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Maintaining the Way of FavorThe Watchtower—1954 | June 15
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of his great invisible presence.—Ezek. 38:18, 19, 21-23.
17, 18. Where does the execution of judgment begin, and who alone will find deliverance?
17 “This takes into account that it is righteous on God’s part to repay tribulation to those who make tribulation for you, but, to you who suffer tribulation, relief along with us at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with his powerful angels in a flaming fire, as he brings due punishment upon those who do not know God and those who do not obey the good news about our Lord Jesus. These very ones will pay the penalty of everlasting destruction from before the Lord and from the glory of his strength.” (2 Thess. 1:6-9, NW) The ax falls first at the roots of apostate Christendom (Jer. 25:34, 35; Luke 3:9) and, when these mercenary shepherds flee for cover, only those Christians whose faith has been tried in the fire will survive and continue to pronounce the coming judgment against heathendom and all the rest of Satan’s organization.
18 Courage, then, faithful slaves of Jehovah! “Let us not sleep on as the rest do, but let us stay awake and keep our senses.” (1 Thess. 5:6, NW) The way of maintaining the favored position is clearly marked out before us and the victory feast is certain. So press on in the advancing light of the manifestation of Christ’s presence until he is fully revealed and final and complete deliverance has been accomplished!
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Brazil’s Religious CrisisThe Watchtower—1954 | June 15
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Brazil’s Religious Crisis
When Brazil’s government proposed a law to sanction divorce, Cardinal Carmelo of São Paulo declared that the Roman Catholic Church would fight the government on the issue. This prompted one priest, “Father” Calazans, to admit that virtually all the Catholics in Brazil were Catholics in name only. For he said that what is needed besides political action on divorce is “real Catholics” who practice their religion—but these are an insignificantly small number. The vast majority of Brazil’s Catholics, declared priest Calazans, merely have “diplomatic relations” with the church on “social occasions,” such as baptisms, weddings and funerals.
So is Brazil experiencing a “religious crisis”? This was the question asked by that country’s important magazine Visão (Vision). In reply, a Catholic bishop stated that there was no “religious crisis,” because the Catholic Church is “present in every key position in the country” and even has plans for enlarging its sphere of political influence. In spite of this answer, the editor of Visão commented that regardless of outward appearances, the Catholic Church “cannot conceal the sad truth that our people are only nominally and statistically religious.” He explained that “Brazilians are much more interested in entertainment and in automobiles and refrigerators than in religion.”
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Who Converted?The Watchtower—1954 | June 15
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Who Converted?
Franciscan priest Berard Haile, who has spent 53 years working with the Navaho Indians in the southwestern United States, has, according to Time, March 15, learned bit by bit from their medicine men “what no white man had known before him: the whole of the ‘Blessing Way’—a sacred, secret collection of ceremonies covering the whole religious life of the Navaho people.” He has written this carefully searched-out information in a 1,203-page manuscript, which he hopes to have published. When the Navahos gave their approval and support, he said: “I am one of you.” But one of the tribal councilors put it another way: “You came to make Christians out of the Navahos, but the Navahos have made a Navaho out of you.”
We wonder how many other peoples look at their missionaries in the same manner.
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