Awake!, February 22, 1964
Download: PDF — Awake!, February 22, 1964
Remember the Things God Has Done
PAGE 5
How Shall Youth Be Educated?
PAGE 8
Discoveries in Antarctica
PAGE 12
The Art of Being a Good Guest
PAGE 20
FEBRUARY 22, 1964
THE REASON FOR THIS MAGAZINE
News sources that are able to keep you awake to the vital issues of our times must be unfettered by censorship and selfish interests. "Awakel" has no fetters. It recognizes facts, faces facts, is free to publish facts. It is not bound by political ties; it is unhampered by traditional creeds. This magazine keeps itself free, that it may speak freely to you. But it does not abuse its freedom. It maintains integrity to truth.
The viewpoint of "Awake!" is not narrow, but is international. "Awake!" has its own correspondents in scores of nations. Its articles are read in many lands, in many languages, by millions of persons.
In every issue "Awake!" presents vital topics on which you should be informed. It features penetrating articles on social conditions and offers sound counsel for meeting the problems of everyday life. Current news from every continent passes in quick review. Attention is focused on activities in the fields of government and commerce about which you should know. Straightforward discussions of religious issues alert you to matters of vital concern. Customs and people in many lands, the marvels of creation, practical sciences and points of human interest are all embraced in its coverage. "Awake!" provides wholesome, instructive reading for every member of the family.
"Awakel!" 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 God's righteous new order in this generation.
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CONTENTS
Sow Righteousness, Reap
Loving Kindness 3
Remember the Things God Has Done 5
How Shall Youth Be Educated? 8
Sufficiently Equipped 11
Discoveries in Antarctica 12
Why Checks Bounce 15
Monuments of Praise 16
The Art of Being a Good Guest 2
"Undesirable Psychological Effect" 2
A Visit to "Monomino-To" 2
Bible Truth Triumphs over Spiritism 2
"Your Word Is Truth"
"A Time to Love and a Time to Hate" 2
Watching the World 2
sow
Righteousness
REAP
Loving-Kindness
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AMONG the better-known Bible principles that all who would be wise do well to be guided by is this: "Do not be misled: God is not one to be mocked. For whatever a man is sowing, this he will also reap."—Cal. 6:7.
From the context of these words it is apparent that Jehovah God is speaking to his wayward people of the ten-tribe kingdom of Israel. He is counseling them to do what is right or just, to sow seed, as it were, in righteousness. Doing so, they could hope to reap the favor or loving-kindness of their God Jehovah.
The apostle Paul makes a similar point in counseling Christians to be in subjection to the secular governments, the superior authorities or higher powers. Among the reasons he gives for Christians' doing so are: "Those ruling are an object of fear, not to the good deed, but to the bad. Do you, then, want to have no fear of the authority? Keep doing good, and you will have praise from it."—Rom. 13:3.
A principle closely related to that one, though little known, and which might be said to be a variation of it, reads: "Sow seed for yourselves in righteousness; reap in accord with loving-kindness." (Hos. 10: 12) How does this principle apply?
This same principle also finds an application to our everyday relations. At times someone may complain because it seems that a parent, or a foreman, or a schoolteacher, or an overseer in a Christian congregation, shows special love for someone. But it may well be that the recipient of that special love is more conscientious in the discharge of his duties and is not simply looking for favor. Likewise, wives who are conscientious housekeepers, mates and mothers often reap more love from their husbands than do those who put greater effort into looking pretty in order to win their husbands' approval.
The words of Hosea 10:12, 'sow righteousness, reap loving-kindness,' are also true in another way, because those in authority, by sowing righteousness, can hope to reap loving-kindness from those in subjection to them.
That is why the Bible, which contains wisdom from God, has long reminded fathers to enforce discipline in dealing with their sons: "The one holding back his rod is hating his son, but the one loving him is he that does look for him with discipline."
"Chastise your son and he will bring you rest and give much pleasure to your soul." —Prov. 13:24; 29:17.
There was a time when it was the fashion to speak against all use of the rod or corporal punishment in the training of children and to have a policy of permissiveness. It was said that to punish a child physically was to show that you hated him. However, light is beginning to dawn in some quarters, as can be seen from the following recent report:
"Another blow has been dealt to the passing fad of permissiveness. A study . . . shows that relatively tight control by mothers over the activities of their children leads to performance beyond their normal capacities in school."—New York Times, September 1, 1963.
Even more to the point is the way one American judge deals with youthful delinquents. Several had been brought to his court to face a number of serious charges. When the presiding judge put a question to one of them, the youth gave an insolent reply. Embarrassed, his mother tried to remonstrate with him, but he yelled at her, "Shut up!" This caused the judge to ask the father how long it had been since he had spanked the boy. When the father admitted that he had never once spanked the boy, the judge ordered that the boy at once be given fifteen whacks across the seat of his pants, which punishment had the desired effect. This true-life incident obviously underscores the principle that, if parents would reap their children's love, they may not pamper them but must sow righteousness.
Why do parents who sow righteousness, who are strict and enforce discipline by punishment when necessary, reap the love of their children? No doubt it is because
by this course of action they demonstrate that they love them, that they are concerned about what happens to them. This gives the children a great sense of security, and with that security goes love. This is borne out by what the Bible says about God's dealings with his children: "Whom Jehovah loves he disciplines; in fact, he scourges every one whom he receives as a son."—Heb. 12:6.
This same principle also requires that a parent practice what he preaches or what he enforces. He will not reap love if he carries on as did the religious leaders of Jesus' day, of whom Jesus said: "They say but do not perform." No, but parents must be like the apostle Paul, who could say: "Become imitators of me, even as I am of Christ." "Sowing righteousness" requires that the parent be consistent in this regard.—Matt. 23:3; 1 Cor. 11:1.
Likewise, to sow righteousness a parent must be impartial. Unless he enforces righteous requirements impartially among his children, it cannot be said that he is in fact sowing righteousness, and he cannot expect to reap loving-kindness from his offspring.
Not that parents should be resorting to the rod on the slightest provocation. After all, the pattern is set by Jehovah God. For parents to imitate Him they must balance a love of righteousness with a love for their children, at all times exercising self-control. Doing so, they will be in no danger of going to unreasonable or unjust extremes.
Let it be noted that the principle that sowing righteousness results in reaping loving-kindness applies to all human relationships, and in particular to those that, like the parental, involve the oversight or training of others.
IT IS a fine thing to remember kindnesses received and to express appreciation for them. But so many times these days people forget.
Parents, for instance, may labor hard to raise their young, but later on in life children all too often forget the things their parents did for them. But not only do many people forget their earthly parents, they also forget the things that God has done in their behalf.
The nation of Israel serves as an outstanding example of how quickly people can forget God. For years the Israelites had been slaves in Egypt, suffering great oppression at the hands of the Pharaoh. Their work load was extremely heavy, and "the sons of Israel continued to sigh because of the slavery and to cry out in complaint, and their cry for help kept going up to the true God because of the slavery. So God looked on the sons of Israel and God took notice."—Ex. 2:23, 25.
Plagues upon Egyptians
In answer to their pleas Jehovah God brought ten devastating plagues upon the Egyptians, the last of which struck dead the firstborn of both man and beast. This final stroke forced the Egyptians to release their slaves; in fact, they urged the Israelites to get out of Egypt. However, when the Egyptians changed their minds
and pursued after their departing slaves, the Israelites fearfully complained to their leader Moses: "Is it because there are no burial places at all in Egypt that you have taken us here to die in the wilderness? What is this that you have done to us in leading us out of Egypt?"—Ex. 14:11, 12.
How short were the memories of those Israelites! For had not Jehovah just demonstrated his power to deliver them by bringing ten miraculous plagues upon their Egyptian taskmasters? "They did not show any insight into [God's] wonderful works," the psalmist said. "They did not remember the abundance of his grand loving-kindness, but they behaved rebelliously at the sea, by the Red Sea."—Ps. 106:7.
Red Sea Deliverance
Although the Israelites quickly forgot what God had done for them in Egypt, God did not forget them. He opened the waters of the Red Sea to provide escape for his people. Then, as the Egyptians pursued after them into the corridor between the raised-up walls of waters, Jehovah allowed the congealed waters to surge back to engulf Pharaoh and his army. "And he proceeded to save them for the sake of his name . . . And the waters came covering their adversaries," the psalmist sang. "Then they had faith in his word; they began to sing his praise."—Ps. 106:8-12;
Ex. 14:13-15:21.
But did the Israelites maintain this thankful attitude? Did they continue to have faith in Jehovah's mighty power? "Quickly they forgot his works," the psalmist answers. "They did not wait for his counsel." In fact, a few weeks later while Moses was up on Mount Sinai receiving the Law from God, they made a molten statue of a calf. "And they began to say: 'This is your God, O Israel, who led you up out of the land of Egypt.'" —Ps. 106:13; Ex. 32:4.
How quickly the Israelites forgot Jehovah's deliverance of them! Forty years later as they were poised to enter the Promised Land, Moses observed: "The Rock who fathered you, you proceeded to forget, and you began to leave God out of memory, the One bringing you forth with childbirth pains."—Deut. 32:18.
A Warning Example
Perhaps you will shake your head in wonderment at how the Israelites could so quickly forget these mighty works of God. But the big question today is: Do you remember these many things that God has done? Or are you like succeeding generations of Israelites who heard about God's marvelous works, but due to forgetfulness did not act in harmony with what they heard? After Jehovah delivered his people into the Promised Land, the account says: "The sons of Israel did what was bad in Jehovah's eyes, and they were forgetful of Jehovah their God and went serving the Baals and the sacred poles."—Judg. 3:7.
For hundreds of years these people continued forgetting, despite Jehovah's efforts to call these to remembrance. "From the day that your forefathers came forth out of the land of Egypt until this day," Jehovah said, "I kept sending to you all my
servants the prophets, daily getting up early and sending them. But they did not listen to me, and they did not incline their ear." In fact, Jehovah lamented: "They have forgotten me days without number." —Jer. 7:24:26; 2:32; 2 Chron. 36:15, 16.
Such forgetfulness, however, is excusable only to a point. It eventually becomes unmistakable evidence of a wicked heart, and God's Word warns: "Wicked people will turn back to Sheol [the grave], even all the nations forgetting God." Since the Jews as a nation willfully turned their ear away from Jehovah's Word, He allowed the Babylonians to come in and completely devastate their land. In 607 B.C.E. Jerusalem fell and all the inhabitants were either taken captive or scattered to other places. What a calamity for forgetting God! —Ps. 9:17.
The Need to Remember
The Christian apostle Paul held forth the forgetful Israelites as a warning example to his fellow Christians in the first century. "Our forefathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the [Red] sea," he said. "Nevertheless, on most of them God did not express his approval, for they were laid low in the wilderness. Now these things became our examples," Paul explained, "and they were written for a warning to us upon whom the ends of the [Jewish] systems of things have arrived."—1 Cor. 10:1-11.
How vital it was that Christians be awake and alert to the things recorded in God's Word! They were living in momentous times. Just twenty-two years prior to the writing of this letter to the Corinthians, Jesus Christ was used to bring the various Jewish systems connected with the law covenant to a conclusion with the sacrifice of his life, A.D. 33. (Heb. 9:26) So even though priests continued to offer sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem and many Jews continued to keep the various sabbaths, the observance of these things was ineffectual in God's sight.
His adverse judgment was soon to bring about the complete dissolution of these Jewish systems of things at Jerusalem.
Jesus Christ warned of this execution of God's judgment, saying to the Jews: "The days will come upon you when your enemies will build around you a fortification with pointed stakes and will encircle you and distress you from every side, and they will dash you and your children within you to the ground." What were Christians to do in the face of this fearful execution upon the disobedient Jewish nation? Jesus said: "When you see Jerusalem surrounded by encamped armies, . . . begin fleeing to the mountains."—Luke 19:41-44; 21:20-22.
Only those who remembered Jesus' words and put faith in them acted for the preservation of their lives. For, true to Jesus' warning, in the year 66 the Roman general Cestius Gallus marched in with his army and bottled up the Jews in Jerusalem. This was the signal Jesus gave for flight. But how could Christians flee with a hostile army ringing them in? The opportunity came when, for no apparent reason, Gallus withdrew his army. Those who failed to heed Jesus' instructions to get out of Jerusalem were trapped when the Roman armies returned, A.D. 70. A terrible slaughter followed, resulting in an incredible toll of 1,100,000 dead and 97,000 captives.*
How Well Do You Remember?
Today mankind faces a slaughter of immeasurably greater proportions—not because of a possible nuclear war, but, rather,
because God's unalterable Word designates this as the time for executing judgment against this wicked world. Jesus' farreaching prophecy concerning events that would immediately precede this fiery execution is now in course of fulfillment. Prominent features of that prophecy such as world war, famine, pestilence, earthquakes, the increase of lawlessness and the agitation of the restless seas of humanity are everywhere in evidence.—Matt. 24:3-12; Luke 21:25, 26.
Particularly noteworthy is the fulfillment of the key feature of the sign. Jesus said that "this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come." In keeping with this prediction, God has sent forth his witnesses. Like God's prophets of old, they encourage the people to remember the things God has done. Read God's Word, they urge. Observe how faithful he has always been to his promises. Consider present-day events in the light of the Bible prophecies concerning the "last days." If a person does, he will find that the things foretold in these prophecies dovetail perfectly with the events occurring today.—Matt. 24:14; 2 Tim. 3:1-5; 2 Pet. 3:3, 4.
What, then, will you do in the face of the evidence? Do not be like the Israelites of old who "were continually making jest at the messengers of the true God and desplaining his words and mocking at his prophets." Those persons forgot God, and suffered terribly as a result. Do you also have to wait until God begins his execution before you respond? Then it will be too late. Inform yourself now. Study God's Word. Listen to his witnesses. By seeking his favor now you will be assured of protection when, in the near future, God executes those who have forgotten him. —2 Chron. 36:15-17; Zeph. 2:3.
HOW shall youth be educated? That is the burning question in many lands, especially in the United States and England. Shall the emphasis be on "progressive education," which has been said to be the "informal learning of experience and activity work, placing much less stress on formal, systematic assignment, discipline and obedience," or should public schools prepare children for adult responsibilities through systematic instruction in such subjects as reading, writing and arithmetic, and, when necessary, stressing discipline and obedience?
For some forty years the ideas of "progressive education" have been prominent in the educational systems of many nations; this being particularly true of the United States, where it originated. But now ever so many are registering discontent with these ideas.
Thus the recently appointed superintendent of schools of New York City states, among other things: "Our essential business is the development of the child's intellect." But if public schoolteachers submit to the pressures to teach extraneous subjects, "then we might as well give up the pretense of being educators and hang out our shingle as baby sitters." There is no use in pretending that we are teaching history or biology to a tenth-grade student who reads at a fourth-grade level."
Also registering discontent with the modern trend in education and its results is William C. Warren, dean of a New York law school, who said: "Few of our entering students, however carefully selected, possess those skills [of writing and speaking grammatically and literately] to
the extent needed for law study." And observes I. L. Kandel, professor emeritus of education, Teachers College, Columbia University: "It is frequently admitted, first, that the high school is trying to give some form of secondary education to pupils who have only fourth-, fifth-, or sixth-grade reading and arithmetic ability, and second, that about 60 percent of the pupils in high schools are wasting their time and making no progress in education."
How strongly many parents feel about "progressive education" was demonstrated within the past year by parents in California, where education had been more "progressive" than anywhere else in the United States. In a statewide election, those parents, by a majority of 250,000, elected a small-town superintendent of schools to be their state superintendent. Why was this relatively unknown man able to win out over an opponent that had the support of the governor and state political, educational and even labor organizations? He answers:
"For one reason only, I alone stood up and said loudly and clearly that Progressive Education had led California up a cut-de-sax [blind alley], and that I opposed it with every ounce of fervor and strength which I possessed.
All . . . at my opponent's disposal amounted to very little, after all, compared with California parents' genuine distress over the fact that their children were just not learning the things which they felt to be important."
Taking a stand against "progressive education" are also some of the leading educators in the United States, such as Robert M. Hutchins, one-time president of the University of Chicago, chairman of the board of editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., and president of the Fund of the Republic. He insists that "ideal education is one that develops intellectual power," one that concentrates on basic skills, not one that stresses social adjustment.
Typical of the discontent voiced elsewhere are the hard-hitting articles that appear in the press of England, such as "Time the Three R's Came Back." Among other things, it showed that even among candidates for admission to England's leading universities the standard of English was "regrettably low." Especially devastating is the evidence found in the recently published book Spoil the Child An Examination of Modern Education by Lucy Street.
As has well been observed, "progressive education" has failed in two fundamental respects: It has not educated children in what they really need to know, especially the mastering of the "three R's," reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic, and it has failed to teach children all they can learn, as can be seen by their learning it through remedial courses. Discrediting the "three R's" has resulted in the need of "six R's," remedial reading, remedial 'riting, remedial 'rithmetic.
A Wrong Foundation
What is wrong with "progressive education"? First of all, its very foundation.
Its author, John Dewey (born 1859, died 1952), taught a philosophy directly based on the evolution theory, believing that only what can be proved by experimentation is to be accepted as truth. His was a naturalistic, materialistic philosophy that denied the existence of the supernatural. "Progressive education" not only has taken a dim view of faith in God and in the Bible, but it has even disparaged the voice of the past. The best that man has previously produced and by which he has been guided is held to be irrelevant.
Dewey's philosophy led him and his followers into the error of belittling discipline, authority, obedience and systematic study. They stressed growth as a goal in itself rather than its leading to any goal. They proceeded on the theory that children had instinctive drives that needed only the opportunity to express themselves and to mature.
But education of youth must be implemented by appeal to an authority, and the greatest authority is that of God the Creator and his Word, the Bible. That is why God's Word says: "The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom." "They have rejected the very word of Jehovah, and what wisdom do they have?" Man needs a guide. Men having gone before him can help, but
the best guide is God's Word.
"It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step." Further, children are like vines that need to be trained and pruned to become fruitful: "Foolishness is tied up with the heart of a boy; the rod of discipline is what will remove it far from him."—Ps. 111:10; Jer. 8:9; 10:23; Prov. 22:15.
Its Basic Flaws
In view of the foregoing it is not surprising that "progressive education" developed many flaws. So many, in fact, that in time Dewey himself lashed out against the extremes to which some carried his "progressive education."
One basic flaw of "progressive education" is the great challenge it presents to the teacher as to her abilities, her skills, her resourcefulness, her integrity, her good judgment and her dedication to the teaching profession. Apparently few teachers, relatively speaking, have the stature to meet this challenge successfully.
Another basic flaw is confusing work with play. It may be more enjoyable to develop muscles by play than by work, but it certainly is not more efficient. Likewise, to develop intellectual power efficiently takes more than play; it takes work.
Closely related to that flaw is the excessive stress on appealing to a pupil's interest. True, things are learned more easily that way, but, judging by the results, it is obvious that more than self-initiated interest is required if pupils are to master the "three R's." Making learning interesting was given precedence over what was being learned, which was like putting the cart before the horse. The failure of traditional education to make learning sufficiently interesting was not nearly as serious a flaw as that of greatly watering down learning for the sake of making it interesting.
Still another serious flaw of "progressive education" is automatic promotion on the premise that it gives a pupil an inferiority complex if he is left behind. But does he feel any less inferior if he is unable to keep up with the rest of his class? No doubt this failure to solve the problem largely accounts for so many "dropouts," pupils quitting school before completing it. Automatic promotion merely denies the existence of failures, it does not remedy them, and it causes a diploma to be nothing more than a certificate of attendance.
Crediting the child with too much wisdom is another serious flaw of progressive education. It would teach him democratically, as though he were an adult; it encourages self-expression when he has nothing to express, allows him to elect subjects when he lacks the wisdom for it. A child needs to be told what is for his best. The stress of "child-centered" education has all too often resulted in a child-dominated education.
Paradoxically, "progressive education," while overestimating the child's wisdom, underestimates his intellectual capacity. With its theories of "readiness" and permissiveness, the child is actually held back by a policy of postponement, pampering and spoon-feeding. A child can be taught to read at five if not before, but Dewey recommended waiting until his seventh or eighth birthday. Representative of the attitude of many of his followers is the remark of one of them when asked about teaching five-year-olds to read and write: "Oh, we don't bother about that too much. We know they'll be alright when they're eighteen." But are they?
Confusing the child's basic needs with his desires is another serious flaw of "progressive education." How can a child know what are his basic needs? His teachers must awaken these in him. Going hand in hand with catering to the child's desires and "felt needs" has been the slowing down of the child's intellectual development and the speeding up of his social growth by means of dancing lessons, social adjustment, and so forth.
The remedy, of course, is to teach youth
the way he should be taught, by returning to the basic essentials and enforcing discipline and requiring
a disturbing extent upon lack of interest rather than knowledge." And says a late 1963 report, published in the New York Times, September 1, 1963, regarding a United States study: "Parents' interest in the activities of their children appears to
COMING IN THE NEXT ISSUE
Christian Worship—Emotional or Rational and Scriptural?
The Art of Cooking.
diminish after their first child. It is frequently the second child, the study found, who watches
obedience. It is indeed of interest that in times past such textbooks as McGuffey's readers featured Bible history and Bible principles.
Friendly Barmuda.
Is Gambling Right for Christians?
The Parents' Responsibility
Before parents become too indignant at the folly and at the waste of youthful time and energies and the parents' money—"progressive education" costs far more than traditional education—it would be well for parents themselves to do a little
television eleven or more hours a week, dislikes reading for
pleasure, is 'passive' in musical interests and—as a result of all this—receives average or below average grades in school." The same report went on to show that where parents were very strict their children got above average grades.
'We used to go to school to learn arithmetic and our parents took us to the zoo, but now teachers take the children to the zoo and parents teach them arithmetic.' is
soul searching.
Could countless thousands of pupils be many classes behind in their reading skill if their parents really cared? Does it not concern you when your son in the tenth grade has only a fourth-grade reading ability? Are you not concerned with what he is learning, how he is being taught and what progress he is making? True, modern report cards do not help you much, but they are no excuse for parental indifference. And there is widespread parental indifference.
the way one wit put it. But how unfortunate is the child who is not taught arithmetic by either parent or the schoolteacher, nor reading and writing either! True, parents cannot assume the responsibility of teaching their children all school subjects, but they can see to it that they become skilled in the most basic one of all, reading, for upon it all other education depends. More than that, by instilling habits of industry, conscientiousness, a thirst for knowledge and a respect for authority,
A survey in England in 1961 revealed that "people's views of education, even where it touches them closely, are based to
parents can largely counteract the deleterious effects of modern "progressive education."
SUFFICIENTLY EQUIPPED
It is well known that an octopus has eight arms, but did you know that an octopus has 2,000 odd suckers on those arms? The suction cups on the tentacles help the octopus trap small creatures.
Discoveries in ANTARCTICA
By "Awake!" correspondent In New Zealand
FROM the window of our plane we watch the traffic of Christchurch, New Zealand, get smaller and smaller. With a last glimpse at civilization we settle back for a ten-hour trip that is taking us south to the bottom of the globe. We are going to Antarctica, to a continent approximately twice the size of the United States and containing four-fifths of the world's ice. There hundreds of scientists from nine nations are doing polar research and our interest is to find out what discoveries they have made.
We are only five and a half hours out of Christchurch when the northern edge of the great ice pack comes into view. Excitement is high. Before long our flight of 2,200 miles will be over and we will be landing at McMurdo Sound on a runway of ice more than eleven feet thick.
McMurdo Sound is a stretch of frozen sea fifty miles wide separating Antarctica from Ross Island. Here at McMurdo in 1955 the United States set up a supply base for their "Operation Deep Freeze."
To welcome us as we step out of our Super Constellation is a dry 20\circ temperature. It's summer in Antarctica! A look around reveals on one side of the Sound the blue mountains of the Continent and on the other side Ross Island, where Antarctica's only active volcano, 13,350-foot Mt. Erebus, trails a white stream of smoke.
Weather Observations
One of the main reasons scientists are in Antarctica is for meteorological observations. Authorities are convinced that such a study will be of great assistance in the forecast of weather conditions earthwide.
From the information already gathered, weathermen believe the world is getting warmer by about two or three degrees every hundred years.
Another interesting observation concerning the weather came from British explorer Sir Vivian Fuchs after he led an expedition over 2,158 uncharted miles in the first land crossing of Antarctica. Commenting on the finding of coal in the Theron Mountains and limestone boulders containing fossils of a rare group, he said: "Like other expeditions, our discovery of coals and fossil plants shows that a much warmer climate existed over the Antarctic in time past. It seems that either the whole surface of the globe was warmer or that the Antarctic continent was not at that time situated at the South Pole."
Minerals, Earthquakes, Volcanoes
Geologists have been busy too. The Japanese claim to have discovered deposits of pitchblende containing a large proportion of radium. Altogether, 172 different kinds of metal have been found in Antarctica but not in sufficient quantity for commercial mining. However, less than one percent of the continent has been geologically surveyed.
There are no earthquakes in Antarctica. New Zealand seismologists at Scott Base, a few miles from McMurdo Sound, say a possible reason for this is the ice cap covering the continent.
Quakes that have been recorded seem to originate near the Ross Sea. It is believed, therefore, that these are "icequakes," probably caused when icebergs break off from the Ross ice shelf.
An extinct volcano, said to be "the southernmost volcano in the world," was discovered in 1962 by an Ohio State University geological field party. It is located 220 miles from the South Pole.
Fiord, Seawater, Island Discoveries
Another discovery was that of a huge flord under 900 to 1,500 feet of ice. Seismic soundings indicated that the water below the ice ranged in depth from 1,000 to 7,000 feet.
In what direction do Antarctic seawaters move? Oceanographers took samples from depths of up to 13,000 feet and measured salinity and temperature. They found that when cold water from the south converged with warm water from the north it moved in an east-west direction, and the temperature in just a short distance rose from about 3 3\circ to 4 0\circ Economists learned that Antarctic seas produce a tremendous food supply, possibly more so per acre than land or water anywhere else in the world.
Antarctic maps are being brought up to date. Early explorers were often misled by mirages. Sometimes mountain peaks were plotted where only featureless plateau stood. Flights over these remote areas now enable map makers to make corrections. New discoveries, such as two islands found in 1958 by Americans flying in a helicopter over the Ross Sea, are also noted.
Penguin Navigation, Medical Finds
Penguins navigate by means of the sun. That is the belief of two University of Wisconsin scientists who made experiments with a hundred penguins. The birds were released on flat, featureless ice plains as
much as 600 miles from their rookeries. They generally headed for home in a northerly direction, traveling in straight lines when the sky was clear but not so when it was overcast. Penguins subjected to artificial light were confused on release and headed off in different directions.
Scientists are also studying the penguins in an effort to combat the common cold. Tests reveal that the birds carry built-in thermostats. One emperor penguin was let stand for a considerable time in a temperature of 8 5\circ , then suddenly put into a freezer where the temperature was 5 5\circ below zero. The bird panted at + 8 5\circ and shivered a little at - 5 5\circ , but its temperature remained almost constant throughout the ordeal.
Incidentally, the common cold does not exist in germ-free Antarctica. One person remarked: "The only time anyone caught a cold was when new arrivals came in." "No germs or pests can live there," commented a professor. Another doctor, anticipating the possibilities, stated: "In the only germ-free area in the world just think
of the experiments medical people can do."
But for those considering Antarctica as a future health resort, remember that open wounds heal slowly here and pain from "dry socket" is common in the case of tooth extractions.
Do people become acclimatized to the Antarctic weather? A British doctor says they can become used to it. Being out in the cold two hours a day acclimatizes a man, and if he is given two blankets and told to go to sleep in 32\circ temperature he will not wake up two hours later when the blankets are taken away.
We could go on to learn of discoveries made in the study of snow density, stratification, snow crystals, the variation of snowdrifts, the earth's magnetism and electrical currents, and the behavior of particles in the upper atmosphere, but let us deviate to examine the daily life at a typical polar base.
Life at an Antarctic Base
It is a one-sex environment. No women live in Antarctica because, as one authority said, they would require special accommodation and conveniences. Not that they cannot take the cold as well as men, but problems would arise on field trips. Two man teams sometimes pull a sledge carrying as much as 750 pounds. They live in tents six feet six inches square and never wash.
At McMurdo Sound street signs identify Forrestal Avenue, Burke Boulevard and Honey Bucket Lane. In strategic locations are thirty-four houses. Some are shaped like half-moons. Inside each hut an oil stove burns with a can of water set nearby to add moisture to the dry air.
The men keep active in a seven-hour workday during winter. They erect new huts, make alterations in others, carry out a maintenance program on mobile equipment, keep generator engines running, prepare stores and rations for next summer's field work, and repair sledging and climbing equipment.
Life at the base is not monotonous. One technical officer said: "The first winter is very exciting. You are always running out to look at the aurora and measuring temperatures and wind speeds. The second winter is interesting. But you know what is coming."
When the men are not working, their leisure hours are taken up with movies, unrehearsed concerts, educational courses and art classes in leatherwork, ceramics, painting, and so forth.
Four nights a week at Scott Base a radiotelephone service operates between Antarctica and New Zealand, enabling men to talk with friends and families.
Some use the extra time to meditate. Said one meteorologist, after spending a year at the South Pole: "In the long winter night I have had time to think about a lot of things, and I have found out more about myself."
To boost morale at the Arundsen-Scott South Pole station in 1962, marigolds were grown there for the first time. Lights were switched on and off to simulate day and night and the plants were nurtured in chemically compounded soil.
When winter begins to lose its grip and the warmer months of October-February set in, there is plenty of outdoor work to do. A new runway must be chipped and leveled out from the reformed bay ice for the coming season's support planes. This job alone takes 100,000 man-hours. Then numerous field trips must be undertaken.
The Future
Antarctic research will undoubtedly bring about changes in the future. Within the next ten years an airline route may be going over the South Pole. This would cut 1,500 miles off the trip from Australia to South Africa and more off the trip to South America.
Military men have their eyes on Antarctica as a possible rocket-launching base. Radiation that girdles the globe and reaches maximum intensity above the equator is nonexistent at the Pole. Manned space vehicles would find this a convenient escape route to the moon.
A more pleasant prospect is Antarctica's becoming a tourist resort. "It is a tourist's paradise," said one man. During the summer-long daylight there would be ample opportunity for skiing on some of the most beautiful slopes in the world, besides ice skating, ice yachting, tobogganing and mountainering. There are incomparable scenery and natural attractions such as penguins, seals and killer whales. Seal steak would highlight a tourist menu. "It would be a healthy holiday," said two veteran members of the Australian Antarctic expeditions.
While some speculate on the future of
Antarctica, research groups continue to explore this vast continent for new discoveries. Crevasses, extreme cold weather, winds whipping up to a hundred miles an hour and the darkness of the long Antarctic night are endured in the name of science. Ships pound their way through heavy ice to bring supplies. Planes brave turbulent storms to distribute these supplies to bases dotting the continent.
How long will it continue? For at least the next ten years, stated Rear Admiral David Tyree, one of the United States commanders of "Operation Deep Freeze." "As new scientific discoveries are made," he said, "they must be followed up, and we are setting up a long-range program."
But for us the time has come to leave the white wonderland of ice and snow and return to cement pavements, traffic lights, office buildings, trees, parks and the warmth of a summertime in Christchurch, where we await further reports of new discoveries in Antarctica.
Why Checks Bounce
Throughout the United States about 300,000 checks bounce every day, indicating that many persons do not observe all the rules for writing checks. Most of the checks bounce because of insufficient funds. The persons writing the checks may not have kept an accurate record of their dwindling balance or they may have forgotten to deposit their payroll check. Then again, these persons may have written a check against uncollected funds, the bank not yet having received the money from the bank on which the check was drawn. In this regard the New York State Bankers Association states:
"Despite efforts by bankers to impress upon customers the importance of allowing time for collection of checks deposited before drawing against their proceeds, some people think that they can draw checks immediately. . . . Others
who know better, also may draw against uncollected funds, hoping that their checks will not clear to their bank before the uncollected funds become collected, or that the nice, friendly bankers will accommodate them, or that the bank bookkeeper will not spot and report this abuse of good banking practice."
Since it does not reflect well upon the person who writes a check that bounces, a Christian should be careful, if he chooses to write checks. Be sure to affix your signature to the check and date it accurately. A check that is six months old is regarded as stale and need not be honored; hence at the beginning of a year a check that is inadvertently dated January 7, 1963, on January 7, 1964, would be technically too old. Checks so misdated are often returned unpaid.
By "Awake!" correspondent in Great Britain
MONUMENTS declare what has happened in the past. Accurate likenesses and well-phrased inscriptions cause events and individuals to be remembered over many years. Either by deliberate design or by mere chance preservation, monuments in great variety have survived the ravages of time. Some honor great men, kings, heroes, explorers, priests. Some memorialize an ancient battle. Others testify to the accomplishments of a past civilization or tell of
their religious activities and deities. After the individuals die, the systems end and the cities crumble away, the monuments remain to remind succeeding generations of a glory that once existed.
Due to its dry climate
and the protective layers of sand that quickly mantle disused structures, the land of Egypt is a veritable treasure-house of ancient monuments revealing ways of life throughout its long history. Its pyramids, sphinxes, tombs, temple ruins and obelisks are well known the world around. Recently bids to preserve the ancient temple of Abu Simbil from the rising waters of the Aswan Dam focused public attention on the elaborate tomb of Rameses II with its statues to Ptah, the creator deity, and Ra, the sun-god.
Cleopatra's Needle
A well-known example of an ancient Egyptian monument now stands many miles from its original site, located on the
Thames Embankment in London, England. Known familiarly as "Cleopatra's Needle," it is a fine example of a huge monumental obelisk. Despite its name, its connections with Cleopatra are rather obscure. Just before her death she may have arranged the transfer to Alexandria of this "Needle," a gigantic stone standing some 70 feet high and weighing 186 tons.
Among various facets of early Egyptian life that it brings to our attention, it testifies to the remarkable
technical skill of the architects and masons of that ancient civilization. Hewn as one slab out of the red granite quarries at Syne (the presentday Aswan), it was transported 700 miles to its first site in Heliopolis and cleverly erected
there on its prepared pedestal. Like all the other fifty obelisks discovered, including some over 300 tons in weight, the great four-sided tapering column is precisely perpendicular, the product of accurate workmanship.
At Heliopolis, a city located about five miles northeast of present-day Cairo, it stood as one of a pair of giant pillars before the great temple of the sun, an outstanding religious center in its day. Heliopolis is known to Bible students under the name On. The father-in-law of the Hebrew patriarch Joseph was a leading priest in the temple there. (Gen. 41:45; Ezek. 30:17) The same city also bears the name Beth-shemesh, and Jeremiah 43:13 makes reference to pillars that were erected there.
The two pillars before the temple remained on their site from the days of the ancient Pharaohs until the Roman Augustus Caesar had them moved to adorn the Palace of the Caesars at Alexandria, on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt, about 12 B.C. From there they were transported by sea to their present locations—one to London in 1878 and the other to Central Park, New York, in 1880.
their god Horus. It is a "monument of praise" indeed, for it consists of a stream of high-sounding, flowery praises to Horus, son of the god Osiris and goddess Isis, and his associates, and of Thothmes himself. Here is a translation of one of these vertical columns: "Horus, beloved of Osiris, King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Ra-men-Kheper [i.e., the particular threefold godhead from which Thothmes claimed descent], making offerings, beloved of the
Hieroglyphics
An outstanding feature of these obelisks is the example they preserve of ancient hieroglyphic writing. These fascinating symbols, combining pictures and letters, remained meaningless and dead for many centuries, until the discovery of the famed Rosetta Stone, which bore identical inscriptions in both hieroglyphic and Greek characters. With the code cracked, the message could be read, and Cleopatra's Needle speaks today of the religious observances of those ancient days.
gods, supplying the altar of the three Spirits of Heliopolis, with a sound life hundreds of thousands of festivals of thirty years, very many; Son of the Sun, Thothmes, divine Ruler, beloved of Haremakhu [i.e., another sun-god], everliving." In honoring his gods, Thothmes thus honored himself, getting his own name on each face of the monument, with various flattering descriptions.
A second set of hieroglyphics was added a century or two later by another sumworshiping Pharaoh, Rameses II. He had
There are two separate sets of hieroglyphics on the London "Needle." Right after its erection at Heliopolis, its builder, Pharaoh Thothmes III, had his workmen chisel out a single column of characters vertically down the center of each face. These inscriptions proclaim the fact that the monuments were set up to praise and honor Horus, the god of the rising sun, the sun being the central object of their wor
inscribed two extra columns of praise to Horus on each face of the pillar, one down each side of Thothmes' prose, totaling an additional eight columns of praise to this god, and, of course, making liberal mention of the arrogant, haughty ruler Rameses. Concerning this despot, thought to be the Pharaoh that oppressed the Israelites until his hold on them was broken by the ten plagues and the Red Sea destruction, one
ship. Thothmes names as the one responsi these great columns, which he says were originally capped with gold' (possibly copper), to catch and reflect the first rays of the rising sun.
New Bedford description, our historian records: "Amid a great show of regard for the deities of his country, and for the ordinances of the established worship, he contrived that the chief result of all that he did for religion should be the glorification of himself."
Whereas other kings were deified after death, "it remained for Rameses to associate himself during his lifetime with such leading deities as Ptah, Ammon, and Horus, and to claim equally with them the religious regards of his subjects."
(Ancient Egypt, by Rawlinson, Vol. II, page 318) On Cleopatra's Needle such a claim is often repeated. Listen to one extract regarding himself: "The son of Ra, born of the gods, holding his dominions with power, victory, glory; the bull of princes, king of kings, lord of the two countries . . ."
Of interest to the Christian student is the frequent appearance of the crux ansata or ankh, the early form of a cross with a loop or handle. As a hieroglyphic character it stood for the word "life," portraying the combined male and female sex organs from which the life of a new generation issues. Cross adoration stems from the ancient phallic worship of Babylon and early Egypt. With such a sordid background it has no connection with Christ's death, as commonly held in Christendom. (See The Two Babylons, by A. Hislop, pages 197-201; What Has Religion Done for Mankind?, published by the Watchtower Society, page 110.)
Another interesting symbol that frequently occurs is the scarab beetle, representing resurrection and future life. The beetle's habit of burying its eggs in the sand, from which life later reappeared, and its dependence on the sun's warmth to incubate its eggs, tied in with their belief that the sun-gods were the source of present life and future immortality.
What It Means to Us Today
the adoration given to the sun and other natural objects and the unclean practices associated with such worship. Besides this we can get some conception of the conditions in which the Israelites slaved under their Egyptian taskmasters, laboring in the construction of the cities and other structures designed to praise men and their gods. We glimpse too the atmosphere in which Moses lived as a young man when being "instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians" (Acts 7:22), and the type of ruler that Moses and Aaron faced with their bold demands for release of the Israelite slaves. Interestingly, some of the gods depicted on the "Needle" were the very ones shown to be powerless as the famous ten plagues rained blow after blow against their fields of worship.
A visit to view this monument on London's Embankment or the corresponding one in New York's Central Park reminds one, then, of some of the religious beliefs of ancient Egypt, such as the multitude of gods and goddesses and trinities of gods,
Though viewed with reverential awe by those ancient worshipers, it is no longer the monument of praise that it was. It has become merely a tourist attraction, an archaeological curiosity. Few tourists can read its message or trouble to search out a translation of its inscriptions. The god it honors and its associated religion have become unknown to most people. The whole system of worship is dead and gone, its observances perpetuated nowhere. This obelisk on the Thames Empankment in London reminds us of this fact too.
Monuments to the True God
If the material creation of Almighty God Jehovah and men's systems of worship warrant monuments of praise to proclaim their relative greatness, and if men thought fit to have their names and deeds memorialized by such artifacts, should not Jehovah God himself be honored in a fitting way? Would we not look for tangible monuments of praise to the True God, appropriately reflecting his infinite greatness, perfect qualities and his supremacy over all other gods, real and imagined?
The whole material universe stands as one great monument of praise. The psalmist viewed it this way: "The heavens are declaring the glory of God; and of the work of his hands the expanse is telling. One day after another day causes speech to bubble forth, and one night after another night shows forth knowledge." (Ps. 19:1, 2) The silent "voice" with which such wonders speak, by day and by night, speaks the world around and is heard by all.—Rom. 1:20.
The Bible is another fine monument that praises Jehovah God. It recounts his mighty acts and declares his Name and matchless qualities. Through its pages we learn of his eternal past, including his control of matters in the days of the Pharaohs, his present and future purposes, and we thus come to know him as "the King of eternity, incorruptible, invisible, the only God." (1 Tim. 1:17) Our appreciation for Jehovah is thus enhanced by factual and sound reasoning. He is the only One worthy of such praise and honor!
Christian worshipers of Jehovah also
praise God as they engage in their ministry. Without drawing attention to themselves, they "declare abroad the excellences" of Jehovah God by word of mouth and godly conduct. They do so intelligently and voluntarily.—1 Pet. 2:9.
These greatest monuments of praise never become mere curiosities, never fade or lose their meaning. Rather, they increase their praises as man learns more about the wonders of creation, as the Bible becomes understood more clearly and as the number of human praisers increases. The material creation will remain forever as permanent testimony to its Maker. Concerning the Bible we read: "The saying of Jehovah endures forever." (1 Pet. 1:25) Human praisers of Jehovah will continue to testify to God's greatness eternally, either as immortal spirit creatures in the heavens with Christ or as perfect humans here on earth. Such monuments will continue long after Cleopatra's Needle and similar memorials have crumbled and gone, like the dead systems they seek to perpetuate.
Appreciation for "The Watchtower"
A letter sent by a woman in Toronto to the Watch Tower Society's branch office in Canada says: "Several weeks ago I read a Watchtower placed with one of my friends by one of your ministers. As I'm very interested in religions and philosophies, I would appreciate some literature concerning your religion. Also, I'm enclosing a cheque for $2.00 for subscriptions to your magazines, Awake! and Watchtower. In case you're interested, I've studied every conceivable religion possible for the last year. While I was in university, I became, as a student, involved with agnostic and atheistic teachings. But, only because the agnostics and atheists had nothing better to offer, philosophically speaking, I became interested in the study of different religions and the Bible.
FEBRUARY 22, 1964
"During this year, I've pored through dogma, tradition and ritual, listened to emotion-packed pulpits, discussed on several occasions the Bible and its teachings with the clergy and on many occasions with its members and have still found nothing to sway my earlier discontent, i.e., the conviction that a fairly intelligent person must compromise some of his common sense and integrity to believe in any of them. That is, until I read your Watchtower—it seemed to me that all the relevant questions I'd been asking were suddenly answered in a clear, decisive manner and I felt, for the first time since I'd begun studying religion, that there might be at least one that didn't have to rationalize its incongruities with the Bible, but rather teach the Bible. I shall look forward to receiving the Awakel and The Watchtower."
TO BE a good guest is an art. It is a skill that involves both mind and heart. What kind of guest are you? When you take your leave, is your host sorry to see you go?
Of course, if you are to be a guest you should want to be a good one. It has been said that what makes a good guest is personality, manners and delicacy of feeling. Such may be true, but more basic and more likely to be in the reach of all is the requirement of empathy, that is, the ability to put yourself in the shoes of another, of your host or hostess in this instance. In other words, it means letting yourself be guided by the rule Jesus gave: "Just as you want men to do to you, do the same way to them."—Luke 6:31.
your pleasant words," your compliments for his hospitality.—Prov. 23:6-8.
To be a good guest you must, in the first place, know whether to accept a certain invitation or not. Some invitations it may not be wise to accept: "Do not feed yourself with the food of anyone of ungenerous eye, nor show yourself craving his tasty dishes. For as one that has calculated within his soul, so he is. 'Eat and drink,' he says to you, but his heart itself is not with you. Your morsel that you have eaten, you will vomit it out, and you will have wasted
Even where the invitation is such that you would like to accept it, it often is well to express a measure of reluctance, or at least not too great a readiness to accept the invitation. In this way the sincerity and strength of the invitation can be made to appear. Thus, in the instance of Jesus and his two disciples on the way to Emmaus on the morning of his resurrection, we read that "he made as if he was journeying on farther." This caused them to use "pressure upon him, saying: 'Stay with us, because it is toward evening and the day has already declined.'" The same tactic is implied in regard to an invitation that Paul and his associates received to be the guests of Lydia, a recent convert to Christianity, for Luke tells us that "she just made us come."—Luke 24:28, 29; Acts 16:15.
However, should the would-be host be a diffident person or one of humble circumstances, any undue reluctance on your part might discourage him and so it would be better to answer such a one with an expansive, "Why, I'd be glad to come!" In fact, under certain circumstances it may even be wise to invite yourself, in the case of a deserving person whom you are in position to help.
Here Jesus also set the example. When he saw the tiny tax collector, Zacchaeus, up in a tree, where he had climbed in order to be able to see Jesus, Jesus called out to him: "Zacchaeus, hurry and get down, for today I must stay in your house." With that Zacchaeus "hurried and got down and with rejoicing he received him as guest."—Luke 19:2-8.
To be a good guest also includes knowing how long to stay. Bear in mind that, while you may have a two-week vacation, it might be convenient for your host to have you only a week. Far better is it to have your host genuinely thinking and perhaps asking, "Why go so soon?" than to have him wondering when you will go. The same applies to how often you call. You may find it a pleasure to repeatedly drop in on a close neighbor, but pertinent are the words of the wise man: "Make your foot rare at the house of your fellow man, that he may not have his sufficiency of you and certainly hate you."—Prov. 25:17.
Good Manners
Good manners have been defined as showing consideration in little things. A good guest will find many opportunities to show good manners or consideration. He can do so by coming at the appointed time and in a way that will be the least trouble to his host; giving thought to what is most convenient to his host rather than what is most convenient to himself. He will be courteous, polite, agreeable. He will avoid doing things that may offend the senses, be they those of hearing, seeing, smelling or feeling. He will be neither overanxious to please nor indifferent about pleasing his host. He will avoid extremes but be reasonable, letting his "reasonableness become known to all men."—Phil. 4:5.
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