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From Our Readers

Vacation at Home Your article (June 22, 1990) seems to have been written just for me. All the recommendations were so good, such as doing things with others, working on the house, improving my room, visiting local attractions, and doing more Bible reading. As I still attend school, I have seven weeks’ vacation in the summer. Thanks to your help, I will spend this time more wisely.

M. K., Federal Republic of Germany

Bullfighting Your article on bullfighting (July 8, 1990) was quite noteworthy. Most youths in Spain would rather go to a soccer match than attend such a hullabaloo, but travel agents insist on pushing tourists to the bullfight. The stage of the fight, when the picadors engage the bull, is even crueler than your description reveals, as the horses used are often injured.

C. M., Federal Republic of Germany

French Revolution Thank you for your article on the French Revolution. (December 22, 1989) Being an American of French descent, I found the article very informative and interesting. I appreciate the diversity and range of articles that appear in Awake!

J. F. S., United States

Lupus I had been ill for about six months, and doctors did not know what was wrong with me. A few days after reading your article on lupus (May 8, 1990), diagnosis confirmed that I have lupus also. If it had not been for this article, I would not have had a clue as to what the doctors were talking about. Because I knew something about the disease, I was able to ask questions that I could not otherwise have asked. Thank you very much for enlightening me.

K. S., England

Dinosaurs As an archaeologist and geologist, I quite enjoyed the Awake! articles on dinosaurs. (February 8, 1990) With regard to the time of their disappearance, the articles stated that human fossils occur in rock layers well above those containing dinosaur fossils and that there are rock layers in between. In many parts of the world, these intervening rock layers, or strata, also contain fossils. Many new varieties, or kinds, of animals appear in these layers, such as elephants, saber-toothed cats, and several varieties of flightless running birds. This would strongly suggest that God was still creating new animals after the dinosaurs were gone and that the dinosaurs disappeared during the sixth creative epoch.

G. S., Canada

The Bible does not specify the time of either the creation or the disappearance of dinosaurs. Nevertheless, the comments of G. S. are of interest.​—ED.

Living With Epilepsy Regarding epilepsy (June 22, 1990), I find that many people do not understand it. People tell me I’ll swallow my tongue, but doctors say it is physically impossible. I’ve also been told I had a devil in me because of what the Bible says at Matthew 4:24. Because of prejudice, people refuse to allow epileptics to do certain things. But really, very little is impossible for us.

V. E., Australia

Much misunderstanding has occurred regarding Matthew 4:24, which tells of Jesus’ curing “demon-possessed and epileptic and paralyzed persons.” However, a careful reading of the context reveals that the Bible actually makes a distinction between demon-possession and physical illnesses, such as epilepsy.​—ED.