Freedom with Which to Serve God

Angry Students on the March

If You Were Going Around the World

Life Patterns and Crime Prevention

THE MISSION OF THIS JOURNAL

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CONTENTS

Are You Making Progress?

Freedom with Which to Serve God

Angry Students on the March

If You Were Going Around the World 12 Life Patterns and Crime Prevention

Proverbs of Diplomats

Bitumen—It’s Everywhere!

Rice—the Bread of Life

Lightweights

Telling the Good News to an Old Friend 26 “Your Word Is Truth”

Resurrection—for Whom?

Watching the World

Volume XLIV                        London, England, May 22, 1983                           Number 10

A FEW decades ago there was a manager of a large printing plant who had a favorite slogan, “Better and more books!” He also was fond of pointing out that “better” came first, and only then “more” books. Obviously he was interested in progress on the part of his men.

The ability to make progress is one of the qualities that sets man far above the brute creation. As William George, of “Single Tax” fame, so well observes: “Between the lowest savages of whom we know and the highest animals there is an irreconcilable difference—a. difference not merely of degree, but of kind. . . . Man, no matter how low on the scale of humanity, has never yet been found destitute of one thing of which no animal shows the slightest trace, a clearly recognizable something, which gives him the power of improvement—which makes him the progressive animal. . . . The dog of civilization is not a whit more accomplished or intelligent than the dog of the wandering savage,” and that in spite of “all the ages he has been the associate of improving man.” —Progress and Poverty.

Not only is man endowed with the ability to make progress, but upon him rests a threefold obligation as a steward to make progress: He owes this to himself, he owes it to his fellowman and, above all, he owes it to his Maker, Jehovah God. Life and its gifts are a trust. For man to carry out his very first mandate, given him in Eden, to become many and fill the earth, to subdue it and to exercise dominion over the lower animals, required of him that he make progress, did it not?—Gen. 1:28; Luke 12:48.

Grownups take for granted that children keep on making progress until they mature physically, mentally and, it is hoped, emotionally (the question of religious maturity entering into the minds of comparatively few). As the apostle Paul observed: “When I was a babe, I used to speak as a babe, to think as a babe, to reason as a babe; but now that I have become a man, I have done away with the traits of a babe.” —1 Cor. 13:11.

But what about you grownups? Are you making progress in your vocation? Do you take a i^al interest in your work? Are you observant? Does it ever occur to you that some improvement might be made in the way things are being done, and do you know how to go about getting your points across? Or have you gotten into a rut? Especially if yours is a profession, such as doctor, nurse, schoolteacher, lawyer or librarian, it is imperative that you keep making progress—of course, not doing so at the expense of your spirituality. For you to stand stiff would be to go backward, for your profession is always progressing.

What about you fathers and husbands? Are you making progress as family heads? Are you meeting the challenge that your role presents by letting imagination, consideration and understanding make you ever better husbands and fathers? Do you keep in touch with your teen-age children, or are they rapidly becoming strangers to you? Are you becoming ever more skilled in balancing firmness with love, discipline with kindness and understanding?—Eph. 5:28;6:4.

What about you housewives and mothers? Are you content to serve the same dishes the same way year in, year out? Why not be awake to opportunities to improve or at least vary the taste or flavor of foods by spices, herbs or aromatics and furnish your family with a pleasant surprise? This can make for better digestion, did you know that? And what about giving thought to making dishes ever more nourishing, more wholesome? What about your relations with your husband and children? As the years go by, do you become, in addition to a more prudent housekeeper, a more tactful and sympathetic wife, a more understanding mother?—Prov. 31:10-31.

How about the field of religion, in which field all, old and young alike, should be concerned with making progress? Are you content with just going to church on Sundays? Is that the extent of your religious instruction and activity? Remember, Jesus said that “man must live, not on bread alone, but on every utterance coming forth through Jehovah’s mouth.” To make progress you must feed on God’s Word regularly, yes, daily.—Matt. 4:4.

Have you ever given thought to whether your own religious organization is making progress? While God’s Word, the Bible, is complete, infallible and not subject to improvement, there is room for progress in man’s understanding of it. That is why it is written: “The path of the righteous ones is like the bright light that is getting lighter and lighter until the day is firmly established.”—Prov, 4:18.

There is progress to be made, not only in knowledge and understanding of the truths found in the Bible, but also in cultivating Christian qualities. Are you making progress in obeying the two great commandments: “You must love Jehovah your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your vital force,” and, “You must love your fellow as yourself”? Is your appreciation of your Creator growing? Are you manifesting ever more empathy in dealing with your neighbor? Are you making progress in controlling yourself under stress and in manifesting forgiveness to those who may irritate, offend or even sin against you?—Deut. 6:5; Lev. 19:18.

Nor may it be overlooked that each dedicated Christian minister preaching the good news of God’s kingdom should be making progress in his ministry. There is progress to be made in acquiring accurate knowledge, in study habits, in ability to give a reason for one’s hope to anyone that demands it and in overcoming objections. Have you progressed to where you are no longer merely thinking of your own ministry but are concerned with helping others?—! Pet. 3:15; 1 Cor. 10:24.

Yes, regardless of who you are or what you may be doing, by all means seek to make progress. Take an interest in your work. Then, instead of your tasks becoming boring, they will be full of interest, satisfying, happifying. So accept the challenge and make progress, for your own well-being and that of those about you

It is not only in Communist lands that freedom of worship is restricted. Consider other factors that restrain people from serving God.

MAN’S age-long fight for freedom has not broken the shackles that bind him. The same restraints that enslaved men of past generations unduly restrict the freedom of many people today. Especially is this true with respect to man’s service to God.

Behind the Iron Curtain and in other dictatorial lands freedom of worship is often restricted by unjust laws that are enforced by a police state. For example, under the pressure of religious persecution a party belonging to a Protestant religious sect traveled to Moscow earlier this year and sought asylum at the United States embassy. When they were turned away, and the Russians came to take them, one cried: “I do not want to go back! They will arrest me and shoot me! . . . We ask all brothers and sisters who believe in God: Help us! Help us!”¹ The Christian activity of Jehovah’s witnesses, too, is banned in Russia.

Such treatment is reminiscent of Hitler’s efforts to stamp out the uncompromising worship of Jehovah’s witnesses when he rose to power thirty years ago. On October 7, 1934, he swore: “This brood will be

exterminated Germany.”! Yet, despite his concentration camps and brutal persecution,

Jehovah's witnesses survived, while Hitler and his party were exterminated.

None of their efforts could stop Jehovah’s witnesses from serving God. They continued to preach in spite of prison bonds and remained steadfast, faithful to Scriptural principles.

But it is not only in dictatorial lands that there is a danger of having one’s freedom to serve God restricted. Many persons are not free to serve God today because they do not have an accurate knowledge of the Bible and, therefore, are blinded by false religious teachings. Such ones need to study to learn the truth, as Jesus said: “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”—John 8:32.

Superstition, and Fear

Because of these false religious ideas millions of persons need to be set free from superstition and fear. For instance, many fear the spirits or souls of the departed dead. They believe the dead are immortal, and will harm the living if they are not appeased. So afraid are they of the deceased that certain natives in the South Pacific reportedly tie the hands of the dead

f Taken from a sworn account by Karl R. A. Wittig, who, tn 1934, was a German government worker who was present when Hitler made ttjts statement. On November 13, 1947, this account was signed before a notary public in Frankfort on the Main.

“together and pull out their nails; this is for fear that the corpse may scratch its way out of the grave and become a vampire.”² In South American countries people will regularly set out food and drink upon the graves to appease the souls of the departed dead.

Many similar practices are carried on by people throughout the world. Their beliefs regarding the dead cause them to live in constant fear of doing anything that will bring upon themselves the displeasure of the departed souls. Similarly, in some places in Africa the witch doctor is believed to have supernatural powers, and people are afraid to do anything contrary to his wish. As a result, they are afraid to examine the truths in the Bible that can set them free from their fears and superstitions.

Since it is believed that the soul is immortal, in many countries people are gripped by the fear that performing or falling to perform certain activities will mean eternal torment of their souls after death. For example, The Encyclopedia Americana reports that in Turkey some view it as an unpardonable sin to step on a piece of bread or to leave it lying on the ground. Such a crime “dooms the offender to the third hell, where he is perpetually gored by an ox that has but a single horn, and that in the center of his forehead.”!

Fear of torment after death terrorizes millions of people and restricts their freedom to serve God. This is true even in supposedly enlightened societies where the religions of Christendom have adopted the immortality of the soul and hell of torment doctrines. Due to these enslaving teachings many are as fearful of displeasing their priests as people in other societies are of being cursed by the witch doctor. Believing the priest has special powers to help the souls of the deceased, they regularly pay over money to have prayers said in behalf of the departed dead. And when the priest discourages them from learning the truth contained in the Bible, they are afraid to disobey him.

But from where do these teachings that sponsor such superstitious fears come? Certainly not from the Bible, for nowhere does it teach that man has an immortal soul, but it plainly says: “The soul that is sinning—it itself will die.” (Ezek. 18:4) Rather than teach conscious torment for the dead, the Bible says of them: “But as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all.” (Eccl. 9:5) Only those who listen to the Bible and make their minds over in harmony with its teachings can gain the freedom from superstitious falsehood that is needed in order to serve God acceptably.

Materialistic Entanglements

Not only do false religious teachings enslave people, but also various materialistic interests often entangle them so that they are not free to serve God. As Jesus warned would happen to some, they are led astray by “the deceptive power of riches,” and are weighed down by “anxieties over livelihood.”—Matt. 13:22; Luke 21:34, NW footnote, 1950 Edition.

Whenever such ones are invited to discuss the precious truths contained in God’s Word or to go out and share these with others, they are too busy. They may have a beautiful home and many of the other conveniences of modern living, but these absorb all their time. They become so wrapped up in enjoying these material things and working to pay for them, they lose sight of their dependence upon God and the need to take time to study his Word and to serve him. The “pleasures of this life” crowd out the hope of life in God’s new world.—Luke 8:14; 2 Pet. 3:13.

These entangling materialistic desires often take root before one realizes it. One may simply wish to raise his standard of living a little to correspond with that of an acquaintance. But the acquiring of a few modern comforts whets the appetite for more. Soon more and more time is spent working to pay for a more comfortable way of life, and less and less time is found to spend with the family and to consider spiritual matters. Eventually, due to overwork and anxiety over meeting rising expenses, one is so entangled he is no longer free to serve God. He is weighed down by “anxieties over livelihood.”

Do you find that happening to you? If so, it is not a situation to consider lightly. Freedom to serve God is a treasure to be guarded closely. It is a dangerous thing to allow oneself to sink into debt or in some other way become obligated so that one’s freedom to serve God is unduly restricted. It is a situation demanding immediate action so as to extricate oneself from such restrictive obligations. The need to make speed in freeing oneself from such circumstances is emphasized in Proverbs chapter six. There God shows how dangerous it is for anyone to bind himself as a security for someone else, particularly for a stranger.

“My son, if you have gone surety for your fellow man, if you have given your handshake even to the stranger, if you have been ensnared by the sayings of your mouth, if you have been caught by the sayings of your mouth, take this action then, my son, and deliver yourself, for you have come into the palm of your fellow man: Go humble yourself and storm your fellow man with importunities. Do not give any sleep to your eyes, nor any slumber to your beaming eyes. Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand and like a bird from the hand of the birdcatcher.”—Prov. 6:1-5.

Thus God’s Word emphasizes the dangerous position of one who has allowed himself to be cajoled into going security for another when it is not in behalf of the interests of God’s service. By agreeing to be responsible for the conduct, debts or obligations of another, a person is taking the risk of endangering his own freedom to serve. God, as well as jeopardizing the use of his financial resources in behalf of Jehovah’s service. One who has made such a mutual agreement, as represented by the handshake, should make all speed possible to extricate himself from this entangling snare. He should try to have the arrangement canceled, even if it means pleading with the one for whom he became surety. With all jealousy one should guard his freedom to serve God.

Free to Serve God

Almighty God opened the way for all men to gain freedom from sin and death by providing his Son Jesus as a ransom sacrifice. However, the only way to avail oneself of this merciful provision for salvation is to break free from the entangling restrictions of this present system of things and to devote oneself to God’s service. But how can one make this break for freedom?

Jesus said that “the truth will set you free.” Thus if anyone really wants to be free he must diligently study the Bible in order to gain an accurate knowledge of the truths it contains. But one must also live the truth, putting God’s service first and everything else secondary. A person who does this will never be enslaved to superstition and fear, nor will he be entangled by materialistic interests. He will be free to serve God.

WHEN two thousand Burmese students staged a wild demonstration in July, 1962, during which they wrecked college and dormitory property and burned cars, Burmese troops had to be called to restore order. The painful result was the death of fifteen persons and the wounding of twentyseven. Two months later in neighboring India students sparked a riot in Calcutta. The crowds swelled to thousands and they burned thirteen streetcars. A few days later students clashed with police in East Pakistan in a mass demonstration to protest educational reforms made by the government. During 1962 there were also student riots in Portugal, Spain, Egypt and the United States. The one in the United States was so bad that government troops had to be called to preserve peace in the university town of Oxford, Mississippi.

Why is it that students the world over often march through city streets instead of peacefully studying in their classrooms? What do they hope to gain by creating an uproar? Are their actions planned or are they spontaneous? What should the individual student consider when he sees such demonstrations building up? What is the viewpoint of the Christian student on these matters?

Korean students felt that the govem-ment under Syngman Rhee had become exceedingly corrupt, oppressive, and had

flagrantly rigged the 1960 elections. By the thousands they marched through Korean cities demanding fair elections. A number of police stations were destroyed. Fire hoses were turned on the students, clouds of tear gas swept over them and police guns were fired at them. Casualties were high, with 183 dead and 6,259 injured.

Support from the army finally helped the students to win their objectives. The National Assembly unanimously passed a resolution that called for new elections, a new constitution and Rhee’s resignation. Until order could be reestablished the students ran the police stations and directed traffic. It appeared that their demonstration had been spontaneous, a popular expression of resentment against injustice and corruption in government.

Inspired by the success of the Korean students, Turkish students demonstrated against what they felt was oppressive rule by the Menderes government. For a month they rioted in Istanbul, Ankara and Ismir, despite shootings by the police that wounded and killed a number of them. As the students of Korea demanded the resignalion of Rhee, so Turkish students shouted for Menderes to resign.

The student protests failed to sweep the general public into the demonstrations, but they did pave the way for a take-over of the government by the Turkish armed forces. With lightning swiftness navy, army and air units took possession of all key points without the shedding of blood. The Menderes government was finished.

In Latin-American countries as well, students take a keen interest in political affairs and are quick to make their views public by demonstrations that often become violent. In Colombia in 1957 they contributed to forcing President Pinilla to flee the country.

In recent years a great number of students have been killed in Venezuela because of their violent political activity. When Dictator Marcos Jimenes was overthrown in 1958, students contributed to it. By the thousands they marched through the streets of Caracas. During the ensuing revolt more than three hundred persons were killed and one thousand wounded. In 1960 leftist students put on a five-day antigovernment riot in which fifteen persons were killed.

There have been other apparent reasons aside from politics that have caused students to demonstrate their anger. Latin-American students have gone on strike against professors they disliked, against particular examinations, and against specific policies relating to the universities. Students in Chile rioted in 1957 because bus fares were raised. They attacked government buildings and burned automobiles. Forty to seventy persons were killed and hundreds were wounded. In the same year Brazilian students rioted for several days in Rio de Janeiro to protest an increase in streetcar fares.

The reason given fra the 1962 riots in Burma was that the students considered dormitory regulations to be oppressive. Ih India the student riot was started after fe college student was turned over to the police when he was discovered in the wrong section of a train with a third-class ticket. The riot that occurred at Oxford, Mississippi, in the United States, erupted when efforts were made to enroll a colored man in the white university there. In Portugal the student demonstrations were touched off by a ban placed on student celebrations.

Japanese students put on a wild demonstration in 1960 to protest against Japan and the United States renewing a mutual defense treaty. They fought the police with sticks and stones and set fire to seventeen police trucks. Tokyo’s hospitals treated 270 students and 600 policemen for injuries.

Points to Ponder

Without doubt in many instances there have been gross injustices that have motivated students to riot. Their actions appeared to be justified. However, it would be dangerous to conclude that all student uprisings are of such a nature. There are other elements involved that the student would do well to consider before getting enmeshed in the mobs.

Where the demonstration is spontaneous, as many seem to be, does the average student who finds himself involved know all the facts concerning the issue? How many who are spectators, or merely curious, and get swept along with the crowd have had time to make a calm analysis of the situation? Would there be time to ask one of those participating about the background and intentions of the group? There is little likelihood of getting all the answers to these questions when a mob is already on the move. While the demonstration may appear justified on the surface, it might be otherwise if all the facts were known. Where emotion has begun to run riot, it is difficult to obtain rational answers to one’s inquiries.

Another very serious danger is that Of getting swept up into a student demonstration that seems innocent enough on the surface, whose motives appear to be honest and justified, but which demonstration is being manipulated and used by radical, Communist or other elements whose motives are not at all pure. By succumbing to the mob fever, which is so easily aroused in any mass demonstration, students can unwittingly become the tools of right-wing or left-wing radicals who do not embrace their ideals. Unknowingly, these sincere students will actually assist such radical elements to destroy an established government and to pave the way for a government that is fashioned according to the warped views of those extremists. In the Japanese riots a left-wing student organization, called Zengakuren, was the core of the demonstration that soon involved many more people than just this leftist element.

Another very serious aspect for the student to consider is that frequently these demonstrations lead to something the student had not anticipated when he first went along with the group. What was intended to be a peaceful demonstration can quickly turn into a disaster. Harsh words can turn into shoves, followed by fists, which could lead to retaliation by bullets. Ail of a sudden a student can find himself in a street where blood is being spilled, when that may have been the farthest thing from his mind when he started.

Consider, too, the results. While it is true that student demonstrations have, at times, stimulated military men to overthrow oppressive rulers, they have often failed to achieve student objectives. This was the case in Hungary, where over two thousand persons lost their lives in what reportedly started out to be a peaceful demonstration by students. Even when a bad government is overthrown, the students cannot be certain that the new government will be an improvement. The injustices and oppressions to which they objected can, in time, return and even intensify. Did the Bosnian student who lit the fuse to World War I improve the situation for his cause? To the contrary, it eventually resulted in the loss of millions of the flower of humankind.

Consider Youthful Immaturity

The immaturity of the students must be considered also. This immaturity is clearly evident in their readiness to demonstrate wildly against such things as a raise in bus fares, new dormitory regulations, examinations, governmental decisions, and so forth. Resorting to public disorder as a way to make known their displeasure or their opinions is not the course of mature thinking. Such impetuousness causes needless injuries, property damage and deaths. The death of just one student is a very expensive price to pay for protesting a raise in bus fares. When students want to make known their views on a matter that concerns them, they can do it in a peaceful and mature manner rather than resorting to the emotional display of an unreasoning mob.

Mob action is the path of anarchy and not the path of law and order. It is not the way for students to learn how to be law-abiding citizens who have respect for the property and rights of others. When they surge through a city as an emotional mob, setting streetcars ablaze, overturning police cars and destroying public buildings, they are injuring the common people, whose tax money paid for such things. When they destroy private property, they harm innocent people. Such vandalism puts them in the class of undisciplined delinquents.

Hiis latter point is to be taken into consideration. Not all student mobs have as their foundation a righteous or just cause. Some of these riots are only expressions of youthful rebellion against any established authority. It is part of youth’s rebellion in many parts of the world against parent, school and government. This can be seen in the fact that the greatest increase in the crime rates of most countries is among those under the age of twenty-one. Yes, many riots find their roots in unrighteous hatred for minorities, disrespect for established authorities and a youthful rebellious spirit against the world.

The Christian Student's View

The hazards of indulging with others in student riots are, therefore, far greater than any immediate benefits to be derived. Many students, after participating in such riots, have apologized and expressed their dismay at having been caught up and used in something they had not anticipated. How, then, will the Christian student view these matters?

The Christian student will acknowledge that there are many injustices in the world. However, he will also acknowledge that it is impossible for him to make a wrong world right. He will realize, as the Bible writer John said, that "the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one.” (1 John 5:19) He knows, as the apostle Paul showed, that Satan is the “god of this system of things.” (2 Cor. 4:4) He also knows that this system of things will not change for the better, for “wicked men and impostors will advance from bad to worse, misleading and being misled.”—2 Tim. 3: 13.

The Christian student will appreciate, therefore, that not riots, but God’s kingdom will bring about the permanent remedy for unjust conditions that arouse the indignation of the student. God promises that “the world is passing away and so is its desire, but he that does the will of God remains forever.” (1 John 2:17) So the Christian student will look forward eagerly to God’s new world, where the causes for such riots will be a thing of the past, never to be experienced again.

No, demonstrations are not for students that profess to be Christians. Lawless rioting is not the way of Christianity. It is not the way to “seek peace and pursue it,” as the Scriptures instruct. It is just as wrong for students to try to force their will upon their superiors by acts of violence as it is for children to try to force their will upon their parents by flying into tantrums. As Christian children obediently subject themselves to their parents, so Christian students should subject themselves to worldly authorities who exercise rule over them. When the Christian student sees a mob developing, he will get off the street as quickly as possible, avoiding the temptation to see what is happening, as he may quickly be sucked into the demonstration.—1 Pet. 3:11; 2:13, 14; Rom. 13:1, 2; Prov. 26:17.

With firm faith in God’s promises to bring justice, peace and righteous rule to mankind by means of his kingdom, Christians need never be numbered among the angry students who go on the march.

IN THE 1870’s French novelist Jules

Verne sent Phileas Fogg around the world in eighty hectic days, that fictional traveler pushing on by steamship, train, elephant and sled. In 1963 you can travel around the world by jet aircraft and see a great deal in far less than eighty days. Many travelers take five or six weeks. But sixty or eighty days does afford one a better opportunity to benefit from a costly around* the-world trip. If you were making such a trip, what countries would you visit?

Much would depend on the time you had available; in any event you would need to be very selective, both as to countries and as to what you would see in the countries. You would need to consider your special interests. Do you prefer scenery? Are you interested in works of art? Are you interested in historic sites? Or is your interest religion and the Bible?

Supposing you are specially interested in religion and the Bible, what would you see as you go around the world and what would you learn as you talk with people?

If we start our tour from New York city, we will learn about the so-called religious revival in the United States; and we can see many fashionable churches that are likely to be overflowing on Sunday morning. At many New York hotels we can see on display a variety of church programs, resembling theater programs, outlining the church events of the week. The Sunday program itself may require a page and a half; there will be notes as to what time and day the “Business and Professional Women’s Club” meets, as well as the youth group and other clubs. The program may give you the impression that churches in America are more like social clubs than places to learn about the Bible. Despite overflowing churches, you will likely hear comments, many from the clergy themselves, about the shallowness of the religious revival and the grip materialism has on the people.

Religion in Europe

From New York you can jet your way to London, England. After beholding overflowing churches in the United States, you may be surprised at the churches in England, because of the virtual emptiness of most of them. Though every inhabitant of England, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, is assumed to be a member of the Church of England, members will tell you that less than 13 percent of adults go to church. Some say it is less than 10 percent. You will notice, then, a general apathy in the field of religion, despite imposing cathedrals, such as St. Paul’s.

Before leaving England you will likely go to the British Museum, where you can see the famed Alexandrine and Sinaitic Bible manuscripts. You can also see a clay cylinder mentioning Belshazzar, a king that critics of the Bible for many years said was a myth. (Dan. 5:1) There is also part of one of the sculptured pillars that once belonged to the ancient wonder of the world, the temple of Artemis, mentioned in the Bible. (Acts 19:23-28) Many oth-

er uungs nere will also interest Bible students.³

From England we will go to Paris, France. Here you will note that the Catholic church is dominant and is represented by such cathedrals as Notre Dame. Here, as in other Catholic churches, you do not notice worshipers with Bible in hands; jn fact, if you talk with the people of France you will get the view that the Bible is a Protestant book, something of which to beware; hence most of the French people do not accept the Bible as the Authority for Christians. You will learn also that the great majority of people are nominally Catholic, but that in the big cities only about one-tenth of the population go to church.

Taking a side trip to Scandinavia, we could go to Denmark. Here you may be shocked to observe that, though 97 percent of the people are affiliated with the Church of Denmark (Lutheran), less than 3 percent attend church, and these are not regular. Talking with Danes, you will realize that in general they do not regard the Bible seriously. Going on to Stockholm, Sweden, you will find a similar situation. You will notice that the vast masses of people have forsaken the Lutheran State Church, attending only during great festivals. The Swedes, too, are not very religious, the church having failed to meet the challenge of materialism and to turn the people to God.

Traveling south to West Germany, we find two large religious systems, the Evangelical (Protestant) and the Catholic, over 96 percent of the people belonging to one or the other group. In Bavaria there is a larger Catholic population; Munich, for instance, is 80 percent Catholic, that Bavarian city being named for the monks who founded it during the Middle Ages. Munich may remind you of Hitler’s beer hall putsch and that the Nazi party was formed in Germany’s most Catholic state, Bavaria.

Realizing that it was in Germany that the Reformation got its start when Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five points of protest to the door of the Palace Church in Wittenberg, you may wonder, Where is the spirit of the Reformation today? For you will note that thousands of Protestants are virtually atheists, that people say fewer are attending church now than in the days of Hitler. You will learn that only about 5 percent of the people are regular churchgoers. If you ask why, you may be told that it is not just Germany—in Europe generally this is not an “age of faith.”

From Germany we will travel to Rome, Italy. Here we can visit some of the catacombs, the Colosseum where Christians were thrown to the lions, the Roman Forum and the Arch of Titus. On this arch is a large panel depicting a triumphal procession of Roman soldiers. carrying, off the table of showbread, trumpets and the seven-branched lampstand from the temple in Jerusalem—especially interesting to us because it is the earliest representation in existence and the most authentic example of the seven-branched lampstand.

Also of interest is a visit to the Vatican, St. Peter’s Square and the Basilica. At the Vatican Museum one can see a page of the famous Vatican Manuscript No. 1209, as well as a copy of the famed Gutenberg Bible.

Looking at religion today in Italy, you wifi find this land, though overwhelmingly Catholic, in a state of general religious apathy. You will learn that few support the Church wholeheartedly; the vast majority go to church only occasionally. You will observe many priests and nuns, sometimes seeing them go from house to house, not with Bible in hand, to teach it, but to collect money. You may be surprised to learn that many Italians have never seen the inside of a Bible, and that more than one-third of Italian voters have sided with anti-Catholic communistic elements, despite threats of excommunication by priests.

As you are ready to board the plane to Greece, you will probably leave Italy with the conviction that, whether in northern or Latin-European countries, regular churchgoing does not appeal to the majority.

Arriving in Athens, you will soon see the Greek Orthodox priests, with bushy beards, long black robes with flowing sleeves and cloth hats with brim on top. Looking at the churches, the worshipers, the way they cross themselves and use images, you will probably And it difficult to tell much difference between Greek Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism. Few houses, you will note, are without icons or religious images; and the buses of Athens are not without their protective “holy" medal.

While in Athens, you will be interested in the place where the apostle Paul gave his speech before the Athenian Supreme Court about the futility of worshiping images, “something sculptured by the art and contrivance of man.” (Acts 17:29) So we will visit the Areopagus (Mars Hill), the little hill at the foot of the great Acropolis. Crowning the Acropolis are the remains of the Parthenon, temple to the goddess Athena, the tutelary deity of the ancient city of Athens—just one of many pagan temples Paul saw at Athens.

But if the apostle Paul were to preach in Athens today, the Greek Orthodox clergy would have him thrown into prison or put out of the country, because they do not tolerate any “proselytism.” The Greek Orthodox Church rules, and clergy and police suppress any “proselyting.” Jehovah’s witnesses in Greece will tell you how often they have been imprisoned merely for preaching the good news of God’s kingdom.

The Holy Land

We will make our next stop in Jordan, for it is in Jordan that the larger portion of the old city of Jerusalem is located. Here we will see the city’s most conspicuous landmark, the Mount of Olives, where Jesus spent many hours with his apostles and from where he ascended to heaven. From the top of the Mount of Olives we have a fine view of the Jordan valley and part of the Dead Sea, and quite close, you will notice, is the village of Bethany, where Mary, Martha and Lazarus lived. The Mount of Olives is separated from the plateau of Jerusalem by the deep, narrow cleft of the three-mile-long Kidron Valley, which bounds the east slope of the city. Surrounding Jerusalem on the west and south is the Valley of Hinnom or Gehenna.

Prominent in Jerusalem is the Dome of the Rock, a Moslem shrine, believed to be standing on the site where Abraham was to sacrifice his son and where Solomon built the glorious temple to Jehovah. Yes, you will note that Jordan is predominantly Moslem, about 80 percent of the population professing Mohammedanism or Islam, The Moslem mosques are houses of prayer in which no images are allowed. You may be reminded of Mohammed, who started Islam because he was disturbed by the idolatrous practices of the people about him. You may also be reminded how each Moslem has the duty to make at least one pilgrimage to the sacred city of Mecca, to do religious acts toward the Kaaba stone, including kissing it seven times. You will also learn that Moslem worshipers use a rosary of ninety-nine beads.

Situated by nearly every location of Bible fame are shrines and monasteries, and priests, nuns and monks of many orders are seen almost as frequently as the white-turbaned sheiks of the Moslems. Many persons lament the commercialized atmosphere.

The Christian does well to keep in mind that, according to the findings of archeologists, traditional sites of Calvary and the tomb of Christ’s burial and resurrection, now included inside the "Church of the Holy Sepulcher" deep within the city, were outside the city in Jesus’ day, and hence those generally shown to tourists could not be the true locations. Though Calvary cannot be identified with certainty today, a more likely location is the so-called “Gordon’s Calvary.”* As to any claims that Jesus walked this or that street, and so forth, it is also well to keep in mind that Jerusalem was razed by the Romans A.D. 70. It was largely in ruins even in 130 (A.D.), when the Roman emperor Hadrian visited the city and began its reconstruction.

From Jordan we will stop next at Lebanon, the famed mountain land where King Solomon got the cedars for his temple. Here one can visit the remaining cedars of Lebanon and see the mountains so often mentioned in the Bible, as well as the snowcapped Mount Hermon.

Lebanon is unusual to the visitor because it is an Arab state without Islam as its state religion. About half the people profess Christianity; the other half, Islam. Both the professed Christians and Moslems are divided into many sects; in fact, perhaps few other places are so divided religiously as Lebanon.

Land of Hinduism

On now to India. Those used to seeing cows in a pasture or in a barn may be surprised to see cows walking about the main streets, even sidewalks, of a city in India. You will need to realize that the reason for this is religious, the cow being a sacred animal to the Hindus; and India is about 85 percent Hindu. You will find it interesting to visit one of the Hindu temples.

• The Watchtower, August I, 1948, pp. 236-238.

Stopping at New Delhi, we can visit Birla Temple, where the gods of the Hindus are on display, including the Hindu trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. You will note on the right side of the main entrance to the temple words written in Sanscrit, Hindi and English: “He who is known as Vishwi [Preserver] is verily Rudra [Destroyer], and he who is Rudra is Brahma [Creator], one entity functioning as three gods.” The visitor will probably reflect how amazingly like the trinity creed of Christendom this is, even in regard to the expressions used in trying to define it. You will also note that this temple is adorned with the swastika, made the symbol of Hitler’s Nazism. If you pick up the temple guidebook you will read under “Swastika”:

“This (Swastika) symbol is most sacred and ancient At least for more than the last 8,000 years, it has been the mark of Aryan (Hindu) civilisation and culture. This symbol signifies ait implied prayer for success, accomplishment and perfection, in every walk of life, under the guidance of the Almighty. It is found not only in India, but in the Buddhist and other foreign countries."

At the Hindu temple you will see temple worshipers fold their hands in prayer and bow to images just as Roman Catholics do before their images in their churches.

The Buddhist Lands

Our next stop is Rangoon, Burma. Here you behold the huge Golden Pagoda that rises above the city, reminding you that Buddhism is the religion of about 85 percent of Burma’s people. The temple’s huge golden spire rises 326 feet into the air, the glittering crown being studded with precious stones valued at a half million dollars or more. It is the highest Buddhist shrine in the world, and it is visited annually by thousands of pilgrims.

In Bangkok, Thailand, we also note that Buddhism permeates almost every phase of activity in the country. Here you see many huge walled enclosures called wats, which contain the Buddhist temples and dormitories of the student priests. Families will make journeys requiring several days' travel to pray at the famed wats, such as the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. Just as hundreds of Buddhist temples dominate Bangkok’s skyline, so do hundreds of saffron-robed Buddhist priests dominate its streets.

We stop next at Hong Kong, where Buddhism is the religion of the majority of the vast Chinese population. We hear now and then the banging of ceremonial firecrackers, for this is the method the Chinese have long used to placate their gods. At the door of most homes incense sticks are burning; but if you talk with these Buddhists it is most unlikely that they will be able to explain the teachings of their religion.

In South Korea and in Japan we see more of Buddhism, but in Japan we also find Shinto. You will observe that many Japanese adhere to more than one religion. Many pray before their household Shinto shrine and also before their family Buddhist altar. Services at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, many Japanese admit, are, regarded as routine functions rather than as expressions of real faith.

At Nara, Japan, we visit a Buddhist temple with a colossal image of Buddha. Its right hand is raised in an attitude of blessing, much as the Catholic pope raises his hand in blessing his flock. Visiting Kyoto, we come to the chief seat of Buddhism in Japan. In the hall of Kwannon, you see the “goddess of mercy,” with 1,001 images of the same goddess; there are also huge replicas of the 108-bead rosary used by the Buddhists (who borrowed the rosary from the Hindus). As you board the plane for Hawaii and then back to the mainland United States, where this world tour started, you may well reflect that Buddhist temples and shrines bear a great resemblance to Roman Catholic places of worship. They are equipped with altar, sacred images, candles, bells, rosaries and incense.

Your trip around the world will have impressed you, then, with the many similarities between religion in both Christendom and in heathendom—there being widespread apathy, ignorance of one’s religion, lack of faith and use of images and idols. You will understand better why it is written of the apostle Paul, when he visited ancient Athens, that “his spirit within him came to be irritated at beholding that the city was full of idols.”—Acts 17:16.

Not many, of course, can make such an enlightening world trip; but during 1963 several hundred Christians will go around the world, doing so as delegates to the around-the-world convention of Jehovah’s witnesses. They will make this trip with their main interests always in mind, God's Word, the Bible, and the true religion based upon it. The delegates on this world convention tour will benefit not just themselves, but they will also make time to call on the homes of local people, to tell them, whether Hindu, Buddhist, Shinto or nominally Christian, of God’s kingdom. This series of conventions begins in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, June 3Q~July 7, then to Yankee Stadium, New York, and on around the world, ending in Pasadena, California, September 1-8.

A visit to many countries, thus viewed from one’s special interest, can be a rewarding experience, a source of lasting benefit for the traveler and to all who hear about his trip around the world.

CRIME PREVENTION

By Awake Correspondent

enced law-enforcement officers i_n the say that, unless something occurs to arrest this process, the         .

day will come when we will Bnuippine have to resort to some means

outside the normal instruments of the law to protect ourselves.”

This startling observation, made by a prominent lawyer, was not of some primitive, savage, uncultured society, but of one of the most advanced countries in the world!

True, crime is not a new contribution to the tragic history of fallen men. But that the criminal inclination of men’s minds has become so prevalent in this period of time is cause for serious reflection. From all continents and nations the story is the same—a shocking increase in lawlessness and a sickening disregard for established authority.

A report in Science News Letter states: “Crime has increased beyond expected proportions in the underdeveloped countries of the Middle East, the Far East, Asia, South Africa and parts of Latin America.” An earlier issue of the same publication said: “Soviet Russia’s crime rate has been ri^ng f'mce World War II.” Of the United

our nation is a shocking disgrace and a broad indictment , of the American people.” US, Islands News and World Report declared: “It requires no great effort to establish that disrespect for law is widespread, is alarming, and is steadily growing worse. Crime is up, all over the nation ... It is increasing five times the rate of increase in the population.” In Canada the Deputy Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police stated: “Crime has been with us since Cain and Abel, but today we are seeing its expression in forms of violence and seemingly wanton cruelty that are shocking even to policemen like myself.”

In almost every country persons below twenty-one years of age make up an unusually large proportion of those committing crimes. The Scottish Daily Express recently stated: “Of all the boys in England and Wales who are now 14 years, no less than one in five will be convicted before they are 21 of one or more of the crimes of theft, sex offences, disorder, violence, and drink.” In all countries mature observers are becoming increasingly alarmed at this accelerating rate of criminal activity among the young.

It has been said that the main reason for the rise in crime is the existence of economic insecurity and outright poverty. But that does not appear to be the entire answer. Bearing this out are the lower crime rates found in some rural areas of the Philippine Islands, where many families are compelled to subsist on two meals a day, eating rice and fish. Yet, the incidence of criminal acts is much lower than in other areas of the Philippines where there is an abundance. At best, poverty is only a contributing factor.

Why is it that crime is comparatively low in some of these rural Philippine areas? Are there more police forces there? On the contrary, there are fewer. Are there bigger and better social agencies in these less developed areas? On the contrary, there are none. What, then, is the advantage?

Life Patterns Significant

With the end of World War II life in the Philippine barrio, or village community, resumed old patterns. Close family ties were reestablished. The father once again took his young sons in tow and began teaching them the family occupation. The father takes time to explain things to the boys, telling them stories of his own childhood, stories related to the work at hand, the community in which they live, stories about relatives living in other provinces or lands. Christian fathers never fail to include Bible accounts of creation, Noah and the flood, David, Jesus and the activities of Christians past, present and future.

The mother does her share in keeping the family unit solid and happy. She teaches her daughters cooking, sewing, weaving, gardening, housecleaning and how to take care of the younger children. In a land where the average family numbers six children, respect for parents and older brothers and sisters is essential for orderliness and is inculcated early in life.

One factor that is a significant part of peaceable rural family life is that material rewards for work done by the children are few and far between. Children are taught to do things for the sake of the work itself and for what is accomplished and not because they will be paid for it. Most often the reward is a kind word of appreciation, a commendation for a job well done, or a warm, affectionate hug.

In the evenings the father and his sons return from the fields or the workshop, the schoolchildren are home and the family enjoys its evening reunion. There are no television sets with banging guns, slamming bodies and twisted minds, but there is wholesome family association.

This does not mean that the barrio is free of problems. It has its share. But crime does not usually reach the proportions of other areas. However, in the last few years a certain uneasiness has begun to settle over the provinces. Visiting friends and relatives from the cities display the material comforts they possess and create the impression that their barrio cousins are missing out on life. This has caused some frustration and drinking in excess.

It is true that there are greater job opportunities in the city. But here the close family unity of the provinces is frequently broken when mother, father, sister and brother all have jobs in different fields of work at different places. In the place of the spirit of cooperation prevalent in the provinces, the spirit of competition comes to the fore. The desire to make a name for oneself often becomes an obsession and gives birth to corrupt activities and vio-fence. The same has been found true In Africa, the Middle East, South America and other parts of Asia. Natives who migrate to newly industrialized areas become rootless and confused without the security of the close-knit family arrangement.

Parental Responsibility

While parents cannot bear all the responsibility for the delinquency of young ones, it is agreed by almost all authorities in the field that parental control is at the root of the problem. Not that the parents are necessarily criminals themselves, but it is their attitude toward their young that permits the growth of tendencies that explode in criminal acts later on.

An example of this was seen recently when a score of American youngsters wrecked the interior of an apartment in a lodging house during the course of an allnight party. The owner of the property sent fetters to twenty et the yreaents involved asking them to come and see for themselves the extent of the damage. Only three parents responded! A newspaper reporting the incident said: “The other 17 just did not care what their sons or daughters had done. . . ; The most shocking thing uncovered by this shameful incident is not the senseless damage done to the apartment or the larceny for which two boys were convicted; it is the evidence of a lack of concern and responsibility on the part of such a large group of parents. Is there any doubt about where some of the kids learn their contempt for authority and for the rights of others?”

Where parental control is properly exercised, delinquency is effectively checked. The experience of the Philippine barrio is one example. Another is the absence of juvenile crime in many Chinese communities in the Western world, where children of Chinese parents are taught respect for their elders.

No Substitute for Right Example

In ancient Israel juvenile delinquency was kept to a minimum, and never did it appear as a major social problem. There must be a reason for this. Bible history shows that close family life and fellowship between parents and children were major factors in keeping delinquency down. Children were taught their parents’ occupations and were in the company of the parents as they learned. In this way David learned the art of shepherding and was skilled at it when only ten years old.

Close, constant fellowship is implied when the Israelites were told: “These words I am commanding you today must prove to be on your heart; and you must inculcate them in your son and speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road and when you lie down and when you get up.” (Deut. 6:6, 7) Here it is seen that parents were to teach vV'A\4^TiⁱW'eicfer¥rsieri'tniti¹jVca^-n. No limitation as to time or place was put on this instruction. Respect for God and for the sanctity of the home was instilled early with love and discipline.—Prov. 13: 24;29:15.

In the days of ancient Israel, parents were governed by righteous laws of God. Their love and appreciation for God and his laws transcended even the closest family ties. Their first loyalty was to God, and they strongly felt the responsibility for maintaining the peace and orderliness of the community in which they lived. Parents did not try to cover over the sins of their children and thus encourage delinquency. Instead, if the children were incorrigible, the parents reported them to the city elders and suitable justice was administered.

Of course, this system depended on the parents’ living wholesome, upright and unspotted lives themselves. The very fact that parents reported their own offspring to the authorities underscores their sense of righteousness, responsibility and indignation at lawlessness.

It is noteworthy, however, that when the Israelites left off serving God and began practicing what God condemned, their children followed right along and even surpassed their own parents in wickedness. “They acted worse than their forefathers!” —Jer. 7:26.

What Is Needed

Love, discipline and a sense of responsibility are the missing ingredients. Mutual family interests should dominate the lives of both parents and children, if not at secular work, then in periods when work and school are over for the day or week.

Honest parents will examine themselves and their own course of conduct. It does no good for father to speak in abusive and foul language and tell Junior not to use abusive and foul language. Neither will it mean anything to shout at the child when instructing it about mildness of temper. What will the young one think when you tell him never to lie after he heard the whopper you told the neighbor that morning? “Smoking is not good for you,” said one father to his twelve-year-old son, as a cigarette dangled from father’s lips’ What is needed is love and discipline of the young, true. But what must precede it is self-discipline and a sense of responsibility on the part of the parent.

New standards of easy virtue and delinquency have replaced the old in our times.

But still newer standards are needed. The newer standards are based on the oldest, God’s Holy Word, the Bible, It is wrong thinking that produces wrong works. Conversely, it is fine thinking that produces fine works.

The works of wrong thinking prevail upon the earth today and they are “fornication, uncleanness, loose conduct, idolatry, practice of spiritism, hatreds, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, contentions, divisions, sects, envies, drunken bouts, revelries, and things like these."—Gal. 5:19-21.

Fine thinking, based on God’s Word, on the other hand, produces the fruitage of God’s holy spirit, which is “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, mildness, self-control." (Gal. 5:22, 23) Parents who are interested in the lives of their children, as well as their own lives, will view this counsel with the seriousness it deserves. Not that they will remake this old world, for that will not happen, but they will remake their own lives and the lives of their young ones to be pleasing to God. When God’s time arrives for smashing this delinquent world, those who have worked to apply godly principles wifi be spared its fate.—Ps. 37:9-11.

Living is a superlative experience. Being endowed with the ability to generate life certainly should be viewed with reverence, joy and a keen sense of responsibility. When parents appreciate childbearing as the God-given privilege it is, then and only then will both parents and neighbors agree that “the fruitage of the belly is a reward.” —Ps. 127:3.

Proverbs of Diplomats

♦ For the last twenty-live years Victor S. M, de Guinzbourg, executive officer of the United Nations military staff committee, has been collecting proverbs from diplomats in his spare time. These have recently been published in the book Wit and Wisdom of the United Nations.

Three samples: “Lie—but don’t overdo it’’ (Russian). “Kill one—a murderer; kill thousands—a hero" (Indian). “The only way you can unite with the tiger is inside the tiger” (Chinese).

FROM a papyrus basket along the Nile River of ancient Egypt to the modem giant airport runways, from the ark of Noah’s day to today’s super eight-lane throughways, from the Hanging Gardens of Babylon to the roofs of twentieth-century skyscrapers, from the historic mummies of Egypt to the taming of the mighty Mississippi River— what is it that is common to all of these, ancient and modern? Bitumen, a most useful and versatile substance. Sir Walter Raleigh, who visited Trinidad in 1595, used this wonderful “ooze’’ in caulking his boats and later described it in his diary as “most excellent good.”

The use of bitumen as a cement has a long and checkered history. Perhaps the oldest recorded application of this unique material is found in the Bible at the sixth chapter of Genesis when Noah was directed to build an ark. To make the seams of it waterproof, Noah was instructed to “cover it inside and outside with tar.” (Gen. 6:14) Corroborating this account is the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, which describes the caulking operations of the ark builder in these words: “6 sacs of bitumen I poured over its outside; 3 sars of bitumen I poured over its interior.” It is obvious that the practical value of bitumen was recognized even before the great Flood of 2370-2369 B.C.E.

Post-Flood Usage

Following the Flood, as people began to multiply, they settled down in the Mesopotamian Valley. This valley was strewn with local deposits of bitumen, and it was soon put to use. The Elamites, Chaldeans, Sumerians and Assyrians all employed this adaptable substance either as a building cement or for caulking their boats that navigated the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers. The more ingenious and resourceful Babylonian constructors of the al-Ubaid period used bitumen in paving of inlaid or tessellated design. Into a foundation of bitumen they embedded tiny pieces of

titles Hit on the Euphrates River as one of these mining centers. Hit was formerly called Ihi or Ihidakia, which means “Fountain of Pitch” or “Bitumen Spring.” It was probably from Hit that bitumen was exported to Egypt and elsewhere.

Like the valley dwellers, the Egyptians used bitumen in sealing their boats. The papyrus basket in which Pharaoh’s daughter found the babe Moses was impregnated with a coating of bitumen to make it watertight. (Ex. 2:3) The Egyptians also used bitumen in the preparation of mummies, as is apparent from the origin of the word “mummy.” It is derived from the Persian word mumiai, which means “asphalt.” Asphalt was also used by the Babylonians and the Assyrians for toilets, drains, cisterns, silos, basements and even coffins.

The Mesopotamian Valley was not the only source of bitumen at that time. Abundant deposits were found by the Dead Sea in Palestine. It was for this reason that the Greeks and Romans called it “Lake Asphaltitis.” Concentrated in the Valley of Siddim at the southern tip of the Dead Sea were multitudes of bitumen pits. These pits were so numerous that they materially affected the outcome of the battle described In the fourteenth chapter of Genesis between the four kings of the Babylonian region and the five kings of the Low Plain of Siddim. The Biblical account concludes: “Now the Low Plain of Siddim was pits upon pits of bitumen; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah took to flight and went falling into them, and those who remained fled to the mountainous region.”—Gen. 14:1-10.

Trinidad’s “Pitch Lake’*

Then, as now, crude or natural asphalt was processed. Natural asphalt or asphalt-impregnated rock can be found in many places but generally in tropical or subtropical countries. Small deposits of rock asphalt are found in Switzerland, eastern Scotland, Alsace in France and Iraq, the ancient Mesopotamia of the Bible. The Tar Pools of Southern California and the Bermudez Lake in Venezuela are valuable sources of this highly useful substance. Probably the best-known and most celebrated deposit of natural asphalt is Pitch Lake on the Caribbean island of Trinidad. Located in the oil-field area in the southern part of the island, the village on the shores of the “lake” is fittingly called La Brea, which is Spanish for “pitch.”

Mention of the word “lake” calls to mind swimming, fishing or sailing a boat. But no difficulty would be experienced if you set out to walk across Pitch Lake, which covers an area of about a hundred acres. Only in the center, known as the “mother of the lake,” is it a little softer underfoot. Any attempt to discover its actual depth here has been unsuccessful. Some believe it to be bottomless, while others estimate the crater of the lake to be nearly three hundred feet deep. Contrary to the belief that its supply of bituminous asphalt is inexhaustible, old records of the lake area show it has decreased over the years, from 123 acres in 1906. To the casual observer the lake is desolate and motionless. Nonetheless, it is in a constant, complex state of motion. Trenches left by mechanical ditchdiggers gradually fill up as more plastic material is pushed to the surface by underground pressure. The new surface soon hardens on exposure to sun and air.

Where did this lake come from? That is a good question that has provoked no small discussion. One scientific theory widely advanced is that faults in the earth’s crust in the distant past permitted masses of crude petroleum and gases to mingle with a mud stream or mud volcano. Pressure of the gases caused a churning action that converted the mass into asphalt in time. With the combining forces of oxidation and evaporation a residue hardened Into the surface of the lake, as seen today. A sample of crude asphalt contains about 40 percent asphalt or bitumen, with the balance being gas, oil and silty clay. It is estimated that over seven and a half million tons have been removed from Pitch Lake in Trinidad, with the largest consumption in one year at 150,000 tons.

A Modern Wonder Material

The modern applications of this ancient material are so many they stagger the imagination. Its remarkable versatility is attested to by The Modern Wonder Book of Knowledge, which asserts that bitumen is used in the manufacture of about 200,000 products’

About 70 percent of all refined natural asphalt and bituminous rock asphalt is used in road paving. But just around your own home it may be surprising the variety of ways this unobtrusive substance has entered your life unnoticed. Perhaps it is in the dampproofing used on the walls of your basement to keep it dry or the pretty tiles on the floors of your kitchen and bathroom. Ail-weather protection may be given your new home by bituminous shingles. Where rust and corrosion can set in around the home there are a variety of bituminous paints and varnishes and acidresisting coatings to protect and keep the beauty of your home. Transporting frozen foods and ice cream from store to home is rendered safe by moistureproof wrapping papers and double-walled bags impregnated with asphalt.

Aside from the blacktop asphalt driveway that may be at the side of your house, have you noticed the undersurfaces of a new car? Undercoating of bituminous asphalt helps protect many new cars from corroding salts used on the roads during winter months to melt snow and ice. Many modem homes have their own swimming pools. Chances are that mastic asphalt cement was used somewhere in their construction. Have you a valuable fruit tree that needs patching up? Tree surgeons often resort to asphalt to assist in the tree’s recovery.

Industrial applications of asphalt have been common for many decades. Giving protection overhead and underfoot, it has been a highly successful roofing and flooring material in modern skyscrapers as well as in modest industrial plants. Did you know that one of the mightiest rivers in the world has been subdued by this pliable compound? Left to itself the mighty Mississippi would eat tons and tons of earth and much-needed topsoil at the bends where the flow is heaviest. Heavy “mattresses" impregnated with asphalt are laid against certain parts of the banks along the river to prevent erosion. Asphalt was also used extensively in the construction of the Victoria Embankment on the Thames River in London, This mile-and-a-quarter embankment was surfaced with asphalt in 1912 and is still strong.

In these and literally hundreds of other ways mankind has benefited and will continue to benefit from bitumen. Indeed, this wonderful “ooze” is here, there and everywhere! True, it may not be found in its crude state in every part of the earth, but in one form or another it has spread earthwide. Bitumen is an unqualified bounty from the wise Creator, Jehovah, who caused it to be placed in the ground to be used for the convenience and comfort of man.

yield many times. Since rice requires an abundance of water, it is the ideal crop for countries such as Burma, where the monsoon rains drench the earth almost daily from May to October.

After the rains the ground dries and every able-bodied villager shares in the harvest. Although a small start has been made in mechanical har-

THE “daily bread” of the vast majority of persons in Asiatic countries is rice. In fact, in most of their languages the word for cooked rice is the same as for a meal; so when mother wants the family to come to dinner she simply calls, “Eat rice." Unlike Western lands where the diet is often quite varied, rice is the principal food at every regular meal, and among the poor it is often the only food on the table. For these people rice is indeed the bread of life.

This raises the question as to its food value. Since the health and happiness of one’s family may depend on the quality of the rice being eaten, this is something that all rice eaters should- want to investigate carefully. Two families may have identical diets, the staple food of each being rice from the same field. Yet one family may be healthy, vigorous and happy, while the other suffers from malnutrition and disease. For what reason? Simply because of the way their rice is processed. Therefore, a brief description as to how rice is obtained will be of interest.

Planting and Harvesting

Asia produces about 95 percent of the world crop of rice, which amounts to well over 100 million tons annually. The rice is first sown in small nursery plots. Some weeks later it is transplanted by hand in the fields. Although such transplanting requires much extra work, it increases the vesting, by far the greater part of the crop is cut by the same methods used along the Nile River when Moses was a prince in Egypt some 3,500 years ago. Each reaper uses a long-handled sickle and cuts a handful of stalks at each stroke.

Threshing and Milling

These cut stalks of about eight inches are then bundled up and taken to the threshing floor. There they are trampled by a pair of oxen tethered to a central post. Later the threshed grain is adroitly winnowed by hand in the gentle breezes, the wind carrying away the chaff and the grain dropping to a mat.

After threshing and winnowing, the individual grains of rice are still bound in their husks or hulls. Since these hulls are valueless as food and are unpalatable, they must be removed before the rice can be eaten. In the old days the womenfolk would pound the day’s needs in large wooden mortars. This pounding removed the hulls, but was ineffective in completely removing the outer coats of the rice grains. Rice milled in this primitive way does not have an attractive glistening-white appearance; it is referred to as unpolished rice. However, since it is these outer layers that contain most of the nutriment, unpolished rice provides the valuable vitamins, minerals and other food elements necessary for health.

Today, however, it is the general practice for people to take their paddy (rice in the hull after threshing) to the nearest mill. These small mills not only hull the rice but polish it to a very fine finish. Regarding this practice, one authority on rice, D. H. Grist, observes: "Medical authorities have therefore urged the discouragement of these machines because the highly-polished rice produced in these mills further increases the incidence of beri-beri and other deficiency diseases in areas and amongst a class of people at present relatively free from such ailments. The smallholder, however, will not remain content with antiquated and slow methods of milling. This fact must be recognized and other ways found to protect him against the ill-effects of modern milling.”

Meeting the Problem

In order to cope with the problem, undermining processes have been developed that retain much of the rice’s nutritional value. But just as there are many in the Western Hemisphere who prefer bread that is white, so there are many in the East who prefer rice that is highly polished. Lord Dunsany reports that after he spoke at King’s College, London, about the folly of polishing rice fill all the nutriment was extracted from it, a student from the Orient approached and asked if he knew that unpolished rice was “brown and dirty.” Lord Dunsany asked him if he knew what beri-beri was, and received the answer: “Certainly I do. Many members of my family suffer from it.” The irony of the situation is that beri-beri patients are cured by supplying them with the very vitamins that have been removed from highly milled rice.

Parboiling is also effective in preserving the food value of rice. In this process paddy rice is soaked in water three or four days, after which it is put under low steam pressure for a short period. Although this process may give the rice a yellowish color and distinctive flavor, it is claimed that about 80 percent of the rice's vitamin content is forced into the kernel, so that the vitamins are not lost in milling. There are also methods of artificially enriching rice after it has been milled.

In preparing the rice for eating, the housewife should exercise care in washing and cooking it. One authority observed that “drastic washing of rice and discarding the cooking water will nullify any improvements in the nutritive value of rice previous to household preparation.” And D. H. Grist, in his authoritative book Rice, said: “Washing and cooking are essential, but rice relatively free of impurities would necessitate less vigorous and extensive washing and a consequent saving of calories and nutrients; cooking is essential, and here well-directed propaganda is desirable to ensure that rice is cooked in the minimum quantity of water in order to conserve the nutrients.”

Since rice is not a perfect food, not in itself supplying all the food elements necessary for healthful life, it is important to supplement the diet with some green vegetables or fish from time to time. When such supplements are not available in quantity, as is the case with millions of persons, it is vital that their “daily rice” be of the highest nutritional quality possible. It can mean the difference between a healthy, vigorous and happy family and one that suffers from malnutrition and disease.

lightweights

It takes more than 80,000 fleas to weigh an ounce—National Geographic School Bulletin, January 1, 1962.

TELLING THE GOOD NEWS TO AN OLD FRIEND

HE following experience is related by one [ of Jehovah’s witnesses: "Oftentimes it i is more difficult to speak about Bible truth to those who have been our friends in the old world than to speak of the truth from house to house. Such were my fears as I once again, through my secular employment, came into close contact with a fellow musician who had been a good friend for several years before his moving to Sun Valley, Idaho, This was five years prior to my declaring myself one of Jehovah’s witnesses. We had never spoken of spiritual matters during our former association. The tragic circumstances that brought him back to Cincinnati made me even more obligated to speak to him concerning the wonderful truth about Jehovah God and his divine purpose.

"Bill’s family included three girls and a boy. The boy, Bill, Jr., was the center of Bill's life. He was developing into a ski champion. In September, 1961, Bill, Jr., was killed in a fall from his father’s truck. This tragedy resulted in their coming to Cincinnati and our working together once again at a local hotel.

"During the first month of our playing together his spirits were often very low, yet I never was able to carry through on my opportunities to witness to him. Finally, late in February, after work (around 1:30 a.m.) Bill started talking politics. He said, 'In 50 years this whole world will be communistic and there is nothing we can do about it.' I told him that In 50 years there would be a great change in government here on the earth, but that it would not be communistic. He thought that this was a strange statement; so I invited him to stop for coffee, and I would explain further my reasons for making such a statement. We stopped at an all-night sandwich shop, and it was five in the morning before we left. When Bill saw that I was using the Bible as the basis for our discussion, he promptly stopped me for one question.

“ ‘Did God take my boy from me?’ I assured him that God had not. He then told me that almost every clergyman in Sun Valley had told him God had done this and that if that was what I had to offer we could simply end our discussion.

"The next week We began to study in the book 'Let God Be True.’ After two studies Bill and his family decided to return to Sun Valley and begin anew. Our studies had helped him to make this decision. We were able to have ten studies before they left. During one of our early ones, Bill showed me an article from his hometown paper which told of the circuit servant's visit and included the name of the presiding minister in Hailey, Idaho. I wrote to him and he called on Bill the very first Sunday he returned home. The study was resumed immediately, I was certainly thrilled when I received my first letter six weeks later and read these words:

" ‘There is a terrible shortage here. There are only five Witnesses. There is a lot to be done, and I am anxious to carry my share of it. The territory to be covered is so large that it appalls you to think about it. I could never express my gratitude to you for bringing me into the truth. I am a different person. The problems we feared would wait for us here have not materialized. I have felt depressed only twice, and then only because I want him here to share the immediate future. But I recalled that the few remaining years are only a breath of the lifetime I will have. The days here have been serene, my life with my family comfortable and close. Every day finds me more confident in the knowledge that these feelings will grow. Each time I pick up a newspaper or hear the radio, things leap at me to fortify my faith. How do you go about thanking a man for that? The only way I can think of is the feeling you must have in knowing that you have brought the truth to one who will soon carry it to others.’

"I am thankful that Jehovah gave me the courage to witness incidentally to Bill and that I was able to show him, through the Bible, the hope Jehovah holds forth for him to be united with his son. I pray that the joy I have had in receiving this letter will only be exceeded by the joy I hope to have when some day soon I receive another letter telling me that we have a new dedicated and baptized brother in Sun Valley, Idaho.”

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, once said: “Do not marvel at this, because the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear f my] voice and come out, those who did good things to a resurrection of life, those who practiced vile things to a resurrection of judgment.” The apostle Paul testified to the same truth; “There is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.” —John 5:28, 29; Acts 24:15.

What a comforting hope these prophetic promises present to those who have lost loved ones! Jehovah God has made provision for the dead to be restored to the land of the living. The basis for that hope is the ransom sacrifice of Jesus, even as we read: “The Son of man came, not to be ministered to, but to minister and to give his soul a ransom in exchange for many.” Yes, “there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, a man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a corresponding ransom for all.” Because of Christ’s ransom will be fulfilled the prophecy: “From the hand of Sheol I shall redeem them; from death I shall recover them. Where are your stings, 0 Death? Where is your destructiveness, 0 Sheol?”—Matt. 20:28; 1 Tim. 2:5, 6; Hos. 13:14.

That resurrection will take place by means of God’s kingdom for which Christians have long prayed and concerning which Paul testified: “[God] has set a day in which he purposes to judge the inhabited earth in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and he has furnished a guarantee to all men in that he has resurrected him from the dead.” Because others besides Jesus will also be raised from the dead, Jesus Christ is spoken of as only “the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep in death.”—Acts 17:31; 1 Cor. 15:20,

However, it would be well to note that Jesus did not say that all that ever died, all that might be said to be in their graves, will be resurrected, although that is the way some translations read. Why not? Because God has a certain purpose in resurrecting the dead, namely, to give them the opportunity to prove themselves worthy of the benefits of Christ’s ransom and gain everlasting life, even as we read: “When there are judgments from [God] for the earth, righteousness is what the inhabitants of the productive land will certainly learn.”—Isa. 26:9,

That is why the incorrigibly wicked will not experience a resurrection; there would be no point in bringing them back, for they, having gone to the point of no return as to wickedness, would not be amenable to God’s righteous judgments. So we read: “You have rebuked nations, you have destroyed the wicked one. Their name you have wiped out to time indefinite, even forever.” “All the wicked ones [Jehovah] will annihilate.”—Ps. 9:5; 145:20.

Consistent with the foregoing, Jesus did not say that al] in the graves, all who had ever died, would be resurrected, but that all in the mnemevm would be. The English word “memory” comes from this Greek root, which is why the New World Translation reads that all in the “memorial tombs” will come forth to a resurrection. In other words, only those in the memory of God will do so. As we read at Proverbs 10:7: “The remembrance of the righteous one is due for a blessing, but the very name

of the wicked ones will rot." This is in keeping with the fact that God held out no hope for sinner Adam but said to him: “Dust you are and to dust you will return.” Adam was perfect. He sinned willfully, without excuse.—Gen. 3:19.

Then is God going to distinguish between the unrighteous “who practiced vile things” and those who really were wicked? Absolutely! Sinners who deliberately took a selfish course, who consistently went against the light of their conscience, in sinning either against their Maker or against their fellowman, will not be brought forth in the resurrection. In this connection it is well to note that both the English word “vile” and the Greek word it translates, phaulos, have a wide variety of meanings, not only that of being morally bad, but also, in fact, primarily, being of small account, insignificant, of little worth.

To illustrate: False worship and religious persecution are vile things in the eyes of God. But they can be engaged in in all sincerity and good conscience and therefore be forgiven, even as they were in the case of Saul the persecutor who became Paul the apostle. But those who continue to engage in religious practices that God condemns even after they know them to be out of harmony with God’s Word, or who persecute others that they know are doing God’s will, or who hide truths that expose their own errors will not be resurrected. —Matt. 23:33; John 8:44; 1 Tim. 1:12, 13.

That heeding or failing to heed the voice of one’s conscience will have a bearing on one’s destiny even apart from knowledge of God is apparent from the Scriptures: “Whenever people of the nations that do not have law do by nature the things of the Jaw, these people, although not having law, are a law to themselves. They are the very ones who demonstrate the matter of the law to be written in their hearts, while their conscience is bearing witness with them and, between their own thoughts, they are being accused or even excused. This will be in the day when God through Christ Jesus judges the secret things of mankind, according to the good news I declare.”—Rom. 2:14-16.

What about the unrighteous persons today who practice vile things? Can they with impunity repeatedly reject or turn a deaf ear to the good news of God’s kingdom being brought to them by Jehovah’s servants? By such a course of action they would be putting themselves in the class of those who are “marked in their conscience as with a branding iron.” We cannot escape it: “God is not one to be mocked. For whatever a man is sowing, this he will also reap.”—1 Tim. 4:2; Gal. 6:7.

For one thing, fulfillment of Bible prophecy shows that Armageddon is rapidly approaching, and God’s Word shows that all who perish at the hand of God at such a time cannot hope for a resurrection. Thus those who perished when Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed “are placed before us as a warning example by undergoing the judicial punishment of everlasting fire.” All, therefore, who have not fled this modern Sodom and Gomorrah, this wicked system of things, and taken their stand for Jehovah God and his kingdom by the time Armageddon strikes will be destroyed without the hope of a resurrection.—Jude 7.

Thus in the answer to our question, "Resurrection—for whom?” we see magnified God’s justice and love. There will not be a resurrection for the willfully, deliberately, incorrigibly wicked, those without the slightest spark remaining of conscience or love of righteousness. But there will be a resurrection for all who, upon a resurrection, would be amenable to God’s righteous requirements and who have not deliberately abused God’s mercy in this present life.

Firm for Freedom

<$> The New York Post, April 5, published a report from Bennington, Vermont (U.S,), that said: "The girls of the Bennington HS junior class have voted unanimously not to participate in the American Legion Auxiliary’s Girls State program because of a religious restriction aimed at Jehovah’s Witnesses, In another development, the Bennington Council of Churches adopted a resolution asking public schools not to participate in the program until the religious requirement is lifted. The Girls State brochure says in part that 'we are a patriotic organization and therefore do not accept girls with religious affiliations contrary to our principles of Americanism.' Officials of the project, which acquaints girls with the processes of government, said the religious clause refers to Jehovah’s Witnesses. . . . The local high school juniors said yesterday they decided the religious qualification clause was contrary to the principles of Americanism, Girls State is held each June for high school juniors. Principal Paul Kirsch, who forwarded the student resolution to the Legion Auxiliary, said: ‘We are indeed proud of our junior girls.’ ’’ Yes, they showed real appreciation of what freedom means.

[inemployment Down

When only 2 or 3 percent of the laboring class are out of work, full employment is said to have been reached. In New Zealand this would represent 18,000 to 27,000 persons. But at the end of January the New Zealand Herald reported that there were only 909 people unemployed, or one person out of every 2,775.

Concubines in Hpng Kong

A published Reuter’s report, March 4, stated that legalized concubinage is still practiced in the British colony of Hong Kong. “The concubine system in force here has roots in the Confucian school of thought that a man must have children —and the more the better- to propagate his line. Children, too, are supposed to help him in this world and ... in the next. ... It is estimated that at present more than one-third of the colony’s Chinese married men have concubines, as distinct from mistresses, and many of the leading Chinese citizens here have four or five, concubines, sometimes all living in the same house." Chinese Christians, however, do not carry on the practice. They practice monogomy.

Plastic Flats

The Russians are experimenting with plastic housebuilding. A five-story apartment house with a ferroconcrete shell has most of Its interior made of synthetic material. Just recently, it is reported, sixty Russian families moved into one of these apartments, Floors, walls, ceilings and built-in cabinets are mostly plastic. Bathtubs, washbasins and kitchen tabletops are of plastic. There are ten such apartments under construction in Moscow. If they prove efficient, more will be built.

Atom Sub Lost

<$> The U.S. nuclear-powered submarine Thresher was reported lost April 10 in 8,400 feet of water in the Atlantic Ocean. There were 129 men aboard. Rescue operations were said to be “absolutely out of the question." This is the U.S. Navy’s worst peacetime submarine disaster.

Diamonds Beneath the Sen

■$> Off southeast Africa a new diamond find has been made where diamonds never have been found before, namely, on the bottom of the sea. Now special tugs and barges are sucking up diamond-bearing gravel from the sea bottom. Marine Diamond company is averaging one carat per ton of sand and gravel moved. Other mines generally average one carat for every fifteen tons moved. Nearly all the 70,000 stones found so far have proved to be of gem quality. The largest find is an ll carat diamond.

Fight Against Tuberculosis

Medical World News, March 15, says that there were “more than 10,000 deaths from tuberculosis, and 90,000 new cases were diagnosed" in France in 1960. The French government has a program under way against TB. The country is out to eradicate the disease.

A Budding Romance

Early March was the first time in history when a pope of the Roman Catholic Church received a Russian Communist leader. The Communist was Premier Khrushchev’s son-inlaw, Izvestia’s Editor Aleksei Adzhubei; the pope was John XXIII. Time, March 15, commented: “The warming relationship between Rome and Moscow has lately been a sort of Father Al phons e-Comrade Gaston act. Last September the Vatican invited Russian Orthodox observers to the Ecumenical Council. Last month the Soviet Union released Ukrainian Archbishop Josyf SLlpyi from his long years in prison. And last week Editor Adzhubei, clearly working under orders from on high, showed up in Rome.” A “confirmed atheist, Adzhubei bowed his head when John gave his blessing. Some eighteen minutes were spent alone with John and his interpreter. There is talk that Nikita himself is about to call on the pope. Adzhubei said in effect, Why not? ‘The Pope does not bite.’ ’*

Boxing Counted Out

Davey Moore, dethroned featherweight boxing champion, died on March 25 from brain injuries sustained in his title fight with Cuban Sugar Ramos. Thereafter, three Ohio state representatives moved to outlaw professional boxing in Ohio, Moore’s home state. The representatives in a joint statement said: “Due to the unfortunate death of one of Ohio’s outstanding athletes, we feel that professional boxing should come to a halt. The Ohio Legislature has seen fit to outlaw dog fights, bear fights and cockfights. The least they could do is the same for humans."

Electric Blankets

People who own electric blankets were urged by a British Standards Institution spokesman to treat them “with a certain amount of respect.” According to London’s Daily Telegraph and Morning Post, February 1, a survey published in the journal of the Fire Protection Association shows that “more than 7,000 fires were caused by electric blankets” last year in Britain. Folding of blankets was given as the main cause of fires. The resultant creasing of the heating element can cause a short circuit or broken element Most of the sixty-one people injured, two of whom died, slept with the blanket switched on—not a wise thing to do.

Italian Women

<$> Early this year Parliament in Rome approved a law that opened the way for an Italian woman to become a judge, an ambassador or even a Cabinet minister—if she is qualified. Up to this time regulations forbade women in Italy from public administration. The law was reported to have been published in the official gazette on March 6.

Sheer Horror

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara foresees a world of sheer horror, with nearly 300,000,000 deaths, if ever a full-scale nuclear war were to erupt. His blunt and terrifying picture, published by the Philadelphia (Pa.) Inquirer, March 14, was contained in a transcript of previously secret testimony on U.S. defenses released March 13 by the House Armed Services Committee. In event of a third world war, McNamara said, “it is entirely possible—as a matter of fact I think probable —that the fatalities in Western Europe would approach 90 million, the fatalities in the United States would approach 100 million and the fatalities in the Soviet Union would approach 100 million.”

Snake Bites Snake

Someone once said that a snake is immune to its own venom. The theory is false. A snake in the Philadelphia Zoo (U.S.), on March 13, bit itself in the back and was found dead. The Philadelphia (Pa.) Inquirer, March 14, after reporting the item, quipped: 'The remaining question is, Are humans immune to their own venom? Who will put that theory to the test?’

“Dollar Instead of the Cross”

<$■ Episcopalian minister Malcolm Boyd, now a chaplain at Wayne State University, Detroit (U.S.), told the National Council of Churches that church members worry too much about altar decorations while allowing “the modern city to become an image of hell.” Boyd said: “The churches have become a part of the dehumanizing process in the city. They are over-organized . . . and too often follow the dollar instead of the cross.” —Indianapolis (Ind.) News, February 15, 1963.

Hot Une

Nuclear war by miscalculation is so great a threat that a “hot line” has been proposed between Moscow and Washington. At the disarmament conference in Geneva, Switzerland, April 5, chief delegate Semyon K. Tsarapkln of the Soviet Union officially accepted the idea. The hot line will be either a direct telegraph or Teletype link between Premier Khrushchev and U.S. president Kennedy.

Twenty Lashes

•$> The Delaware Supreme Court (U.S.) ruled on April 3 that use of the lash was not “cruel and inhuman.” It allows public whipping for criminals. Among the crimes punishable by flogging are wife beating and tampering with a bill in the legislature.

Moonshine Attraction

<$■ The Associated Press reported, March 25, that “a Latvian court has fined a priest and a deacon on charges of supplying churchgoers free moonshine vodka from an 11-legal still In the church belfry.” The Russian Orthodox priest, Sergie Miks tin, said that they were ‘‘trying to boost lagging church attendance."

Payments Go Begging

<$> Peace-keeping costs money, but many U.N. member nations are slow about paying. U.N. payments in arrears total more than $121,000,000. Forty-eight U.N. members have paid nothing on their bills for the Congo operation. One nation owes the U.N. nearly $50,000,000.

Lightning Fires

A recent Canadian forestry department analysis report stated that lightning was a big factor in the disastrous -forest fire season that struck Canada in 1961. According to the Halifax Chronicle Herald (Can.), March 16, “there were 8,655 forest fires which destroyed 9,313,479 acres at an estimated loss of $67,000,000, All the figures are record highs. The 1962 loss was little more than half.”

Crime Concern

<$> The Scottish prison population Is the highest in forty years, so says the Daily Telegraph and Morning Post, February 22, 1963. In 1949 there were 1,900 prisoners, but in 1963 the number is 3,000. Ross (Lab,, Kilmarnock) voiced this criticism: “We have been making it easier to bet and for young people to get alcoholic liquor, and creating an atmosphere of materialistic selfishness that runs counter to what we need to do for raising the tone of the nation." Obviously, what man needs to study is, not the moon, but what God has to say in the Bible about meeting our obligations to him and to our fellowmen.

Creation Story

A published United Press In ternational report says Lutheran minister Dr. John D. Newpher, pastor of Christ Church, Oreland, Pa. (U.S.), advised Lutheran parents and Sunday-school teachers that young children should consult a good encyclopedia and not the Bible to learn how the earth was created, “We should never teach these lcreatiOT.1 Stories ... as literally true,” he was reported to have said. The Genesis account of creation, Newpher reportedly said, is a religious truth in parable form, but certainly not scientifically accurate. “We should never feel that we must defend Genesis 1 and 2 on scientific grounds,” he declared. Now, where did he get that idea? It certainly was not from Jesus Christ, for he said: "[God’s] word is truth,"—John. 17:17.

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32

AWAKE

¹

Time magazine. January 11, 1963, p. 31.

²

Tfte Encyclopedia Americana (1956 edition), Vol. 36, p. 41.

11956 Edition. Vol. 26, p. 45.

³

Sec* "The British Museum and the Holy Bible,'” Awafce! o£ .July 8. 1961.