Golden Age, November 22, 1933

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The Golden Age

A JOURNAL OF FACT HOPE AND COURAGE

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in this issue

VALUE OF KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

"PREACHERS PRESENT ARMS”

CORRECTION OF A LIE

LATIN AMERICA

MORE NEWS NOTES

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every other WEDNESDAY

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November 22, 1933

Vol. XV ■ No. 370

CONTENTS

•• • I, , —.... — • "

LABOR AND ECONOMICS

Riot for Privilege to Toil . . . 116

Millennium Lags in Philadelphia 116

Two Million Unemployed Women 116

Three Cents an Hour Wages . . 116

Morgantown Goes Broke . . . 117

Plain Statements by Huey Long . 117

Pasadena Plant Too Profitable . 119

Where the Utilities Differ . . . 119

Federal Relief in Texas .... 123

SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL

The Correction of a Lie . . . 109 Free Food and Fuel in New York 117 Six Million Children to Be Fed . 117 Relief Needs $1,000,000,000 a Year 117 Economic Crimes in the South . 117 The Average American Family . 118 Selfridge Proposes End of Liberty 118 Educational Changes Impending . 118

Corrected Figures on Prisoners . 120

FINANCE—COMMERCE—TRANSPORTATION

Air Route via Greenland . . . 119 2,520 Miles in 10 Hours 5 Minutes 119 False Damage Claims .... 119 Golden Gate Bridge in Construction 119 New York City’s New Subway . 120

POLITICAL—DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN

Western World Has Failed . . 120

Morris Hillquit’s Final Message . 120

Export Steamship Corporation . 120

Double Citizenship in Canal Zone 123

Why Economic Conference Failed 123

AGRICULTURE AND HUSBANDRY

Terrible Conditions in South Dakota 122

Bulb-Destruction Week in Holland 122

Russian Rubber from Towsagis . 122

SCIENCE AND INVENTION

Uses of the Electric Eye . . . 122

Radium Treatment of Diamonds 127

HOME AND HEALTH

Accidents in Pennsylvania . . . 116

To Polish Glass

Recipe for Hominy

No Redress for Removing Wrong Eye 121

“If Medicine Had Been Defective” 121

Medical Science

TRAVEL AND MISCELLANY

Latin America—Question JI ark

of 20th Century (Part 3)

What Bombay Is Like .... 123

General Dealers, Limited . . . 124

Tithing Farmers Hate Clergy . 124

Hurricanes in the “Holy Year” . 126

RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

Value of Knowledge and Understanding......99

“Preachers Present Arms” . . 104

Letter from New Jersey Jonadab 109

The Radio Witness Work . . . 110

Pennsylvania’s Expensive Prayers 124

“O Baal, Hear Us”.....125

Great Help to Their Father . . 125

Protestant Church Bankrupt . . 125

. । . . , ,.---

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jh ’Golden Age

Volume XV Brooklyn, N. Y., Wednesday, November 22, 1933 Number 370

Value of Knowledge and Understanding

Broadcast over chain Sunday October 22, 1933, by Judge Rutherford

MEN seek after that which they believe will bring them personal benefit. In seeking after that which is desired, if a man takes the wrong road he is certain to come to disappointment and sorrow. If he takes and pursues the right road success crowns his efforts. It is therefore of great importance that a man at the very outset know which is the right road to take.

Material wealth and worldly fame are the things which men of the world principally seek after. The existence of man on earth is brief, and when he dies he must leave behind him all his material wealth and his worldly fame can no longer be enjoyed by himself. That which thoughtful men desire above all things else is life with the attending blessings of health, peace and happiness. Men madly rush about in their efforts to acquire material wealth and fame, and, while they may desire to live, very few men have any real conception of how life in happiness may be gained. What is needed to learn the right way is knowledge and understanding.

What are knowledge and understanding? and what is the distinction between the two ? Properly defined, knowledge means information gained from truthful testimony. Understanding means to take hold of and comprehend the true meaning of the testimony received and to thereby be enabled to know for a certainty what is the right course or road to take. One who pursues such a course is wise, and the final result to him is certain to be good. One may have knowledge of the existence of a thing and have no understanding of its meaning. The two are necessary to go together that good may result.

How may one know for a certainty that he is gaining true knowledge and that he is having the proper understanding of the information received? If he follows the teachings of man he cannot be certain; for the reason, all men are imperfect and the teachings of men are based upon human information. Regardless of the good intentions that a man may have, his opinion may be entirely worthless. But it is possible for us to know for an absolute certainty whether or not we are receiving true knowledge and getting the correct understanding, and that information I shall now try to impart to you.

It has been my privilege to bring to your attention on former occasions the conclusive proof that there is one true God whose name is Jehovah and who is almighty in power, perfect in wisdom, exact in justice, and wholly unselfish, and that He is the source of light, truth and life. All information received from Him is truthful and wholly trustworthy. Truth is also called light, and light makes known to us the things that we want to know.

There is also, as the proof shows, a false or mimic god, whose name is Satan the Devil, who is the very embodiment of wickedness and who is the enemy of all men. He is bent on the complete destruction of the human race. Amongst other things the Scriptures designate him as the “prince of darkness”, and he and his wicked associates are rulers of darkness controlling this world. (Ephesians 6:12) It is the wicked ones who make war against all who love and serve the light of truth which comes from Jehovah God.

In order to gain true knowledge we must be assured that the information we receive emanates and proceeds from a truthful source. Concerning Jehovah God it is written: “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5) Jehovah sent His beloved Son to the earth to teach the truth to the people, and of Him it is written that Christ Jesus is “the true Light, which lighteth every man” who desires to be enlightened. (John 1:9) Concerning the Holy Scriptures, which constitute the Word of Jehovah God, Jesus said: “Thy word is truth”; and concerning the way that leads to endless life and happiness He further stated: “This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17: 3) That assures us that the Bible is the source of all truth concerning the origin and destiny of the human race.

You may reply that there are several hundred different denominational religious organizations called “churches”, all teaching different doctrines and all claiming to base their teachings upon the Bible, and, you ask, how may we know who is right? The answer is that all of these organizations have some knowledge of the text of the Bible but are utterly without understanding as to the meaning thereof. The Bible has had the widest distribution of any book published, and yet there is without doubt a greater lack of knowledge and understanding of it by intelligent people in “Christendom” than of any other book in existence. The fact that a man is educated and graduated from a theological university and holds all the degrees of that university is no proof whatsoever that he has a knowledge and understanding of the Bible. He may be able to repeat from memory every text in the Bible and yet have no understanding or true conception of the meaning thereof. It will be conceded that the majority of the educated clergymen of this day even repudiate the inspiration of the Scriptures and have set up man’s wisdom as superior to that expressed in the Bible.

Jehovah God reveals an understanding of His Word only to those who are devoted to Him. Men who are worldly wise, that is to say, who follow their own wisdom or the wisdom of other men, cannot understand the Scriptures. Such are natural or worldly men, and of them it is written : “The natural [or worldly] man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14) It is impossible for any man to please God and receive an understanding of His Word unless that man has faith in God and in His Word. (Hebrews 11:6) Faith means to have a knowledge of the text of the Bible, believe that the texts are true, and confidently rely thereon. There is no other means of acquiring faith.

A college education is not one of the essentials to the understanding of the Bible. That which is of first importance to gain a knowledge and understanding of the Bible is to know that Jehovah is God and have a proper fear of Him and not to have fear of man. It is only to such that God reveals an understanding of His Word. (Proverbs 1:7) The psalmist (25:14) says: “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.” The understanding and interpretation of the Bible is not committed to any one man or any company of men. The Bible was written for all persons who honestly seek to understand it and who follow God’s appointed way to gain an understanding thereof. It is written that the Scriptures are given for the instruction of the man w’ho devotes himself to God. None other can have an understanding.-^ Timothy 3:16,17.

Jehovah God created man and made him the most intelligent of His earthly creatures. It is to be expected that God would reveal His truth to the reverential man; and so He does. To the man who seeks to know God and His Word Jehovah says: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isaiah 1:18) That means, regardless of how great a sinner a man is, if he turns his heart to Jehovah and diligently seeks to know the truth in God’s appointed way he will be led into the light of truth. It means that we must take God’s Word and study it from a reasonable viewpoint and not attempt to substitute human wisdom for divine wisdom. Note that God says to those who are seeking the right road to travel: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3: 5, 6) This is positive proof that it is unsafe to follow human reasoning to the exclusion of God's Word.

Public officers today, by the aid of high dignitaries in the church organization, are making strenuous efforts to pull the people out of depression and distress and to recover the world. A high public official stands before the people and says in connection with world recovery: “I have faith in divine guidance in this effort to recover the world from depression.” If he had faith in Jehovah God, then he would take God’s Word as a guide, because the Word of Jehovah God is given for a guide to the one who trusts in and pleases Jehovah. (Psalm 119:105) The fact that one claims to have faith in divine guidance is no proof that he has faith; and this conclusion is further supported by the fact that his course of action is contrary to what the Word of God states. What that man lacks is knowledge and understanding.

Jehovah God’s Word makes it plainly to appear why there is great distress and perplexity and depression now upon the nations of the world. The testimony of Jehovah’s great Witness, Christ Jesus, which is recorded in the Scriptures is to the effect that the beginning of the end of this wicked world would be marked by a world war, in which the nations of “Christendom” would engage. That world war began in 1914, and therefore that date marks the beginning of the reign of Christ and the ending of Satan’s rule without interruption. It means that the great climax in the history of the world has been reached. Worldly wise men, who claim to believe in God, told the people that the great war would make the world safe for democracy, and that then the people would be free, and now all persons know from experience that such a slogan was untrue. There was a brief period of material prosperity following the war, and then came the great distress which now weighs down upon the nations of the world.

If we have faith in divine guidance, then we must heed the divine Word, which says that the world war would be followed by great “distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken”.—Luke 21: 25, 2G.

Those words describe exactly what we now see on the world, and which conditions are a complete fulfilment of the prophetic utterance of Jesus concerning this very time. That means, then, that we have come to the end of the world and that God will bring about the complete change shortly, and that in His own good way; which means that He will set aside the wicked rule of the world and that the government of the nations will pass over into the hands of Christ Jesus, who will rule in righteousness. The wicked organization now ruling, the Lord first will destroy, that there may be a clear way for righteousness and upbuilding of the peoples.

It must be conceded that the rulers of the nations at the present time are putting forth their very best endeavors to recover the world and bring it back to material prosperity; but if it is true that the world has ended, why do they thus make an effort to hold the old organization intact? The answer is that they do not have knowledge and understanding of Jehovah’s purposes. If they really had faith in God and in His Word they would know that Satan the Devil is now endeavoring to drive all peoples to desperation and destruction, and because he knows that he will shortly meet the Lord in the last great conflict he has brought all this woe at the present day upon the nations. In God’s Word it is written: "Woe to the inhabiters of the earth, and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” (Revelation 12:12) If the world rulers had a knowledge and understanding of this scripture they would see the real cause of the trouble and look to the only One that can possibly remedy it.

Jehovah does not alter His purposes at the instance or prayers of men. He declares that His time has come foi’ Christ Jesus to rule and to put down the enemy and therefore the enemy must be destroyed and his organization pass away for ever. Jehovah in His own good way will then establish the world in righteousness, that it never again can be moved. (Psalm 9G: 10) It follows, therefore, that those who have a knowledge and understanding of the divine Word know that this old world cannot be recovered, but that within a very short time the Lord will completely destroy Satan’s organization and his rule, in order to make way for the righteous rule of His kingdom through which all the families of the earth shall be blessed.— Revelation 19:10-20; Genesis 22:16-18; Galatians 3:16-29.

The public press announces a nation-wide movement begun by the united efforts of the various religious organizations, and political and financial leaders, to get the people back to the churches to help pull the world out of its present dilemma. Their slogan is: “God the light of the world; follow the Light back to the church.” They do not say, however, whether they mean the true God or the mimic god. The Scriptures definitely show that the true God is not in the churches today; therefore this movement must be at the instance of Jehovah’s enemy Satan for the purpose of deceiving the people. In the past the people have received no light on the Scriptures from the churches, and they will receive none by going back to the churches. The same ones who have organized this nation-wide movement are the ones who bitterly oppose the proclamation of the truth of and concerning Jehovah God's kingdom; and for that reason alone their movement is doomed to complete failure. Instead of getting the people back to the churches, where they are asked to give up their hard-earned money and receive only husks, there should be a nation-wide movement to aid the people to gain a knowledge and understanding of Jehovah’s purpose as set forth in the Scriptures. Jehovah’s announced purpose is that in this day He will cause all to know that He is the true God and that the only hope of the world is His kingdom under Christ, which is now begun. To the nations Jehovah now says: “Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the [nations]. . . . And in his name shall the [nations] trust.” (Matthew 1'2: 18-21) If the men of this nation-wide movement had a knowledge and understanding of Jehovah’s Word they would tell the people that the great crisis is here, that the greatest tribulation of all time is just ahead, in which all the nations will go down, and that the only way of escape is by and through Jehovah’s kingdom under Christ. A knowledge and understanding honestly used now would be of great value to them and to the people. A knowledge and understanding of this prophecy just now would do more to help the people than anything else. Failure of teachers to help men get such knowledge and understanding works a hardship on the people and puts them in a bad way, as it is written : “Where there is no vision [understanding], the people perish; but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.”—Proverbs 29:18.

Who is the chief opposer of the truth, and the one who keeps the people in ignorance thereof? The Scriptures answer that Satan the Devil, the prince of darkness, the god or invisible ruler of this world, he it is that blinds the people to the truth lest the light of truth from God’s Word through Christ Jesus should shine unto them. (2 Corinthians 4:2-6) Be assured of the fact that if you find the leaders in any organization or institution are opposing the spread or proclamation of the message of truth of and concerning God’s kingdom under Christ as the only means of blessing mankind, all such opposers are being blinded by Satan and such opposers are without knowledge and understanding of God’s purposes, hence you cannot afford to follow them.

By His prophet Amos, in chapter eight, verse eleven, Jehovah foretold the present-day famine in the land, not a famine of bread, “but of hearing the words of the Lord.” The truth is just as abundant as ever, but few are they amongst the people that hear it, for the reason that Satan and his agents keep the people blinded and in the darkness. You may be sure, then, that any teachers of any organization that would hinder the people from studying and understanding the Bible are the agents of Satan whether they know it or not. Today there is comparatively a small company of men and women who are wholly devoted to Jehovah God and His kingdom and who are employing their time and means in an earnest endeavor to bring the message of truth to the peoples of the land. This little company of men and women are the only ones under the sun who are meeting any opposition to their work for the aid of the people. They are opposed, not because they are competing with others for commercial business, or for members of an organization; but they are opposed because they are trying to help the people obtain a knowledge and understanding of God’s Word. The Scriptures emphatically state that all opposition to such work of enlightening mankind proceeds from Satan, the prince of darkness. Many will ask, Then why do the great religious leaders and the politicians and their supporters oppose this witness work in the name of God and His kingdom and persecute the witnesses? Is it because they willingly desire to serve the Devil? The Scriptural answer is, because such opposers are without knowledge and understanding of Jehovah’s Word. If these opposers had a knowledge and understanding of the Bible, which shows that the only hope for the nations of earth is the kingdom of God under Christ, and that in the very near future God will destroy Satan’s organization and put His kingdom of righteousness in full control, surely they would not deliberately fight against God. It is easy to be seen, therefore, that they lack knowledge and understanding and that knowledge and understanding to them would now be of very great value.

Today in this part of the country there are a number of Jehovah's witnesses who have gone from house to house with the message of God's kingdom advising the people how they may learn the way of escape from the great trouble that is shortly coming upon the world, and how they may come into complete peace and happiness and life. They are doing this because God commands it and because they love to do Jehovah’s will. In doing this philanthropic and godly work they meet much opposition from the clergymen, high church leaders, police officers and magistrates, and at the hands of such they suffer many indignities. Just while I am talking information comes that two men and five women, Jehovah’s witnesses, are under arrest and being tried at Summit, N. J., because they freely gave to people in that city today the message of God’s kingdom. Their persecutors are fighting against God. New Jersey police are derelict in arresting kidnapers, but under the clergy’s influence are adepts at arresting faithful witnesses of Jehovah, who help the people in time of need. Why would men who claim to believe in God thus oppose and persecute those who are really engaged in carrying the truth to the people to comfort them in this time of distress and perplexity? The answer is, because such opposers are without knowledge and understanding of God’s Word. When the knowledge of God’s purpose is brought to the attention of such opposers, then their responsibility is greatly increased. If they had never known any better they would not have been so reprehensible ; but, having been informed in the light of events that are in fulfilment of prophecy, they are now without excuse. To His faithful followers, and concerning those who oppose His witnesses, Jesus says: “Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me. If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin; but now they have no cloke for their sin.” (John 15:20-22) Clergymen and public officials have now had fair warning, and they must assume the responsibility before God. Knowledge and understanding would be of inestimable value to them if they would learn the way of wisdom.

The only way to life and endless happiness is Jehovah’s way, and that way is by and through Christ Jesus and His kingdom. From God's Word we are taught that there is no other name given under heaven whereby men can get life except the name of Christ Jesus. (Acts 4:12) Let us suppose that the world might be recovered by present efforts and that the wheels of commerce might turn everywhere and all the people be put in even a better condition than they were before the war. Even such temporal blessings could be only temporary to the present generation. Only God's kingdom through Christ can now bring the things that men desire and need. Jesus emphasized that point when He said (Matthew 16:26): ‘For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his life?’ No man or organization of men can give life to any man. ‘Life is a gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ (Romans 6: 23) No one can receive a gift without first having knowledge and understanding thereof. Then he must render himself in obedience to the terms of the gift. If you would offer a man a bag of gold and he could neither see nor hear nor otherwise understand you he could not accept the gift. Knowledge and understanding concerning the gift of life, therefore, are of the greatest value to all. God's Word is true and points out to man the right road to take, and he who gains that knowledge and understanding from Jehovah and walks in that appointed waxfinds the way to life and may receive the greatest gift that could come to him. Therefore the Lord says to man as set forth in Proverbs 8: 10,11: “Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For w-isdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.”

Jehovah God has caused the Bible to be printed in all languages and has made it possible for you to read the texts thereof and to thus gain a knowledge of the texts. In these latter days He has caused His prophecies to be fulfilled ami a record of such fulfilment to be xx-ritten out and published and brought to your attention that you can gain both a knowledge and understanding of His purposes. The Lord himself is the interpreter of His Word and He has made it plainly to be understood even by the most unlearned in worldly matters. Do not, therefore, permit yourself to longer be led by men xvho claim to teach God's Word and yet xvho have neither knoxvledge nor understanding of the Word of God. They have been blinded by the enemy Satan, have given heed to xvorldly xvis-dom, and ignored God’s Word and have led you into blindness. Concerning them Jesus says (Matthexx- 15:14): “Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.”

Jehovah God is no respecter of persons. He has not committed to any organization or man, be he pope, priest or lawyer, the right to interpret His Word, but, on the contrary, has caused to be written in His Word that no scripture is of private interpretation. (2 Peter 1: 20) Jehovah God and Christ are the teachers, and through Them is knowledge and understanding obtained. It is the privilege and duty of everyone now to gain such knowledge. To all who honestly seek the Lord He now says: “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come: and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”—Revelation 22:17.

Regardless of whether you are a Catholic, Protestant or Jew, permit me in all sincerity to urge upon you that you do not follow the teachings of men, but that you personally and diligently apply yourselves to a careful and prayerful study of the Word of God that you may gain the knowledge and understanding of His purposes concerning you and your eternal welfare. Such knowledge and understanding is of far greater value than all the material wealth and fame of this world. Concerning this the Lord says to the people: “Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding: for the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her; and happy is every one that retaineth her.”— Proverbs 3:13-18.

If the present rulers had knowledge, understanding, and faith in God’s Word they would be convinced that the world can never be recovered and that all schemes for that purpose are certain to fail. The reason is, Jehovah has entered final judgment for the destruction of the world. What the human race needs, and what it will get, is regeneration and a new world wherein dwells righteousness. (2 Peter 3:10,13) Then there will be no more need of disarmament conferences, because there will never be another war. There will be no more suffering from poverty, because Jehovah’s kingdom under Christ will supply the people with an abundance. Unrighteousness and wicked oppression will cease for ever. Such is Jehovah’s marvelous provision. Such knowledge and understanding bring peace and comfort of mind even in this time of distress. With all your getting, therefore, get knowledge and understanding, and rest confidently in the promises of JEHOVAH GOD.

“Preachers Present Arms”

THIS book by Ray H. Abrams, Ph.D., of the Department of Sociology of the University of Pennsylvania, is the fruit of six years of study, and of peculiar interest to Jehovah’s witnesses, on account of what they have suffered and still suffer at the hands of the clergy. We are frank to say that Dr. Abrams is more mild and generous with the clergy than we could be, but he is severe also, his severity consisting in the vast array of facts, from which we make a few selections.

Starting with the American Revolution, and with the Reverend John Cleveland, of Ipswich, Massachusetts, who “is said to have preached his whole parish into the army and then gone himself”, he touches briefly the Civil War, following which Federal generals gave over to Northern church boards and leaders all the churches in their areas “in which a loyal minister does not officiate”.

Those who refused to support that war, in the opinion of Reverend R. L. Stanton, professor in the Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, Danville, Kentucky, “were abhorred, both in earth and in heaven.”

The year 1898 brought the Spanish-American War, and with it the affirmation of Reverend Henry Van Dyke, Princeton, New Jersey, “We have come as a nation to our cross. If we bear it in submission it will be a ransom for the many, and a sign of peace for far-off generations.”

After a little we get down to the World War and Woodrow Wilson, and find anew that, though reelected because he kept vs out of war, “he had already committed himself to the Allies before the presidential election of 1916.” In other words, the deal with Morgan had already been closed.

Before America entered the war the clergy, some of them, were itching to show of whose father they were. (John 8: 44) Reverend B. C. Warren, pastor of St. Paul’s Methodist Episcopal church, Peekskill, New York, made it clear that, given the opportunity, he could “ride, shoot, handle a spade, march or act as chaplain”. That was in 1915.

Early in the same year the Reverend Frank Isey Paradise, rector of Grace church, West Medford, Massachusetts, went further and told what he expected to catch shortly. If murdering is going to be done on a large scale, the clergy want to have a finger in the racket. So Mr. Paradise said:

“At length I do believe we shall catch the spirit of battle, and fling back the challenge of German nationalism. For we too have a conscious national destiny. The God of Israel has anointed us to champion the cause of the poor, the weak and the downtrodden. We too shall struggle for world power. It will be the helping and healing power of Christian civilization.”

We pause to reflect that Hoover and Mellon seem to have put the finishing crimp in this helping and healing power, but what they did not do Roosevelt will no doubt top off.

Catching the Spirit of Battle

Mr. Abrams carefully refrains from saying anything that would give offense. He mentions a number of clergymen who had inclinations toward liberalism, and then subtly adds:

“But the great body of the clergy, waiting to discover which way the tide of public opinion would flow, were beginning to succumb to the subtleties of Allied propaganda and the tactics of the defense societies and Security and Navy Leagues.”

Most of the clergy were willing to take a flop either way, and to a person with a gift of gab, no knowledge of the Bible, and no conscience, it has been, in the past, a pretty good way to slip through life without really doing anything useful.

Reverend George R. Van de Water, rector of St. Andrew’s, New York, at one time an army chaplain, told where he stood: “I am a preacher, and it is my duty to pray for peace, but it is just as much so to prepare for war, if necessary.” That is rich. Here is a man, to let us tell it, that is willing to go in public clothed or naked, walking on either his feet or his hands, and willing to talk United States or Choctaw. As soon as he finds out what it is the people want, why, that is the line of talk he gives them.

Nothing could be simpler. “You pays your money and you takes your choice.”

Reverend Dr. Merle-Smith, Presbyterian, as soon as he saw which way the cat was going to jump, said, “I am glad that the ministry of the Presbyterian church is not pacifist.” Of the Presbyterian clergy invited to march (in a preparedness parade) only six sent word that it would be against their scruples to do so.

Bishop Manning, a few months later, preaching on the glories of military training, said, “It will tend to make our young men better Americans, better citizens and better Christians.” Strange that Christ never thought of that simple method of making better Christians ; all He would have had to do would be to suggest that the whole church enlist in the Roman army.

“America Decides to Fight”

At this point we steal one of Mr. Abrams’ headlines in which he refers to the pronuncia-mento of sixty-five of the most prominent religionists in the country. Bishops in this list are thick as hair on a dog; they are primed up to goad the country into war; their declaration was made on January 1, 1917, and in three months had done the trick. They blasphemed God and said:

“The just God who withheld not His son from the cross, would not look with favor upon a people who put their fear of pain and death, their dread of suffering and loss, their concern for conquest and ease above the holy claims of righteousness and justice, and freedom, and mercy and truth. The memory of all the saints and martyrs cries out against such backsliding of mankind. Sad is our lot if we have forgotten how to die for a holy cause.”

Don’t let anybody think that any of those sixty-five had the least intention of dying for any holy cause whatever; all they were after was to hold their jobs, which they expected to do by pushing others into the gory and dirty and beastly business of butchering their fellows. Why should they muss up or soil their priestly vestments? Let George do it.

The dominies were strong for self-preservation. They even admitted it, for when Reverend Randolph H. McKim, of Washington, was preaching on this so-called instinct for selfdefense, he went so far as to say, “I do not hesitate to say that if it really were in conflict with the Christian religion we could not accept the Christian religion as a divine revelation.”

After the war once got under way Reverend McKim made it clear just what he considers the Christian religion to be, saying: “It is God who has summoned us to this war. It is his war we are fighting. This conflict is indeed a crusade. The greatest in history—the holiest. It is in the profoundest and truest sense a Holy War. Yes, it is Christ, the King of Righteousness, who calls us to grapple in deadly strife with this unholy and blasphemous power.”

The Cardinal and Mr. Cadman

At the inception of the World War Cardinal Gibbons was still alive. He wanted it to be known that if anybody was going to be killed he was in favor of it, and so he said: “Above all else we must be loyal to our country. There should be no hesitancy on the part of ablebodied men in answering the call that has gone forth to man the ships that protect our shores. I hope Catholic young men will step up and take their places in the front ranks. They should obey whatever our Congress decides is for the good of the country.”

Reverend S. Parkes Cadman, a sort of Protestant cardinal, endorsed the sentiments of Mohammed, saying: “If a man dies in battle giving God glory and in the service of his country, he dies well.”

In the World War American Lutherans were in a tight place. Less than a month before the United States laid her country and everything in it at the feet of England Reverend Charles F. Oehler, president of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of California, wrote: “England, so history teaches us, loves no country but England. English militarism exceeds the militarism of any other two countries, and it indeed fights the militarism of other nations now in this present World War for the sole purpose of coming out of this struggle the undisputed ruler of the earth, on the continent and on the seas.” We wish our readers to particularly take note of this statement, for it does show’ that when a clergyman is sufficiently hard pressed, and when it is made sufficiently clear to him that it is to his own self-interest to do so, he may actually tell the truth on something.

Practically all the clergy of all denominations, however, went in for the “Holy War”, and so Mr. Abrams with kindly feelings remarks: “If the most noted scientists, who had spent all their days in scholarly research and in critical analysis and judgment of world events, lost possession of their reasoning faculties, it is not surprising that the most intelligent of the clergy, as well as the lesser lights, did likewise.”

The Jihad, or Jehad, of 1914-1918

It does not make much difference which wrny you spell it, the World War was for the dominies a “Holy War”. Reverend Joseph Fort Newton, pastor of the Church of the Divine Paternity, New York, said: “Think it all through, and at bottom, the war is religious. If our enemies are right, our religion is wrong, our faith a fiction, our philosophy false—yes, justice a dream, and righteousness a delusion. Then might is right, the battle is to the strongest and the race to the swiftest, and the more ruthless and unscrupulous we are, the better. By the same token, if our religion is right, if God is a reality, and the order of the world is moral, our enemies are wrong! The very stars in theii-courses are against them.”

In an official statement the American Board of the Congregational Church notified all men, “Our soldiers and sailors are preparing ‘The way of the Lord’. They are ‘making straight in the desert the highway for our God’. We must win the war to win the world.” That is going some.

Reverend William B. Meyers, of Park and Down Congregational church, Wollaston, Massachusetts, after the United States got into the war, said: “If we have sinned, it is in not going in sooner,” for, anyway, “between the sword and sermon is only a matter of degree, and one can be as redemptive as the other.”

Reverend Frank Mason North, once president of the Federal Council of Churches, announced, “The stir of the breath of God is upon the common people of the world. The war for righteousness will be won! Let the church do her part.” It was the breath of a god, to be sure, but the wrong god, the mimic one.

This is how Reverend Bernard Iddings Bell put it in an article to The New Republic: “This article is written in the certainty that God, the Almighty, the Eternal, the Triune, whom we Christians worship as revealed to the whole world in the Incarnation of the Son, the Godman, is the most powerful, the most active, and the most important of all who are influencing the war. He is delaying victory to either side in the deadlock until men shall comprehend that the war is being waged between spiritual principles and vital philosophies rather than between mere armed forces. This He is doing until men shall be ready for such a victory as is won by humble hearts and souls lifted up to Him, to His everlasting laws, to His divine love.”

The 'Cleansing and Inspiring Baptism of Fire’

Reverend Ernest M. Stires, of St. Thomas's Church, New York, thought that the training of troops is only “the preparation for the higher level to which they will climb on the consecrated fields of France, where the baptism of fire will cleanse and inspire. This is no dream of a visionary. The calm judgment of reasonable leaders declares that invaluable results have already been gained, and that vastly greater results are not far away. They will find God. They will discover their souls”.

Reverend John Kelman, pastor of the St. George’s United Free Church, Edinburgh, Scotland, was over here on a visit about that time and in a lecture on preaching at Yale University said regarding the soldiers in France: “Without knowing it, they are bearing in their bodies the marks of the Lord Jesus.” Many of the soldiers, by this time, were suffering from syphilis contracted in France, but we cannot suppose that Reverend Kelman had reference to these marks. In any event his remark was ridiculous and impossible.

Reverend Doctor Harry Emerson Fosdick thought that the dominies of 1918 had a bigger job on their hands than Jesus ever had. He said: “The Master never faced in his own experience a national problem such as Belgium met when the Prussians crossed the border. The fact is that Jesus did not directly face our modern questions about war; they were not his problems, and to press a legalistic interpretation of special texts, as though they were, is a misuse of the gospel.”

Reverend Harold Bell Wright, of the Christian (Disciples) church, writing for the American Magazine, was of the opinion that “a thirtycentimeter gun may voice the edict of God as truly as the notes of a cooing dove. The sword of America is the sword of Jesus”.

The Golden Rule in Warfare

It seems that it was not Morgan’s French bonds, but the Golden Rule, that got us into the World War. Thus Professor Ernest De Witt Burton, head of the Department of New Testament Literature and Interpretation in the Divinity School of the University of Chicago, explained that “for the sake of France, England, Europe, Asia and Africa, for the sake of the unborn generations of Americans, it was for all these and in obedience to the Golden Rule itself that we went to war”.

Reverend Edward Increase Bosworth, dean of Oberlin College, put it this wise: “The Christian soldier in friendship wounds the enemy. In friendship he kills the enemy. In friendship he receives the wound of the enemy. He keeps his friendly heart while the enemy is killing him. His heart never consigns the enemy to hell. After he has wounded the enemy he hurries to his side at the earliest possible moment with all the friendly ministration possible.”

It is hard to jab a bayonet into a man’s stomach in a spirit of brotherly love, but Reverend Herbert S. Johnson, pastor of the Warren Avenue Baptist church of Boston, probably thought it could be done, when in one of his sermons he said: “Three inches are not enough, seven inches are too many, and twelve inches are more than too many, for while you are pulling out the bayonet you are losing the opportunity to drive it into another man five inches.”

Reverend Henry B. Wright, camp director of religious work, Army Y.M.C.A., was at first a little confused at the thought of Jesus jabbing a bayonet into the squirming flesh of a fellow man, but he finally got it all straightened out and said: “Then it was that I saw Heaven open and beheld One faithful and true. He was no longer mounted on a white horse, to be sure, nor arrayed in a white garment sprinkled with blood, nor was He armed with a sharp sword to smite. Rather I discerned through clouds of gas and smoke One on foot arrayed in a garb of olive drab which was stained with blood and mire, and in His hands a bayonet sword attached to a rifle. He asked no man to go where He would not go. He did not lead His men up to the painful and bloody tasks which are the climax of every battle charge, to disappear just as the disagreeable deed had to be done and thus shift the responsibility on others.”

With visions like this in his mind it is no wonder that Reverend George F. Pentecost, pastor of the Bethany Presbyterian church, Philadelphia, thought and preached that “every Presbyterian church should be a recruiting station”.

They Got Away to a Good Start

The dominies got away to a good start. Within twenty-four hours after the declaration of war thirty-five different religious bodies had promised fullest cooperation. Lyman Abbott demanded that every church should be turned into a recruiting station, and Billy Sunday said that a man that broke all the rules but died lighting in the trenches was a better man than the Godforsaken mutts that would not enlist. Liberty loan Sundays were announced by the government, canned sermons were provided, everybody was expected to go along, and almost everybody did.

Inacampaign against venereal disease, which undermines so many armies, Bishop Lawrence explained that “moral questions are involved, of course, questions of purity, of family, of integrity, of the sacredness of womanhood and of childhood, chivalry and honor. These, however, are not my concern tonight; nor are they at this time the concern of the masses of our people who are building up the army; the vital question is that of keeping our men fit to fight and so to win the war”.

The chief of all the atrocity mongers was Reverend Kewell Dwight Hillis. His story about syphilized soldiers’ cutting off the breasts of the women they had used, and his proposal to sterilize ten million German soldiers and segregate their women so that the German people might be obliterated from earth, are familiar to most Americans.

Bishop William Alfred Quayle went Dr. Hillis a good second. He was sure that “Germany has poisoned wells, crucified inhabitants and soldiers, burned people in their houses, and this by system. Germany has denatured men and boys, has wantonly defaced the living and the dying and the dead. An eyewitness tells of seeing women dead at a table, with their tongues nailed to the table and left to die.” These stories were all lies; the preachers are good at that.

A “Reverend” in Harrisburg, name unknown, is quoted as proposing that when the kaiser should be captured they should “hang him up by his thumbs and cut pieces out of his body day after day until he was either dead or until there were no more pieces of flesh to cut out”.

The Exceptions to the Rule

There were not many exceptions to the general rule that those that posed as teachers of the Word of God were faithless to their trust.

In one paragraph Mr. Abrams says: “A search through all the available material from a variety of sources gives a total of fifty-five ministers of the gospel from various denominations and sects arrested for alleged violation of one or more of the espionage and sedition laws. In addition, there were several dozen Russellites, some of whom suffered severe penalties.”

In another place more extended notice was had of the trial which sentenced Judge Joseph F. Rutherford and seven others to what amounted to life sentences in Atlanta penitentiary. A portion of the account says:

“The passage found to be particularly objectionable reads:

‘Nowhere in the New Testament is patriotism (a narrowminded hatred of other peoples) encouraged. Everywhere and always murder in its every form is forbidden. And yet under the guise of patriotism civil governments of the earth demand of peace-loving men the sacrifice of themselves and their loved ones and the butchery of their fellows, and hail it as a duty demanded by the laws of heaven. ’

The trial had been played up in the papers everywhere and the verdict met with general approval. In printing and circulating the above condemned excerpt from the forbidden book, the press did the very thing the Russellites had been sentenced to twenty years for doing, and gave it more publicity than the followers of Russell could possibly have given it. An analysis of the whole case leads to the conclusion that the churches and the clergy were originally behind the movement to stamp out the Russellites.”

Another gem of truth in Mr. Abrams’ extremely valuable collection of data is a letter from one conscientious objector in which he said: “I think it was a most common experience of conscientious objectors that their most bitter and intolerant enemies in the army were the chaplains and the Y.M.C.A. men.” Just let that stand by itself as one of the worst indictments ever made of a class of men that are probably the most terrible murderers at heart that have ever lived upon this footstool. Incidentally, General Pershing is authority for the statement that nine hundred Y.M.C.A. trained soldiers are better fighters than one thousand men that have not had Y.M.C.A. training.

Doctor Abrams’ book Preachers Present Arms is copyrighted and published by the Round Table Press, Inc., New York City, 1933, and is a book that we are sure many of our readers will wish to have.

The Correction of a Lie

EVERY reader of The Golden Age will be interested in the following letter which corrects a lie that somebody in Plainfield told about the time of the latest witness. The veiled suggestion that it might be advantageous to correct this some time before the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November will probably not be lost on the gentleman most concerned. The witness in Plainfield was a tremendous success, the citizens of the community manifesting a friendliness and eagerness to learn that was most refreshing.

PEOPLES PULPIT ASSOCIATION

124 Columbia Heights - Brooklyn • New York

October 24, 1933 C. F. Stout,

Publisher, Courier-News,

Plainfield, N. J.

Sir:

In the October 23 (1933) issue of Courier-News, page eleven, appears the following:

Jehovah witnesses Peddle Literature—But Carry Permits

Several witnesses of Jehovah were in Plainfield yesterday, distributing religious literature, but they obtained a permit from Police Chief Charles A. Flynn before canvassing the city.

Police received several telephone calls from residents who remembered the arrest of sei oral of the witnesses several weeks ago when they went about the city, declaring they needed no permits. There were no arrests yesterday, inasmuch as police regulations were complied with.

Whoever furnished to you for publication what appears in the foregoing “story” concerning “permits” knows he has deliberately misinformed you and through you the readers of Courier-News. Plainly, your informant has lied and knows it.

That publication by your paper is false in this, that not one of more than a hundred of Jehovah’s witnesses who on last Sunday called at every home in Plainfield obtained or carried a permit from the chief of police before, while or after doing his (or her) lawful work Sunday October 22 among the inhabitants of the city.

Furthermore, you must be aware of the fact that the chief of police does not issue “permits” of the kind mentioned in your “story” for Sunday, but only for weekdays.

I challenge you, therefore, to call upon the city police department and have produced for your inspection the official record that a single permit was issued to one or more persons acting as Jehovah’s witnesses in doing what they did in Plainfield Sunday October 22, 1933.

Obviously the effect of this false publication by Courier-News is to further misrepresent the men and women who, as Jehovah’s witnesses, again pursued their lawful duty in Plainfield on last Sunday. Additionally, its effect is to blind the readers of CourierNews to the malicious and hypocritical conduct of those public servants of the “Inhabitants of the City of Plainfield” who still persist in cowardly and vicious persecution of humble servants of the true God who are unselfishly doing good to the people of your city, as a great many of the citizens of Plainfield willingly testify.

If you knew that you were publishing a falsehood, then you are doubly reprehensible.

In fairness to the public official who is mentioned in your “story”, I am sending to him a copy of this letter. In fairness to at least some of the residents of Plainfield who have been misinformed by your publication, a copy of this letter is sent also to a well known citizen, Edward Sachar.

If you, sir, honestly desire to do right, as you personally assured me (in the presence of Charles Hessler) in your office last July, you ought to set this matter squarely before the readers of Courier-Netvs. If you decide to take this honorable course in fairness to those who have been misinformed, I shall thank you to let me know before the end of October, this month.

If you care to be fair, publish this letter as it is written, and then the responsibility will rest where it belongs.

Cordially,

A. R. Goux.

cc Charles A. Flynn

Chief of Police

Police Headquarters

Plainfield, N. J.

ce Edward Sachar

1038 Myrtle Av.

Plainfield, N. J.

Inspiring Letter from a New Jersey Jonadab

I HAVE just finished hearing the third speech by Judge Rutherford, and I wish to extend my congratulations for these great true speeches. I have been hearing your broadcasts practically every day you broadcast, and greatly appreciate those speeches broadcast at 10:30

a.m. and 6: 30 p.m. I receive your broadcast on my homemade one-tube set and choose your station for the best broadcast station.

I am a boy twenty years old. I am a Catholic. I have been going to church every Sunday, and other days recpiired by the church; for the past 109

ten years I have been going, and I can say hearing just one of your broadcasts of Jehovah God does me more good than if I go to church for a whole year, as, to be frank, I never knew hardly anything about God until I started to hear Judge Rutherford's broadcasts.

In church the priest reads the gospel, and half the time he does not explain it, and, instead, starts talking about a card party to be held in the church, or reading off committee names. It is a pity why there is so much misunderstanding, so many different religions; one claims to be truer than the other.

The Catholic church is supposed to be the true religion, being carried on ever since the time of Christ, and yet I never heard the priest talk about God's kingdom. One time I hear him speak about all persons are judged the moment they die, and then the next Sunday he speaks about how we should always go to church because if we don’t, when Christ returns to the earth on judgment day we will have to stand before Him and take the consequences for not doing so; also those who. are dead will be judged. Then, are there two judgment days for each person ?

Religion is a serious matter, and it is too complicated for me, due to the so many different ways it is brought out to the people, and it surely makes one turn away from the true God. I can say for the past two years I heard Judge Rutherford and your other broadcasts and I haven’t as yet noticed anything complicated or so as to contradict speeches that were already broadcast from time to time; it is the same thing, the truth.

I enclose herewith, in a card, 25 cents. Please send me four or five copies of the three speeches, “The True God,” “The Mimic God,” and “Why Serve Jehovah”; also, if you have any of the following, please send me a copy, “The Way of Escape,” “Effect of Holy Year on Peace and Prosperity.” I am going to give a copy to some of my friends, former, also send one to Cali, Colombia, S.A., to a friend of mine there; perhaps he will appreciate the truth also (or else refuse it). Thank you, and remain a friend of Jehovah.

I also would appreciate a copy of the list of books the Watch Tower has, as I expect to buy a set shortly, and get the benefit of the truth. Also, do you sell Holy Bibles ? As I haven’t any yet, I think it is about time I get one to really learn the truth. If so, kindly send me the price of the cheapest one you have. Many thanks.

J. J. 0.

The Radio Witness Work

Lansing, Mich. “I heard this morning Judge Rutherford's masterful lecture. Forceful, true and eloquent, it came in remarkably clear. May the blessings of God be with him always. Please send me copy of this lecture. Enclosed find twenty-five cents which I gladly donate for same.” A. G. R.

Brooklyn, N. Y. “I am a Catholic who, for the past two years, has been very interested in learning what is the matter with the world, and have concluded that our present system is a failure. ... I had the good fortune of securing several of your books, and ever since have attentively listened to your appreciated speeches by radio.” M. M.

Peterboro, Ont., Canada. “Please accept an appreciation of your continued work of spreading the truth. We were pleased to hear again Judge Rutherford Sunday morning. The lecture came to us very clear and distinct. Our canary bird Tom, who is now in his old age, seldom sings, but sang during the overture and almost continuously during the lecture. When the judge ceased speaking, the bird ceased to sing. The flowers in the window smiled, but my hearing was not keen enough to hear their notes of approval. Wife and I were both pleased to note the bird’s appreciation of something real and good. Would that many of our citizens who are now in the dark could realize the truth of the words given out by Judge Rutherford from time to time.” M. T. B.

Jamaica, X. Y. “How I give thanks to our dear heavenly Father for such a wonderful speech given by our beloved brother. So bold is he. We do appreciate his boldness to tell ‘Christendom’ of her downfall. We are determined to be with him in pressing the battle to the gate. He is such an inspiration and encouragement to us all.” G. M. S.

Latin America — The Question Mark of the 20th Century

In Four Parts—Part 3

IN THE fifteenth century, long before Columbus sailed out of Palos, Lake Guatavita, north of the present capital of Colombia, was considered a holy place. Pilgrims resorted to it to cast offerings of gold and emeralds into its waters. Whenever a new chief of Guatavita was chosen the priests and nobles of his tribe covered his naked body with resinous gums, which were then covered all over with gold dust. In a barrow hung with disks of gold he was carried to the lake, whereinto he plunged. The spectators at this time made their offerings of treasures. Thereafter the new ruler, El Dorado (Spanish, The Gilded Alan), and his subjects went back to Guatavita village for a feast and dance.

By Columbus’ day the foregoing custom had been discontinued, but the stories of El Dorado, as a place where gold was as plentiful as stones are elsewhere, spread among the Indians of the entire continent, and from them to the white explorers.

The very indefiniteness of the location of El Dorado, coupled with the astonishing magnitude of the treasures obtained from the Incas by Pizarro, made it an object of diligent search by the bold and restless adventurers of two hemispheres. To this search we owe the development of French, Dutch and British Guiana. The gold which the adventurers sought was always a little farther away.

…