Consolation, June 20, 1945

Download: PDF — Consolation, June 20, 1945

Contents

Blasphemy Against the Bible by a Cult

Bible Shrouded in Dead Language

The Apocrypha

The Hierarchy’s Unenviable Record '

Blasphemes Bible as Unsafe Guide

\ “Much Goods Laid Up for Many Years” 11 i Massacres of the Spanish Masons

* Berries in and out of the Bible '

Cats Aid and Interest Humanity

Meteors and Northern Lights

Thirty-four Days on a Raft

“Thy Word Is Truth”

Earth’s Unique Place ,

Finland’s Plight

Liberty-loving Estonia

U. S. Plants Shipped to Russia

Most People Like to Eat

When Anesthetics Are Not Used

Caring for the Insane in the Empire State 22 If She Had Only Put Those Eleven Coins

at Interest!

It Works Very Well

Jewish Family Hidden Four Years

Public Meetings in Chicago

Love of the Stranger

Peter Waldo and the Waldenses

Presenting “This Gospel of the Kingdom” Effective Speaking

In the Days of “Good Queen Bess”

Published every other Wednesday by

WATCHTOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY, INC1

117 Adams St., Brooklyn 1, N. Y.t U, S. A.

OFFICERS

President N. H. Knorr ’

Secretary W. E- Van Amburgh

Editor Clayton J. Woodworth

Five Gents a Copy

11 a year in the United States $1.26 to Canada and all other countries

NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS

Remittances! For your own safety, remit by postal or express money order. When coin or currency is lost in the ordinary mails, there is no redress. Remittances from countries other than those named below may be made to the Brooklyn office, but only by International postal money order*

Receipt of a new or renewal subscription will be acknowledged only when requested. Notice of Expiration is sent with the journal one month before subscription expires. Please renew promptly to avoid Joss of copies* Send change of address direct to us rather than to the post office. Your request should reach us at least two weeks before the date of issue with which it Is to take effect. Send your old as well as the new address. Copies will not be forwarded by the post office to your new address unless extra postage is provided by you.

Published also in Greek, Portuguese, Spanish, and Ukrainian*

OFFICES FOR OTHER COUNTRIES

England 34 Craven Terrace, London, W. 2

Australia 2 Homebush Rd., Strathfield, N. S. W. South Africa 623 Boston House, Cape Town

Mexico Calzada Melchor Ocampo 71, Mexico, D. F. Brazil Rua Licfnlo Cardoso 330, Rio de Janeiro

Argentina Calle Honduras 5646-48, Buenos Aires Entered as second-class matter at Brooklyn, N. Y., under the Act of March 8, 1879.

In Brief

“Should Auld Acquaintance”

♦ Now that the indefensible ban on the entry of the Kingdom literature into this country has been lifted, one looks forward with the keenest of pleasure to renewing acquaintance with our old friend Consolation. ’ ,

It is well over two years since its periodic visits ceased; and how often in the meantime have I thought I would like to see a copy! In passing I would say that I consider it would have been more gracious had the government ban been lifted voluntarily and not under pressure. But let that pass. The important thing is that the embargo is at length removed.

I well remember that among the last copies I received was the account of the difficulties in connection with the burial of the Society’s late president, J. F. Rutherford. Finally, I recall, legal and official bodies would not consent to the interment of the body of God’s faithful servant in the private grounds at San Diego, California. This is brought forcibly to my mind as I write, for the British Press is full of the passing away of the American president, F. D. Roosevelt. Staring me in the face is the following paragraph: “The president’s body will be taken to his Hyde Park estate and the burial will take place in. the beautiful ■ garden surrounded by roses in the grounds of the estate.”

One cannot help noticing the discrimination shown Jay officials in these two cases. How good to know that man’s intolerance cannot extend into Jehovah’s new world, now in process of complete establishment! All hail the glorious Kingdom of justice and righteousness!

And now I eagerly await my hist copy of that bright herald of the Theocratic rule, that journal of “faith, hope and courage”, our old-time friend, Consolation.—F. W. Freer, England.

CONSOLATION

“And in His name shall the nations hope.”—-Matthew 12:'21, A.5.V.

Volume XXVI Brooklyn, N. Y,, Wednesday, June 20, 1945 Number 672

Blasphemy Against

A UNITED world is the desire of all honest people today, a world of peace and tranquillity. To this end plans, agreements and proposals are now being drafted; security leagues, unions and parleys are being held. An international bill of rights as a protection against social and religious discrimination is also envisioned. Emphasis is particularly placed on the need for a spiritual and moral reconstruction. Hence special days ' and hours for prayer have been urged by such organizations as the American Legion and Federal Council of Churches. There cannot, however, be a moral and spiritual regeneration without the Bible. And so a resolution has been introduced which proposes an annual season for the reading of the Bible. Thus we hear the mingled voices of forty or more nations as they chant together for national security and international peace with universal unity.

But over and above this mixed chorus is heard a tin horn that utters a rasping and discordant sound. It is blown by that old and contentious organization, the Roman Catholic Hierarchy, and it indeed sends forth a sour note that does not harmonize with the melody being hummed by the rest. That religious cult recently called the Bible the “Book of Disunity'’.! In doing so she manifestly is out of tune with all others who are working and toiling for peace and unity.

The Catholic Hierarchy seems not only anxious and willing to besmirch and malign Jehovah’s name and Word but also willing to pay the regular commercial rates of the daily press for the op-

the Bible by a Cult

portunity to blaspheme the Holy Bible. In the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sunday, December 17, 1944, in a paid advertisement sponsored by the Knights of Columbus appeared the following:

The World’s Best Seller . The Book of Disunity

Nearly'sixteen hundred years ago, the Catholic Church gave the Bible to the world. Acting by virtue of the authority conferred on her by Christ, she said then as she says today that the Bible contains the inspired word of God. For more than a thousand years thereafter, her monks copied by hand on vellum and parchment the sacred words of Holy Scripture, and millions of the faithful read these words in Catholic churches throughout all Christendom.

But in the sixteenth century, a political -religious revolution got,under way in Germany. Unwilling to obey the clearly-defined teachings of Christ and His Church, self-opinionated men set up new religions of their own invention. It was at that time that the Bible—and the Bible only—-was offered as the sole guide in all matters of religious belief. . But these self-styled “reformers” soon found that their Bible-only theory would not stand close examination. Many books of the Bible clearly contradicted their teachings. To meet this situation, they not only removed several of the inspired books from their Bibles, but made changes in the texts of many others, adding here, subtracting there, altering somewhere else.

The resulting confusion was bedlam itself. Even the “reformers” were appalled. Martin Luther, who, shortly after his excommunication from the Church, had declared that the Bible could be interpreted by anyone, “even by the humble miller’s maid, nay by a child of nine,” lived to write these rueful words:

"There are as many sects and beliefs as there are heads. This fellow will have nothing to do with baptism; another denies the sacrament; a third believes that there is another world between this and the last day. Some ■ teach that Christ is not God; some say this, some that. There is no rustic so rude but that, if he dreams or fancies anything, it must be the whisper of the holy ghost, and he himself ' a prophet." (Grisar, Luther, iv, 386-407)

The plain fact is that the Bible, like the Constitution of the United States, demands an authoritative interpreter. Just as the Supreme Court, of the United States is the authorized interpreter of the Constitution, so the Catholic Chureh alone is the authorized interpreter of the Bible. Preserver and custodian of the Bible through the centuries, she interprets it in the name and with the authority of Jesus Christ, who commissioned the Catholic Church alone to “teach ye all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.” (Matt. 28:19, 20)

If you would like to know more about the Bible, why it is not clear to all, why it does not contain all of Christ’s teachings, and why it alone is not a safe guide in religion, write today for an interesting 16-page pamphlet that throws clear light upon these and other Bible questions. This pamphlet will be sent to you promptly, without charge or obligation. Just ask for Free Pamphlet No. 58.

In the interests of unity and with a pure love for Jehovah God’s Word, the Bible, let us review the statements and “arguments” of the above singular piece of mischief. _

Bible Shrouded in Dead Language

The opening words, “Nearly sixteen hundred years ago, the Catholic Church gave the Bible to the world,” takes us back in history to the fourth century, when the Roman Catholic Church was first established in Constantine’s day. At that time the Bible was available in the languages spoken by the common people, such as Greek, Aramaic, and Italic. Jerome, being encouraged by Pope Da-masus I, began the translation of the Bible into Latin in A.D. 382 and in time that Latin Vulgate version gradually replaced the other versions in the churches. However, as time passed Latin ceased to be the language of the common 'people. This popular trend away from the Latin suited the ambitious Roman Catholic clergy^ and enabled them to keep the people in ignorance of the Bible’s teachings. The iniquitous Hierarchy had discovered “dangers to the common mind” in Bible reading, and now that the Latin Vulgate was no longer understood by the common people she selfishly refused to bring forth further translations in the vernacular. During these centuries, then, it can be said that the magnanimous “Catholic Church gave the Bible to the world” in a dead language that could be read only by her clergy. This lack of the Bible in their common tongue made the people dependent upon the educated clergy and subjected them to the private interpretation as put upon the Scriptures by such clergy. Thus it was that the long black night of the Dark Ages fell as a thick veil over the intelligence of the whole world. For a thousand years men lived in the mire and slime of superstition, for they knew not how to read the Bible.

During that thousand-year blackout, this article says, the monks of the Catholic church “copied by hand on vellum and parchment the sacred words of Holy Scripture”. It is true that her monks made copies of the Bible, but always in the dead Latin so that the common people could not read it. Copies of these manuscript Bibles in museums show that those monks spent a great deal of time ornamenting and decorating the pages of such copies with extravagant frills that added nothing to their intrinsic value. The result was that copies cost many thousands of dollars and hence their circulation was restricted. How much better would it have been if those monks had spent their , time translating the Latin text into the language of the day.

Nor does the fact that her monks made copies of the Bible argue that such were preservers of the Bible. The scribes of Jesus7 day made some copies of the Hebrew canon of the Scriptures, but that does not argue that they made the Bible or were its creators, or that they preserved the Bible. Those very scribes opposed Jesus and were the Devil’s instruments to make null and void the commandments of God by the traditions of men, which traditions also those scribes copied and wrote. Thus they hid from the people the true meaning of the inspired Scriptures. (Mark 7:1-13) The same thing is true of the copyist monks in the religious Catholic system down to the fifteenth century A.D. It was during those years that “purgatory” was invented, since there was no allusion to such a place even in the Latin Bible. Says the eminent Catholic authority, Cardinal Gibbons, on the subject of “purgatory”: “This interpretation is not mine (nor is it found in the Bible]. It is the unanimous voice of the Fathers of Christendom.” It was only “asserted by the Council of Trent”, not proved. (Faith of Our Fathers, 94th ed., pages 213, 210) It was purely a fabrication supported only by the writings of those monks of the Dark Ages who apparently had too much time on their hands.

■ Millions in Darkness

If it were true as above claimed that “millions of the faithful read these words [of Holy Scripture] in Catholic Churches throughout all Christendom”, then there would have been no Dark Ages of ignorance, superstition and poverty. The masses who gave up their hard-earned substance to the profligate clergy never read Isaiah 55:1,2 in the Latin 'Vulgate: “All you that thirst, come to the waters: and you that have no money make haste, buy, and eat: come ye, buy wine and milk without money, and without any price. Why do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which doth not satisfy you?” If millions had read that the soul is not immortal but dies, and that such do not suffer after death, for they know not anything, then it would have been impossible to carry on the “purgatory” racket. “The soul that sinneth, the same shall die. For the living know that they shall die, but the dead know nothing.” (Ezekiel 18:4; Ecclesiastes 9: 5, Douay translation of the Latin Vulgate) Is it reasonable to suppose that millions read Jesus’ instruction that they should pray at home instead of paying money to pray in a church building? “And when ye pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites, that love to stand and pray in the synagogues [churches] and corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men: Amen I say to you, they have received their reward. But thou when thou shalt pray, enter into thy chamber, and having shut the door, pray to thy Father in secret: and thy Father wTho seeth in secret will ’ repay thee.”—Matthew 6:5,6, Douay.

Did millions read how the Latin Catholic Bible condemns idolatry and image worship ? “Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in the waters under the earth. Thou Shalt not adore them, nor serve them.” “I am the Lord your God: you shall not make to yourselves any idol or graven thing, neither shall you erect pillars, nor set up a remarkable stone in your land, to adore it: for I am the Lord your God.” “Let them be all confounded that adore, graven things, and that glory in their idols.” (Exodus 20: 4, 5; Leviticus 26:1; Psalm 96: 7, Douay) Is it true that “millions of the faithful read” in the Latin Vulgate, “Call none your father upon earth; for one is your father, who is in heaven” (Matt. 23:9, Douay) 1 If millions had

read these or other portions of the Holy Scriptures, then they would not have been victims of priestcraft. No, millions of the common people never read these great truths in the Bible; for if they had there undoubtedly would have been no ' need for the Reformation that followed.

'The Reformation

The Reformation of'the sixteenth century has been the main howl of the Hierarchy ever since then. This is the old "bone” that the above article is picking on when it says, “Unwilling to obey the clearly-defined teachings of Christ and His Church, self-opinionated men set up new religions of their own invention/’ That is the truth turned upside down and put in reverse, as unbiased history of the time shows. It was because men were willing “to obey the clearly-defined teachings of Christ” that they broke away from that degenerate, immoral and corrupt institution with headquarters in Rome.

“It was -at that time that the Bible— .and the Bible only—was offered as the sole guide,” so moan the modern-day priests of Baal. Very true. Those reformers began to throw away the traditions of men and give heed to the apostle Raul’s warning, “Beware lest any man cheat you by philosophy, and vain deceit; according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and1 not according to Christ.” (Colos-sians 2:8, Douay) Those sincere and honest men wondered why they had not been told the truth as expressed in 2 Timothy 3:16,17 {Douay): “All scripture, inspired of God, is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice, that the man of God may be perfect, furnished to every good work.” Dawn was breaking and they began to appreciate the great truth as expressed in the words of Isaiah the prophet (8:20), “To the law and to the testimony : if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” In the brilliant light of these scriptures it is little wonder that they proclaimed from the housetops that the Holy Bible only should be the guide.

But it was not enough for those reformers to be educated and able to decipher the Latin Vulgate, They advocated a translation of the Bible in the common language so that all honest Christians would be able to follow the apostle Paul's admonition, “Carefully study to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15, Bouay} So men like Wycliffe, Tyndale, Coverdale and Luther in their time gave to the world the first popular Bible editions in languages understood by the people. This was in direct violation of the Hierarchy’s orders as issued by the Council of Toulouse (France) in 1229, which “forbids the laity to have in their possession any copy of the books of the Old and New Testament, except the Psalter, and such portions of them as are contained in the Breviary, or the Hours of the Virgin; and most strictly forbids these works in the vulgar tongue”. No wonder the Hierarchy was enraged. For centuries they were able to deceive the people and keep them in fearful ignorance and superstition. But now, behold, the Bible was translated into a language the people could read. An emergency had arisen. Hence Pope Leo X issued a bull against Luther, not because he was unwilling to obey the teachings of Christ, but because of Luther’s translation of the Bible from the dead Latin into the living German.

The Apocrypha

A lie, no matter how emphatically stated, is still false and untrue. For example, these modern serpents say, “Many books of the Bible clearly contradicted their [the reformers’] teachings. To meet this situation, they not only removed several of the inspired books from their Bibles, but made changes in the texts of many others, adding here, subtracting there, altering somewhere else.”

To the unlearned, those with a parochial education, this statement will be accepted as true; hence such are deceived into believing a lie because they are ignorant of the facts. ,

The facts are these: By the middle of„ the second century, a few years after the last of the apostles died, the catalog or canon of the Holy Bible was brought together under the operation of God’s holy spirit. (John 14:16, 26) This was nearly 200 years before the Catholic Church came into existence. When once that canon or catalog of the sixty-six books of the Bible was completed no one had the authority to add to or take from them. However, under the influence of Satan the Devil the monks of the Catholic church added the Apocryphal (meaning forged or spurious) books to the Bible. These spurious books included Tobias, Judith, additions to the book of Esther, Wisdom, Ecelesiasticus, Baruch, additions to Daniel, and 1st and 2nd Maccabees. The Catholic Council of Carthage, A.D. 397, while allowing these Apocryphal books to be included in the Latin Vulgate version, nevertheless did not acknowledge them as inspired.

Concerning these Apocryphal books a recognized authority says: “Few of them were allowed to be canonical till in the ninth and tenth centuries, when the ignorance of the people and the craft of the clergy were so great as to allow any thing to pass for divine; nor was their divine authority ever established but by the detested popish council of Trent,” in the year 1546. (Brown’s Dictionary of the Bible)

Note that it was twelve years after Luther’s Bible translation when the Council of Trent, on April 8, 1546, authorized the forged books to be placed on the same footing as the sixty-six inspired books. It was then that the canon of the Catholic Bible, as we know it today with its spurious Apocryphal books included, was arbitrarily fixed. The Knights of Columbus, therefore, falsify the record when they say that the re

JUNE 20, 1MB

formers “removed several of the inspired books from their Bibles”. The reformers removed the bogus Apocryphal books which the Catholic church itself did not recognize at the time as inspired. And : in so doing the reformers were of the same opinion as Jerome, who translated the Latin Vulgate. He once wrote to a friend: “All apocryphal books should be avoided . . . that they contain much ■ that is faulty, and that it is a task requiring great prudence to find gold in the midst of clay.” -

The Hierarchy Tampers and

Privately Interprets

But who “made changes in the texts' of many others, adding here, subtracting there, altering somewhere else”? Again the truthful answer is that it was not the reformers, but rather the monks of the Catholic church. Ancient manuscripts did not contain the forgeries of Romish monks. These manuscripts, which, by the way, are preserved in our great libraries today and may be examined by the learned, revealed that not only whole books had been inserted into the Bible but that the text in a number of other places had been corrupted by those monks whose writings were prodigious. One example is that at 1 John 5 :7, which reads, “And there are three who give testimony in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one.” Douay) This is such a glaring forgery that even the recent Catholic “New Testament” comments: “According to the evidence of many manuscripts, and the majority of commentators, these verses should read: ‘And there are three who give testimony, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood; and these three are one.’ ” This fabrication is not found in any ancient manuscript, but was .first merely referred to by a Latin writer in the latter end of the fifth century A.D. It appears in no Greek manuscript earlier than the fifteenth century. The truth is thus made manifest that it

is the Roman Catholic Hierarchy that has added to and taken from God’s holy Word, the Bible, And be assured that He will add unto them all of the plagues therein recorded, as it is written: “You shall not add to the word that I speak to „ you, neither shall you take away from \it.” “Add not any thing to his words, lest lthou be reproved, and found a liar.” “If any man shall add to these things, God ■shall add unto him the plagues written in this book. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this , prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of* life, and out of the holy city, and from these things that are written in this book.” (Deuteronomy 4:2; Proverbs 30:6; Apocalypse 22:18, 19, Douay)

In the above article on disunity the oft-repeated charge of self-interpretation of the Bible is again, made. But who has made the statement that they have the ability to interpret the Bible? Who has been so ignorant of the Bible as to lay claim to the right that belongs alone to God? Surely not those who have read the Bible, wherein it is written, “This, then, you must understand first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is made by private interpretation. For not by will of man was prophecy brought at any time; but holy men of God spoke as they ■were moved by the holy spirit.” (2 Peter 1:20,21, Catholic New Testament) The ones that have always violated this divine rule and eyen today lay great claim to having the “authority” to interpret the Scriptures have been and are the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church.

The next “argument” presented in that anti-Bible article is that regarding the number of religious sects that have split off from the mother organization. The article quotes Luther on the subject; which is well and good. Luther makes it plain that the reason for the great number of sects of “Christendom” is that men have leaned to their own understanding and the traditions of other men, contrary to the admonition of Proverbs 3: 5, 6. But this is no argument to support the lie that the Bible is a book of disunity. Satan the Devil is the one responsible for the cunningly devised fables that have led men into tradition and religion and away from the Bible. Even as Luther denounced them for being thus led astray, so likewise it is ’well for the Catholic Hierarchy today to criticize such religious sects, but she has absolutely no right to criticize the Bible.

The Supreme Court

Another deceptive “argument” used by these enemies of God’s Word is that “the Bible, like the Constitution of the United States, demands an authoritative interpreter. Just as the Supreme Court of the United States is the authorized interpreter of the Constitution, so the Catholic Church alone is the authorized interpreter of the Bible”. The comparison of the religious Hierarchy with the Supreme Court does not hold true. The claim that it is the divinely established supreme tribunal in the matter of interpretation of the Bible is unscriptural. And on this issue these points are observed: (1) The Supreme Court is a' creature of the Constitution. (Art. Ill, Sec. 1) In contrast the religious Hierarchy of Authority is not a creation of the Bible, but rather is condemned by it (1 Peter 5:1-4). (2) The Supreme Court ■ does not take larger powers than the Constitution allows it. The Hierarchy, however, assumes to itself powers in heaven, earth and hell. (3) The Supreme Court is obligated to abide by the Constitution and to rule against any violation of it; it cannot abrogate, annul, abolish or repeal that document. On the other hand, the Hierarchy does not abide by the Bible, but makes it null and void by adopting the traditions of men and also the rites and ceremonies of pagan demonism. (4) The Supreme Court magnifies the Constitution, contends for its preservation, clarifies its meaning, and encourages a study of it by all. The Hier- . archy, though, weakens the authority

and unique position of the Bible, and declares that the Bible is not sufficient, but must be filled out by ecclesiastical tradition. The decisions of the pope in mat, ters of faith and morals are claimed to . be of authority equal to the Bible. It also discourages the people from studying the Bible for themselves. Instead of magnifying the Bible these reptiles (Matthew 23:33) blasphemously call it “The Book of Disunity”. .

The claim of any individual or religious organization to be the interpreter of God’s sacred Word is false and misleading. The faithful Hebrew Joseph said: “Do not interpretations belong to God?” (Genesis 40:8) Jehovah God is therefore the only Supreme Court of interpretation of His inspired Word.

The Hierarchy's Unenviable Record

Another bold claim of the Hierarchy is that it has been the “preserver and custodian of the Bible through the centuries”. But where is the evidence and proof of this? Maybe in a catechism, but not in the histories and encyclopedias of the world. These authoritative sources show that down through the centuries the Hierarchy has used every instrument to destroy and suppress the Bible. In 1242 the Council of Tarragona (Spain) .was against the Waldenses who made the first Bible translation into French (Ro-manza), and ordered all vernacular versions to be brought to the bishop to be burnt. John Wycliffe and his associates were the first to give us the complete Bible in English, and the Hierarchy forbade its circulation and made strenuous efforts to destroy it. The Catholic Convocation of Canterbury forbade such translations under penalty of the major excommunication. Bible readers were burned with copies of it round their necks; children were forced to light the death fires of their parents; and Roman Catholic henchmen hunted down the possessors of the Wycliffe translation as if they were wild beasts. In 1415 the Council of Constance condemned his writings, and in 1428 his remains were dug up and burned and his ashes thrown into the river Swift,' near by. A hundred years later, in 1526, basketfuls of Tyndale’s New Testament were burned at St. Paul’s Cross in London. William Tyndale himself became another victim of the fiendish Bible-burners. He was seized, imprisoned, condemned, and finally strangled at the stake and then burned in 1536. In more recent years the dupes of that old Bible-destroying organization have used modern machinery to accomplish their aims. In 1940, in Spain they seized 110,000 new Bibles and ground them to pulp.

These historical facts, undeniable as they are, certainly refute any perfidious claim the Roman Catholic Church makes of being the “preserver and custodian” of the Bible. It is a history written in indelible ink, written in the blood of Wycliffe and Tyndale and a host of others. Many of these men wTere foully tortured, murdered and burned at the stake because they dared to translate the Bible into the language of the people so that it might be understood and preserved. And the blood stains of those poor innocents are found today in the skirts of that wicked organization which boasts that it “never changes” I—Jeremiah 2:34; 13:23. ,

Yet all the afore-mentioned lies contained in that desecrating article are crowned with another one that is, if it be possible, still more blasphemous: “Jesus Christ . . . commissioned the Catholic Church alone to ‘teach ye all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world? (Matt. 28:19,20).” Such words were never addressed to the Catholic church; for such did not come into existence until 300 years after these words were spoken by Christ. It was Constantine that fused apostate Christianity with

paganism and made it the state religion of this world, notwithstanding Jesus’ statement, “My kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36) It was Constantine, that wicked murderer, that adopted the title “Vicegerent of the Deity”, and the office of “Pontifex Maximus”, or “Su-Jpreme Poptiff’’, both of which have since been assumed by the pope. This shows that, from the very top down, the Roman Catholic Hierarchy is out of line with the Bible.—1 Corinthians 4: 8.

But let her be judged by her fruits. ' (Matthew 7: 20) Has the Catholic church carried out this commission to disciple and teach all nations! Or has Christ Jesus been with her “even to the consummation of the world”! The answer to these questions echoes back to our ears from the four corners of the earth—Nq! Rather the denunciation of Jesus applies to the Hierarchy of the Catholic church: “Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you go round about the sea and the land to make one proselyte ; and when he is made, you make.him the child of hell twofold more than yourselves.” (Matthew 23:15, Douay) The truth and forcefulness of these words are brought home when we look at the Vatican’s sons: Hitler,Mussolini,Franco, Petain, De Valera, etc.

Blasphemes Bible as Unsafe Guide

In conclusion the above God-dishonoring article says: “If you would like to know more about the Bible, why it is not clear to all, why it does not contain all of Christ’s teachings, and why it alone is not a safe guide in religion, write today for an interesting 16-page pamphlet”; 16 pages used to discredit and reproach the Bible and its Author.

“Lying lips are abomination to the Lord,” and also to men who love righteousness. (Proverbs 12: 22) So when the Knights of Columbus pervert the truth, as shown in this article, , and have their hand called, they childishly cry out that they have been misunderstood. An instance of this appeared recently in the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette. In a paid advertisement in the May 1, 1945, issue, headed “Our Explanations have been Misunderstood”, they said: “When the Knights of Columbus began, a few -■months ago, to purchase space in the two local papers for the explanation of Catholic teaching, they little dreamt that they would provoke religious controversy.” Furthermore they said, “Our sole purpose was to explain and not to argue, and this intention is evidently being misunderstood.” Argue is defined by Webster to mean, “To offer reasons to support or overthrow a proposition, opinion, or measure; to use arguments; to reason.” It is impossible for this propagandizing organization to offer reason,, logic and proof as evidence that the Bible is a book of disunity; hence they howl that they are “misunderstood”. The truth, however, is all too obvious that their sinister motive is well understood. Down through the centuries the Roman Catholic Hierarchy has perverted the truth, hidden the gospel, and burned the Bible as well as its translators and readers. And now, in modern times, she throws forth a flood of propaganda in an. effort to turn honest men away from Jehovah God’s Word. But just as she failed as of yore to destroy God’s precious Word in her Bible-burning campaigns, just that certain will she now fail to discredit the Bible in the eyes of truth-seeking Catholics and others.

Blessed is the man who today has the Bible in the language he can read; for therein are the things that were written aforetime “for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope”. (Romans 15:4) Like the early Christians at Berea, one can 'search the Scriptures' daily to see whether these things are so’. (Acts 17:11) Doing so, you too will proclaim as the psalmist did centuries ago, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever. I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil.’’—Psalm 119:105,160,162.

Let the Hierarchy and their dupes, the Knights of Columbus, rage and rant; let them blaspheme and curse with all their witch-magic; let,them belch forth all their vile denunciations of the Bible. Still, “The words of the Lord are pure words?' “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. Moreover, by 'them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward/’ (Psalms 12:6; 19:7,8,11) And concerning the Author of “the World’s Best Seller”, it is written, “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace [not the God of dissension, but of peace—Dowiy].” (1 Corinthians 14:33) Likewise His Word the Bible is the great Book of Unity. And His Anointed King said (John 17:17), “Thy word is truth.”

“Much Goods Laid Up for Many Years”

Witjjam O’Connell was in.the cardinal business and made it pay financially. The New York Labor Action recites some of the facts:

The cardinal not only did not speak for the workers, he worked actively against them. In the Massachusetts Legislature he wielded his political and religious pressure against the interests of the working class. . . . In 1936 he was responsible for the Legislature’s defeating a bill that favored the enactment of the Child Labor Amendment to the U. S. Constitution. Even the New York Times of that period (April 23) admitted that the defeat of the bill was due to the influence of the cardinal. He had a special law passed by the Legislature which made him the “corporation sole” of the Catholic Church in Massachusetts. He was its president, its officers, its board of directors. . . . Cardinal O’Connell owned a summer [should read “winter” ] home in the Bahamas which was formerly the mansion of the colonial governor there. His home in Brighton, Mass., with its private golf course, is valued at over $200,000. In addition, he owned a large estate in Marblehead. Here people came to sit on the large rocks and enjoy the sea breezes. But when the cardinal came into possession of the property he built a large fence around the rocks to keep the people away. An “irreverent wit” put up a sign along the fence saying: “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof, but the rocks belong to the cardinal.”

Not being able to take anything along with him into his grave, the cardinal left most of his huge estate to the “Church”, but bestowed $30,000 on four servants, $5,000 to the poor, and $2,000 for the repose of his soul in the “purgatory” where he expected to land, but which he will never see, because there isn’t any such place. Jesus and the apostles never heard of any such place; and never heard of masses either, for that matter. The cardinal is in hell, or the grave.

"Treasures upon Earth*’

The Lord never instructed His followers to see how much they could scrape together of this world’s goods, and He did not do it himself, either. He had more important business. Those who have treasures today may have nothing tomorrow, like Mr. O’Connell. At Buffalo, June 26,1944, somebody'stole $58 which had been left on a casket to pay for masses for Mrs. Rutkowski’s soul. What a dirty trick, to keep Mrs. Rutkowski in a “purgatory” that doesn’t exist for a lot longer time because the priest that would have had the money didn’t get it, and, of course, no priest would say masses for anybody’s soul if he didn’t get money for doing it! Have you ever heard of one doing it?

It seems that there are lots of thieves

around, and that they know where to go to look for the money. They never come to the meetings of Jehovah’s witnesses, because they know that people who advertise “Free seats, and no collections” are not burdened with money. But when s the “Reverend Father” Leo Collins, of I Sacred Heart church, Youngstown, Ohio, was bringing the day’s takings to his palace, thieves held him up. The newspaper story said that he “was able to i spill at least half the money” before the thieves got the. basket away from him, ■ but that the “thugs escaped with possibly $1,200 of the collection”. They may have been the same rascals that stole $26 from a Pittsburgh woman while she was at prayer in St. Peter’s church a week later. Peter himself did not go after big money. He had something a lot better. He said, “Silver and gold have I none.” (Acts 3:6) Millions of dollars could not have given him the joy that he had when he saw that “certain man lame from his mother’s womb” “walking, and leaping, and praising God” after he had taken him by the hand and lifted him up. Now could it?

On a location one block from Wall street, and on a lot that was once mortgaged for $900,000, the Roman Catholic archdiocese of New York is building a “chapel”. The neighborhood has almost no resident population, but it has money.

Massacres of the

THE Yew Age magazine, Washington, I). C., has confirmed by letter the statement several times made in these columns, that when the Spanish Republic was betrayed eighty Masons were garroted at Malaga. The information came to the New Age in a letter from Ceferino Gonzalez, grand master National Adj, of the Grand Orient of Spain, October 23, 1937, addressed to Grand Commander John H. Cowles. The New Age states that Gonzalez denounced these crimes by telegrams to President Roosevelt. This original story as it was published in the New Age magazine of December 30, 1937, was as follows:

Masons Executed in Spain

Spain and Portugal are alone among the nations of the world in the use of the garrote for the execution of criminals who have been condemned to death. The felon is tied to a post, an iron collar attached to the post is placed around his neck, the collar is tightened by a shrew device at the back, and death is caused by strangulation.

In the old Spanish town of Malaga, sunny city of grape and fig and olive on Spain’s Mediterranean sea-coast, now in the hands of the Spanish rebels, six of these horrid instru-

Spanish Masons

meats of death had been erected on scaffolds in the prison yard. Early on the morning of October 20 all of these grim devices were in use. Soldiers, officers and executioners of the forces of General Franco, rebel leader of the Spanish Fascists, were busy. Squads of condemned prisoners followed one another, hurried to the scaffolds in scenes unparalleled since the days of the French Revolution, until no less than eighty victims had been executed in this barbarous manner.

These men met death not because they were murderers, or were guilty of treason or other high crimes against the state. Their offense was simply and solely that they were members of the Masonic Fraternity. No other charge was brought against them; no other seems to be needed to invoke the death penalty in Fascist Spain.

This well-nigh incredible report finds its way to this country through the Grand Master of the Grand Orient of Spain, now in exile in Paris. It is accompanied by a piteous appeal to the Masons of America for help. It is feared that these executions will continue, as, it is alleged, pressure to that end is being brought by Cardinal Segura of the Roman Catholic Church. They implore the influence of American Masons against a continuation of these massacres.

Some confirmation of the report is found in a message received direct from Spain by a native of that country now living in the United States. This message gives substantially the same account of the executions, and names four or five of the victims who were friends of this gentleman, or with whom he was well acquainted. One was a university professor, another a member of a commercial firm, a third a sanitary engineer. He is assured that the only charge which could be justly brought against them is that they were Freemasons.

The cold-blooded killing of prisoners of war would be looked upon with horror in any civilized country. The mass execution of political prisoners would be a worse offense against civilization and humanity. But a shameful death like common felons, visited on eighty of those who have offended in nothing other than their membership in an organization such as the Freemasons, known the world over for its works of charity and its principles of fraternity, equals in savagery and malevolent ferocity anything which has happened even among the most barbarous nations.

Masons of the United States seem helpless in any attempt to prevent further tragedies of this sort. None of those executed were citizens of the United States, and the attitude of the State Department in such a case is that they have no business to interfere in the domestic affairs of another country. It is likely that the power of public opinion, awakened by indignation and horror at what has occurred, is the only force which can be brought to bear to prevent further atrocities. —W. R.

Berries in and out of the Bible

LOOKING up the word “berries” in the Scriptures, one is surprised to notice that the word occurs but twice and in both instances the reference is to the fruit of the olive tree. The Creator who made those marvelous strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries, huckleberries, cranberries, loganberries, dewberries, and probably many other kinds of berries, seems not to have mentioned them at all.

Glancing briefly at some of these, the botanists have described 130 species of strawberries, hut, says the Encyclopedia Americana, “in the United States alone there are probably 1,000 varieties pffered for sale each year”; so this glance is a very hurried one. Of the Alpine or perpetual strawberry, this authority says that in Europe “its high quality and continuous bearing have rendered it popular in private gardens, for which places it should be, but is not, very popular in America”. A variety much appreciated in the United States is the “Chilean, a native of the Pacific Coast of South America”. The northward movement of the strawberry crop begins in Florida and the Mississippi delta in-January or February and ends in Canada in August. The season lasts two or three weeks in each locality, trainloads going out each day.

Those who have intelligently and carefully planned strawberry barrels have been able to raise enough fruit t.o keep' the family supplied for the season, and year by year thereafter. Some of the requirements are clean barrels; 6 holes in bottom for drainage; rows of holes 1| inches in diameter, at distances of 8 inches from each other, and with rows 6 inches apart; painted barrel placed in sunny location and stood on bricks to keep it off the ground; 6 inches of coarse drainage material in bottom; balance two-thirds soil and one-third well-rotted or dried manure, applied thus:

A newspaper is rolled to form a cylinder about two inches in diameter, and while one gardener holds it upright in the center of the barrel the other fills it with sand. Still

holding this in place, soil is put in the barrel up to the first row of holes and well firmed. One plant is allotted to each hole; the roots _are inserted and the soil packed down well around it, then it is watered. The soil is filled in up to the next row of holes and the plants s . set. ... It is advisable during the first year | 'to pinch off both blossoms and runners. . . .

Thereafter, runners may be allowed to develop for any necessary replacement of plants. . . . The sand core is to facilitate thorough watering and the paper soon rots. Plenty of moisture is needed after planting, and regu-‘ lar watering all season, not just during dry spells.—D. U. J., in New York Times. .

Blackberries, Raspberries, Huckleberries

There are many varieties of blackberries, and on Cold Knob, Greenbrier county, West Virginia, not only are there hundreds of acres of excellently flavored blackberries that are thornless, but in the same locality, and on similarly thornless vines, the berries are white. So says C. F. McClintic, M.D., of Williamsburg, W.Va., in the New York Times.

Raspberries come both red and black, i.e., as redcaps and blackcaps, and have been cultivated in Europe and America for centuries. Several hundred varieties have been offered for sale.

Gooseberries, easy to raise and easy to eat, if you can get them, are seldom seen in American markets, but are much in favor in Britain. The fruits of some of the varieties most favored weigh more than an ounce.

Huckleberries, of the high-bush and low-bush varieties, grow all over the Pocono mountain region of Pennsylvania, and if you have never eaten a well-made huckleberry pie, you have missed something. Sometimes called blueberries, there are places where the high-bush berries grow on shrubs up to 12 feet in height and the berries, in a favorable season, may be up to 7/8 inch in diameter. This fruit is widely spread over the whole country from Maine to Minnesota and Florida to Kansas.

There are a million bushels of cranberries marketed annually in the United States. They are not much different from bilberries,, blaeberries and whortleberries. Cowberries are sometimes called mountain cranberries and sold as such. And there are dewberries, loganberries and thimbleberries.

Cats Aid and Interest Humanity

IF STEEL rails are properly made they will not break. When they do, the result may be the loss of many human lives. The human ear is not as quick as that of a cat. At Amo, 25 miles west of Indianapolis, at 1: 25 on the morning of March 11,1944, the cat of John W. Borders leaped to his bed, put her paw on his cheek and squalled in his ear. When she realized he was awake she leaped to the window sill and mewed with much excitement while a freight train was passing on the Pennsylvania. She could tell from the sound that something was wrong. John put on his clothes, took his flashlight, went down to the track, and found a piece of rail about twelve inches long had broken out, causing the wheels when passing to drop down on the vacancy and make a noise which the cat knew was uncommon. John telephoned to headquarters, and immediate attention may have saved the road from • a disastrous or even fatal wreck.

The Erie has at its baggage department at Warren, Ohio, a cat that hoboes its way as far as Cleveland to the north and Marion to the west, with possible trips to Jamestown, N.Y., and points east. No doubt the baggagemen are conspirators in this. A pinch of catnip and a saucer of milk will make any kitten go a long way with a lonely baggageman.

Stories recur of cats that are quick enough, and strong enough, and smart enough to work at the knob of a closed door with teeth and paws until the door opens. One of the latest to do this is Carenza, the cat of Mr, and Mrs, Louis Ford, Chicago. They keep a table near the door, and probably put it there on purpose, so that the cat can do this stunt.

And do women love eats! In Brooklyn Mrs. Muriel Shaffer, schoolteacher, unable to get anybody else to do it, climbed down a manhole ten feet into a sewer to rescue a drowning cat. The cat tore her stockings, and she scraped her shoes and soiled her dress, but she won the battle, and, after some men pulled her out with a. rope, she rushed the cat to a hospital to be treated at her expense. Some Muriel!

Meteors and Northern Lights

NOW that facts are unfolding and sinners are trying to get the facts first, it might be that a timely hint or two will be of help to those who are trying their best to publish the truth. '

I have existed in the North a good many years, mostly in the out and open places. Since 1918 I have done my own thinking. What the world calls “nature” proves the Bible positively right. But I do not know of any place in the Bible where there is mention of meteors or northern lights. Some “ologies” make frightening statements on the subject; so one can just help oneself to what one wants of them. '

When “the stars fell” a hundred years ago, my grandparents never spoke of seeing any sign of ash about. There was no heat to the tiny lights, even, though they touched their clothing at times. It seems to me that this event marked something as to the time, but I know not what.

. In our scheme of life as outdoors men in the North we are often out in the night. We do not raise our meat, but depend on game. It is a catch-as-catch-can job. We travel nights when there is fair moonlight. We see lots of northern lights on all sides of us, in the valleys and over the flats. They always show best after a wet storm. These storms come wet or dry (as snow) according to whether it is warm or cold. So right after a wet storm one may walk right into these lights. They do not play around you longer than a half a minute. There is then a strong odor or suffocating effect. To me it smells like a fresh pile of blasted qnartz. rock or a strong salt vapor, To another it smells like antimony fumes. One is conscious of some kind of ash falling all around him. Often, in the spring, when the snow is going, there is an ash to be seen almost everywhere on the melting snow and ice. Sometimes it is possible to gather this ash around the edges of puddles. Lights of this same kind seem to be in fierce display around the south pole. I have often wondered why some who went down there did not get curious and find out more about them.—F. A. C., Alaska.

Thirty-four Days on a Raft

WHEN one of Uncle Sam’s bombers went down in the Pacific, it left behind three men and a rubber raft 4 by 8 feet, with no. sailing equipment and no provisions. The men had between them their clothing, a. pair of pliers, a police whistle, a pocketknife, a length of line, three clips of ammunition, and a pistol. That was all; and yet those three men survived. They sailed 700 miles, living on raw fish and shark meat, and finally reached a little island from which, forty-one days after they fell into the ocean, they were rescued by an American ship.

Earth’s Unique Place

THERE is a direct and intimate relationship between the throne of Almighty God Jehovah and our earth. This is shown from His Word, at Isaiah 66:1, where it says: “The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool.” The creation of the earth did not happen by chance, nor did it come into existence by the operation of blind force. Its formation was by the will of God the Creator, and it was created directly under His supervision. (Isaiah 42: 5) Paul the apostle writes:' “For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God.”—Hebrews 3:4.

Future epochs may witness other planets of the universe of greater size than our earth giving glory to the Creator beyond anything that is now revealed to us, but man cannot now conceive of any of them as being more highly honored than the earth. When man comes to appreciate this fact he will more fully appreciate how he has been favored by the great Creator. That which lifts the earth into a position of importance beyond anything possible with other planets is the fact that upon the earth has been staged the great drama of the vindication of Jehovah’s name and here have been given the instructions concerning good and evil meant apparently for all time and all intelligent creatures of Jehovah God.

It must also be kept in mind that the glorious Son of God, “The Word of God,” who was God’s active agent in the creation of all things, did at the will of Jehovah leave the courts of heaven and come to earth, and while on the earth He was subjected to the severest of testings; and that He here proved the perfect -■ man’s relationship to Jehovah; and that He suffered an ignominious death and was raised out of death and then exalted to the highest place in heaven next to Jehovah. All this was done in order that God might vindicate His name and in due time establish His will among creatures on earth and in heaven, all of this to be to the everlasting good of the peoples of earth and to the glory of Jehovah.

The exaltation of Jehovah’s Son Jesus was higher than all others of God’s creation, and aside from Jehovah no other will ever be so high. (Philippians 2:8-11) That exaltation was not because of what He had done before He came to earth. It ‘was because of His fidelity, as a man while on the earth, to Jehovah in the faithful performance of His covenant with His Father and the duties and obligations laid upon Him thereby. The earth was made the place where Jesus gained His victory through faith. The earth was thus honored above all the other planets by reason of what Jesus did here upon earth.

Because God used the earth and man for His eternal purposes, and because His beloved Son Jesus, when a man upon the earth, proved His fidelity to God before angels and men, the conclusion must be that the earth is the most favored, and will remain the most favored in the planetary creation of God and will always be dear to the heart of the Creator. In due time men will appreciate this.

God made the earth suitable for animal life that is found upon it. The animal creation eats and drinks and enjoys existence and in course of time perishes. Man does not possess inherent immortality, but he is more than merely an animal to exist and propagate his species. His mind gives him capacity to search out the great truths in God’s arrangement, and this lifts him far above the other animal creation on earth. His mind needs food, and his gracious Creator has abundantly provided all food for body and mind.

In the visible works of creation God displays His wisdom, justice, love and power. When man begins to learn thereof he is filled with wonder, admiration, awe and reverence for the Master Creator. He needs to come to this attitude before he begins to learn wisdom. In fact, wisdom is the application of knowledge according to the divine standard. Therefore man must know of God and must know Him, at least to a degree, before he can become in any measure wise. With profound respect and reverence, mingled with fear and trembling, man pursues his way in seeking knowledge of the Almighty. As his appreciation of his knowledge of God increases, his affection for Jehovah increases. Then he delights to know more of God’s works, and his pleasure leads him to seek them out. The psalmist, in musing upon the wonders of Jehovah’s creation, exclaimed: “The works of the Lord are great, sought out Of all them that have pleasure therein.” —Psalm 111: 2.

The Bible is God’s Word expressed and revealed to His creature, man. The general thought among men is that the Bible is a confused mass of thoughts expressed. This wrong conception- is due to those men who have misrepresented God and His Word. Actually, the Bible shows the clear statement of God’s purpose concerning the earth and its chief inhabitant, man.

The opening chapters of the Bible show it was meant for mail’s instruction. It discloses that God meant man to be the exerciser of dominion over the earth as long as he remained in full harmony with his Creator. Its first mention of man and of God’s purposes concerning man is thus expressed: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over, all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” —Genesis 1: 26-28.

That Scripture statement, properly understood, means that God made man to be His representative on the earth. God endowed the perfect man with the faculties of reason and of justice, wisdom, love and power, and gave him the freedom to use his will. In those respects he was made in his Creator’s image and likeness.

Jehovah created the earth, and therefore it is His by His right of creation. He set in operation His laws, meant by Him to produce results; and the results followed in harmony with His will. The heavens and our earth were made by the expressed will of God: “By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.” —Psalm 33: 6, 9, Am. Stan. Ver,

The earth belongs to Jehovah God, to be used by man in harmony with God’s will. Whether man could have adopted a better system of occupancy and use than he has adopted needs no discussion here. The real question for determination is, To whom does the earth belong? The answer must be, It belongs to Jehovah God, and in His own good time obedient men shall occupy it in harmony with Jehovah’s will. ,

For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, ■ He created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited; I am the

Lord; and there is none else.—Isaiah 45:18.

Finland’s Plight

Risto Ryti, the president of the Bank of Finland, and president of the Finnish Republic at the time it joined with ' Germany in the latter’s attack on Rus-\sia, is declared to be a spiritist. News-i week of April 3, 1944, put it this way: ■ President Risto Ryti of Finland is not only a spiritualist but his medium is an ardent believer in Adolf Hitler. This old man claims that he speaks with the voice of the Areh-. angel Gabriel. He quotes Gabriel as saying that Hitler is the "Son of God”.

…