Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY
Watchtower
ONLINE LIBRARY
English
  • BIBLE
  • PUBLICATIONS
  • MEETINGS
  • Questions From Readers
    The Watchtower—1987 | May 1
    • Let us, though, focus on still another sense in which the Bible uses koʹsmos. This is to signify the framework, order, or sphere of human life.a We encounter such a use in Jesus’ comment: “What benefit will it be to a man if he gains the whole world [koʹsmos] but forfeits his soul?” (Matthew 16:26) Clearly, Christ was not referring to a person’s ‘gaining the whole world of mankind,’ nor to ‘the whole world of people alienated from God.’ It was not humanity that a materialistic person might gain, but it was what people have, do, or arrange. This was true also of the apostle Paul’s observations about a married person’s ‘being anxious for the things of the world.’ Likewise, a Christian should not be ‘using the world to the full.’​—1 Corinthians 7:31-33.

  • Questions From Readers
    The Watchtower—1987 | May 1
    • a The above-quoted dictionary points out that even in ancient, non-Biblical Greek “kosmos is the basic term for the world-order, the world-system.”

English Publications (1950-2026)
Log Out
Log In
  • English
  • Share
  • Preferences
  • Copyright © 2026 Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Privacy Settings
  • JW.ORG
  • Log In
Share