Consolation, January 3, 1945
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Contents
“As It Was in the Daya,of Noah”
„ “A World Possessed”
Subtlety of Demon Snares
Religion’s Mask for the Demon Invaders 5
r Demonism via Spiritism
\ ■ “Non-religious” Mediums
* Pope Blesses Spiritist
Snares for the Intelligentsia
Education and Science
Whither, World Rulers?
The Un de sired Medal
Ephraem Syrus and the Codex Ephraemi
Ephraem Was Obedient
• Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus
“Thy Word Is Truth”
Eeelesiastieism Tempted
Reconstruction Follows in Religion’s Wake
Reconstruetors Theocratic Convention
The Convention’s Official Opening
Reconstruction Work Identified
Gilead College Forwards Reconstruction 23
Accommodating the Visitors
■ Reconstruction Work in Australia
Forward, Re constructors I
Presenting “This Gospel of the Kingdom”
Studying The Watchtower
Result of a Book Study in Washington, D. C, 31
A Church That Founded Itself
President Secretary Editor
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In Brief
Mexican Convent Hidden for 77 Years
♦ The St. Louis Roman Catholic Register contains a story with a triple-column heading reading “Sisters Were Buried Alive for 77 Years; Mexican Convent That Disappeared Used Today for Subtle Attacks on Religion”. It is illustrated by a cut also three columns wide showing the long narrow room in which, unknown to the civil authorities, the religious business of the Convent of Santa Monica was carried on. There is no hint in the Scriptures that Mary, the mother of Jesus, and of his brothers and sisters, ever lived in a .convent; nor are such institutions even hinted at in God’s Word, though they are common enough in paganism and heathenism. What is it that the monks and nuns are ashamed of, and are trying to hide? Probably the best answer is in the word of the Lord ' himself that “every bne that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved”. (John 3:20) It would be impossible to imagine a private home so steeped in rottenness as the Franciscan monasteries Of Germany were shown to fye about the time that Hitler was getting his “New Order” under way.
Kingdom News No. 11
♦ I was witnessing with the magazines at a corner on Fulton street, downtown Brooklyn, when a woman approached and contributed for subscriptions for both The Watchtower and Consolation, and requested someone to give her further information about God’s kingdom. A back-call, made shortly thereafter, resulted in placing with her seven New World books, two Children books, two Bibles, nine booklets, and a New World study with seven in attendance. Questioning revealed that all of this interest arose from a single copy of Kingdom News No. 11 that fell into the right hands.—Chester de Wysockie, New York.
CONSOLATION
“And in His name shall the nations hope.”—Matthew 12:21, A.S. V.
Volume XXVI Brooklyn, N.Y,, Wednesday, January 3, 1945 Numbar 660
“As It Was in the Days of Noah”
"As it was in the days of No'e, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that No'e entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.” —Luke 17:26, 27.
THE earth is in chains. Not the chains , of enslavement forged by dictators or any other human agency are they, but chains invisible to man. Man cannot even touch them, much less break them; yet they bind millions of humankind in a grip so deadly that comparatively few will escape the cataclysm of destruction to which they inexorably lead, a catastrophe that will dwarf the deluge, of Noah’s day. Total war will never shatter those bonds. On the contrary, the postwar world of man’s building will find itself more tightly bound than ever, more hopelessly enmeshed in coils stronger than steel. Strangely, the war of liberation now raging is forging those chains into mightier links, and will result in a monstrous creation that will strike at the only source of possible release. How so? you ask in amazement, or, perhaps, demand in resentment. Soberly consider the facts before reaching a conclusion.
, The discussion hinges upon this: Who are the “chains”? The key unlocking that mystery in this time of Christ’s second presence and the “last days” is the Scripture text above quoted, “As it was in the days of Noah”—and how was that? The above words of Christ Jesus foretell for these “last days” a materialistic human society devoted to self-service, and totally unconcerned about the divine
reckoning impending at Armageddon. But the record of Noah’s day found in the sixth chapter of Genesis sheds further light on the prophetic conditions existing then. “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Why such depravity? The context discloses that wicked spirit creatures of Satan’s realm had materialized as giants or Nephilim and were running rampant in the earth. They had, either directly or indirectly, induced other spirit creatures, the “sons of God”, to materialize and cohabit with the daughters of men. Race contamination ensued. The resultant offspring were hybrid monstrosities. With the masses of the people under control of evil spirits and freakish giants, humanity was swept along in a boiling tide of wild revelry and violence. The demon hordes of Satan were on the loose! ‘
"A World Possessed’*
And so it is today. The same evil forces grip humanity in a vise-like clutch that will call for more than an earthwide flood of waters to break it. Thinking people sense the presence of sinister forces at work, and wonder. Note the typical comments of Pierre van Paassen:
We are living in a crazy world, a world possessed. Our Puritan ancestors might well have called it a world possessed of the Devil, For evil and violence -and heart-rending anxiety seem to have gained the upper hand for the time being, so that even the most ''’Christian and the most peace-loving nations <on earth are caught in a seething whirlpool.
The pillars of society have begun to shake. The foundations of truth and humanity, of reason and justice, which we thought of enduring character and of lasting value, sometimes seem to be disintegrating. At times we feel as if the very ground under our feet were trembling, and we no longer know on what to build or where to take our stand. The future weighs upon us as a terrible, in-■ comprehensible burden under which nobody dares to plan and scarcely anyone dares to look ahead. Thoughts of the future darken the high hopes of the young, and they fill with gloomy forebodings the eventide of our elders.
What is going to happen? How is this crisis in human affairs going to end? Will it pass, as other great crises have gone by? Or are present events merely harbingers of still more cataclysmic happenings? What can we do to prevent the further growth of the' evil? Who is responsible for these disasters? and what can yet be done to stay the spread of the blight that has come to darken the skies of this entire generation?
These are the thoughts and questions that harrow and torment us. Nor do they any longer torment us solely in the empty hours of the night, when the flame of life burns low and the surrounding gloom becomes peopled with all kinds of fantastic images and nightmares. Today the facts stare us in the face, and our feelings of disaster rest on sober judgment and observation. [Woman's Day, August, 1942]
Mr. van Paassen remarked, “Our Puritan ancestors might well have called it a world possessed of the Devil.” But this, he infers, is too old-fashioned a view for this practical, realistic, scientific modern world to hold; so he turns his back on the underlying answer to his perplexed questionings, and gropes on in blindness. This, also, is typical of modern thinkers. 1
The fact stands true: the only explanation of startling and shocking events occurring daily is, it is the operation of invisible wicked spirits. It is not based on ignorant superstition, but the infallible testimony of the Bible is its foundation. A little girl in New Jersey goes next door, grabs a baby’s bottle, hits him over the head with it, and kills him. In Ohio a youth of 16 years admits killing a 6-month-old baby girl. In Pennsylvania a boy 16 years old murders two women, each over 80. The accounts could continue indefinitely; papers every day add to the mounting toll. The killers have no motives, just an unexplainable and overwhelming urge of the moment to kill. Horrible sex crimes, so ghastly and inhuman that one shudders to read of them, are reported daily. Juveniles swell the flood of moral delinquents of all ages. Whole nations go mad and oppress and torture and kill with lightning-like rapidity. From the least to the greatest, humans are acting inhumanly, yes, demoniacally.
Subtlety of Demon Snares
Becoming more specific, What are some of the channels through which the invisible demons work? They are many and varied. They are fashioned to entrap different classes, all classes, of human society. Religion plays the major role. In Africa it is the' tribal witch doctor, with his ceremonies, his magic potions, his easting of spells, his calling forth of curses, his conjuring up of the spirits; all of which “smart, civilized” peoples brush aside with the airy comment, “Poor savages.” Nonetheless, the savages are thereby held in chains of bondage by the demons.
But turn attention to self-satisfied “Christendom”. How do her millions fare? Just as badly; they are bound just as securely as the hapless ones they dismiss as “poor savages”. The only difference is that the fetters take on a different outward appearance; but, for all their innocent appearance, they are just as strong as those enslaving the credulous savage. The sly devils invisible to man use more subtle things as ,they reach out to bind those that are more educated; but no class, because of worldly wisdom, is free from the clutches of the far wiser demons of Satan. A source of protection stronger than these invisible evil forces must be drawn upon for a way of escape. Yet in their smug wisdom and vain self-satisfaction “Christendom’s” millions feel superior and secure. Their vain conceit makes them easy victims.
Wherein lies hope of release and freedom from demon snares! A knowledge of the truth concerning demonism. Christ Jesus said, “The truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32) Striking at the very core of the difficulty, the apostle Paul, warned Christians to be on guard against the evil spirits, saying, "Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” (2 Corinthians 2; 11) But the masses of humanity are ignorant of Satan’s devices, and he does get an advantage over them; and that advantage is the deadly one of “secret weapons”. Learn about them. Your life hangs in the balance.
Religion's Mask for the Demon Invaders
'Foremost in the ranks of demonism tramps religion. Look at the religious frenzy of the Holy Rollers and Pentecostals when they “get the [evil] spirit”. Certainly they have not sprung very far from the savage African witch doctor and his flock. Indeed, as one reads the following account of a meeting of the Holiness Church of God, staged in the mountainous area where the three states of Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee join, he may well believe he has been transported to a tribal ceremony in the Dark Continent. Both claim to be and are religious. Read the report given in the Washington (D.C.) Times^Herald, June 12, 1944.
Holiness faith-healers, their fervor fanned to fever heat by a rhythmic hypnotic chanting of old hymns, proved their faith in their religion by their indifferent handling of the snake from whose fangs, easily visible at 20 feet, spurted at intervals a creamy liquid of potential death. While grey-headed women, pregnant women, and young girls screamed their ecstasy in "unknown tongues”, jerking convulsively and jumping about a rope-enclosed outdoor square, the faith-healers passed the diamondback and an ugly two-foot copperhead from hand to hand. They took off shoes and socks and tramped on the reptiles.
They appeared insensitive to the flames of a kerosene torch in which they held their hands, their arms and their hair. Their skin blistered; but they went on singing and shouting [if this had been from the Lord, not even a hair would have been singed (Daniel 3:27) ]. While some 200 persons watched in mingled horror and amusement, the faith-healers (coal miners all and their wives and children) acknowledged the core of their dangerous and spectacular conviction to be a quotation from the 16th chapter of Mark: “And they shall take up serpents.”
The Bible text above quoted is Mark 16:18. Verses 9 to 20 of that chapter are spurious, not being found in the most ancient manuscripts of the Greek Scriptures. Such pathetically deluded persons have fallen into the snare Jesus avoided when the Devil tried Him. Satan challenged Him to show His faith in God by casting himself down from a pinnacle of the temple, but Jesus brushed aside such a foolish demonstration with the words, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” (Matthew’ 4:5-7) Paul was not tempting God when a deadly viper sank its fangs into his hand, because the mishap was entirely accidental. (Acts 28:2-6) Any protection the God-tempting faith-healers may have from the writhing reptiles they fondle comes from the great Serpent, Satan,
But this religion is too horrifying and terrifying for the majority; so the prolific schemer Satan advances hundreds of_sects and cults, each with its own peculiar appeal, and each draws its share of victims into the demon snare. ;fhe very ones that look on in amusement find morbid curiosity as the snake charmews exhibit themselves are likewise entrapped by religious doctrines sounded from the pulpit of some more conserva-"tive church organization. Some of the most educated persons are reduced to a state of awe and superstition and credulity by the dimly-lit interior of an imposing, besteepled cathedral, with its stained-glass windows, and images, and altars, and its mystery-shrouded cere-• monies solemnly performed by costumed priests chanting monotonous liturgies in a tongue unknown to the worshipers. They are as deluded as the handlers of serpents, and, oftentimes, not half as sincere! They have no grounds for feeling superior to the snake-handlers. Are not all religionists united in the claim that though there are multifarious brands of religion, they are all roads leading to the same place? This contention is true, too; but the destination is not heaven. All religion, be it obviously ridiculous or morbid or “high-brow”, leads to demon ensnarement and death. Though the people be “smart”, the wily demon hordes are smarter than the smartest.
From the frenzied emotionalists to the most refined cults, they all have their visions. These are interpreted to suit the fancy of the cultists, and strengthen the links of demonology. A striking example of the demons’-tricks in this line was the hoax they worked recently on an entire town, and which gained widespread publicity. On April 27, 1944, hundreds of the residents of Ipswich, Tungland, saw a vision in the sky. It first took the form of a large, white cross, and then thereon appeared the figure of Jesus, so they claim. The head was bowed, the feet crossed, and even the nails were claimed to have been visible by some of the excited townsfolk. The local “reverend” thus catapulted into the public eye made the most of the opportunity, and interpreted the sign as a promise and a warning, and in doing so managed to put in a “plug” for “more religion”. He declared: “It is a call to people to see that the mistakes of the pre-war years are not repeated. During the years between the wars all kinds of well-meaning people made plans for world peace. They fell through because too much attention was paid to things material and not nearly enough to things spiritual.”
Christ Jesus foretold the deceitfulness of lying “signs and wonders” in the “last days”. (Matthew 24:24) He also said: "Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more.”. (John 14:19) Furthermore, the fact that the vision took the form of the heathen cross and not a tree or stake, as the original Greek word stauros and also the Hebrew Scriptures show the death instrument to be, proves the vision’s demon origin. It sprang from the same source as the cross the murderous Constantine saw in a vision, which converted him to the so-called “Christian” religion. Such demon-originated visions are for the purpose of distorting and nullifying God’s Word and strengthening the religious grip of the wicked spirits on the people. They even appear as 'angels of light’.—2 Corinthians 11:13-15.
Demonism via Spiritism
Of the unnumbered brands of religion the Devil supplies to herd humanity into demon control, spiritism is one of-the most obvious. Total war with its millions of fatalities has ushered in a boom in the field of spiritualism. A reporter for the London News Chronicle writes on this point:
There are now more than a million Spiritualists in Britain, according to Mr. Frank Hawken, secretary of the Marylebone Spiritualist Association, which claims to be the largest society of its kind in this country. He gave me the figure last night as an indication of how Spiritualism has spread since the beginning of the war. He estimates that a number of the new Spiritualists are people suffering from war bereavements. He says: “When a person comes up against a bereavement what can the church offer? Only hope. Whereas, we Spiritualists can offer communication with the lost ones on the other side.”
But can they? “The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence." (Psalm 115:17) No voice has yet sounded out of the silence of the tomb. Jehovah God’s Word of truth is very' emphatic that the soul dies and loses all thought and knowledge and wisdom. (Sec Psalm 146: 4; Ecclesiastes 3:18-20; 9:5,10; Ezekiel 18:4,20.) Still, it is not denied that spiritualistic seances do make contact with invisible forces, and that voices are heard. Jehovah condemns the practice, saying: “And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, arid that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God?” (Isaiah 8:19) The wicked spirits impersonate the dead and delude the living into believing Satan’s lie 'in Eden as to an undying soul within man.—Genesis 2:17; 3:4.
Though condemned by God, such contacts with the wicked spirits are condoned and dignified by worldly courts. The New York World-Telegram, June 19, 1944, reported:
Although “challenged” by science and regarded with skepticism by the “community generally”, spiritualism (the belief in the power of communicating with the spirits of the dead) today “has been elevated to the dignity of a religion” in an interpretation of an executive act of New York state. This was re-emphasized in a decision handed down by Magistrate Francis M. Giaecone, former deputy fire commissioner, who dismissed a fortune-telling charge brought by the police department's legal bureau against Mrs. Marion Miller, a spiritualist medium.
The magistrate, in citing precedents for his opinion, referred to the witch of Endor. The earth is now being overrun by modern “witches of Endor”, and the mounting list of war dead is responsible. The distraught people, ignorant of the Bible truth on the state of the dead and their resurrection hope, and ignorant of Satan’s device of his unseen demons impersonating the deceased, turn in ever-increasing numbers to spirit mediums. The inevitable result is a farther drifting from God and a closer bondage in demon chains.
“Non- religions” Mediums
Many people are not “'religious”, within the commonly accepted meaning of that term. To ensnare them the sly adversary has a host of spirit mediums operating without any connection whatsoever with “religion”. All are familiar with the stories of seances where tables tip, objects fly about the room, ghostly hands or other visions appear, and the medium wizard mutters messages from the beyond. Accompanying these stories of weird happenings is a chorus of cries of “Trickery! Fake! Faker!” Recently the Header’s Digest condensed a copyright article from The American Mercury entitled “Calling All Spirits”. The opening paragraph read :
Hark to the gabble of ghostly voices! Give ear to the mumbo jumbo of vapid prophecy! The spirit mediums are in town again, your town and’my town, trading on the gullibility of bereaved and lonely souls. Forlorn widows, restless wives, and mothers with boys overseas are the special victims of these catchpenny charlatans who profess to pierce the veil between today and tomorrow and to bring back messages from beyond the grave.
The article continues on to show the humbuggery of unscrupulous fakers, and infers that the whole business of mediums is just that. Undoubtedly the vast majority of seance meetings are pre-
dominantly faked and based on trickery. But the inclination to class all as the product of clever tricks by magicians is dangerous. The very cry of “Fake” is turned to the Devil’s use. It causes the curious to attend seances “for fun”, being lulled to sleep by the belief that , lit is only trickery. What started as . supposed entertainment may culminate in the thrill-seeker’s becoming possessed by the demons. Thus Satan’s net catches - more victims.
„Pope Blesses Spiritist
Perhaps the outstanding spirit medium, so far as the records disclose, was Daniel Home, of the nineteenth century. His amazing feats took all Europe and ; England by storm. Nor was it the uneducated that were ensnared. Famous writers, scientists, nobility, all were captivated by Home’s weird feats. During his trances his body would lengthen by many inches, float out a window of one room and enter another room through a window, his hands would dip up glowing embers from a fireplace and his head would be buried in them, and the spirits possessing him would perform the uncanny rappings and other demonstrations characteristic of seances. Among his admirers ■were Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie. Skeptics came to see wherein he faked: they left convinced of his prowess. Scientists conducted strict tests to trap him: they were rendered profoundly thoughtful and mystified. No one ever detected any trickery. So do not dismiss all spirit mediums as fakes. To deny the existence of witchcraft is to deny the truth of God’s Word, -which condemns its practice. But Pope Pius IX did not condemn; he condoned. More than that, he even went so far as to bless. An excerpt from an article on Home in the Reader's Digest, July, 1944, reads:
Pope Pius IX (Home, during his career, became a Roman Catholic) gave him an audience, asked many questions, dismissed him with his blessing.
Closely allied to the fortune-telling spirit mediums are the pseudo scientists of astrology. These demon-controlled ones claim that the stars influence human affairs and that their positions foretell terrestrial events. Astrology flourished in the ancient pagan lands of Babylon and Egypt. Its practice is forbidden by the One who bedecked the heavens with these astral bodies: “Babylon, . . . thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee. Behold, they be as stubble; the fire shall burn them.” (Isaiah 47:1,13,1.4; 2 Kings 21:3) These monthly prognosticators with their twelve signs of the zodiac and horoscope-eastings will render no more good than did the astrologers and stargazers of doomed Babylon. Yet in these war years educated persons flock to them. The Christian Century, January 12, 1944, describes the trend:
In a time like this the future is full of foreboding. There is a restless desire to know what is around the corner; to what one may look forward. This roots back in fear and anxiety. Here belong, in addition to the religious cults which minister to this desire, the whole list of fortune tellers, diviners, crystal gazers, tea-leaf readers, numerologists and astrologers. There has perhaps never been a time in modern history when this class of seers flourished more than at present. Even supposedly conservative newspapers are printing astrological columns, for astrology has recently become, literally, big business.
Even the field of entertainment is invaded by the demons in their all-out blitz to enslave all peoples of all classes. Take games, for instance. There is the ouija board. Its inventor was a toy manufacturer in Baltimore. Department stores assure the customers that it is only a game. Its name comes from the French “oui” and the German “ja”, both words meaning “yes”. The New York
Times magazine recently correctly stated what the ouija craze is. It said:
In spite of airmail, V-mail and soldier franks, America has returned to spiritualism as a speedy and exciting means of war-time communication. Between February and June, 1944, one New York department store alone has sold more than 50,000 ouija boards to credulous and incredulous customers. This is strictly a 1944 development, since last year there were few calls. ... It is reported that murders have been committed on its say-so. On those rare and gory occasions the board, it seems, could see no other way out of the predicament for its questioner.
Reporting on a similar wave of popularity in Chicago, the Chicago Sun concluded its write-up, saying:
You might almost say that ouija boards have gone to war, by remote control of course. Right now they’re presiding over the various battlefronts, directing the destinies of armies and nations, curing soldiers with the efficiency of plasma.
From games, turn to music. It is an admitted fact that the music produced during this war is far less valuable than that of the last world war. It lacks the qualities that make music last. But it is not just this. Ultramodern music, with its predominance of nerve-shattering brass, turns the dancers of this jazz age into demonized “hep cats”, as they are called. Their music is as maddening as the weird African jungle chants, and the antics of these modern maniacs rival the bodily contortions of the dusky dancers led by a bounding witch doctor. It is claimed that when the “jitterbugs” are under the spell of their “music” and in full frenzy they do feats otherwise physically impossible. They are temporarily obsessed.
Snares for the Intelligentsia
But still there are many people too intelligent to countenance African voodooism, too refined to cavort as do the Holy Rollers and Pentecostals, too skeptical to submit themselves to spirit-
JANUARY 3, IMS ualism, too well informed to be drawn into the snares of mediums, too busy to dabble with ouija boards, and too sensible to “jitterbug”. If these foregoing demon traps are too crude for the elite, then subtle Satan knows how to lure them under the control of the same demons that foster these practices. He merely gives his mediums such euphemistic names as “master mentalists”. And this, also, is in the field of entertainment Keeping some of his activities in this classification surrounds them with an air of harmless and innocent fun. The unwary are taken captive at Satan’s will.—2 Timothy 2: 26.
Foremost in the public eye at present is Joseph Dunninger, who is creating a mild sensation in radio circles with his feats of mind reading. So far investigators have been baffled in their endeavors to trap him. Mr. Dunninger disclaims any aid from the spirits; he takes full credit to himself. He has even challenged the spiritualistic phen&mena of the mediums. Thus many who would not stoop to spiritism are nevertheless attracted to him. Whether he knows it or not, he is a tool in the hands of the demons, and those who are his fans leave themselves open to demon assaults.
Mind reading is not one of the inherent powers of man. Spirit creatures, however, can perceive man’s imvard thoughts. The Great Spirit, Jehovah God, speaking to His typical nation, said: “I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them.” Again, “The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man.” (Ezekiel 11:5; Psalms 94:11; 49:11; 139:2; 1 Chronicles 28:9) The evidence also indicates that the wicked spirits can, with limitations, read man’s mind. But can one man read the mind of another man, w’ithout the aid of the supernatural? Let those who will heed the affirmative answer of Mr. Dunninger, yet God’s infallible Word sounds the reliable truth: “For who among men knows a man’s thoughts, except the man’s
own spirit within him I" (1 Corinthians 2:11, Weymouth’s translation) Mr. Dunninger and others like him not only read minds; they also project thoughts into the minds of others. Both feats are . impossible without demon aid, and those 'dabbling therein are submitting to spiritism, whether they realize it or not. •, The audiences of such “master mental-ists” number into the' millions. The demons’ victim toll mounts that much . ” higher.
Education and Science
Enlarging their activities by spreading out from the field of entertainment, the demons invade the more serious field of education with telepathy. The follow' ing appeared' in the Washington Evening Star, March 14, 1941:
When Dr. John Edward Bentley, head of American University’s psychology department, set educators agog four months ago by instituting a course in telepathy and clairvoyance for girls and lads of the campus, he insisted he was a complete skeptic about his own project. Today he is “thrilled” by some of the results shown. He asserts that he spends hours each week successfully sending out brain waves to a group of 15 students gathered in 'a dingy room at Hurst Hall. . . . Dr. Bentley, one-time Boston Methodist preacher who turned to writing books on problem children and philosophy, is conducting his present series of mind-reading experiments in collaboration with Dr. Whatley Carington of Cambridge University, England, he said. Results will soon be shipped across the Atlantic for study and Dr. Bentley only hopes they won’t be torpedoed. He was born in Yorkshire, England, himself and declares that the British are investigating telepathy as never before, despite the war.
More evidence of demon inroads on education, this time in the form of an Associated Press dispatch from Philadelphia, dated October 6, 1944:
All eyes in the suburban Springfield township high school auditorium focused on D. K. Ernst, hypnotist, as he began a demon. stration of the power of the subconscious mind. Thirty-five students, acting as subjects, stared at a spot on the ceiling as Ernst waved his hands. Suddenly there was hysterical laughter, sobbing, and more than thirty students in the audience collapsed. The demonstration ended abruptly and for nearly two hours a school physician, nurse and hypnotist worked to snap them out of it.
Climb still higher up the “social ladder” of civilization to the respected and highly educated doctors and scientists of the ultramodern world. Far below this pinnacle is the “poor savages’” witch doctor, you say? Read the following amazing confession, published in the March 19,1944, issue of the Baltimore Sun:
Psychiatry Traveling Way ov Primitive Witch Doctor
Methods of primitive medicine men in curing or alleviating mental ills of their fellow-tribesmen have been closely studied in recent years by medical historians and anthropologists, who have uncovered striking comparisons with the work of today’s psychiatrists. One fact firmly established by the studies is that medicine men—“witch doctors” —have exerted more powerful curative or destructive influences upon the minds of their patients or victims than are ordinarily, if ever, available to psychiatrists.
Two authorities of the Johns Hopkins Medical School have collected a vast amount of data on this subject, much of it now included in a voluminous work titled “Bulletin of the History of Medicine”. The findings of Dr. Henry E. Sigerist, professor of the history of medicine, and of Dr. Erwin H. Ackerknecht, an anthropologist, together with those of other scientists, are extending the views of those interested in the treatment of mental ills, and go far toward clearing the medicine man of suspicion of charlatanism [or convicting modern medics of it]. . . .
The songs [of the medicine man] were in rhythmic, soothing sing-song. Very often they sent the patient into semi-hypnotic sleep; when he awakened he was refreshed and in good spirits. This is an example of primitive man’s use of hypnosis in treating mental ills.
The medicine man knew that this practice might benefit the patient but not why, unlike the modern psychiatrist, who uses it scientifically. . . .
Scientists agree, of course, on the vast cleavage between psychiatry of the aborigines and that of this more enlightened world. The belief of primitive man in the powers of the supernatural as represented by the medicine man or witch doctor was unquestioning; and that is why he was prey to curses and open to cures. He could be killed or cured by simply believing. The sincerity of the primitive medicine man or witch doctor is another phase of the study. Dr. Aekerkneeht concludes that the majority of medicine men were sincere and believed in their supernatural powers. Their rituals are popularly considered hocus-pocus. But Dr. Aekerkneeht believes that their ceremonies were symbolic; that the rituals carried the same implications for tribesmen religious ceremonies carry’ for those who believe in them today.
Also an article by Dr. Irving Sr Cutter appeared in the New York Daily News, December 7, 1943, stating that interest in hypnotism is high, that many doctors find it useful, and that many cures have been effected by it. A report on Joseph Dunninger, previously mentioned, in the January issue of the Reader’s Digest, discloses that he has been used by physicians in at least three hospitals to hypnotize patients. So the antics bf witch doctors, long recognized as demoniacal, are lifted into the realm of modern science and garnished with impressive, technical phraseology.
To round out the picture of the demons’ encroachments in the lofty field of science, two more evidences are cited. Australia’s No. 1 radio scientific executive is convinced of the possibility of communication with the dead, via radio. (Iteported in Radio News, June, 1944.) All this learned gentleman, Sir Ernest Fisk, need do to get widespread support from scientists is to prove the Devil’s lie that the dead are not dead, but alive. (Genesis 3:4) The second evidence is seen in the paragraph quoted below, taken from the article “Limbo Calling”, printed in the February, 1944, issue of Coronet:
The V nobstructed Vniverse is a carefully-authenticated record of some 40 conversations that Stewart Edward White had with Betty White after her burial, The book, published on October 14, 1940, went into its ninth printing April 14, 1943, and is still selling briskly around a war-rocked planet. Broadly speaking, it is about spiritualism, but it is so utterly divorced from the trumpet-in-the-dark school of the supernatural [so designed to appeal to and catch‘so-called “intellectuals”] that Booth Tarkington, for instance, calls it “one of the most important books ever written on what is to all people the most important of all subjects”. The book is regarded by some scientists as the key io a new and higher form of physics. [Italics ours]
Whither, World Rulers?
For final consideration have been reserved world rulers. That class occupies a vital place in human affairs. They are extolled by fawning religionists as “the higher powers”, and as rulers by divine right. It is all-important that the people know the path their leaders are treading, and especially on the eve of man’s x most ambitious governmental experiment, the postwar “new' order”. Invisible forces back them. Jesus said, “He that is not with me is against me.” (Matthew 12: 30) None of them are “on the fence”: they are either on God’s side or in Satan’s camp. Where do world rulers stand I Do they try to stem the rising tide of demonism? or are they swept along with the maddening flood? Finally, is there a power capable of breaking the chains forged by the invisible demons? and, if so, what is it, and will it so exercise itself in man’s behalf? An article entitled “Spirits of Devils to the Kings of the Earth” in the next issue of this magazine .will present evidence answering in full the foregoing questions.
The Undesired Medal
THE Mercer £Pa.) post of the Amer-_ ican Legion has made it an annual practice to award a medal each year to the boy and girl of the eighth grade who 'daest meet the qualities of scholarship, honesty, courage, leadership and Americanisin’. The students to be so honored, are to be selected by the teachers and fellow students. The awards are to be ’ presented by the Legion and Legion Auxiliary as part of the eighth grade ’graduation program.
The girl to receive the award in 1944 was found to be Nina Smith. She is one of Jehovah’s witnesses, as are also her sister, brother and parents. The Legion decided this must be changed, as it would be a crime to give Nina the medal of a noble organization like the Mercer post of the Legion. When Nina’s name was presented by the school officials to the Legion the un-American members of the Legion got together and held a secret powwow. They mapped out a course of action that was anything but American. It had none of the qualities of scholarship, honesty, courage, leadership and Americanism.
They approached Nina’s teachers with a brilliant plan. The teachers were told that Nina could not have been first choice, since she was one of Jehovah’s witnesses. They must take back her name and give the Legion the name of the second choice. If anyone should ask any questions, then it could simply be explained away by saying that a recount of the ballots had been made and that Marianne Boyd was now first and Nina was second. The good name of the Legion must never be mentioned as having suggested such a thing. S-s-sh!
But the teachers, headed by Mrs. Howard Glenn, w’ere honest, and the Legion’s demands were refused. The boys had not thought of that, so it was here that the feet of the wicked began to slide. June 1, graduation day, came. Legion members with some sense, but no courage, were conspicuous by their absence. An honest Auxiliary member was then faced with the task of either presenting the award to Nina or not presenting it to anyone. She thought Nina should have it, and appeared on the stage, making the presentation. No sooner wTas the program over than great pressure was placed upon her to get that award back from Nina and to give it to Marianne. It was gladly returned. Marianne refused it, even though she did possess all the qualities it called for. The Legion now has the medal, but they are looking for someone to whom they may give it, because the public have been suggesting that they are not qualified to hold it, since they do not possess even one of the qualities that the medal calls for. Newspapers are not embarrassing the Legion any, as they dare not print the truth.
' Legion meetings are controversial these days. Honest members are asking: Why did you not tell us of this secret meeting? What did we fight for in World War I? What are the boys now fighting for? Is this the Legion’s idea of a new and better order? It is altogether possible that membership may. take a drop.
It is here suggested that the Legion don school clothes and attend the eighth grade classes next year. Perhaps they might be able to learn a few things about honesty, courage, leadership, scholarship and Americanism from the teachers and children at the Mercer schools. —Elmer L. Smith, Pennsylvania.
Too Much Spinach
♦ At a cost to them of 80c a bushel, farmers raised. 1,000,000 bushels of spinach near Norfolk, .Va. They raised too much. The canners said they could pay only 45c a bushel. Uncle Sam didn’t want it. The dehydrators didn’t want it ■ they were up to their necks in spinach. If you had a spinach farm, what would you do with it?
Ephraem Syrus and the Codex Ephraemi
EPHRAEM (e'fra-em) (Ephram or Ephrem or Ephraim) the Syrian is of interest to students of God’s Word because, about eight centuries ago, someone copied a portion of his works over one of the oldest and best-made manuscripts of the Bible that have come down from ancient times. By this means scholars have access to 209 elegantly written leaves which embrace all of the “New Testament”, with some of the “Old”. Now for something about Ephraem himself, who lived A.D, 306-373.
This man of prodigious industry was born at the city of Nisibis, a city of some 55,000 people, once on a main route from Persia to Greece and now a railway station on the line which runs from the Persian gulf to the Mediterranean sea. It is 120 miles west of the ruins of Nineveh, on the Tigris, and about the same distance east of Haran, whence Abraham left Mesopotamia for the Promised Land.
Nisibis, now called Nusaybin, or Nisi-bin, is one of those places where scores of battles have been fought between the east and the west, and between the north and the south, and the people have been ruled by a great variety of governments. Just at present, the place is in Turkey, on the border of Syria. In the year 363 (A.D.) there was a war on between the Roman and Persian governments, and, as usual, Nisibis was in the midst of the fracas, and when the Roman government was beaten and the city was ceded by the emperor Jovinian to the Persians the Syrians or Armenians concluded to leave en masse for safer quarters to the west, and did so, and Ephraem went with Diem.
Within a year or so Ephraem settled in Edessa, some thirty miles or so from Haran, and went on with the work to which he was devoted, that of proclaiming the gospel of Jehovah’s kingdom and helping to circulate and explain the Scriptures which bear the Kingdom message. Though most of his time after coming to Edessa was spent in writing, yet it is said of him, “When Edessa was suffering from famine, he gave assistance everywhere;' he called upon the rich to help the poor and he himself undertook the care of seeing that the poor received what was intended for them.” Those who know something about how wealthy Cardinal O’Connell was when he died, and the great success that he made of his fight for child labor and against child labor legislation, ought to be able to appreciate that remark.
Ephraem IFns Humble
Humility is not a matter of hanging one’s head. Anybody can do that, though some folks would get a stiff neck if they were ever to try it. Here is a Scriptural definition:
Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.—Philip-pians 2:3.
Ephraem knew about that, and a lot of other texts that carry the same lesson, and he tried to put them in operation, with this unusual effect, from the article on his life and work in McClintock and Strong’s Cyclopedia, volume III, page 255:
His repute for piety and learning became so great that he was elected bishop; but when he heard of it he rushed forth into the marketplace, and acted in such a manner that the people thought he was out of his senses. “He then absconded until another had been appointed to the office of bishop in his place.”
In these days one could almost imagine a man pulling every kind of wire to get himself elected a “bishop”, but the number that would take to the woods after they got the job, and hide out till the excitement was over, and see some other man get it, is so small that if the story got into the daily papers few would believe it.
' The chroniclers say that Ephraem had a “naturally irascible temper”, which, of course, is a bad actor; but Peter seems tq_have had one when he clipped the ear off the servant of the high priest, and Jonah must have had something of the %e.ort when he got angry because Nineveh jdidn’t go up in smoke- at the end of the v rorty days. Having a bad temper is like having a big nose. If one has it, one has it The owner has to mentally mark it , / " “Handle with care”.' Anyway, Ephraem 4 is said to have had it, but tried to keep •it out of sight. On one occasion he had been fasting; a servant brought him food. and, being nervous, dropped the dish and the food. The servant was overcome with shame and terror, but Ephfaem arose to the occasion, saying: “Take courage; as the food has not come to ps, we will go to it.” Whereupon, saith the record, “Ephraem sat down on the floor, and ate the fragments left in the broken dish.”
Almighty God hates pride worse than He hates anything else. Ephraem knew about that and so he ordered in his will that “no one should praise him, according to the common practice, in a funeral oration, that his body should not be wrapped up in costly robes, and that no monument should be erected on his tomb”. It may, perhaps, be added that these things show he had good common sense, and this is substantially the practice regarding deaths and burials at the headquarters of Jehovah’s organization in the earth.
Ephraem Bets Obedient
Sufficient has been adduced to show that Ephraem had a good sense of justice; he thought that in times of famine those of God’s people who have means should make it their business to aid those that need assistance and who, after they have done the best they can, are hardly able to get to the top of the hill without a little wisely-applied aid. He knew about the good Samaritan. He was also humble, as just set forth. And, in addition, and a very necessary addition, he was also obedient, i.e., he was eager to do Jehovah’s will; he was not a slacker, not a bluffer, not a barnacle, not a dreamer; he was a worker.
Ephraem knew how to write; and did he write! There is no information that he knew any other language than Syriac, but he knew that and wanted every Syrian to become familiar with God’s Word. So, one of the jobs that he set for himself was to explain the whole Bible in Syriac. So he wrote a complete Bible commentary, from Genesis to Revelation, and (and this is important) he omitted the apocryphal books, such as Esdras, Judith, Wisdom, Baruch, Susanna, Bel, Manasses, Maccabees, etc. His commentary on Genesis and most of Exodus is still extant in Syriac; and condensations of all the books are also preserved in the same tongue. Another account says:
“His commentaries extended over the whole Bible, ‘from the book of creation to the last book of grace/ as Gregory of Nyssa says. We have his commentaries on the historical and prophetical books of the Old Testament and the book of Job in,Syriac, and his commentaries on the epistles of Paul in an Armenian translation. They have been but little used thus far by commentators. Ho does not. interpret the text from the original Hebrew, but from the old Syriac translation, the Peshito, though he refers occasionally to the original. His sermons and homilies, of which, according to Photius, he composed more than a thousand, are partly expository, partly polemical, against Jews, heathen, and heretics. They evince a considerable degree of popular eloquence; they are full of pathos, exclamations, apostrophes, antitheses, illustrations, severe rebuke, and sweet comfort, according to the subject; but also full of exaggerations, bombast, prolixity, and the superstitions of his age, such as' the overestimate of ascetic virtue, and excessive veneration of the Virgin Mary, the saints, and relics. Some of his sermons were publicly read after the Bible lesson in many Oriental, and even Occidental churches.”
Ephraem Rendered Real Service
The foregoing comment on Ephraem’s work could hardly be described as flattering, and he has been handed other like compliments about other work that he did. For instance, the Catholic Encyclopedia says that “Sozomen pretends that Ephraem wrote 3,000,000 verses”. It was not foolish enough to accept such a wild estimate, for it is known that most of Ephraem’s writing was done at Edessa in the last ten years (3,652 days) of his life, which, at eight hours a day, would have been an output of 100 verses an hour; and nobody could do it. The McClintock and Strong Cyclbp&dia says: “It is reported that he wrote no less than three hundred thousand verses. But, with the exception of his commentaries, all his Syriac works are written in verse.” That would cut the output down to 10 verses an hour, and it is still too much. Somebody has been' padding the record.
Nevertheless, Ephraem’s work, much of it, volumes and volumes' of Bible comments and sermons and hymns, still exist, and that he was industrious to the last degree and tried to honor God’s name, even though he was much mixed up, cannot be questioned. What peculiar service to the truth did he then render? The Encyclopedia Britannica puts it all in a nutshell when it says, in volume VIII, page 645:
His commentary on the gospels is of great importance in connection with New Testament textual history,' for the text on which it was based was that of the Diatessaron.
It only remains to draw the reader’s attention to the fact that this subject is treated at considerable length in the article entitled “Tatian and the Diatessaron1', published in Consolation No. 643, issue of May 10, 1944. Jehovah used the Diatessaron as a sort of bridge for the safe conduct of the gospel of the Kingdom to the Syrian common people until such time as the Syriac Peshitta version was brought into general use. And He used Tatian and Ephraem to fulfill His JANUARY 3,
purposes in that regard, and it is clear that their labor was not in vain in the Lord.
Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus
The special value of the Ephraem Manuscript oi; Codex Ephraemi is not in that it is a manuscript of the writings of Ephraem Syrus. It is basically and originally a handwritten copy of the original Greek Scriptures and which was produced about the fifth century after Christ, But later, about the twelfth century, someone who thought more of Ephraem’s writings than of the inspired Scriptures themselves, and who was short of parchment material, scraped or rubbed out the original G reek Scriptures from the parchment and wrote over them a Greek translation of some works of Ephraem the Syrian. For this reason it is called Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus, and because of the erasure of the original text it is called a “palimpsest”, meaning “scraped again”. .
The manuscript was recovered from the East early in the sixteenth century, and in the following century was noticed to be a rewritten codex. By means of a chemical preparation applied to it in 1834 the original, writing of the Greek Scriptures was brought out with fair legibility, and thereby an ancient Greek manuscript of about the fifth century was recovered for use by Bible scholars in textual criticism. This was written in uncial (or all-capital) Greek letters, and is referred to by Bible text critics under the capital letter “C”. In The Emphatic Diaglott-, in the footnotes thereof on the text and translation of The Apocalypse, or Revelation, the readings of the Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus are given under the letter “C”. (See page 813, footnotes, thereof.) The codex sets out portions of the Greek Septuagint on 64 leaves, and portions of every part of the so-called “New Testament” on 145 leaves. In general characteristics it compares with the Alexandrine Manuscript of the fifth century.
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’TiiyWORD ISlkUTH"
~John 17; 17
' Eeclesiaslicism Tempted
WTHCCLESIASTICISM” as a term , J—i applies to all religious denomina-.tions, Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish, which have teamed up with the financial and political 'elements of the earth to form the governing or controlling factors to rule humankind. To these ecclesiastics ■ the c^god of this world”, Satan the Devil, ' has presented the three great temptations, which like temptations he also presented to Eve. She yielded and fell. The same three temptations were presented to Jesus by the Devil, but He resisted them all and gained the victory. They have been presented to the ecclesiastical systems, and the facts show these have all fallen to the wiles of the Devil and have become a part of his worldly organization.
James 1:13-15 sets forth that God does not tempt anyone to worldliness. “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death,” The desire of those ecclesiastical leaders for honor and power was what led them into temptation and fall into worldliness.
Jesus Christ is the great Shepherd of the flock of God. (Hebrews 13:20) In the organization of the church of God, Jehovah provided for undershepherds, designating them as overseers and teachers. Upon these are enjoined the duty and obligation of feeding the flock of God, to unselfishly look well to the interest of the sheep, and not to lord it over the Lord’s people. (1 Pet. 5:2-4) Contrary to God’s Word or Bible, the religious elders and shepherds of the denominational systems and cults have organized councils, synods, presbyteries, and like bodies politic, and have elected their own members to the high offices of pope, cardinal, bishop, doctor of divinity, reverend, etc., and thus formed and created what are termed the “ecclesiastics” of “Christendom”, the high personages in the cults and sects, Catholic and Protestant. God did not tempt these men to do that. Of their own desire they were led to these steps. They thereby laid themselves open to the great tempter, who promptly presented to them temptations similar to those presented to Eve and Adam apd later to Jesus Christ; namely, “the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life,” which are not of the Father Jehovah, but are of this world.—1 John 2:15,16.
As to the "lust of the flesh [or body]”, the power gained by the ecclesiastics by reason of their position in their religious organizations they have used for their own selfish purposes. They have fed themselves and let the flock of God go without attention. (Ezekiel 34:8) Selfishly they have advanced their own private interests, permitted the people to go without spiritual food, and thereby prevented them from entering into the kingdom of God. So, yielding to the temptation to use their powers for selfish purposes to feed themselves, they fell to the temptation.
As to the “lust of the eyes [or mind] ”: Desiring to possess the seductive things of this world, and to be admired by men rather than to be approved by God, the clergy have yielded to the lust of the eyes; they have clothed themselves in scarlet and long, flowing robes, decked themselves with jewels, and have arrogantly assumed a form of godliness while denying the power thereof. They fell ready victims to this temptation.
As to the “pride of life”: Jesus instructed His representatives to preach the Kingdom gospel and to await patiently His second coming, when He would enter upon His kingdom. He admonished them to keep themselves separate from the world. The ecclesiastics, or clergy, have boldly assumed to represent the Lord God on the earth. Satan held before them the temptation that, as such, they could establish the kingdom of God on earth withput waiting for the second coming of Christ; the condition required being that they should join hands with the commercial and political powers of earth, that were already under Satan’s control. This appealed to the clergy’s pride of life. To them it was a wonderful thing to bring the capitalists and the politicians into their religious systems. They yielded to the seductive temptation; they set about immediately to obtain control and rulership of the world, without the aid of the Lord God and contrary to His Word, the Holy Bible.
The clergy came up against the conditions and they have failed. They have worshiped the Devil, sanctified wars of aggression, such as Mussolini’s assaults on Ethiopia and Albania, have acted as military recruiting officers for totalitarian dictators, and have resorted to other devilish methods to gain their selfish and ambitious ends. They have ignored God and the Lord Jesus, and have waxed rich and powerful, and have done all this while associated with their allies and under the direction of the super-mind of Satan, “the god of this world.” They have,fallen to the temptation, and have carried out their part of his arrangement to blind the people to God’s purposes. They stand selfconf essediy guilty before God and man.
The ecclesiastics, namely, popes, cardinals, bishops, reverends, doctors of divinity, and theological professors, have claimed the exclusive right and authority to interpret the Scriptures, and presumptuously deny the right of any so-called “layman” to preach the gospel except such one be ordained by them. They have set aside the pure doctrines of God’s Word, and have constituted themselves (through their various organizations, of course) the fountains of doctrines. These doctrines they have sent forth as a river, claiming such to be a life-giving stream for the benefit of the people, whereas in truth and in fact theirs has been a message of fraud and deceit and a stream of spiritual sickness and death. By these false and deceptive doctrines the people have been blinded to God’s purpose, and His provision for salvation has been hid from their eyes.
Claiming for themselves the exclusive authority to interpret the Scriptures, for a long time the ecclesiastics have kept and strive to keep the people in ignorance of the text of the Bible by discouraging them in studying it directly. But now in this day of greater education, when the people can read and might read and understand the [Scriptures, these ecclesiastical leaders boldly and flippantly deny the inspiration of the Word of God or make it of none effect by their traditions and philosophies. Foreknowing that this would be the fatal course they would take, Jehovah God caused His prophet Jeremiah to write concerning them: “They have forsaken me the fountain of living waters [the source of life and truth], and hewed them out cisterns [man-made systems of doctrine], broken cisterns, that can hold no water [really hold no life-giving truth].” (Jeremiah 2:13) Striking out on such an unscriptural course, they have had no other way to go than to fall right into the trap of the Devil and to succumb to his temptations. It therefore behooves the common people, the so-called laity, to compare their teachings and practices with the written Word of God and to see how they have departed from it and yielded to Satan’s temptations ; and then the common people will discern the reason for abandoning such fallen ecclesiastics and turning to the Lord God and His Word and Kingdom.
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