Page 3: Yet, one of Job's contemporaries, a young man named Elihu, felt obliged to correct him. In effect, Elihu said that Job was giving excessive attention to himself and to those around him. In Job chapter 37, we find some other specific and wise advice that can be of real value to each of us. - Job 1:1-3; 32:1-33:12.
Note: Elihu was a wrathful man.
Job 32:2-3 Then the wrath of Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was aroused against Job; his wrath was aroused because he justified himself rather than God. Also against his three friends his wrath was aroused, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job.
Page 3: Job's three supposed friends pointed out at length areas in which they believed that Job had erred in thought or deed. (Job 15:1-6, 16; 22:5-10) Elihu patiently waited till that dialogue was over.
Note: Elihu was a wrathful man.
Job 32:5 When Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, his wrath was aroused.
Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Pages 3-4: Then he spoke with insight and wisdom. He made many valuable points, but note this key thought: "Do give ear to this, O Job; stand still and show yourself attentive to the wonderful works of God." - Job 37:14.
Correction: God did not think too highly of the wrathful Elihu.
Job 38:1-2 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said: "Who is this (Elihu) who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?"
Page 4: Chapter 38 opens: "Jehovah proceeded to answer Job out of the windstorm and say: 'Who is this that is obscuring counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up your loins, please, like an able-bodied man, and let me question you, and you inform me.'" (Job 38:1-3) This set the tone. It helped Job to adjust his thinking to the reality that he was standing before the Creator of the universe and that he was accountable to him. That is also a good thing for us and our contemporaries to do.
Correction: Job was not totally wrong in his assessment of God.
Job 19:26-27 And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!
Page 5: As if our earth were a building, God asked: "Who laid its cornerstone?" We know that the earth is at exactly the right distance from our sun for us to live and thrive. And it is the right size too. If earth were much larger, hydrogen gas would not escape our atmosphere and our planet would be inhospitable to life. Clearly, someone "laid its cornerstone" in the right place. Did Job deserve credit? Do we? Or does Jehovah God? - Proverbs 3:19; Jeremiah 10:12.
Note: God alone was the builder and architect of the universe.
Hebrews 11:9-10 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Page 6: Does that not highlight the timeliness of the questions we read at Job 38:8-11? Surely we are not to be credited for arranging all these aspects of our planet. We did not place the moon so that its attractive power would help to produce tides that normally do not overwhelm our coasts or us personally. You know who did, the Doer of wonderful things.
Note: Jesus Christ created the universe.
John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
Page 6: Giving even slight attention to the earth's motion, we must marvel that earth does not spin too rapidly, which would be disastrous, as we can easily realize. Neither does it rotate so slowly that days and nights, being much longer, would bring extremes of heat and cold that would make human life impossible. Frankly, we should be happy that God, not any group of humans, set the speed of rotation. - Psalm 148:1-5.
Note: Jesus Christ created the universe.
Colossians 1:16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
Page 7: We enjoy food and oxygen produced as plants respond to light. We can read, see the faces of our loved ones, gaze at sunsets, and on and on. As we do that, should we not acknowledge the wonderful works of God? - Psalm 104:1, 2; 145:5; Isaiah 45:7; Jeremiah 31:35.
Note: Will you acknowledge the wonderful works of Jesus Christ?
Hebrews 1:1-2 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;
Page 8: The answer is obvious - we should "declare among the nations his glory, among all the peoples his wonderful works." (Psalm 96:3-5) Yes, we can manifest our humble appreciation for the wonderful works of God by sharing with others what we have learned about him.
Note: Will you declare the wonderful works of Jesus Christ?
1 Corinthians 15:1-4 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the good news which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you; unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,
Page 8: Even if they grew up in a society that dismissed the Creator, our positive, information expressions may awaken them to recognize God. More that that, it may move them to want to learn of and serve the one who "created all things," the Doer of wonderful works, Jehovah.
Note: True Christians have recognized Jesus Christ as the person they serve.
Romans 1:1-2 Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the good news of God which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures,
Col. 3:23-24 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.
Page 11: We have touched on only a few of the points that Elihu raised with Job, and we have noted some questions that Jehovah called on Job to answer "like an able-bodied man." (Job 38:3) We say "some" because in chapters 38 and 39, God focused attention on other notable aspects of creation. For example, the constellations of the heavens. Who knows all their laws, or statutes? (Job 38:31-33)
Note: God alone was the builder and architect of the universe.
Isaiah 44:24 Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb: "I am the LORD, who makes all things, Who stretches out the heavens all alone, Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself;
Page 11: Therefore I talked, but I was not understanding things too wonderful for me, which I do not know." (Job 42:2, 3) Yes, after giving attention to God's works, Job said that these things were too wonderful for him. After reviewing these creative marvels, we should likewise be impressed with God's wisdom and power.
Note: Are you impressed with Jesus Christ?
1 Corinthians 1:22-24 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
Page 12: One might call storms freak, undirected, uncontrolled occurrences. What, though, could happen if the all-powerful One performs wondrous works by using such forces in a controlled, directed way? He did something like that back in the days of Abraham, who learned that the Judge of all the earth had weighted the wickedness of two cities, Sodom and Gomorrah. They were so corrupt that cries over them ascended to God, who helped all righteous ones to escape the condemned cities. History reports: "Then Jehovah made it rain sulfur and fire from Jehovah, from the heavens," upon those cities. That was a wondrous work, preserving righteous ones and destroying the hopelessly wicked. - Genesis 19:24.
Note: Did anyone notice the Father and the Son doing the work as Jehovah?
Genesis 19:24 Then the LORD (the Son) rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the LORD (the Father) out of the heavens.
Page 12: In this context, where Isaiah mentions "wonderful things" of God, we find a reliable prophecy that is yet to be fulfilled. What 'wonderful thing' is promised? Isaiah 25:6 says: "Jehovah of armies will certainly make for all the peoples, in this mountain, a banquet of well-oiled dishes filled with marrow, of wine kept on the dregs, filtered."
Note: True Christians will be at that banquet through faith in Jesus Christ. Will you be there?
Mark 14:24-25 And He said to them, "This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."
Pages 12-13: In fact, the prophecy at Isaiah 25:7, 8 guarantees that God will use his creative power to do one of the most wonderful works of all time: "He will actually swallow up death forever, and the Sovereign Lord Jehovah will certainly wipe the tears from all faces. And the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for Jehovah himself has spoken it." The apostle Paul later quoted from that passage and applied it to God's bringing dead ones back life, resurrecting the dead. What a wonderful work that will be! - 1 Corinthians 15:51-54.
Note: True Christians believe that Jesus Christ is God. Are you in the will of God?
John 6:40 "And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."
Page 13: Another reason why tears of sorrow will vanish is that humans will have their physical maladies removed. When Jesus was on earth, he cured many - returning sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, vigor to the disabled. John 5:5-9 relates that he healed a man lame for 38 years. Observers thought that this was a marvel, or wonderful work. And it was! Jesus, however, told them that more marvelous will be his resurrecting the dead: "Do not marvel at this, because the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who did good things to a resurrection of life." - John 5:28, 29.
Note: True Christians honor Jesus Christ as Jehovah.
John 5:22-23 "For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him."
Note: True Christians honor the Father and the Son in the same way.
Page 13: Clearly, we have reason to give attention to all of Jehovah's wonderful works - what he did in the past, what he is doing today, and what he will do in the near future. "Blessed be Jehovah God, Israel's God, who alone is doing wonderful works. And blessed be his glorious name to time indefinite, and let his glory fill the whole earth. Amen and Amen." (Psalm 72:18)
Note: True Christians give glory to the Father and the Son as God.
Revelation 5:13 And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: "Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!"
Page 13: That should regularly be a subject of our enthusiastic conversations with relatives and others. Yes, let us "declare among the nations his glory, among all the nations his wonderful works." - Psalm 78:3, 4; 96:3, 4.
Note: The error of the wicked Watchtower organization is obvious to true Christians.
2 Peter 3:17-18 You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.
Page 14: We certainly loved our daughter and wanted the best medical care for her. Still, blood transfusions were entirely out of the question. We firmly believe God's Word, the Bible, which clearly states that Christians must 'abstain from blood.' (Acts 15:28, 29)
Correction: Blood transfusion should not be confused with blood digestion.
Leviticus 17:12 "Therefore I said to the children of Israel, 'No one among you shall eat blood, nor shall any stranger who dwells among you eat blood.'"
Acts 15:29 that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.
Page 18: "The Orthodox Church ... has a particular reverence for the writers of the fourth century, and especially for those whom it terms 'the three Great Hierarchs,' Gregory of Nazianzus, Basil the Great, and John Chrysostom," states the writer Kallistos, who is a monk. Did these Church Fathers base their teachings on the inspired Scriptures? Regarding Basil the Great, the book The Fathers of the Greek Church states: "His writings show that he retained a lifelong intimacy with Plato, Homer, and the historians and rhetors, and they certainly influenced his style .... Basil remained a 'Greek.'" The same was true of Gregory of Nazianzus. "In his view the victory and the superiority of the Church would best be shown in its complete adoption of the traditions of classical culture."
Correction: The Cappadocian Fathers exposed the Arian heresy use of Plato.
Eunomius, bishop of Cyzicus, founder of the Eunomian heresy. He was a disciple and secretary of Aetius whose extreme Arianism he adopted. His followers were called Eunomians or Anomoeans, from their denial of any substantial similarity between God the Father and God the Son. Using Platonic arguments, Eunomius taught that by definition God was unbegotten and that the Son, begotten of the Father, could not therefore be equal to the Father. His learning and sophistication won many admirers. St. Basil the Great refuted him in his doctrinal work Against Eunomius (364). The Eunomians were condemned at the First Council of Constantinople. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2001.
Note: Contrary to the Watchtower, Paul and Basil defines "begotten" as "resurrection."
Acts 13:33-34 "God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm: 'You are My Son, today I have begotten You.' And that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He has spoken thus: 'I will give you the sure mercies of David.'"
Page 19: Beginning with Justin Martyr (c. 100-165 C.E.), who wrote in Greek, professed Christians became increasingly sophisticated in their assimilation of the philosophical heritage of the Greek culture.
Correction: Saint Justin Martyr was a philosopher before his conversion to Christianity.
As a young man Justin devoted himself to the study of Greek philosophy, notably the writings of Plato and the Stoic philosophers. His study of the Old and New Testaments caused him to convert to Christianity, and thereafter he strove by his teachings and writings to bring others to the truths he had discovered. Justin was beheaded during the reign of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius because he refused to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods. Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia, Volume 15, page 150.
Note: All the apostles wrote in Greek.
Because the New Testament was written in Greek, the story of the transmission of the text and the establishing of the canon sometimes neglects the early versions, some of which are older than the oldest extant Greek text. Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia, Volume 4, page 48.
Page 19: This trend came to fruition in the writings of Origen (c. 185-254 C.E.), a Greek author from Alexandria. Origen's treatise On First Principles was the first systematic effort to explain the main doctrines of "Christian" theology in terms of Greek philosophy.
Correction: Origen parted with philosophical literature in favor of the Bible.
Responsibility for elementary instruction had been entrusted by Demetrius, prelate of the church, to Origen alone, who soon saw pupils coming to him in increasing numbers. He decided, however, that the teaching of literature did not harmonize with training in theology, and promptly broke off his lectures on literature, as useless and a hindrance to sacred studies. Then, with the worthy object of making himself independent of other people's assistance, he parted with all the volumes of ancient literature which had hitherto been his most cherished possessions, and if the purchaser brought him two shillings a day he was satisfied. The History of the Church, Eusebius, page 243.
Note: With you part with Watchtower literature in favor of the Bible?
Page 19: The Council of Nicaea (325 C.E.), with its attempt to explain and establish the "divinity" of Christ, was the milestone that gave new impetus to interpretation of "Christian" dogma.
Note: The Council of Nicaea refuted the Watchtower Arian heroes.
Held in 325, this first ecumenical council was convened by Constantine I, emperor of Rome, to settle the Arian dispute concerning the nature of Jesus Christ. Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia, Volume 19, page 84.
At times it can appear like an obscure philosophical argument. But the point at issue is fundamental and central to the Christian faith. Is Jesus Christ merely a (super-) creature sent by God, or is he the revelation of God himself? Does 'God loved the world so much that he gave his only son' (John 3:16) in fact only mean that he sent one of his creatures? The deity of Jesus Christ is the foundation of all true Christian faith. Without it, there is no true revelation of God in Jesus. Without it, the Christian doctrine of salvation is undermined. Arius raised one of the most important issues in the history of theology and the early Fathers were right to state the full deity of Jesus Christ clearly in opposition to him. Exploring Christian Thought, pages 29-30.
Page 19: For slightly more than 100 years after Nicaea, theologians, most of them writing in Greek, worked out in a long and bitter debate what was to be the distinguishing doctrine of Christendom, the Trinity. Chief among them were Athanasius, the assertive bishop of Alexandria, and three church leaders from Cappadocia, Asia Minor - Basil the Great, his brother Gregory of Nyssa, and their friend Gregory of Nazianzus.
Note: Arian heretics exiled Athanasius five different times.
His uncompromising stand made him unpopular with bishops and rulers alike. Seventeen of his forty-five years as bishop were spent in five different exiles. Exploring Christian Thought, p 30.
Note: Athanasius proclaimed the glory of Jesus Christ in his work The Incarnation of the Word.
Athanasius used a variety of arguments against Arianism. Primarily he argued from Scripture. He presented the biblical case for the deity of Jesus Christ. He also answered the biblical arguments put forward by the Arians. They cited passages to prove the Son's inferiority to the Father. Athanasius referred these to his status as a man, not to his eternal status as God. Secondly, Athanasius appealed to Christian worship of Jesus Christ, both in the New Testament and in his own time. This would be idolatry if Jesus were merely a creature. Thirdly, Athanasius argued that only God is capable of saving us - the argument of his The Incarnation of the Word. Finally, he used philosophical arguments - e.g. that God could never have been irrational, without his Reason or Word. Exploring Christian Thought, pages 31-32.
Note: Athanasius wrote against the Greek philosophers in his work Against the Greeks.
Page 19: The most influential writer of that period was Augustine. His theological treatises have pervasively shaped the "Christian" thinking of today.
Note: True Christians will enjoy the writings of Augustine.
BLESSED is he who understands what it is to love Jesus, and to despise himself for Jesus' sake. He must give up all that he loves for his Beloved, for Jesus will be loved alone above all things. The love of created things is deceiving and unstable, but the love of Jesus is faithful and lasting. He who cleaves to created things will fall with their slipperiness; but he who embraces Jesus will stand upright forever. Love Him and hold Him for your friend, for He will not forsake you when all depart from you, nor will he suffer you to perish at the last. The Imitation of Christ, page 245.
Page 19: Jerome, the period's most distinguished man of letters, was chiefly responsible for the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible from the original languages.
Note: The Watchtower can't decide if Jerome was good or bad.
Watchtower 4/1/01 Pages 14-15: Men who copied the Bible took pains to do so accurately. Thus, the Bible itself remained intact, though its message was perverted by many who professed to have the authority to teach it. Over the centuries such scholars as Jerome and Tyndale bravely translated and distributed God's Word.
Page 20: While he was bishop of Alexandria, Cyril used bribery, libel, and slander in order to depose the bishop of Constantinople. He is considered responsible for the brutal murder in 415 C.E. Of a renowned philosopher named Hypatia. Regarding Cyril's theological writings, Campenhausen says: "He initiated the practice of deciding questions of belief not solely on the basis of the Bible but with the aid of appropriate quotations and collections of quotations from acknowledged authorities.
Note: The Watchtower is guilty of slander and historical distortion.
Cyril's opposition to Nestorius, like that of Athanasius to Arius, was motivated by a concern for the doctrine of salvation. He believed that in the communion service we receive life from Jesus' lifegiving flesh (John 6:48-58). His flesh gives life because it is the flesh not of a mere man but of the incarnate Word. It is not necessary to portray Cyril as pure light or pure darkness. One can recognize his great achievement in maintaining the doctrine of the incarnation, while recognizing that it was not a totally unpleasant duty for him to unseat the bishop of Constantinople. Exploring Christian Thought, pages 46, 47.
Page 20: Take, for example, the idea that the Father, the Son, and the holy spirit make up the Trinity. Many Church Fathers after the Council of Nicaea became staunch Trinitarians. Their writings and expositions were crucial to making the Trinity a landmark doctrine of Christendom. However, is the Trinity found in the Bible? No.
Correction: The Watchtower believes in multiple Creators.
Genesis 1:26-27 Then God said, "Let Us (plural) make man in Our (plural) image, according to Our (plural) likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created man in His (singular) own image; in the image of God (not plural) He created him; male and female He created them.
Note: The God of Christendom is Biblical. There is one God yet three persons.
Page 20: So where did the Church Fathers get it? A Dictionary of Religious Knowledge notes that many say that the Trinity "is a corruption borrowed from the heathen religions, and ingrafted on the Christian faith."
Correction: Watchtower logic dictates that the Bible is a heathen source.
Matthew 28:19-20 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name (singular) of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Note: The Watchtower is quoting a non-Christian source.
Page 20: Or consider the teaching of the immortality of the soul, a belief that some part of man lives on after the body dies. Again, the Church Fathers were instrumental in introducing this notion to a religion that had no teaching about a soul surviving death.
Correction: The Watchtower is guilty of Greek philosophy.
Revelation 6:9-10 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"
Page 20: The Bible clearly shows that the soul can die: "The soul that is sinning - it itself will die." (Ezekiel 18:4) What was the basis for the Church Fathers' belief in an immortal soul?
Answer: Biblical interpretation of Scriptures in context.
Genesis 35:18 And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin.
Pages 20-21: "The Christian concept of a spiritual soul created by God and infused into the body at conception to make man a living whole is the fruit of a long development in Christian philosophy. Only with Origen in the East and St. Augustine in the West was the soul established as a spiritual substance and a philosophical concept formed of its nature.
Correction: Contrary to the Watchtower, Paul distinguishes the soul from the body.
1 Th. 5:23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Note: Mankind is a trinity since we have been created in the image of God!
Page 21: For one thing, Jesus Christ himself ruled out the use of the religious title "Father" when he said: "Do not call anyone your father on earth, for one is your Father, the heavenly One." (Matthew 23:9) The use of the term "Father" to designate any religious figure is unchristian and unscriptural.
Note: The Watchtower philosophers have defined "anyone" as being just religious persons.
Page 21: The written Word of God was completed about 98 C.E. with the writings of the apostle John. Thus, true Christians do not need to look to any human as the source of inspired revelation.
Note: True Christians will not look to the Watchtower as the source of inspired revelation.
Watchtower 8/15/99, Page 20: While Jehovah knew that there would be difficulties, he also knew that nothing would stop the work. Success was foretold in a well-known prophecy having a remarkable fulfillment in both the first and the 20th centuries: "This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth." - Matthew 24:14.
Note: The end of world did not occur in the 20th century.
Matthew 24:14 "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come."
Page 21: Christian truth is embodied in the written Word of God, the Bible. (John 17:17; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 John 1-4) The correct understanding of it does not hinge on secular philosophy.
Note: The Watchtower is in full agreement with the philosophy of Aristotle.
The soul, for Aristotle, is the form, or actuality, of the body, and humans, whose rational soul is a higher form than the souls of other terrestrial species, are the highest species of perishable things. Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia, Volume 20, page 356.
Page 21: Moreover, the true Christian congregation is "a pillar and support of the truth." (1 Timothy 3:15) Its overseers safeguard the purity of their teaching within the congregation, preventing any doctrinal pollutant from creeping in. (2 Timothy 2:15-18, 25)
Note: The Watchtower does not realize that the truth is found in Jesus Christ.
1 Timothy 2:5-7 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle; I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying; a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
Page 21: They keep out of the congregation 'false prophets, false teachers, and destructive sects.' (2 Peter 2:1) After the death of the apostles, the Church Fathers allowed "misleading inspired utterances and teachings of demons" to take root in the Christian congregation.
Correction: The Church Fathers safeguarded the congregation from the Arian false teachers.
Acts 20:28 "Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood."
Page 21: The consequences of this apostasy are evident in Christendom today. Its beliefs and practices are a far cry from Bible truth.
Correction: The beliefs of the Watchtower are a far cry from Jesus Christ.
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."
Page 22: To use language later employed by the apostle Paul, Asaph suppressed the "physical man" by awakening the "spiritual man" within himself. With renewed spiritual vision, he understood that Jehovah hated badness and that in due time the wicked would be punished.
-1 Corinthians 2:14, 15.
Note: True Christian spirituality is found in Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 2:16 For "who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?" But we have the mind of Christ.
Page 23: An unceasing program of spiritual feeding at Jehovah's table and wholesome association with God's people will help you to strength your faith and overcome discouragement or other negative feelings. (Hebrews 10:25) Like Asaph, by staying close to God, you can experience his loving support.
Note: True Christians will stay close to Jesus Christ.
John 15:4-5 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
Page 23: One Christian who was abused as a child learned the wisdom of these words. "Keeping in close association with the congregation," she says, "showed me a different side to life. I saw very clearly that the Christian elders were loving, that they were not policemen but shepherds." Yes, compassionate Christian elders play a vital role in dispelling damaging emotions.
Note: True Christians will stay close to Jesus Christ.
John 16:33 "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
Page 23: Baruch could not find joy in his God-given assignment while at the same time seeking great things for himself. You too may find that a really positive step toward overcoming discouragement is to avoid distractions and embrace the peace of mind that comes from godly contentment. - Philippians 4:6, 7.
Note: True Christians will stay close to Jesus Christ.
Philippians 4:6-7 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Page 24: Similarly today, loyal ones who have lost their mates in death are coping successfully with the emotional stress by keeping busy within the Christian congregation. Like Naomi, they keep applying themselves to spiritual matters, daily reading God's Word.
Note: True Christians will keep telling people about their Savior Jesus Christ.
Philippians 1:21-23 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.
Page 24: Baruch responded to counsel and avoided materialistic distractions. Naomi kept active among Jehovah's people, preparing the young woman Ruth for her privileges in worship of the true God. - 1 Corinthians 4:7; Galatians 5:26; 6:4.
Note: True Christians will be servants of Jesus Christ. Are you?
1 Cor 4:1 Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
Page 28: By means of Bible-based publications and the congregation arrangement, the slave class draws attention to the benefits of heeding Bible counsel and offers practical suggestions about applying it in our daily lives.
Note: You can be freed from Watchtower slavery by Jesus Christ. Have you called out to Him?
John 8:36 "Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed."