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Questions From ReadersThe Watchtower—1958 | September 1
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Questions From Readers
● Is it not true that only pessimists and alarmist say there is a moral breakdown in the world today?—J. G., United States.
Many individuals sincerely believe that nothing has happened to morals, that morals are no worse now than at any other time. Yet other well-informed persons who are really in position to evaluate present conditions cite today’s blindness and callousness over corrupt government, business and sex practices as proof that society’s morals have collapsed.
Gerald Heard, in his book The Third Morality, said: “No one can look at civilization today without the liveliest concern. That is a truism—a truism so painfully obvious that we have ceased to be able to respond to it.” A prominent news columnist wrote: “What is happening to us is essentially a moral collapse. The gap between what we pretend to believe and what we do in practice has been constantly widening.” Clergyman R. J. McCracken pointedly asks: “Is the moral tone of the nation—its politics, its business life, its literature, its theatre, its movies, its radio networks, its television stations—Christian?” Wherever you look morals are missing. Howard Vincent O’Brien is quoted as saying: “We strive to get as much as possible for doing as little as possible. . . . Simple honesty is rare enough for amazed comment. The thief has become respectable. The shadow of corruption hangs over the land. And poor witless clowns think they can do something about it by making agreements and passing laws. But the soul of man is sick. It will take more than this to cure him.”
These are the words, not of pessimists and alarmists, but of clear-thinking men who are aware of conditions and are concerned about world trends. Christendom’s moral breakdown was accurately portrayed in Bible prophecy. Isaiah wrote: “Justice is turned away backward, and righteousness standeth afar off; for truth is fallen in the street.” “The whole head [of Christendom and of the world] is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it.” The international immorality is a warning sign of this world’s complete collapse at Armageddon.—Isa. 59:14; 1:3-6, AS.
● May an anointed brother once disfellowshiped but now reinstated and on probation be used to pray at Memorial time?—C. O., United States.
It is true that if a brother has been reinstated in the congregation after disfellowshipment and is on probation he may be served with the emblems of the Lord’s Evening Meal in order that he as one of the anointed followers of the Lord Jesus Christ may obey Jesus’ command to partake thus in remembrance of him. However, when the reinstated brother is put on probation it would mean certain restrictions are imposed upon him. He may not be used in a representative capacity to speak and act for the entire congregation. For that reason even though he may be the only anointed one in the congregation he should not be used in offering prayer at the opening or the closing of the meeting, nor in prayer pronounced over either of the emblems, any more than he should be used in giving the talk regarding the Lord’s Evening Meal. If his period of probation ends before the actual arrival of the celebration, then he could be used in offering prayer.
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Fragments of the Book of DanielThe Watchtower—1958 | September 1
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Fragments of the Book of Daniel
Writing in Archaeology and Bible History, Joseph P. Free reports: “Among the manuscripts found with the Isaiah scroll in the cave at the north end of the Dead Sea, three fragments examined by John Trever have proved to be sections of the book of Daniel (1:10-16; 2:2-6; 3:23-30). The forms of the letters are similar to the Isaiah manuscript, pointing to the first or second century B.C. as the date for these fragments of the Daniel text. It is significant that the text is substantially the same as that in the Hebrew Bibles which we now have, the chief differences having to do with the spelling of words. This provides another piece of evidence for the care with which the text of the Biblical books have been brought down to us.”
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