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“The Watchtower”—a Bible Study AidThe Watchtower—1953 | October 15
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down in the margin for use at the congregational study?
In an article of any length there usually are subheadings, denoting a change in thought or another aspect of the main theme. Note how the succeeding paragraphs relate to it. After you have studied an article or that part scheduled for the coming congregational study, reflect. What were the main points, the new points, the points particularly helpful to me? Go over the study questions again; as you read them does the answer to each one immediately come to mind? Remember, one of the best aids to study is review.
Studying The Watchtower with another has much to recommend itself. Studying with another lightens the labor of concentration, increases the joy, makes for better understanding, as well as improved ability to express oneself in the congregational study of The Watchtower. Something for members of a family to consider.
Congregational study of The Watchtower? Yes, each week, at some fourteen thousand Kingdom Halls of Jehovah’s witnesses an hour is set aside, usually on Sunday afternoon or evening, for the study of the Bible with the help of The Watchtower. It is not enough to study privately or with other members of our family. We gain more from each lesson if we hear what others have to say in answer to its questions; they may have a different, more correct or more complete understanding of it than we do. And not only can we receive help at such a study but we can also give help to others. They need what we can give, we need what they can give. No individual member of the Christian congregation can say to another, “I have no need of you.”—1 Cor. 12:19-22, NW.
A knowledge and understanding of the Bible means light and life. To gain that knowledge and understanding we need help. The Watchtower is the pre-eminent Bible study aid. Let us show our appreciation of it by carefully reading it from cover to cover, by thoroughly studying its main articles in private or with our families, and then by regularly coming together for congregational study where we not only gain further help but are able to help our fellow Christian ministers.
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Which Side Are the Churches On?The Watchtower—1953 | October 15
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Which Side Are the Churches On?
● Under the heading “Do Lottery, Liquor Belong in Church?” the Paris, Texas, News carried the case of a woman who said nervously: “My husband is a very attractive man, but he has been addicted to gambling. . . . I have tried everything in my power to make him give up this evil habit, but it seems to have him enslaved as much as if he were a dope addict. . . . Just when I thought I was making some progress, my husband comes home with a handful of tickets being sold by my church, and waves them in my face. My church is having a lottery, and is giving away $500 in cash prizes. The first prize amounts to $200, and the smallest is $10. The tickets sold for 10 cents apiece, but this price was listed in the corner as ‘Donation—10 cents’. I suppose that was just a means of evading the laws against gambling. . . . My husband tells me that I have a lot of nerve to preach to him about the evils of gambling when my own church is running a lottery. He asks me to explain the difference between his patronizing a bookie, where he bets $2 on a race horse, and buying a handful of chances on a church lottery at a dime a ticket. . . . Is sin only that type of behavior on which the church obtains no financial returns? . . . My husband is now ridiculing my religion and calling us hypocrites.”
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