Question Box
● Should the eighty questions in the “Lamp” book be covered in personal Bible studies with interested persons?
The “Lamp” book is not intended for general public distribution. So it is not something that we offer to people as a basis for study when we first begin to call on them. There is no objection to your using it to answer some of their questions. But to obtain a personal copy, the student must make request of the congregation servant, and this he would do when he is making good progress toward dedication and baptism.
There is nothing secret about the answers to those eighty questions. The student is encouraged to study them carefully before the overseers review the material with him in preparation for his baptism. If the student needs some help with that review, there is no objection to your discussing the material together. Any discussion of the Bible and of the Society’s literature explaining the Bible is wholesome and is to be encouraged. But it would not be wise to bypass a personal study of the “Truth” book, thinking that the vital points can be learned simply by studying the eighty questions. Nor should we review those eighty questions in such a way that we are encouraging the person to memorize certain answers. The important thing is to promote understanding and appreciation of the truth, and private discussion can do much to accomplish this.