DECEMBER, 1962

und e r s t a n d i n gof

Wid e World Phol lJUNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCil MEETS IN CUBA CRISIS. This is ageneral view of proceedings a s United Nations Security Council meets forthe second doy in New York to discuss the Cuba n situation. Notice Cubandel egation seated back to camera. lead article in this issue explains the realmeaning behind the Cuban crisis-and where it is leading.

•m a q a z tn eaVOLUME XXV II, NUMBER 12

Page 2 The PLAIN TRUTH December, 1962

Wlat-our READERS SAY(;he,

PlAU~ TRUTHa maga:int of undenlanding

VOL XXVII NO. 12

Jack M. PyleJoyce F. Sefcak

PLAIN TRUTH in Public Libraryin Far East

"Dear Mr. Armstrong:"I should be grateful if you would

kindly send me a copy of The PLAINTRUTH beginning with the next issue.I am a keen reader of your splendidmagazine in my town library. I enjoyreading every issue immensely. I amlooking forward to the pleasure of re­ceiving my first copy from you soon."Man from Sibu, Sarawak, East Indies.

Communism Exposed

"Some weeks ago I wrote and re­quested some information on Commu­nism. I received a back copy of the Mayedition of The PLAIN TRUTH whichhad a very interesting chapter in itabout the 'Real Origin of Communism.'1 would be very happy if you wouldcontinue to send this magazine to meeach month."

Sydney, N .S.W., Australia.

From Son of Ambassador

"I am a Liberian and I am living inNigeria with my father, the LiberianAmbassador to Nigeria; and I listen toyour Bible broadcast every day overthe radio."

Listener on the new station inLagos, Nigeria.

News Agencies "Scooped!"

"Everything you sayan the radio orin The PLAIN TRUTH comes out In thenews about a month or six weeks lateras fact. I have found it amazing how faryou are ahead of the newsmen and howaccurate you are in your forecasts. Myhusband says, 'Turn on Armstrong andget the news.' ..

Woman from Ohio.

Response to German Broadcast

"I would like to express my thanksto you again for the magazine 'DieReine Wahrheit.' I can only say onceagain that there is just not anothermagazine like it on this whole round

earth , The articles are so thrilling thatyou just don't want to put the rnaga­zine down until you have read everyword. 1 can truthfully say that 1 alwaysread each issue twO or three times. Italways seems to me that I did not findall the hidden pearls with the first read­ing. I must also confess that I havechanged very much inwardly. 1 knownow for the first time what a valuabletreasure the Bible is. This magazinecould not be paid for with gold. Forthose who are thirsting for the truth, thismagazine is indispensible ."

Woman from Garlitz, East Germany.

"1 . thank you very much for yourexplanations of scripture. Up until nowI have found no one who could explainthings as clearly as on 'Die Welt vonMorgen.' "

Man from Leer, West Germany.

"First of all, 1 would like to thankyou for the literature you have sent me.I am nor by any means a 'convincedChristian,' but this magazine has atleast changed my attitude toward re·ligion, from one of disdain to one ofdoubt. Since I have now made this step,which is probably the most difficulr ofall, I hope to soon put aside the remain­ing doubts and become a true followerof God ... 1 am 20 years old."

Young man from WeidenaujSieg,West Germany.

"Last Wednesday at 7 a.m. 1 heardyour very informative religious programand was surprised at the power of per­suasion you have in fascinating yourlisteners and bringing the truth of Godto them.

"For that reason I have decided to reoquest your magazine 'Die Reine Wahr·heir,' for I hope to learn more aboutthese things, which we never hear inthis godless society."

Man from Stuttgart, West Germany.

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Circulation : 400,000Published mOllfhly at Pasadena, California; London.Ell8land ; and Melbourne, Ausualia, by AmbassadorCollege. German edition published monthly atPasadena, California. © 1962, by Radio Cburchof God .

EDITORHERBERT W. ARMSTRONG

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Garner Ted Armstrong

MANAGING EDITOR

Herman L Hoeh

SENIOR EDITOR

Roderick C. Meredith

Associate BailorsAlben J. Porrane David Jon Hill

Contributing EditorsC. Paul Meredith Basil WolvenonJack R. Elliort Clint C. ZimmermanErnest L. Martin Charles V. DorothyLynn E. Torrance Robert C. Boraker1. Leroy Neff Gerhard O. Marx

News Bureau DirectorGene H. Hogberg

Research StaffDonald D. SchroederRonald D. McNeil

Editorial ana Production AssistantsJames W. Robinson

Donald G. McDonald

Regional Editors AbroadUnited Kingdom: Raymond F. McNair

Australia : C. Wayne ColeSouth America: Benjamin 1. Rea

BUSINESS MANAGER

Vern R. Mattson

Ci,,;ulali<m ManagusUnited States: Hugh Mauck

United Kingd om : Charles F. HuntingAusualia: Gene R. Hughes

South America : Leon WalkerCanada : Dennis Prather

YOUR SUBCRIPTlON bas been paid by othttt.Bulk copies for disuibunon not grven or sold .ADDRESS ALL COWWUNICATIONS to the EditOr,Box Ill, Puadena. California.Canadi&n readers should address POSt Office Box44. Station A, Vancouver 1. B.C., Canada.Our readers in United Kingdom: -· Europe. andAfria should address the Editor. AmbassadorCollege, Brickel Wood, St. Albans, Hens•• Enlland.Readers in Australia, China lind southeastern Asiashou ld address rhe Bdlecr, Box 34 5, North Sydney,N.S.W.• Ausualia.Readers in the Philippines should address th~Editor, POSt Office Box 260 3, Manila. Philippines.Readers of the German edition should address POstOffice Box 1030. Pasadena California, or DieReine Wahrheit. (4) Dusseldorf I, Postfach 1324,Deutsche Bundesrepublik.SECOND CLASS POSTACB paid at Pasadena, Cali­fornia.BE SURB TO NOTIFY US IMMEDIATBLY of anychange in Jour address. Please inclose both oldand new II dress. lMPORTANT!

December, 1962

MOST of our readers will remembermy comments in this columna few months ago, concerning

our vain peacock here in England.Again I am wri ting from my study

on OUt college grou nds, JUSt outsideLondon, in England. I flew over I alonethis time, for the opening of the thirdyear of Ambassador College in England.I am here only briefly this time and itnow appears I may need ro fly co Aus­tralia soon after returning to Pasadena.

But I wanted to tell you about ourpeacock. I have missed him since re­turning here. He never comes aroundany more, to stand by the hour admiringhis mirrored reflection in the full-lengthglass doors which open onto the terraceoutside my srudy.

Once again, our head gardener cameup with the explanation .

"Have you noticed that the peacocknever comes up to your terrace to ad­mire himself in your glass doors?" heasked wirh a chuckle.

"W har happened co him?" I asked."Did he get killed?"

"Oh no, not that-but he's lost hisvanity for a while. It's the time of yearwhen he's lost all his tail feathers. Hehasn't any beautiful long tail feathersto strut in a circle over his head. Hewon't look at himself in the glass now.It gives him a painful inferiority corn­plex," And Mr. Silcox laughed as if heenjoyed the proud bird 's humiliation.

Candidly, I wondered a little, afterwriting that talk about vani ty and self,if [ could possibly be mistaken aboutthe peacock's vaniry. Could ir be rhar irwas not self-admiration, after all?Could ir be that he supposed it was an­other bird? It didn 't seem so-for henever started. a fight with the bird hesaw reflected in the glass, nor approacheddose. He simply Stood at the distancewhere he could see himself reflected to

best advantage. He would spend a bigpart of the day there.

But now he seems to confirm our

The PLAIN TRUTH

supposmon of vanity. He is as free tostrut up to the glass doors and admirehimself as before. But he takes no ad­vantage of the opportun iry now. With·Out those glorious tail feathers thereisn't much to admire.

I compared this silly vanity in thepeacock to the vanity in human nature.There is one tremendous difference,however. The peacock has no mind to

think about it. With him it is pure in­stinct. He cannot come to a realizationthat he is submitting to vain self-ad­mirati on. He cannot ponder about it be­ing right or wrong. He cannot think itthrough, reason it out, and make thedecision that he ought to restrain him­self and be humble.

But when you women admire your­selves in a mirror, and begin to thinkvain thoughts of self-love, you are doingit knowingly with a mind capable ofreasoning, making decisions, and en­forcing self-discipline, When you menfeel you are better or more importantthan some other men, you are doing itrationally, and not by instinct.

Of course it's human nature . Humannature is a tendency, with a definitedownward pull W e all have it. But wealso have minds. We also are capable ofthe knowledge of our own egorism-s-ca­pable of the knowledge of what SELF

really is, as I explained in the formereditoria l. We are capable of makingdecisions to restrain it. We have willsto resist self, the pride of life, lust, orcoveting what we ought not have. Weare held reIpollIible-the beautiful butsmall-brained peacock is not. I hopemany of our readers have done somethinking about it since my talk aboutSEL F a few months ago. Are you beingchanged?

Before leaving the subject, let me saythat I walked down to the smallthatched-roof tool-house, beyond theJapanese Garden, the other day, to see [hepeahen and her lone remaining little one.

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Page 3

In This Issue:What our Readers Say 2

Personal from the Editor 3

The Cuban Crisis . . . w hatdoes it mean? 5

And Now-Hot War in India ...... 9

Autobiography ofHerbert W. Armstrong 13

Does Christmas CelebrateChrist 's Birthday? 17

Radio Log 18

Wh ere Did Jesus Command Youto Observe Sunday? 21

Germany in Prophecy _ 25

The Bible Story _ 33

Do You Really Know theTrue God? 43

'S God Fair? .45

Short Questions 46

OUR COVER

U .N . Security Council sits for second dayof d iscussion. U.S. delegate Stevensondemanded "Yes" or "No" answer fromRussian delegate Zorin concerning place­ment of missiles in Cuba. Zorin refusedto answer . Here, seated, listening to dis ­cussion , charges and counte rcharges aredelega tions from Cuba , back to camera;then Chi na's delegation; French delega­tion; G hanian delegation; Ireland 's Fred­erick H . Boland, addressing the Council;Romania's delegation; U.N. SecretaryGeneral U Thane; Soviet delegate Va·ler ian Zorin, Council president ; vacantseat of under-secretary for political andsecurity counci l affairs, Yevgeny D.Kiselev: delegation of Un ited Arab Re­publi cs; Sir Patrick: Dean , chief delegateof United Kingdom ; Amb . Adlai E.Stevenson of United States; Venezuela'sCarlos Sese-Rodriguez: and Chileandelegation .

Page 4 The PLAIN TRUTH Decembe r, 1962

(Continued from page 2)

/1/Jat- ourREADERS SAY

Well, of Course!

"] have been listening to you on radiofor about twenty-five years and thingsare happening JUSt as you said theywould."

Lady from Hayti, Missouri.• Don't Stop listening now. The mostinteresting pan is still coming.

First with the News

"The newspapers the other day spokeof the Russians being 'jittery'; the firsttime I had seen it. You, however, longbefore had said they were scared ofwhat they saw in Western Europe neartheir borders, io The PLAIN TRUTH.Mr. McEwen ( Austr. Cabinet ) saidlately that things are moving veryrapidly."

Co-Worker from Kerner, Victoria.

A Painful Experience

"It is a shame that such a blind manas you should try to lead others. I amreferring to the article: "Did JesusHave Brothers and Sisters?"

Reader from Sydney, Australia.• We know how you feel, sir. It israther painful to have cherished tradi­tions refuted. Please notice, however,that your quarrel is with the Bible, ccewith The PLAIN TRUTH.

Accepted Challenge

"I accepted your often-quoted chal­lenge of 'Prove it for yourself' and tooka seven-day leave from the army pur­

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W orld T omorroto program, the GOOD

NEWS of the soon-coming WORLD TO ­

MORROW, when nations will be FORCED

to stop acting like wild beasts, and whenmen everywhere shall come to see atlast it is, indeed, more blessed to GIVE

than to receive-e-tc get-to take fromothers. Then, when men realize that anoutgoing concern for the welfare ofothers, as much as they have for them­selves, produces PEACE, happiness, pros.periry, universal justice, and love andabundant living, UTOPIA will be oursforever!.:..-_-----

roared and advanced toward the Bear­and, true to form, the Bear retreated.

In all the years I have been sayingthis, the Cuban crisis was the first timethe American Lion showed any will toarouse from lethargy and advance withFORCE against the threatening, land­grabbing Bear. Umilthen America keptretreating.

A few years ago, we had the famouslion millions have seen in motion pic­tures on our Ambassador College earn­pus in Pasadena, California. We useda number of shots of him in our rele­vision programs. He was a powerful­looking beast, yet be was allowed to walkfreely over a portion of our beautifulcampus grounds, entirely uncaged andunshackled. I stood not more than fif­teen feet from him, unafraid-althoughI will admit I stood almost behind alarge tree.

But there was no fight in him. Mostof the time, he wanted to simply liedown on the grass and rest. His keepersaid to me, "He isn't tired-he's JUStlazy." It took effort on the part of thekeeper to arouse the lion to get on hisfeet and advance slowly toward thecameras.

It has seemed that during these years,while the Russian Bear kept foragingfarther and farther from his lair, threat­ening the free world, the AmericanLion was tOO fat and well fed, or tOOtired, or else too lazy to arouse and driveback the invading Bear.

Yet, even if a Lion does arouse fromsluggishness, and demonstrate his pow­ER, does this produce tranquil PEACE ina forest of wild animals? Of course not.Every wild animal is equipped by naturewith some means of defense, for it alsois the nature of most wild beasts to

attack, to take, to kill and destroy.Tbere will nor be PEACE in the jungle

until that millennial day, described inIsaiah II, when Christ shall be ruling theworld with a rod of iron as KING ofkings and LORD of lords. It is the picturethat we were illustrating in our rele­vision program-when wild animalsshall be no longer wild, but tame-anda little child, a lamb, and a lion shallplay freely together.

Today, God Almighry is proclaimingto the whole world, through the instru­mentalities of The Plain Truth and The

It isn't so little any more. It's growingup. And, come April or May, old daddypeacock will probably be strutting backon my terrace to admire the new tailfeathers soon to come.

And now, a brief comment on thelate October Cuban crisis. RepeatedlyI have compared the Russians to a bear.The large, ponderous bear goes lumber­iog along, kicking on doors. If the latchbreaks and the door opens, he goes onin and takes possession. If it holds andresists, he kicks harder to see if he canbreak it down.

But if a ferocious lion comes roar­ing at him, he backs away. And if thelion shows real fight, he will retreat ina run.

Khrushchev will never back down be­fore TA LK. He will never retreat orgive ground in a Summit Conference.Before Korea, I used to say that Amer­ica had never lost a war, and had neverwon a Conference. I still say we havenever won a Conference.

To the whole world, it appeared thatPresident Kennedy was risking an all­Out nuclear war that could destroy mostor all Americans, when he ordered theUnited States to blockade Cuba, and tosink any Russian ships that refused toStop when ordered. Russian ship cap­tains, steaming toward the blockade,said they were go ing to refuse to stop,and were goi ng right through to Cuba.The Kremlin threatened that if a Rus­sian ship were sunk, it meant nuclearwar! Thousands in the United Stateswere terrified-rushed to food stores,made bulk purchases, sought or franti­cally built bomb shelters.

But for once, the United States didnot retreat before Soviet advancingforce. Instead, when the bear kicked onthe door of Cuba, the U.S. Naval Lionsteamed straight toward advancing Rus­sian ships in FULL FORCE! When thereal show-down of United States FORCE

came, did the Bear open fight on theLion? No, the Lion showed his teeth,

(Continued from page 3)

~odfrom the Editor

The CUBAN .CRISISwhat does it mean?

• • •

The "Bay of Pigs" Fiasco

Then, on April 17, 1961, an exileforce of around 1500 men invaded Cuba(with United States suPPOrt up to thepoint of their invasion ) . at the Bay ofPigs. By April 19th the invasion forcehad been completely smashed, and allsurvivors had surre ndered en masse!Then followed, as you may rememberfrom readi ng it in your own newspapers,

1959, Fulgencio Batista fled to theDominican Republic, in the wake ofCastro's major victory in Santa Clara,Cuba. Castro was sworn in as PrimeMinister on February 16, 1959. Onlyabout rwo months later Castro said be­fore the American Sociery of NewspaperEdirors in W ashington, D.C , "W e arenot Comm unists!"

W hat happened from then on is dis­gusting recent history. Castro began longTV and radio rages and screaming tan­trums against the United States, charg­ing violations of Cuban terri tory byU.S.-based airplanes, The huge Amer­lean-ow ned K ing Ranch was seized,American indust ry, build ings, resortareas, ai rplanes and equ ipment wereseized by the new regime- the sameregime which later screamed "PIRACY"

at the U.S. naval blockade.Independent newspapers were seized

by pro-government unio ns on May 11,1960. Then, on August 7th of that yearall rema ining United Stares-ownedprope rty in Cuba was "nationalized."

On January 3, 1961 , the Un ited Statessevered relatio ns with Cuba, and onJanuary 20th of that year President Ken­nedy in his inaugural address warnedRussia nor to interfere in the WesternHemisphere.

How It All Happened

To really _get the picture, you needto see a brief, accurate picture of whathas happened in Cuba. On January 1,

Breathlessly, the world waited for nuclear WAR! Frantic house­wives bought hundreds of dollars worth of groceries, storedfood and water in fa llout shelters. Americans waited from hourto hour by their radios-wondering what would happen! Theworld waited with bated breath! But nuclear war between Russia

and the United States did NOT come! Why?by Ga rner Ted Arms trong

But who really WON in Cuba? Whatreally DID happen? Does Bible PROPH­

ECY have anyth ing to say about the realou tcome?

Wide Wor ld Photo ...

Presid en t Kennedy proclaims a U.S. Nava l Bloc kade against Cuba . He an­nou nced the mi lita ry move October 22 in a na tion w ide te lev isio n-ra d iospeech from the White House .

WIlli a sigh of relief, the worldwatched the rwo big powersretreat from the "brink of wac"

over the Cuban crisis. Almost unbe liev­ably, Russia's Premier, Nikiee Khrush­chev, had backed down in Cuba-hadagreed to have Russian missiles andbases dismantled and returned to Rus-sia.

Wide World PhotoMap shows Cuba, circled, on ly 90 miles from U.S. shores. President Kennedyproclaimed a blockade of Island on October 22.

Page 6

one of the greatest losses of prestigethe United. States has received in recenttimes!

The CIA was blamed by Castro andKhrushchev, and subsequently admittedits "guilt" for the engineering of theabortive Cuban invasion. The U nitedStates got the biggest black eye in thefabled "world publi c opinion" of recentyears-and certainly no bigger a blackeye than it would have received, hadthe invasion actually SUCCEEDED!

President Kennedy had made severalfateful decisions! As the U. S. News andW orld Rep ort said in its issue of Oc­rober 1, 1962, "H ours before [the inva­sion] on Sunday evening, a sma ll butpOtent force of B·26's was sitting inreadiness on an airfield 500 miles away,waiti ng ro take off for the Bay of Pigs.Those were planes of the invasion force,with Cuban pilots. Bur those planesdidn't take off.

"The reason: President Kennedy for­bade their use."

Th at was the fateful decision Presi­dent Kennedy made on that Sundayevening. He decided that the anti-CastroCubans could not have the. sttpport oftheir own air force during the invasion.Without that suPPOrt, the invasionfailed. Th e U. S. N ews went on toexplain how twO United States carriers,their decks jammed wit h fighting planes,were cruising offshore not far awaythroughout the entire invasion. Onceagain, during the early morning hoursof Monday, April 17th, President Ken­nedy was approached as to the use ofthese aircraft in providing the strugglingmen in the swamp areas around theBay of Pigs with adequate air suppo rt.He said "No" ro the use of the U.S.planes.

The story is now history. It does normake very plea sant reading. On thebeaches, in the Bay of Pigs, the invadersfought on- blissfully unaware thatPresident Kennedy had taken away theirair suPPOrt.

What has happened since has been,to many Americans and peoples aroundthe world, almost unbelievable. On De­cember 2, 1% 1, Castro declared openlythat he wiII be a "Marxist-Leninist" untilthe day he dies! He 'said openly forpublication around the world that hehad hidden his Marxist leanings for

Th e PLAIN TRUTH

years, and was quoted in Americanheadlines as having said "l am a Com­munist!"

The V -2 Pays Off

The high-flying U-2, the same typereconnaissance plane that once Irus­'trated N ikira Khrushchev to the poinr ofnear hysterics, resulting in the callingoff of the proposed summit conference,and the now infamous trial of U·2 pilotPowers-this was the aircraft which ac­tually caught the Russians in the actin Cuba.

U-2 aircraft have been flying secretmissions over Cuba almost from the dayFidel Castro rook over. Thi s turbopropjet, actually a modified glider with awing spread of 80 feet, but only 49feet in length from its nose to its tail,has tremendous speed and great opera­tional height. It is the only known air­craft able to fly great distances at 14miles above the earth!

With its amazingly accurate photo­graphic equipment, which has been de­scribed as "fantastic" it was able to

catch the Russians in the act of setting

Gulf 01Me xic o

COSTAPa cif ic Ocea n

December, 1962

up missile bases-even showing the ac­tual missiles themselves, with theirlaunching pads, fueling tanks and trucks,as they were being set up in mounta in­ous areas in Cuba.

The pictures taken from these U-2flights were presented to President Ken­nedy and his advisors.

Many of these pictures have sincebeen published in United States maga­zines, showing plainly the Russianmissile sites. Confronted with this irre­futable evidence, President Kennedyimmediately ordered a complete U.S.naval blockade of Cuba:

The world was electrified.Some Americans were elated. Others

were frightened. But nearly all wereproud.

For a change- it seemed as if theUnited States was going to "stand upand fight ' and demand its rights, in­stead of taking it on the chin repeatedly,and apparently refusing to give our any­thing in return.

The Threat From Cuban Bases

It was now crystal clear to policy-

o 200,Miles

. Cap eCanav eral

At/ooricOc ean

~JAMA ICA

Caribb e an Sea

December, 1962 The PLAIN TRUTII Page 7

VIEW OF MISSILE BASE-The Deportment of Defense re­leased this photo in W a shington and said it was modein late October showing installations at the Medium

makers in Washington, and to the publicin general, that the Russian Ilyushin­28s, which had actually been photo­graphed as being stationed in Cuba,could bomb all of Florida, reaching asfar as Atlanta, Georgia and New Or­leans, Louisiana.

Also known to be in Cuba were me­dium-range b:ztUstic missiles!These mis­siles, which have already been set up inCuba, could rain nuclear bombs on anentire third of the United States! Wirhintheir reach would be such giant centersof population, industry, government, andthe military as Dallas, Texas, St. Louis,Missouri, and Washington, D.C.!

What was ' even more shockinglyfrightening to the United States was theactual beginning of the installation ofintermediate-range ballistic missiles!

When these bases were completed,should they be completed, they wouldbe able to reach nearly the entirety of

Wid" World Photorange m issile bose a t Sagua La Grande in Cuba.U.S. reconnaissance planes mode the photographwhich carries ide ntifica tion of different insta llations.

the United States, including New Eng­land, raining nuclear destruction anddeath from the skies without warning!

The only small part of the UnitedStates which would have been beyondthe reach of these intermediate-rangeballistic missiles would have been smallportions of the Pacific Northwest!

Knowing rhis-knowing full wellthat accurate Russian missiles were al­ready on their launching pads, zeroed inon dozens of the United States' largecities, in the hands of such a madman asCuba's Castro, President Kennedy couldafford to delay no longer!

Suddenly the problem had grown toawesome proportions! Now Washing­ton planners realized [hat just short of20 months ago, Castro could have beenerased by a relatively simple UnicedStates' decision to back up the Bay ofPigs' invaders with [he necessary armsand planes.

Page 8 Th. PLAIN TRUTH December, 1962

Wid. World Photo

TROOP CARRIERS ARRIVE. Military troop carriers are pictured on railroadcars which brought them to Fort lauderdale, about 30 miles north of Miami,as tempo of military activity increased in south Florida.

Wid. World Photo

U.S. DESTROYER INTERCEPTS TANKER. The Norwegian tanker "Mylla " out ofthe port of Oslo, Norway, continues under way in a southerly course as aU.S, Navy destroyer bears down on it to make an interception in the wlnd­ward Passage, east of Cuba.-----

(Please continue on page 39)

cision of recent years-and perhaps oneof the most disastrous of all times!

Thi nk for a moment!If you are being beaten and whipped

consistentlyabout the face by the neigh­borhood bully, and you constantly beg,adjure, and implore the bully to quithitting you-and then the bully ceases.What should you do? Wouldn' r it looka little ridiculous if you said, "If youplease promise to stop hitting me, Iwill promise nor to hit you in return?"

Speaking of carnal, warring nations,this would be certainly a disastrouspolicy to follow! What the United Statesdemanded of Premier Khrushchev wasthat which was merely REQUIRED in thefirst place! It was mandatory that Pre­mier Khrushchev remove Russian mis­siles and their bases from Cuba-and cer­tainly not a gesture on his part whichshould have warranted or received evenany measure of Ihanks from the UnitedStates or the free world.

But not only did Premier Khrushchevreceive our "thanks" for his apparentbacking down-but the positive aJ JU f ­

a1JCe that he may now have a free handto pursue his policies in Cuba toitbou:any [urzher ;nler fe",mce from the UnitedStates!

Notice it!Cuba is now free to begin shipping

in the various component partI, in in-

missile bases are dismantled. and theirRussian missiles returned to Russia. theUn ited States absolutely guarantees itwill not attack Cuba! President Kennedyreceived severe criticism in the Pressand from political rivals across the coun­try for this decision. It has been calledthe most disastrous policy-making de-

What Really DID Happeo!

Senator Barry Goldwater, noted Re­publican Conservative, was greatly in­dignant at the President's promise toNikita Khrushchev that IF the Cuban

October 24th.Then , Russia'sPremierNikita Khrush­

chev ordered the dismantling of all"Russian missiles" in Cuba, and theirreturn to Russia. After a temporaryletup in the U.S. naval blockade, it wasagain ordered to search any ships ar­riving in Cuban portS for Russian armsof an aggressive nature (presumably ,arms which could be called purely "de­fensive" in nature were excluded) andalso to inspect ships departing fromCuba to insure that the missiles werebeing returned to their Russian placesof origin.

But what really did happen in Cuba?Who really won? Did Khrushchev reallysuffer a serious setback over the Cubancrisis? Is all going to be well now withworld Communism and the Westernpowers? Ate all nations going to finallylive at peace--and the Cuban crisis, orthe letup of the crisis, is merely a signalthat this rime of peace is about to begin?

And Now­Hot War • India!

Obscured by Cuban crisis is a developing maior hot war in Asia.At stake: 438 miffion Indians, vast agricultural and industrialwealth which Communists sorely need. Can U.S. forestall Redconquest of India? Prophecy reveals startling answer-and

what it forebodes to YOUI

by Herman L. Hoe h

ACUNNING 2-point Red thrust hasagain caught the West off guard.

While Soviet Russia was secretlyestablishing a missile beachhead in Cuba,the Red Chinese were assembling im­mense supplies, 100,000 men and heavyarmor for an attack on India.

Red Chinese have already captu redmore than 50,000 square miles of Indianterritory. A hot war of major proportions-temporarily quieted by a cease-fire­is develop ing in the tower ing heights ofthe snow-clad H imalayas. India's toner­ing economy has been put on a warfooting .

The Red attack on Ind ia was perfectlytimed . It caught the West off guard. Itoccurred at the very time the Cubancrisis riveted the world's eyes on theCaribbean.

Part of World-wide CommunistStrategy

Western leaders have been lulled intobelieving that the Chinese thrust intoIndia came without Khrushchev's know­ledge or approva l. Some even assumethat the Red Chine se double-crossedMoscow and are attempting to break upKhrushchev's political "love affair" withNehru of India. Nothing could be fur­ther from the truth.

The Kremlin knew in advance whatthe Chinese would do. More than threeyeats ago they plotted the attack together,as we reported to you in the pages ofThe PLAIN TRUTH. Khrushchev's loveaffair with Nehru was part of the Com­munist strategy. It was aimed at lullingIndia to sleep.

Moscow's arms sales to India werecunningly planned as part of the strategy .With Soviet equipment for her armythe Indians would have to rely on Soviet

Exac tly th ree years ago we warnedthe readers of T he Plain T ruth tha tthe Communvt Chinese were plot.ting an invasion of In dia . Ma nyscoffed. The original Red plancall ed for an attack in the springof 1960. W e said: "Chinese Corn­mun ist plans may have to be de­layed slightly." They were. Dro ughtand famine plagu ed the Reds. Butnow th ey have begu n thei r big driveto capture th e Himalayas, Ladakhand rich Assam.

munitions. When the Chinese attacked,the Indian government hoped Moscowwould side with India and continue itsmilitary agreement to arm her. Moscowdid neither. The Kremlin warned Indiathat China had a legitimate claim to

Indian territory that ought to be arbi ­trated-in favor of China, of course!

All this put Ind ia years behind in irsmilitary build-up. Nehru, hitherto tOOproud to call on the West for militaryassistance, is now begging for financialand military help. He hopes rhe Westhas forgotten his seizure of Goa fromPortugal.

But can the U.S. really save India?The answer to that question lies withPakistan, India 's immediate neighbor .The U.S. has made immense militarycommitments to Pakistan in order to

keep that country srrong and free fromMoscow's domination. But Pakistan andIndia are quarrelling with each other­especially over Kashmir . The Pakistanishave warned the U.S. not to arm India ,for they fear India would use the armsagainst Pakistan.

It is the U.S., not Moscow, that is nowin the dilemma . If the U.S. continues

to suPPOrt Pakistan, the Indian economywill eventually collapse under [he strainof war and Commu nism will engulfIndia. If, on the other hand, the U.S.sends massive aid to India, Pakistan willbe alienated. The result will be thatPakistan will have to seek aid fromMoscow to protect itself from India.Either way the Wesr stands to lose.

Besides all this, rhe Indian crisis comesat the very rime the U.S. is embroiledwith a far graver threat-Communistmissiles 90 miles off-shore aimed at thevery heart of America, and for which nomissile warning system was set up!So long as the Cuban crisis threatensthe world, the war between India andChina will take second place in U.S.thi nking. And that is exactly what Mos­cow wants. Almost no one, it seems, isaware that India is far more importantto Communist leaders than is Cuba.Cuba is an extra prize which the Com­munists chanced upon. But the NEXT

BIG GOAL in Communist thinking isIndia .

What's Behind Communist Stra tegy?

Khrushchev is leading the world tothink that China is merely a bad boyof the Communist world. He supposedlyis trying to keep the rebellious Chinesein line-according to the propagandaline from Moscow.

The little -known fact is that Khrush­chev's propaganda is a smoke screenin order to cover up the real goal ofrhe Communists in Asia. The perryjealousies between Moscow and Peip ingare not deterring either from their jointgoal: world conquest .

Th is is all pan of the great Com­munist plan enunciated by Lenin th irtyyears ago.

Page 10 The PLAIN TRUTH December, 1962

•lonchow

Kunm lng

Lihwo

Tali.

Ansi

BURMA

CHINA

o 300

M ILES

control of almost one-half of the world'spopula tion. We in rhe West hardlygrasp the full significance of rhis Com­munist prog ram. Not in all the worldwill SO many people have been enslavedso qu ickly.

W esterners, blind to the program ofCommun ists, are asking: "How couldChina possibly gain from invading In­dia?" Their assumpt ion is that theChinese wouldn't be any better able to

feed India' s hungry millions than theIndians, themselves, have been, and thatIndia would rhus be only a great head­ache for the Chinese. But the Com­munist program doe! not call for the[eeding of Indie's huug ry millions. Ircalls for a planned STA RVATION of thepeople, the slaugh ter of all ami -Com­mun ists, and the inevitab le enslavementof the Indian peoples to the Communistideology.

Firsthand View From India

In the summer of 1957, Dr. C. PaulMeredith, Director of the AmbassadorCollege Bible Correspondence Course,and I had the opporruniry co go coIndia, Kashmir , Afghanistan and theArab Nea r East. W e were within 175miles of the scene of the present fighting

•Cno rk hli g

SINKIANG

.Nogpur

INDIAIndore.

• BOMB AY

Wide Wor ld Phot o

Map locates places where Ch inese Communist troops are advancing in India.Reds have captured (1 ) Towang and (2) Asfila , and are driving down luhitVall ey (3). They are also attacking in the Changchenma River Valley (4)on the northwest. Immediate aim of drive is Assam on east, ladakh onwest-ultimately all of India .

A second conference included Com­munist delegates from Australia, Canada ,Ne pal and Indonesia.

The firsr meering mapped plans fora stepped-up campaign of Communistactivity throughout all Southeast Asia inLaos, South Viet-Nam and Indonesia.Included was a discussion of the finaltimetable for the invasion of India.

The second parley pinpoinred specifictargets in the Briti sh Commonwealthnations. In these countries, Commu­nists are first to re-establish the pres­tige Red China lost because of rhemuch-publicized invasion of Tibet. Plansmapped when and where to incite riots,strikes, political demgnstrarions andarmed uprisings to terrorize and en­slave Asia's neutralists.

As a result of these secret meetings,China sent warnings to Nehru to pullIndian troops Out from "disputed"border posts. India was accused ofsheltering Tibetans who have fled fromCommunist -controlled T ibet. Chineseliberation forces next seized-by force­viral Indian territory in 1960 and 1961and subsequenrly demanded "peacefulnegotiation."

Th is plor, when fully executed, willgive Red Chinese Communists ult imate

~I:'!l~w;i de World Phot o

Indian casualties in the border warwith Red China are brought froma forward outpost on Northeosternfront to a waiting helicopter forevacuation. The helicopter is aRussian-built M-l.4, purchased fromth e Soviet Union by India .

Top-Secret Red Meeting in 1959

Red China's bloody timetable for con­trol of Asia was presented to Asia'sCommunist leaders in twO tOP secretmeetings in 1959-1960. These meetingswere called by Mao.

In the first meeting, tOP Reds fromCambod ia, Ceylon, Hong Kong, Japan.Malaya, Norrh and South Korea. Norrhand Sourh Viet-Nam, rhe Phili ppinesand Thai land attended. Indian Com­munists were invited , tOO, but theyturned down the invitation!

Russia's program is not to take West­ern Europe and to attack the Un itedStates, first. The Communist program ,which our leaders should know, callsfirst for the seizure of Eastern Europeand then Asia. Lenin wrote that theway to Paris, London and Ne w York isvia Peiping and Delhi! Peiping, thecapital of China, has been under Com­munist cont rol for almost 15 years. Thenext great step in the Communist pro~

gram is the gradua l seizure of Ind ia!The renewal of a hot war in Asia is

augmenting that prog ram! The ChineseCommunist strategy is to gobble upIndia, state by state-not all at onCe­but a little at a time!

Plans further call for aggressive ac­tion and terror campaigns against theBritish Commonwealth nations of Pak­istan and Ceylon as well as Malaya andHong Kong-in an ultimate effort to

force these nations and other weak na­tions of Southeastern Asia into a greatRed combine.

Wide World PhotoIt is olong tortuous sup p ly lines like th is that India has to supply its troopsin battle a ga inst the Ch ine se Co mmunists olong the d isputed Himala yanf ro nt ie r. These Indian army motor units ore shown moving through moun­tai nous Ka shmi r sector.

December, 1962

in Ladakh, near Ti bet, and only 125miles from Nepal. Even five years ago itwas dear, from firsthand reports we re­ceived, that China was planning a take­over of India, piece by piece.

While in Kashmir, an Indian Statebordering on Tibet, we noticed the greatinfl uence which the Mongol invadersof a few centuries back have everywherelefr, The Mohammedans of Kashmirconstantly told us-time and time again-that the Communists would soon be

. raking over the country. They recog­nized that China's take-over of Tibetwas the first step in this program. Nu­merous times we saw written on theroads expressions telling the Indianneutralists to go home. They told us thatthe Indian government would nat beable to defend Kashmir against aCommunist seizure.

It finally came to the ears of officialWashington-though it has been knownin other parts of the world for a longtime-that the Chinese Army which didtake over Tibet was told that its seizureof Tibet was merely training for itscoming invasion of India.

In 1957 we also noticed the surpris­ing headway made by the Russian Com­munists in Afghanistan, northwest ofIndia. Everywhere in the capital city ofKabul we saw Russian-paved streets.The U.S. has also built highways fromKabul to the Pakistan border. RussianCommunists will soon be using themto reach the border of Pakistan. ManyU.S. ollicials admitted , "The Afghansare playing with both sides-the Rus­sians are supplying them militarily; we,economically. The Russians will in­evitably win if circumstances do notchange."

This is all part of the Communistplan [Q place India and Pakistan in agiam vice between Russia and China.Nearly 500 million brown men are aboutto be engulfed by rabid Communism.

Russian concern is more and morebeing diverted to a revitalized Europeand a revived Germany. W hile the Rus­sian Communists continue to strengthentheir borders in Eastern Europe againstthe coming revival of Nazi-Fascism, theyare, however, supplying the Chinese withtechnical know-how and lett ing China'ssix hundred million people gobble upthe rest of Asia!

The PLAI N TRUTH

Red China's Claim

Red China insists it has a legal rightnot only to Tibet but to many pans ofIndia and Southeast Asia. It is part oftheir propaganda [hat these areas oncewere under Chinese control. The mil­lions of Chinese scattered outside ofChina, throughout Southeast Asia, areproviding a hard core of local Com­munists in paving the way for an ul­timate Chinese take-over of these"rightfu lly Chinese" regions!

Page II

Here is the story behind Red China'sclaims. Recent maps published by RedChina and later published by Russiashow thirty thousand square miles ofAssam in India's Northeast and twenty­tWO thousand square miles in Ladakh asChinese territory, Their most recentmaps also lay claim to parts of Nepaland Bhutan. \Vhen these maps first ap­peared, India's Nehru talked to [he RedChinese. The Chinese in return de­manded "peaceful negonanons to

settle these "undetermined border areas"

Page 12 The PLAI N TRUTH Decemb er, 1962

Indian troops o n patrol. This is the typeChinese Communi st soldiers are battl ingfrontier.

Wid. World PhotoIndion soldiers on patrol in a forward a rea along th e edge of Pangongin the ladakh area w hich Red Chinese troops invaded November 1.

to sleep for the last century and a half,during the Western "Industrial Revolu­tion." Over 150 years ago Napoleo nrecommended to the Europeans to "letthe sleeping dragon lie undisturbed."

But the sleeping dragon has awakened!The Communist party. centered in

Moscow has awakened her. For 25 yearsthe Communists mapped plans in NorthChina for the ultimate control of thesix hundred million Chinese alive today.It was not till alter World War II thatthey were ultimately able to take overthe whole mainland. Only the islandbastion of Formosa escaped them.

In 10 years since the occupation ofthe China mainland by the Communists,all China has been brought under thedirect control of the Communist party.The Chinese will to resist was quicklybroken. Well over twenty millionChinese were "deprived of life" as awarning to others never to rebel againsttheir Communist overlords. In no pre­vious war, revolution, holocaust--evenincluding H itler's reign of terror-have10 many people perished in 10 short atime.

In fact, the Communists in 10 yearshave done what no Chinese rulerin the previous 4000 years 01 historyhas ever been able to do-to fullyunite the sprawling Chinese domainunder one central government. Thiswas achieved only through modern com-

(Please continue on page 41)

Wid. Wo rld Photoof terra in in w hich Indian andalong th e disputed Himalayan

but the latest phase of this grandiosedream. China knows, however, that inthis highly industrialized age she can ac­complish this dream only as an a//y ofRussia. Yet even in this alliance theChinese, who have always called theirland 'The Middle Kingdom," wouldlike to regard China as the inevitable,ultimate center of Communism.

This dream of world conquest wasgradually lost sight of as China went

" ,

between China and her neighboringcountries.

The Indians insist that the boundarybetween India and China is settled onthe basis of the British-determined Mac­Mahon Line. The story goes back to1914 at a convention held in India be­tween Nationalist Chinese, the Britishgovernment in India, and Tibet. Indrawing the Maclvlahon Line, the Britishsought to keep Chinese armies at a safedistance from India's frontiers. Britaininsisted on incorporating vast areas ofmountainous countries along the Sino­Indian frontier which China originallyclaimed.

China's unrealistic claim goes backto the Mongol invasion of India com­menced by Barber as early as 1525. Thereal founder of the Mongol or MogulEmpire in India was Akbar the Greatin the days 01 Queen Elizabeth I of Eng­land. It was from his weak descendantsthat the British later took India. .

Most people in the West have for­gotten that in the last thousand years theMongols and Chinese have been on themarch nor only throug hout SoutheastAsia, but also westward into the Arabworld as far as Jerusalem and CentralEurope. Thei r constant dream for cen­turies has been ultimate world conquest!The Chinese Communists' program is

The Autobiography ofHerbert W. Armstrong

and the indw elling of the Holy Spir irshould come.

But as the second 19-year time-cyclewore along, a new and totally differentopposir ion entered. T his was PA GAN.It was an organized conspiracy.

It was the masterp iece of Satan, bywhich he dece ived the whole worldregarding Christianity.

False apos tles-"wolves in sheep'sc1othing"-ente red in from without .Th ey d id nor de ny, they accepted rheNAME Jesus Christ . T hat is what theycame in to get! They artr ibured thep heno me nal growth of God's Church to

this NAME-the preaching about thePerson of the pe rsecuted, martyredJesus of Nazareth , who came backthrough a resurrection as a conqueringHERO-a grea t CHAMPION who rri­umph ed over his persecutors.

Of course these pagan N icolairanesand pre-Christian G nostics, who actual­ly were the surv iving priests of theBabylonian Mystery religion, did norbelieve there had been a resurr ection .To them it was a clever gimmick. Ithad tremendous mass-psychology crowd­appeal. People are prone to take theside of the underdog. People in masswill follow a great CHAMPION, andshower on him HERo-worship. Thesepaga n consp irators d id nor oppose theNAME of Christ, as did the unbelievingJews. Th ey wanted the NAME!

But they did not want rhe MESSAGEof Christ. They did not want THEGOSPEL of Christ, or any teaching aboutbeing literally born int o the Kingdomof God-rhe very God-Fam ily. Theydid not want any teaching about a corn­ing retu rn of Chr ist as KING of KINGSto RULE THE WORLD, N either did theywant any teaching about being governedby GOD-either now in thi s life, orin a coming millennium ru led by THEKINGDOM OF GOD. They knew rhe car­nal mi nd is hostile to the spiritual LAW

The Three Oppositions

T his orga nized Body starte d our pro­claiming the GOOD NEWS of the KI NG­DOM OF GOD with great power. It wasa phenomenon. It mu ltiplied and grew.The Gospel was spread to Europe andRome. But persecution mu ltiplied also.

First, there was the persecut ion ofunbelieving Jews. The oppositio n, thosefirst 19 years, was pr imarily against theNAME of Jesus Christ.

T hen carne the opposition of beli ev­ing Jews, who entered the Churc h. T heyclung to and taught J udaism. Judaismwas not the teachings of AfOles. It wasthe pagan system of justif ying past sinsby doing penance. T he Jews construedthe phys ical, ritual istic laws of Moses-washings, carnal ord inances wi thTalmudic additions-and circumcision,as doing pe nance by our ow n works.T he Apostle Pau l fought rhis, preachingthat only the sacrifice of CHRIST couldjust ify past sins, and reconcil e the

gui lry to God.This J udaizing opposition demanded

not aboli shed law, but m ore law; thearduo us works of the physical, laboriousri tuals or iginally given to teach themthe habit of obedience. They had beenmerely a physical substitute until Christ

The surprising man ner in which beautiful A mbassador C ollegecam pus was providentially opened; and the first nation-wide

baptizing tour .apostles. That same day there were 120-ten times twelve, or ten twelves­who first wer e baprized by God's Spi ritinro CHRIST'S BODY, the CHU RCH ofGOD. Bur, later tha t same day, threethousand were added. Th e Church, as acollective, organized Body, multipliedrapidly in nu mbers and power.

Jesus Christ, who as a morral humanhad started the WORK OF GOD, did notbow out. As the living resurrectedChrist, H e sent the H oly Spirit to ern­power His organized BODY, the Churchof God. And He has remained conein­ually the guiding, direc ting HE AD of thisBody.

INSTALLMENT 50

N ot Even CH RIST Alone

T he WORK OF GOD, proclaiming to

the whole world rhe GOOD NEWS ofthe KINGDOM OF GOD, was started byone man-Jes us Christ. Jesus Christwas human, born of the hum an virginMary, temp ted in all points like therest of us mortals, subject to death­and He did die for us all, though resur­rected afte rward to immortal Go p-life.He was hurnen, with human nature to

fight, control and hold in check.But, unli ke all other mortals, He was

also divine. He was also GOD, as wellas man, for He was begotten not byhuman man, but_by Almighty God, andH e allowed men repeatedly to worsh ipH im. T o worship any but the true GODis sin in the first mag nitude-breakingthe very first Com mandment .

Bur even though tbis man was Godin huma n flesh, th e WORK OF GOD wason ly started by H im as an individualperson. The same Power of the Spiri tof God that had actuated Hi s one in­div idua l body ente red into the COLLEC­TIVE BODY of His CHURCH-and start ­ed the organizational ope ration ofGOD'S WORK rhrough rhe TWELVE

The most excit ing and importantevents of tha t piv otal year were yet to

occur. Up to this po int, it had beenvirtually a one-man operation. BurGod did nor int end Hi s great missionto be carried our by anyone indl vid­ual. Not even the one man, Jesus Christ .It was to become the organ ized com­m ission of Hi s Church.

YES, THAT event ful year 1946marked the very beginnitlg of theORGANIZED W ork of God in

rhese last days. An d, as T W ELVE isGod's number of organizational begin­nings, this was twelve years after thestart of the end-time W ork of God in1934.

Page 14

OF GOD. They wanted to gain posses­sion of THE NAME of this HERO. burthey wanted none of His WAY of life orof His Message.

Jesus Christ foreto ld these wolvesin sheep's cloth ing. Paul warned theElders of Ephesus that they would en­ter in. Jude, writing years later, warnedthat rhey had already entered, turningGRACE into LICENSE to flam God'sspiritual Law-license to SIN and stillhave GRACE. John, after 90 A.D., wroreabout them and their doctrines of law­lessness and disobedience to the Com­mandments of Goo.

The Jewish opposition died OUt bythe end of twO 19-year time-cycles. Burthe "NO-LAW;' "NO WORKS" oppositionfrom fifth-column pagans grew. ft re­

mains today!

The Church "Asleep on the Job"

After one 19-year time-cycle, "ADOOR" was opened for rhe Apostle Paulro rake the true Gospel of Christ roEUROPE (II Cor. 2: 12; Acts 16:9-10).Nea r the end of the second 19-year time­cycle, the Roman armies under Gen­eral Cestius we re marching towardJerusalem. Jesus had warned His disci­ples (Mat. 24 :15-16; Luke 21:2 0-21),that when they saw invading armies ap­proaching to Jerusalem, they were toflee to the mountains. For some reasonorders from Rome brought the armiesro a halt before they reached Jerusalem.The disciples of the true Church finallyfled, on the easr side of the Jordanriver, far north to a town called Pella.Cesrlus' army was called back, and in70 A.D., under General Tirus, the armyactually besieged Jerusalem.

That was the end of the effectiveORGANIZED WORK OF Goo, proclaim­ing rhe Gospel of God's Kingdom rothe world, for 18Y2 centuries! As re­vealed in the parable of the ten virgins(Matthew 25), when Christ did notreturn to earth as soon as many ofthat day expecred Him, "While theBridegroom tarried, rhey all slumberedand slept." So far as the JOB of pro­claiming the true GOSPEL Message to thewhole world was concerned, the Churchwent to sleep on the job.

The G reat False Church

T he paga n counterfeit, injected bythe fifth-column pri ests of the Baby-

The PLAIN TRUTH

Ionian Mysteries, had entered underfalse pretenses to embrace THE NAM:Eof Jesus Christ. T hen they went am,with CHRIST'S NAME tacked OntO theirpagan Mystery religion, branding thetrue Christians as heretics. In order toset up a public prejudice against thetrue Christian WAY OF LIFE, taught byChrist and the Apostle Paul, they in­troduced anti-Semitism, calling trueChristian ways "Jewish."

In the Book of Revelation are pic­tured two utterly contrasting churches.In 'the 12th chapter the true Church ofGod is shown to be a persecuted Church,having to "flee to the wilderness," for1260 years through the Middle Ages. Itis the Church which suffers the wrath ofSatan. It is described as those "whichkeep the commandments of God. andhave the testimony of Jesus Christ."

But in the 17th chap ter is picruredan entirely different church, symbolizedas a "Great Whore." This is a gentilechurch. because she committed fornica­tion, whereas the true Church. beingspiritually Israelitish (E ph. 2: 11-13,19-22), would have been described ascomm itting adultery. Instead of accept­ing the resurrected living Christ as Lordand coming KING-the Husband to

marry and rule the Church-she entereda fornicating relationship with the hu­man kings of ibis world. But she is pic­tured as the WOMAN who "wore thetrousers," ruled over the nations of thisworld. Thus she is pictured as a large,powerful, rich and GREAT church. Sheis guilty of the persecution and martyr­dom of the saints of the true Churchof God!

This apostate church masquerades asbeing CHRISTIAN. Bur she is not. and·never was.

Her true origin is not the Churchwhich Jesus Christ built. Her true ori­gin is plainly labeled in verse 5: "MYS­TERY, BABYLON," Or, BABYLONIANMYSTERIES.

She is the church of ancient Assyriaand Babylon. She is the church of theSatan-led pr iests of the BabylonianMysteries who, as fifth-colum nists, en­tered temporarily in, pretending to ac­cept Christianity. in order to steal andappropriate THE NAME of Jesus Christfor their Babylonian paganism. She isthe outgrowth of Satan's GREAT CON~

December, 1962

SPlRACY, by which he has deceived thewho le world with a counterfeit "Chris­tianity."

And she is a MOTHER church! Herdaughter-churches came Out of her, inPROTEST. They, tOO, clung to the "NO­WORKS," "NO-LAW" teachings. They,tOO, brand the true ways taught Gentileconverts by the Apostle Paul with theepithet "Jewish,"

But they do not themselves knowtheir true origin. They are part of thiswhole world which is DECEIVED by thisclever deception of Satan. This is Satan'sworld . He is the GOD OF THIS WORLD.This world has been deceived into ac­cepting Satan as GOD. And these arehis churches, actually believing they areChrist's!

The Church AW AK ES!

Yes, during more than 1 8~ cen­turies, "while the Bridegroom tarried,they all slumbe red and slept ." But, asthe living Christ kepr H is Church onthe job proclaiming H IS Gospel for twO

19-year time -cycles after His departurefrom earth, so He has purposed toAWAKEN His Church to PREPARE THEWAY BEFORE HIM, by proclaiming theGOOD NEWS for two 19-year time -cyclesPRIOR to His return to earth as KINGof kings and LORD of lords to set upTHE KINGDOM OF GOD to rule thepeaceful and happy and joyful WORLDTqMORROW!

And so, beginning the first week ofJanuary 1934, the living Christ "openeda door!" (Rev. 3:8) . It was the "door"of radio and the printing press. mass­media through which Christ's true Gos­pel could be proclaimed to rhe multi­rudes.

It was the "midnight hour," whenbegan the fulfillmenr of Matthew 25;6:"There was a CRY made, 'BEHOLD, THEBRIDEGROOM COMETH; GO YE OUT TOMEET HIM:"

And though, as always, God starredHIS WORK through humans in the verysmallest manner, it came about thatAFTER TWELVE YEARS occurred theBEGINNING of the ORGANIZATIONALACTIVITY of His Work.

Seeking College Locat ion

Through much of the year 1946, Iwas searching for a suitable location inPasadena for the college I now knew it

Decem ber, 1962

was God's will co establish.But I did not yet know C HRIST'S

mind as to what constituted a suitablelocation. My conception was merely abuilding with three or four classrooms,and a small auditorium or assemblyroom. Of course there had to be officespace for our growing mailing office.There was no thought, then, about dor­mitory space or housing.

After flying to Los Angeles from at­

tend ing the open ing session of theSecurity Council of United Nations inNew York, at which time Mrs. Arm­strong joined me, we remained forsome tWO or three weeks recording thedaily program in Hollywood recordi ngstudios, and spending all available timesearching for a location in Pasadena.

It was a long, arduous, tiresomesearch day after day. Finally, I found avacant lot west of the arroyo whichseemed somewhat near my conceptionof a suitable location. Ic was in a resi­dence section, where two streets joinedlike the base of a V at an intersection.Th is lot was tr iangular in shape, ratherrounded at the base of the V. It con-

The PLAIN TRUTH

rained perhaps a third of an acre ofground. I envisioned a triangular, V­shaped building ro be erected on thislot. The idea of spacious campusgrounds simply did not occur to me.

W ith this concept in mind, I con­sulted tWO architects in Hollywood whoworked in partnership. They designedpreliminary sketches of the building Ihad in mind. W hen laid OUt on papet,the building occupied nearly the wholeof the lot, leaving room only for asmall patio.

W e returned to Eugene, Oregon, withthe problem of how to manage thepurchase of the ground, and the financ­ing of construction. Th is problemproved ro be a real headache. We had themoney for neither. Th e income for thework must have been between $50,000and $75,000 per year at that time, butoperational expenses of the broadcastingand publishing work had a habit ofkeeping equal with, and always tryingto run ahead of income.

In June we returned to Hollywood,accompanied this time by our twosons. Dick was then approaching 18,

Page 15

and Ted was 16. I began to feel weneeded more ground . I con tinued thedaily trips to Pasadena. Finally I founda vacant plot of some four or five lots- perhaps 250 feet by about 100 feet,on California Street, on a corner. Thissite would at least make possible alarger patio.

I made preliminary plans to buy it.Th e money was nor on hand at themoment. But I planned to set aside adefinite amount each week, um il enoughfor a down payment would accumulate.I hoped to have this within threemonths.

The First Bapti zing Tour

Meanwhile, scores of letters had beenreceived from radio listeners Coast toCoast requesting bapt ism. There wererequests from all over the South, theMiddle Wes t, and even Florida. You'veheard people speak of things tuggingat their hearts. If ever anything ruggedat our hearts these appeals did. Mrs.Armstrong and I felt they could bedeferred no longer.

So we had planned a nation-wide

Arc hit ec ts' prelimi na ry sketch of the cla ssroombuildi ng envision ed in 19 46 for th e V-shapedlot west of the arroyo in Pa sadena .

In a Gal veston, Texas, motel. Left to right, Mrs. Arm strong, Richa rd David,Garner Ted and Mr. Armstrong. Mr. Armstrong took picture by settingcamera bef ore dash ing to sofa.

Page 16

During a brief sto p a t the GrandCa nyon, while on the tou r, GarnerTed made friends with a dee r.

tour to visit these people personallyand baptize all who were found ready.We were Still driving our 1941 DeSoto.It was one of the best cars ever manu­factured in America, but it was nowmore than five years old. While record­ing in Hollywood, and searching furthe rin Pasadena, we left the car for abouta week in a Hollywood garage for acomplete overhaul.

Meanwhile, I spent many hours inour hotel room sorting our many scoresof electrical transcription discs that hadbeen broadcast six months or morepreviously, for repeat broadcast duringthe weeks of our rour. These had to besent to the stations so that the pro­gram would cont inue daily until ourreturn to Eugene, when I would re­sume recording new programs .

I felt that by our return from thebaptizing tour we might have enoughaccumulated in a special fund for adown payment on this Pasadena plotof ground . The hope was that we wouldbe able to payoff the balance withina year, and then, with the ground paidfor, obtain a loan with a mortgage onthe ground for construction of the col­lege building.

We started the baptizing tour oneevening, so that we could drive throughthe heat of the desert to Las Vegas dur­ing the cooler hours of the night. Itmust have been near 2 A.M. when wearrived in Las Vegas. The car was nowin good shape mechanically, even tbough5y, years old-it was in good shape,that is, all except the tires.

Perhaps many of our readers willremember the scarcity-almost non-

The PLAIN TRUTH

existence of good tires after those waryears. Our tires were mostly recapsThe rubber supply had been largelyshut off during the war, and tire makershad turned to synthetics. They were notyet perfected in quality as they aretoday.

I think it was the next day out ofLas Vegas we began having our tiretroubles. Time after time we had blow­ours. At one filling station a dealer soldus a recap tire which lasted JUSt loogenough to get us far enough away thatwe could not afford to turn back anddemand a replacement . Finally, at atown in Texas, we found a man, whomI believe I baptized, who had rationcoupons or some kind of priority fortwo or three new tires, which he in­sisted we take, at his sacrifice. Afterthis we had little tire trouble.

Bathtub Bapti zing

think a few of the unique expe­riences of that first Baptizing tour areworth recording.

Some time before this, I had obtainedin Eugene a lightweight rubberwader's suit. The soles of the feet wereof heavier rubber, and the suit cameup the body almost to the armpits.I used this rubber suit for baptizing. Innearly all cases we were able to find alocal stream, river, or small lake suit­able for the baptizi ng ceremony.

One night we had been delayed byprevious visits by some hours in reach-

December, 1962

ing Lake Charles, Louisiana. It wasrather late in the evening-perhaps 10o'clock-when we arrived. We hadmade appointment by letter to meet anumber of people at this home. Theywere all patiently waiting when wearrived. Bur there was no available riveror lake for baptizing. I do nor remem­ber the details specifically. I am writingthis current chapter at Ambassador Col­lege in England, and Mrs. Armstrongand Garner Ted, who might rememberthe details better than I, are in Pasa­dena. Bur I seem to remember that therehad been rains, and there was swampwater, and it was positively unsafe­either because of snakes or poisonousmatter in the water.

I do remember these people said theresimply was no available water anywherefor baptizing. The idea of using thebathtub was suggested. I had neverdone this, or heard of it-bur the re­quirement was enough water to "bury"the candidate in the "watery grave," andso I decided the bath tub could serve inthe absence of anything else. It was astrugg le to get the candidates corn­pletely "buried" in the water, but Isucceeded.

We had to forego baptizing one manin Florida altogether. He said the swampwaters in the area were so dangeroushe would not risk his life going intothem. The re was no bathtub!

On this tour we zig-zagged up and(Please continue on page 30)

DoesCelebrate

CHRISTMASChrist's Birthday?

Did you know that Christmas was observed 2000 years beforethe birth of Jesus Christ?-that neither the apostles nor theinspired New Testament Church observed it? Here are the

astounding FACTS!

WAS CHRIST really born on r».cember 25th? Did Paul and theother apostles-and the early

New Testament Church - celebrateChristmas? WHY is Christmas not somuch as MENTIONED anywhere in theNew Testament?

What is the origin of the Christmastree-s-of "Santa Claus"--of the misrle­toe and the holly wreath?

We grew up pract icing these customs,taking them for granted, but neverquestioning WH Y! It is time we learnedthe FACTS!

4000 Years of Christmas

Christmas was celebrated by pagans2000 years before Christ was born. Yerit was not celebrated in Jerusalem­where Christ founded the inspired NewTestament Church-tmtil 385 AD.,over three centuries after the trueChurch fled from Jerusalem!

Why?Did you know that the pagan Romans

long bef ore the birth of Christ cele­brated the Christmas season? That theycalled December 25 Nataiis lnvictiSoliI-the Birthday of the Unconquer­able Sun. For seven days-a-from Decem­ber 17 co 23 inclusive-the Romanworld took a holiday. On these days-­called the Saturnalia in honor of Saturn-Banks were closed, also the Schools,the Senate and the Law Courts. TheSaturnalia was a legal holiday. On De­cember 24--called "Christmas Eve" co­day-rhe pagan Romans celebrated theBrumalia. And on December 25 theBirthday of the Sun God.

Gifts were traded, greeting cards ex­changed, feasting and games were in­dulged in by the whole pagan worldduring the Saturnalia.

In the Hibbert Lectures for 1932 Dr.Robert Seymour Conway compa res

by Herma n l. Hoeh

Christmas with the Saturnalia in thesewords : "You see at once in how manyways the pagan Saturnalia resembledour Christmas-greetings out of doorsand indoors, great hospitality, feastingand games of make-believe . . . dolls,candles and all sorts of presents, andgreetings in verse,"

He continues: "Now wbar were theearly Christians to do about it? Thefestival was linked with some of thepleasantest features of pagan life aswell as with a great deal of what wasless desirable--drunkenness, for exam­ple; you were thought to be a quiteunsociable person if you were sober allthrough the Saturnalia !" (Ancient ItalyAnd Modern Religion, Cambridge Uni­versiry Press, 1933, pages 125-126.)

So common was gift-giving in thepagan world that the Roman poet Mar­tial found it profitable to write an en­tire book contain ing over 120 littleverses which could be put on gifts orsent as greet ing cards with gifts for theSaturnalia holidays!

You Can KNOW the Facts

Every one of these FACTS you can findin the leading encyclopedias, in yourown public libraries!

Though rhe Bible is silent about theexact birth date of Jesus Christ , or re­cording any observance of it by theapostles or the early true Church. itdoes have something to say about theseason of the year when Jesus was born.It was not in the winter! You can havethe answer in an astonishing article"WHEN WAS CHRIST BORN?" It's free.JUSt write for it.

What About the Christmas T ree?

Probably you have supposed thar the "Christmas tree dates back to the NewTestament Church.

Did you know that the Christmastree was also a modern revival of anold pagan custom? The Christmas treewas almost unknown until Martin Lu­ther revived an old pagan Germanic cus­tom. The Christmas tree "is a Germancreation. and even in Germany it at­tained its immense popularity only inthe nineteenth century. The Christmastree was introduced into France in 1840,when Princess Helene of Mecklenburgbrought it to Paris," wrote Clement A.Miles in Christmas in Ritual and 'T ra­dition, pp. 263, 267. He adds:

"In England it is alluded to in 1789,but its use did not become at all generalunt il about the eighteen -forties. In 1840Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had aChristmas tree, and the fashion spreadunt il it became completely naturalized."

But the Christmas tree . is not reallya new custom! In fact it is mentionedin the Bible-nearly 600 years beforethe birth of Christl (Jer. 10:1-5.)

You can read the astonishing originand history of the Christmas tree-howir crept into the churches-how thecustom of trading gifts with one anoth­er commenced. instead of giving giftseo Christ-all these FACTS and manyothers in our FREE 16·page booklet,"The PLAIN TRUTH about CHRISTMAS!"No other booklet makes the truth abourChristmas so simple, so plain, so intri­guingly interesting.

Yes. it's time the mystery which sur­rounds the introduction of Christmasinto the professing Christian world wereunveiled.

Notice the plain facts.

How Hea then Customs Crep t intoChristianity

No one knows the exact date onwhich Jesus was born. It has been hid­

(Please continne on page 20)

Page 18 The PLAIN TRUTH

RADIO LOG''The W ORLD T OMORROW"

December, 1962

MAJOR STATIONS­Heard over wide areas

EostW HN-New Yoek-l050 on dial,

9:00 a.m. Sun.W\X'VA- Wheeling, W . Va.-1170

on di al, 10:30 a.m. and 11: 15p.m. Sun., 10 p.m. Mon .thru Fri. (E.S.T.)

WNAC-Doston-680 on dia l, 8 :30p.m . Sun.

WIBG-Philadelphia-990 on dial ,12 :30 p.m. Sun.

WPTF-Raleig h, N .C.-680 on dial,9 :30 a.m. Sun., a:05 p.m.Mon. thru Sat,

Centr~' StatesWLAC-Nashville-1510 on d ial,

10:30 a. m. Sun., 7 p.m . dailyand 5 a.m. Mon . th ru Sat.(C.S.T .)

WSM-Nashville---650 on dial, 9p.m. Sun., 12 a.m. Men.• thruFri., 1 a.m. Sun. (C.S.T.)

WCKY-Cincin nati-1 530 on dial,7 and 9 :30 p.m. Sun., 5 :30a.m. and 10 :30 p.m. Mon. thruSat. (E .S.T .)

CKLW-Detroit-Wind soe-aOO ondia l, 7 p.m. Sun., 5 :30 a.m.Mon. th ru Fri. , 6: 15 a.m. Sat.

KCMC-Kansas City-81O on dial,7 :30 p.m. Sun., 8 :15 p.m.and 5 a.m. Mo n. th ru Sat.

KXEL-WaterJoo, la .- 1540 on dial,8 p.rn. Sun., 9 :30 p.m. Mo n.thru Sat .

KXEN-St. Loui s-l OlO on d ial ,10:30 a.m. Sun ., 12 noonMo n. thru Sat.

SouthKRLD-Dallas-l080 on dial , 8:10

p.m. da ily.KTRH- Houston-740 on dial , 8:00

p.m. Sun., 8 :30 p.m. Mon .thru Sat .

KWKH-Shreveporl-1130 on dial,10:30 a.m. and 10:30 p.m.Sun ., 9 : 15 p.m. Mon. thruFri., 8:30 a.m. and 11 :30 p.m.Sat.

WGBS-Miami-7 10 on dial , 10: 30a.m. Sun .

KTHS---liule Rock- lO~)o on dia l,9 :30 a.m. and 8 :15 p.m . Sun.,9 :15 p.m. M on. th ru Fri ., 8p.m. Sat .

'X'NOE-New Orleans-lOGO ondia l, 9 :30 a.m. Sun.

\VGUN-Atianta- lOlO on dial , 4p.m. Sun., 11 a.m. Mon. th ruSat.

KRl\'IG-T ulsa- 740 on dial, 10 :00a.m. Sun. , 6:30 p.m. Mon . thruSat .

XEG-I0S0 on d ial, 8 :30 p.m . dai ly.(C. S.T .)

"'Asterisk indicates new station ortime cha nge.

Mountain States

CFRN-Edmonton. Alta .-1260 ondial, 7 :30 p.m. daily.

KOA- Denver - 850 on dial, 9 :30a.m. Sun.

XELQ-aOo on dia l, 8 p.m. (M.S.T.)9 p.m. (C.S.T.) da ily.

W est Coa stKGO- San Francisco-810 on dia l.

10 p.m. Sun ., 9 :30 p.m. Mon .thru Sat.

KIRD-Seattle-710 on d ial, 10: 30p.m. Mon. th ru Sat., 5 :30 a.m.Tues. thru Sat.

KG SS-Los Anaeles-c-tozn on dia l,10 p.m. Sun.

KRAK-Sacramento- l140 on d ial,8 p.m. dai ly.

XERB-Lower Cal if.-l090 on dia l,7 p.m. da ily; 9:30 a.m. Mon .thru Fri.

LEADING LOCAL·AREASTATIONS

EostWJRZ- N ewark, N.J.-970 on dial ,

7 :30 p.m. Sun ., 10:00 p.m.Mon . thru Sat.

WDMD-Baltimore-750 on dia l, 12noo n da ily.

WWIN-Baitimore- 1400 on dial,12 noon, Sun., 9 :30 a.rn., Mon .rhru Sat .

W'PIT-Pittsbur~h-730 on dial,3 :30 p.m. Mon . rhru Sat .

CKFH - Toronto - 1430 on dia l,10:00 p.rn. Sun ., 9 :00 p.m.Mon. thru Eri., 10 :00 p.m .Sat.

W~UE-Miami, Fla.-1l40 on dial,S :.,0 a.m. Sun ., 12 noon Mon.th ru Sat.

Central

WSPD-Toledo, Ohio-1 370 ondial, 9 :05 p.m. daily.

W]BK-Detroit- 1500 on dial, 9 :30a.rn. Sun.

WADe-Akron, Ohio-1350 ondia l, 9 :30 p.m. daily.

W ]W - Cleve land . Oh io - 850 ondia l, 10 a.m. Sun .

W O W-Omaha, N ebr.-590 on dia l,9:30 p.m. Sun., 10 :30 p.m.Mon. thru Sat.

KRVN-:-Lexington, Nebr.-tO 10 ondial, 10 :30 a.m. daily.

'X'NAX-Yankton. S. Dak.-570 ondial. 8 :30 p.m. daily.

*WEA\V-Chica,go-1 330 on d ial,9 :30 a.m. Sun. (105.1 FM.8 :00 p.m. Sun .) , 7 a.m. Mon.thru Sat.

WIBC-lnd ianapolis-l070 on dia l,10:30 p.m. Sun .

*WFBM-Indianapolis -1260 ondial , 7:3 0 p.m. daily.

KWTQ-Springfield, Mo.-560 ondia l, 7:00 p.m. daily.

KFDI-Wichita, Kans.-1070 ondia l, 12:30 p.m . and G:00 p.m.daily .

KFH-Wichita, Ka ns.-1330 on dia l,9 :30 a.m., Sun .; 6 :30 p.m.dail y.

KEVE-Minneapolis-1440 on dia l,10 :00 a.m. Sun. , 7 :00 a.m .Mon. thru Sat.

WEBe - Duluth, Minn. - 560 ondia l, 7 :30 p.m. Sun. thru Fri.,11:30 a.m. Sat.

WOOD - Grand Rapids, Mich.­1300 on dial, 8 :00 p.m. daily.

KFYR-Bismarck, N . Dak.-S50 ondial , 7 p.m. daily.

CFQC-Saskatoon, Sask.-600 ondial, 7:30 p.m. da ily.

SouthKCTA-Cocpus Christi, Tex.-1030

on dial, 2 p.m. Sun., 12:30p.m. Mon . thru Fri ., 4 :30p.m. Sat .

KCUL-Ft. Worth-lS40 on dial,1 p.m. Sun ., 8 :30 a.m. Mon.thru Sat.

Kl\-lAC-San Antoni0-630 on dia l9 :00 a.m. Sun., 7 :15 a.m.Mon. thru Sat .

KHEY-EI Paso, Texas-690 on dial,s p.m. daily.

KFMj-TuJsa-lOSO on dial , 12 :30p.m. daily.

KBYE-Okla. City-890 on dial,10:30 a.m. Sun., 12:30 p.m.Mon. thru Sat.

KW AM - Memphis - 990 on dial,10 a.m. Sun ., 11:00 a.m. Mon .thru Sat.

WKYB--Paducah, Ky.-570 on dial,12 noon da ily.

KTLU-Rusk, Texas-iS80 on dial.7 :30 a.m. Sun .

Mounta in StatesKPHC-Phoenix-910 on dial, 6 :30

p.m. daily.KLZ-Denver-560 on dial, 10:45

p.m. Sun. thru Fri. , 10:30a.m. Sat .

KCPX-Salt Lake City-1320 ond ial, 7 p.m . daily.

KIDO-Boise, Idah0-630 on dia J7 p.m. daily.

West CoastCJOR-Vancouver, B.C.--600 on

dial, 9 :30 p.m. Sun., 7 :30 p.m.Mon. thru Sat .

KHQ - Spokane - 590 on dial , 8p.m. daily.

KVI-Seaule-570 on dial , 8 a.m.Sun .

KNBX-Seattle-1050 on dial, 12noon dai ly.

KW]J-Portland -l080 on dial, 10p.m. Sun ., 9 p.m. Mon. thruSat .

KEX-Portland-1190 on dial, 8 :15a.m. Sun .

KUGN-Eugene-590 on dial, 7p.m. da ily.

KUMA - Pendleton, Oregon - 1290on dial, 7 :00 p.m. dai ly except7 :30 p.m. Monday.

December, 1962 The PLAIN TRUTH

RADIO LOG

Page 19

KSAY-San Francisco--lOlO ondia l, 7 :30 a.m. Mon. rhru Sat.

KFRC-San Fra ncisc0--61O on dial,9 :30 a.m. Sun .

KDB-Santa Barbara. Calif.-1490on dia l, 8 :00 p.m. daily.

KHJ-Los Angeles-930 on dial,7 :30 p.m. Sun.

KRKD-Los Angeles-lISO on dial,9 :30 a.m. and 6 :30 p.m . Sun.,6:1; a.m. and 7 p.m. Mon.thru Sat.

KBLA-Burbank-1490 on dial,7:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.daily.

KACE - San Bernardino-Riverside­1570 on dial, 92.7 FM, 9:30a.m. Sun., 7 :05 a.m. Mon. rhruSat.

KNEZ - Lompoc, Calif. - %0 ondial, 9:30 a.m. Sun.

In Spanish-KALI-Los Ange les, Calif.-1430 on

dia l, 4 :45 p.m . Sun.

Alaska & HawaiiKFQD-Anchorage. Alaska-730 on

dial, 7 :30 p.m. daily.KULA-Honolulu, Hawaii-690 on

dial, 7:30 p.m. daily.

Canada (in French)

CK]L-St. Jerome, Quebec-900 kc.,10 :30 a.m. Sun.

TO EUROPEIn English-a-RADIO LUXEMBOURG - 208

metres (1439 kc.) mediumwave and 49 metres (6090kc.) short wave-7:00 p.m.Mon. and Tucs., G.M .T.

In French-RADIO LUXEMBOURG-1293 me­

tres-5 :40 a.m., Mon.EUROPE NO. ONE-Felsberg en

Sarre, Germany - 182 kc.(1647 m.)-5 :4; a .m. Wed..

In German-RADIO LUXEMBOURG-49 me­

tres (6090 kc.) shortwave and208 metres (1439 kc.) me­dium wave-c-Sun., 6 :0; a.m.:Wed., 7 :00 a.m., M.E.T

TO AFRICARADIO LOURENCO MARQUES,

MOZAMBIQUE - 3301 kc.and 4925 kc.-1O:00 p.m.Mon., Wed.• and Sar., 10:30p.m. Tues., Thur. and Fri.

RADIO UFAC, ELIZABETHVILLE-OQ2AD-4980 kc. (60 m.)- 10 p.rn. Sun., Mon. andWed.: 9:30 p.m. Tue., Thur.and Fri.

WNBS - Lagos - 602 kc. - B:30p.m. daily.

WNBS-Ibadan-656 kc., 3380 kc.,6185 kc . and 9500 kc.-B:30p.m. daily.

"The WORLD TOMORROW"

TO AUSTRALIA ANDNEW ZEALAND

2KY-Sydney, NSW-I020 kc.­10:15 p.m. Mon. thru Thurs.,10 :45 p.m. Fri. and Sat.

2AY-Albury, NSW-1490 kc.-10:00 p.m. Sun. thru Fri.

2GF-Grafton, NSW - 1210 kc.­10:00 p.m. Mon. thru Sat.

2GN-Goulburn, NSW-1380 kc.-10 :00 p.m . Mon. thru Sat.

2HD-Newcasde, NSW-1140 kc.-10 :30 p.m. Sun.: 6:00 p.m .Mon . thru FrL

2KA-Katoomba, NSW-780 kc.-10:00 p.rn. Mon. thru Sat.

2KM-Kempsey, NSW-980 kc.­10:30 p.m. Mon. thru Sat.

2MW-Murwillumbah, NSW-1440kc.-1O:30 p.m . Mon. thruSat.

3AW-Melbourne, Vic.-1280 kc.­10 :30 p.m. Sun.

3BO-Bendigo, Vic. -960 kc.­10: 15 p.m. Sun. thru Fri.

3CV-Maryborough, Vic.-1440 kc.-10 :15 p.m. Sun. thru FrL

3HA-Hamilton, Vic.-lOOO kc.­10:30 p.m. Sun. thru Fri.

3KZ-Melbourne, Vic.-1180 kc.­10:30 p.m. Sun.: 10:45 p.m.Mon . thru Thurs.'; 10: 15 p.m .Fri .

3MA-Mildura, Vic,-1470 kc.­3:30 p.m. Mon. thru Fri.,10:00 p.m. Sat.

3SH-Swanhill, Vic.-1330 kc.­10:15 p.m. Sun. rhru Fri.

35R-Shepparton, ViC.-1260 kc.­10:15 p.m. Sun . thru Fri .

3Ul-Warragul, Vic.-880 kc.­10:15 p.m. Sun. thru Fri.

3YB-WarrnambooI, Vic. - 1210kc.-l0:15 p.m. Sun. rhru Fri.

4AK-Oakey, QId.-1220 kc.-9 :30p.m . Sun. ; 10:15 p.rn. Mon.thru Thurs.; 10:30 p.m. Fri.

4BK-Brisbane, Qld.-1290 kc.­9:30 p.m. Sun.; 10:15 p.m.Mon. thru Thurs.; 10 :30 p.m.Fri.

4CA-Cairns, Qld,-1010 kc.-l0:00p.m. Sun. thru Frio

4TO-TownsviUe, Qld.-780 kc.­10 p.m. Mon. thru Sat.

4KQ - Brisbane, Qld. - 690 kc. ­10:30 p.m. Sun.

4WK-Warwick. Qld.-880 kc.­10 :00 p.m. Mon. thru Sat.

6GE-Geraldton, WA-I0I0 kc.­9:30 p.m. Sun.: 10:00 p.m.Mon . thru Fri.

6KG-Kalgoorlie, W A-8GO kc.­10:00 p.m. Mon. thru Sat .

6PM-Perth. WA-1000 kc.-l0:00p.m. Sun.; 10:15 p.m. Mon.thru Fri.

GAM-Northam, WA-980 kc.­10:00 p.m. Sun.: 10:15 p.m.Mon . thru Fri.

7AD-Devonport . Tas.-900 kc.­3:30 p.m . Sun. thru Fri .

7HT-Hobart, Tas .-l0BO kc.­7:30 p.m. Sun.; 9:30 p.m.Mon., Wed., Thur. and Fri .;10:35 p.m. Tues.

75D - Scottsdale, Tas. - 540 kc.­4 :00 p.m. Sun. thru Fri.

2XM - Gisborne, New Zealand ­1180 kc.-8:30 p.m. Wed.;9:15 p.m. Thurs.; 10:00 p.m.Sat .

TO ASIARADIO TAIWAN (FORMOSA)

"The 3rd Network, B.C.C."-BED23 Taichung 1380 kc.;BED55 Taipei 960 kc.;BED78 Tainan City 1540 kc.:BED79 Kaohsiung 1220 kc.;BED82 Chiayi 1460 kc.-

18:00 T.S .T., Wed. and Fri.RADIO OKINAWA-KSBK-880

kc. Sundays: 12:06 noon .ALTO BROADCASTING SYSTEM

-PHILIPPINE ISLANDS:DZAQ, Manila-620 kc.-8 :30 p.m.

Mon. thru Sat.DZRI, Dagupan City-l040 kc.:DZRB, Naga City-1060 kc.:DXA\V, Davac Citv-640 kc.­

9 :00 p.m. Sunday.DYCS, Cebu City-570 kc.-9:30

p.m. Friday.RADlO GUAM-KUAM-<5l0 kc.,

6 p.m. daily.

TO LATIN AMERICAIn English-RADIO AMERICAS-Swan Island­

1160 kc,-6:30 p.m., E.S.T.Sun,

RADIO AMERICA-lima, Peru­1010 kc.-5 :15 p.m. Saturdays.

HOC21. Panama City-IllS kc.­7 :00 p.m., Sundays.

HP5A, Panama City-11170 kc.­7:00 p.m., Sundays.

HOK, Colon, Panama-640 kc.­7:00 p.m., Sundays.

HP5K, Colon, Panama-6005 kc.­7:00 p.m., Sundays.

In Spanish-RADIO AMERICAS-Swan Island­

1160 kc.-9 :00 p .m ., Sun.,9:30 p.m. Sat. E.S.T,

RADIO LA CRONICA-Lima, Peru-1320 kc.-7 :00 p.m. Sun.

RADIO COMUNEROS - Asuncion,ParaguaY-970 kc.-8:30 p.m.Thursdays.

RADIO SPORT-CXA19-Monte·video, Uruguay-11835 kc.­4 :00 p.m. Sundays.

RADIO CARVE-CXI6, 850 kc.,and CXA13, 6156 kc-c-Mon­tevideo, Uruguay-3:30 p.m.,Saturdays.

In Frencb-4VBM-Port au Prince, Haiti-1430

kc., 7 :45 p.m. Wed.4VCM-Port au Prince, Haiti-6165

kc., 7:45 p.m. Wed.

Page 20

CHRISTM AS(Continned from page 17)

den because God didn't intend H ischurch to celebrate the birthday ofChrist.

Only pagans, during the days of theearly church, were celebrating Decem­ber 25-in honor of Sol, the sun god.

In most any public library you canget proof of this in a book entitled 4000Y ears of Christmas, by Earl W endelCount. The very name of this bookproves that the Christmas holiday isn'tChrist ian. It was celebrated 2000 yeatsbefore the birth of Christ in honor ofpagan gods! T herefo re it was, and is,IDOLATRY!

Not ice what God does say aboutthe Christmas holiday seaIOIZ and ochercustoms by wh ich the heathen servedtheir gods: "Take heed . . . that you donor enquire about their gods, saying,'How did these nations serve their gods?- that I also may do likewise.' YouSHALL NOT DO SO TO THE ETERNALYOUR G OD; FOR EVERY ABOMINABLE

THING WHICH THE ETERNAL HATESTHEY HAVE OONE FOR THEIR GODS"( Deut. 12:30-31) .

Th e Christia n-professing wotld todayrejects th is commandment of God soit can hold the traditions of men.

Jesus commands us not to worshipH im by pagan holidays like Christmas.

Even though gi ft-giving duri ng theChris tmas season did come from pagan­ism, you ask, "Isn't giving gifts at Christ­mas still scriptural? Did n't the wisemen give gifts at the birch of Christ?"

Does Bible T each Exchanging Gi fts ?

Just where did the Christmas SHOP­PING spirit really originate?

Here's a surprise! "The custom ofgiving presents was a feature of theRomans during their winter festivalthe Saturn alia," says John Then, in hisbook, Christmas, page 91. Professing"Chr istians made presents to thei r chil­dren on Christmas morning, under thepretense that they were the gift of theChrist child . .. this age-old custom canbe traced to the dawn of hisrory-c-ropaganism!

Did trad ing gifts at Christmas cornefrom Script ure? No! It came from pa­gan tradition and was falsely labeled

Tb e P LAI N TR UTH

"Chriscian"-a deception to fool littlechildren. And millions using the name ofChrist are practicing this lie today.

Millions of sincere, deceived peoplespend prec ious dolJars to give gifts to

iriends on a day that doesn 't honorChrist. How silly to claim to honorChrist, when giving gifts to one anotheron a day that isn't His bir thday at all.

The wise men d idn't give gifts to oneanother! Notice what they did: "Then,opening their treasures, they offeredHIM gifts, gold and frankincense andmyrrh" (Mat. 2: I -II).

WHY were the wise men giving giftsto the Christ child? Was this his birth­day? No!

Jesus had been born many daysbefore! Then why did they give giftsto HIM? Because Jesus was born "KINGof the Jews."

The wise men were not coming onJesus' birthday as an example for us.Instead they carne to worship Jesus andpresent H im gifts because he was KING.

Since Christmas isn' t the bir thday ofJesus and was not observed by the earlytrue Chr istians, how did it get int o thechurches?

T he Astou nding An swer

Following the death of the apos tlePaul, false reachers began to lead awaymany from the truth. Paul wrote Tim­othy : "For the time is coming whenpeople will not endure sound teaching,but having itching ears they will accu­mulate for themselves teachers to suittheir own likings, and will turn awayfrom listening to the truth and wanderinto mytbs" (II Tim. 4:3-4).

Notice it! People would reject thetruth and begin to follow myths. Insteadof continuing to observe the days Godsanctified, as the first Christians did, themany turned aside to follow false teach­ers who crept into the true Church inorder to get hold of the name of Christ-in order to label their pagan customs"Christian! ..

These fifth-columnists-as soon asthey had created a mass following­left the Church and carried the name ofChrist with them. They stamped thepagan Saturnalia, the Brumalia and theNatalis l nvicti Solis with the name"Christian," falsely calling December 25Chr ist's bi rthday! In the Bible these

December, 1962

fifth-column teachers of the BabylonishMysteries are condemned as "Nicolai­tanes" in Revelation 2: 6 and 15. It istime you understood the connection be­tween the N icolaieanes and St. N icolasof the Christmas season.

Who Were the Nicolaitanes?

Here are the facts. The word "Ni co­lairane" has nothing to do with thedeacon Nicolas (Acrs. 6:5), or a laterbishop, Nicolas of Myra, as some haveassumed.

The orig inal Greek word "Nicolai­tane" means one who is "a follower ofNicolas;" Who was that Nicolas of whomthese fifth-column conspirators were ­followers? The God of Heaven declaresHe hates the doctrine of that manNicolas (Rev. 2:15).

The answer is found in the meaningof the name "Nicolas:'

"Nicolas" comes from two Greekwo rds-nikos and laos. N iiios means"conqueror" or "destroyer" and lao!means "people." Th e original Nic olaswas the conqueror or destroyer of thepeop le! Th at was merely the Greekword for N imrod-the original arch ­

rebel who conquered the people andfounded man-made civilization withinrwc centuries afte r the flood! ( Genesis10:8-10) .

N imrod Deifi ed as "Sa in t N icholas"

While N imrod was alive, by hisdictatorial rule he put himself in theplace of God . And when he died, hisadmirers CONTINUED TO WORSHIP HIMAS A DIVINE HERD--as the SUN GOD.The Phoenicians CALLED HIM "BAAL,"a name found rhroughour the Old Tes­tament. "Baal" means "master' or "lord."It was only natural that N imrod shouldbear that name, for he put himself inplace of the true Lord or Master of allthe universe .

But "Baal" was not N imrod's onlyothe r NAME! HE HAD MANY others.One of these names was "Santa," com­

monly used throughout Alia Mino r.This name of N imrod may be foundin Lempriere's Classical Dictionary, ar­tide "Sancrus.'

Now you might ask, "Is there anyconnection between N imrod, who wascalled 'Santa,' and 'Sant a Claus' "?

(Please cont inue 011 page 29)

Where Did Jesus CommandYou to Observe SUNDAY?

The resurrection of Christ was NOT on Sunday morning. Yettoday it is almost a universal custom among professing Chris­tians to celebrate Sunday as the "Lord's Day ." WHY? Theincredible TRUTH about the origin of Sunday observance is

published for the first time in The PLAIN TRUTH .by Herman l. Hceh

BELIEVE , it or not, Sunday was cele­brated by pagan s as the "Lord'sDay" over 2000 years before the

resurrection of Christ!It was on Sunday that the worshippers

of BAAL met every week. H ow did thisheathen practice invade the Chri stianChurch?

It is time we peer behind the curtainfor the [acts! 'Ir is time we understandHOW, WHBN and WHBRB Sunday observ­ance originated. The facts of history willshock you!

Christ NOT Resurrected on Sunday

You have probably assumed that Sun­day was called the "Lord's Day" to honorthe resurrection of Jesus Christ. But haveyou ever stopped to prove on which dayof the week Christ was resurrected? Howcan you figure three days and threenigh ts between Friday sunset and Sundaymorning? D id you ever notice thatJesus Christ was not tbere when thewomen came to the tom b Sunday morn­ing?

"But on the first day of the week, atearly dawn, they came un to the tomb,br inging the spices which they hadprepared. And they found the stonerolled away from the tomb. And theyentered in, and [ound not tbe body ofthe Lord jesus" (Luke 24: 1-3) . Ofcourse no r! He was already risen theevening before-exactly th ree days andthree nights after he was buried.

T here is not space in this article toexp lain it in full. But you can have thefull proof in Mr. Armstrong's astou nd­ing free booklet "T he Resurrection WasNot on Sunday!" It explains which daywas the resurrection, which day thecrucifixion. In it you will find the Bibli­cal proof that Jesus was resurrectedshortly before sunset on the Sabbath,

Most of our subscribe rs will haveread the three previous issues of thePlain Truth containing Mr. Arm ­strong's series "Which Day Is theChrist ian Sabbath?" They will shore­Iy be published in booklet form. Ifyou have nor read them be sure toreq uest the new booklet: "WhichDay Is the Christian Sabbath?"

exactly 72 hours after He was buried.Then there is a companion article

"The Crucifixio n Was Not on Friday ."It conta ins the seven proofs from historytha t in the year Jesus was cruc ified thePassover was not on Friday .

Now to continue.Since Christ is not the "Lord" whose

resurrection is honored on Sunday, thenwho is the "Lord" whom the churchesworship today when they observe Sun­day?

W hy Pagans Named Sunday the"Lord' s Day"!

How did Sunday become known asthe "Lord's Day"?

The answer is found in I Cori nthians8:5. "Gods many, and lords many,"wrote Paul to the Corinthians, filled theheathen world . Each of these gods andlords was honored on certain specificdays. The chief day of the heathen Mys­teries was known as the "Lord's Day ."It was celebrated in honor of the sup­posed Sunday resurrection of Baal, theSun God. Baal means "Lord" in theSemitic languages. That is how Sundaybecame known as the "Lord's Day"­Baal's day-more than 2000 years be­fore the resurrection of Christ .

WHO WAS THIS"LORD" BAAL WHOSBFABLED RESURRECTION WAS CELE ­

BRATED BY THE PAGANS ON SUNDAY?

It is none other than Nimrod, theworld's first recorded false Messiah! H eis ment ioned in your Bible in Genesis10:8-10.

The heathen had been led by theirpriests into commemorati ng the death ofNimrod on Friday and his supposedresurrection on Sunday morning. TheGentile nations celebrated thei r Mysrer­ies every Sunday in Abraham's day andin Paul's day, and profess ing Christi ansare celebrating Nimrod 's suppos ed resur­rection on Sunday to this very day with­OUt knowing it!

But how it is possible that Nimrod­who was known amo ng (he heathen as"Baal," the "lord," and the "Sun-God"-<arne to be honored on Sunday as the"Lord" among Christians? How is it thathis day-,---Sunday-instead of God's Sab­bath, has become the chief of "Christi anholidays"?

Prophesied to Ha pp en

"Why," you mig ht ask, "does theBible not warn us that Sunday wouldbe substituted for the Sabbath?"

The answer is that the Bible DOESWARN US! It was prophesied in advance--over 800 years before Sunday creptinto the profess ing Chr istian world !

Turn to the Book of Hosea. Theprophet had a message far the futu re­for our day! It is a warni ng to thechurches of our land.

Read it!"And I"-God is speak ing-"will

punish ber't-c-our peop le Israel-"forthe FEAST DAYS OF THE BAALS."

Sunday is a feast day of BAAL.Israel "forgot Me, says the Lord"­

because they re jected the Sabbath. "Andin that day"-the very near future whenChr ist intervenes in world affairs-"yau[Israel) will call Me, 'My husba nd; and

Page 22

no longer will you call me, 'My Baal.'For I will remove the names of theBaals from her mourh, and they shall bement ioned by name no more' ( Hosea2: 13, 16-17, RSV) .

How plain! Israel roday-c-and thatmeans the English -speaking world-hasadopted rhe feast days of Baal-,md that

inc/udeI--4U11day! Here is a prophecythat the churches of Israel would Wcelebrating the festivals of Baal-c-rharthey would even call God by the namesof Baal! That is exactly what they dowhen they call Sunday the "Lord's Day"-that is, Baal's Day- thinking that theyhonor Christ.

Our land is filled with the names ofBaaL The greatest of Chur ch holidays- Easter-is named afte r lshrar, thewife of Nimrod, and yet Christiansthink that they honor Christ by cele­brating this Babylonish feast!

God warns in this prophecy that Hewill punish our people-and the min­isters who have misled them-for re­jecting His way and His Sabbath ( Ezek.20 ,18-21 ) and adopting the ways andfeasts of the Babylonian 'mysteries.

Th e apostle Peter sounded the samewarning : "But there were false prophetsamong the people, even as there shall befalse teachers amo ng you, who prit1i/yshall bring i11 damnable heresies, evendenying the Lord that boughr rhem"­by substituting the doctrines and cus­toms of Baal worship and the Baby­lonian Mysteries in place of the Bible,but sti ll calling these heathen customs"Chris tian."

Peter continues: "And many"-not thefew, but the MANy- "shall follow theirpern icious ways; by reason of whom theway of truth "- the teachi ngs of yourBible, the practice of the origi nal, in­spired true Ne w Testament Chu rch­"shall be evil spoken of"-people callir "Jewish" today! ( I Peter 2: 1·2.)

These false reachers-s-conspirarors ofthe Babylonian priesthood-deliberately,but secretly, entered into the Church inorder to clothe their religion with thename of Christ and present it as a newreligion to the world.

Now let us consider when and howthe Babylonian priesthood wormed itsway into the New Testament Church,rook the name of Christ, then left-butstill claimed to be the true Church-and

The PLAIN TRUTH

finally introduced sun worship 111 thecloak of Christ.

T he Surprising Answer

Sunday is directly connected withEaster, Easter is the pagan counte rfeitfor the New Testament Passover, orCommunion service. It was at the Pass­over-s-nor the -Sabbarh-c-thar rhe Baby­lonian priests, who masqueraded asChrist's ministers, struck first!

Anyone who keeps the Passoverk,lOUJS that Jesus Christ was 'not resur­rected on Sunday. And without a "Sun­day resurrection" they could not attachthe name of Christ to their Babyloniansun worship!

They knew that they could nor int ro­

duce Sunday worship services unti l .theyhad first counterfeited the New Testa­ment Passover, or Communion service,which Paul and the whole N ew Testa ­ment Church celebrated once each yearas a memorial of Christ's death. (Thebooklet "How Ofren Should We Ob­serve 'The Lord's Supper'?" expla ins

. this New Tesrarnent ordinance. )Those who kept the paschal ME­

MORIAL of Christ's DEATH were tauntedas "Jewish," The Gent iles, of course,didn't want 'co be called "Jewish." Theywanted to do what their pagan neigh­bors are doing,

And what was that?The y were celebrating each Sunday a

kind of communion called the "sacredmysteries" in honor of the supposedRESURRECTION of the false Babyloniansavior Nimrod, known as Baal or Tam ­muzoThe natural thing to do was to in­troduce this pagan custom into all thechurches each week supposedly to honorthe resurrection, instead of commemo­rating the death, of Christ.

Thi s is exactly what occurred!But wait-since Christ was resur­

recred on Saturday , that would meanweekly communion would customarilybe held on the Sabbarh. The Sabbarh,remembe r, was the day on which allChri stians were meeting.

Does that mean rhar the early Baby­lonian pr iests who entered the NewTestament Church as ravening wolvesco devour the flock ( Acrs 20: 29 )actually induced the people to observecommunion every Saturday?

Indeed it does!

December, 1962

Weekly Communion On Sarurday

Here is the testimony of Socrates, theCatholic historian who lived after 400A.D. :

"In Asia Minor [that was where Paulmainly preached, and where John spemhis last years] most people kept the

l oun eemh day of the [ first] month"­t he true date of the Passover. "Whiletherefore some in Asia Minor observedthe above mentioned day, OTHERS IN

THE EAST KEPT THE FEAST [THECOUNTERFEIT OF THE PASSOVER­EASTER] ON THE SABBATH indeed. , , ,"[The "SABBATH" always means Satur­day, not Sunday, in early Catholic liter­ature.]

Why the Sabbath? Because it wasstill the commo n knowledge, evenamong those who had fallen away, thatJesus rose on the Sabbath !

But this is nor all the evidence! Hereare more incredible facts from the penof the church historian Socrates:

"For although almost all churches[the false churches, nor God 's Church]throughout the world celebrate thesacred mysteries ON THE SABBATH ofevery week"-this was about 400 yearsafter Christ- "yet the Christians ofAlexandria and at Rome, on account ofsome ancient tradition, have ceased todo tbis [t hough rhey did so at a priortime]. The Egyptians in the neighbor­hood of Alexandria, and the inhabitantsof Thebais hold their religious assem­blies 011 the Sabbath, but do nor partici­pate of the mysteries in the mannerusual among Christians in general."( Ecclesiastical History of Socrares, bookV, chapter 22. Quoted from Vol. 2 ofN icene and Post-N icene Fathers, pp.131·132.)

Do you really grasp the asroundingsignificance of this historical record ?If the Sabbath had not been kept-ifthe resurrection were nor on the Sabbath ,there would have been no reason to

introduce the pagan "sacred mysteries"-the heathen counterfeit of the pass­over....-on every Sabbath.

Here is absolute testimony to theSabbath resurrection of Christ, If Christhad been resurrected on Sunday, cer­tainly the Cathol ics would have in­stituted the "sacred mysteries" on Sun­day, the day that their heathen neighborsalways celebrated the "sacred mysteries,"

December, 1962

which originated in Babylon! Thoughthey adopted the "sacred myster ies"­the mass or communion-from thepagans, they celebrated it on the trueday of Christ's resurrection!

Notice further that it was at Romeand at Alexandria-in Egypt, the landof SIN-that Sabbath services firstceased! And it was at Rome-as we shallsee-that Sunday was first introduced asa "Christian holiday."

The Tes timony of a Roman Governor

In suppOrt of Sunday, many preachersand writers turn to a lette r writtenabour 112 A.D. by Pliny, the Romangovernor of Byrhinia-Pontus. This wasthe area to which Peter addressed hisfirsr letter (I Per. I: I ) .

But Pliny's letter does not say whatmost ministers claim!

Pliny wrote to his superior, EmperorTrajan, seeking to know the legal stepshe should take against Christians accusedof crimes pertaining to the ir religion[These so-called Christians were thosewho had followed rhe leadership of rheBabylonian priests who had secretly en­tered the Church of God to steal thename of Chris t so that they couid labeltheir pagan religion "Christian."] Ofthese Christians under his jurisdictionPliny related:

"They affirmed that the whole oftheir gu ilt or error was, that they METON A CERTAIN STATED DAY, before itwas light and addressed themselves in aform of prayer to Christ, as to somegod, binding themselves by a solemnoath . . . never to commit any fraud,the ft, or adultery . .. after which it wastheir custom to separate, and then reas­semble to eat in common a harmlessmeal" (Coleman's Anciens Christianity,

pp. 35-36) .This letter, it is claimed, proved that

Christians observed Sunday as early as112 A.D.! But it proves no such thing!Pliny's letter merely memions thatChristians-these were apostate Chris ­tians-met "on a certain stated day,"but he does not tell the Emperor whichday it was! Let us not assume.

H istory proves that it was the Sab­bath! As late as 400 A.D. the professingChristians of Birhynia-Pontus, and allthe Eastern Roman Empire in general,met on Saturday to celebrate the pagan

The PLAIN TRUTH

"sacred mysteries." So wrote Socrates.It was not on Sunday bur on Saturday

that early Catholics celebrated, withoutBiblical authority, the resurrection ofChrist with the pagan "sacred mysteries"-the "common meal" mentioned byPliny.

Why Apostate Christians MetBefore Da wn

The New Testament Church neverfollowed these customs. So widely spreadand in such numbers were these pro­fessing Christians that "the templeswere almost deserted, and the sacrificialritual was interrupted" (Ramsey, TheChurch in the Roman Empire, P_ 198).Truly converted Christians were to be a"little Bock" (Luke 12: 32-40) , not mul­titudes of Gentiles coming wholesaleinto the churches and bringing heathencustoms with them!

Notice also that they met at dawn!­"before it was light." This was thecommon time for pagans to hold reoligious services in honor of the risingsun! Then they bound themselves byan oath---oaths are forb idden in Scrip­ture (James 5: 12). After dismissal,they would "reassemble to eat in com­mon a harmless meal"-the "sacredmysteries" of Babylon!

Remember, Socrates admitted theseapostates met on the Sabbath-just assome apostate churches still meet on theSabbath today. Sunday-in Pliny's day­had not yet been widely introducedamong professing Christians. Pliny's let­ter, then, is not proof for Sunday, burfor church services on Saturday !

And this was more than 80 years afterthe resurrection of Christ!

Sunday Emerges for the First Time-at Rome

Now we come to the aItou-ndingorigin of Sunday in the professing Chris­tian world! Here we shall find WHO be­gan to enforce the fint "Sunday worshipservices"!

It is at Rome particularly that wefirst notice the custom to observe the"sacred mysteries" on Sunday! This wasa result, Socrates wrote, "of an ancienttradition." But how early was theSunday tradition?

Here are the facts!Irenaeus, a bishop in France, living

Page 23

toward the close of the second century,wrote a letter to bishop Victor of Rome.He names specifically the men whofirst began to enforce nor only everySunday, but also "Easter Sunday" andwho forbade the passover and the Sab­bath to be observed in accordance withthe practice of the apostles! Here iswhat Irena eus wrote :

"We-1mean Anicetus, and Pius, andHygi nus, and Telesphorus, and Xysrus.They neither observed it"- the truepassover on the 14th of Nisa n-"nordid they permit those after them todo so."

W ho were these men?-bishops ofthe Church of Rome!

Here is the first record, by a Catholic,of the fact that the Roman bishopsENFORCED the "sacred mysteries" on aSunday!

It was bishop Xysrus (his name isalso spelled Six!UJ) who was the firstrecorded individual to prevent theproper observance of the Sabbath andthe passover, and to celebrate the"sacred mysteries" each Sunday morn­ing and on "Easter Sunday." Irenaeusspeaks further of him, declaring that hisdoct rine was in direct "opposition" to

the practice of the remainder of thechurches. Bishop Sixrus was living atthe beginning of the second centu-ry,just after the apostle John died! Accord­ing to Roman Catholic tradition, heenforced his new practice not later thanabout 115 A.D. to 125 A.D.

Thus it was not until nearly 20 yearsafter the death of the last apostle thatthe first "Sunday worship service" isrecorded in the professing Christianchurch!

Here you have the astounding originof the first ecclesiastically enforced an­nual Easter Sunday in the RomanChurch.

The "sacred mysteries" were also ob­served thenceforth in Rome every Sun­day!-instead of every Saturday.

Roman Custom Spreads

Now notice how this local Romancustom spread throughout the churches .

While at Rome, Polycarp, bishop ofSmyrna, discussed the matter of EasterSunday with the Roman bishop, Ani­cetus, about 150 A.D.

Irenaeus continued: "For neither

Page 24

could Anicerus persuade Polycarp notco observe it"-the passover-"becausehe had alwaYI observed it with Johnthe disciple of our Lord, and the rest ofthe apostles, with whom he associated;and neither did Polycarp persuade Ani­cetus to observe it, who said that he wasbound to follow the custom s of thepresbyters before him" (Quoted ft omEusebius' Ecclesiastical Hist ory, book V,chap. 24, in the N icene end Post-N iceneFathers, Vol. 1).

Notice that bishop Anicerus had noScriptural grounds-he determined to

follow the "customs" of men!-EasterSunday! It was Polycarp who followedthe example of the aposrles.

Shorrly after Polycarp left , there ap­peared an amazing letter- said by manyscholars to be a deliberate forgery. Thisletter is described by Bingham as follows:

"Pope Pius, who lived about 147, hadmade a decree, That the annual solem­nity of the Patch {Pesch is the Greekword for Passover}, should be kept onlyon the Lord's day"-Sunday-"and inconfimation of this he pretended, thatHermes, his brother, who was then aneminent teacher among them, had re­ceived instruction from an angel, whocommanded that all men should keep thePoscb on the Lord's day"-"Baal's Day"!( From pp. 1148-1149 of Bingham'sAntiquites of the Christian Church. Seealso A postolicsl Fathers, by Donaldson,p. 324.)

If this letter was a deliberate forgery,it was invented after Pclycarp 's time inan effort to lend weight to the pag""custom of Anicerus, bishop of Rome,who falsely maintained the Sunday ob­servance of the eucharist. If it were nota forgery, then Pius himself was theauthor of this deceptive letter. ( Piusdied JUSt prior to the visit of Polycarpto Rome. )

Th is is the kind of deception by whichSunday was introduced into the profes­sing Christian world!

O ther Spurious Letters Appear

As soon as the tradition of GoodFriday-Easter Suoday had official Romansupport, fraudulent letters, masquerad­ing as apostolic letters, were circulated".These fraudulent letters are often quotedtoday as proof of the observance ofSunday in the true New Testament

The PLAIN TRUTH

Church!These deliberate frauds demonstrate

the foulness of the Babylonian Mystery.N either the apostles, nor the Church ofGod ever had recourse to frauds! God'sSabbath is based on inspired Scripture.Sunday is based on a fraud- a LI E!

The first and most important letterwas the spurious "Epistle of Barnabas."One fable claims that it was the work ofthe companion of Paul. Anyone readingit knows better. Th e weight of scholar­ship proves that it is a deliberate forgery- a spurious lerter-e-compcsed aboutthe commencement of the second cen­tury by another person assuming thename of Barnabas.

This epistle, or letter, is filled withmany inaccuracies, triflings and absurd­ities. It is a complete contrast to theinspired New Testament epistles. Itis written in conjused, mysterious Ian­guage. Yet this is the kind of rubb ishthat is used to supporr Sunday. Itsorig in is of the Devil himself.

The next letter-or rather forgery­to consider is that of Ignatius. His work,"The Epistle to the Magnesians," writ­ten shortly after the turn of the first cen­tury, is usually regarded as one ofseveral spurious letters written by an­Other and attributed to Ignatius. Wheth­er or not Ignatius wrote it is of noimportance. For it still typifies the sa­tanic Babylonian Mystery which cleverlyfoisted on the world a day in honor ofBaal!

There are tWO foems of his letters,one Greek, the other Syriac. Each isentirely different from the other. Theyare probably both forgeries. The Greekversion of Ignatius was strongly in­fluenced by Rom e. It calls Sunday "thequeen and chief of all the days"-an ex­pression derived from the Babylonianmysteries.

But there is a longer Eastern versionin Syriac that is truly remarkable. Itindicated that in the- Eastern churches,where the apostolic tradition was strong­est, the false teachers had a much moredifficult time uprooting the Sabbath.Here is what it reads in part:

"Those who were conversant withthe ancient Scriptures came to newnessof hope. . . . Let us therefore no longerkeep the Sabbath after the Jewi sh man­ner, and rejoice in days of idleness; for

December, 1962

'he that does not work, let him noteat: For say the . . . oracles, 'In thesweat of thy face shalt thou eat thybread,' But let eZ1ery one of )'Olt keepthe Sabbath after a spiritual manner,rejoicing in meditation on the law, notin relaxation of the body, admiring theworkmanship of God, and not eatingthing! prepared the day before. . . .And after the observance of the Sabbath,let every friend of Christ keep theLord's Day as a festival, the resurrec­tion-day , the queen and chief of all thedays of the week. Looking forward to

this, the prophet declared, 'To the end,for the eighth day; on which our lifeboth sprang up again, and the victoryover death was obtained in Christ."

These words from the Syriac versionof the forgery of Ignatiu s clearly demon­strate how difficult it was to suppressthe Sabbath shortly after apostolic days.

The lett er was deliberately forged inorder to persuade the Gentiles that theyshould no longer keep the Sabbath a!th ey had been doing . Henceforth theyshould work on the Sabbath day afterattending church services on it. Thiscommand would not have been necessaryif the Sabbath was not being observed.IT IS PROOF THAT TH E SABBATH WAS

STILL BEING KEPT BY MULTITUDES OF

GENTILES!

The Spurious Apo stolic Constitutions

During the second, third and fourthcenturies, many documents appearedpurporting to be written by theapostles. T hese were falsely called "Apes­relic Constitutions."

They were circulated to create theimpression that pagan tradition hadApostolic blessing ! Although deliberatefrauds, these documents, nevertheless,express the corrupt church teachingswhich filled the Christian-professingworld during the cenruries after thedeath of the apostles.

Th e following (from A nte-N iceneFathers ) are certain of the constitutionsor statutes in part that formed the prac­tices, not of the scattered remains ofthe true body of Christ, but in theCatholic churches, especially the East­ern. Here is what they say regardingthe sabbath a! a day of public wonhip:

"I Peter and Paul"-remember, this{Please continue on page 27)

Germany•

Prophecy!Khrushchev has promised the West a new cnsts over Berlin.Will Russia sign a separat e peace treaty with Communist EastGerman y? Here' s what's really behind the struggle in Europe-and what histor y and prophecy say will be the outcome!

by Herman L. Haeh

WH ERE is Germany mentioned inBiblical prophecy? Or are theGerman peop le mentio ned at

all?The German peop le "and today in

the very shadow of the Iron Curtain.Germany at this moment holds the keyto Europe's destiny and to Westerndefense. German industry and transpor­tation constitute the heart and arteriesof Europe. Withour the beating of theGerman heart, Europe would quickly"agger and fall before the ravages ofatheistic Communism.

Germany has been the center of theworld 's two greatest wars and of thescourge of Nazism. Seventeen years ago,two yearJ alter the Nazi movement wentundergrou11dJ Ger many appeared de­strayed forever as a mighty nation. Itseemed she could never rise again.

Yet today-seventeen years after Ger­many was completely destroyed-today,with the Iron Curtain still dividing herpeople. Germany is once again thevibrant heart of Europe.

W e commonly hear of the economic"miracle of Germany." N ever has therebeen anything like Germany's revival inhistory. But Germany's revival is alsomilitary and political. Thi s time Ger­many does not stand almost alone-sheis the leading power in a gigantic Euro­pean Combine-the Common Market .

What does Germ any's new power por­tend? Where will Germany lead Europe ?

Will a Fascist revival once again suc­ceed in taking over Germany and allEurope, this time from within, beforewe realize what is happening?

It is high time we faced these ques­tions!

Could Bible Prophecy IgnoreGermany?

Consider also that Germany has setitself up as the bulwark of Europeanciviliza tion for well over a thousandyears. Germany for centuries has claimed

Recently the West German Govern­ment arrested four editors of Ger­many's leading news magazine DerSpiegel. T hey wer e charged wit h trea­son for publishing an ar ticle exposingmili ta ry wea knesses. The case hasrocked the Government. Voices havebeen raised against the return of Ge­stapo methods' under Adenauer. W ha tis now happening in German poli ticsforebodes DANGER to the West!

to stand as the eastern wall of defenseagainst the barbarism of Asia. It was onGerman soil that the hordes of Asia,sweeping across eastern Europe, weremore than once stopped.

The German Reich long endured asthe oldest political insticution in Eu­rope-older rhan the government ofFrance or England by centuries. TheGerman people called their Reich theHoly Roman Empire. It bore rule overEurope for a thousand years. This "HolyRoman Empire of rhe German People"was officially designared by [he Churchin the Middle Ages as "The Kingd nmof God" on earth . Irs citizens, the Ger­mans, felt themselves true Romans andbearers of the Chri stian Reich or King­dom. Th ey were therefore the chosenpeople of the Christian era, ent rustedwith a world-m ission to be the pro­tectors of Christianity.

The German leaders and philosophershave never forgot ten this notion of theMiddle Ages [hat the German, in placeof the Jew, has a special mission fromGod. German politicians know that theirdream of a world Empire can be ere­ared only if they maintain thi s claim ofa world-mission.

Thi s strange concept , which lies be­hind political thi nkin g in Germany to­day, is plainly stated in a German workwhich I have before me as I write thisart icle. The book is ent itled DieTragodie des Heiligen Reicbes, or, trans­lared, T he Tragedy of the Holy RomanEmpire . It is by Friedrich Heer. It is aremarkable volume. It lays bare thereason for tbe secret moves of the Ger-

man Government toward a UnitedStates of Europe.

Hidden Till N ow

Bible prophecies definitely mentio nsuch minor nations as Egypt , Libya,Jordan, Lebanon. It clearly mentionsRussia, China, Italy, Turkey, GreatBritain and rhe United Stares. CouldBible prophecy, then , ignore Germany ?Could it overlook rhe German peoplewho have played such an outstandingpart in human history?

Assuredly nor! Nor are the Germanpeople ignored !

Dozens of Bible prophecies are de­voted to the German people. Yet theprophetic identities of Germany andAustria have remained hidden from theworld. Why?

Because modern nations are norusually spoken of in Bible prophecy bytheir modern names, except in a fewcases. Names often change over thecenturies.

Usually, modern peoples in Bibleprophecy are named after the ancestorfrom whom they sprang. Nations aremerely families grown BIG.

For example, the Kingdom of Jordanis spoken of as "Ammon and Moab,"because the descendants of ancient Am­man and Moab live in Jordan today(Genesis 19:37-38 ) . The Spanish peo­ple are usually referred to as "Tarshish"in prophecy, because the bulk of theSpanish people descended from Tarshish(Genesis 10:4 ) . The Great Russiansare designated "Meshech and Tubal" inprophecy (Genesis 10:2 ) . And joinedwith them in a Communist league is"Magog," the ancestor of the Mongolianhordes of Eastern Asia. O ther nations,such as Egypt and Ethiopia and Greeceand Persia, are referred to by their mod­ern names, which they have retainedunchanged over the centuries.

But where are Germany and Austriamentioned in the Bible prophecies?

Page 26

T he story of the ancestry of the Ger­man people, and their role in p rophecy,is one of the stranges t stories everwritten. It is gripping with interest,amazing-yes, astound ing:

Ge rm an s Shape \Vorld Affairs

The German people have been thecivilizers of Central Europe. It is theywho have fundamentally carried thetorch of this world 's civilization fromRoman to modern times. It is the Ger­man people who, of ten by the sword,brought the pagans of Europe into thefold of the Catholic Church.

"The History of Germany," writesBayard Taylor, "is nor the history of anation, but of a race . . . Thus, evenbefore the fall of the Roman Empire,it becomes the main trunk our of whichbranch histo ries of nearly all Europeannation s, and . . . the connecting linkbetween ancient and modern history.The records of no ocher race throw somuch light upo n the development ofall civilized lands during a period offifteen hundred years" (from H istoryof Germany, p:tge iii).

Germany has been a center of learningfor generations. From German inven­tions developed one of the most power­ful means of mass communication everproduced-the priming press.

Many of the world's most renownedmusicians have come from Germany andAustria - Bach, Beethoven, Brahms ,Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Schuma nn,Schubert, the Strausses and Wagner.

German inventions have contributedgreatly to the modern industrial world-Daimler invented the motorcycle ( in1885 ), and the gasoline-driven automo­bile in 1887; Rudolf Diesel Inventedthe Diesel engine; Siemens , the furnacefor steelmaking; Bayer, the symhesis ofchemical dyes; Fahrenheit gave us themercury thermometer; Benz, the internalcombustion engine; Mirterhoffer, thetypew riter; and Rontgen discovered theX ray.

And think how m:lOY children haveread Grimm's fairy tales, translated fromrhe German. German dramatists, essay­isrs, historians, philosophers and poets­roo numerous to mention-have migh t­ily moulded world thinking.

Ge rma ny has contributed more mili­tary leaders tha n any ocher nation in

The PLAIN TRUTH

history. Irs governmencs have, in thepas t, claimed the right to rule the"Christian world: ' The Germ an State,from its beginning, has nearly alwaysbeen a confedera tion of srares-s-ofren anempire of Germa n ruling over non­Ge rman. It is the German people who,more than once, have believed them­selves to be the "He rre nvolk"-theMaster Race.

German leaders once again-just asin centuries pasr-e-openly are attemptingto unite all Europe in a United Staresof Europe-and, rhrough Europe, to

reshape the world in order to faste nGerman leadership and culture on allnations and peoples. German philoso­phers still regard this as a special callingfrom heaven itself.

Certainly the Ge rman nation, wh ichnow holds the key to the surviva l ofciviliza tion, could NOT be overlookedby the Bible!

Where DID the Germans Come From?

T he German peop le-who nu mberover one hundred million throughoutthe world today-are one great family.But they are composed of numeroussmall tribes. Nations, remember, arefamilies grow n BIG. T ake Israel forexample. The nation Israel descendedfrom one man, Jacob (who was re­named Israel upon his conversion­Ge nesis 35 :9-10) . But Israel had 12sons. H is family therefore was dividedinto 12, tribes. You read so often in theBible about "the 12 tribes of Israel"­Judah, Dan, Ephraim, Levi, etc. (Gene­sis 49 :28 ) .

The same is true of the Germanpeople.

The Germans are composed of numer­ous small tribes divided roday into threenations, Austria and East and Wesr Ger­many. Of all these tribes, perhaps themost famous name to Americans is thatof the Hessians. The British hirednumerous Hessians in thei r effon to

put dow n the American Revolutionwhich began in 1776. But the Hessiansare nor the only German tribe. Whenthe Ge rmans poured into Europe nearly2000 years ago, they were known to

the Roman historians by various tribalnames. Among the most imp ortant Ger­man tribes were the "Han i'' ( the an­cestors of the modern Hessians) , the

December, 1962

..Aleman! " and "Suabi ,' the "Quadi,"the "Casuari" and ochers. The Rom anscalled them collectively Germani, mean­ing "War-men" (from the EncyclopediaBritannica, article, "Germa ny").

But from where d id all these Ge r­manic peopl e come?-for Europe wasnot their orig inal homeland!

Here is the answer of history : "Therecan be no dou bt thar they . .. mig ratedinto Europe from the Caucasus and thecountries arou nd the Black and Caspianseas," stares Smitb's Classical Diction­ar)'. article, "Germania," p. 361.

The Germans, then , can be (faced inhisrorical records co the regions sur­rounding the Black and Caspian seas,which border on the ancient Biblicalland of MeJopotamia. T his is the regionwhere civ ilizat ion commenced and fromwhe re the Bible patriarchs came!

The Bible Answer Is Found!

Ancient German records claim thattheir oldesr ciry, Trier, was found ed bya son of Ninus-the Nimrod of the Bi­ble-who founded civilizarion ( Genesis10:8-12). "The inhabitants of Triermaintain that their city is the oldest inall Europ e," writ es Josef K. L. Bihl inhis textbook In deutscben Landen} page69. "Trier was founded," he cont inues,"by Trebeta, a son of the famous As­syrian King Ni nus. In fact, one finds . . .in Trier the inscription reading, 'Trierexisted for 1300 years before Rome wasrebu ilt: "

Bur how is ir possible that the oldestGerman city, Trier, founded over 2000years before Christ, should be built bya son of Ninus, the renowned King ofancient AJJj'ria?

Nacke! N inus (his Bible name wasNimrod), according co Genesis 10, ledthe ancient Assyrians from Babylon andsupervised their bui lding of Nineveh,the capital of anc ient Assyria. (In 1957D r. C. Paul Meredith and I viewed inIraq, the ancient Mesopotamia, the verycities originally settled with the As­syrians by Nimrod.) From there theAssyrians began their conquest of theancient world. They, roo, called them­selves "the Master Race: ' But why dothe Germa n records speak of the son ofan A JJyrian King as the builder of theirfirst city? \Vhat connection have theGerman tribes with the Astyriens of

December, 1962

hiscory?Jerome. who lived at the time when

the Indo-Germanic tribes were invadingEurope. gives the answer: "For 'Assur( the Assyrian ) also is joined withthem' "! (Lett er 123, § 16, quoted fromPsalm 83:8; from N icene and Post­N icene Petbers. )

D id the Assyrians Invade Europe?

Yes! Jerome said so! Bur how did heknow?

He saw them! He was an eyewitn essto their migrations from Mesopotamiaand the shores of the Black and Caspianseas!

Only 300 years befo re Jerome, theRoman naturalist Pliny the Elder de-

Below are three photos of A ssyriansw ho still live in the anci ent land ofAssyria in Mespotamia . Notice the irsimilari ty to the Germans of Europe.See how different the y are f rom theirArab neighbors.Photos Courtesy Chica90 Museum of Netuee! History

Th e PLAI N TRUTH

da red the "Assyriani"- the Assyrians­were dwelling north of the Black Sea(Natural Hi story, IV, § 12, page 183 ) ,Bur the Assyrians did ncr remain there!They are not there today! Of course not- they migrated into Central Europe­where the Germans live today!

Hi story lost sight of the Assyrians,just as it did of the "Ten Lost Tribesof Israel" whom the Assyrians took cap­tive ( II Kings 17 & 18 ) , But when werediscover the "Ten Lost Tribes of Israel"as they migrated to the British Isles,the Low Countries and Scandinavia,they were separating from the Assyriansor Germans, who rook them captive.

Germans Are Assyrians

The Germans, remember, came intoEurope from the shores of the BlackSea and its environs. Now consider whatSylax, the author of the "Periplus, ' wholived about 550 B.C., writes of thisregion : 'T he coast of the Black Sea , , .is called Assyria" (from page 261 ofPerrot and Chipiez's History of Art inSardinia, Judaea, Syria and Asia Minor,Vol. II,

How plain! The Germans came fromAssyria!

(T o be continued)

SUNDAY(Continued from page 24)

is a forgery-Udo make the followingconstitutions. Let the slaves work fivedays; but on the Sabbath-day and theLord's day let them have leisure to goto church for instruction in piety. Wehave said that the Sabbath is onaccount of the creation, and the Lord'sday of rhe resurrection" (C h. XXXlIl,p . 495) .

These spurious laws continue:"T hou shalt observe the Sabbath, on

account of Him who ceased from Hiswork of creat ion, but ceased nor fromHis work of prov idence" (Ch. XXXVI,p. 413) .

"On the day of the resurrection ofthe Lord, that is, the Lord's day, assem­ble yourselves together, without fail"(C h. XXX, p, 471 ) ,

Bur the resurrection was not on Sun­day! This decree is nothing bur thetradition of MEN-inherited from Baby­lonia! The Constitutions continue:

Page 27

"Yo u muse fast on the day of Prep­aration, because on that day the Lordsuffered the death of the cross underPontius Pilate, But keep the Sabbathand the Lord's day festival, because theformer is the memorial of the creation,and the latter of the resurrection" (p .469) .

N otice thar Saturday and Sunday arebeing observed side by side!

"Bur assemble yourselves togetherevery day, morning and evening, singingpsalms and praying in the Lord's house:in the morning saying the sixty-secondPsalm, and in the evening the hundredand fortieth, but principally on the Sab­bath-day. And on the day of our Lord'sresurrection, which is the Lord's day,meet more diligently" (p, 423 ) .

"Every Sabbath-day excepring one,and every Lord's day, hold your solemnassemblies, and rejoice" (p. 449) .

Notice--Gentiles assembling on theSabbath as well as on Sunday centuriesafter apostolic days. It took centuriesbefore the ecclesiastical power was ableto suppress the Sabbath!

Daniel prophetically gazed upon thisecclesiastical system that would "thinkto change times and laws" ( Daniel7 :25 ) , Jesus condemns it as "Mystery,Babylon the Great, the mother of harlotsand abominations of the earth"! ( Rev.17 :5,)

Origen Instructs Gentiles How toO bserve Sabb ath

Now we corne to Origen who wroteabout 230 A ,D, What did Origen ofEgypt say abou t the Sabbath?

He spoke in no uncertain termsabout Sabbath keeping with in rheGentile churches in Egypt. Whatfollows is not said by a Judo-Christian,as those who obeyed God were called.This was written by a Catholic toCatholics concerning the seventh day ofthe week ar the beginning of the thirdcentury:

"But what is the feast of the Sabbathexcept that of which the apostle speaks,'There remainerh therefore a Sab­batism' (Hebrews 4:9 ) , that is, theobservance of the Sabbath by the peopl eof God? [Notice how this man under­stood his native Greek tongue!] Leav­ing the Jewish observances of the Sab­bath , let us see how the Sabbath oughl

Page 28

to be observed by a Christian. On theSabbath day all worldly labors ought to

be abstained from . If, therefore , youcease from all secular works, andexecute norhing worldly, bur giveyourselves up to spiritual exercises,repairing to church, attending to sacredreading and instruction . .. this is theobservance of the Christian Sabbath"( Origen's Opera, Book 2, p. 358) .

These are mighty strong words,expr essed by an Egyp tian church leader,Here is the teaching of this world'schurches 200 years after the crucifix ion!

Th is is not spoken of Sunday, bUI tbeseuentb day of tbe week-around 230A.D.!

Constantine Enforces Sunda y!

The opening of the fourth centurywas rumulruous for the Roman Empire.It witnessed a final struggle betweenthe pagan Roman Empire and a paganreligion masquerading in the garb ofChristianity, It was a deadly fight inwhich the State sought to protect itselfagainst church domin ation. The Staledid 1101 triump h. Diocletian, Maxim ianand Galerius were the Roman Emperorsforemost in proscribing every form ofChrist ianity. The persecutions lastednearly a decade, But they failed.

The professing Christian relig ionsuddenly emerged to freedom under anEdict of Toleration. The nature of suchan edict could mean but one thing , thatChristianity was looked upun by thepolitical leaders of the Roman Empireas the [uture State religion. Eventsnow happened fast.

In 321 A.D., on the seventh of March,an unusual edict was issued by Crispusand Constantine, often designated asthe earliest Sunda)' law. It read thusly:

"On the venerable day of the sun letthe magistrates and people residing inciti es rest, and let all workshops beclosed. In the country, however, personsengaged in agriculture may freely andlawfully continue their pursuits; becauseit often happens that another day isnot suitable for grain sowi ng or forvine planting; lest by neglecting theproper moment for such operations thebounty of heaven should be 10s[."(Co dex [xstinianus , lib. 3, tit , 12, 3;translated in Hist ory of the ChristianChurch , by Schaff, Vol. 11I, p. 380) .

Th e PLAIN TRUTH

This edict was a civil statute, not anecclesiast ical one. It was a heatheninstitutio« of which Hutton Webstersays:

"This legislation by Cons ran rineprobably bore no relation to Christian­icy; it appears, on the contrary. thatthe emperor, in his capacity of Pan­tifex Maximus [a title the popes latertook from the emperors] , was onlyadding the day of the Sun, the worshipof which was then fumly establishedin the Roman Empire, to the Otherferial days of the sacred calendar" ( R est

Days, pp. 122, (2 3 ).That is how Sunday became the offi­

cial "MARK of the Beast: ' (The Beast isthe Roman Empire. ) It was impused bythe STATE! The professing Christianworld voluntarily accepted it. All whowould not obey the new decree wereforced to flee the confines of the West·ern Roman Empire. Only in the Eastdid Sabbalh keepers remain ,

Now we shall see how all Sabbathkeeping was finally stamped out of theEastern Roman Empire.

T he Council of Laod iceaProhibits Sabbath Keeping

About 365 A.D. the Coun cil of Laodiceawas called to settle, among other mat­ters, the sabbath question.' One of itsmost famous canons was the twenty­nimh , wh ich reads thus:

"Christians must nor judaize byresting on the Sabbath, but must workon that day, rather. honouring the Lord'sDay; and, if they can, resting then asChristians. But if any shall be found to

be judaizers, let them be anathema fromChrist:' (Nicene and Post-N iceneFathers, Vol. XIV, p. 148 ).

The force of the Roman State hadalready been ut ilized in 325 A.D.-afterthe Council of N icaea- ro confiscate theproperty and to destroy the lives of anywho obeyed God's comm and to keepthe Passover. So now, in 365 A.D., theheavy hand of the State feU upun anywho would be faithful in resting onthe Sabbath and worshipping God ascommanded in the Bible.

W'hy give JII ch a command if therewere no true Christians observing theSsbbatb?

Although Sabbath keeping was abso­lutely pro hibited by this Council, yet

December, 1962

the whole Greek world still cont inuedto attend church services on the Sab­bath and work the remainder of theday!

Notice what canon sixteen of theCounci l reads : "The Gospels are to beread on the Sabbath, with the otherScriptures" (N icene and Post-NicenePatbers, p. 133). T he "Sabbath" men­tioned is the seventh day of the week!

Notice, Although the people wererequired to work on Sarurday, they werestill commanded to attend church matday! Saturday then was observed muchas Stmday is now!

Says Socrates, the Catholic historian.in speaking of the Eastern churchesduring the life of Chrysostom (3 45­407 ) . "'Saturday and the Lord's day[were] the tWO great festivals, on whichthey always held church assemblies: AndCassian takes notice of the Egyptianchurches, that among them the serv­ice of the Lord's day and the sabbathwas always the same" (B ingham'JAntiquities, p. 656) ,

Public worship on the Sabbath wasfar from expe lled in the churches ofthe East even after four centuries!

Gregory, Bishop of Nyassa, a rep­resentative of the Eastern churches,about ten years after the Council atLaodicea dared to tell the world : "Withwhat eyes can you behold the Lord's day,when you desp ise the Sabbath? Do younot perceive that they are sisters, andthat in slighting the one, you affront theother?"

Sunday Finally Made a Rest Day

Observ ance of Sunday as a day of totalrest was nor strictly enforced for al­most twO centuries more. We evenfind Jerome, the translator of the LatinVulgate Bible, working aft er tbe Sun­day services several years following theenactments at Laodicea.

But Augustine, around 400 A.D.,

declared: 'T he holy doctors of thecburcb [not the Bible, but men] bavedecreed tbat all th e glory of tbe JewishSabbatb is transferr ed to it (Srmday) .Let us tbereiore keep tbe Lord's day asthe ancients were commanded to do theSabbath" (Sabbath Laws, p. 284 ) .

It was the Church which sanctionedthe Roman Sunday as a rest day-andnot merely a secular holiday. It was

December. 1962

the Church which claimed to have al­tered God' s law ( Daniel 2:2 1) andtransferred the law of the Sabbath to

Sunday.It was another six hundred years

before the last recorded semblance ofpublic w orship on the Sabbath was ex ­

tirpated from the Eastern churches.Pope Gregory of Rome, who reigned

from 590-604, anarhematized "Thosewho taught that it was not lawful todo work on the day of the Sabbath"(History of the Popes , Vol. II, P. 378 ).

That stamped the Sabbath out ofthe churches of the British Isles andthe continent whe re, according to Web­ster's Rest Days, "The Celrs kept Satur­day as a day of rest, with special reli­gious services on Sunday CA. Bellesh eim,History of the Cath olic Church inScotland, Edinburgh, 1887-1890, i, 86) : '

That's the record of history!

The Protestant Atti tud e

Carlstadt was one of the few men inthe Reformation who observed the Sab­bath. But his teaching s were rejectedby the leaders of the Protestant move­ments. Luther admitted in Hi s bookA gainst the Celestial Prophets: "Indeed,if Carlstadt were to write further aboutthe Sabbath, Sunday would have to giveway, and the Sabbath-that is to say,Saturday-must be kept holy."

The only reason Lucher could think ofas an excuse for perpetuating the RomanSunday is given in his Larger Cate­chism. Luther reasoned that "to avoid theunnecessary dis turbance which an in­novation would occasion, it should con­sinee to be Sunday," (Shaff-H erzog En­

cyclopedia of Religious Kn owledge,article "Sunday" ).

This is why Protestants observe Sun­day today! They have voluntarilyadopted the MARK of the Beast-theROMAN EMPIRE'S national holiday !

The question you face today is Whatare you goi ng to do? Follow the pagantraditions of me n-c-or OBEY THE WORDOF GOD WHICH 1S GOING TO JUDGEYOU?

CHRISTM AS(Continued from page 20)

"SANTA CLAUS" is but a shortenedform of "Santa Nicholas" or "Saint

The PLAIN TRUTH

Nich olas." Nimrod was the orig inalSanta Claus!

Today, on what date is "St. Nicholas"-c-or N imrod-especially HONORED? Isit D ecember 25? Yes! But Why ?

The Romans used to celebrate De­cember 25 as the birthday of the sungod . Nimrod was the original sun-god.The Romans called him Sol. So the cele­bration of December 25 is in fact theold Roman celebration of Nimrod'sbirthday at the winter solstice. And is itany wonder that December 25, Nim­rod's purported birthday, is STILL CELE­

BRATED 1N HONOR OF "NICHOLAS"­NIMRO~THE FIRST GREAT DESPOT?

Yes , Santa Claus-just a shortenedform of Nicolas, the Greek name forNimrod-is Nimrod deified. It is be­and not Jesus Christ-whom the worldhonors at Christmas!

Christmas Not Originally Celebratedon December 25

Did you realize that Christmas wasnot orig inally celebrated on December25? Shocking? But it is true!

Even the church at Rome for nearlytwo centuries OBSERVED JANUARY 6as the supposed date of Christ 'sbirth! This festival was called Epiphany.( Bingham's Antiquities, Book xx, chap­ter iv.)

The celebration of January 6 wasanciently introduced in Babylon as thebirthday of Nimrod before 2000 B,C.

when the winter solstice- the shortestday of the year-occurred on that date.(See page 35 of The Euoleaion of theChristian Y ear by A. Allan McArthur.)But the winter solstice did not continueto fall on January 6 because the pagancalendar was not accurate. When thebirthd ay of Nimrod was first celebratedin Rome, the winter solstice had droppedback to December 25, But the Baby­lonian priests in Rome continued tocelebrate January 6.

Then, how did December 25-theRoman festival in honor of Nimrod'sbinh-finally become the traditional dateof Christ's birth in place of the earlierBabylonian tradition of January 6?

Bishops in the West, and especiallyat Rome, saw that by allowing convertsto retain their pagan Roman holidays,they could induce many thousands to

enter the church. Tertullian lamented

Page 29

thi s trend when he said in 230 A,D.:"By us who are -strangers to Sabbaths,

and new moons, and [GOD'S] festivals,once acceptable to God, the Saturnalia,the feasts of January, the Brumalia [De­cember 24], the Marron alia , are nowfrequented; gifts are carried to and fro,new year's day presents are made wi thdin , and sports and banquets are cele ­brated with uproar" (from D e Idolatria,

chapter 14 ) .In less than rwo centuries after

Christ's death, professing Christianswere following their former paganpractices-including December 25, thebirthday of Sol the sun god.

Terrullian's testimony is one of theearliest indications that Christians weremislabeling the birthday of the physi­cal s-u-n as the birthday of the S-o-nof God.

This adoption of idolatrous heathenfestivals proceeded very slow ly UNTIL

CATHOLICISM BECAME THE STATE RE­LIGION OF THE ROM AN EMPIRE UNDEREMPEROR CONST AN TIN E.

Almost immediately, the pagansflocked to the churches bringing theircustoms wi th them. W ithin forty yearsthe celebration of the 25th of Decemberbecame so widespread that a saddenchange rook place in Rome,

The last record of Pope Liberius'celebration of the nativi ty on January 6occurred in 353 A.D. In the very nextyear he celebrated it on December 25!This is fully explained in the Encyclo­pedia of R eligion and Ethics, by JamesHastings, arti cle "Christmas." Even theCatholic Encyclopedia admits thatChristmas celebrations officially beganby this year-354 A.D.

And that is how the Roman date­D ecember 25-came to replace the oldBabylonian date of Ja nuary 6.

Christmas Celebration SpreadsRapidly

From Rome in the Wesr, the celebra­tion of Christmas quickly engulfed thewhole empire. But many preachers inthe East still clung to January 6 as thetraditional nati vity , As late as 373 Ephra­im Syrus said: "On the tenth day (ofMarch ) was His Conception and onthe sixth day (o f January ) was His Na­tivity" ( Assemani Bib!. Or, ii. 169),

Here is what Chrysosrom said about

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OFHerbert W. Armstrong

[Continued from page 16)

down, going north from New Orleans New York, and as far as Portland,through Mississippi as far as Memphis, Maine. Then across New Hampshi reback down through Alabama, into west- and Vermont, and up to Montreal,ern Florida, across to the east coast of Canada.Florida, up the Atlant ic Coast through Then on to Ot tawa and Toronto, withGeorgia, South Carol ina, North Care- a side-cour by boat to Niaga ra Falls andIina, Vi rginia, into Washington D.C., return. Then across Canada to W indsor

Page 30

December 25 in his H omily 011 the Birthof Christ, written in Ant ioch about 380A.D.: "Ic is not yet ten J'ears since thisday was made known to us;"

Christmas didn't come from the apes­des. Ic came to Antioch, the city wherePaul preached, three hundred )'earsafter the apostle died! Ir came from anapostate Rome, not from Jesus Christ.

Notice what Chrysosrom cont inues to

say about Christmas: "I know well thatmany even yet dispute with one anotherabout it, some finding fault with it andothers defending it." He admi tted itwas "new, in that it has recent ly beenmade known to us . . : '

The bishops at Rome claimed to haveaccurate knowledge of Christ's birth be­cause they possessed the census papersof Jesus' family. Just why they kept thishidd en for over three centuries theynever say.

They forged many records in an effortto show that preceding popes ccle­brared Christmas on December 25. Ifthis were really true, they would nothave needed to forge these spuriousrecords.

Forbidden in N ew Testament

The celebration of December 25 inCo nsta nt inop le, n ear w he re Pau lpreached in Asia Minor, first took placebetween 378 and 381. And if th is isn'tenough evidence against the aposto licorigi n of Chris tmas, there is proof thatDecember 25 was not celebrated in j eru­salem before 385. Yet Jerusalem was thesite of the mother church in the verybeginning.

The Catholic Bishop Chrysostorn,who lived in the fourth century, admitsthat the superstitious "times," whichPaul forbids in Galatians 4 :10, were

Tb e PLAI N TRUTH

pagan Christmas customs practiced by"Christians" in his day, as by the pagansin the days of old. He says: "Manywere supe rstit iously addicted to divi­nation . . . upon them ... In the celebra­tion of these times [they] set up lampsin the marketplace, and croton theirdoors 'with garlands"-as is done atChristmas time today! (From Bing­ham's Antiquities of the ChristianChurch, pp. 1123, 1124 ) ,

Christ mas became a universal prac­tice in all but the Armenian Church bythe fifth century. Hundreds of tradi ­tions and customs began to developabout Christmas in every land. In theSchaff-Herzog Encyclopedia, you canread this about Christmas: "Yet thefestival rapidly gained acceptance andbecame at last so firmly established thateven the Protestant revolution of tbesixteenth century was not able to dis­lodge it, " Protestants did n't get Christ­mas from [he Bible. They got ic fromtheir mother church-Rome; and Romegot it from pagan sun-worship!

HOW to Honor Chris t

Most people are dishonoring-yes,robbing Christ at every Christmas sea­son and they don't know it!

Many of you have been robbing H imof His tithes and offerings by spendi ngGod's own money in Christmas gifts in­stead of giving Him what is due. Ourpeople have turned aside from Him, ourhearts have gone after pagan festivals­Christmas, New Year's Day, Easter.

The way to return to God is to obeyHim-to pay Him your tithes andofferings. W hy? "For where your treas­ure is there will your heart be also"{Matthew 6 :21) .

Th at is how you can really honor Him.

December, 1962

and Detroit. On to Chicago, DesMoines, then again south into Okla­homa, then west through Kansas andback to Canon City, Colorado, whereI had held the evangelistic campa igna year or two before. Then northwestacross the Rockies and on to Eugene,Oregon.

Led ro GOD'S Location

By November, in 1946, 1 had againgone co Hollywood for recording, andwas again making trips over to Pasadenain search of a location for the college.

I had not been able to save out theweekly amounts planned to accumulatea fund for the purchase of the site Ithen had in mind. And by this time Ihad learned that, being a non-pro fitChurch, and not a comme rcial business,it would be impossible for us to bor­row the money to construct a collegebuilding, even if we had the groundalready paid for,

It seemed every door for opening thecollege was slammed shut in my face.Yet I knew God was leading me to

start a college that would be HIS col­lege. There was no doub t whatsoeverof that!

It was discouraging. It was frustrati ng!But I was determined not to give up.One real estate broker I had contactedin my search was a Mrs. 'McCormick.Her husband had been a real estatebroker, and after his death she carriedon the busi ness. I had found her to bean intelligent and experienced business­woman in her field, who at the sametime remained every whit a lady ofculture and refinement. In going therounds of real estate agents, I chancedto drop in once again at her office.

"Oh, Mr. Armstrong," she said, "I'mglad you dropped in. 1 have a propertyI'd like to show you. It isn't quite whatyou've had in mind , but I think it migh tbe worth your while to take a look at it."

I was taken to a small mansion ofsome 18 rooms, on Grove Street justoff of South Orange Grove Boulevard­Pasadena's "millionaire row" residencestreet. This was a 2~ acre place knownas the "McCormick estate"-because ithad been built by a Mt . Fowler whowas Vice-President of the InternationalHarvester Corporation, and Mrs. Fow­ler was the daughte r of the founder

December, 1962 The PLAIN TRUTH Page 31

of International Harvester, Cyrus Me­Cormick.

The property was on a hillside. Ithad been magn ificent ly landscaped , al­though it appeared noc to have beenmainta ined in good condition for afew years. Beside the mai n building,there was a four -car garage with rwoservants' apartments. To the east ofthese buildings was a beau tifully con ­roured slope to a balustrade, and thena six-foot drop of ornamental concreteretainin g wall under the balustrade,dropping to a long , level space knownas "t he lower gardens." This space was

headed by an ornate concrete ternpi etco,and ended at the other end wi th a largesquare poo l and a classic pergola.

I could not see how we could use thebuilding which had been a residence,or the large garage. bu t it did seem thatthe lower level space migh t become thebuilding site for the cJassroom build­ing I had in mind.

Of course this space was well grownup in weeds, but I knew we could d earthat. Also there were rwo other foun­tains at either side of the rempieno,and built in as part of it.

But the price was $100,000, and theowner, a Dr. B., whom I will not namefor reasons that will be obvious, want­ed cash. I shook my head. Indeed itwas not qu ite what I had had in mind!

The next day, however, I began think­jng it over. The thought occurred to

me that it might be possible to use thebig house as a classroom building. Afterall, I remem bered suddenly that it wasnot designed in resident ial charac ter,bur was a concrete building with flatroof, architectu rally of institu tional ap·pearance rather than residenti al.

Of course I didn't have the $100,000cash. Nevertheless, I called Mrs. Me-

To the right are three early photosof the "McCormick Estate." Upperpicture was token of the elegantresidence before it was remodeled.Cente r. the beautifully landscapedhillside. w h ich extended from theresidence down toward the lowergardens. Right, below, the lowergardens as they appeared when inthe possession of the Fowlers whobu ilt the residence. The tempietto isin the distance. with square poolin the foreground. The photographwas taken from the pergola.

Page 32

Cormick on the telephone, suggestedthis possibil ity, and asked if I couldinspect the property once more, view­ing it from this new and different angle.

She arranged another inspection withDr. B. I could see on thi s visit-I hadhardly taken notice of the inside of thebuilding on the first visit-that thelarge living room, about 27 by 30 feet,could make a good library room, andeven serve as an assembly room. Theadjoining large dining room could serveas an additional library room. A smalloffice room off the entrance hall couldserve as a small classroom for ten ortwelve studems.

Upstairs there were three largebedrooms, of adequate size for class­rooms seating from 30 to 65 or morestudents, beside other smaller rooms.There was a small three-room penthouseabove.

Then I inspected the garage buildi ngagain. The main garage room, intendedto accommodate four automobiles ( ithad originally been horse stables, buthad been rebuilt into a 4-car garageand servant-apartment building ), by re­pouring a level cement floor, was evenlarger than our main larger office roomin Eugene, Oregon, used as the mailingroom. The apartment rooms to the rearcould house our priming deparrment.T hat left a small office in front, and theliving apartments on the second floorcould supply the other administrativeoffices.

For the first time I began to envi­sion Goo's type of college locati on.Here were beautiful grounds to pro­vide a small but, once cleared of weedsand relandscaped, a magnificent campuswith beautiful and majestic trees­palms, deodars, magnolias and otherfine specimens.

I asked the two Hollywood architectsto inspect the property.

"W hy," they exclaimed, "here isyour college, already buil t, and witha small but outs tandingly beautifulcampus."

The Proposition

I telephoned a boyhood Sunday­school friend at that time, Dr. WalterHoman, Dean of Student Personnel atSan Francisco State College. I had pre·viously consulted him about the found-

The PLAIN TRUTH

ing of a college. [ described this prop­erty to him.

"Providential!" he exclaimed, "Itsounds positively providential!"

I telephoned Mrs. Armstrong to cometo Hollywood immediately, to have heropinion. She, too, felt it was just theplace- and, if we outgrew it, perhapsadjoining estates could be some dayacquired.

But how could we make the purchasewithout any money?

That, you may be sure, was the REAL

problem, now. Besides, I was not yetconvinced in my own mind this wasthe location God had selected.

An idea came to my mind. It wasalready mid-November. The first col­lege term would nor Start until the nextSeptember-ten month s away. Whynot submit a proposition whereby wewould start making the largest possiblemonthly payments, but not take pos·session until nine payments had beenmade, by the following July 1St. Th atwould give time to prepare for a Sep­tember opening.

I asked Mrs. McCormick who wasthe best attorney in Pasadena for thehandling of a property transaction. Sherecommended Jud ge Russell Morton. Iarranged an appointment, and went to

his office.Judge Morton recommended, under

the circumstances, that a lease-and-op­tion contract would be more attractiveas an offer to the owner. I had sug­gested that we would make monthlypayments of $1,000 per month . Th atwas certainly a maximum ambitiousmonthly payment for me to offer, inour financial circumstances. But 1%per month was rather common prac­tice, and I feared any smaller offerwould not even be considered. If thiswas where God wanted us, I felt I couldrely on Him to increase the incomeenough to cover it.

Judge Morton suggested we draw upa contracr providing for taking occu­pancy the following July 1st, conti nu­ing on a lease rental basis until the endof 25 months. Th en the $25,000 so farpaid would become the down paymenton the purchase, and we would thenexercise our option, be given the deedto the property, giving Dr. B. a trustdeed until fully paid .

December, 1962

The "Calch" in the Deal

The proposition was drawn up inlegal form, and I gave it to Mrs. McCor­mick to present to Dr. S., with my checkfor the first $1,000.

Th en I prayed earnestly. I asked Godto reveal His will respecting His col­lege by causing Dr . B. to accept if thatwere God's will, but to cause him to

reject it, if this was not the place Godhad chosen for His college. I realizedthere did not appear to be one chancein a thousand that a man who wanted$100,000 cash would let his propertygo for only $1,000 per month, with nodown payment at the start whatever­and taking two whole years and oneadd itional month to build up a 25%down payment.

I was not at all sure this was theplace God wanted us-and yet it hadbegun to look more and more like thefinest place we could possibly have. ButI knew God would cause it to fall incaour hands if that were His will.

I did not hear from it for rwo orthree days. T hen Mrs. McCormick toldme she had the contract all signed,sealed, and delivered!

For the moment 1 was elated, grateful,thankful!

But what I didn'r know was thatapparently Dr. B. had no inte nt ion ofever letting fSactually get possession.He was not a medical doctor. He was adoctor of law. He had some nine lettersafter his name, including the highest pos­sible law degrees from a university sec­ond to none. He had been the Dean ofthe Law School of a large University.

But apparently he trusted more inhis knowledge of law, and cleverness intaking advantage of it than ill honestwork and effort in earning a living.

As time went along, it became evi­dent that when July lsr, 1947, arrived,Dr. B. had no intention of letting usgain possession. It appeared that hisintention was to keep the $9,000 andkeep the property too.

The many events leading up to JulyI , 1947, and the strategy Judge Mor­ton, his associate attorney, and I wereforced to use to gain possession, andother troubles in getting the collegefounded will be covered in the nextand succeeding installments.

rite Ri/Jle Storl/

by Basil Wolver ton

C H APTER F IFTY

THE CONSTITUTION OF ISRAEL

TIE Israelires continued to camp on the plains east of the Jordan rrver for

many days. Water was plentiful. There was an abundance of grass for the animals.

Living was also a little more pleasant for the people because of the shade trees in

that area.

Meanwhile, the people didn't sit around doing nothing. Besides their regular

duties, ir was somewhat of a task to adjust to the thousands of Midianite captives,

rake care of rhe added livestock, purify the booty of war and re-fashion much of it,

sharpen and repair rhe worn or broken tools of war.

Laws Are N eeded

Tim e was required to do all this, bur God's main purpose in allowing the people

to stay so long in that place was to give them many instructions, through Moses, for

their guidance and benefir. Ir was made known to them tha t when they crossed over

the Jordan into Canaan on the west, ir was their dury to execure the inhabitants there

and to destroy all their idols, pagan altars, rowers and groves where they burned some

of their children in the fire and otherwise worshiped their heathen gods. (Numbers

33: 50-53, Leviticus 18 :21,24-29. )

Then the land was ro be divided fairly among the nine and a half tribes accord­

ing ro their numbers. However, if the Israelites failed ro overcome the inhabitants of

Canaan, God warned that Israel would suffer.

"If you spare any Canaanites,' God said, " they will give you much trouble as

long as they remain. Furthermore, I shall deal with you as I plan ro deal with them.

Page 34 Th e PLAIN TRUTH December, 1962

That means that you could lose your

lives as well as the land!" (Numbers

33:54-56.)

God then defined the boundaries

of the Promised Land and appointed

a committee to supervise the distri­

bution of the land. (Numbers 34.)

God also instructed Moses to tell the

people that they should give 48 towns

to the Levires, who were not to reo

ceive any land by inheritance. These

were not necessarily to be large towns,

bur each one was to be surrounded

by an area over a mile across, reaching

our 1000 cubits (about 2000 feet)

from the wall in all directions. In

these suburbs the Levites could plant

gardens, orchards and vineyards and

have room to keep their flocks and

herds. (Numbers 35 :1-5.)

Six of these towns- three on

each side of the Jordan-were soon

to be appointed as "cities of refuge:'

As well as being centers of Levite

habitation, these six towns were to

be for the protection of anyone who

accidentally killed a person. This was

necessarybecauseangered relatives or

close friends of the dead man might

try to kill the man who caused hisdeath. For example, if twO men were

building a shed, and one man un­

expectedly moved a heavy beam so

that it fell and killed the other man,

the man who moved the beam was

to flee at once to the closest of the six

towns, where he would be protectedThe Isra elites were to destroy a ll idols foundin Canaan .

December, 1962 The PLAI N TRUTH

from anyone who might seek his life as a matter of vengeance.

On the other hand, if the man maliciously moved the beam with the purpose of

killing his working partner, he was still ent itled to the temporary protection of any of

the six towns.

Vio lence Condemned

Whatever the case, the man would be tried by author ities. If he were found guilry,

he was either slain or allowed ro fall inro the hands of those who had ser out ro avenge

the dead person. If he were found innocenr, he still was ro stay in the rown for his own

protection, until the death of the high priest. Meanwh ile, if he ventured Out of his pro­

tective town, and was found by any avenger, rhar was rhe end of his protection. There

were ro be no jails in Israel.

Moses now assigned three rowns for refuge purposes east of the Jordan river.

They included Bezer in the plain counrry of the Reubenites, Then there was the rown

of Rarnorh for the Gadites and Golan for the Manassites. The other three ciries of

refuge were ro be set aside later by Joshua. (Numbers 35:6-34; Deuteronomy 4 :4 1­

43; Deuteronomy 19: 1-13; Joshua 20.)

At this time Moses received many instructions, and rules and reminders from

God. He faithfully passed them on ro the people as they came to him . So that they

would better undersrand matters, Moses gave them a detailed account of what had hap­

pened since they had lefr Mt, Sinai four decades previously. The book of Deuteronomy

is a record of these proceedings.

During the lengrhy account, Moses revealed to the people that God wouldn 't

allow him ro go over inro Canaan with them because of Moses' wrong conduct when

he had srruck the rock ro obtain water.

"Later,' Moses told them, "I asked God ro forgive me and ler me go inro Canaan.

He refused to allow me ro go, bur rold me I could view much of the land from a high

mounrain, and rhar there I would die!" (Deuteronomy 3:23-28.)

The people were saddened ro hear this. At the same time, they felt a greater fear

of God. Many of them reasoned that if God would take the life of their leader, then

their lives could be taken at any time because of their disobedience.

Sabbaths Must Be Obse rved

Moses added to their serious rhinking by warning them that God would never

tolerate law-breaking without pun ishmenr. He reminded them also that God was more

merciful than they could imagine, and that He would never forsake them or destroy

them as long as they kept their agreement roobserve His laws. (Deuteronomy 4: 30-3 1.)

Page 35

Pa~e 36 The PLAIN TRUTH

Among the matters mentioned through Moses for Israel' s benefit was the strict

reminder to observe the yearly Sabbaths. These Holy Days began in Egypt with the

Passover. They were later more fully explained to the people at Mt. Sinai. The

keeping of these holy days was to be a perpetual sign between God and Israel, JUSt

as the observance of the weekly Sabbath was to be an everlasting agreement. (Deu­

teronomy 12: 1-14; 16 :1-17; Exodus 31:17.)

The understanding of the Sabbaths revealed God's wonderfu l plan of salvation,

wirhour which understanding no church could rightfully claim God as its Head .

Today there are more than 700 church denominations tha t claim to be Chris­

tian , but almos t all of them refuse to have anything to do with God's Sabbaths. Many

weak excuses are given for not observing them, including the old, standard, ground­

less line that the days institu ted by God were only Jewish days, and rhat they were

done away with at Chri st's death. T he fact that most churches fail to observe them simply

proves that most churches are nor God's churches. This can be a shocking and per­

haps unbeli evable statem ent to many people, but it is a true one, completely backed up

by the Bible. Scoffing at this Bible truth is the same as scoffing at God, the author of

it. The Apostle Paul taught Christians to keep the weekly Sabbaths and yearl y feasts

many years after Christ ascended to heaven. ( Acts 16 : 13; 17: 2; 18 :2 1; 20 : 16; 24 : 14. )

God made it clear that besides the first tithe ( that tenth of one's increase that is

to pay the expense of the work of God ) the Israelites should save a second tithe to be

used in observing the Holy Days. Thi s was mostly for the Festival of Tabernacles, which

was to be held aparr from the usual habitations of the people at a place chosen by God.

(De uteronomy 12: 17· 19; 14: 22-27.)

Today, as then , the peop le of God 's church use this second tenth of their income

for observing the Holy Days--especiall y the fall festival-at the place or places

God indicates. Jerusalem was the main place in ancient Israel, and will be again

when Christ returns not vety many yeats from now. (Zechariah 14 : 16·19.)

God ordained the Festival of Tabern acles as a time when His people should wor­

ship Him with special joy, reverence, mirth and thankfulness. It was not to be a noisy

"camp meeting" or what is so often referred to as a "revival" at some date set by man.

Instead, it was and still is a time of joyfully worshipping God whi le raking in spirit.

ual food (preaching) tha t is corrective, inspiring and character-building. It was and still

is a time of dining, visiting, dancing, and enjoying sports that stim ulate the body and knit

the people of God together in spiritual harmony. (Jeremiah 31 : 12-13. )

Faithful saving of the second tithe makes it possible for God's people to enjoy this

autumn vacation and return to their homes and to their work better prepared to live•

happier and closer fO their Creator.

De cember. 19<12

December, 1962 Tbe PLAI N TRUTH

At this same time God also commanded that the peopJe shouJd rest their crop

Jand every seventh year so the physical Jaws in na ture can impro ve the soil's health­

giving natural balance. (Leviticus 25 : 1-7, 20-22. )

Then God comma nded th at a rhird tenth should be saved for a very special use.

Th is was to be taken out only every th ird and sixth year in a seven-year cycle. It was to go

to the poor amo ng the Levites, widows, fatherless children and poor strangers. ( Deuter­

anomy 14 :28-29; 26 : 12.)

In these days the obedient Christian putS aside his tith es plus what is required in

taxes and such. God makes it possible. Many arc the families that have en joyed better

incomes and other financiaJ benefits since beginnin g to tithe.

Good Civil Government

Many other matters were brought to the peopl e at that time, among which were

these :

W hen the seventh-year land rest came, any deb t should be canceled unless the

debtor happened to be a foreigner. ( Deuteronomy 15: 1-11. )

A servant should be freed afrer seven years of service. ( Deuteronomy 15 : 12-15. )

Israel was to make no agree ments of any kind with the nations that were to be

driven out. (Deureronomy 7 : 1-5; 20 : 16-18.)

No more tha n forty lashes of a whip were to be applied in punishment. ( Deu ­

teronomy 25: 1-3. )

N o frui t trees were to be cut down in times of war in the land Israel invaded.

( Deuteronomy 20: 19-20 .)

The Israeli tes should consider themselves a holy nation ; not because of rheir right­

eousness, but because God chose them as His people . ( Deuteronomy 7: 6; 14 : 1-2.)

Any prophet or priest who falsely led the people into any wrong kind of wor­

ship was to be put to death. (Deuteronomy 18: 20-22 . )

Toward the end of the per iod of instruct ion, Moses repeated these solemn words

from God :

"You, Israel , must choose between blessings and cursings from your Creato r.

Obedience to my laws shall bring wonderf ul blessings of prosper ity, freedom from

diseases, success in all you undertake, an abundance of healthy children and livestock,

plenty of ra in and water, good crops without blemish or pestilence, comfortab le homes

and protection from accident and from your enemies. I shall make you the head of all

narions, and they sha ll fear and respect you. You shall lead long, happy lives, and so

shall your offspring also be happy, healthy and prosperous into the far future!

"On the other hand , if you refuse to live according to the Jaws I have made plain

Page 37

Page 38 TiJe PLA IN TRUTH

to you, I shall heap grievous curses on you. You shall cease to prosper. All kinds of

diseases shall come on you, and you shall fail in all you set out to do. Your children

The mighty hand of God was se t to g ive the Israe lites everyth ing they could desire if theyw ould obey-e-or to crush them out as a notion if they di sobeyedl

December, 1962

December, 1962 T he PLAIN TRUTH

shall be sickly, but famine shall drive you to eat them. Your livestock shall sicken and

die of disease or for lack of warer and grass. The soil shall turn hard, and your crops

shall be consumed by blighr and pesrilence. You shall be sick, frightened and miser­

able wherever you go. You shall become as depraved as animals and lunatics, and fatal

accidents shall overtake you wherever you are. Your homes shall become filrhy, miser­

able hovels. You shall become rhe least and weakest of all nations, and cruel enemies

shall slay you. Those of you who aren't slain shall be raken caprive and scatrered among

rhe narions as wretched slaves! " (Deureronomy 28.)

God's Laws Must Be Preserved

All the laws God had recently given to Moses to pass on to the people were writ­

ten down at another time by Moses and presented to rhe priests to place beside the Ark

of the Covenant. Copies also were given to the elders. Moses commanded them to read

the whole book of rhe law to the people every seven years when Israel assembled at

the Festival of Tabernacles during rhe year of release. (Deuteronomy 31: 9-13, 24-29.)

The priesrs and Levires were also commanded to teach the people port ions of rhe law

yearly at the festivals and rhroughout the year in all rheir cities. (Deuteronomy 33:8­

10; II Chronicles 17:7-9; 35 :1-3; Nehemiah 8:1-8; Acts 15:21. )

God then called Moses and Joshua to the tabernacle. As soon as rhey entered, rhe

Creator descended to the tabernacle inside a glorious, radiant cloud. (Deuteronomy 3I :

14-15.)

"Before your life ends," God told Moses, "rhere are more things for you to do.

One is to write a song to teach to the people. I know they shall go afrer other gods

and shall forget my laws. They shall break my covenant. Then evil days shall fall on

them, and though they shall seek my help, I shall let them suffer. The verses I give

you must become a national song to be taught from generation to generation . The peo­

ple shall remember it, and it shall become a witness against them because of their sins."

(Verses 16-21. )

(To be continued next issue )

Page 39

(Cot/tit/ued from page 8)

The CUBAN CRISIS

nocem-looking crates and packages intoher pons-and to assemble her ownmissiles! Apparently not one word wassaid about the tboasends of Russian"technicians," mili tary personnel andother citizens now liv ing in Cuba. Noth­ing was said about the Cubans, withRussian sponsorship, financing andknow-how, building their OWN inter-

mediate-range ballistic missiles!Instead of ordering Communism Out

of the W estern Hemisphere completely-c-Instead of ordering not only Russianmissiles but all missiles to be dismantledentirely in Cuba, and instead of follow­ing up irs advantage, while it had Cubaso totally 011 balance, the Unit ed Statesmade still another grave error in policy.

From the time of the Bay of Pigsfiasco, it would have been assumedPresident Kennedy was looking forwhatever opportunity could have beenat least vaguely "justifiable" in the eyesof the fabled "world public opinion" to

attack Cuba, removing the threat ofCastro and his Communist puppets fromthe Western Hemisphere forever!

This opportunity had certainly come!The time -was ripe! Why did nor Presi­dent Kennedy order the all-out attackof Cuba, and the immediate removal of

Page 40

Communism from this hemisphere?Because President Kennedy does not

u,uJet'uand prophecy!I know, and anyone who knowI and

unJerJlanJ, Bible prophecy, reallyKNOWS that Premier Khrushchev wouldNOT have ordered an attack upon theUnited States, upon Berlin, upon For­mosa, or all-out attack upon India orany other area of the world as a resulrof the United States attack against Cuba!I know this, simply because any suchattack would have meant instant retalia­tion from the United States, and theplunging of the world into all-out nu­clear bomb war!

And prophecy says this will nothappen!

The Prophecies of the Bible DO de­scribe a gigantic nuclear-bomb struggleinvolv ing the hordes of the Red Army"­but that war is NOT between Russiaand the United States. Rather, it will bea supreme contest between the thenworld-powerful modern ROMAN EM­PIRE, perhaps called "The UNITEDSTATES OF EUROPE" and the Sovier blocof nations! For full details of this im­pending conflict , and the prophecies inyour Bible proving it, write immediatelyfor the amazing booklet, "1975 inProphecy:'

The PLAIN TRUTH

KNOWING that prophecy is TRUE, thatprophecy is going to occur, just as it hasbeen occurring, exactly as the Bible lays-c-God's people ate able to have CONFI­DENCE in the face of world conditions.

But President Keonedy did not knowexactly what Khrushchev might do inBerlin, in India, in Formosa, or else­where in the world should we attackCuba, HAD he known, he could haveacted so swiftly, and with such decisive­ness, that he could have ridded theWestern Hemisphere of rhe Communistthreat forever-and, for that matter,could RID THE WORLD of it!

Your Bible describes the gentile na­tions as being ruled over by men withthe minds of WILD ANIMALS! And howtrue a representation! Bur how wouldyou handle a ravening beast? By carefulcoddling, soothing talk, and nice pres­ems? Hardly! Ask any lion tamer, oranyone having worked with wild dogsor wolves! Ir takes forceful STRENGTH!It takes quick ACTION, it takes stingingREBUKES to handle them properly!

HAD the United States leaders under­stood the propbecie of tbe Bible, and,JUSt as in the days of old, been able toTRUST THEIR GOD, instead of their al­lies, they could have DEALT with theanimal-like minds of gentile leaders in

December, 1962

no uncertain terms! But President Ken­nedy had no way of really KNOWINGthat God says plainly RUSSIA WILL NOTEVER ArrACK THE UNITEDSTATES WITHAN ALL-OUT NUCLEAR BOMB WAR!

Who REALLY won over Cuba? Theanswer is, we have nor yet won in Cuba- and we may yet lose! Make NOMISTAKE!

Even with the APPARENT backing upof the Communists-the advance andspread of Communism itself, with allthat it means, has NOT been stoppedin Cuba. Cuba remains, right now today,just as big a threat as EVER-just as biga steppingsrone to this hemisphere asEVER-jUSt as big a thorn in the side ofpolicy -makers in Washington as EVER!

Under the terms of United. Statespromises to Russia and Cuba-the Com­munists are now at liberty-with an ab­solute U.S. guarantee against any attack-to CONTINUE massive buildup of mili­tary strength of more conventional typeweapons in Cuba, and even begin manu­facturing their own missiles with Rus­sian pans and technical help!

Cuba is STILL a threat! Cuba is STILLa problem. Cuba, minus Russian mis­siles, is STILL the Cuba of only monthsago-just as lethal, just as dangerousas ever before!

Adla i Stevenson, rig ht, an d Soviet delegate Zorin debate while Cuban crisis continues.Wide World Photo

December. 1962 The PLAI N TRUTH Page 41

A U.S. Air Force C135 jet tra nspo rt, le ft , above , is fue ledat the American Rhe in -Ma in Air Bas e in Frankfurt, .Ge r­many, November 2, before takeoff wi th a first loa d ofU.S. orms to aid Ind io in its bord er strug g le w it h Red

Wide Worl d PhotosCh ino . Flight launch ed a ro und -the-clock a irlift of arms .Ri ght, above , crew men board U.S. transport a t Rhe in ­Main Air Base in Fran kfu rt , Germany, fo r flig ht to Ind iow ith a load of U.S. arms.

(Continued from page 12)

THE EAST" is to be prepared! China isthe very center of all the great Easternkingdoms. Almost 2000 years ago Bibli­cal prophecy declared China is destinedto play a vital part in world affairs at

Wid. Wo rld PhotoCrewmen stood at attention in front of Chinese Communist medium tanksduring parade in Peiping . Chinese Reds are using tanks in their fr ontierdrive into India.

the end of this age!Notice another prophecy about the

ultimate westward advance of the Com­munist Chinese, in conjunction withthe Russians, rhrough the Arab world.It is found in Ezekial 25:2-4. God says,"Behold, therefore, I will deliver thee[rhe kingdom of Jordan, jusr east ofPalestine] TO THE MEN OF TH E EAST

for a possession, and they shall set theirpalaces in thee, and make their dwell-

India!•In

What Prophecy Reveals

From time to time news commenta­rors-in describing the coming cata­strophic military struggle for worldconrrol - use the Biblical expressionArmageddon found in Revelation 16: 16.But what they do not mention is astriking proph ecy about "Armageddon"found i~ Revelation 16 :12. In this versewe read that "the way of the KINGS O F

And Now-Hot War

munications and unparalleled propa·ganda and brainwashing.

China is now ready to begin devour­ing the rest of Asia with Russia's secretmilitary backing. The plans were laidbare in Korea. China, not Russia, inter­vened in Korea. Korea became divided.China, not Russia, launched attacks inIndochina and seized control of NorthViet-Nam. Viet-Nam became divided.Next, the Chinese Communists rookover all Tibet. From Tibet the Chineseplan conquest of India by dividing herand devouring her a piece at a time!The Communists-ever adept at creat­ing strife-intend to charge India withaggression across "disputed borders,"then take over these regions and de­mand "peace talks."

Page 42

ings in thee."Who are these "men of the east"? The

Communist hordes of Eurasia!Now notice another prophecy in

Dan iel 11:44 : "But tidings out of theeast and out of the north [where Chinaand Russia are raday] shall rrouble him[ the coming D ictator of a EuropeanFascist system which will control Pales­tine at the return of Jesus Christ]:'

So prophecy shows that borh Russiaand China are ultimately to be in­volved in a struggle for the control ofthe Eastern Mediterranean, the Arabworld and Palestine.

Russia and China Will NOT Split

Many are saying rada y rhar rheChinese Communist leaders may pull"a Tiro." Prophecy says this will nothappen!

Turn to the prophecies in Ezekiel,chapters 38 and 39. In these cwo chap­ters we find the Communists of Chinaand Russia in alliance. Notice, first,chapter 38, beginning with verse 2:"Son of man, set thy face against Gog,the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh,Meshech and Tubal, , and prophesyagainst him, and say, Thus saith theLord Gad; Behold, I am against thee,o Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech

Wide World PhotoIndia's Defen se M inister , V. K.Krishna Menon, resigned his postshortl y after Chinese a ttack. Menonfa vored cooperation with Reds, leftIndio's borders relatively unde­fended, now find s Reds double­crossed India.

The PLAIN TRUTH

and Tubal" (marginal reading ).Here we find united in a great alli­

ance the peoples of Rosh (the W hiteRussians ) and of Meshech and T ubal( the rwo divisions of the Great Rus­sians) under the ultimate control ofGog and the land of Magog. Who are"Gog" and the "land of Magog"?

Here is what the Jewish Encyclopediasays abour Gog and Magog: "Geo­graphically they represent the extremenortheast, and are placed on the bor­ders of the sea that encircles the earth:'

Notice what the unri valed iIIcClin­tock and Strong Encyclopedia says aboutGog and Magog: "Th e Arab ians are ofthe opinion that the descendants of Gogand Magog inhabit the northern parts ofAsia, beyond the Tartars and Sclavon­ians [the Russians] , and they put Yaju;and Majuj always in conjunction, there­by indicating the extreme points innorth and north-east of Asia:' (Fromarticle "Gog." ) Some writers spell theseArabic words Y agog and iIIagog. Now,to what people are these names refer­ring ? To the Mongoloid peoples ofAsiatic Russia, Mongolia, China, Man­churia and adjoining countries! SoRussia and China are to remain allies!

India in Prophecy

But where is India mentioned in thisprophecy? Turn ro Ezekiel 38 :5:"Persia, Cush, and Phut with them ; allof them wirh shield and helmet" (mar­ginal reading in KJV ) . Notice thatjoined with the Chinese and RussianCommunists will be Persia and theAsiatic descendants of Cush and Phut-mistranJlated "Ethiopia" and "Libya"in the King James Version, Any studentof history knows that the descendantsof Cush and Phur who journeyed east­ward settled primarily in India! So hereis a proph ecy that the Communist parrywill ultimately control not only the Rus­sian States, but China, Persia and Indiaas well! Now notice verse 6:

"Gomer, and all his bands; the houseof Togarmah of the north quarters,and all his bands: and many people withthee." Gomer's descendants migrated tosoutheast Asia. So here, joined with theCommunists, are other Asiatic hordesfrom southeast Asia-and the childrenof Togarmah (called the Tu ngus) wholive today in Russian Siberia.

December, 1962

Wide World PhotoJowo horla l Neh ru , 73-yeor-oldprime mini ster of Ind ia , gi ves tra­ditiona l Hindu friendship gesturein public appearance in NewDelh i. There is increa sing talk thatNe hru's lead ership of India maysoon end becau se of an illnesswhich has pla gued him for morethan eight months,

Some think this union of China andRussia and their allies will arrack theUnited States. Absolutely not! You willfind the suprising reason why in Mr.Armstrong's article "W ill Russia Attackthe United States?" which explainsEzekiel 38 and 39. If you have notalready read this surprising article,write imm ediately for it . The answerwill surprise you!

In the meantime, God is sending HisGospel-His final warning Message­JUSt before the end of this age to thepeoples of China and Russia and Indiathrough this great work- "The WORLDTOMORROW" program. Are youearnestly praying for it- praying thatJesus Christ will open new doors intothe Communist world for His Message- that the tr ue "Gospel of the Kin g­dom" may go to these nations as awitness before the end of this agecomes?

We need to be as busy about God'swork as the Communists are about theirevil work.

Do You Really KNOWthe True God?

should go to a movie. Their conceptionof God. is JUSt as narrow and limitedas their own environment, train ing, andmental outlook has been.

Other people go ro rhe opposi te ex­treme. They think of God as a far-offspiritual power with little or no directconcern with the human family. Theyimagine that God is "wise" enough to

let us alone to choose our own amuse­ments , society, laws--our own religionthe way we want to have it. They thinkthey are philosophic, cosmopolitan,"modern." So they make God in theirown image!

In every nation, city, and family thereare people with differing human ideasof what God is like,

Let's QUIT trying to make God inour own image!

The Holy Bible is the revealed Wordof the Creator God. It was written toshow us the nature of God, and howwe should live and worship Him-thatwe might be His children, DiligentlyJtudying your Bible is the second wayto come to know God . It is the secondwitness needed to dispel man's con­fusion in his ideas of God.

The Bible Carries Authority

If you have proved and really believethat the Bible is the inspired revelationfrom God to man, then you shoulddearly realize that God's Word is not to

be argued with---or falsely interpretedto bolster pet doctrines .

We may have had our own precon­ceived human idea of God, But if wewant the truth, let's put that aside andsearch God' s Word to find out how Hereveals Himself to us. Remember that"All scripture is given by inspiration ofGod, and is profitable for doctrine, forreproof, for correction, for instructio«

Second W itness Needed

In contrast to the united testimonyof nature, human beings are divided andconfused in their ideas of God. It hasbeen said, "Man creates God. in his ownimage." In the majority of cases, that istrue!

People of every nation and tonguehave always worshipped someth ing. Burtheir "god" was usually a product oftheir imaginations-a god that wouldconform to their current human stand­ards, laws, and ways of looking at things.

Even today, most professing "Chris­tians" read their OWN idea of God intothe Bible , We all know of "sweet oldladies" who think of God as a kindly,sentimental, and very prudish old fellowwho would be shocked to tears andcomplerely upset if any of his children

What KIND of God do you worship? Wh ere did you get yourconcepts of God? Here is the TRUTH on this vital subject!

by Roderick C. Mered ith

Try to break the law of gravity some­time! The unity of nature-the con­srancy of its inexorable laws-all pointto the nature and character of the Cre­ator. God's creation did not evolve! Irslaws remain the same. Charles Dar­win's own son said, "W e cannot provethat a single species has been changed."God decreed (Gen. 1:25) that everyplant and anima l should bring forth"after his kind." Not once in six thou­sand years has this decree been violated.

God 's laws do not change! All naturethunders forth this truth. This principleapplies to spiritual as well as physicalrhings. Study God's creation if you trulywish to understand your Creator. TheBible and "nature" both teach that God'splan and His laws do nor alter. "Theworks of his hands are verity and judg­ment; all his commandments are sure.They stand fast for ever and ever, andare done in truth and uprightnesr' (Ps.111 :7-8) ,

God Reveals His Nature

"DOYOU know rhe Lord JesusChr ist tonight? Do you feel

His presence . in your heart?"asked the emotional evangelist.

That's a good quest ion.Bur is an emotional "feeling" the

WAY you corne to know and under­rtand the true God?

Most religious people have simplygrown up mimicking from childhoodthe type of religious talk and attitudetheir elders displayed. They have neverPROVED why they believe as they d<>­or why they "picture" God and thinkof Him as they do.

Yet, to really KNOW God-to becomeacquainted with-and to ultimately beBORN as His literal SON-this is thesupreme PURPOSE of your life!

How, then, can you truly KNOW God.-His thoughts and att itudes-the WAY

He will act-what kind of personaliryHe really is?

There are three basic means by whichyou can come to know and really under­stand the true God-rhe Creator ofHeaven and Earth. The first way is bycarefully srudying whar God has pro ­duced-His creation-the thing wesometimes call "nature." The apostlePaul knew this. He was inspired towrite in Romans 1:20, "For the invisi­ble things of Him from the: creation ofthe world are clearly seen, being under­stood by the things that are made . . ."

So evident is the supreme intelligenceof God in His creation, that the atheistis totally without excuse for denyingGod's existence. This is a law-abidinguniverse. God is clearly revealed in na­rure as a God of LAW and order-s-ofsupreme wisdom and purpose behindevery creation.

Page ·f4 December. 1962

was referrin g to the God of the OldTestament-the giver of the LAW­the God who was to RULE Israel. Theonly "word" of the true God-at thattime-was the Old Testament as con­tained in your Bible! Jesus referred tothe "Iaw'<-the Old Testament writings- as scripture, and He said, "the scrip .ture cannot be broken" (J ohn 10:35 ).

So ma ny uk : ··HOW does it hap pen thl t I fiadmy subscri pt ion price for Th e PLAIN TR UTH hasI lrt'.ll.d}· hu " p.3iJl How can you publish sueh Ih igh ctus rn.lglline withou t I ,herm ing revenue?"

The Ins...et is .lIS simple .11$ it is iII sconishinlJ:! It isI pludox-. Chr isc·s GOs~1 u nnOt: be sold likemer chandise. Yuu cannO( buy salvarion. Yet it doesCOst money (0 publhh Ch rist' s TRUTH and mlil it10 III coneinems on ear th . It does have 10 be I'Mfor! This is Chrisc ·s ...urk , ",«-'e solve th is pr oblemChrist's ~.AY!

Jesus said. " This Gospe l of the Kingdom shallbe prea ched ( I nd publish~-M;uk 13 :10 ) in allrhe ...·orld for a ...itnen unto I II n.llions " ( l-h t.24 : 141 " t thlt tim', JUSt before the end of th is age.A PRICE m"u b, p.iJ for the m.ll&.lIline. the br oad ­( I U, the Correspo ndence Course, or o ther liter atu re.Bur HOW ? Christ forbids us to f' U il 10 those ...horeceive It : "Ereelj- )e have received," u id Jesus wH is d iscip'les ...ho H e "'.11$ sending to proc!.ll im H isGospel. ' fr , e ly GIVE!" "I r is m or, bl"uJ," Heuld . " '0 G IVE ' hl n '0 receive."

God s W AY is the WillY of LOVE- lAd (hIt isthe ...Iy of gl l,j",. God C'xpeus e\'ecy ch ild of Hi sto gi ,·, tree -....iJl o f!"C'r ings and 10 tithe, u H is meansof plying the co~u of cu rVing H is Gospel (0 Olh~rl.

,",'e . th er efore . simp ly UUSt our Lord Jesus Chr isl 10lly ir on the minds and h(':lrrs of H IS foll o....ers togive gene roualv , Ihus Ply inlJ: the COst of putting theprecious Gospel TRUTH in the hand s of others,Yet it must go o"/y 10 rhose ...ho "I~ fo r i ' forrh,muhn' Eillch must . for himself , l ubltNbr-l adhis subscriprion has thus Ilre.ldy b"" p"ii.

Th us the livin g d)'nam ic Chrisl Hims elf enablesus 10 broadcase, world-wide . without ever askin g forcontr ibut ions O\'C' I the l ir; 10 enroll man y th ou sand sin th e Amb assador Co llege Bible Correspo ndenceCourse with full ruuion ccse "l rt.J y p"id; 10 sendyour PLAIN TR UT H on an ./r,,,dy pJiJ buis.God 's willy ii GOOD!

YOUR PLAIN .TRUTH SUB·SCRIPTION HAS BEEN PAIDHOW

Ch risr Our Example

Most professing "Christian" mini sterstalk about Christ as some son of heroand Saviour, bus they reinse to ac­knowledge His gospel, Hi s teaching , andHis example. They picture Jesus as asweet but helpless little baby at Christ­mas time and as a Saviour who has gone"way off to heaven" at Easter time!Their concepcion is rhar He came codie for men, but that His reaching car­ries NO AUTHORITY today!

Your Bible says the exact opposite!In john 1:4. we find that Jesus' li fe

was the "light" of men. It was to showthem God's rutty to live. Peter was in­spired to write, ". . . Chr ist also suf­fered for us, leaving 1U ilIZ exam ple,that ye should follow his steps" (I Pet.2 :21) .

Now read 1 j ohn 2:6. It is moreproperl y rendered in the Moffatt transla­tion. Speakin g of Christ, John wrote,"He who says he 'remains in him '

(Please continue on page 48J

T he \' LAIN TRUTH

T he Bible Is Consistenr

From Genesis to Revelation, God isrevealed as the Creator, the Ruler, andthe potent ial Spiritual Father of man­kind. In Genesis 2: 17, God commandedthe man not to eat of the tree of theknowledge of good and evil. Stubbornman disobeyed this comm and and in­curred the death penalty. God had shownhimself as RULER, and man had dis­obeyed.

Long before the old covenant was in­stituted, Abr aham was blessed becausehe obeyed God 's laws and kept His com­mandments ( Gen. 26:5) . He recog­nized God-he KNEW God- as Su­preme RULER

After Israel had come OUt of Egypt( a type of sin) to become an inde­pende nt people. God gave them Hiscommandments which they had lostsince Abraham's time. They were to beruled by God's laws-which alone canbring happin ess. Having the same hu­man nature as we do. they disobeyedGod and were driven into captiv ity,

Why? Because they refused to rec­ognize God-tO KNOW God-as theirSupreme Ruler .

Jesus Reveals Father

Jesus came in the flesh to ..reveal"the Father. He showed that God's lawwould be in force unr il heaven andearth should pass away ( Mat. 5: 18 ) . Hedidn't come to destroy God's law, but to

fulfill it ( v. 17 ). And fll/fill means to

do or perform, NOT to do away with .When a young man came to ask Jesushow ro be saved. , he was told, "keep theCOMMANDMENTS" ( Mat. 19: 17) .

Indeed, j esus' whole mini stry was oneof revealing God as the supreme law­g iver and Ruler. He preached the goodnews of rhe com ing kingdom or GOV­ERNMENT of God ( Mark 1:14 ) . That isthe tree gospel- the good news ofGod's govern menr, God 's RULE.

The very foundation of Jesus' teach­ing was that, "Man shall not live bybread alone, but by every word tharproceedeth our of the mouth of God"( Mat. 4 :4) . What wordt What God?Those Jews knew very well that Christ

cause rhey are spir itually tOO LAZY to

J!ud" their Bibles and come to knowthe true God and His way,

(,-

in righteousness" (11 T im. 3: 16 ) . TheBible is to correct and reprove us-toshow us where we are wrong. Will welet it?

God says. "I am the Lord. I change'lot . . ." ( Mal. 3:6). We find thatJesus Christ is, "the same yesterday,and today. and for ever" ( Heb. 13:8 ) .The Father and the Son do nor whim­sically change their plans and principles,OR THEIR LAWS. The}' "change nor."

At this point, it is important to re­alize that Christ was the God or "Lord"of the Old Testament! In j ohn 1: 1·5. wefind that Chri st was the "W ord" or"Spokesman" who was with the Fatherfrom the beginning. All things werecreated by j esus Chr ist ( v. 3 and Col.1: 16 ). Christ was the spiritual "Rock"that went before and prorecred the chii­dren of Israel, and that gave them theTe,z Commandments ( I Cor. 10:1·6 ) .

God in the person of Jesus Christ isthe one who gave the LAW that mostpreachers hate today! IVhy do they hidetheir eyes from the Chri st who is su­preme LAW·GIVER? Do they think thatChrist has changed?

Your Bible says NO!God's methods and laws are basical­

ly the same from Ge nesis to Revelation.Apparentl y not realizing this, most self­appointed preache rs will tell you abou trhe "God of the Old Te stament" in con­trast with Christ in the New Testa­ment. T hen they go on to say that Christpreached one gospel. and the ApostlePaul preached a different gospel! Theyare in CONFUSiON.

In Rev. 17:5. God names this mixed­up, div ided system of churchianiry"Babylon the Grear" which literallymeans "Greet Contusion" God's truepeople are commanded ro come oe tof rhis system ( Rev. 18:4 ) . Why?

Because they don't lmow the trueGod! Satan has his own [else ministe rswho appear CO be the mini sters ofrighteousness ( 11 COt. 11: 15) . T hese[alse ministers are deceiving people."In whom the god of this world hath

blinded the minds of them which be·lieve not .. : ' ( ll Cor. 4 :4) .

How can these people be so easilydeceived ? First, because they blindlyfollow human tradi t ion and these falsemin isters and therefore have a FALSE

concept ion of God . Ami second, be-

Is God FA IR?: ''''.. ' r ,

... .~

of the Lord thy God; in it thou shaltnor do any work." Six thousand-yeardays have been permit ted Satan for hislabor 01 DECEPTION, Even then hisdominion has been limited to the powerof influence and suggestion. Never hasGod permitted even Satan arbitrarily toforce men against their wills.

And so for six thousand years menhave been lefr Iree ro accept rhe self­seeking competitive philosophy 01 Sa­tan, or ro lollow the Golden Rule 01God, And for six thousand years Satanhas labored. And mankind has lallenfor his delusion!

Saran's phil osophy is the philosophyof the world today. On it our presentcivilization has been built . A civiliza­tion men love and cherish, and forwhich they patriotica lly sacrifice theirlives! A civilization developed on desirefor self-gain, competition, strife! In itsuccess is determined by HOW MUCH aman has been able to GET, nor on howwell he has served.

God has never left men in ignoranceof the TRUE way 01 life, Always He hasmade known the true values-the way ofHi s spiritual law of Love! Cont inuallyGod has pleaded, with patience and inlove. He pleaded through Noah in thedays before the flood . He set up a na­tion of H is own on earth, pledged to

lollow HIS laws, dedicated voluntari lyro God's ways 01 lile. But Israel turnedfrom God's ways, and persecuted andkilled God's prophets!

God sent H is only begotten Son topaine men back to the true paths. AndH im, roo, men rejected and killed!

During these six thousand years sinceAdam, men continually have spurnedGod's love, rejected His Law, turned adeaf ear to His prophets and H is truemini sters. They have built a world afterthe lalse philosophy of Satan, repletewith its pagan customs, traditions andbeliefs. Today people are hopelessly en­gulfed in these false ways, bur, beingdeceived, realize it nor at all!

Satan is revealed as the "GOD of thisworld" ( II Cor. 4: 4), The original in­lpired Greek should properly be trans-

The Devil's WEEK

And so God turned over to SatanONE WEEK, consisting of seven thou­sand-year days, in which to demonstratethe falsity 01 this way- the way ofgreed.

During this week of seven thousandyears Satan was permitted to retain DO·

MINION over all the earth . "Six days,"God said, "thou shalt labor and do all rhywork"-his work of deception and hate- "but the SEVENTH day is rhe Sabbath

Why has God permitted 6000 years of human woe and suffering ?by Herbert W. Armstrong

God's Plan has lor its purpose thecreating of perfect CHARACT ER in be­ings that are separate ent ities from Godyet members 01 the very lamily 01 God.Character cannot be created automati­cally by fiat-it must be developedthrough experience!

N or could character be instilled with­OUt free moral agency. To achieve thisgreat purpose-that of producing thesupreme pinnacle of all God's creation,sons of God having perfect character,man has to be convinced, of his ownIree will, that God's laws are J UST, andthat His ways are the only right waysfor man! Man must turn to them, volun­tarily! This lesson could be learned onlyby EXPERI ENCE!

In the beginning, Satan appeared to

contest the wisdom of God's Law. Thislaw is, simply, LOVE for God, andlove for neighbor, as defined in the tenbroad principles 01 rhe Ten Command­ments. A fundamental, spiritua l, eternallaw. The philosophy Chrisr raughr isthat it is more blessed to GIVE, thanto receive. But Satan argued for theGETIIN G way. Competi tion, he argued,is the life-blood 01 activity. Self-desireprovides incentive to endeavor. Vanityspurs to action. And so, in Satan's phi­losophy, self-desire. competition, strife,provide the roar-principle for accom­plishment . The way 01 GETTING is theway to progress and advancement.

Had not God permitted this se!/ishway CO be tried, tested, and demonstrat­ed, God's creatures could argue throu gh­our eternity that they had been deniedthe better way.

Is God FAIR ?

Listen! Some men are saying, "Godisn't fair!"--or "Is there a God, afterall?" Bur what do you suppose menwould say if God took away their rightro think and do as they please? For Godcould never stop this awful carnagewithout FORCING men to act accordingro H IS will--denying them a Iree will 01their own!

It is men's ways, so contrary to God'sways, that have broughr this unhappystate. And they have broughr on allthe world's sorrows and anguish in spiteof rhe pleadings 01 God. He says, "Yourways are not my ways."

God's ways, had they been lollowed,would have led inevitably ro peace, hap­piness, prosperity and joy. God alwayshas revealed to men His ways. AlwaysHe has pleaded with the human lamily.

Suppose God had taken the only al­ternative. Suppose He had FORCED men,against their wills, to have lived accord­ing to H IS laws?

Can't you almost hear the defiant , re­bellious, stiff-necked human race indig­nantly screaming at the Almighty: "Youcan't cram your religion down mythroat!" For it is a matter of religion.Can't we see thar, had God followedthat course, more than ever men wouldhave shouted, "G OD ISN'T FAIR! "

For six thousand years men havelived in defiance 01 God's laws. HadGod denied them this right ro be wrong,men would have accused God of injus­tice, demanding freedom to follow theirown ways.

T OOKAT THE WORLD TODAY! Wac,L famine, pestilence! Poverty, in-

equality, hunger, want ! Sickness,disease, suffering, death! Crime, graft,dishonesty. corruption! Insanity, degen­eration, decay! Unh appiness. fear,wretchedness and woe!

How, so many are asking, can a su­preme, all-powerful God of LOVEpermirit?

W HY does God allow devil-inspiredcommunists to run amuck? WHY is Heperm itt ing civilization itself to crumble?

Page 46

laced, "the god of tbi: AGE." And thisworldly civilization worships its GOD.The appalli ng fact unrealized by theworld is that Satan, not the Eternal, isits god! The Creator God "is not theauthor of confusion," we read in I Cor.14:33. Its real author is Satan, the world'sgod! And so he has his many denom ina­tions and sects, all striving in a babylonof confusion!

The Devil's WORK

There is just one thing, it seems, thatall Satan's ministers can agree upon."God's LAW," they chorus in unison, "isDONE AWAY!" Yes, they have to tellthat in order to draw their salaries! To­day the people of organized religion re­fuse to H EAR the Law of the Lord (lsa.30:8-11) . They demand [hat their min­isters preach the soft and smooth things-the deceits! They have turned awayfrom the TRUTH, and are accepting andbelieving FABLES (11 Tim . 4:2-4) . Theyare BlTIER against God 's Law, andagainst the few who have courage to­day to proclaim the PLAIN TRUTH ofGod's Word!

Yes, Satan has organized religion. Hehimself appea rs, not as a devil withhorns and a tail bearing a pitch-fork, but"is transformed into AN ANGEL OFLIGHT" (11 Cor. 11:14). His ministersare transformed as the ministers ofrighteousness, appeari ng AS the apostlesof Christ! (Verses 13, 15). But [hey arepreaching "another Jesus" (Verse 4) , inthe power of "another spirit," and de­ceiving men with "another Gospel" thanthe true Gospel of the Kingdom whichChrist brought and Paul and all theapostles preached! (Gal. 1:6-7) .

Satan's congregations go in for muchFORM. "Having a FORM of godliness,but denying the POWER thereof : fromsuch turn away," plainly warns God'sWord! (11 Tim. 3:5 ) . The presentwordly order-its competitive princi­ple, its customs and traditions, its po·Iirical systems-are upheld by Satan'schurches within every land! Truly , ALLnations are deceived! (Rev. 17:2, 18:3) .

Jesus Christ appeared 1900 years agoas a messenger bearing a Message fromGod. He brought to an unhappy worldsteeped in false ways the "GOOD NEWSof the KINGDOM OF GOD." A Kingdom

T he PLAIN TRUTH

THE BIBLE ANSWERS

"l have heard yo u say ma ny time sthat the Bib le do es not contrad ict it­self . Now Ma tthew 27,9 is suppose d­ly a prop hecy fr o m Jeremiah. Yet itcannot be found in J e remia h. Howw ould you ex pla in that?"

Many carelessly assume that Matthew27: 9 is quoted from Jeremiah. Let's notassume! Read (his scripture and seewhat it actually states,

Matthew , under inspiration, wrote:"Then was fulfilled that which wasSPOKEN by Jeremy (Jeremiah ) theprophet , saying, And they took the thir typieces of silver, the price of him thatwas valued, whom they of the childrenof Israel did value" ( Matt. 27:9) .

Nerice' the Prophecy was SPOKEN,

now, soon, to replace these crumblinggovernments of earth!

Tha t Kingdom today is near at hand- even at tbe doors! (Luke 21 :31) _

Thank God, we are near the END ofthe six working days allotted to Satan'sdominion. God's thousand -year Sabbathday is just about to dawn!

There is a saying that it is darkestjust before the dawn. Now we see onevery hand the final fruitage of men'sways. Written in unerasable blood, inhuman misery, anguish and despair, isthe six-thousand-year record of EXPERI­ENCE!

Even now men will not heed this hor­rible lesson-nor until they are FORCEDto see it!

But, as Satan's sixth "working day"closes, God is about to step in and su­pernaturally to interfere!

The coming seventh millennium­typified by the feast of tabernacles­shall see Satan restrained. Christ willreturn to rule the earth with all thepower of God. God's New Order forthe next thousand years will restorepeace, happiness, and joy.

Then men may look back over this

December, 1962

FROM OUR READERS

written, by Jeremiah!Some so-called "higher critics" say the

word Jeremiah should be amended toread Zechariah, as this prophecy is foundwritten in Zechariah 11:13. This is net

so! The original Greek used here is, inall authoritative texts, Jeremiah, notZechariah .

The answer is simple!Jeremiah spoke a prophecy. Zechariah,

writing at a later time, was inspired bythe Holy Spirit to write this prophecyas a part of the very Word of God.

If only people would believe what iswritten and not reason their way aroundit, they would plainly see the Bibledoesn't contradict itself. "The scripturecannot be broken" (John 10:35 ) .

present world, and COMPARE! Never willGod FORCE a single human being,againsr his own will, into salvation andeternal life.

Bur, with the seven-thousand-yearrecord of EXPERIENCE set plainly be-.fore seeing eyes, do you think anyonewill want to return to these ways weseem now to love? Not many, you maybe sure of that! Yet some, even then,will rebel.

Finally [he world shall acknowledge,of its own free volition, that God's waysare right. "Christ," says the Scripture,"learned obedience by the things whichHe suffered!" ( Heb. 5:8 ) . Even Hewho never did wrong! "And beingMADE perfect"-through experience­"He became the author of eternal salva­tion unto all them that obey Him ."

Some day we shall look upon Goo'sPlan with breath-taking admiration andawe! The suffering of this present timeshall have faded completely from mind.The lessons of experience we shall havewith us for eternity! Finally humanityshall accept God's ways of life, KNOW­

ING that they are right ways. The hap­piness and joy we shall then experience

December. 1962

cannot be conceived by our minds ro­day! T hru all ete rni ty we shall worsh ipand praise the Eternal God for H is wis­dom. His mercy, His LOVE!

Do you th ink anyone, then, will lookback and say. "God isn't fair?

Wid- ourREADERS SAY

(Co1ltinued from page 4)

posely to determine the truth of theSabbath Day, For one week I pouredthrough historical literature from thegreatest minds of the centuries, and theproducr of my search, without a doubt,firmly convi nced me that the true Sab­bath is not, as I have always been led to

believe, Sunday, bu t rather the tradi­tional Jewish Sabbath ; Friday sundownto Saturday sundown."

A sergeant from Fort Bliss, Texas.

Som e Won't Like It

"My son and his wife have beenlistening to your program each night.Why, I don 't know, but now they tellus that you said anyone celebratingChristmas was doing the same as theheathen who worship idols. I do n't likethat and I am sure there are millions ofpeople all over the world who won'tlike it either."

A Mother from Utah.

• It is tOO bad some don't like whatthe Bible says. We didn 't wri te theScriptures, but any who really wishto obey God and would like to knowwhat the Bible has to say about cele­bratin g Christmas should read Jeremiah10 and write for the FREE booklet "ThePlain Truth abour Christmas."

Received Personal Help fromBroadcast

"JUSt how you can give so muchpersonal encouragement and instructionis almost supernatural! I know you speakto millions, but often it seems you have·read my troubles and questions.' Dozensof times I have thought I should writeyou a thank you. Several weeks ago aprogram about husband-wife relation­ship was especially helpful."

W oman from Powell , Nebraska,

• We have no way of knowing how

The PLAIN TRUTH

many marriages the article "How to

Have a Happy Marriage" has acrua llysaved. but those who have written usare mul tiple hundreds!

"I Don't Read Your Magazin e"

"Would you please stOP seod ing meThe PLAIN TRUTH magazine. I am just15 years old. I don't read your magazineand I don't understand it. besides mypastor said it was not good to read. Youare wasting God's money by sending itto me."

Young Girl from Texas.• Well, of course, you can't understandif you don't read it. But your pastorwouldn't know anyth ing about ThePLAIN TRUTH unless he were a regularreader himself!

In a Position to Know

"I want you to know that I considerthe Bible Correspondence Course theMOST worthwhile pro ject I have everundertaken. How easy it is to connectthe things I am learning in it with thethings 1 have seen in my travels inEurope and here in the Far East. It istruly an eye-opener in these periloustimes of confusion. Dh! how I hope wein the U,S.A. will wake up to the trut h."

An American traveling in Japan.

Defends Tradition

"Boy, if 1 couldn' t think of somethingbetter to say than to condemn some ofthe oldest traditions known for children- such as decorations and Christmastrees, Halloween disguises and merri­ment, as well as Easter-egg traditions­I'd sure get off the air and stay off! Ifyou knew what the average public thinksof you , you would go hide."

From Missouri.• If the Apostle Pau l had cared whatthe average public thought of him hecould have avoided being stoned andimprisoned. But he did his job regard­less of what some few rhough r. Anyonecan check the truth of what we say inhis own public library!

Couldn't Afford to Tithe

"We haven't been tithing for sometime, but we should have been. Afterwe quit ti thing, thin gs did get ro ugh.It seemed as if there was always some­thing popping up to take twice theamount of our tithes. And we have gotten

Page 47

further in debt than we ever were be­fore. Things aren't any better than theywere a year ago, but I have decided totithe anyhow. In fact. things are a lotworse, but this time I have alreadypromised God that I will tithe, even ifI starve to death."

Alb right, W est Virgi nia .

• More of our readers need the book­let "Ending Your Financial Worries."

Guilty of Lying

"I was shocked almost to my kneeswhen I read thi s ar ticle in Th e PLAINTRUTH, ' Is there a Real Hell Fire ?' Ihave been brought up to believe so manyfalse things about hell and heaven. Ihave been teaching my children falselyabout hell and also heaven, But, Ipromised God I won't be gu ilty oflying about this any more. Since, I lookinto the plain Word of God."

Woman from R idgeway, SouthCarolina,

• Jf any have not read this revealingar ticle in the July PLAIN T RUTH, writefor a back copy imm ediately and alsoanother eye-opening reprint "W ill YouGo to Hell?"

Was T each ing Precepts of Men

"Since last February I have been seek­ing the Word of God, I found that inthe Sunday School Class I have bee nteaching, the lessons outlined. for us to

teach are precepts of men. I tried to

teach what the Bible tells us abou t thesesubjects and the class members saidI was teaching false doctrine. I amhaving difficulty in dividing the Lord'sW ord from man's word. Your rnaga­zine has helped me more than any othersource."

From Utah,

Brings abo ut Ch ange in Children

"I take the Correspondence Courseand gather my three children around meevery night and ask them questions fromthe course and tell them where to findthe answer. They, in this way, getacquainted with the scriptures and geta knowledge they need so despe rately .It is bringing about a great change inthem also and they look forward to

these sessesions."Man from Grand Rap ids, Michigan .

• That's the way to study the Biblewith your family ,

Page 48

Do You KNOWthe True God?

t Cont inued from page 44 )

ought /0 be Iit-'ing as he lived. 'Jesus is ou r perfect example! If we

say we are a Christian-that we "re­main in H im"-we ought to be LIVI NG

as He lived ' Arc )'ou ? If you do n't be­lieve in and try to follow Jesus' example.you don't understand tobat kind of Godthe t rue God is. You arc ign orant ofhow to worship and obey the God andFather of Jesus Christ.

What uias Jesus' example?Jesus enti re life is a perfect example

of OBED IENCE to God's law and Hi srule! He said, ". . , I have kept myFather' s commandments' (John 15: to ) .

Hi s own teach ing was simply amagnification of God 's law ( lsa. 42 :2 I ) .Actually , He carne in the flesh to mag­ni fy HiJ own law-the Ten Command­ment s! Remember? He UJa J the Godof the O ld Testament who gaz:c theTen Commandment s and deal t withIsrael ( I Cor. to : 1-6 ) .

When He came in the flesh, JesusK EPT that law to Jet 1IJ an example,He was ou r "light," our example, At rue Christian is simply one who fol­lows Chrise-who [ollou-s that example.

Do }'OU beg in to see the true natureof. rhe living God?

He is the ONE who has set all physi ­cal and sp iri tual laun and energies inme rion. He has an overall plan for th iseart h- He is Supreme Ruler,

God's Cha racter

God is RULER. If we become H ischild ren through repentance, bept ism ,and receiving the Hoi)' Spi rit ( Acts2: 38 ) , we may be "born again" O n.3: 1·8 ) -changed into, actually born ofJpiril as a literal son of God! God isreproducing H imself! He- the Creatorand Ruler of the un iverse-is bege n inghuman beings through Hi s Spirit to beborn as H is sons-to be in H is ownfamily- to inheri t eternal life. But wemuse fin t learn bow to lire before Godwill gram us eternal life and make usHis own sons.

We must develop God's wisdom .God's character, W e must "li ve by every

The PLAIN TRUTH

word of God ." Realizing tha t our Creatorknows best, we should OBEY Him. Todeny th is is to admit a profound igno­ranee of the Eternal God' s great wisdomand purpose! It betrays a lack of under­standi ng of the character of the trueGod.

T he apostle John sum med it all upwhen he wrote of Christ-the God ofthe Old Testament, the give r of thelAw-·'He that seitb, J kn ow bim, andbeepetb not his commandments, is aLIAR. and the truth is not i1J him" ( I

John 2:4 ) .God himself calls these lawless min­

isters liars when they try to deny theauthority of H is RU LE, the wisdom ofH is LAW, and the very basis of Hi s greatPURPOSE.

It is time to wake up! May God helpyou to repent of defying His rule, ofbreaking H is laws, and guide you toaccept Christ as your Saviour from sin.Then you may begin to develop thecharacter of God and be born of .theSpirit as Hi s son in the resurrection.You need co come to know the tme Godas your Father.

Talk to Go d

Once you come to really know thetrue God-the God revealed by JesusChrist-you will wam to talk to Him.You may do this in prayer . This is thethird 1ca)' you may come to really"k now" the true God. -

As you come to know God in thi sway, you will soon realize that here,tOO, you have to OBEY God if you ex­pect an answer. But you will find thatGod is LOVE-and that He will gladlygram any request tha t is good for )'011

unde r the circumstances. You will alsodiscover that He has POW ER to healyou whe n you are sick, to deliver you inmiraculous ways from trouble, and tobless you in a manner beyond humancomprehension.

So gel 10 know God by talking toH im of ten.

And remember-the combined testi­monies of nature, of the Bible, and ofansurered prayer all reveal the samet m e God, He is the AIl·Wise, All-Pow ­erful, Law-Giving RUL ER of the universe.

Are ) 'Of/. willing to aclznotoledge H isgovernment, obey His laws, and inheri tete rnal life as Hi s child?

December. 1962

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