Awake!, April 22, 1959

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THE MISSION OF THIS JOURNAL

Newt fourcet that are able to keep you awake to the vital issues of our times must be unfettered byT censorship and selfish interests, “AwakeI” has no fetters. It recognizes facts, faces facts, is free to publish facts. It Is not bound by political ambitions or obtfga tiers; if b unhampered by advetthers whaee toes must not be trodden on; it Js unprejudiced'by traditional creeds. This journal keeps itself free that it may speak freely to you. But It does not abuse its freedom. It maintains integrity to truth.

“Awake!1’ uses th* regular news channels, but is not dependent on them. Its own correspondents are on all continents, Tn scores of nations. From the four corners of the earth their uncensored, on-the-scenes reports come to you through these columns. This journal's viewpoint is not narrow, but is international. It is read in many nations, in many languages, by persons of all ages. Through its pages many fields of knowledge pass in review—government, commerce, religion, history, geography, science, social conditions, natural wonders—why, its coverage is as broad as the earth and as high as the heavens,

“Awake!" pledges itself to righteous principles, to exposing hidden foes and subtle dangers, to championing freedom for all, to comforting mourners and strengthening those disheartened by the failures of a delinquent world, reflecting sure hope for the establishment of a righteous New World.

Get acquainted with “Awake!” Keep awake by reading “Awake!’*

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CONTENTS

Do You Seek Happiness?

Science and Your Faith in God

Family Life Faces a Crisis

Nature Had It First

Jehovah’s Witnesses and Christian

Maturity

Role of the Earth in the Rocket Age 20

An Invitation from South America 24 "Your Word Is Truth”

"They Shall Beat Their Swords into Plowshares"

Watching the World

AMONG the many things a person may seek during his lifetime happiness is undoubtedly one of the most desirable. But although many seek it, few actually find it. In view of the constant struggle for existence in this world, the wicked acts of oppressive rulers and the devastating, effects of war, some may feel that it is unattainable. They cannot see how a person can be happy when the wicked prosper and when everything one has worked for is in constant jeopardy.

Happiness can be found but not in the way many are seeking it. Those who think the golden road to riches is the sure way to happiness are due for disappointment. Material possessions and financial security and the pleasures riches bring are not the ingredients that make for happiness. This is pointed out by the Bible when it says: “However, those who are determined to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and many senseless and hurtful desires which plunge men into destruction and ruin. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of injurious things, and by reach

ing out for this love some have been led astray from the faith and have stabbed themselves all over X with many pains.”—1 Tim. 6:9, 10.

A No matter how much money a V person may possess he can be one of the most unhappy persons in the world. To love and to be loved are basic requirements for happiness. But a rich man can never be certain that anyone loves him for what he is and not for what he has.

In marital relations there cannot be happiness when true love is absent. The exercising of true love by marriage partners means they are unselfish, considerate and long-suffering with one another's imperfections. Unless they do what is mentioned at 1 Corinthians 13:4-6, marital happiness cannot exist. It states: “Love is long-suffering and obliging. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, does not get puffed up, does not behave indecently, does not look for its own interests, does not become provoked. It does not keep account of the injury. It does not rejoice over unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth,” The wife who exercises love in this manner will not become contentious, making her husband feel as if he would prefer to live on the roof rather than in the house with her. And the man who shows such, love toward his wife will contribute richly to her contentment.—Prov. 21:9.

A person’s spiritual needs must not be

overlooked. Fulfilling them is essential in the successful pursuit of happiness. This was pointed out by Christ, who said: ’Happy are those who are conscious of their spiritual need,”—Matt. 5:3.

Even if a person succeeds in attaining a measure of happiness in this world, its existence is uncertain. It can be shattered by any number of things. A devastating war can quickly bring ruin to his happy home and his way of life. A disaster can strike, bringing death to his loved ones, or a disease may claim some as its victims. In order to find enduring happiness a person must look to God for it.

It is the purpose of Jehovah God to establish a new world in which people can live in peace and security. This does not mean he will create a new planet but rather that he will bring about a new system of things upon this earth. In that system a person’s happiness will never be shattered. The things that destroy happiness today will not exist then. The basis for hoping in this new world is found in the Scriptures.

The means by which it will be brought about is the kingdom for which Christ taught his followers to pray. In a model prayer he gave them he said: “Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified. Let your kingdom come. Let your will come to pass, as in heaven, also upon earth.” (Matt 6:9, 10) TTiat heavenly government is now established and is preparing to take over the rule of the earth. When it does, the complete end of the present wicked system of things will come. No longer will wicked meq oppress the people and commit acts of violence. No longer will nations rise up against one another in war. Uris is assured by God’s Word.

In a prophecy that uses bows, spears and wagons as emblematic of war weapons it is written: “Come you, behold the activities of Jehovah, how he has set astonishing events on the earth. He is making wars to cease tb the extremity of the earth. The bow he breaks apart and does cut the spear in pieces; the wagons he bums in the fire.” (Ps. 46:8, 9) And in another prophecy that promises the removal of the wicked we are told: “The sinners will be finished off from the earth, and as for the wicked, they will be no longer.”—Ps. 104: 35,

Perpetual peace is certain because God’s kingdom is an everlasting kingdom that will rule in righteousness. “And the work of the true righteousness must become peace, and the service of the true righteousness quietness and security to time indefinite. And my people must dwell in a peaceful abiding place and in residences of full confidence and in undisturbed resting places.”—Isa. 32:17,18.

In addition to these causes for happiness we are assured that death itself will no longer plague mankind. “And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be any more. The former things have passed away.” (Rev. 21:4) This is possible because the ransom paid by Christ, when he gave up his human life and presented its value to his Father in heaven, frees obedient mankind from the curse of death. “For he must rule as king until God has put all enemies under his feet. As the last enemy, death is to be destroyed.”—1 Cor. 15:25, 26.

Would not the realization of these promises be a source of happiness? Would they not make every moment of life an unspeakable joy? Are they not worth the greatest possible effort and sacrifice? We can trust them, for God is not one who lies. All who seek happiness through God's kingdom will find it, and what they find will be a true and lasting happiness.

AS science brought-^ Oom frwsKienMwMiten one’s

faith ta Ged? What evidence fc there that the Bible Is Wpired?

11 light facts that cause one to lose faith in God? Are there facts, little known to the majority of men but provedby science, that disagree with the Bible? The widely publicized viewpoints of atheistic scientists leave the impression that science casts grave doubts on the existence of God and the reliability of the Bible. But the facts show that not all scientists are atheists; in fact, atheists are not truly scientific, Said Professor Philip Henry: "The person who thinks there can be any real conflict between [true] science and [true] religion must be either very young in science or very ignorant in religion,”

Does a knowledge of the world around us cause us to doubt that God is? In studying the earth scientists find the factors that explain the regularity of the seasons and factors that contribute to the existence of life. They have learned that the earth is a free sphere that rotates on its axis, revolves around the sun with clockwork precision and is inclined on its axis about twenty-three degrees. The atmosphere is sufficient to protect us from the bombardment of twenty million meteors that hurtle toward earth at fantastic speeds every day. It also maintains the right temperature for life and carries inland the water vapor so necessary for the growth of vegetation. The special properties of water—absorbing vast quantities of oxygen as well as decreasing in density and releasing considerable heat as it freezes—work for the preservation of marine life in winter. The soil, too, contains minerals that plants are sa^le to assimilate and make available for con-Wfc^qn by man and withput tvhich he could

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“Quickly turning to Newton, the infidel said, ‘Evidently you did not understand my question. I asked who made this?’ Looking up now, Newton solemnly assured him that nobody made it, but that the aggregation of matter so much admired had just happened to assume the form it was in. But

the astonished infidel replied with some heat, ‘You must think I am a fool! Of course somebody made it, and he is a genius, and I’d like to know who he is.*

“Laying his book aside, Newton arose and laid a hand on his friend’s shoulder. This thing is but a puny imitation of a much grander system whose laws you know, and I am not able to convince you that this mere toy is without a designer and maker; yet you profess to believe that the great original from which the design is taken has come into being without either designer or maker! Now tell me by what sort of reasoning do you reach such an incongruous conclusion?’ The infidel was at once convinced and became a firm believer that ‘Jehovah, He is God? ’’

Chemistry's Evidence

Chemists use what is known as a periodic chart of elements. All of the known chemical elements, gaseous, liquid and solid, with the multitudinous and varied substances that fit into these classifications, conform to the Periodic Law. All the atoms of the more than one hundred elements are said to consist of the same three types of electrical particles: protons, electrons, and neutrons. And the difference is simply in the number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus and the number and arrangement of the electrons. When these are arranged in order, they vary one from another in a systematic way. This has made it possible to know the actual atomic construction of an element before it was discovered.

Declares mathematician-chemist John Cothran: “Can any informed and reasoning intellect possibly believe that insensible and mindless matter just chanced to originate itself and all this system, then chanced to impose the system upon itself, whereafter this system just chances to remain imposed? Surely the answer is ‘No!’ When energy transforms into ‘new’ matter, the transformation proceeds ‘according to law’ and the resulting matter obeys the same laws that apply to the matter already existing.”

That the universe had a beginning is borne out by the existence of radioactive elements, which are in a state of constant disintegration by reason of their emission of electrical particles. Had material things always existed, there would be no radioactive elements left. Their presence stands as practically incontrovertible evidence that the world is limited in age, that at one time it did not exist and that a creation must have taken place. So those who listen to the evidence presented by science must believe in creation. There could not have been creation without a creator. That Creator is God.

Atheism’s Lack of Reason

But what is to be said when proclamations are made claiming that scientific progress testifies against the existence of God? The New York Times., January 23, 1959, reported that Moscow radio had broadcast a speech declaring: “The fact that satellites and rockets have not detected the All-Highest, angels and so on, bears testimony against religious convictions and strengthens disbelief in God.”

If, indeed, their observation of the overwhelmingly immense and orderly array of the heavenly bodies and their knowledge of the natural laws that made possible the development of their rockets and satellites has not caused them to detect the fact that it is no mere product of chance but the handiwork of an Almighty Creator, it is not because they have discovered any facts proving that he does not exist. Rather, it is because they have become so blinded by their own success and so indoctrinated with the anti-God Communist philosophy that they fail to acknowledge the conclusion-to which their research

scientifically demands that they come. Their atheism is contrary to the basic belief of science that everything has a cause and that the cause must be sufficient to produce the indicated effect. The Creator, the Great First Cause who produced the universe, is Jehovah God,

“If you think strongly enough,” declared physicist Lord Kelvin, “you will be forced by science to believe in God.” Why? Because science involves a study of the handiwork of God, and it would not be there to study nor would man be there to study it if there were no God.

It is not from true science that a Christian turns away, but it is from the pseudoscientific theories and philosophies of men who, with nothing but their own unproved speculation as a guide, call into question the Word of the Most High God, and, Satan-like, seek to divert the praise and worship due the Creator to themselves. It is of these that the apostle Paul was inspired to say: “O Timothy, guard what is laid up in trust with you, turning away from the empty speeches that violate what is holy and from the contradictions of the falsely called 'knowledge’. For making a show of such knowledge some have deviated from the faith.”—1 Tim. 6:20, 21.

Science and the Bible

Science clearly confirms the fact that creation reflects the work of a divine Intelligence. But a written revelation from that supreme One is necessary if we are to know who he is and what his purpose is. It is only reasonable that God would give man a revelation to guide him. Since man is the highest of earthly creation, it indicates that his Creator is specially interested in him. Both man and animals are made in such a way that they need air, water and food for existence, and their Creator has provided these things for them. Animals, lacking human intelligence, have been endowed with instinct as a guide. Man, unlike the lower animal creation, has an inborn urge to worship, and his Creator has filled man’s need in this matter by providing a divine revelation to be intelligently followed. That revelation is the Bible!

Our desire to worship did not come from science and is not dependent on it; so with the Bible. It is not a product of men of science and our acceptance of it does not depend on their approval of it, but the fact is that science does confirm the reliability of the Scriptures. While many textbooks of science become obsolete within a few years due to the discovery of facts that change man’s viewpoint, yet during the thousands of years of its existence the Bible has not had to be rewritten or brought up to date even once. In view of that, it is a far more reasonable course for one to make his acceptance of the theories of science conditional on the Bible than to make his acceptance of the Bible subject to the judgment of science. Nonetheless, the Bible is so written that it permits corroboration of its record by other sources of information.

As evidence of the progress that has been made by science in lining up with the Scriptures, note the following statement by Harry Rimmer in The Harmony of Science and Scripture: “The reader may recall that famous list of fifty-one scientific facts published by the French Academy of Science in 1861, all of which contradicted some statement of the Scripture. Those few score years have gone by, and not one word of the Bible has been changed. In those same few score years, the knowledge of science has so vastly increased that there is not a living man of science today who holds one of those fifty-one so-called facts that were at one time advanced in refutation of the inspiration of the Scripture.” It becomes quite evident,

then, that when anyone feels he has uncovered facts that show the Bible to be in error, the error will be found to lie not in the Bible but in man’s observations or in his interpretation of the meaning of the things he sees.

Testimony of Archaeology

Archaeology also raises its voice in corroboration of the Biblical record. In the November 19,1958, issue of The Christian Century, W. F. Albright writes: “The narratives of the patriarchs, of Moses and the exodus, of the conquest of Canaan, of the judges, the monarchy, exile and restoration, have all been confirmed and illustrated to an extent that I should have thought impossible forty years ago.”

However, it is not to be expected that archaeology is going to produce evidence of confirmation for every line of the Scriptures, Nor should we make our acceptance of the record dependent on such confirmation. If we do, then archaeology has become our god, it has become the voice that tells us what is good and bad, and we worship it Remember that archaeology does not fully present ancient history. Comparatively few objects have been preserved through the centuries and even in the case of those that have been preserved, the interpretation of their significance may be difficult. In certain fields of knowledge archaeology gives much information. But would you expect to find in Egypt a monument to commemorate the deliverance of the Israelites from the power of Pharaoh? Nations do not build monuments to record their failures. However, as reason would suggest, there are far more records pertaining to the conquests of Palestine by the Assyrian and Babylonian rulers. That is the sort of thing monarchs celebrate.

Taking into consideration all the evidence that has come to light, the New York Times Book Review of January 11, 1959, quoted Nelson Glueck assaying: “No archaeological discovery has ever controverted a Biblical reference.”

The Bible—Divine Revelation

Yes, the Bible is accurate, but it is much more than a book that contains accurate history and reliable statements of science. Before men had dug into the earth to establish the time-order of creation, it was recorded in the Bible, and geology has been able to do nothing but confirm it. The rise and fall of human governments was foretold hundreds and, in some cases, thousands of years in advance. The unfolding of history has simply confirmed the reliability of the Bible account. (See the book "Your Will Be Done on Earth") How could men relate in detail the account of a creation that no man was alive to see? How could they see into the future to know the course that would be taken by world governments? Man could not, except by divine revelation. Since the Bible contains such information, it could not possibly be of human origin. It is the Word of God!

Being convinced that the Bible is God's Word, there is no reason to spend our lives trying to produce evidence to confirm it. Now that you know where the truth is found, spend your time studying it. “Keep, strict watch that how you walk is not as unwise but as wise persons, buying out the opportune time for yourselves, because the days are wicked. On this account cease becoming unreasonable, but go on perceiving what the will of Jehovah is.” (Eph. 5:1517) Your faith in God and his Word will grow far stronger by gaining an accurate knowledge of the Bible than by studying the evidence that men may produce to confirm it. The reasonable course is to study the Bible and wisely walk in the way that it directs.

THE family is under pressure as never before from the inside and the outside, from one end of the world to the other. Powerful forces are at work striking at the very heart of family life, threatening its existence. The vise of nationalism, the industrial revolution, the cry for independence, new outlooks on' sex and life, have all exercised an overwhelming influence on the family way of living, rocking its very foundations.

Down through the ages, in the Semitic, Babylonian, Egyptian, Persian and Roman civilizations, the family changed little. But in the last hundred years of the modern world, drastic changes have swept the family circle, causing great concern.

In those ancient civilizations agriculture was the primary way of life. The father ruled as head, and children respected his authority. Obedience was the first rule of the house. It was demanded. So powerful were families that they could sell their own children and even have them put to death. The family had complete control over choice of marriage partner, education, place of residence and work. Women had no voice or choice but to marry and to perform the duties of marriage. Families grew up together, lived together, worked together and fought together. A good share of the recreation was at home and between families. The home was the center of religious instruction. Families sang, prayed and worshiped together. Divorce was looked down upon. Those getting a divorce were considered to be breaking God’s law. While none of these things have disappeared entirely from family life, yet their combined influence is not the same any more. The pattern of living has changed.

So great have been the changes in family life in recent years that some students of the family believe that the only function left for the institution is purely sentimental and “affectional.” And a good many sociologists are of the opinion that ^the family is on the way out.”

The influence of the family on the future of nations and the world is so important that it cannot be ignored. Many historians believe that the first factor in the downfall of the Grecian and Roman civilizations was family deterioration. And some people, fearful that such may actually happen to the Western world, advocate a return to old ways in order to save the family and the present way of life. Are their fears unfounded? What do the facts show?

Reasons for Concern

Within our lifetime we have seen threatening changes take place in family life. Instead of an agricultural society we have an industrial one. In the old agricultural society togetherness was possible. Families worked out in the fields together, ate their meals at home together, played and worshiped together. But in today’s industrial society most of that has been changed. Industry separates the father from his family a good portion of the waking hours

of the work-week. Children spend much time away from home at school and lunch out. Recreation has become a gigantic commercial business. Religious teaching has passed out of the hands of the parents to churches and religious agencies. Social activities take one away from the home. One out of five mothers with dependent children is now employed outside the home. Reportedly more married women than single women are now in the working force. Consequently families are seldom together any more and parental authority is almost nonexistent.

Dr. John J. Kane, head of the sociology department at the University of Notre Dame, declared that today “the occupation of father is almost as obsolete as harness maker or blacksmith.” And more often than we would like to admit we hear statements about mothers “abdicating their traditional role.” Once it was economically profitable to a man to have a wife and children. Today, they are a financial burden to him. Furthermore, a wife can support herself and is not dependent on a husband. Strong religious and social pressures that once kept couples together have all but dissipated. So weak is the bond between parent and child today that a married man or woman often feels no obligation to honor his father and mother. When the married couple has to share a house with aged parents this is generally regarded as a tragedy.

Revolutions and wars keep families in constant turmoil. Military service and war take young men and girls away from their families. Anticolonial drives have forced many to leave their homes, disrupting family life. Hundreds of thousands of refugees jam the Middle East. Everywhere people are on the move. In the United States some 8,000,000 children moved from home to home in 1951. One fifth of the native population lives in a different state from its birth and one out of every five adults changes Ma residence each year. This constant Shifting of population has a tendency to drive a wedge between young married people and their respective parental families.

The instability of family life is reflected in the literature of our day. In fact, one observer stated that a foreigner reading popular novels and magazines printed in the United States about its life would “picture the American family circle as an assemblage of delinquents and neurotics— flying apart at the seams under the influence of TV, Kinsey Reports and divorcecourt scandals.” Of course, this is not an altogether true picture.

Attitude* Toward Marriage

The true family picture both in the United States and in other parts of the world, however, is not a flattering one. In the United States between 1938-48, there was a “50 percent increase in the number of children born outside marriage.” In Sweden’s population of some 7,000,000 “there are 27,000 illegitimate children a year”; and “of every 10 Swedish women now being married, seven have conceived at least one child before reaching the altar.” Illegitimacy is high also in other lands.

As for the divorce rate, in Sweden it has risen “by more than 100 percent in the past decade and by 1,000 percent in the past half century.” Recent reports from England show that from “about 5,000 per annum in 1937, the divorce rate actually multiplied by ten in ten years!” The average number of divorces for every hundred marriages in the United States in the 1881-90 decade had increased 466 percent by the 1940-49 decade. Approximately one out of every four marriages ends this way today.

During the last forty years the rate of

divorce has climbed rapidly in the Netherlands, Denmark, France and in the Soviet Union. Newsweek for February 2, 1959, reports on the new elite class in Russia, saying: "Divorces are more frequent and casual than in the other classes, and if a rich girl is indiscreet, the family doctor probably can be depended on to set matters straight and observe a worldly silence.” Indeed, the divorce rate has risen so high that, with the extension of average lifeexpectancy, divorce has temporarily replaced death as the main way in which marriages end. Especially is this true in industrial lands.

The proportion of broken families depends not only on legal divorce but also on separation, desertion and death. In the United States some 7,000,000 children under the age of eighteen live with only one parent, or neither. Because of desertion, more than 250,000 families are receiving government assistance. This involves nearly 1,000,000 women and children and it costs the American taxpayers $276,342,000 a year. However, this is relatively only a small part of the over-all problem since but 22 percent of family desertion cases come to the attention of public assistance agencies.

Juvenile Delinquency

Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation J. Edgar Hoover said: ‘Selfindulgence and placing pleasure before duty on a vast and growing scale have become a phenomenon of this adult world. "These are warning symptoms of the ‘decadence disease,’ ’’ he stated, “which has contributed to the decay of so many civilizations throughout history.” Right now these are undermining family life by fostering undisciplined and immoral youth. "These children,” said Hoover, “are victims in a very real sense. They are the victims of a society which has substituted indulgence for discipline. They are the victims of a breakdown of authority and moral standards in the home, in the neighborhood and—too frequently—in the entire community. And they are the victims of those practitioners of expediency who have blurred the lines between right and wrong, good and evil. So in large part the juvenile delinquent is a. by-product of w self-indulgent age.”

The United States is facing an emergency and its very future is being threatened because of juvenile delinquency. Throughout this nation, an estimated 740,-000 youngsters under eighteen years of age were arrested in 1957. Hoover says: “Since 1952, our juvenile population has increased approximately 22 percent. Juvenile arrests in the same period have risen 55 percent!” “By 1962 one million of our teen-agers will be arrested each year—at the present rate,” he said. He pointed out that “delinquency is a world-wide disease” and not just a situation peculiar to the United States.

Strengthening the Family

There is no question that family life needs strengthening, but how? There must be a going back to basic principles that make for wholesome family living. The Bible provides these principles. To be helpful they must be applied. Note what it has to say about husband and wife relationship: “You wives, be in subjection to your husbands, as it is becoming in the Lord.” And again: “The wife should have deep respect for her husband.” If the wife so deports herself she is not a boss or a leader. And if she does so deport herself willingly and gladly, knowing that it is to her best interest, then the family gains strength from the harmony that such conduct creates. Think of the many differences and heartaches such willing submission would eliminate.—Col. 3:18; Eph. 5: 33.

To the husbands the Bible says: “You husbands, keep on loving your wives and do not be bitterly angry with them.” If husbands would obey this injunction, what a blessing it would be to wives! “In this way husbands ought to be loving their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself, for no man ever hated his own flesh, but he feeds and cherishes it.” Husbands are not to abuse wives, but are to provide for them and love them tenderly. They are to enjoy their wives and not go about seeking other men’s wives or other women. “Why, my son, should you be ravished with the wife of another, and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?” Let your wife’s “breasts intoxicate you always, with her love be continually ravished.” The marriage bond is sacred and the marriage bed is not to be defiled. “Let marriage be honorable among all, and the marriage bed be without defilement, for God will judge fornicators and adulterers.”—Col. 3:19; Eph. 5:28, 29; Prov. 5:15-20, AT; Heb. 13:4.

The Bible also speaks plainly about parent-child relationship. “And you, fathers, do not be irritating your children, but go on bringing them up in the discipline and authoritative advice of Jehovah.” Note, it says “fathers” are to take the lead in instructing the children. Mothers are to assist in the training. So much juvenile delinquency could be avoided if fathers seized hold of this responsibility, instead of passing it on to their wives. At best the wife can do only half the job.—Eph. 6:4.

To the children the Bible commands: “You children, be obedient to your parents in everything, for this is well-pleasing in the Lord." It is a known fact that if parents fulfill their role, children will more often fulfill theirs. To parents who set the right example, and who properly discharge their obligation, delinquency is no problem. —Col. 3:20.

Now if families would follow these instructions closely, life would be much happier for them. Delinquency problems would fade away, divorces and broken homes would no doubt be saved, feelings of anxiety and frustration would be eliminated. To the extent that God’s ways are applied, to that extent the family is made happy.

We have living proof that Bible principles work toward creating a stronger and happier family tie. This evidence we have in the family life of Jehovah’s witnesses. Even though they are subjected to the same pressures, strains and stresses of this modem world, still they have not succumbed to its delinquent attitudes toward marriage and family relationships. Their family life is rich and wholesome, because together they sincerely endeavor to apply the wise counsel of God’s Word in their lives. They place their worship first. Daily together they study the Bible. Together they go to congregation meetings several times a week. This worshipful togetherness has united them not only as a family, but also as part of a New World society of people in which there are no social inequalities, racial prejudices or nationalism. These divisive factors they have replaced with the unifying and binding quality of love.

Happy family home life can be your happy lot and the lot of every family on earth. The requirement is simple—apply Bible principles in your life. Associate with the New World society of Jehovah’s witnesses, where these principles are applied. Boiled down to a few words, strengthening the family is a matter of learning about and respecting the Author of the family, namely, Jehovah God. It amounts to loving God exclusively and one’s family as oneself.

NATURE HAD IT

HEN we hear of such creatures as the hammerhead shark, the swordfish,

the sawfish and the shoebill stork, we tend to think of the aptness of these names. We tend to give man the credit for cleverness, ignoring this fact: Long before man even thought of a hammer, a sword, a saw or a shoe, nature had them first.

Yes, long before man thought of a lot of clever things, nature had them first: Spiders were building hinged doors; ants were building cities; hornets were insulating their houses; wasps were making paper; beavers were building dams and canals; eagles and vultures were using telescopes to spot their prey; African jerboas had snowshoes; polar- bears were wearing nonskid soles; ducks were enjoying the benefits of waterproofing; ants were building pontoon bridges; poisonous snakes were winning a living with hypodermic needles; white pelicans were fishing with scoop nets and electric eels were using the power of storage batteries.

Almost any field of human endeavor, in fact, would reveal instances of nature’s having it first, even instances where nature’s creatures have complex and ingenious built-in devices that still puzzle man.

Let us take for an example the field of aeronautics. The most modern aircraft today are jet-propelled, using the rocket principle as a means of locomotion. Yet long before man thought of jet-propelled or rocket-powered aircraft, nature had living jets and living rockets—the amazing octopuses and squids.

An octopus is born with built-in jet apparatus. This is called the funnel or siphon. Behind the funnel is the mantle cavity, into which the funnel opens. This jet of the sea takes water into the mantle cavity, after which he ctoses the entrance by a special con

trivance. Then follows a powerful contraction of the mantle muscles that shoots the water out through the funnel, causing the octopus to be jet-propelled in the opposite direction, backwards. The squid even looks like a rocket. Its propulsion system is even more remarkable. This ten-armed creature can turn its funnel for propulsion in either direction, forward or backward, so having greater jet maneuverability than the octopus.

Man’s desire to fly was no doubt prompted by watching birds and bats soar through the air. It appears that nature’s aviators are still ahead of man. Said zoologist Ivan Sanderson: “The aerodynamics of bats drive engineers mad and are quite beyond us ordinary mortals.”

Nature’s Helicopters and Gliders

Did you ever see a dragonfly? If so, then your impression of a man-made helicopter may be that of a monstrous dragonfly. And it would be a fitting comparison, for the dragonfly is insectdom’s living helicopter. The dragonfly can twist and turn, shoot straight up, hover, even move backward on the wing! Nature

The hummingbird, nature’s helicopter, is the only bird able to fly backward. “When the hummer converts to helicopter flight, as in hovering,” says Dr, Charles H. Blake, “it then inverts the wing on the back stroke. While in helicopter flight it determines its direction of progress by the same general method as a helicopter. It cants the rotor [wings]. Doubtless this is how sideways flight is accomplished.”

Long before man built a glider plane nature had many kinds of living gliders, such as the sea gull and the flying squirrel. The squirrel’s gliding equipment is folds of loose skin covered with fine, close-lying fur. This special skin extends from the animal’s sides and legs. When ready to launch itself into space, this living glider climbs to the top of a tree. It takes off, spread-eagling its long legs. The squirrel controls speed and direction by changing the position of its gliding membranes and also by use of its tail. A flying squirrel taking off from the top of a 150-foot-high tree can glide through the air for 150 feet.

Australia’s glider-possums can make long-distance flights with ease, covering about 200 feet. One glider-possum was observed to sail from the top of a tree 100 feet high and glide to the foot of another tree, 210 feet away. It then climbed to the summit of the tree and glided to the foot of another. It made six glides, covering a distance of 590 yards.

Another of nature’s gliders is the flying snake of Asia. Holding its body straight and rigid and pushing its ribs outward so as to present a concave surface to the air, the flying snake glides safely to the earth from places of considerable height.

Nature’s best glider? It seems to be the flying fish. "With favorable winds,” says Dr. Leonard P. Schultz, “they have been observed going as far as 1,200 feet at a height of 25 feet, and in play it is not unusual for them to rise to 30 feet. The greatest flight height recorded is 36 feet above the surface of the water.” Their record glide In time is said to be forty-two seconds.

One might think that flying in V-forma-tion is a clever idea of man. But the snow geese were flying in V-formation long before man got off the ground.

Landing Gear and Safety Gear

All kinds of devices in man-made aircraft were found in nature first. Is it retractable landing gear? Why, the birds had it first by their putting their feet straight back and by dropping them when coming in for a landing. Man-made airplanes have lights that flash on and off at night; but nature’s aircraft, the firefly, has been flying at night and flashing its light on and off for countless centuries. "This lantern equipment is one of those efficient, matter-of-fact inventions,” says Rutherford Platt, “that science can’t precisely figure out.”

Many birds have a built-in safety device on their wings. This is a small group of feathers called the alula. “These come into operation,” says Frank Lane in Nature Parade, “when the attack angle, or tilt, of the wings is very high, and the bird is in danger of losing lift or stalling. The alula then acts as a safety device. Actually it was not until Sir Frederick Handley Page invented the now famous 'slotted wing’ anti-stalling device, which has done so much to make airplanes safer, that it was realized that birds have had in the alula the same safety gear from time immemorial.”

Bat’s “RadaP* Prevents Crashes

For greater safety in avoiding collisions many airplanes now carry radar. But bats had a perfect system of “radar” (or, rather, "sonar”) long before man ever conceived of such a thing. A flying bat utters a

continuous rhythm of sounds, pitched in a key too high for human ears to recognize. The sound waves are thrown back to the bat by objects around it. These sound waves are picked up by the bat, thanks to its large microphonic ears. Then the bat’s exquisitely balanced neuro-muscular flight controls automatically go into action and cause a saving zoom or swerve.

In man-made radar there is an arrangement that prevents confusion between signals being sent out and their echoes coming back. Thus the only signals the receiver ever “hears” are the echoes bounding back from a distant object. But the bat had this clever arrangement first. At the precise moment the bat sends out its high-pitched sound, there is a contraction of a tiny ear muscle that puts the ear out of action, so that the bat’s hearing is not temporarily paralyzed by the loudness of its own squeak.

The bat’s “radar” is so complex that some things about it are still not known with great clarity. Just how does a bat, for instance, distinguish echoes reflected by obstacles to be avoided from those reflected by insects that are being sought? A bat will dive toward a small stone thrown into the air, but it will avoid the stone by a swerve at the last moment. The bat’s audio-location mechanism is truly delicate.

Never is there a crash when the bat’s “radar” is on. Even when tens of thousands of bats mill around for hours in a dark cave, there are no collisions. Each bat apparently recognizes its own signals and does not confuse them with those of its neighbors.

Eel’s Device Puzzles Scientists

Not only bats have marvelous detection devices but also certain fish. A small West African fish that swims backward in muddy waters much of the time has a kind of radaJ set in its tail. Some of fishdom's detection devices are not really understood by man. Under the heading "How Eel Detects Distant Objects by Electricity .Puzzles Scientists,” the New York Times of June 12, 1957, said in a news report of the preceding day from Ridgefield, Connecticut: “A newly discovered and mysterious ability of the electric eel to detect objects at a. distance under water was pondered by a hundred scientists here this morning. The eel, it was reported, can locate objects under water in a manner believed to be different from that of radar, sonar or magnetic detection devices. Even smail eels can send out electrical charges and thus locate objects with precision at a distance of up to twenty feet, according to Dr. Christopher Coates, director of the New York Aquarium....

“Dr. Coates reported that the South American electric eel . . . lies on the bottom sending out a small electrical signal in pulses that occur at the rate of about twenty a second. When the animal is excited by a stone, fish or other object in the water, it increases its signal rate to about fifty or sixty pulses a second. At the same time, the animal’s body becomes covered with depressions. The depressions play a part in the eel’s detection device. . . . Dr. John H. Heller^ director of the New England Institute for Medical Research, said he believed the Navy would give several battleships to know how the eel does it.”

So even in regard to modem devices of this electronic and rocket age, it can be said that nature had many of the principles for their operation first. In some cases man has not yet fathomed the complexities of nature’s devices. To whom goes the credit for all this infinite wisdom seen in nature? To Jehovah God, the Designer and Inventor of all these natural wonders. “How many your works are, O Jehovah! All of them in wisdom you have made.”—Ps. 104:24.

M TtH

oflEMBo of war, what is of greater value in £ gaining victory: a million strong, well-trained and fully equipped soldiers or ten million infants and small children? To ask that question is to answer it. But the truth involved completely F~~ escapes most persons professing to be Christians, for they boast of large numbers without giving

any thought as to the quality Pertinent in this regard are the remarks recently made by two leading United States clergymen. Dr. J. S. Bonnell of New York city stated: "We have been guilty of making church membership too easy and too cheap, and consequently we have too many nominal Christians on the rolls,” people who "cannot be counted on for any form of service. . . . We boast of 103,000,000 church

members associated with our American churches,” he continued, "but if they were subjected to the tests that Gideon applied at God’s direction millions would melt away."—New York Times, January 5, 1959. .

Preaching at New York city's fashionable Riverside Church, Dr. MacLennan of Rochester, New York, condemned the modern tendency to view religion as a capsule that can be taken to cure every situation without intellectual effort and moral heroism, and emphasized that it took a ‘dynamic, Biblical Christianity to make sense out of modern living.’—New York Times, January 19,1959.

Speaking for Catholics, a writer in The Catholic Mind, January-February, 1959, stated that "too many parishioners are trying to live adult Catholic lives with a child’s knowledge of their religious principles,” and that as the yeans go by Catholics should know more about their own religion.

of their numbers.

The foregoing complaints call to mind what the apostle Paul wrote to the Hebrew Christians. These, in view of the time, should have been teachers, but they still needed to be fed on spiritual milk instead of solid food. “Solid food belongs to mature people, to those who through use have their perceptive powers trained to distinguish both right and wrong.” Continuing, he urged them to “press on to maturity,” —Heb. 5:11 to 6:1.

Yes, since the Bible likens Christians to spiritual soldier^ fighting a spiritual war against the forces of darkness, they must be mature. For them to be effective they must be strong, skilled, fully equipped. They must be able to heed the command: "Stand firm in the faith, carry on as men, grow mighty,”—1 Cor. 16:13.

Evidence of Christian Maturity

Why such a lack of maturity today? Is it because modem conditions make it well-nigh impossible to comply with the above

Scriptural commands? We might think so were it not for the example given by the Christian witnesses of Jehovah. They prove that Christian maturity is possible today. Even their opponents admit as much in their efforts to shame their people into emulating the zeal of the witnesses. A typical instance of this appeared in the (Roman Catholic) Central California Register, September 5, 1958. Among other things the writer stated:

“The Witness movement requires that everyone in it give bold, constant evidence of his witness convictions. If you are a witness everyone you come in contact with will be told about it. . . . You are always intense about it and always letting people know about it . . - And you unapologeti-cally live your convictions.” He then contrasted this with the way Catholics usually feel and act: “Ours is a society and culture in which it has somehow become not good form, not polite, not intelligent to stress one's religious commitment. One may privately prize it and adhere to it as much as one likes, but to make any show of it is held to be naive or fanatical.”

What kind of Christian soldiers are these who are so timid in the face of mere adverse public opinion? What can be expected of them when brought face to face with totalitarian persecution? No wonder that in Iron Curtain countries these give their support to the godless Communist regimes in spite of the ostensible position of their church, all of which is further evidence of immaturity. That it is not expecting too much for Christians to stand firm in the fate of such persecution can be seen by the example given by the Christian witnesses of Jehovah.

Thus in writing of totalitarian efforts to-degrade the human spirit, authors have time and again noted the steadfast example of the witnesses. Among such is Professor Ebenstein of Princeton University, who, in his book The Ncui State, wrote: “When the witnesses did not give up the struggle for their religious convictions, a campaign of terror was launched against them which surpassed anything perpetrated against other victims of Nazism in Germany. . . . The sufferings of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the camps were even worse than those meted out to Jews, pacifists or Communists. Small as the sect is, each member seems to be a fortress which can be destroyed but never taken.” That is Christian maturity—standing so firm that one never compromises!

The 1959 yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses gives eloquent testimony that the same spirit is manifested by the witnesses presently in Iron Curtain lands. There the witnesses maintain their integrity by one-hundred-percent neutrality, refusing to vote and to accept military service and at the same time fulfilling their commission to preach by doing so underground. As a result the largest single group of witnesses in the world outside the United States is found in an Iron Curtain country, and in the past year the number of witnesses in all lands behind the Iron Curtain increased more than 20 percent.

The Truth of God's Word

What accounts for all these manifestations of Christian maturity? One factor is that quality and maturity, rather than numbers, are stressed by the witnesses. Merely wanting to be baptized and to be known as a witness is not enough. Because in certain lands, such as Korea and parts of Africa, the witnesses are looked up to, it has been found necessary to screen very carefully all who would become witnesses, making sure that they have had at least six months’ instruction in the Word of God and have the right motive in wanting to become witnesses.

Without a knowledge and understand-

ing of God’s Word Christian maturity is impossible. As we read: “All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work”; in other words, mature.—2 Tim. 3:16, 17,

Only the Bible gives us a vision of a God whom we can worship: perfect in power, wisdom, justice and love. Only it gives us a satisfactory explanation of the cause of evil and why God has permitted it to continue down to our day and why he is certain to make an end of it in the near future. All such knowledge is indispensable if Christians are to have the faith, hope and love needed for them to be strong and mature.

God’s Word also gives us basic principles to govern our lives, which Jesus summed up in the two great commandments: “You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind and with your whole strength,” and, “You must love your neighbor as yourself.” Then by use of logic, illustrations and examples the Bible imparts a powerful conviction that to obey these principles is the right, the wisest as well as the most loving thing to do, resulting in the greatest possible good to others and ourselves.—Mark 12:30, 31.

Can any person merely by reading the Bible and pondering over its meaning gather these truths from the Bible? No, the Bible shows that to gain this understanding and appreciation from its pages requires the aid of a

Visible Christian Organization

This fact is overlooked by many and yet nothing1 could be clearer. That is why it was necessary for Jesus to open up and interpret the Scriptures to the two disciples he met on the way to Emmaus on his resurrection morning. (Luke 24:13-35) It makes clear why it was necessary for Philip the evangelist to explain Isaiah’s prophecy to the Ethiopian returning from worshiping in Jerusalem. (Acts 8:27-39) That is why it was necessary for the apostles and older men at Jerusalem to come together, tQ ascertain the divine will regarding the eating of meats offered to idols, fornication and blood, all of which Christians were to abstain from. (Acts 15: 1-30) That is also why it was necessary for Aquila and Priscilla to instruct Apollos ‘more correctly concerning the way of God,’ and why the new converts at Ephesus needed further instruction by the apostle Paul. (Acts 18:25, 26; 19:1-7) All these were familiar with the Scriptures, but they needed help to understand them.

Also showing the direct connection between a visible Christian organization and Christian maturity are Paul’s words: “And he gave some as apostles, some as prophets, sopie as missionaries, some as shepherds and teachers, with a view to the training of the holy ones for ministerial work, for the building up of the body of the Christ, until we all attain to the oneness in the faith and in the accurate knowledge of the Son of God, to a full-grown man, to the measure of the growth that belongs to the fullness of the Christ; in order that we should no longer be babes.”—Eph. 4:11-14.

And how does this visible organization of witnesses aid persons of good will toward God to attain to Christian maturity? To begin with there is weekly personal Bible instruction in the home by a mature minister, which personal instruction may last from six months to a year or more as the need may be. The student is encouraged to prepare his lessons in advance, to learn to express himself in his own words and, as opportunity affords, to tell others about the things he has learned. As he

progresses he is encouraged to associate regularly with a weekly group Bible study held In his neighborhood and to attend the four congregational meetings held in a centrally located Kingdom Hall. These meetings are each an hour in length and make use of various methods of instruction to bring Christians to maturity as regards doctrine, conduct and teaching ability.

Over each congregation a mature Christian minister presides as an overseer, and he, in turn, has six assistants to aid him in looking after the various features of the Christian educational program. So that the overseer and his servants may be able to give each individual in the congregation the needed personal attention, congregations are limited to not more than two hundred witnesses. When a congregation exceeds that number it is divided into two. Not to be overlooked in this program for attaining Christian maturity are the many publications, Bibles, Bible textbooks and religious journals such as The Watchtower, as well as the various assemblies. All this Christian training is done under the direction of the governing body of the Watch Tower Society.

However, in addition to God’s Word and a visible Christian organization something else is needed before Christians can “become full-grown in powers of understanding” and able “to distinguish both right and wrong.” (1 Cor. 14:20; Heb. 5:14) And what is that?

God’s Holy Spirit

Yes, even as it takes not only good seed and hard work but also favorable weather for crops to mature properly, so likewise for Christian maturity it takes not only the seed of God’s Word and a visible organization but also God’s holy spirit, as we read: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith Jehovah,” (Zech.

IN THE NEXT ISSUE

* Da th* many rollgton* repretent dWterant way* to th* true Sod or la then* Just on* way? If there I* only on* way to God, why ar* there to many religions? What Is true religion and where oan It bo found? Read the answer* In tn* article “Why Are There So Many Religions?” In the next Issue.

• Violence, immorality and disrespect for authority have Invaded the public school* In many parts of the United States. What is be. Ing done about it? What can be done to safeguard the future of your children? Don’t miss th* article “Delinquency In the Schools.” • Kenya is a country of many wonders and delights. You will enjoy reading about it in the article “Kenya—African wildlife Paradise."

4:6, AS) In passing, let it be noted that God’s holy spirit is no third person of an incomprehensible “trinity,” but is God’s active force that he bestows upon his servants so that they can accomplish his purposes regardless of what these may be.

Thus we find that it was only after Jesus was baptized and God's holy spirit in the form of a dove descended upon him that he was empowered to begin his ministry; even as it was only after God poured out his spirit upon the 120 disciples that they began to preach to all nations.

To receive God’s holy spirit we need to study his Word and associate with his visible organization. More than that, we must also pray for it and manifest “obedient hearing by faith,” even as Jesus and the apostle Paul show. All three of these, the Word, the organization and God’s spirit, are indispensable to our attaining Christian maturity.—Luke 11:13; Gal. 3:2.

Thus we can see why there is such a lack of maturity among professed Christians, as freely admitted by religious leaders, and why some Christians are mature. If we would be effective as Christian warriors and receive God’s approval we must progress to Christian maturity. (2 Tim. 2:15) If you want personal aid to attain to Christian maturity, write the publishers of this journal at 117 Adams Street, Brooklyn 1, N. Y., for such aid.

Or

//V

ALL of us are space travelers whether we realize it or not. In one year we journey approximately 186 million miles through space at a speed of 66,600 miles an hour. Our space ship is the earth. No better vehicle for space travel could be devised. It does not cramp us but gives us more than enough room; its atmosphere shields us from dangerous radiation and protects us from collisions with speeding meteorites; it supplies us with an abundance of food, water and oxygen; it maintains a comfortable temperature; and it takes care of many other needs. What more could a space traveler want?

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