ENGLAND REBELS AGAINST ROME England joins the revolt against the authority of the pope — P. 5 —
STEALTHY ENEMY
THE REAL JESUS CHRIST Behind the myths
— P. 10 —
— P. 12 —
March-April 2018 | TomorrowsWorld.org
TAME THE SOCIAL MEDIA MONSTER!
IS IT TIME TO “DE-FRIEND” SOCIAL MEDIA?
A personal message from the Editor in Chief
It Is Time to Wake Up!
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his past year, I had the opportunity to team up with the Northeast Regional Pastor of the Living Church of God, Jonathan McNair, to give a live Tomorrow’s World presentation in Manhattan, New York. These presentations are opportunities for our subscribers, such as you, to personally meet our television presenters, writers and a Living Church of God minister who serves in your area. We discuss trends in world news as they relate to Bible prophecy, and we normally have a follow-up for those who are interested in learning more about the Church that sponsors Tomorrow’s World. The morning presentation in Manhattan was titled “Wake Up America!” The first of three points in this presentation was our need to wake up to our heritage—to our roots. The average person hardly knows recent history, much less longer-term history that reveals an amazing truth with significant implications. Americans and British-descended peoples, along with French, Dutch, Belgians, Swiss and Scandinavians, have lost their true identities. This is a large, too-bigto-cover subject for this short article, but I encourage you, if you have not already done so, to request a free copy of our booklet, The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy. You will be amazed that so few understand something so provable. This leads me to the second point. Because we do not know where we come from, we have forgotten where our blessings come from. It is time to wake up and repent! Our arrogance in rejecting God will bring heartache and suffering beyond what we can imagine. Americans have forgotten, yes, even despised God and His commandments, and so have the other descendants of Israel’s twelve sons. And no matter what one’s ethnic background may be, if you live in one of these nations, you will be blessed or cursed along with the nation as a whole. We are all in it together, and unless we wake up and repent—and there is no indication that will happen—we are in for a very rough ride! Much of the problem we face is the result of my third point. We must wake up to religious deception!
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This awakening especially applies to religious deception in the name of Christ! Some people find it offensive for anyone to criticize the beliefs of others, but not all beliefs are equal and not every belief can be true. The Bible reveals to us that there is an evil spirit directing the course of this world (Ephesians 2:2). Furthermore, the Bible tells us that this spirit being has deceived the whole world (Revelation 12:9). Do you believe this? Is it showing love to encourage people to continue living in ignorance and deception, due to our silence? How can the world be deceived, when professing Christianity is the largest religion in the world, making up almost one-third of earth’s population? The answer is simple. What we think of as Christianity today is very different from that of Christ and His Apostles. This deception set in early, even in the first century. The Apostle Paul warned the church in Corinth that there were those who were already teaching a different Jesus, having a different spirit, and proclaiming a different gospel (2 Corinthians 11:4). He further declared that Satan has his own ministers masquerading as ministers of Christ (vv. 13–15). This should be shocking, but most people take such news with a giant yawn, a shrug of the shoulders, and a resigned, “So what”! Yet God warns us and gives us encouragement to do something regarding this end-time Babylon: “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues” (Revelation 18:4).
How Your Subscription Has Been Paid
Tomorrow’s World has no subscription price. It is made possible by the tithes and offerings of Living Church of God members and by others who have chosen to become co-workers in proclaiming Christ’s true Gospel to all nations. Donations are gratefully acknowledged and may be tax-deductible.
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Volume 20, Issue 2 | March-April 2018
Why does a major, supposedly “Christian” holy day have the name of a pagan goddess of fertility attached to it? Why celebrate that holiday with the fertility symbols of eggs and rabbits? What does that have to do with the resurrection of Christ? Why do churches that profess Christianity choose to worship on the day that the pagan Roman emperor Constantine decreed, and called “the venerable day of the sun”? Why choose the ancient “birthday of the sun” to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ? These questions need honest answers! The Venerable Day of the Sun One of my favorite quotes comes from the highly respected Eerdman’s Handbook to the History of Christianity: “When in 321 Constantine made the first day of the week a holiday, he called it ‘the venerable day of the sun’ (Sunday). When the pagan symbols eventually disappeared, the Unconquered Sun was the last to go…. The Christian church took over many pagan ideas and images. From sun-worship, for example came the celebration of Christ’s birth on the twenty-fifth of December, the birthday of the Sun. Saturnalia, the Roman winter festival of 17–21 of December, provided the merriment, gift-giving and candles typical of later Christmas holidays” (p. 131). The well-known and prolific British author Paul Johnson points out how pagan influences infiltrated the church following Constantine’s suspicious conversion. “He himself appears to have been a sun-worshipper, one of a number of late-pagan cults which had observances in common with the Christians. Thus the followers of Isis adored a Madonna nursing her holy child…. Constantine was almost certainly a Mithraic [sun-worshipper], and his triumphal arch, built after his ‘conversion’, testifies to the Sun-god, or ‘unconquered sun’. Many Christians did not make a clear distinction between the sun-cult and their own. They referred to Christ ‘driving his chariot across the sky’; they held their services on Sunday, knelt towards the East [sunrise services] and had their nativity-feast on 25 December, the birthday of the sun at the winter solstice” (A History of Christianity, p. 67).
As a sincere believer, does any of this seem strange to you? You likely grew up, as did I, accepting the common practices of modern Christianity. Is it possible you have been deceived, as I was, regarding the truth of the Bible and the message Jesus brought to this world? Could you be accepting “a different Jesus,” “a different spirit” and “a different gospel”? Could you possibly be part of the whole world that Satan has deceived? Are you courageous enough to ask yourself these questions, to make an honest and informed assessment, and to act on your findings? According to Matthew 7:13–14, few are! I challenged that Manhattan audience, as I challenge you, to look into these things for yourself. Don’t believe us because we say it, believe it because it is provable from Scripture and from history. Be sure to keep reading Dr. Roderick C. Meredith’s comprehensive series on the Protestant Reformation, as it gives historically accurate information you probably have never seen before. We normally have a break at these presentations and invite all who are interested in learning more about the Living Church of God to stick around to ask questions and get answers. Some of the more common questions involve the Sabbath and Holy Days. What do the biblical Holy Days mean? How do you keep them? How should one keep the weekly Sabbath? Does the Living Church of God have a congregation nearby? Is baptism required for salvation, and if so, do you baptize? Some have questions about specific doctrines. Depending on the interest, we may have several follow-up Bible Studies, and we occasionally start a new congregation where there is sufficient interest, but no one is pressured to join anything and we do not take up offerings at our weekly services. There will be a number of live Tomorrow’s World presentations in the months ahead. Keep your eyes open for an invitation, as we may schedule one in a city near you. You can also keep up with the locations for these presentations at our TomorrowsWorld.org website. We would love to meet you!
March-April 2018 | Tomorrow’s World 3
5 England Rebels Against Rome
The series continues: Motivated by the passions and ambitions of King Henry VIII, England joins the revolt against the religious authority of the pope.
10 Detecting a Stealthy Enemy In World War I, the race was on to defeat a deadly enemy who could not be seen.
12 The Real Jesus Christ Some claim He is only a myth, while others say He was merely a man. But who was the real Jesus Christ? And what does His life and message mean today?
18 Tame the Social Media Monster! Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the like were supposed to bring all of us together. Instead, they are dividing our society and reshaping our minds.
24 America Achieves Its Manifest Destiny Driven by a sense of purpose and destiny, the United States spreads coastto-coast. Was an unseen hand at work?
16 Royal Air Force Faces Uncertain Future 26 The War Beneath Your Skin 32 Wise Learning 31 Questions and Answers 34 Letters to the Editor 35 Television Log Circulation: 257,000
THE REAL JESUS CHRIST – P.12 –
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The Truth Behind The Protestant Reformation PA R T 7
England Rebels Against Rome
What is the truth about the Reformation in England? Did it represent a return to the true faith delivered by Jesus Christ? This series of articles contains startling facts that you need to consider!
By Roderick C. Meredith (1930–2017)
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illions of books, pamphlets and tracts boldly proclaim as the Protestant foundation: “The BIBLE, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible, is the religion of Protestants.” In the previous installments of this series, we learned from the Bible and the record of history that a remarkable change took place in nominal “Christianity” soon after the death of the original Apostles. Pagan philosophies and traditions crept into the visible Church of God. During the “Dark Ages,” the religious hierarchy became a veritable cesspool of iniquities, whoredoms and abominations of every description. We have seen how Martin Luther rebelled against this corrupt hierarchy, but still retained most of its doctrines and traditions. In fact, he rebelled against all authority and presumptuously added a word to the Bible. In his guilt-ridden desire to do away with obedience to God’s law, Luther translated Romans 1:17: “The just shall
live by faith alone.” This attitude led Luther to condone the bigamy of the Landgrave of Hesse, and the slaughter of hundreds of peasants in the infamous Peasants’ War. In the last issue of the Tomorrow’s World magazine, we discussed the harsh teachings and actions of John Calvin, based on his theory of predestination. Recall his statement: “For all men are not created on an equal footing, but for some eternal life is preordained, for others eternal damnation…” (Bettenson, Henry. Documents of the Christian Church. New York: Oxford University Press, 1947. p. 302). The shocking result of Calvin’s harsh system can only be understood by reading the account of how he burned at the stake a religious opponent, Michael Servetus. Now we will discuss the amazing truth about the Reformation in England. As in the previous phases of this movement, let us ask ourselves: Was this a return to the faith and practice of Jesus Christ and His Apostles? Was this, indeed, a return to “the BIBLE, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible”?
March-April 2018 | Tomorrow’s World 5
PROT E STA NT R E FO R M AT IO N – PA RT V II
The English Revolt The third key reformatory movement that needs to be considered as distinct in itself is the one that took place in England. It was a reformation by force even more than that under John Calvin. The so-called “reformation” in England was due almost entirely to the actions of one man, Henry VIII. Since, under his influence, the English revolt produced no outstanding religious leaders and very few distinctive doctrines, a detailed analysis of its progress is not necessary for an understanding of its unique place in the Reformation as a whole. Yet, an understanding of its principal origins and results is important to aid our comprehension of its later influence on the English-speaking peoples of the world. King Henry VIII When Henry VIII ascended the throne of England in 1509, it was already an established royal policy for the kings to control most ecclesiastical appointments, and to fill many of the chief political posts with highly educated churchmen. Naturally, this led to many abuses, and often encouraged greed, dishonesty and worldly shrewdness in the higher clergy. This situation also tended to subvert the religious allegiance normally felt by the Roman clergy toward Rome. It was replaced, through political office and interest, by a feeling of national loyalty. This was further strengthened by a growing national antagonism to all foreign encroachments, papal or otherwise (Walker, Reginald F. An Outline of the Catholic Church. Dublin: M. H. Gill and Son, Ltd., 1950. p. 401). Under such circumstances, it was not at all difficult for Henry VIII, a young, handsome, brilliant and vain monarch, to sway and intimidate the English Catholic clergy according to his whims. Henry had inherited an ample treasury from his father, Henry VII, and enjoyed immense popularity with his subjects. But because of a political alliance with the Spanish, he had been pledged by his father to marry Catherine of Aragon, the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. Actually, she had first been his older brother’s wife, though it was said that the marriage was never consummated before Arthur’s early death. Catherine was about six years older than Henry. Although this had seemed to make little difference at first, some fifteen years later the passionate, self-willed
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Eighteen-year-old Henry VIII after his coronation in 1509 (Wikipedia) monarch found himself married to an overweight, prematurely aging woman of forty. It is known that, at this time, Henry satisfied his passions with a series of mistresses for many years, and this might have continued indefinitely but for two circumstances. First, it appears that Henry became especially enamored of Anne Boleyn, and that she insisted on becoming his wife. Secondly, only one of the six children Catherine had borne him survived infancy—a girl, Mary. A woman had never ruled England before, and Henry may have feared that the absence of a male heir to the throne would lead to civil war. He wanted to wed another woman, and have a male heir (Hausser, Ludwig. The Period of the Reformation. London: J. S. Virtue and Co., Limited, 1885. pp. 170–171). The Marriage Question About the year 1526, Henry applied to Rome for a declaration annulling his marriage to Catherine. He based his appeal on the fact that she had first been his deceased brother’s wife, and that a papal dispensation had been granted to allow him to marry her, as this relationship normally constituted an impediment to marriage according to Catholic law. Henry now wished to have this dispensation, and consequently his marriage, declared invalid. He
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PR OTESTAN T R EFO R MATI O N – PART VII
tried to gain the support of Thomas Wolsey—whom he had made Lord Chancellor, and Pope Leo X had made a cardinal. Up to this point, Wolsey had been Henry’s righthand man. But he was also the pope’s representative, and was trying to protect himself by steering a middle course in the matter. Consequently, the matter was delayed—the pope and Wolsey hoping that Henry might change his mind. This proceeding soon exhausted the king’s patience, and he was advised by Thomas Cranmer and Thomas Cromwell to put his case before the universities of Europe. This Henry did, using bribery abroad and threats at home to gain a partial endorsement from some of the Protestant scholars and theologians for his divorce (Fisher, George P. The Reformation, New York: Scribner, Armstrong and Co., 1873. p. 319). In the meantime, Henry dismissed Cardinal Wolsey on trumped-up charges, and the disgraced cardinal fell ill and died on his way to be tried for treason. His death would not be the first in this matter. As events would demonstrate, Henry was willing to kill those who opposed his unbridled lust for women and power. Henry now bullied the English Parliament into passing measures stating that he was “the Protector and Supreme Head of the Church and Clergy of England” after which was added, after a long debate, “as far as is permitted by the law of Christ.” He then caused Parliament to pass laws forbidding the introduction of papal bulls into England, and cutting off the papal revenues from England (Fisher, p. 320). While his case was still pending at Rome, Henry rushed through a hasty divorce and secretly, though formally, married Anne Boleyn on January 25, 1533. It seems evident that he had already entered into illegal, adulterous relations with her because on September 7 of the same year she bore a daughter, Elizabeth, later to be queen (Walker, p. 403). Soon after, Henry’s new favorite, Thomas Cranmer, was appointed as Archbishop of Canterbury. On May 23, he held an ecclesiastical
court and formally adjudged Henry’s marriage to Catherine null and void. The Break with Rome The inevitable result of all these actions was soon forthcoming. On July 11, 1533, Pope Clement VII issued a bull excommunicating Henry. Henry replied in kind, and soon obtained from Parliament statutes forbidding all payments to the pope, directing that all bishops were now to be elected on the king’s nomination, and doing away with all other recognition of papal authority (Fisher, pp. 320–321). In November of 1534, Parliament passed the famous Supremacy Act. In it, Henry and his successors were declared “the only supreme head in earth of the Church of England,” without any qualifying clauses, and with full power to redress “heresies” and “abuses” (Bettenson, p. 322). The break with Rome was now complete. Although it was primarily a matter of Henry’s own self-will, it could not have been accomplished without the strong national feeling and dislike of papal authority already growing among the English people. What made the breach with Rome irreparable was the policy Henry now proceeded upon, that of confiscating the monasteries and abbey lands, and distributing part of the plundered wealth among his courtiers and friends (Fisher, p. 321).
THE SO-CALLED “REFORMATION” IN ENGLAND WAS DUE ALMOST ENTIRELY TO THE ACTIONS OF ONE MAN, HENRY VIII
For his work, Henry had found a new agent in Thomas Cromwell (1485?–1540), a man of very humble origin, a soldier, merchant, and moneylender by turns, of whom Wolsey had made much use as a business and parliamentary agent. By 1531 Cromwell was of the privy council; in 1534 master of the rolls; and in 1536, layman that he was, vice-regent for the King in ecclesiastical affairs. Henry was hungry for ecclesiastical property, both to maintain his lavish court and to create and reward adherents—the Reformation everywhere was marked by these confiscations—and late in 1534 he
March-April 2018 | Tomorrow’s World 7
PROTESTANT REFORMATION – PART VII
commissioned Cromwell to have the monasteries visited and report on their condition. The alleged facts, the truth or falsity of which is still a disputed matter, were laid before Parliament, which in February, 1536, adjudged to the King, “his heirs and assigns forever, to do and use therewith his and their own wills,” all monastic establishments having an income of less than two hundred pounds annually. The number thus sequestered was three hundred and seventy-six (Walker, p. 404). It is significant to note, as Walker states, that it was a common practice among the Protestant princes and nobles to confiscate the wealth of the Catholic Church whenever possible. It is evident that most of these influential “Protestants” were much more concerned with enriching themselves than with any theological changes that might be made. In fact, Henry’s break with Rome resulted in practically no change whatever in doctrine, except the rejection of papal authority and the substitution of the English monarch as “head” of the church. The entire situation developed primarily because of Henry’s sexual passion and lust for power—not as a result of earnest men seeking to restore Scriptural truth. Theological Developments During this time, a number of religious leaders had been influenced by the work of the Reformation on the continent. One of them, William Tyndale, translated the New Testament into English. However, he was unable to have it published in England. Instead, it was published on the continent in 1526, and many copies found their way to England, although church and civil authorities tried to suppress it. This placing of the Bible in the hands of the people helped prepare the way for later doctrinal changes along Lutheran lines. But for the time being, the Roman Catholic dogma was to be enforced (Walker, pp. 404–405). King Henry’s own religious attitude, except towards the papacy, was that of Catholic orthodoxy. At times, he would make limited doctrinal concessions to please the German Protestants when he needed their support. But in 1539, because of fears of France and Spain, Henry induced Parliament to pass the Six
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Articles Act. It maintained a strict doctrine of transubstantiation, vows of chastity, auricular confession, and other Catholic practices (Fisher, p. 324). Meanwhile, however, he proceeded to complete the confiscation of all the monasteries in 1539, and strengthen his position as head of the church and state. His sharing of the seized wealth of the ecclesiastical properties REQUEST YOUR built up the fortunes of FREE BOOKLET the Protestant ruling Restoring Original class, whose personal Christianity interests now lay in continued separation from Rome. The true fact is that they were Catholics in doctrine, but Protestant in their confirmation of Henry’s right to substitute himself for the pope as head of the church and to share with them the booty of the plundered monasteries. King Henry’s Marital Escapades As “supreme head” of the Church of England, Henry’s conduct toward his enemies and, strangely, even toward his wives, was as far removed from Christian principles as would seem possible. In the summer of 1535, he cruelly executed two of England’s ablest scholars and theologians, Bishop John Fisher and Sir Thomas More, because they refused to endorse his supremacy over the church and clergy of England. Many other notable persons paid with their lives for disagreeing with Henry’s views. A helpful summary of Henry’s vicious conduct toward his wives, and nobles, is given by Alzog: Henry was as atrociously cruel to his wives as he was to his ministers and other subjects of inferior degree. Catharine of Aragon survived her repudiation a little less than three years, dying a most exemplary death, January 8, 1536. She was hardly laid in her grave, when Anne Boleyn, who had taken her place in her husband’s affections, and was the cause of all her misfortunes, was tried on the charges of adultery, incest and high treason, declared guilty, and beheaded on the green within the Tower, May 19, 1536. Cranmer, who had formerly “in virtue of his apostolic authority” pronounced the marriage between Henry and Anne lawful and valid, was
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PR OTESTAN T R EFO R MATI O N – PART VII
Henry with Charles V (right) and Pope Leo X (center), c. 1520 (Wikipedia) now called upon to reverse his former decision, and, “in the name of Christ and for the glory of God,” declared that the same marriage was and always had been null and void. On the day of Anne’s execution, as if to express his contempt for her memory, Henry dressed himself in a suit of white, and on the following morning was married to Jane Seymour, who died (October 24, 1537) in less than a fortnight after giving birth to a male child, subsequently known as Edward VI. Henry was next married to Anne of Cleves in the beginning of the year 1540. The marriage was a political one, brought about through the agency of Thomas Cromwell, who hoped to strengthen the Protestant cause in England, and prop up his own power through the influence of the new queen, who was known to be a thorough-going Lutheran. Deceived as to her beauty and personal attractions, Henry married her only because he could not well help himself, and, after living with her six months, procured a divorce mainly on these grounds (July 13). Within a month (August 8) he married Catherine Howard, who, being shortly after charged with having committed adultery, was pronounced guilty, and beheaded February 13,1541. Henry’s sixth and last wife, Catharine Parr, was on one occasion nearly losing her head for venturing to differ on theological questions with the Head of the
Church of England; but quickly detecting her mistake, she escaped the royal vengeance by adroitly flattering his great wisdom and theological learning, expressing her most humble submission to his judgment, and professing that in differing from him she had only desired to draw him into a heated discussion, because when animated, he seemed to forget the pain of the malady from which he was suffering. By this clever expedient, Catharine kept her head on her shoulders, and had the good fortune to outlive the brutal monster, who died in 1547. Henry reigned for thirty-eight years, and during that time he ordered the execution of two queens, two cardinals, two archbishops, eighteen bishops, thirteen abbots, five hundred priors and monks, thirty-eight doctors of divinity and laws, twelve dukes and earls, one hundred and sixty-four gentlemen, one hundred and twenty-four commoners, and one hundred and ten ladies (Alzog, John. Manual of Universal Church History. Dublin: M. H. Gill and Son, 1902. pp. 322–323). Protestantism Advanced Under Edward VI At the death of Henry VIII, the great body of Englishmen stood with the late king in desiring no considerable change in doctrine or worship (Walker, p. 408). But despite this fact, England was to witness the introduction of many Lutheran teachings during the reign of Edward VI. Upon his ascension, Edward was only nine years of age. The Duke of Somerset was immediately created Protector and headed the governmental council. He was a man of Protestant sympathies and was a friend of the dispossessed lower agricultural classes. Under the influence of Somerset and Archbishop Cranmer, a number of changes in doctrine and worship were introduced. It was at this time that the Six Articles were repealed and the real basic doctrines of the Church of England were framed. Cranmer was a thorough-going Protestant in his sympathies, and brought over a number of Lutheran theologians for advice and counsel. Laws enforcing the celibacy of the priesthood were now repealed. Communion with both the bread and PROTESTANT REFORMATION CONTINUES ON PAGE 28
March-April 2018 | Tomorrow’s World 9
Oh
Canada! Detecting a Stealthy Enemy Over a century ago, the world descended into the cataclysm of the most terrible war in history up to that time, a conflict that would become known as World War I. Prior to the war, the German High Seas Fleet had been built up into a credible threat to the British Royal Navy, which at that time ruled the oceans of the world. In 1916, in an effort to break the stranglehold of the British continental blockade that was starving Germany of resources, the two great fleets met in a massive battle off the Danish coast near Jutland. While the Royal Navy’s Grand Fleet lost more ships, the Germans broke off the battle and returned to their ports, many of their vessels damaged beyond repair and most never to leave harbour again. Thus, command of the seas was conceded to the Royal Navy. Unfortunately for the Allies, the German navy did not consist solely of a surface fleet. While the concept of the submarine had been around for a long time, and a number of navies had them, the Germans had made submarines—which they called “U-Boats”—a top priority. The German command understood that if they were to defeat Britain, the flow of goods coming into Britain from its Empire and other nations around the world had to be cut off. Thus, as early as 1914 the German navy utilized “underwater boats” at a time when these stealthy vessels were undetectable until it was too late. In 1917, their unrestricted attack policy was threatening Britain’s very survival, and desperate efforts were made to detect and combat an enemy that relied on concealment. Hunting an Invisible Foe Two years before the start of World War I, the great liner RMS Titanic sank in the North Atlantic after hitting
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the underwater portion of an iceberg. This disaster led to efforts to locate underwater hazards electronically. The technology available at the time was limited, and little success was realized in the years leading up to World War I. However, a few people who had been studying the new science of “ultrasonics” came on the scene in a most timely manner. One of them was Robert William Boyle, a Canadian from the small hamlet of Carbonear, in what was then the Dominion of Newfoundland. Born in 1883, Boyle displayed unusual ability even as a young lad. At McGill University in Montreal, he had the privilege of studying under a New Zealander, Sir Ernest Rutherford—the father of nuclear physics, who would win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1908 for his work to understand radioactivity. Under Rutherford, Boyle earned McGill’s very first doctorate in Physics. In 1912, Boyle accepted the position of Head of Physics at the new University of Alberta in Edmonton. Motivated by the Titanic disaster, he began to study acoustics and the possibility of detecting underwater hazards. He was not alone in this research. A brilliant French scientist, Paul Langevin, had worked on some related theoretical principles, but had trouble developing a working device. When the war commenced in 1914, there was a sense of urgency to develop something that could detect a submarine. Historian Rod McLeod, of the University of Alberta, states, “Everybody starts working on this because the German submarines are sinking hundreds of allied ships…. The French are working on it, the Brits are working on it and the Americans are working on it” (“Inventor of sonar ignored by history.” phys.org, February 18, 2008).
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D ETEC TI N G A STEALTHY ENEMY
Early in the war, a hydrophone was employed that could detect the sound of a submarine’s engines and the direction from which the sound was coming. However, there was no means of determining depth or distance. At the outset of the war, Rutherford was asked by the British Admiralty to head a “Board of Inventions and Research.” Rutherford sent a message to Boyle asking him to join him on this board. Boyle, Langevin, Albert Wood and other notable scientists teamed up to solve the problem of submarine detection. They also reviewed the work of another Canadianborn scientist, Reginald Fessenden, who did the vast majority of his work in the U.S. Fessenden had developed the “Fessenden oscillator,” an early version of sonar that, by 1914, enabled submarines to communicate with Morse Code and also to locate icebergs. Each lead scientist was put in charge of a line of inquiry. Boyle was assigned the least-promising concept. Yet, in 1917, it was Boyle’s group that solved the major problem, inventing the “ultrasonic quartz transducer”—the first working model of an instrument that could detect the presence, depth, and distance of a submarine. The Royal Navy gave the device the name ASDIC, a cryptic acronym that was intended to hide the nature and operational principle of the equipment. Later, the acronym was (fictitiously) explained as, “Anti-Submarine Detection Investigation Committee.” Robert Boyle took out no patents and neither sought nor received recognition for the invention, largely because of the secrecy imposed on the project even
after the end of the First World War. Langevin, however, did apply for a patent and, as a result, was commonly thought of as the inventor. ASDIC was installed in a few warships prior to the end of World War I, but the device did not become fully operational in REQUEST YOUR the Royal Navy and FREE BOOKLET U.S. Navy until 1924. It The World Ahead: would prove its worth What Will It Be Like? fifteen years later when the world again went to war, and Britain faced an even more serious challenge from the stealthy submarine menace. Eventually the name ASDIC was replaced by the American term SONAR (Sound and Navigation Ranging), but the principle was still that which Boyle’s team had developed. Robert Boyle’s great contribution went largely unknown for decades, even though it was possibly one of the most significant influences on the military history of the twentieth century. He went on to become a member of the National Research Council of Canada as Director of Physics, where he supervised research on and the development of radar during World War II. A Far Greater Danger It is interesting how much effort mankind will expend to defend against a mortal danger, especially one that is known to be present but is mostly unseen. Unfortunately, mankind does not seem to have the same concern regarding an enemy who seeks its destruction (1 Peter 5:8) and can also be hard to detect. Our adversary, whom Jesus Christ referred to as “the ruler of this world” (John 14:30), operates with stealth, invisible, waiting to distract and lead people away from the knowledge of a way of life that would lead to peace and happiness. The efforts of this being are so effective that most of mankind is deceived by him (Ephesians 2:2; Revelation 12:9). SONAR or ASDIC will not reveal him. Rather, he is revealed by the information source that God has preserved for us in the form of the Bible. You, too, can detect and avoid the deception and destructive power of this ruthless and formidable spiritual foe. For more information, visit our magazine archive online at TomorrowsWorld.org. There you can read our September-October 2010 article, “Who Is the Devil?” —Stuart Wachowicz
March-April 2018 | Tomorrow’s World 11
THE REAL
Jesus Christ Confusion about Jesus abounds! Some believe He was merely an influential preacher in the first century. A few claim that He never existed and is only a myth! But who was the real Jesus Christ? Have you ever looked at what the Bible actually says about Jesus? What was He doing when He was on planet Earth—and what is He doing now for you, and for your future?
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By Richard F. Ames
t has become fashionable among some on the Internet to claim that Jesus Christ did not exist. However, even the vast majority of skeptics admit that the facts say otherwise. In his book Did Jesus Exist?, scholar Bart Ehrman—who himself is not a believer in Christianity—explains the state of modern research on the matter: “The reality is that whatever else you may think about Jesus, he certainly did exist…. [T]he view that Jesus existed is held by virtually every expert on the planet” (p. 4). But while atheistic scholars generally admit that the man Jesus did live during the first century, had a ministry in the Roman province of Judea, preached a controversial message, and was killed for doing so, that doesn’t answer the question of who He was. Who was the real Jesus Christ? Was He just another itinerant preacher around whom some legends developed? Or was He the Son of God, who came preaching a message that very few today understand? Even if you think you believe in Jesus, the answer may surprise you! About one-third of Earth’s inhabitants call themselves Christian. But even among them, relatively few really know what Jesus taught, or what the Bible
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reveals about the true Jesus Christ. He Himself said there would be many imitators—He called them “false christs” (Matthew 24:24). The Apostle Paul warned against “another Jesus whom we have not preached… a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel” (2 Corinthians 11:4). Do you know the true Messiah—the real Jesus Christ? What does the Bible reveal? Was Jesus just a teacher? Or was He that and more? In John 4, Jesus was speaking to a woman at Jacob’s well near the city of Sychar in Samaria. This woman became convinced that He was the promised Messiah—the Christ. She told the whole community about this man who, she said, “told me all that I ever did” (v. 39). As a result, many other Samaritans came to hear Jesus speak, and they persuaded Him to stay for two days. What was their impression of Jesus? “And many more believed because of His own word. Then they said to the woman, ‘Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world’” (John 4:41–42). The name Jesus signifies “Savior.” Was Jesus the Savior of the world? One should rather ask: “Is He the Savior of the world?” The proofs of fulfilled prophecy, historical accuracy, the preservation of the text and
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the revelation of life’s mysteries and meaning all support the truth that He is! But how did He become so? He was Immanuel, “God with us”—God in the flesh! Where did He come from? “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (John 1:1–3). This Word of whom the Apostle John spoke was the One who became Jesus Christ in the flesh, the Son of God (v. 14). He sacrificed His life to pay for the sins of the world, as only He could do. He was pictured as the sacrificial lamb. Notice how John the Baptist testified of Him: “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’” (John 1:29). He was betrayed for 30 pieces of silver, as prophesied (Zechariah 11:12–13). Having entered Jerusalem on a donkey, He would be like a smitten shepherd (Zechariah 9:9; 13:7). Altogether, there more than 100 prophecies in the Old Testament foretelling the coming of the Messiah. Some cynics say that somehow Jesus “arranged” His ministry to fulfill those prophecies, or say that the New Testament writers invented the gospel narratives that demonstrate their fulfillment. But did hundreds of Jesus’ own contemporaries—who lived at the time Paul was writing his letters and who knew firsthand many of those who had witnessed the events being described (1 Corinthians 15:6)—allow themselves to be martyred for a fiction? Yes, there are always skeptics—like those today who doubt firsthand accounts of wartime atrocities in World War II, Kampuchea, Iraq and other places—but Paul and the other writers of Scripture were writing to their contemporaries, at a time when thousands were willing to die under persecution for their beliefs, because of what they had seen and heard for themselves! Yes, you can believe in the words of Scripture! But it is shocking to realize how many preachers will tell you to believe—but never tell you to repent. Yet Jesus Himself told us all to repent! Our Savior commands every human being on earth to repent and believe. Does God really demand action from those who believe? The Apostle Peter said that He does. What did Peter say on the day of Pentecost, addressing thousands in his inspired sermon on the day the New Testament Church began? He said: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus
Christ for the remission [forgiveness] of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). Thousands who heard him were convicted of their sins and were baptized on that day, receiving the promised gift of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps you feel the pain of guilt and sin. There is a way to turn your life around. Jesus, the Lamb of God, took upon Himself your sins. But in order to be reconciled to God, you must believe—and respond to—the true Gospel. As Jesus proclaimed: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). A Revolutionary Jesus? When I was about twelve years old, I questioned the teachings I heard in church. I began to wonder if Jesus even exists. So, I thought, “Well, I will just read what these biographers Matthew, Mark, Luke and John said about Him.” Even as a twelve-year-old, I was amazed by what I found, particularly when I started reading the “Sermon on the Mount.” For example, Jesus said, “But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also” (Matthew 5:39). I thought to myself, “His teachings are revolutionary!” And in my own limited way, I changed my approach to life, though I would not be called to real repentance until many years later. Many have experiences like mine. Author Bruce Barton was “turned off” by the false Jesus presented in a Sunday School class. In his classic book The Man Nobody Knows, he wrote: The little boy [Barton, writing about himself ] looked up at the picture which hung on the Sunday-school wall. It showed a pale young man with flabby forearms and a sad expression. The young man had red whiskers. Then the little boy looked across to the other wall. There was Daniel, good old Daniel, standing off the lions. The little boy liked Daniel. He liked David, too, with the trusty sling that landed a stone square on the forehead of Goliath. And Moses, with his rod and his big brass snake. They were winners—those three.… But Jesus! Jesus was the “lamb of God.” The little boy did
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not know what that meant, but it sounded like Mary’s little lamb. Something for girls—sissified. Jesus was also “meek and lowly,” a “man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” He went around for three years telling people not to do things (pp. i–ii). Like Barton, I once had a false concept of the real Jesus. Perhaps you have, too. But if you will read the Bible for yourself, you may be surprised to discover that many of the popular images, concepts and teachings often presented as “Christianity” are quite different from the truths found in Scripture. Barton came to see a contradiction between Jesus’
WHY DO WE SO OFTEN ACCEPT TRADITIONS AND TEACHINGS WITHOUT CHECKING UP ON THEM? preaching and the world’s false image of Him. Barton wrote of his re-discovery of the biblical Jesus Christ: The more sermons he [Barton] heard and the more books he read the more mystified he became. One day he decided to wipe his mind clean of books and sermons. He said, “I will read what the men who knew Jesus personally said about him. I will read about him as though he were a new historical character, about whom I had never heard anything at all.” The man was amazed. A physical weakling! Where did they get that idea? Jesus pushed a plane and swung an adze; he was a successful carpenter. He slept outdoors and spent his days walking around his favorite lake. His muscles were so strong that when he drove the money-changers out, nobody dared to oppose him! A kill-joy! He was the most popular dinner guest in Jerusalem! The criticism which proper people made was that he spent too much time with publicans and sinners… and enjoyed society too much. They called him a “wine bibber and a gluttonous man”…. When the man finished his reading he exclaimed, “This is a man nobody knows” (pp. iii–iv).
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Truth Hidden But how can we come to know the true Jesus? Surprisingly, some of the most common religious traditions can be deceiving—even about something as basic as His birth. Why was Jesus born? Notice what the angel told Mary before His birth: “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:31–33). Jesus’ message was about the Kingdom of God on earth! He will return as King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 17:14; 19:16). He will sit upon the throne of David, and rule over all the nations. As Isaiah wrote: “Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end” (Isaiah 9:7). That is great news, and we all need to pray, as Jesus taught us: “Your Kingdom come!” When was Jesus born? Was He born in December on Christmas Day? It may be surprising to some, but we can be sure that He was not. Notice the setting and the time of year when the angel announced Jesus’ birth to the shepherds: “Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night” (Luke 2:8). Most Bible scholars plainly admit that shepherds were not in the field in December. The cold, rainy season began long before December 25. Jesus was probably born in late September or early October, as most reputable Bible commentaries acknowledge. Why do we so often accept traditions and teachings without checking up on them? Some of our concepts and ideas disagree with the Bible! Jesus never observed His birthday, and neither did the Apostles! As the Encyclopaedia Britannica entry on “Christmas” states in its 15th edition, “According to a Roman almanac, the Christian festival of Christmas was celebrated in Rome by AD 336.” Notice also the following in its entry on “Christianity”: “The Fathers of the 2nd and 3rd centuries, such as Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Epiphanius, contended that Christmas was a copy of a pagan celebration.” When you read the book of Acts, you see that the Apostolic Church of the first century—the New Testament Church—never observed Christmas
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or the birth of Christ. The true Apostolic Church of the first century observed the biblical festivals: the New Testament Passover, Days of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day. Scripture records plainly that Jesus Christ observed the Last Great Day of the Feast. The Apostle John referred to this Holy Day when he wrote: “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:37–38). Is traditional Christianity following in Jesus’ steps, as the Apostle Peter tells us to do (1 Peter 2:21)? Is it observing the weekly Sabbath—the seventh day of the week—as Jesus did? Christ stated that He, “the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:28). As we know from Genesis 2:3, God sanctified the seventh day at creation. And for whom was the Sabbath made? Jesus stated: “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). The Sabbath was made for all humanity as a day of rest, and as a memorial of God’s great creation. Remember, God created all things, including the Sabbath day, through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 3:9). The Historic Jesus The Jewish historian Josephus referred to Jesus’ brother, the Apostle James, who wrote the New Testament book of James. In the first century AD, Josephus wrote the following: “Festus was now dead,
MAY WE S U G G EST?
and Albinus was but upon the road; so he assembled the Sanhedrin of judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some others [or, some of his companions]; and when he had formed an accusation against them as breakers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned” (Antiquities of the Jews, Bk. 20, chap. 9, sec. 1). Yes, there is historic evidence for the existence of Jesus Christ. Amazingly, some will accept the testimony of a historian like Josephus, yet ignore the eyewitness testimony of Jesus’ contemporaries. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all wrote and testified about the life, miracles and teachings of our Savior. The Apostle John wrote that he and the other Apostles had not only heard Jesus, but had seen Him and touched Him (1 John 1:1–2). After His resurrection, Jesus told doubting Thomas to put his hand into the spear wound that killed Him. He commanded: “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing” (John 20:27). What was Thomas’ response? “And Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’” (v. 28). Jesus Christ died and was resurrected. He is alive today. If He were not, we would still be in our sins and our faith would be futile (1 Corinthians 15:16–17). But, as Paul explains, there is good news! “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead” (vv. 20–21). So who was Jesus? The more important question is—who is Jesus? He is our living Savior! He is our great High Priest, as the Apostle Paul explains (Hebrews 3:1; 4:14). He is at the right hand of God in heaven, where He “makes intercession for us” (Romans 8:34). He will soon come back to planet Earth as King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16), to establish the Kingdom of God right here, to bring world peace! Will you be ready for His return? Will you accept His sacrifice, repent and live a life of obedience to Him? Thank God that the Bible reveals the real Jesus Christ—the living, loving Savior of the world! TW
Your Ultimate Destiny Jesus Christ’s message reveals the startling purpose for your life. You need to know! Request a free printed booklet from the Regional Office nearest you, or order at TomorrowsWorld.org. PDF, ePub and Kindle are also available.
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THIS IS
London
CALLING
Royal Air Force Faces Uncertain Future
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s an eight-year-old, my late father-in-law watched the Battle of Britain unfold in the skies over the south of England—an air battle waged for the very survival of the nation. Inspired by this boyhood experience, he entered the Royal Air Force (RAF), eventually rising to the rank of Squadron Leader. Yet, in 2018, with the nation celebrating the RAF’s illustrious past and its centenary in April, pressure is building that could threaten its very survival. What does the future hold for this resilient service with a disciplined ethos and the motto, “per ardua ad astra—Through Adversity to the Stars”? How will Brexit impact the United Kingdom’s approach to defence? Does God’s word have anything to say about Britain’s defence—and its future? Before the First World War and prior to powered aircraft, flying in the armed services was done with balloons and kites. Once war started in 1914, planes provided aerial reconnaissance, and then, as the war progressed, they rapidly took on the roles of bombers and fighters. In May 1917, the German Army began daylight air raids over England and on June 13th they attacked London, causing heavy casualties. The public were furious at the apparent inability of the army’s Royal Flying Corp and the Royal Naval Air Service to prevent these attacks. It was decided that the RAF would be formed by merging these forces on April 1, 1918. By the end of the war in November, the RAF was not only the first independent air arm but the most powerful air force in the world. During this time, Hugh Trenchard learned to fly in the Royal Flying Corp. Credited with being the architect
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of the RAF, he became Chief of the Air Staff in 1919 and ensured the readiness of the RAF for the next World War. His steady leadership focused on the permanent organisation of the RAF with a unique identity and ethos. He recognised the Royal Air Force had come into being out of necessity at a time of war, and would now have to work out its role in a time of peace. Efficient operations while maintaining essential capability would be fundamental. The nation would later be grateful for this far-sighted vision. The Battle of Britain Probably the most notable period of the RAF’s existence was during the Battle of Britain in 1940. With air and sea blockades applied, the German Luftwaffe planned in August to destroy the RAF in a matter of days, in order to gain complete air dominance. The RAF thought otherwise. Airfields throughout southern England were targeted, but the RAF could not hold out for long, even with British advances in radar. September 15th proved to be a turning point in the battle, with 56 German planes lost. Damages on both sides were staggering; between July 10th and October 31st, an estimated 915 RAF fighters and 1,733 Luftwaffe aircraft were downed. With daylight bombing raids proving difficult, a major German tactical decision was made to ignore airfields and focus on London. Effectively, a few hundred RAF fighter pilots contributed to the postponement and later cancellation of the German invasion plan. Prime Minister Winston Churchill famously said in the House of Commons, “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” By the end of the
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war, the RAF had grown to its peak strength of 55,000 aircraft and one million personnel, having conquered adversity according to their motto, and reached for the stars of victory. The post-war era became a radically different story. The RAF’s role became more varied and far reaching, including handling transport air-lifts into West Berlin, managing the delivery of the UK’s nuclear deterrent with high-level bombers, and sending fighter bombers to perform a variety of functions in the Falklands, Iraq, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Libya. Today, however, with decreasing defence budgets and the continuously changing geopolitical situation around the world, we could ask: How does the RAF measure up to current demands? The 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review identified that the RAF “has pitifully few operational bombers and for an island nation, no submarine-hunting planes at all.” The new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth is currently undergoing sea trials and the government has ordered Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II aircraft to complement it. However, none of the planes will be available for carrier duties until 2023. Some critics of the defence expenditure even suggest disbanding the RAF completely, reversing the 1918 decision in order to reduce costs. With ongoing Brexit negotiations, Theresa May is keen to maintain the country’s defensive role within Europe. The UK’s nuclear arsenal and seat on the UN Security Council could encourage “RAF Hunters in Formation” some European © Photo: David John House countries to de-
sire incorporating Britain and its defence industry into agreements. However, in late 2017 the EU announced its intention for Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO). Millions of Euros are to be spent on collaboration and the acquisition of arms over the next few years. NATO’s potential REQUEST YOUR collapse, according FREE BOOKLET to murmurings in the The United States and United States, is also a Great Britain in Prophecy possibility. Both these scenarios shut out the United Kingdom, forcing it to wholly defend itself. Britain has an uncertain future outside the EU. Defence costs like the RAF will be difficult with a potentially weaker economy. Does the Bible tell us anything about the prophesied future of the RAF and the United Kingdom’s national defences? Regular readers of the Tomorrow’s World magazine will understand the biblical identity of the modern-day nations of the United Kingdom. God clearly gave ancient Israel a warning concerning the consequences of abandoning the way of life He revealed to our forefathers, which they had pledged to uphold (Leviticus 26:14–17). This warning applies just as much to the modern Israelite nations today. God warns throughout Leviticus 26: “I will set My face against you, and you shall be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you shall reign over you, and you shall flee when no one pursues you…. I will break the pride of your power…. And your strength shall be spent in vain…. And I will bring a sword against you that will execute the vengeance of the covenant…. I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you… and you shall have no power to stand before your enemies” (vv. 17–37). My late father-in-law, an RAF officer, personally exhibited in his character the ethos of the RAF. Later in life, these character qualities were effectively transformed and refocused (Romans 12:2) by a dedication to biblical truth. He understood these prophecies and taught them to others, knowing that what the United Kingdom needs to do as a nation is repent and draw close to God (Acts 17:30; 3:19; 8:22) to avoid these prophesied events. You, too, can personally decide to make these changes. Request our booklet The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy for more information and understanding. —Simon R. D. Roberts
March-April 2018 | Tomorrow’s World 17
Tame the Social Media Monster!
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By Gerald E. Weston
ll of us are profoundly affected by changing technologies. Many of you reading this have a Facebook page or a Twitter account, or may use other platforms like Instagram and Snapchat. We take computers and platforms for granted, as though they always existed. How our world has transformed over the last 30 years! The Internet is an encyclopedia of easily accessible information. Ask your smartphone a question and a female voice will come back with the answer in a matter of seconds. Now children can give orders to Alexa and Cortana: “Alexa, vacuum my room.” “Cortana, turn on the light.” The benefits of these new technologies, devices and programs are obvious, but are cracks in our electronic media structure beginning to appear? Some authorities say yes, and are sounding alarm bells. For instance, there are privacy concerns. How much of our private lives is sold and to whom? Are Google, Amazon, Microsoft or others eavesdropping on us? Who may be hacking into our home security systems? But the concerns go further. What is this new world doing to us, and where are we heading? The World Wide Web, social media and the devices that make it all possible are changing how we spend our time, how we communicate and how we relate with one another. Take, for example, Alexa and similar “digital assistant” devices. Some authorities are concerned that small children can become confused over the difference between real and imaginary people. They have concerns regarding communication skills. Who is teaching please
and thank you? Who is monitoring the tone of voice and attitude? Are we training our children to become bossy—“unfriendly users” of “user friendly” devices? Will they relate with real people the same way? And, is Alexa or Cortana replacing God in their lives? Consider this: “Alexa, ask meditation studio to play a meditation.” Your child may get what is described as follows: “Slow breathing is yoga practice that increases oxygen levels in your brain and expels toxins, reduces stress, boosts the immune system and strengthens the lungs and heart.” That sounds innocuous enough to many, but is it? Does it simply help one relax, or open one to Hindu practices and ideas about what meditation is? Unintended Consequences You might disregard these concerns as overly reactionary, but some of the biggest names in the industry now express regrets over where they have taken us. It has happened so rapidly, and if there is one axiom that it would do us well to consider, it is the law of unintended consequences. While some of these social media entrepreneurs continue raking in money, others express grave concerns over the monsters they personally helped create. Their concerns are for children and society in general. Perhaps it is time to take stock and ask yourself: What is social media and all its related technologies doing to me and to my family? The road is beautiful, but where is it taking me? In a recent RT article titled, “Phone addiction can mess up brain chemistry, study finds” we are told, “Scientists at Korea University found that teenagers who obsessively used their mobile devices scored
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higher on standardized tests that detect mental disorders. The test measured how much internet and smartphone use affected daily routines, social life, productivity, sleeping patterns and feelings.” The same source reported the following: “A recent study found 46 percent of Americans [say] they could not live without their smartphone, according to a Pew Research Center study. Scientists are increasingly looking at disruptions in the glutamate/Gaba-glutamine cycle because of a variety of neurological disorders and conditions such as epilepsy, Alzheimer’s and autism” (RT.com, December 14, 2017). It is obviously hyperbole to suggest “they could not live without their smartphone,” but it demonstrates the addictive nature of these devices and their importance in the lives of too many, and “addictive nature” is no exaggeration. Some “tech execs” and social media founders now admit this. Significant Silicon Valley players are sounding alarm bells. Sean Parker is not as much a household name as Mark Zuckerberg, but his influence is felt by every Facebook user. Living with Regrets Parker is a giant when it comes to social media and, according to his entry on Biography.com, “a darling of the tech world. Beginning as a rogue computer hacker in his teens, Parker showed his early genius as co-founder of the file-sharing computer service Napster. Later, he became the founding president of Facebook. He’s reported to be worth more than $2 billion.” Parker recently came out regarding the dangers and the damage to culture and to individuals because of such platforms as Facebook and Twitter. He spilled the beans to Axios, an Internet news source, in late 2017, explaining how Facebook was deliberately designed to addict people to its use. “The thought process that went into building these processes, Facebook being the first of them… was all about: ‘How do we consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible,’” he said. “And that means we have to sort of give you a little dopamine hit every once in a while, because someone liked or commented on a photo or a post or whatever…. It’s a social-validation feedback loop… exactly the
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kind of thing that a hacker like myself would come up with, because you’re exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology. The inventors, creators—it’s me, it’s Mark [Zuckerberg], it’s Keven Systrom on Instagram, it’s all of these people—understood this consciously,” he added. “And we did it anyway.” Parker also confessed earlier in the interview: “I don’t know if I really understood the consequences of what I was saying [in promoting social media], because [of ] the unintended consequences of a network when it grows to a billion or 2 billion people and… it literally changes your relationship with society, with each other…. It probably interferes with productivity in weird ways. God only knows what it’s doing to our children’s brains” (Mike Allen, “Sean Parker unloads on Facebook: ‘God only knows what it’s doing to our children’s brains,’” Axios.com, November 9, 2017). Pandora’s Box Another giant in social media is Evan Williams. He is a co-creator of Blogger and a Twitter founder, where he is the largest stockholder—no small credentials. A New York Times article labels him “the guy who opened up Pandora’s box,” and said, “Until he came along, people had few places to go with their overflowing emotions and wild opinions, other than writing a letter to the newspaper or haranguing the neighbors.” When asked how he thinks it is going, “‘I think the internet is broken,’ he says. He has believed this for a few years, actually. But things are getting worse. ‘And it’s a lot more obvious to a lot of people that it’s broken.’” The New York Times article goes on to explain, “People are using Facebook to showcase suicides, beatings and murder, in real time. Twitter is a hive of trolling and abuse that it seems unable to stop. Fake news, whether created for ideology or profit, runs rampant.” Ev, as he is often called, has been there. He is what most people consider wildly successful, but the question should be asked: Is he happy? “After fame and fortune come regrets. Mr. Williams is trying to fix some things. So, in different ways, are Google and Facebook, and even Twitter. This is a moment for patches and promises. The trouble with the internet,
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Mr. Williams says, is that it rewards extremes. Say you’re driving down the road and see a car crash. Of course you look. Everyone looks. The internet interprets behavior like this to mean everyone is asking for car crashes, so it tries to supply them.” He went on to confess, “‘I thought once everybody could speak freely and exchange information and ideas, the world is automatically going to be a better place,’ Mr. Williams says. ‘I was wrong about that’” (Streitfield, David. “‘The Internet Is Broken’: @ev Is Trying to Salvage It,” NYTimes.com, May 20, 2017). Free Speech Lost There is the belief that the Internet in general, and social media in particular, promotes free speech. This is myth! It is well-known that Silicon Valley executives are among the most liberal of people, and are changing the world to their liking through political correctness. Young millennials parrot back ideas espoused by socialist university professors. This has caused a backlash from individuals who see their countries losing their identities and historic values. The backlash sometimes comes in the form of Nazi and white supremacist hate speech, and this in turn “justifies” attempts to suppress anything thought of as hate speech. True hate speech exists and should be condemned by all sensible people everywhere, but here is the problem: How exactly do you define hate speech?
This is not nearly as easy as it seems, because not everyone can agree as to what it is. Much that the illiberal left labels as hate speech is no more than politically incorrect difference of opinion. Pro-lifers who sincerely believe abortion is murder and speak out for the most vulnerable and defenseless humans are often painted as fascist hate mongers. However, those who fancy themselves as pro-choice and support ripping tiny infants apart and vacuuming them out of their mothers’ wombs are virtually never labelled as members of a “hate group.” If anyone does not like this description of abortion, get over it! Open your eyes, for this is exactly what is done in many cases. Why is it “hate” to tell the truth? However, due to real hate speech that attempts to stir people to violence, along with fake news and vulgar discourse, it is understandable that there is an outcry for monitoring and deleting such postings on social media and the Internet in general. Google hired 10,000 people in 2017 for this very purpose. Twitter jumped on board to do the same. Fox News reported the following about the move: The changes announced last month [November 2017] broaden Twitter’s “hateful conduct policy” to permanently suspend any account… that displays “violent threats, multiple slurs, epithets, racist or sexist tropes, incites fear or reduces someone to less than human.”… Hate imagery will now fall under the rubric of Twitter’s “sensitive media policy,” and that will include any “logos, symbols, or images whose purpose is to promote hostility and malice against others based on their race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity/ national origin.” And these policies apply “both on and off the platform” (Carbone, Christopher. “Twitter begins purge of far-right accounts as new hate speech rules take effect.” FoxNews.com, December 18, 2017). Do you see the danger? How will they define “sexist tropes,” inciting fear, or reducing someone to “less than human”? How will they determine what constitutes promoting hostility against religion or sexual orientation? Given political
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correctness, micro-aggressions, and the ease with which liberal university professors convince students they should feel offended, can we not see where this is headed? If anyone doubts the illiberal bias and growing censorship of legitimate discourse, consider the case of the PragerU channel on YouTube. PragerU had so many videos blocked on the platform that they filed a lawsuit against Google, the owner of YouTube, in 2017. Anyone familiar with PragerU knows that it violates no Google prohibitions. At the time of this writing, their videos contain no harmful or dangerous content, no nudity, and no sexual material. They have no violent or graphic content. They respect copyright laws, they avoid spam, misleading metadata and scams, and they do nothing to endanger children. In PragerU’s press release announcing their suit against Google and YouTube, they quote former California Governor Pete Wilson: “This is speech discrimination plain and simple, censorship based entirely on unspecified ideological objection to
Peninsula, one in a chain of 160 across the United States, shies away from technology—so much so that there are no computers, no iPads, and no iPhones! As the article explained, [T]he school’s chief teaching tools are anything but high-tech: pens and paper, knitting needles and, occasionally, mud. Not a computer to be found. No screens at all. They are not allowed in the classroom, and the school even frowns on their use at home. Schools nationwide have rushed to supply their classrooms with computers, and many policy makers say it is foolish to do otherwise. But the contrarian point of view can be found at the epicenter of the tech economy, where some parents and educators have a message: computers and schools don’t mix. New York University professor Adam Alter explains, “75% of the students [at the Waldorf School of the Peninsula] are the children of Silicon Valley tech execs, which is striking. These are people who, publicly, will expound on the wonders of the products they’re producing and at the same time they decided in all their wisdom that their kids didn’t belong in a school that used that same tech” (Yates, Eames. “This Silicon Valley school shuns technology—yet most of the students are children of tech execs,” BusinessInsider.com, March 23, 2017). Toni Hassan, writing for Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald, titled an article, “Facebook is ripping society apart, and other reasons to abandon social media.” He begins by describing another powerful disillusioned player. “When Chamath Palihapitiya joined Facebook in 2007, it had 50 million users. By the time he left after four years, it had 800 million. He was its vice-president for user growth. These days, he feels tremendously guilty.” Hassan himself states in this article:
“IT LITERALLY CHANGES YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH SOCIETY, WITH EACH OTHER…” the message or on the perceived identity and political viewpoint of the speaker” (“PragerU Takes Legal Action Against Google and YouTube for Discrimination,” PragerU.com, 2017). Waldorf School in Silicon Valley The New York Times reported in 2011 about a private school in Los Altos, California, in the heart of Silicon Valley: “The chief technology officer of eBay sends his children [here]. So do employees of Silicon Valley giants like Google, Apple, Yahoo and HewlettPackard” (Richtel, Matt. “A Silicon Valley School That Doesn’t Compute,” NYTimes.com, October 22, 2011). One would expect that the children of these elite employees, who pay over $17,000 per year in tuition for each elementary student, should have a significant advantage over the rest of us. Whether that is true or not remains to be seen, but here is what is so striking: the Waldorf School of the
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I think we all knew in the back of our minds, even though we feigned this whole line that there probably aren’t any bad consequences, I think in the deep recesses of our minds we kind
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SO C I AL MED I A MO N ST ER!
of knew something bad could happen… The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops that we’ve created are destroying how society works. No civil discourse, no co-operation, misinformation, mistruth, and it’s not an American problem—this is not about Russian ads—this is a global problem (SMH.com.au, December 15, 2017). It is interesting to note that Mark Zuckerberg studied psychology as well as computer science at Harvard, but nothing in this article is meant to portray him, or any of these men, as evil. They began as very intelligent young men trying to become successful, and some thought they could change the world for the better—but there is always that law of unintended consequences. Some are now expressing contrition and trying to change things for the better. It takes courage to speak out as some have. However, there is a spirit being that the Bible calls “the prince of the power of the air,” and he is directing “the course of this world” (Ephesians 2:2). He is the one deceiving the whole world (Revelation 12:9). Taming the Multi-headed Monster The most significant roadblock to change is not admitting to yourself that you need to change. An alcoholic lives in denial, and those who are addicted to one or more social media platforms generally refuse to accept that they are hooked. There are others who cheerfully admit they are addicted, but do not see it as a big deal. As we have seen in this article, some of the insiders who created these technologies and platforms do think it is a big problem. As Sean Parker declared, “God only knows what it’s doing to our children’s brains.” Social media has become a multi-headed monster that is impossible to tame in our current world. There is the head of addiction, the head of misinformation through fake news, the head of destroying face-toface communication, the head of physical inactivity, the heads of violent, vulgar and hate-filled speech. At the same time, we have the head of censoring legitimate ideas. This article will do nothing to slow down
MAY WE S U G G EST?
the train we are on, but it may encourage you to tame the monster in your home. The first step is to open your eyes to the reality of the problem. Yes, everyone wants to keep up with children, grandchildren, parents, aunts and uncles. We enjoy seeing pictures and reading what happened to them last week, but as with television before social media, we must control its use. We must remember that it was specifically created to “consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible…. And that means we have to sort of give you a little dopamine hit every once in a while…. It’s a social-validation feedback loop.” You may not understand exactly how that works, but more than one founder of a social media platform now admits that this was their intent from the beginning. We would do well to accept their confessions! Once you realize there is a problem, you must be willing to admit that maybe, just maybe, you have fallen for the trap. Only then can you take control of the problem. Once you admit this, you have to take action. Make rules for yourself and your family to tame the monster. Here are some suggestions: • Mealtime should be “time out” from social media and tech devices—put them away! • Set time limits for each day and stick with them • Keep a log of every minute you spend on social media • Never text or check your social media accounts when visiting with others—it’s rude! • Never, never text or use mobile devices while driving! • Call “time out” one day a week • Call “time out” when fishing, playing golf or enjoying other recreational activities Here is some wise advice from the Bible: “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify” (1 Corinthians 10:23). In chapter 6 and verse 12 of this same book, the first part of the scripture is the same, but the second half is different. “All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.” Take control! Tame the monster! TW
Successful Parenting: God’s Way It is hard to rear children in a godly manner in today’s society. But it is not impossible—and God will help! Request a free printed booklet from the Regional Office nearest you, or order at TomorrowsWorld.org. PDF, ePub and Kindle are also available.
March-April 2018 | Tomorrow’s World 23
Turning Points in
World History
America Achieves Its Manifest Destiny
W
hy did colonial America emerge as a major player on a world stage long dominated by Britain, France and Spain? What enabled the United States to become a world power? Why did America become the most powerful and influential nation in the world? Was America just lucky? Was this an accident of history or the result of shrewd American diplomacy—or were there other factors involved that are seldom mentioned today? Unfortunately, many in our modern world have forgotten or never heard about evidence that indicates the “hand of God” or “Divine Providence” guided America’s ascent to greatness according to a “predetermined plan.” While this might sound strange to modern ears, there is abundant evidence for anyone with eyes to see that God intervenes in human affairs to guide the course of history and bring to pass what He has foretold (see Isaiah 46:8–11). As you will see in this article, the fulfillment of America’s “Manifest Destiny” was a major turning point in the history of the world. Providential History The historical record of the settlement and development of the New World—especially North America—illustrates the “providential” nature of this major turning point. In the 1500s, Spanish and Portuguese navigators opened the New World to European exploration, and the pope issued a decree dividing these new lands between Catholic Spain and Portugal. This scene began to change in the 1600s, with the arrival in North America of the French, the Protestant English, and especially the Puritan Pilgrims who viewed their settlements in New England
24 Tomorrow’s World | March-April 2018
as a God-given Promised Land. During the early 1700s, the French and British fought each other for the control of territories in North America. Then, in the late 1700s, the scene in North America changed even more, when thirteen primarily Protestant colonies on the eastern seaboard declared their independence from Great Britain and eventually defeated the most powerful nation on earth. The colonial leaders readily acknowledged that their victory was the result of Divine intervention on numerous occasions (see “Miracles of the American Revolution,” Tomorrow’s World, July–August 2017). History records that it was the Americans who became dominant on the North American continent, not the Spanish, French or British—and that was a major turning point in history. While critics have forgotten and may scoff, the belief in “divine providence”—that God guides the course of history and that He had a special destiny for America to play in His plan—was widely accepted in colonial America, and it has been an unbroken theme in American history from the pilgrims to the present (Providence and the Invention of the United States, Nicholas Guyatt, pp. 1–8). While skeptics doubt that God exists or has a plan, the Protestant English saw God’s hand in the defeat of the Spanish Armada, the pilgrims likened their voyage across the Atlantic and settlement in New England to Israel’s escape from Egypt across the Red Sea to the Promised Land, and colonial Americans saw their separation from and defeat of Great Britain as important parts of God’s plan (ibid., pp. 46–51). America’s founders “understood there was a force in the universe greater than themselves,” and this Divine Creator had “a plan for humanity” involving
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MAN I F EST D EST INY
the United States—one that would change the course of history (A Nation Like No Other, Gingrich, p. 21). Providential Geography Another factor that is also overlooked today is the importance of “geography as a decisive factor in the course of human history” (Prisoners of Geography, Tim Marshall, p. 7). What Europeans did not realize when they landed on the shores of North America was that the continent was a prime piece of real estate, protected by two oceans, replete with natural harbors and fertile soils, almost limitless amounts of timber, coal, oil, and even gold, an abundance of navigable rivers, and (in the Mississippi Basin) “the greatest inland water transport system in the world… from which flowed America’s route to greatness” (ibid., pp. 64–68). As one secular author writes, “Geography had determined that if a political entity could get to and then control the land ‘from sea to shining sea,’ it would be a great power, the greatest history has known” (ibid., p. 65). Other sources note that “many historians have acknowledged the Providential preparation of America… that an Almighty, Overruling Providence, designed from the first, to place here a great, united people… and that no blind force gave our earth the forms so well adapted to perform these functions” (America’s Providential History, Mark Beliles and Stephen McDowell, p. 17). The young French observer Alexis de Tocqueville commented similarly in the 1840s that the vast land of America “seemed prepared to be the abode of a great nation, yet unborn…. In that land the great experiment was to be made by civilized man, of the attempt to construct society upon a new basis”—which was also part of this major turning point in world history (ibid., p. 17).
Providential Expansion Following the Revolution, America’s new leaders embarked on a remarkable period of expansion. In 1803, Thomas Jefferson negotiated the Louisiana Purchase (from Napoleon, who needed funds for his European campaigns) that doubled the size of the United States and gained control of the Mississippi River system—the largest navigable river system in the world. In 1814, General Andrew Jackson defeated the British in New Orleans and gained control of the mouth of the Mississippi River. In 1819, Spain, preoccupied by troubles elsewhere, ceded Florida to the United States. In the 1840s, the United States acquired Upper California (which later became California, Nevada, Utah and part of New Mexico) and Texas as a result of the MexicanAmerican War, and obtained the Oregon Territory by treaty from Great Britain. The Alaskan Territory was purchased from the Russian Empire in 1867. In less than a century after gaining independence, the United States achieved what many believed to be its “manifest destiny to overspread and to possess the whole continent which providence has given” (Manifest Destiny, Anders Stephanson, p. 42). In 1898, as a result of the Spanish-American War, Spain gave up its colonial empire in the New World, and America became a world power by acquiring the overseas territories of Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines—which guarded the Atlantic and Pacific approaches to the continental United States. Following two World Wars and a Cold War with Russia, America became the unquestioned superpower in the world as it spread its language, culture and values around the globe. What few realize today is that the remarkable emergence and expansion of the United States was foretold nearly 4,000 years ago in the prophetic promises made by Jacob to his two grandsons, Ephraim and Manasseh. Ephraim was prophesied to become a “multitude of nations” (the British Empire and Commonwealth) and Manasseh (the United States) was to become a “great” nation and, as descendants of the biblical patriarch Joseph, they would both inherit the blessings of heaven and earth (see Genesis 48:14–20; 49:22–26; Deuteronomy 33:13– 17). God’s intent was that these two Israelite peoples were to be “lights” to the world (Deuteronomy 4:1–10). This is why the emergence of America and Britain were major turning points in world history. —Douglas S. Winnail
March-April 2018 | Tomorrow’s World 25
Works T H E
OF HIS HANDS
The War Beneath Your Skin
A
never-ending war is underway, and you are at the very center of the battle. In fact, it is taking place beneath your own skin. Microscopic pathogens—such as deadly bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites—may be so small they cannot be seen, but they are everywhere. And what stands between you and these threats, to keep you alive and healthy? One of the great marvels of God’s design: the human immune system. A short article such as this could never convey the wondrous whole of our immune system in all its glory, and it would be a complicated tale to tell. However, even a passing glance can serve to remind us that we are, indeed, “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). Let’s take that glance. Protecting from Friendly Fire Even before you were born, your body was preparing for the daily battle it would wage after your birth. While you were in the womb, your body was creating the cells that would become a part of the vast apparatus of the human immune system, and as it did so, these cells were sampling the other healthy cells of your body, learning what you “look” like. This “memory” aspect of the immune system is absolutely vital. Without the molecular machinery to accomplish this recognition, your own cells would fall prey to the weaponry of the immune system, like soldiers dying on the battlefield from “friendly fire.” Mobilizing a Microscopic Army Have you ever noticed your skin begin to swell a bit shortly after you receive a cut? That is your immune system going to work!
26 Tomorrow’s World | March-April 2018
Beneath the skin, the immune system has “sentries,” like soldiers standing at the wall of a city. When the city—your body—has been breached by invaders, the soldiers go to work! The immune system sends signals to increase fluid in the affected tissues and draw white blood cells and other defense mechanisms to the site to do battle with the invaders. Your swollen skin means that the enemy has been engaged! The chemical reactions and transformations of the immune system in this battle are remarkable. For instance, one chain of reactions creates a molecular machine that literally drills a hole into invading cells, causing them to burst and die. Other white blood cells destroy invaders through chemical warfare, such as by producing hydrogen peroxide. Researchers have even discovered that some white blood cells will enclose the unwelcome microbe within a small container and then flood the container with naturally produced bleach! As with an invaded city, while the initial soldiers may slow the advance by engaging the attackers, that does not prevent more invaders from continuing on through the breach. As the microscopic warfare continues, the immune system escalates its efforts in both power and precision. Identifying the Enemy This happens when the immune system recognizes the exact identity of the attacker. Is it the H3N2 influenza virus? Is it the Streptococcus pyogenes bacterium? By some estimates, the immune system has a functional library of ten billion different types of potential threats. Describing how the system creates this library is beyond the scope of this article, but suffice it to say
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THE WAR B EN EATH YO UR SKIN
that this number is believed to be greater than the number of threats that exist on earth! For example, scientists researching the robust nature of the immune system in mammals injected a couple of man-made molecules into some animals, knowing that such molecules did not exist naturally and had never been encountered by the animals before. They learned that the animals’ immune systems already had a response specifically designed to counter those molecules! So how does the immune system recognize its attackers? When the “first responder” cells are fighting the beginning of the infection, special cells in that initial wave not only destroy invaders, but also take them apart and then transport the pieces of the invader to the body’s lymph nodes, where they “present” the broken-up pieces of the enemy microbe to other cells in the immune system. Those defensive cells that are specifically prepared to combat that exact invader are then activated, and more cells—as well as special proteins called antibodies—that are all specific to that pathogen can be mass produced. Search and Destroy! If the initial defenses were your body’s “ground troops,” these threat-specific defenses are the “special forces.” For instance, when the antibodies specific to that invader reach the site of infection, they attach to the foreign body, disrupting the invader’s functions in many ways. Antibodies can cause harmful bacteria to clump together, making them ineffective. They can clog the moving parts of dangerous cells, immobilizing them. Antibodies interfere with the functioning of viruses in ways that prevent them from attaching to healthy cells and reproducing themselves. And antibodies mark the
Antibody molecules are designed to bind to specific pathogens
dangerous microbes and identify them more clearly as targets for quick destruction. It is an efficient process—and one that actually gets more efficient the longer infection lasts. When the specific pathogen has been identified, the cells that produce those antibodies not only begin producing more, but also begin “experimenting”—producing slight variations of the same antibody to see if the antibody’s attachment to the microbe can be improved. Over the course of time, the immune system “learns” how to attach molecules to the invader more and more efficiently, not only speeding up the destruction of the invading substance, but also improving the immune system’s library so that it can defeat the enemy even more quickly the next time it shows up. Beyond Evolution’s Grasp The idea that a stunningly complex system like this could have simply “evolved” through tiny, incremental steps—even over thousands or millions of years—is simply unreasonable. Our immune system is an example of what Intelligent Design theorists call “irreducible complexity.” It cannot develop gradually over time, for if a fundamental, complex piece were even partially missing, the entire immune system would become either useless junk or a dangerous disaster. As biochemist Michael Behe wrote in his seminal work Darwin’s Black Box, Diversity, recognition, destruction, toleration—all these and more interact with each other. Whichever way we turn, a gradualistic account of the immune system is blocked by multiple interwoven requirements. As scientists we yearn to understand how this magnificent mechanism came to be, but the complexity of the system dooms all Darwinian explanations to frustration (p. 139). Our immune system did not evolve. It bears all the hallmarks of planning and design—created by One with an intelligence and power far greater than our own. Until Jesus Christ returns and ushers in “the times of restoration of all things” (Acts 3:21), our world will remain a mixture of blessings and dangers. But God has not left us defenseless! And, like King David, we can rest assured that He has not forsaken the works of His hands (Psalm 138:8). —Wallace Smith
March-April 2018 | Tomorrow’s World 27
PROTESTANT REFORMATION CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9
wine for the congregation was introduced, following Luther. The use of English in the church services was made mandatory, and help in formulating prayer books and liturgies was given by the continental reformers (Fisher, George P. History of the Christian Church. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1897. pp. 357–358). During this period, the basis of English Protestantism was definitely established. But, as we have seen, it was the Protestantism of the German reformers that was brought in on a limited scale. Bloody Queen Mary’s Reign The plans for reformation came to an abrupt halt with the early death of Edward VI in 1553, and the accession of the Catholic Queen Mary. Because of the conniving of some of the Protestant noblemen, Mary even had the sympathies of most of her subjects when she came to the throne (Walker, p. 405). Mary proceeded with caution at first upon the astute advice of her cousin, Emperor Charles V. Before long, Parliament reversed itself and declared the marriage of her mother to Henry valid. The whimsical attitude of the monarchs and political leaders of England toward the marriage state is appalling. Their actions are but a shameful parody of Christ’s words: “What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder” (Mark 10:9, KJV). Also, these actions certainly indicate that the hearts of the British people were not strongly persuaded about their new Protestant “faith” at all. As one English scholar cynically comments: “With Parliament, Mary had no difficulty. As a contemporary ironically observed, they would have voted the establishment of the Mahometan religion with equal alacrity and zeal at the bidding of the Queen” (Babington, J. A. The Reformation. London: John Murray, 1901. p. 286). With little opposition, Mary persuaded Parliament to repeal the ecclesiastical legislation passed under Edward’s reign, and public worship was restored to the forms of the last year of Henry VIII. But Cranmer was now imprisoned, and many of the more earnest Protestants fled to the continent. At this time also, Mary contracted a marriage with the son of Emperor Charles V, Philip—who would soon become Philip II of Spain. Fear of Catholic and Spanish domination made this an exceedingly unpopular marriage with Mary’s subjects, and she lost much
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Mary I “Bloody Mary” (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558) public support through this action (Fisher, History of the Christian Church, p. 359). The English nobles now feared the loss of the church property they had seized, and a series of mutinous uprisings took place. During much of this time, it was difficult to tell whether their Protestant sympathies or their English nationalism provoked these incidents (Hausser, p. 569). “Bloody” Mary now began the extermination of her enemies, and in February, 1554, fifty people were hanged. The entirely innocent Lady Jane Grey and her husband, Lord Guildford Dudley, were both executed for alleged conspiracy against the crown. Mary had never regarded her sister Elizabeth with much affection, so she was imprisoned in the Tower of London. But through all these years, Elizabeth prudently avoided anything that would arouse Mary’s suspicion of her, and so kept her life (Hausser, pp. 570–573). Even at the beginning of this persecution, the English nobles and Parliament were still ready to give up their Protestantism and “to regulate the Church and her doctrine in accordance with the Pope’s pleasure if no one would interfere with the distribution of Church property…” (Hausser, p. 571). It should certainly be plain that these nobles were more concerned with their lust for wealth and power than they were in trying to find true religion. Once Mary allowed the erstwhile Protestants to keep the seized church property, Parliament readily consented to render obedience to the pope and to
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PR OTESTAN T R EFO R MATI O N – PART VII
renew the edicts against heretics. Now those who continued to oppose the Roman religion began to be persecuted in full force. In the three years before Mary’s death, about 270 Protestant “heretics” were burned at the stake, among whom were 55 women and four children (Hausser, p. 571). Many of these common people were faithful to their Protestant convictions to the end. Their spiritual leader, Thomas Cranmer, who had been Archbishop of Canterbury under Henry VIII and Edward VI, was not quite as constant. He recanted his Protestant sympathies under Queen Mary, in hope of saving his life. But once it was determined that he should die anyway, his courage revived. He disavowed his former recantation, declared that he was a Protestant, and died with dignity. As Fisher states: “What course he would have pursued had he been permitted to live, it is impossible to tell…” (Babington, p. 328). Under Mary, the government prosecuted the Protestants like criminals. This naturally developed a hatred of Rome among the English people. Not because of true religious feeling, but in a political sense, the idea now arose that “Protestantism and English nationality were identical” (Hausser, p. 573).
title, “Supreme Head,” had seemed objectionable to Catholics, she was now styled “Supreme Governor” of the national church (Walker, p. 414). Now, step by step, the Protestant principles formerly established under Edward VI were reintroduced. By the Act of Uniformity, 1559, the Prayer Book of Edward VI was restored for use in all the churches. All persons were required to attend the national church under penalty and fine, except for “lawful or reasonable excuse” (Moncrief, John W. A Short History of the Christian Church. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1902. p. 339). Babington comments upon the hypocritical changeableness of the “religious” situation in England during this time. “Thus within the space of a few years the English Parliament for the third time formally recanted its religious belief. It is vain to give any creditable reason for this amazing fact. To suppose that in making these changes the hereditary legislators and the representatives of the English people were swayed by spiritual zeal or religious conviction would be the height of absurdity” (Babington, p. 299). Although Queen Elizabeth herself dominated in religious as well as civil affairs, Matthew Parker was now consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury. Under his direction, the 42 articles of faith originally formulated by Thomas Cranmer were reduced to 39. In 1571, Parliament adopted them as the basis of doctrine of the Church of England. They set forth “a type of doctrine midway between Lutheranism and Calvinism” (Kurtz, J. H. Church History. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1889. p. 315). Actually, the religious basis of the Church of England was more of a mixture of Lutheranism, Calvinism and Catholicism. But the Thirty-Nine Articles were primarily based on Lutheran confessions of faith (Moncrief, p. 339). And, of course, Luther’s theory of justification by faith alone was held. Yet Calvin’s doctrines on the “Lord’s Supper” and on predestination were, in the main, accepted. But many Roman Catholic rituals, customs and concepts were retained. “The Thirty-Nine Articles contain many Protestant dogmas, but they also retain much of the Roman cult” (Moncrief, p. 340). Although there have been some alterations from time to time, the doctrines and form of religion estab-
IN THE THREE YEARS BEFORE MARY’S DEATH, ABOUT 270 PROTESTANT “HERETICS” WERE BURNED AT THE STAKE Thus, when we read of the staunch “Protestant” feelings among the English peoples, we need to realize why. It became a spirit of English nationalism in opposition to Rome. It is a national religion that has persisted in England to our day. And, as many have perceived, its course has always depended more on politics and power than on sincere religious motives. The English people continued in a partial state of rebellion until their Catholic Queen Mary died in November 1558. The nation now welcomed her sister, Elizabeth, to the throne (Fisher, p. 362). English Protestantism Established Elizabeth soon established herself, as Henry VIII had done, as head of the Church of England. But, since the
March-April 2018 | Tomorrow’s World 29
PROT E STA NT R E FO R M AT IO N – PA RT V II
lished at this time under Queen Elizabeth remain essentially the same to this day in the Church of England (Wharey, James. Church History. Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board of Publication. p. 240). Summary It is not our purpose in the present work to go into a detailed history of the various splits and divisions of the three main Protestant “trees.” As we have already seen, Luther’s doctrines spread over most of northern Germany, from there primarily to the Scandinavian countries, and then to the New World. Calvin’s theology eventually dominated in Switzerland, parts of France and Germany, the Netherlands and Scotland. Later, it, too, found its way—with adaptations—to America and particularly the New England states. Anglicanism held sway in its pure form only in England itself. But throughout the British Commonwealth and in America it has since taken the name “Protestant Episcopal” and other forms, holding practically identical beliefs. As a guiding principle, it is important to realize that every major Protestant body must rightfully recognize as its legitimate ancestor one of these key reform movements. And Lutheranism, Calvinism, and Anglicanism must acknowledge that they all came, in the first place, from the Church of Rome. Referring again to England, we may safely state that the three main churches rising out of the “puritan” movement of the seventeenth century—the Presbyterian, the Congregational, and the Baptist—all owe to Calvin the major part of their doctrines, customs and concepts. The later Methodist movement under John and Charles Wesley did not involve any change in the basic doctrines of the Church of England. It was only intended as a reformation within the Anglican Church, rejecting predestination and emphasizing personal holiness and a consciousness of a “witness of the Spirit” in the believer (Hurlbut, Jesse Lyman. The Story of the Christian Church. Philadelphia: The John C. Winston Co., 1933. p. 177). To the end of his life, Wesley urged his followers to remain in the Church of England, declaring: “I live and die a member of the Church of England; and none
MAY WE S U G G EST?
who regard my judgment will ever separate from it” (Bettenson, p. 361). So, it is clear that even the Church of England, sprung from Rome, herself is a parent of other religious bodies holding the same basic doctrines. The point we wish to emphasize is that all of the major splits and divisions within Protestant “Christendom” agreed upon most of their basic doctrines, traditions and religious concepts. The significance of this will be considered later. Returning to the English revolt, we find that the uncontrolled lust of King Henry VIII for women and power resulted in a new religious body. The blunt truth is that the “reformation” in England was conceived in lust, and guided to success through political pressure and force of arms! One eminent Protestant historian admits: “The remarkable feature of the English revolt is that it produced no outstanding religious leader—no Luther, Zwingli, Calvin or Knox. Nor did it, before the beginning of Elizabeth’s reign, manifest any considerable spiritual awakening among the people. Its impulses were political and social” (Walker, p. 415). As we have seen, the English revolt was conceived in the lust and sin of Henry VIII. It was promoted among the people by a spirit of nationalism and antagonism toward Rome. It was helped to success by the greed of the English nobility for the wealth of the Catholic monasteries and lands. And it was placed on the throne by the royal realization of the unchecked power it conferred upon the English monarchs. It is acknowledged that this movement produced no religious leader worthy of the name. There was practically no spiritual awakening among the people. Its motives were political and social. Let us face honestly and squarely the questions: Was this a return to pure New Testament Christianity? Was it a Spirit-led restoration of the “faith once delivered”? In the following installment, the real meaning of all that we have discussed, and the answers to these questions, will be made plain. We need to know where today’s Protestant “Christianity” really came from—and where it is headed! Don’t miss next issue’s installment in this important series! TW
God’s Church Through the Ages Read the true story of God’s “little flock” as we trace its history down through the ages. Request a free printed booklet from the Regional Office nearest you, or order at TomorrowsWorld.org. PDF, ePub and Kindle are also available.
30 Tomorrow’s World | March-April 2018
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QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS What Does It Mean to Preach Christ? Question: In Acts 8, when we read of Philip preaching the Gospel to the Samaritans, we read that he “preached Christ to them” (v. 5). Why, then, does your magazine preach the Kingdom of God, and not simply the person of Christ? Answer: This is a common misconception. Many today believe that by merely preaching about the person of Christ, they are preaching His message. In fact, however, Jesus Christ came with a very specific message. Many who preach only of His person are twisting His message and failing to teach all of what Jesus Himself taught. A closer look at Acts 8 will illustrate the unbreakable connection between Jesus’ person and His true message. Notice what Philip was preaching when he “preached Christ to them.” We read, “But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized” (v. 12). In other words, when Philip preached Christ to the multitudes in Samaria, he taught about Christ’s identity as Savior and King (His “name”) and about the “Kingdom of God” over which Christ will rule. In response to this message, many people accepted Christ—and, in doing so, accepted His message. Is this “Kingdom of God” some kind of warm feeling in the heart of the believer? No! The Apostle John recorded Jesus Christ’s prophetic explanation of the future Kingdom over which He would rule. John wrote of a REQUEST YOUR future time when FREE BOOKLET “the kingdoms of this Satan’s Counterfeit world have become Christianity the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” (Revelation 11:15). This is not allegory; Jesus is an actual king. He will rule a literal kingdom, assisted by resurrected faithful Christians (Revelation 5:9–10; 1 Corinthians 15:50–52). There will be definite signs preceding His coming, and those who have allied with the enemies of Christ will “mourn” when they see Him coming to establish that Kingdom (Matthew 24:30).
Notice what He said when Pilate asked Him, “Are You a king then?” Jesus responded very plainly, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world” (John 18:37). However, as Jesus also explained, His kingdom is not of “this world”—the present age—but of Tomorrow’s World (v. 36). Christ will administer His Kingdom from a headquarters To “preach at Jerusalem. “‘Come, and let Christ” means us go up to the mountain of the to preach the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His whole truth ways, and we shall walk in His concerning paths.’ For out of Zion the law Jesus Christ, shall go forth, and the word His death and of the Lord from Jerusalem” resurrection, (Micah 4:2). As human beings learn Christ’s ways, a “Miland the good lennium” lived under God’s news of the rule will bring a peace and joy coming Kingdom never before known in human of God. history. The message that Jesus Christ preached was the good news of salvation, and of the Kingdom of God, which will be set up on this earth, to prepare all human beings for eternal life in His Family. All of Christ’s disciples faithfully taught the same message that He did (Luke 9:1–2; 10:1–2, 9; Acts 20:21, 25; Matthew 24:14; 28:18–20). Therefore, to “preach Christ” means to preach the whole truth concerning Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection, and the good news of the coming Kingdom of God. Those who truly accept Jesus Christ will accept His message, repent, be baptized, and allow Him to live His life in them (Philippians 2:5; Galatians 2:20), so that He can prepare them for eternal life in His Family. This profound change and commitment to God’s way of life will be rewarded at Christ’s return, when He will say to those who have walked in His steps, “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34). TW
March-April 2018 | Tomorrow’s World 31
Tomorrow’s
YOUTH AY TOD
Wise Learning
O
ne of the biggest challenges facing young people and their parents today is how to approach education after high school. For most families in America and much of the world, going to college has become synonymous with taking the first step toward success in life. It’s not hard to find statistics that reflect the fact that college graduates are more likely to get a job and earn more than those who never went to college. But on the flip-side, the cost of college has skyrocketed in the last few decades. While a college degree may help with getting a job, it can also result in a burden of debt that lasts for years to come. This is the conundrum faced by young people and their parents every year as high school graduation approaches. So, what to do? The first thing to keep in mind is that God is the creator of knowledge. He knows everything about history, math, science, art, music and technology! His understanding is infinite (Psalm 147:5)! God is not anti-knowledge or anti-learning. In fact, when He offered King Solomon his heart’s desire and Solomon chose knowledge over riches and glory, God was immensely pleased (2 Chronicles 1:11–12). So, make no mistake, God wants us to be learners, gaining knowledge, wisdom and understanding. But a lot of careful thought needs to go into taking those first steps after high school. Many today are rediscovering the value of trade school, while others consider going to a college or university. If you are considering college, here are some important principles to keep in mind.
32 Tomorrow’s World | March-April 2018
Prepare Wisely In its 2016 publication A Primer on the College Student Journey, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS) reported that approximately 68 percent of high school graduates will enroll in college within a few months of graduation. But, remarkably, about half of those who enroll will be required to complete remedial classes because they are not prepared for college work. If you study diligently in high school, you immediately put yourself on a course to getting the most from the college experience. But there is another element to preparation. We read this in Proverbs 1:7, from a man who was an exceptional student: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” We should temper and test everything a teacher tells us with a fear of God—a proper awe and reverence of Him and His ways. If we allow any college professor to convince us to believe anything that contradicts the word of God, we will begin to fall into the fog of purely human knowledge— ever-changing, never completely certain. Spend Wisely and Compare Wisely College can be expensive. And it’s gotten more expensive. According to the AAAS, tuition and fees to attend public four-year institutions average about 73 percent more than just two decades ago. As a result, many college students take out loans to pay for college—a lot of loans. In fact, student debt is currently in the neighborhood of $1.4 trillion (“Fed’s Dudley Says High College Costs Lower Economic Mobility,” WSJ.com, December 7, 2017). Many students and their parents
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consider that $50,000 or $75,000 in debt is going to be quickly repaid by a high-salary job after college. The reality, however, is that those high-salary jobs are not automatically available after college. As a result, it’s not unusual to find people in their 30s and 40s still under the burden of college debt. The wise student will turn to the principle of “counting the cost” before taking on a large college debt (see Luke 14:28)—considering the consequences of his actions. And there are options. The AAAS found that the cost for two-year community colleges has stayed surprisingly affordable for the last 20 years. When inflation is considered, the cost is actually half the cost of 20 years ago by some measures. Taking the first two years of a four-year degree at a less-expensive local community college can result in tens of thousands of dollars of savings. Another point brought out by the study was that twothirds of college students pay less than the “sticker-price,” reducing their costs through scholarships and grants. Spending our money wisely means taking the time to compare options wisely. It is a big mistake to view potential colleges based on their elite reputation and how much they will impress friends and neighbors. Bragging rights for parents about where their son or daughter is attending have no place in the wise choice for college education, yet this kind of vanity prevents many from considering local community colleges as an option—regardless of the potential cost savings. Too often, pride drives more people’s decisions than wisdom. Choose Wisely Then there is the vital question about the course of study you should choose. For some, the college
experience is seen as a rite of passage in a young person’s life. Regrettably, what that often means is a re-evaluation of what a young person has been taught by their parents. Nothing is left untouched, including sexual morals, use of drugs or alcohol, and philosophy of life. It is foolish to approach college this way—just as it is foolish to ignore God’s desires for your future. For young men, consider what Paul wrote to Timothy: “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8). The modern mantra tells us that life is about self-fulfillment and self-interest. But God’s word gives a message to the contrary. Men have a God-given responsibility to lead and care for their families. So young men should choose preparation and a course of study that will provide them the tools and training to fulfill that directive. And young women? Their education should also support their God-ordained role. Paul admonished Titus to teach the young women to “be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed” (Titus 2:5). Again, in God’s plan, men and women are most completely fulfilled through their family relationships. Our life’s work must synchronize with those relationships. So, choose your course of study wisely. Finish Wisely Some of the most dramatic statistics compare those who go to college or get a skill through trade school with those who drop out of high school. Studies consistently demonstrate that those who end their education early will face greater struggles in life. But according to the AAAS report, it is a growing trend for young people to drop out of college without finishing their program. In fact, after beginning college, only 60 percent of students will have graduated in six years’ time. Some certainly finish their program later—but many never do. As a result, they often have more difficulty paying back student loans, as they cannot reap the benefits of a completed degree. So, finish what you start. Life is about learning. God wants us to learn. And as we emerge from childhood, what we learn becomes the springboard for the rest of our life. Learn God’s ways. Learn skills for life. And learn wisely. —Jonathan McNair
March-April 2018 | Tomorrow’s World 33
L E T T E R S T O TW TE LL U S WH AT YO U T H INK I received my November-December magazineand, as always, I flipped through the pages. When I got to the “Oh Canada” page, my eyes were very quick to see the community name just north of us, Gjoa Haven, and I thought to myself, “What’s Tomorrow’s World or the word of God got to do with one of the Inuit communities up here?” I began to read it… Then, my eyes start to fill up with tears reading something I didn’t expect to read [about] the Inuit. It is really humbling to read something like that… Thanks for seeing us, the Inuit, that way. God bless everyone who works with Tomorrow’s World ministry. Reader in Canada I’ve been a student of Bible prophecy for thirty years, and this [the free booklet, The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy] is one of the best summaries of history and prophecy I’ve ever read concerning the blessings bestowed on the sons of Joseph. Thank you. E-mail from a Reader I just read through the article “Satan’s Alternative Universe” [in the July-August 2016 issue]. It was one of the most significant, life-changing articles I’ve ever read. Thank you, Roderick C. Meredith. E-mail from a Reader I don’t think God minds His people worshipping him on Sunday. If that’s your big doctrinal difference, so be it—but I don’t think it’s God’s. The ultimate issue is that we accept who Christ is and what he has done, repent of our sins, pray without ceasing and live by faith. “When” we worship versus “whether” we worship appears to be a big point of contention for your particular ministry, but I don’t think there’s any debate that supports the idea that worshipping on what you perceive as “the wrong day” will separate
Editor in Chief | Gerald E. Weston Editorial Director | Richard F. Ames Managing Editor | Wallace Smith Asst. Managing Editor | Gary F. Ehman Art Editor | John Robinson Regional Editors | Robert Tyler (Australasia) | Stuart Wachowicz (Canada) | Adam West (Europe) Editorial Assistant | William L. Williams Asst. Copy Editors | Sandy Davis | Linda Ehman | Genie Ogwyn Digital Subscriptions | Jason Talbott Business Manager | Dexter B. Wakefield
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any follower of Christ from the love of God and His eternal salvation. Reader in Colorado Editor’s Note: Accepting who Jesus Christ is means accepting His teachings and His message. And His teaching was clear that “if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments” (Matthew 19:17). To “repent of our sins” involves turning away from them. And since sin is the transgression of God’s law (1 John 3:4, KJV), repenting of sins also means obeying God’s commandment about keeping the seventh-day Sabbath holy (Exodus 20:8–11). What we think “God minds” does not matter. What He reveals about His mind in His word is what matters. Please consider reading our free booklet, Which Day Is the Christian Sabbath? In addition to the Holy Bible itself, I have been searching for a teaching program that teaches sound Christian doctrine. I applaud your free teachings that other programs want to charge a lot of money for. How else would poor people be able to understand this wicked world? Reader in Pennsylvania I love the concise, professional, biblical TV ministry and the presenters! I love the Tomorrow’s World magazine (especially the Reformation series). I read it, literally, cover to cover. Thank you for EVERYTHING. I do hope there is a meeting in Newcastle soon! Reader in New South Wales, Australia Editor’s Note: Thank you for the encouragement! If you are interested in information about a congregation near you, please contact your Regional Office using the information on page 4 of this magazine, or visit our website at TomorrowsWorld.org and click on the “Find a Congregation” map.
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SU 11:00 a.m. NY Albany-Troy WE 8:00 p.m. Batavia Batavia SU 9:00 a.m. Batavia TH 10:00 a.m. Binghamton FR 10:00 a.m. Binghamton SU 8:00 a.m. Binghamton SA 8:30 a.m. Brookhaven SU 6:30 a.m. Brooklyn SU 8:00 a.m. Canandaigua Elmira SU 8:00 a.m. Hauppauge SU 7:30 a.m. Manhattan SU 6:30 a.m. Oneida WE 8:30 a.m. Oneida SU 8:00 a.m. Queens SU 8:00 a.m. Queens SU 8:00 a.m. Riverhead SU 7:00 a.m. Rochester SA 11:00 a.m. Rochester SU 7:00 p.m. Rochester SA 8:30 a.m. Syracuse SU 8:30 a.m. OK Oklahoma City TH 12:00 a.m. SA 10:30 p.m. OH Cincinnati SU 4:30 a.m. Cincinnati SU 10:30 a.m.* Cincinnati SU 7:00 a.m. Fairborn TU 8:00 p.m. Lima Lima
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TH 8:30 a.m. SU 11:30 a.m. TU 1:00 p.m. TU 12:00 p.m. SU 7:00 a.m. MO 7:00 a.m.
KOMU KFJX KCWE WXXV WCBI WBWO Time Warner Time Warner WTOK KTVQ KBZK KXLF KWZB KRTV KMTF KPAX WAXN WNCT WHKY WRAZ WDAY CATV8 CATV8 CATV8 CATV8 CATV8 KCHF KCHF KCHF KCHF KREN Time Warner Time Warner Time Warner Time Warner Time Warner Time Warner WBNG Cablevision BCAT Finger Lakes WENY Cablevision MNN Access Access Public Access Public Access Cablevision Finger Lakes RCTV RCTV Time Warner
SU 8:30 a.m. SU 8:30 a.m. SA 7:30 a.m. SA 7:30 a.m. SU 7:30 a.m. SU 7:30 a.m. MO 7:00 p.m. WE 6:00 a.m. MO 12:30 a.m. SA 12:00 a.m.
KTVZ KMTR KTVL Access WFTV Access WFTV Community
SU 8:00 a.m. SU 8:00 a.m. SU 8:00 a.m. SU 8:00 a.m. SA 8:00 a.m. SU 12:30 p.m.
SETV2 SETV2 WSEE Atl. Broadband
FR 4:30 p.m. FR 4:30 p.m. SU 8:00 a.m. MO 10:00 p.m.
WCBD WYCW WWMB
SU 8:00 a.m. SU 9:30 a.m. SU 8:00 a.m.
KWBH
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WBJK WKNX WKNX Comcast-WLAF WLMT
SU 7:00 a.m. SU 7:30 a.m. SU 6:00 p.m. WE 6:00 p.m. SU 10:00 a.m.
KTXS KVIH KBTV KFDM KRIS-DT2 KTXW KLCW KTRE KCWT KWES KWES KLTV KYLE
SU 7:00 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 6:30 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 6:30 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 6:30 a.m. SU 7:30 a.m.
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CAT CAT CAT CAT CAT CAT Access Access
WE 9:30 a.m. WE 12:00 a.m. TH 9:30 p.m. TH 12:00 a.m. SA 8:00 a.m.* SA 4:30 a.m. WE 2:30 a.m. TH 11:00 a.m.
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