-
Peace on Earth—Only a Dream?Awake!—1985 | December 22
-
-
Jesus provided this rule: “By their fruits you will recognize them.” (Matthew 7:16) This is really such a simple rule, or truth. Steve Whysall, staff writer for The Vancouver Sun, pointed this out, explaining: “Often you will hear people talk about how this or that was done in the name of Christianity and what an awful thing it was to do. Well, yes, it was awful. . . . But who ever said they were Christians who did those awful things?
“Oh, you say, the established churches say so. Well, who ever said the established churches are Christian?
“So the pope blessed Mussolini, and there is evidence of other popes who have done dastardly deeds in the past. So who said they were Christians?
“You think because a man is the pope he must be a Christian? Just because a person says ‘I am a Christian’ does not mean he is one—just as a man who claims to be a mechanic may not be a mechanic. . . .
“It’s amazing how many people think the fighting in Northern Ireland is some kind of holy war. That’s a lie.
“No Christian can war against another Christian—it would be like a man fighting himself. True Christians are brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. . . . They would never, never intentionally hurt one another.”
The Bible puts the matter very plainly, saying: “The children of God and the children of the Devil are evident by this fact: Everyone who does not carry on righteousness does not originate with God, neither does he who does not love his brother. For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should have love for one another; not like Cain, who originated with the wicked one and slaughtered his brother.”—1 John 3:10-12.
-
-
Peace on Earth—Only a Dream?Awake!—1985 | December 22
-
-
The prominent church historian C. J. Cadoux explained: “The early Christians took Jesus at his word . . . They closely identified their religion with peace; they strongly condemned war for the bloodshed which it involved; they appropriated to themselves the Old Testament prophecy which foretold the transformation of the weapons of war into the implements of agriculture.”—Isaiah 2:4.
-
-
Peace on Earth—Only a Dream?Awake!—1985 | December 22
-
-
The book The Nazi Persecution of the Churches 1933-45, by J. S. Conway, explains: “Basing their case on biblical commandment, [Jehovah’s Witnesses] refused to take up arms.” Contrasting their adherence to Christ’s instructions with the actions of others, the Roman Catholic St. Anthony Messenger observed: “Jehovah’s Witnesses stand outside the ‘establishment’ and accept no responsibility to bless whatever the secular government decides to do. Thousands of good people find such aloofness from political and economic interests closer to the spirit of the New Testament than the present sometimes cozy arrangements between Church and state.”
-