the power of the holy spirit, and so Paul gives the credit for their prophecies to the spirit, and not to the men. The spirit proceeded forth from Jehovah God. It was beamed down upon Moses and Jeremiah. This made it, in reality, Jehovah God that was prophesying. Jeremiah’s prophecy actually tells us it was Jehovah promising the new covenant. But under no circumstances do Paul’s words about Moses and Jeremiah require us to say that the holy spirit is Jehovah God and that Paul upholds the trinitarian formula, “God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, three persons in one God.”

• ¹⁷ Peter and his. fellow apostles, when on trial before the Jewish Sanhedrin or Supreme Court in Jerusalem, used language like Paul’s concerning the holy spirit, when they said: “And we are witnesses of these things,—also the holy spirit which God hath given unto them who are yielding obedience unto him.” (Acts 5:32, Rotherham; An Amer. Trans.; Moffatt) Peter, the apostles and the holy spirit were witnesses. Peter and the other apostles were intelligent persons, but because the holy spirit is said to be a witness with those men, it does not demand the conclusion that the holy spirit is therefore also a person. No more so than its being associated with Jeremiah or other prophets made the spirit an intelligent person. Peter and his fellows witnessed about Jesus, but they told the Sanhedrin they were testifying these things under the power of God’s spirit, and thereby the holy spirit was with them in testifying these things. God backed them up by his spirit in all they were testifying. So the Sanhedrin should have accepted it.

SPIRIT, WATER AND BLOOD

• ¹⁸ John, who was with Peter before the Sanhedrin, says of Jesus: “This is he who came by water and blood,—Jesus the Anointed one; not by the water only, but by the water and by the blood; and the spirit is that which testifies, because the spirit is the truth. For there are three which testify; the spirit, and the water, and the blood; and the three are for one [or, are witnesses to one thing]. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God that he has testified concerning his Son.” (1 John 5: 6-9, Diaglott; Rotherham) Because the water and the blood testify or bear witness, no sane man will argue that the water and the blood are two persons. They are just as impersonal as is the holy spirit. John does not say the spirit is a person or is God, but “is the truth”. Jehovah God anointed Jesus with holy spirit; and since God used the spirit as an anointing upon Jesus, it proves that the spirit is not a person. It is God’s active force ■with which he approved Jesus as his Son and commissioned him to act as Christ the Messiah.—Acts 10: 38.

• ¹⁹ In the light of other texts, the “water” by which Jesus came does not refer to the water of his baptism nor the water that came from his side when pierced on the tree, but refers to God’s Word that Jesus preached. (Eph. 5:26) The blood points to his death as a human sacrifice. The spirit was the invisible energy with which he was anointed. Well, then, what was the one thing on which all three agree, bearing witness together! The water, blood and spirit agreed in bearing witness to the fact that “Jesus is the Son of God”. The spirit with which Jesus was anointed came from his Father. That being so, then it was God who, by means of his spirit, was giving witness respecting his Son Jesus Christ. The blood that Jesus had in his human organism on earth testified he was God’s Son, because his human birth was not by man's begettal but by the life-giving power of Jehovah God. Most of the Word of God was written

18, 19. (a) In testifying with the water and the blood, why was not the spirit a person? (b) What do these three unitedly testify? before Jesus’ human birth, and all this Word of God also testified that the Christ would be the Son of God.

” At Pentecost the glorified Jesus in heaven began pouring out the holy spirit upon his disciples on earth. There the prophecy of Jesus went into fulfillment, as we read, at John 7:37-39: “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the holy ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified).” The words of Jesus here about the holy spirit are far from teaching that the holy spirit is a corporeal person, even if the King James Version translators did render the same Greek word pneumo first spirit and right afterward ghost in the same verse (39).

²¹ Further showing the spirit is no person but is an active force from God the Holy One, John speaks of this outpoured spirit as an unction or anointing. He says this anointing teaches those having it. Notice: “And ye have an anointing [chrisma, Greek] from the Holy One, and ye know all things. And as for you, the anointing [chrisma] which ye received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any one teach you; but as his anointing [chrisma] teacheth you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, ye abide in him. And now, my little children, abide in him; that, if he shall be manifested, we may have boldness, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.” (1 John 2: 20, 27, 28, Am. Stan. Ver.) It is God the Holy One that anointed them with his spirit through Jesus Christ, and thus it is God that has taught and is teaching them by means of the spirit of his anointing. To continue to receive such teaching by means of His spirit, Christians must abide in God, in unity with him. Then he will not remove his spirit from them. The spirit does not have to be an intelligent corporeal person for them to be thus taught, but whatever God sends them on the carrier wave of his spirit, that is what they are taught.—See 1 Samuel 16:13,14 and 18:12.

JUDGING, WARNING

²² Trinitarians use Peter’s words in Acts, chapter 5, to support their teaching that the holy spirit is God and a personal member of a “trinity”. So let us read Acts 5: 3, 4, 9,10: “But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thy heart to lie to the holy spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land ? While it remained, did it not remain thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thy power ? How is it that thou hast conceived this thing in thy heart ? thou hast 20. When and how was John 7:37-39 fulfilled?

21. How does 1 John 2:20, 27, 28 show the spirit Is not a person 1 22. Why does Acts 5:3, 4, 9, 10 not mean the spirit is a person ? not lied unto men, but unto God.” Later, after Ananias dropped dead for lying, Sapphira his wife came before Peter and upheld her husband in his lie. We read: “But Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to try the spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them that have buried thy husband are at the door, and they shall carry thee out. And she fell down immediately at his feet, and gave up the ghost [or, expired].” (Am. Stan. Ver.; Rotherham) Peter was anointed and filled with the holy spirit. This clothed him with the power of crime detection. Hence when Ananias and Sapphira lied to Peter, they lied in fact to the holy spirit within Peter and were testing out the power of the spirit within him. Moreover, as that spirit was from God and as He was their Judge, Ananias and his wife were lying to God. His eyes have more than television powers, and run to and fro throughout the earth, beholding the evil and the good. (Prov. 15: 3) There is no Scriptural foundation for reading trinitarian nonsense into Peter’s words, to twist them into saying that the holy spirit is a person.

²³ If we followed trinitarian reasoning, we would be compelled to believe that the holy spirit is an angel. How so? By comparing verses 26, 29 and 39 of Acts, chapter eight. Philip the evangelist had just finished a good work of preaching in Samaria, and, we read, “the angel of the Lord spake, unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.” Obeying this command from the Lord’s angel, Philip encountered a chariot being driven along with an Ethiopian eunuch in it reading Isaiah’s prophecy. Here we read: “Then the spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.” After Philip got in and preached Jesus Christ to the eunuch and baptized him, then, as we read, “when they were come up out of the water, the spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more.” (Acts 8:26,29,39) In the first instance, the angel of the Lord is said to speak directly to Philip. In the next instance, where it is written that “the spirit said unto Philip”, it is not described whether this was by the angel visibly or invisibly or by direct spiritual communication.

²⁴ In corresponding fashion, in the days of the judges of Israel, an angel of God appeared to Gideon, gave the divine message, and disappeared. In fear Gideon said: “Alas, 0 Lord Jehovah! forasmuch as I have seen the angel of Jehovah face to face. And Jehovah said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.” (Judg. 6: 22, 23, Am. Stan. Ver.) After the angel’s disappearance Jehovah spoke peaceably to Gideon, either by the angel from the angel’s invisible station or directly by means of his

active force, the holy spirit. Likewise with Philip. When the spirit told Philip to join himself to the eunuch’s chariot, it may have been the invisible angel speaking under the power of God’s spirit. This understanding does away with any need to personalize the spirit or to say the spirit is an angel. After the eunuch was baptized the spirit of Jehovah "caught away Philip”, not by transporting him bodily through the air, but by moving him quickly and without further delay to leave the vicinity and head for Ashdod (Azotus).

²⁵ If we appreciate the way God dealt with Gideon and Philip, it helps us to understand the way he may have dealt with others, as, for example, with Peter and the congregation at Antioch in Syria. About twenty-one hours after God’s angel had appeared to Cornelius at Caesarea on the Mediterranean sea, an operation of the spirit took place toward Peter at Joppa on the seacoast about thirty miles south of Caesarea. By means of television and tele-communication powers Almighty God caused Peter to see a vision and hear a voice of command. While Peter was thinking on the meaning of it all, three men from Cornelius of Caesarea arrived.

²⁰Now we read: “While Peter thought on the vision, the spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee. Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing: for I have sent them.” (Acts 10:3,19,20; 11:13) But Acts 10:3-7 says the angel of God told Cornelius to send those three men to Peter. So, when the spirit told Peter to go along with them, God doubtless put his spirit upon this same angel and used such angel to instruct Peter what to do. When Peter later said to his brethren at Jerusalem, “And the spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting,” we can be sure he was not thinking of the holy spirit as a personal member of a trinitarian “godhead”. Especially so, as Peter went on to tell of his Bible talk to the household of Cornelius, and added: “And as I began to speak, the holy spirit fell on them, even as on us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the holy spirit.” (Acts 11:12,15,16; Am. Stan. Ver., margin) “The holy spirit fell on all them that heard the word. And they of the circumcision that believed were amazed, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the holy spirit. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God.” (Acts 10:44-46, Am. Stan. Ver.) How could Peter sanely think of the holy spirit as being a corporeal person and, as such, falling upon all of Cornelius’ household and being poured out as a gift like oil upon them? He could not have had such a thought.

²² As for the congregation at Antioch, for more than a year Paul and Barnabas had assembled with that company and acted as teachers. (Acts 11:22-26) The account tells us: “Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers, Barnabas, . . . and Saul. And as they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the holy spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. ... So they, being sent forth by the holy spirit, went down to Seleucia.” (Acts 13:1-4, Am. Stan. Ver.) Verse 9 speaks of “Saul, who is also called Paul, filled with the holy spirit”. Just what personal agency the holy spirit used here to give orders respecting Paul and Barnabas is not stated. It may have been an angel from heaven, as when sending three men from Cornelius to Peter; or it may have been a prophet of the Antioch congregation. The prophet Agabus could have spoken under the power of the holy spirit, for we read: “And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch. And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Cassar.” (Acts 11:27,28) Consequently, since the orders to send out Paul and Barnabas as missionaries were given under the power of God’s holy spirit, these two men were, indeed, sent forth by the holy spirit, although the spirit is not a person.

²⁸ To remind his hearers that he spoke under the power of the spirit of God, the prophet Agabus said it was not he himself, but was the holy spirit speaking. When Paul with Luke reached Caesarea, the following took place: “There came down from Judtea a certain prophet, named Agabus. And coming to us, and taking Paul’s girdle, he bound his own feet and hands, and said, Thus saith the holy spirit, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.” (Acts 21:10,11, Am. Stan. Ver.) Quite reasonably, communications like this by prophets inspired by the holy spirit were what Paul meant when he said just before this to the elders from the congregation at Ephesus: "And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: save that the holy spirit testifieth unto me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.” (Acts 20: 22, 23, Am. Stan. Ver.) In support of this understanding of the matter, Luke tells us what happened when Paul landed at Tyre: “And finding disciples, we tarried seven days: who said to Paul through the spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem.” (Acts 21:4) Paul’s encounter with Agabus followed shortly after this. All this explains how the holy spirit, although

not being a person but merely divine active force, could be said to speak, testify and warn.

SETTING, FORBIDDING, DECIDING

• ³ * On the occasion of Paul’s meeting with the abovementioned elders of Ephesus, he said to them: “Be taking heed unto yourselves and unto all the little flock in which the holy spirit hath set you as overseers,—-to be shepherding the assembly of God which he hath acquired through means of the blood of his own.” (Acts 20: 28, Rotherham; Diaglott) More than two and a half years prior to this Paul baptized twelve believing men at Ephesus, and thereby helped to build up the congregation at that city. For two years and three months he preached and taught at Ephesus. At other cities Paul and Barnabas had appointed elder brothers to positions of service in the congregations, and he wrote Timothy and Titus to appoint elder brothers to positions of overseer and assistant in the congregations under their care. (Acts 14: 23; 1 Tim. 3:1-14; Titus 1: 5-9) Now Paul was a member of the governing body of the church of the first century, and he was filled with the holy spirit. If he or some other authorized person appointed overseers in the congregation at Ephesus, then it could truthfully be said that “the holy spirit hath set you as overseers”. All appointments of men were made under the power of the holy spirit, and the credit should be given to it, and not to human instruments through whom the spirit worked.

• ³⁰ The Lord God exercised his spirit or active force greatly toward the apostle Paul, to direct his movements, utterances and writings. On his second missionary tour he was inclined to go at first into the province of Asia of which Ephesus was capital, and afterward to turn eastward toward the province of Bithynia, but here Almighty God intervened by his spirit. We read of Paul, Silas and Timothy: “And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden of the holy spirit to speak the word in Asia; and when they were come over against Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia; and the spirit of Jesus suffered them not; and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.” Here at Troas Paul had the night vision, directing him to turn westward to Europe with his missionary work. “And when he had seen the vision, straightway we sought to go forth into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel unto them.” (Acts 16:6-10, Am. Stan. Ver.) The details are not given of how the holy spirit forbade that missionary group to preach in the province of Asia and did not permit them to go into the province of Bithynia. While such details might have been helpful to our understanding of how God’s spirit acted in a forbidding and preventive manner, the account of its operations in other instances helps us to understand, without falling into trinitarian pitfalls. As in other cases, the spirit was free to operate through angel, vision or human prophet or directly with no intermediary. That vision steering Paul westward to Europe was by the spirit. Hence by it God called him west.

• ³¹ Some time before this vision Paul and Barnabas, home from their first missionary tour, went up to Jerusalem to attend a conference with the apostles and elder brothers there. To help the conference out of the difficulty over the question of circumcising Gentile believers, the disciple James quoted the inspired writing of the prophet at Amos 9:11,12 (Septuagint Version), and said: “Simeon [Peter] hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return,... that the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.” (Acts 15:14-17) Seeing that God had poured out his spirit upon Gentiles without their first being circumcised, and seeing this was in fulfillment of prophecy, the conference decided not to require circumcision of Gentiles, and wrote a letter addressed to them, saying: “It seemed good to the holy spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that ye abstain from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication.” (Acts 15:28,29, Am. Stan. Ver.) If the holy spirit was not an intelligent person, how could this seem good to the holy spirit as well as to the special conference of Christians? How could such impersonal holy spirit and those Christian men decide the matter?

” In this way: Peter, Paul and Barnabas had done their works among the Gentiles by the power of the spirit of God. To support their work, the disciple James under guidance of the holy spirit quoted Amos 9:11,12. The prophet Amos, whose prophecy was being fulfilled, had spoken and written as he was moved by the spirit of God. Accordingly, what was good and proper in the light of these operations of the holy spirit became plain, and the holy spirit thus helped in deciding the matter. The Christian conference did not decide the matter for itself, apart from what the holy spirit showed was God’s deciding will. Those Christians in conference could well say concerning the mysterious things of God: “Unto us God revealed them through the spirit: for the spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. ... the things of God none knoweth, save the spirit of God. But we received . . . the spirit which is from

• 31, 32. What did the special conference at Jerusalem write Gentiles? God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the spirit teacheth; combining spiritual things with spiritual words.” (1 Cor. 2:10-13, Am. Stan. Ver.) Like them, we can profitably learn things from the way the spirit operates.

TESTIFYING, INTERCEDING

• ³³ We are now prepared to understand how the holy spirit testifies to persons who are spiritual children of God and how it intercedes for them. Paul, under inspiration of the spirit, writes: “The spirit itself testifies together with our spirit, that we are children of God. And if children, also heirs; heirs, indeed, of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if, indeed, we suffer together, so that we may be also glorified together. . . . but ourselves also, possessing the first-fruit of the spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for sonship,—the redemption of our body. For we were saved by the hope;... And in like manner also the spirit assists our weakness; for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought; but the spirit itself intercedes with unspoken groans, and he who searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the spirit, because according to God it intercedes on behalf of saints.”—Rom. 8:16,17,23-27, Diaglott; Rotherham.

• ³⁴ Those Christians whom God has begotten to be his children as joint-heirs with Christ he has anointed with His spirit. This anointing or unction teaches them, as above explained; and, by the things that it reveals to them from God’s written Word, it bears witness to them that they are God’s spiritual children. It makes plain on the pages of the written Word of God that the promised Seed of Abraham in whom all the nations are to be blessed is Jesus Christ, .the Son of God. Also, those who become his footstep followers are adopted by God to be his heirs with Jesus Christ the Seed, and thus they are made the sons of God. (Gal. 3:8,16,27-29) By his revealed written Word God sets before these sons the hope of being joined with Jesus in the heavenly kingdom. Now, all of God’s written Word was produced under inspiration of His spirit (2 Tim. 3:15-17); and so by this Word it is really the holy spirit that is testifying to these Christians that they are the begotten children of God. Also, by the spirit’s operations in their lives, just as in the lives of Peter, Paul and other disciples, the spirit bears further witness to them concerning their sonship to God.

• ³⁵ Owing to their bodily imperfections, weaknesses and inclinations to sin, these Christians groan or sigh deeply within themselves, because they desire to be free from sin and to do the will of God perfectly. But the hope that God by his spirit has implanted in their hearts helps them to bear up and not to be overcome with discouragement. The spirit thus helps our weaknesses or infirmities, counterbalancing the effect of these upon us. Our inward groans or sighs often remain unexpressed, unuttered, because we do not understand our situation and we are at a loss what to express. We want to pray, but exactly what to pray for under certain circumstances we do not know, and mere groans and sighing would not help. It is here the spirit intercedes for us; not meaning, of course, that it is a person that must utter indescribable groans and sighs for us.

’’How, then, does it intercede? In this way: God foresaw and foretold our experiences as a Christian congregation. In his Word, which is inspired by means of his spirit, he foretold we would come into certain situations. By that same spirit-inspired Word he caused prophetic prayers to be recorded that fit our situations. He caused prophecies to be recorded that foretold how we should be brought up out of such situations and be continued in his further service. Because we do not understand the prophecies and prophetic prayers, we do not know exactly how to express ourselves and the right thing for which to pray. If we understood the prophecies and the immediate purposes of God, we should pray for just that. But God knows his times and seasons, and he knows what was written down in his Word through his spirit, and he knows how such written things apply to us and when. He knows what is the mind of the spirit, or what is the meaning of those spirit-inspired prophecies and prayers, and he lets these intercede for us. He accepts these as being what we should like to ask and pray for, and, accordingly, he fulfills them. Afterward he reveals to us by the power of his spirit how these prophecies have been fulfilled toward us, and we see that it is just what we should have asked for, had we known and understood. The remnant of faithful Christians since A.D. 1918 can particularly appreciate this fact.

• ³⁷ All things considered, God’s Word agrees with itself on what the holy spirit is. By his Word we have been testing the spirits, or inspired utterances of these times, to prove whether they are of God or of demons. We have proved that the religious utterances regarding a “trinity” are inspired by the demons, under Satan their prince. On the other hand, we have proved that his holy spirit is the invisible active force or energy by which Almighty God performs his will. By the help received through the foregoing articles may we be better informed on how to try the spirits in the future, that we may prove and may accept only what is of God through Christ.

• 36. How does the spirit intercede, God knowing its mind?

• 37. Summing up, what has our test proved as to trinity and spirit?

THE ATTEMPT TO CATHOLICIZE CHRISTIANITY

NOT to the pagan city of Rome, but to the Syrian city of Antioch goes the distinction of being where the name “Christian” was first used. The disciple Luke, the companion of the apostle Paul, writes, at Acts 11:26: “And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.” That was about A.D. 41. Roman Catholic clergy claim that the apostle Peter wrote his first epistle about A.D. 48; but there is reason to believe he wrote it between A.D. 61 and 65. In this letter to his brethren in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia he indicates that the name “Christian”, which he uses at 1 Peter 4:16, was unpopular and that the name had spread from Antioch throughout all those provinces and also to Babylon, in Mesopotamia, from which Peter wrote this first epistle. From “Christian” came the name “Christianity”.

The Roman Catholic system of religion is one that designates Peter as its first pope and designates its beliefs and practices as “the Christian religion”. This system of religion terms itself “Catholic”, and the history of its religious efforts shows it has tried to Catholicize the true Christianity, so that what Christianity is in actuality is now grossly misunderstood. Whatever true Christianity the religious leaders of Roman Catholicism had, it is evident, even according to the confession of their clergymen, that these early leaders fell away to demon religion, being themselves deceived and also as leaders deceiving many others, so that today hundreds of millions are deceived. What is here said in this article is not for the purpose of ridiculing sincere Roman Catholics of today. It is that the sincere people in the Roman Catholic organization may see and appreciate the perilous position in which they have been put by their clergymen or leaders in these days when the Holy Scriptures show demon spirits are going forth to the kings or rulers of the whole earth to gather them and their subjects to the universal war of Armageddon. (Apocalypse 16:14-16) Those ignorantly practicing demon religion are exposed to the danger of being led by these demons to their destruction in the final war of Armageddon.

The Lord God specifically commands that those who serve him acceptably must serve him in spirit and in truth and that they must avoid all manner of demon-worship or demon religion. The Bible used chiefly by English-reading Roman Catholics is the so-called “Douay Version”, and from this version the following Scripture verses are quoted, to show that the Roman Catholic leaders have no reason to be ignorant of God’s commandments concerning demonism. In the Ten Commandments the Lord God says this: “Thou shalt not have strange gods before me. Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in the waters under the earth. Thou shalt not adore them, nor serve them: I am the Lord thy God, mighty, jealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me: and shewing mercy unto thousands to them that love me, and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20:3-6, according to the Douay Version) If we do not keep this commandment, we do not love the Lord God, the Father of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Besides the foregoing commandment, note also the following quoted from the accepted Catholic Version: “Go not aside after wizards [them that have familiar spirits; practitioners of demon religion], neither ask any thing of soothsayers, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.” (Lev. 19: 31) “The soul that shall go aside after magicians, and soothsayers, and shall commit fornication with them, I will set my face against that soul, and destroy it out of the midst of its people.” (Lev. 20: 6) “A man, or woman, in whom there is a pythonical or divining spirit, dying let them die: they shall stone them: their blood be upon them.” (Lev. 20: 27) “Neither let there be-found among you any one that shall expiate his son or daughter, making them to pass through the fire: or that consulteth soothsayers, or observeth dreams and omens, neither let there be any wizard, nor charmer, nor any one that consulteth pythonic spirits [or, oracular spirits], or fortune tellers, or that seeketh the truth from the dead. For the Lord abhorreth all these things, and for these abominations he will destroy them at thy coming.” (Deut. 18:10-12) The Lord God has not changed in his attitude toward all these things of demon-worship, but still opposes and condemns them. In none of his inspired writings by the Christian apostles and disciples did He say that those demon-worshipers possessed the archetypes, or prototypes, or crude representations of great spiritual truths, and that we can therefore adopt their demonistic emblems, rites and ceremonies and combine them with Christianity.

CONVICTED OUT OF THEIR OWN MOUTHS

Nevertheless, the Roman Catholic religious system has done these very things, as is admitted by their own authorities. Take, for example, the celebrated John Cardinal Newman, who is most widely known for his religious song, “Lead, Kindly Light.” John Newman left the Anglican religious organization and became a Roman Catholic, and in the year 1879 pope Leo XIII created him a cardinal. This was after the said Newman had written a book in defense of Roman Catholicism entitled An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, to try to harmonize Catholicism’s adoption of demon-worship with Christianity. From chapter 8 of that publication as issued in London, England, by Pickering & Company in 1881, we quote to show Catholicism’s argument that it can assimilate demonism without hurt to Christianity, just as Aaron’s rod which had been turned into a serpent by God’s power devoured the rods of Egypt’s magicians which had been turned into serpents by the power of the demons. In this argument Jerome and other Catholic authorities fail to note that Aaron’s serpent-rod devoured the serpent-rods of the magicians not to assimilate them and become demonized, but to destroy them and to show that God was opposed to them, and was superior to them. (Ex. 7:8-13) This action was no prophetic picture of how Christianity would incorporate demon religion into itself without becoming demonized.

However, Cardinal Newman, calling his adopted Roman Catholicism by the name “Christianity”, goes on to show the unscriptural reasoning by which the forbidden demonism has been adopted into the religious organization and thereby millions of demon-worshipers have been taken in as supposed “converts”. Under the subheading “Assimilative Power”, Cardinal Newman’s Essay says, on page 371: “Confiding in the power of Christianity to resist the infec-

tion of evil, and to transmute the very instruments and appendages of demon-worship to an evangelical use, and feeling also that these usages had originally come from primitive revelations and from the instinct of nature, though they had been corrupted; and that they must invent what they needed, if they did not use what they found; and that they were moreover possessed of the very archetypes, of which paganism attempted the shadows; the rulers of the [Roman Catholic] Church from early times were prepared, should the occasion arise, to adopt, or imitate, or sanction the existing rites and customs of the populace, as well as the philosophy of the educated class.”

On page 373 of his Essay Cardinal Newman specifically names some of the said “instruments and appendages of demon-worship”, when he writes the following: “The use of temples, and these dedicated to particular saints, and ornamented on occasions with branches of trees; incense, lamps, and candles; votive offerings on recovery from illness; holy water; asylums; holy-days and seasons, use of calendars, processions, blessings on the fields; sacerdotal vestments, the tonsure, the ring in marriage, turning to the East, images at a later date, perhaps the ecclesiastical chant, and the Kyrie Eleison, are all of pagan origin, and sanctified by their adoption into the [Roman Catholic] Church.” Cardinal Newman might also have mentioned the adoption of the “trinity” doctrine, and the doctrine of the “immortality of the human soul”, and other doctrines of pagan origination. But this learned clergyman has said enough, so that there is no doubt from his testimony that the ceremonies practiced by the Roman Catholic religious system originated with the deceitful demons; and that such ceremonies and practices were carried on by Pagan Rome and adopted by the Roman Catholic religious organization. Cardinal Newman attempts to picture this as the “development of Christian doctrine”, but in reality he shows it to be the death-dealing corruption of Christian doctrine. It certainly cannot be called “pure religion”, or, “religion clean and undefiled before God.”—Jas. 1: 27; Douay Version.

Take another authoritative Roman Catholic publication, the book The Faith of Our Fathers by the late American cardinal, James Cardinal Gibbons, and which book is very popular in American circles. In it the cardinal gives some explanation of the Roman Catholic doctrine of “purgatory”, and then to uphold his attempted interpretation of the Scriptures he says: “This interpretation is not mine. It is the unanimous voice of the Fathers of Christendom.” Note that the cardinal does not say it is the voice of the apostles of Jesus Christ. The cardinal accepts the private interpretation of the so-called “fathers of Christendom”, and thereby the cardinal shoves aside the inspired writing of the apostle Peter, namely: “Understanding this first, that no prophecy of scripture is made by private interpretation. For prophecy came not by the will of man at any time: but the holy men of God spoke, inspired by the Holy Ghost.”—2 Pet. 1: 20, 21, Douay Version.

The apostle Peter taught no “purgatory” doctrine, nor did any of his fellow apostles. The entire Bible, from Genesis to the Apocalypse, flatly contradicts the “purgatory” doctrine as taught by the Roman Catholic organization and copied from the Buddhist religion. This is proof conclusive that such doctrine proceeds from the demons whose religion the Lord God condemns in his Word. This Roman Catholic (but not Christian) doctrine of “purgatory” is, in substance, this: ‘That man possesses an immortal soul; that at the time of the dissolution of the body at death only the body dies, but this soul lives on forever; that the wicked soul suffers eternal torment in the depths of hell; that all Roman Catholic souls in purgatory, which is a place supposed to be intermediate between heaven and the depths of hell, spend an indefinite time there; and that in purgatory the human soul is conscious but wholly unable to help itself, although it can still pray for persons alive on the earth; and that such soul, not by its own prayers but by the prayers and masses of those on earth, may be saved in the long process of time.’—See The Faith of Our Fathers, chapter 16.

The artist Dore, copying the Italian poet Dante’s descriptions in his poem on “Purgatory”, drew many pictures purporting to represent “purgatory”, and some years ago the motion picture industry produced a gruesome motion picture based on Dante’s poem on “Purgatory” for display on the screen. But such poetic and artistic descriptions and pictures could have originated only in the mind of a person under the power and influence of the demons, and not under the influence of the Holy Scriptures, the Bible. That the doctrine of purgatorial torments of the human soul after death originated with the “prince of the demons”, Satan the Devil, is clearly shown by the sacred scriptures of the Bible. These tell us of Satan’s lie to Eve in Eden, when he said to Eve: “Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” (Gen. 3:1-5) This statement Satan made to Eve in response to her answer to him that the Lord God, the Creator, had commanded Adam and his wife not to eat of the forbidden fruit. Satan then contradicted God, which act made Satan a liar, and he told Eve that, when she did eat in disobedience to God, she would become “as gods” and would not die. The yielding of Eve to that lie with the hope that she and her husband might become “as gods” was the beginning of demon religion among human creatures. The actual result of yielding to Satan’s contradiction of Jehovah God was that Adam and Eve were shortly thereafter condemned to death, and in less than a thousand years they died and returned to the dust of the ground from which they were taken. That Satan the Devil thus brought about their death by this religious means is clearly shown in Scripture. —Rom. 5:12; John 8: 44.

Satan, “the prince of the demons,” is the adversary of Jehovah God. The Bible contains the word of Almighty God, which word of God is the truth. (John 17:17; Ps. 119:105) Any doctrine taught by men that contradicts the Word of Almighty God is a lie, and such doctrine or lie proceeds from the adversary, Satan the Devil, and his associated demons. The doctrines and practices of the Catholic religious system are specifically contradicted by the Bible. That is particularly true with reference to “purgatory”; to the primacy of the pope; to the dead as being more alive than ever; to prayers for the dead; to the doctrine and claim that the true church of God is founded upon Peter; to holy water, to images and the veneration of those canonized as “saints”; and to many other doctrines, rites and practices. These things, viewed from the pure, written Word of God, prove that the Roman Catholic religion is demonism. Sad to relate, by such practice of demonism under the assumed name “Christianity” many credulous people are led fully into the snare of the Devil and ultimately into the destruction that awaits all the wicked, deceitful demons and their prince. Those who seek the salvation that God offers through Jesus Christ will faithfully stick to His pure Word of truth and will resist the religious attempt to Catholicize Christianity.

AMOS PROPHESIES AMIDST OPPOSITION

AMOS pastures his flocks between the fortress of Tekoa in the mountains of Judah and the Salt sea. In his solitude he often meditates on Jehovah’s law and prophecies, and never tires of seeing Jehovah’s creation in the heavens and on earth. Often he thinks of the surrounding nations, Damascus, Philistia, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, and Moab and their cruelty and opposition to Jehovah's namepeople. It hurts him to think that even his own beloved Judah has not always been a land wholly for Jehovah’s worship, but has often rejected his law and fallen to worshiping idols; but now King Uzziah reigns in Judah, and he is a stickler for God’s law. How different the conditions are in Israel to the north!

Jeroboam, king of Israel, has extended the boundaries of the kingdom to the northernmost limits God had long ago promised; and the land is rich and prosperous, but the ruler and subjects are corrupt, worshiping the golden calves instead of Jehovah, and violating justice and decency for the sake of self-gratification. All this grieves Amos.

He finds comfort in thinking of Jehovah and His worship at His House in Jerusalem. Then, about 811 B.C., in vision Amos hears Jehovah’s voice thundering from his temple on Mount Zion with a roar louder than the roar of all the lions he has ever heard. He sees the pasture lands ruined, and even the garden park of Carmel ridge withered. "When he understands what Jehovah is saying, he realizes it is a declaration of judgment against the surrounding nations and also against Judah and Israel: “After crime upon crime of Damascus I will not relent, for they crushed and tortured Gilead; so I fling fires of war on Hazael’s house, to burn up Benhadad’s palaces, I shatter the defences of Damascus, ... I fling fires of war on [Philistine] Gaza’s walls, to burn up its palaces, I wipe out the chieftains from Ashdod, the sceptred king from Ashkelon, I strike my blows at Ekron, till the last of the Philistines perish— ... I fling fires of war upon the walls of Tyre, to burn up its palaces. . . . I fling fires of war on [Edomite] Teman, to burn up Busaireh’s palaces. ... I set fire to Rabbah’s walls, to burn up its palaces, amid shouts on the day of battle, amid storming on the day of blasts, till their king is carried off to exile, he together with his nobles— ... I fling fires of war on Moab, to burn up Keriyyoth’s palaces, amid shouts and the blare of trumpets; I wipe out their monarch and slay all his nobles with him— ... I fling fires of war on Judah, to burn up the palaces of Jerusalem. . . .

“After crime upon crime of Israel I will not relent, for they sell honest folk for money, the needy for a pair of shoes, they trample down the poor like dust, and humble souls they harry; . . . prophets you forbade to prophesy. So now I make your steps collapse, as a cart collapses, laden with sheaves; and flight shall fail the swift, the sturdy shall not hold their own, the warrior shall not escape alive, the archer shall not stand his ground, quick-footed men shall not get clear, horsemen shall not escape, and even the stalwarts in the ranks shall strip and run upon that day.” —Amos 1:2-2:16, Moffatt.

Hardly has the vision ended and Amos recovered from his astonishment when he hears Jehovah say to him: “Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.” (Amos 7:15) Immediately Amos obeyed; entrusting his flocks to another herdsman, he went north, past Bethlehem and Jerusalem, to the land of Israel, and there began to prophesy:

“Hear this word that Jehovah hath spoken against you, 0 children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up out of the land of Egypt, saying, You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will visit upon you all your iniquities.” (3:1, 2, Am. Stan. Ver.) No sooner had he started to prophesy, than the Israelite state priests began to oppose his preaching there. But Amos, having heard Jehovah speak, knew that the proclamation of that message was as inevitable as a shudder of fear when a lion roars, and that no man could stop it; so he said: “The lion hath roared; who will not fear [or, shudder]? The Lord Jehovah hath spoken; who can but prophesy?” (Amos 3:8, Am. Stan. Ver.; Moffatt) Even after much preaching Amos sees that the Israelites do not return to Jehovah but continue their false worship at Bethel and Gilgal; so he delivers to them God’s message calling attention to this, and then gives them God’s solemn warning: “Therefore thus will I do unto thee, 0 Israel; and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, 0 Israel. For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought; that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth—Jehovah, the God of hosts, is his name.”—Amos 4:12, 13, Am. Stan. Ver.

In spite of mounting opposition Amos continues boldly declaring God’s message to Israel. He sees clearly that they hate him for telling them the truth that exposes them. Though they tell him it would be wiser to keep quiet at such a time and that everything will turn out all right anyway, he continues fulfilling his God-given commission to preach.—Amos 5:10, 13, 15; 6:1-14.

In vision Amos sees Jehovah bringing up locusts to destroy the crops. Upon Amos’ plea for mercy Jehovah relents. Then Amos sees Jehovah bringing fire down to burn land and sea; but again Jehovah grants Amos’ request and relents. (Amos 7:1-6) Then in vision Amos sees the Lord standing beside a wall with a plumb line in his hand, and he hears Jehovah say, “Amos, what do you see?” Amos replies, “A plumb-line.” Then the Lord says, “With a plumb-line I test my people; never again will I pardon them, but Isaac’s heights shall be laid waste, the shrines of Israel shall be ruined, and I will attack Jeroboam’s house with the sword.”—Amos 7: 7-9, Moffatt.

Afterward Amos declares the whole vision at Bethel. When he finishes, he sees the Bethel priest Amaziah rush toward his own quarters. Later he learns that Amaziah has written King Jeroboam, accusing Amos of conspiring against the king. Armed with the authority of the king’s answer, Amaziah says to Amos: “You dreamer! Be off to Judah and earn your living there; play the prophet there, but never again at Bethel, for it is the royal shrine, the national temple.” (Amos 7:12,13, Moffatt) Does that intimidate Amos? Does he stop prophesying in Israel and run back to Judah? On the contrary, he is more determined than ever to continue preaching in Israel, the territory God has assigned him, and he boldly answers Amaziah; “I was no prophet, neither was I one of the sons of the prophets; but I was a herdsman, and a dresser of sycomore-trees: and Jehovah took me from following the flock, and Jehovah said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel. Now therefore hear thou the word of Jehovah: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac; therefore thus saith Jehovah: Thy wife shall be a harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou thyself shalt die in a land that is unclean, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land.” —Amos 7:14-17, Am. Stan. Ver., margin.

Jehovah rewards Amos’ determination and boldness with another vision. Amos sees a basket of ripe fruit, and he hears Jehovah say, “Amos, what do you see?” Amos answers, “A basket of ripe fruit.” Jehovah says to him, “So is the doom ripe for my people Israel; never again will I pardon them. The temple hymns shall change to howls, as corpse on corpse is flung out with a ‘Hush!’” (Amos 8:1-3, Moffatt) Amos tells Israel of this vision, and continues: “Hear this, 0 ye that would swallow up the needy, and cause the poor of the land to fail, sayintr, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel [price] great, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit; that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes, and sell the refuse of the wheat? Jehovah hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, surely I will never forget any of their works. Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein?”—8: 4-8, Am. Stan. Ver.

Seeing the people’s utter disregard of God’s words, and witnessing the reproach they bring upon God’s name, Amos longs for the time when Jehovah will clear His name and word. Jehovah appears to Amos in a vision and further assures him of the complete and inescapable destruction he is bringing on His opposers: “I will slay the last of them with the sword: there shall not one of them flee away, and there shall not one of them escape. Though they dig into Sheol, thence shall my hand take them; and though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down. And though they hide themselves, in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and it shall bite them. And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good. For the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, is he that toucheth the land and it melteth, and all that dwell therein shall mourn.”—Amos 9:1-5, Am. Stan. Ver.

Then, after Amos’ steadfastness in delivering the burden of adverse judgment, Jehovah gives him a message of comfort and hope concerning the freeing of His name-people from captivity and their subsequent prosperity: “In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old; that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the nations that are called by my name, saith Jehovah that doeth this. Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. And I will bring back the captivity of my people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them, saith Jehovah thy God.” —9:11-15, Am. Stan. Ver.

Just as Amos relied on God’s backing and let nothing intimidate him but continued boldly prophesying amidst the greatest opposition of Israel, .so likewise Jehovah’s witnesses today continue to declare to Christendom Jehovah’s adverse judgment in spite of all the persecution and opposition she can bring against them, for Jehovah’s witnesses know that Jehovah has commanded them to preach; they have already experienced his infallible backing.

FIELD EXPERIENCE

“While engaged in doing house-to-house work in my territory in the city I had an interesting experience, which I thought would be of interest to your office, as it concerns the Quebec issue. I called on Mr.------, M.P.,

C.C.F., for this constituency. He was very cordial, inviting me in, and opened the conversation himself on the Quebec situation, discussing it at some length. He said he was quite aware of the rotten state of affairs in Quebec, that we have no real democracy, and also that the situation was dynamite, politically. Mr.--------informed me that

the C.C.F. were preparing a bill guaranteeing freedom of worship, which will be introduced at the next session of Parliament. He admitted that Jehovah’s witnesses were carrying on vital educational work in Quebec, and that all Canada would benefit by our taking the issue to the courts. He also expressed his hope that we would carry our fight to the limit, and that they would be right behind us. This opened an excellent opportunity for a further witness. I presented the literature, with the result that he accepted 'The Prince of Peace’ booklet and the Leaflet Quebec’s Burning Hate, and after looking through the copy of Awake! he expressed his desire to subscribe for one year. He said he could not understand why we don’t vote, that he thought we had a lot in common, however, but use different methods. Much interest has been aroused here as elsewhere through distribution of the leaflet and publicity through the press. Many express their indignation and disgust with Quebec.”

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29. How did the spirit set overseers In the church at Ephesus?

30. How did the spirit forbid and prevent Paul’s movements?

33. To whom does the spirit testify, and why intercede for them? 34. How does the spirit bear witness to their being sons of God? 35. How does the spirit assist their weakness or infirmities?