August 2021 by Tomorrow's World

In Our Own Image Why Work? — P.16 —

August 2021 | TomorrowsWorld.org

— P. 12 —

A personal message from the Editor in Chief

A Matter of Faith

ife is short, but made up of millions of choices: Will you get up when your alarm sounds, or roll over and sleep in? What will you wear today? What will you make for breakfast—or will you even have breakfast? How will you treat those around you? Will you believe in God or in blind chance? That last question may rankle evolutionists, as they generally do not like the expression “blind chance,” preferring to give credit to “the power of evolution.” But then there is Richard Dawkins’ book The Blind Watchmaker—so much for rejecting blind chance! But life is short, a realization that sinks in more and more as each year passes by. Whether or not we believe in God is a choice. It is a choice because, if we are honest and inquisitive, we search out the evidence, weigh the evidence, and then choose what to believe based on the facts. “Examine all things. Firmly hold onto what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21, Modern English Version). We should accept neither blind chance nor blind faith. Facts do not negate faith, nor are facts a substitute for faith. Facts and faith must work together. Beyond What We See The children of Israel saw with their own eyes the opening of the Red Sea, and passed through it with walls of water on both sides of them. That was a fact of their actual experience, but it did not have any lasting effect on their thinking or behavior; this is where faith comes in as a different kind of evidence. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Many are familiar with the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who were thrown into a furnace for defying a king’s order—but how many fully understand the story? Daniel 3 tells us that the famous King Nebuchadnezzar built a great image. Whenever the band struck up, everyone was to bow down before that image. Some jealous individuals— apparently with tilted heads and open eyes—reported that these three young men refused to bow down and

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worship the image; the three were summarily hauled before an angry king and given one last chance. Reading their response to the king’s command, it is easy to jump to the conclusion that they knew God would save them from the flames. But a careful reading of the account gives a more accurate picture. Too often, people fail to recognize that Nebuchadnezzar’s question at the end of the ultimatum was rhetorical: “And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?” (Daniel 3:15). The king believed his power in the situation was supreme. Though no reply was needed or expected, these three young men gave the following bold and confident answer: “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up” (vv. 16–18). This was remarkable, considering the choice before them. They understood the king’s character and knew this was no idle threat—Nebuchadnezzar would carry it out. So, what did they mean when they said that “our God whom we serve is able to deliver us”? The emphasis should be on the first two words: Our God was their answer to the king’s question, “And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?” They answered without hesitation, despite the situation before them. As we read in the older

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Volume 23, Issue 7 | August 2021

King James Version, “Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer [you] in this matter.” Principled people, secure in what they believe, have no need to think over a clear choice between right and wrong, and have no regard for the consequences of choosing right. These three young men knew God was perfectly able to rescue them, but did they really expect to be rescued after being thrown in the furnace? Perhaps—but that isn’t necessarily implied in their response. They knew, based on the history of their people and all the recorded miracles—the Red Sea, the walls of Jericho, and a host of others—along with countless personal interventions for which we have no record, that God is real and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him. So, what did they mean, “He will deliver us from your hand, O king”? Remember, they did not know the end of the story. Would God change Nebuchadnezzar’s mind? Would the cavalry show up at the last minute, as in a suspenseful Western? No matter—to these three young men of faith, bowing before this idol was beyond consideration. “But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.” Like Abraham, they were assured of a resurrection from the dead, over which Nebuchadnezzar had no power (Hebrews 11:17, 19). Centuries later, Jesus reminded others of this truth: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). It is easy to read this account and think that these were fearless superhumans who knew what the outcome would be. They didn’t! Yes, they were undoubtedly men of faith and courage. How many of us would have passed this fiery test? If we are honest, not many. How did they? These three young men believed that God exists and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him—we see this in their choice to defy the king. And, like other men and women of faith, their faith was not blind. David appreciated the wonder of divinely designed life (Psalm 139:13–14). He looked at the heavens and marveled at mankind’s place in God’s awesome creation (Psalm 8:3–4). The Apostle Paul

declared that God’s invisible attributes are so clearly evident in the natural world that those who reject Him are “without excuse” (Romans 1:20). But recognition and proof of God’s existence are not the same as faith. That heart-of-our-being conviction of faith goes above and beyond physical facts seen with our eyes (2 Corinthians 5:7). The children of Israel saw mighty miracles but lacked the evidence of faith to enter the Promised Land. Yet those three young men, who did not themselves see the miracles of the Exodus, standing before the greatest king of their time, chose to believe based on the evidence they did have. That belief was hardened by deep convictions of right and wrong. Daily choices regarding these convictions had set their character like stone. They understood the future beyond this short life and beyond the grave, believing in the hope of eternal life. Looking to the Reward Faith must be exercised when we don’t know the outcome. That is the kind of faith Noah, Abraham, and many others possessed. “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Hebrews 11:7–8, 13). We at Tomorrow’s World know that today’s world is heading for trouble such as never has been before— such trouble that, without the return of Jesus Christ, human life would not continue (Matthew 24:21–22). Yet even if mankind were to survive for another thousand years, you and I would still have only a brief window of opportunity. Our lives are short—and the choices we make have everlasting consequences. One of the most foundational scriptures in the Bible is Hebrews 11:6: “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego believed that God exists—and that He would reward them no matter what Nebuchadnezzar did to them. How about you?

August 2021 | Tomorrow’s World 3

5 Who Will Rule Our Future?

As the United States reconsiders its place, where will the world find leadership in the years ahead?

10 An Eggs-quisite Invention

Chances are, you haven’t heard of Joseph Leopold Coyle—but you might use his invention every day.

12 Why Work?

With the right understanding, you can turn your work from a curse into the blessing God intended!

16 In Our Own Image

Most of us now take artificial intelligence for granted. Will it lead to machines with minds like our own?

24 The Walking Human Pharmacy

Your body’s chemistry is stunningly complex. Could evolution create such a symphony of chemicals?

21 Inflation: Is Your Wallet Shrinking?

Handle with Care

22 India’s Coronavirus Crisis 26 28 30 31

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Who Will Rule Our Future? As the United States reevaluates its place on the world stage in a time of economic and social calamity at home and abroad, and as increasing numbers question the nation’s ability to withstand internal and external forces arrayed against its history and long-held values, where will the world find leadership in the decades ahead?

By Richard F. Ames

wenty years ago, when the Soviet Union collapsed and became a confederation of states seeking to find their way into a post-Communist future, the United States was proclaimed “the world’s only superpower.” Some believed that we had reached “the end of history”— that wars of ideology were past and that Western democracy had proven to be the only viable system of governance to guide our world into a social and economic era of plenty for all of humanity. How naïve that all seems today. When Western world leaders gathered in Cornwall, United Kingdom in June of this year for the 47th G7 summit, some noted that the U.S.—far from being the unchallenged leader among the Group of Seven—has become increasingly influenced by the wishes and demands of the other countries represented. Indeed, an eighth presence at the summit—that of the European Union—may have exerted a stronger influence than any single nation represented there. In the eyes of many, the G7 summit was best defined by who was not there. Russian President Vladimir Putin met with U.S. President Joe Biden in Geneva after the G7 meeting, and observers commented on the ways in which the two leaders sought to jockey for influence, each seemingly trying to out-flatter the

other to win confidence and approval. Biden called Putin a “worthy adversary” shortly before the meeting—an interesting phrase from a leader supposedly seeking to make Russia a friend—and later described Russia and the U.S. as “two great powers” (MSN.com, June 17, 2021). In turn, when Putin was asked his opinion of Biden, he told reporters, “Biden is a professional…. He doesn’t miss anything, I can assure you” (Reuters.com, June 17, 2021). So, what does President Biden think about the U.S. relationship with China, long an adversary of Russia to its north? Speaking to soldiers at Langley-Eustis Base in Hampton, Virginia, he reflected, “I’ve spent more time with President Xi of China than any world leader has—for 24 hours of private meetings with him with just an interpreter; 17,000 miles traveling with him in China and here. He firmly believes that China, before the year [20]30, ’35, is going to own America because autocracies can make quick decisions” (WhiteHouse.gov, May 28, 2021). The “Chinese Empire,” consisting more or less of its present territory, dates to 221 BC. In a world where nations rise and fall with shocking frequency, China’s history as an empire dwarfs that of the British Empire—to say nothing of the brief global influences of the U.S. or Russia. Only the on-again, off-again Roman Empire stands as a lasting world power comparable to China.

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W H O W I L L RU L E OU R F UT UR E?

Naturally, then, while China, Russia, the U.S., and the European Union jockey for power on the world stage, we may wonder, Who will rule our future? Whether you believe it or not, your Bible reveals the answer. Empires Come and Go Hundreds of years before Jesus Christ came, the great Babylonian Empire conquered many nations, including the kingdom of Judah in the Middle East. The historian Herodotus wrote that Babylon “had a magnificence greater than all other cities of which we have knowledge” (The History of Herodotus, 1.178, translated by G.C. Macauley). But what happened to that powerful empire? Babylon’s depravity led to God’s judgment. The prophet Daniel, in the pages of your Bible, foretold the rise and fall of Babylon and other vast empires, including the Roman Empire. What happened to the ancient Roman Empire? That mighty empire lasted for hundreds of years, but finally came to its end in 476 AD. Historian Edward Gibbon summarized the causes of the empire’s fall: “After a diligent enquiry, I can discern four principal causes of the ruin of Rome, which continued to operate in a period of more than a thousand years. I. The injuries of time and nature. II. The hostile attacks of the barbarians and Christians. III. The use and abuse of the materials. And, IV. The domestic quarrels of the

Romans” (The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 1862, p. 1,219). Modern empires, too, have come and gone. In the twentieth century, the German “Third Reich” attacked with a military blitzkrieg and extended its rule over much of Europe and North Africa. Adolf Hitler’s ambitions included the conquest of the Soviet Union, but he failed. Allied armies vanquished the Third Reich. The Soviet Union, or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, consisted of 15 republics spanning 11,000 miles from east to west. This great superpower reveled in its communist ideology. It fought for the hearts of nations and peoples all over the world—and, ultimately, it failed, leaving Russia struggling to regain a semblance of its former influence. Today, the UK is struggling to survive “Brexit”—its controversial departure from the European Union. But not that long ago, the British Empire was a dominant world power. By 1921, it covered about 15 million square miles—a third of the world’s total land area—and held about a quarter of the world’s population. It was said that “the sun never sets on the British Empire.” One hundred years later, the UK is arguably no longer even the most important nation in the commonwealth of federated nations that emerged from the British Empire. In just a couple of generations, the once-great empire gave up lands that today comprise India, Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Iraq, Ghana, Nigeria, Somalia, and much of sub-Saharan Africa, as well as the Palestinian Mandate and parts of

Prophecy Fulfilled You might be surprised to learn that a small group of biblically based Christians understood all along that Eastern Europe would eventually escape the iron grip of the Soviet Union. How did they know? Biblical prophecy predicted the rise of another great superpower, called the beast in the book of Revelation. Almost 70 years ago, Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong

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published an article saying that East Germany would rejoin West Germany and that Russia “will be forced to relinquish her control over Hungary, Czechoslovakia and parts of Austria” (The Good News, April 1952, p. 16). Shortly after Russia’s 1956 invasion of Hungary, when many “experts” believed that the “Iron Curtain” had fallen forever on the nations of Eastern Europe,

the magazine The Plain Truth made this amazing statement: “The way is being prepared for a colossal third force in world politics—a European Federation of Nations more powerful than either Russia or the United States!… We have shown years in advance what would happen to Russia’s ill-fated Empire in Eastern Europe” (The Plain Truth, December 1956, p. 3).

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WHO WI L L RUL E O UR F UTU RE?

Egypt and Sudan—and, of course, Hong Kong, which Britain returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. The sun has, indeed, set on the British Empire. Lessons Learned? Empires at their peak often produce great vanity in their peoples—and in their leaders. They tend to think themselves invincible and their power unshakable. Belshazzar, the last king of Babylon, is one striking example. He insisted on his own godless way of life and led others into debauchery, and his empire paid the penalty. That profound lesson is recorded in the pages of your Bible. The prophet Daniel was in the city of Babylon on the night the Persian army conquered it. Through Daniel, God let King Belshazzar know what was about to happen to him and his empire. This amazing sequence of events is recorded in the fifth chapter of the book of Daniel, in the famous story of the handwriting on the wall. King Belshazzar prepared a feast—a great party—for thousands of his nobles. They drank wine out of golden vessels plundered from God’s Temple in Jerusalem. “In the same hour the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Then the king’s countenance changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his hips were loosened and his knees knocked against each other” (Daniel 5:5–6). The king called upon Daniel to interpret this saying. What had the mysterious hand written? “And this is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. This is the interpretation of each word. MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it; TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting; PERES: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians….” That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old (vv. 25–31). Today, the handwriting is on the wall for the U.S. and Great Britain. The warning signs are all around us, as our nations become more decadent and im-

moral. There is still time for us to repent, nationally and individually, but powerful adversaries like Russia and China are ready to take advantage of the growing weakness of the English-speaking peoples. What About Repentance? Throughout history, it has been extremely rare to find any society that would turn from its evil ways. Nineveh, the capital city of ancient Assyria, was one of these few—and the humble response of its people actually delayed God’s judgment. The Prophet Jonah came to the citizens of Nineveh with God’s warning: “And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then he cried out and said, ‘Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!’” (Jonah 3:4). The Ninevites did not ignore God’s prophet Jonah. Rather, “the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes” (vv. 5–6). Can you imagine any world leader today humbling himself in that way before God? The Assyrians responded to Jonah’s warning. They repented of their evil ways and God spared them. This happened in the eighth century BC. God spared Nineveh for many years, and even used the nation to punish ancient Israel and bring its people into captivity. After Assyria captured the “Northern Kingdom”—Israel—that kingdom was lost to history and its peoples became known as the “ten lost tribes.” The prophet Isaiah records God’s purpose in using Assyria to punish Israel. Isaiah quotes God as saying: Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger and the staff in whose hand is My indignation. I will send him against an ungodly nation, and against the people of My wrath I will give him charge, to seize the spoil, to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. Yet he does not mean so, nor does his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy, and cut off not a few nations (Isaiah 10:5–7). God had warned the kingdom of Israel to repent, but its people refused to reform. So, the Assyrians conquered the ten tribes of the house of Israel and

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W H O W I L L RU L E OU R F UT UR E?

moved the captives far to the east in Assyria. Israel’s final captivity took place around 721 BC. Eventually, however, Assyria returned to its carnal ways, and in 612 BC God allowed the Medes to destroy Nineveh. World Rule from Jerusalem God also sent His warnings to the kingdom of Judah, but the nation persisted in its sins. So, God used the kingdom of Babylon under King Nebuchadnezzar to punish the house of Judah. A majority of Jews were

The futures of Russia and China can be found in the Bible’s account of Gog and Magog. And we know from Revelation that, before Christ’s return, an army consisting of 200 million soldiers will march westward across the Euphrates toward a final end-of-this-age conflagration in the Middle East (Revelation 9:16), where they will fight against the armies of ten end-time political entities held together under the sway of a figure known as “the beast” (Revelation 17:12–13). This will be a mighty European-based entity, which a powerful false religious leader will try to use to advance an anti-Christ agenda. Yes, the Roman Empire is prophesied to rise once more before the end of this age and the return of Jesus Christ! But its supremacy will be short-lived, and will end with such widespread military and ecological devastation that planet Earth would not survive were it not for the welltimed return of Jesus Christ to establish the Kingdom of God on this earth (Matthew 24:22). Yes, there will be a world-ruling kingdom in our future; Jesus Christ will rule from Jerusalem! Thank God for His kind and loving government that will ensure world peace for all nations! The world will have a universal system of laws to ensure godly liberty and godly freedom. Notice: “Many nations shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Micah 4:2).

MANKIND HAS LONG WISHED FOR A WORLD-SPANNING DOMINION THAT WOULD PUT AN END TO CONSTANT WAR AND POVERTY. AS FAR BACK AS THE TOWER OF BABEL, PEOPLE HAVE DREAMED OF A ONE-WORLD GOVERNMENT. deported to Babylon over a period of two decades, ending with the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC. As a young man, Daniel and three of his friends were taken captive and trained in the culture and literature of Babylon. Those young men persisted in the godly values they had been taught in Judah, and God was able to use Daniel to interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dream—and to give the good news of a coming great Kingdom that will stand forever. Mankind has long wished for a world-spanning dominion that would put an end to constant war and poverty. As far back as the Tower of Babel, people have dreamed of a one-world government. Mankind, commanded by God to diversify over the face of the earth, chose, instead, to remain together in one place, in defiance of their Creator’s desire. It was not then God’s will that humanity be united under one single human government, and He intervened to scatter humanity across the earth by dividing the languages of man (Genesis 11:1–9). Ever since, every kingdom of men to rise and seek such a level of power has eventually met its end.

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Are You Ready to Rule? And who will be assisting Christ in ruling the nations and establishing that peace? The Apostle Peter once asked Jesus what responsibilities he and his fellow Apostles would have in the coming age. The Messiah replied, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matthew 19:28).

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And where will the saints, faithful Christians, be judging? Revelation 2:26 tells us that those who overcome sin with Christ’s help in this life will be given authority over the world’s nations in the coming Millennium. Scripture bears witness that God will make us “kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:10). Jerusalem, a city of ongoing conflict in our day and age, will eventually live up to the meaning of its name and become a “city of peace.” The King of kings, Jesus Christ, will rebuke warlike peoples and nations. Old weapons of war will be turned into instruments of peace and productivity. Some of you reading this article may have seen the sculpture outside the United Nations in New York depicting a man beating a sword into a plowshare. Imagine how the world will be transformed under Christ’s rule: “He shall judge between many peoples, and rebuke strong nations afar off; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (Micah 4:3). And the Kingdom of God will stand forever—you can count on it! That is the good news we strive to share with you in this magazine. Even if your nation does not heed God’s word, you will be blessed individually if you believe and act on God’s revealed truth. And that truth reveals the future of “modern Israel”—the nations descended from the ten “lost” tribes, including the U.S., Great Britain, the British-descended nations, and many of the peoples of northwest Europe. If you do not already have a copy, please write or call to request a free copy of The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy, or read it online at TomorrowsWorld.org. It uncovers the biblical origins of our Western nations, using biblical prophecy to reveal what historians, world leaders, and political analysts do not know! But you, as a faithful student of your Bible, can understand. God has blessed the earth with majestic mountains, fertile valleys, and productive plains. We marvel at pristine lakes and churning oceans. We appreciate the variety of flowers, plant life, birds, animals, and sea life. Yet, as beautiful as the natural world is, it will become more beautiful in tomorrow’s world, when even the very nature of animals will change. The glo-

MAY WE S U G G EST?

rious Kingdom of God on earth will produce beauty and productivity the world has never known. Isaiah gives us this vision of the future 1,000-year period of Christ’s reign with the saints: The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Isaiah 11:6–9). What a glorious time! But until then, whether or not our nations learn the lessons of history, we can repent individually—and we must. The day of God’s judgment on humanity’s failed ways is approaching fast. Those nations and individuals who turn to God will be blessed. What should you do? Do not wait for your nation to change. Now is the time for you to seek God with all your heart. The prophet Isaiah gives us this exhortation, encouragement, and promise: “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:6–7). Yes, dear reader, the amazing truth is that you can rule our future—under Jesus Christ, the King of kings. If you repent, are baptized, strive to obey your Savior, and overcome sin with the help of the Holy Spirit, you will be resurrected as one of His firstfruits to assist Him in His glorious millennial rule. The peoples of all nations will learn to live in peace and harmony as never before—and you can be a part of it. Do not neglect this extraordinary opportunity that God is offering to only a relative few in this age. Act on His calling! TW

The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy Uncover a little-known past that reveals an amazing future! Request this free printed booklet from the Regional Office nearest you, or order at TomorrowsWorld.org. PDF, ePub, and Kindle are also available.

August 2021 | Tomorrow’s World 9

Canada! An Eggs-quisite Invention Chances are, you have not heard of Joseph Leopold Coyle. Yet few people in the developed world do not make regular use of one of his inventions, an innovation that has likely made life much more convenient for you—especially at breakfast time. For most of us, life today is easier in many ways than it was for our great-grandparents because of numerous rather simple inventions often taken for granted. In thinking of life-changing innovations, we often consider very complex machines like airplanes, motorized transportation, or perhaps even MRI machines. However, our day-to-day lives are also made much less difficult by a vast array of seemingly insignificant items, the contributions of which are often overlooked because they are seen as commonplace and mundane. We are not overly awed when we think of the paint roller—simple, yet tremendously timesaving—or the zipper, which facilitates many operations. In fact, both of these inventions have a strong Canadian connection. For this article, however, let us look at something that we probably do not even think of as an invention. Eggs by the Billions For centuries, even millennia, one of the great challenges for farmers, sellers of farm produce, and consumers was how to transport a very important food product to the market and then to the home without messy and irreparable damage. Eggs are a key part of the diet of millions of people. In 2018, according to Statistics Canada, Canadian farmers produced just over 800 million dozen—about 9.6 billion—eggs (“Poultry and egg statistics, May 2019 and

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annual 2018,” StatCan.gc.ca, May 27, 2019). In the United States, in 2020, farms produced 111.6 billion eggs (“Total egg production in the United States from 2000 to 2020,” Statista.com, April 19, 2021). It is difficult to imagine such volume. China, the world’s largest producer and consumer of eggs, produced 31 million tons of them in 2016—about 566 billion eggs (“Egg production in China,” World’s Poultry Science Journal, June 2018, pp. 1–10). Eggs are a very important source of protein and vitamins for a great percentage of the world’s population. In more rural settings, many can raise a few chickens and maintain a local supply, but the majority of earth’s population, now crowded into cities and large towns, must rely on food distributed from zones of agricultural production to markets, and then to their homes. But many—if not most—of these eggs would be hopelessly scrambled unless there were some means of transporting them without crushing or cracking their fragile shells. This once was, in fact, a constant problem. Collecting and moving eggs to market and then to the homes of buyers involved a huge amount of loss due to broken eggshells. Enter Joseph Leopold Coyle. Born in the Canadian province of Ontario in 1871, he worked as a surveyor and later apprenticed as a journalist. In 1906, he settled in Smithers in the beautiful Bulkley Valley of British Columbia, and in 1910 founded The Interior News, which is still published today. Coyle was a very resourceful and creative man who tried to invent items that would solve practical, everyday problems. In 2017, an article in the Times Colonist, reflecting on the contributions of Canadian inventors, explained the background of one of Coyle’s inventions:

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AN EG G S -Q UI S I TE I N VENT ION

Back then, [The Interior News’] office stood in what was known as Aldemere [Smithers] in British Columbia’s Bulkley Valley, near a hotel that was the spot of frequent fighting between the hotelier and a farmer, Gabriel Lacroix. The owner hated that his regular order of eggs often arrived as a mess of runny yolks. One day, Coyle overheard this argument and that—as legend has it—was his a-ha moment. He set out to create a container to keep the eggs intact from coop to customer. In a 1917 patent application… he described a “simple, inexpensive and safe” way to carry a dozen eggs at once in an egg box that suspended and supported each one” (“Our inventors changed the world,” Times Colonist, April 27, 2017). Coyle’s design changed over the years, and demand for this new egg box spread internationally; he had offered a solution to a global problem. He now had a new problem: keeping up with orders and the need for expanding production. So, by March 1920, he fashioned a machine that could efficiently manufacture the egg box from firm-yet-soft wood-pulp paper at factories he established at London, Ontario, and Vancouver, British Columbia, and in the United States at San Francisco, California, and Chicago, Illinois. Not long after launching his invention, Coyle found many competitors copying it, some avoiding patent violation by using plastic instead of pulp. Competition and legal fees prevented him from becoming rich because of his innovation—nonetheless, Coyle was comfortably well-off and enjoyed life with his family, dying at age 100 in 1972. None of his other inventions matched the global impact of the now-near-ubiquitous egg box, which saves millions of pounds of eggs from accidental destruction every year.

The fragile egg needs protection from bumps and pressures, so Coyle’s egg box wraps each egg in a protective cocoon. One simple and brilliant idea, combined with a great deal of work and investment, has allowed millions of eggs to make it to markets and the plates of the world. Losses to farmers, shippers, retailers, and customers have been drastically reduced, increasing profits as well as reducing cost to the consumer. Handle with Care We humans, like the humble egg, are fragile. We are vulnerable not only to physical harm, but also to forces and circumstances that can damage our mental and even spiritual health. We live in a world promoting ideologies that are contrary to common sense, as revolutionists challenge everything from the reality of the gender/sex binary to the value of human life itself. Many now deny the importance of work, frugality, honesty, and loyalty within marriage. In truth, most know in their hearts that giving in to any of these social pressures will “crack shells” and lead to unpleasant and unhappy results. The Inventor of human beings, however, created a spiritual “egg box” to protect us from the ravages of a world opposed to His plan for us—a world whose present spiritual leader seeks the destruction of truth and, ultimately, of all humanity (John 8:44; 2 Corinthians 4:4; 1 Peter 5:8). That protective egg box is God’s law, which is summarized by ten overriding principles (Exodus 20:1–17; Deuteronomy 5:6–21). As the egg carton is considered simple but offers eggs great protection, God’s law is often dismissed as archaic or simplistic even as it offers humans safety from great harm. King David of Israel was inspired to write about the spiritual protection imparted to those who place their trust in the God of the Bible: “You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; with favour You will surround him as with a shield” (Psalm 5:12). And notice that Scripture defines righteousness as keeping God’s commandments; David wrote under inspiration, “My tongue shall speak of Your word, for all Your commandments are righteousness” (Psalm 119:172). As Coyle’s egg box protects the eggs inside it, so the perfect laws of our Creator guard those who submit to them. —Stuart Wachowicz

August 2021 | Tomorrow’s World 11

WHY WORK?

With the right understanding, you can turn your work from a curse into the blessing God intended!

By Rod McNair

illions of Americans cheered last year when the United States Congress approved increased unemployment benefits to help needy workers survive COVID-19-related job losses. For many, extra government benefits protected their families from homelessness and hunger while avoiding potentially dangerous illness as their nation took unprecedented steps to slow the spread of an unfamiliar virus. However, as the COVID threat lessened and the nation’s economy began to recover, businesses observed a striking phenomenon: In many job sectors, the number of jobs available far exceeded the number of workers seeking to fill them! On June 8, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report showing that in April 2021, a record 9.3 million jobs were unfilled across the nation. Additionally, a record-high four million Americans voluntarily quit their jobs during the month. What is going on? Part of the answer is that with unemployment benefits raised to unprecedented levels, many workers have been better able to care for their families by cashing unemployment checks than by accepting jobs that pay less. But that’s not the whole story. More and more, reports are emerging of workers who spent a difficult year out of work or working from home and gained a new perspective on employment that made them reluctant or even unwilling to return

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to formerly tolerable office jobs. As jobs return to the office, many workers are leaving those jobs! Why is this happening, and what can we learn from it about work itself? A Very Brief History of Work The book of Genesis tells us that God worked to create our world. Six times, Genesis reports that God looked at the work of His hands and found it “good”! At the end of the week, after His work was done, “God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). God was not distressed by His work; He enjoyed it! But God did not want to enjoy the creation process alone; He wanted to share His world and its development with others. One key reason He created human beings was to share the joy of His work. “The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed.… Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it” (Genesis 2:8, 15). God wanted Adam, Eve, and their descendants to have the pleasing and exciting challenge of tending the Garden of Eden—and, ultimately, of beautifying the entire earth! But they rejected God’s truth, His sovereignty over them, and His way of life. What was the result? “Then to Adam He said, ‘Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil

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you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread” (Genesis 3:17–19). Work—intended to be a blessing for those obeying God—became a curse for disobedience. Adam and Eve gave up an ideal job—a wonderful environment with great working conditions and unbeatable benefits! They chose to rebel against God’s command and were driven out of this hospitable and supportive environment. Billions of human beings have struggled to subsist ever since. Work today is not what God intended it to be! Since our ancestors left the Garden of Eden, the experience of work has not been pleasurable or even comfortable for most people. Even today, for most of earth’s population, work is a “necessary evil” in the struggle to survive! If a government gives people the opportunity to survive without work, we should not be surprised when people leave or refuse to take jobs that they see as unprofitable or unpleasant.

When the prophet Ezekiel described life under God’s government, he did so in a remarkable way: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.… I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them” (Ezekiel 36:26–27). God’s statutes were meant for health and happiness. In the soon-coming Millennium, under the reign of Jesus Christ, the earth will experience a vibrant, healthy economy regulated not by human greed or foolishness, but by God’s own law. Ample goods and efficient services will be the result of people engaged in their work and enjoying it! As people put God’s principles of love and service into practice every day through the power of His Spirit, they will experience in their work a peace and fulfillment beyond description! That future time will be exciting and wonderful. But would you like to experience a stronger sense of purpose and excitement in your work and life today? You can!

Workplace Regulations… and Scripture? Good workplace statutes can promote safety and health—and even save lives! In the U.S. the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) administers regulations estimated to have cut work-related fatalities by more than 60 percent (All About OSHA, 2020). However, long before OSHA existed, God established regulations to provide for a safe and healthy environment. For example, “if a man opens a pit, or if a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls in it, the owner of the pit shall make it good” (Exodus 21:33–34). Another statute prescribes a sound construction practice: the need to build railings on flat roofs to prevent accidents. “When you build a new house, then you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring guilt of bloodshed on your household if anyone falls from it” (Deuteronomy 22:8). Yes, God Himself reveals that there are standards and guidelines that help to create a safe environment.

Learn to Work Better One way to have a better work experience is by becoming a better worker! Thirty years ago, James Patterson and Peter Kim found that American workers admitted to goofing off up to 20 percent of their time on the job. Almost half admitted to calling in sick when they were well, one in six regularly drank or used drugs on the job, and only one in four said they gave their best effort (The Day America Told the Truth, 1991)—and it’s likely that statistics are no more encouraging today! What about you? Are you dedicated to putting in an honest day’s work? Do you find it difficult to get along with others—your coworkers, your employees, or your boss? What if you have an especially difficult boss? God shows how to handle such situations: “Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully… when you do

EVEN TODAY, FOR MOST OF EARTH’S POPULATION, WORK IS A “NECESSARY EVIL” IN THE STRUGGLE TO SURVIVE!

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W H Y WO R K ?

good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God” (1 Peter 2:18–20). Certainly, there comes a time when you should stop enduring the abuse of a belligerent boss and move on to a new job. But before you leave an unpleasant workplace, make sure you have done all you can to make it better. Make an effort to help your boss achieve his or her goals. Seek cooperation rather than confrontation. “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (Proverbs 15:1). Learning constructive ways to work through conflict lessens your stress level, improves your sense of well-being, and results in a better work experience overall. Do you have trouble getting along with people you supervise? Take time to better encourage and motivate your employees—even the “difficult” ones! Scripture tells managers to give workers what is “just and fair” (Colossians 4:1), and to “give up threatening” (Ephesians 6:9, World English Bible). Fairness, patience, and an honest effort to understand your employees’ goals and needs go a long way in building workplace morale. God is watching how managers treat others, because He is their Manager (v. 9). Seek Purpose and Joy in Your Work To have true success in work—and in life—people need to enjoy what they are doing. Baseball promoter Mike Veeck commented, “People have a driving need to be happy, and it’s a tough act to pull off if it’s not genuine” (Fun Is Good, 2005). Most of us know someone who has a contagiously sunny personality, and we have seen how a cheerful word or spontaneous laughter can break the ice of tension or stress at just the right moment. Long ago, Solomon was inspired to write, “A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken” (Proverbs 15:13). To a true Christian, even the most difficult and dead-end job can be filled with purpose and significance—if we remember for whom we are really working. Paul instructed, “Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart” (Ephesians 6:5–6).

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Your work can take on greater significance when you realize that you are not merely working for human beings, but to please God. Doing our work— whatever our work—with commitment and zeal increases our motivation, drive, and enjoyment of the task. And understanding that we can please God with our work is perhaps the greatest motivator of all. Prepare to Work for God! Jesus Christ talked positively about work. Consider the parable of the talents: For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them…. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, “Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.” His lord said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord” (Matthew 25:14; 19–21). This parable also hints at a wonderful truth—God is training today’s Christians to rule with Him in His Kingdom. The prerequisite for working with Christ in His Kingdom is not that we achieve wealth and status in this life; rather, we must learn character and obedience to God, love for our fellow human beings, and total faith in His Son, in whatever circumstances God desires or allows for us. To learn more about the coming Kingdom of God and about the future transformation of all work from a curse to a blessing, read The World Ahead: What Will It Be Like? You can read it online at TomorrowsWorld.org, or request your own printed copy from our Regional Office nearest you, listed on page 4 of this magazine. Whatever your circumstances, make the most of every work opportunity you have—with zeal, determination, joy, and love. Do not squander an opportunity to let your current work prepare you to work for God in His Kingdom (Matthew 25:24–28)! TW

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Your Ultimate Destiny The meaning of life has been published in more than 700 languages— but most people still think it’s a mystery.

gainst all odds, the belief that life has no inherent meaning has achieved astounding popularity. Evolution’s widespread acceptance as the true origin of life has effectively caused living, breathing human beings to see themselves as little more than players in a globe-spanning video game—players who can choose to be kind or cruel as they see fit, accountable to nothing but the arbitrary rules of players more powerful than they are. After all, if we’re only careless byproducts of evolution, why can’t might make right? If we all decide our own destiny, why can’t I decide that mine is more important than yours—and attempt to ruin yours for the benefit of mine? Maybe the reason it’s become fashionable to believe in meaninglessness is that most “meanings” fail to make any real sense. If we’re good, we’ll get into heaven, many say—but why? Is our ultimate destiny no greater than to spend eternity at a luxury resort in the sky, shaking our heads in pity for those who have failed to rack up enough points to win their stay? Are we expected to enjoy an afterlife of indifference to the pain and suffering human beings still experience below, to say nothing of the torturous hellscape our not-so-good neighbors are supposedly experiencing far below?

Your Ultimate Destiny provides that essential guidance, and it is completely free. You can read or order it at TomorrowsWorld.org, or you can contact any of our Regional Offices, listed on page 4 of this magazine, and request that a copy be mailed to you. Don’t wait—you have a purpose and a destiny, and you’ve already spent far too long not knowing what that destiny is.

Thankfully, Most People Are Wrong Unlike the flowery nihilism of atheistic thought or the shallow fantasies of mainstream religion, the real meaning of life actually makes real sense. The meaning of your life and the lives of the people you love has been clearly shown in the very Bible you probably have on your bookshelf or phone—but, as that same Bible asks, how can you understand what you’re reading unless someone guides you (Acts 8:30–32)?

Scan here with your smartphone camera for convenient ordering.

August 2021 | Tomorrow’s World 15

In Our Own Image Our efforts at playing God in the realm of artificial intelligence have taught us something important about what it is to be human.

By Wallace G. Smith

rtificial intelligence, or AI, has become a part of our daily lives. It powers our apps, processes our credit applications, recognizes faces to unlock our smartphones, and decides what advertisements we will see on the Internet. It is practically omnipresent, to the point that we scarcely notice it anymore. Snapchat users make videos for their friends using funny filters that make them look like animals or cartoon characters, all unaware of the AI advances that made their giggles possible. And our headlines continue to report astonishing new achievements in AI. Some are exciting, such as the success of DeepMind’s AlphaGo program at beating the world’s best Go players, while some are unnerving, such as United Nations reports that AI drone systems may have been used in recent conflicts to attack human combatants, making the “kill” decision with no human controller involved. Yet, for all the ways in which AI is transforming our lives and our world, it still falls short of what most think of when they hear the words “artificial intelligence.” That’s because, as amazing as they are, most AI applications are—compared to humans—remarkably stupid. Your smartphone’s map app can find an efficient route back to your hotel, but it can’t chat with you on the way about the restaurant you just left. AlphaZero (a “descendant” of AlphaGo) will beat you at chess, but it won’t muse on the benefits of occasionally putting away the chessboard and spending time outside. And

the AI drones that may have been released to attack soldiers in the Libyan civil war have never paused to weigh the moral implications of their actions. As Dave Gershgorn wrote for Quartz magazine, Our best AI today can do very specific tasks. AI can identify what’s in an image with astounding accuracy and speed. AI can transcribe our speech into words, or translate snippets of text from one language to another. It can analyze stock performance and try to predict outcomes. But these are all separate algorithms, each specifically configured by humans to excel at their single task. A speech transcription algorithm can’t define the words it’s turning from speech to text, and neither can a translation algorithm. There’s no understanding; it’s just matched patterns (“Inside the mechanical brain of the world’s first robot citizen,” November 12, 2017) “There’s no understanding.” That’s the rub. In the 1950s, flush with success in the relatively new field of computing—and motivated by a belief that man was, in essence, little more than a very complicated machine—many researchers assumed that within a few decades computers could be created with a capacity to learn and understand equivalent to that of the human mind. Using wires, circuit boards, and our own ingenuity, we would one day be able to reproduce ourselves with technology, creating machines that truly think as we do.

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IN OU R OW N I M AG E

Time has not been kind to their ambitions, and the task has proven far harder than early researchers imagined. From AI to AGI But the dream lives on, and computer scientists across the world are still trying to create a machine in our own image—a truly thinking machine. To distinguish between the narrow “problem solving” approach that dominates much of the AI work we see today and the larger goal of creating programs or systems that can actually think and understand in the same manner as the human mind, many researchers call the latter “artificial general intelligence,” or AGI. As with AI, we have seen remarkable advances in the realm of AGI. But how close are we to creating machines that can truly think and understand as we do? A robot named Sophia is one of the most famous public faces of AGI. Built by Hong Kong-based Hanson Robotics—and given much media coverage—Sophia was made to look like the upper torso of a woman, with a mask-like human “face” and visible wires and circuitry displayed at the back of its “head.” This machine was programmed to track human faces, display human facial expressions, and respond to human conversation. Sophia made a splash in the news with the October 2017 announcement that Saudi Arabia had declared “her” its first non-human citizen. A month later, the United Nations bestowed on “her” the title “Innovation Champion.” Giving speeches in front of large audiences and serving as a guest on late-night talk shows, Sophia has been touted by “her” press as a dramatic step forward in robotics and human-like thinking and interaction. The reality is less impressive. Though there is real AI technology at work in Sophia—and an opportunity for valuable research—the animatronic robot is also in part an ongoing publicity stunt. “Her” speeches are often pre-written, and the robot’s creators acknowledge that Sophia serves as a sort of “human-crafted science fiction character depicting the future of AI and robotics,” and not as an actual, functioning example of that future. As James Vincent wrote in November 2017 for The Verge, Hanson Robotics’ former chief scientist Ben Goertzel sees Sophia as an artistic means of inspiring others to

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believe in the potential for AGI, not an actual achievement of that potential. Creation or Imitation? Yet, while Sophia inspires debate—and, in some quarters, derision—real advances in AI are making headway, reaching new heights of technological achievement yet starkly illustrating how far we have yet to climb. In the summer of 2020, San Francisco company OpenAI revealed its artificially intelligent system GPT-3. The New York Times reported in November of that year that GPT-3 was trained through machine learning to “understand” human language by feeding it almost one trillion words on the Internet—a process that took months, cost tens of millions of dollars, and required a specialized supercomputer. Their results are impressive. When the AI system was asked to answer the question “How do we become more creative?” in the style of pop psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman, the New York Times reported that GPT-3 responded with the following paragraph: I think creative expression is a natural byproduct of growing up in a diverse world. The more diverse the world is, the more you get exposed to different people, to different opportunities, to different places and to different challenges. And the more diverse that is, the more likely you’ll be to be able to put the dots together to form something new. And in many ways, I think if you want to be creative, you have to go for it. If you want to be a writer, you have to write, if you want to be a musician, you have to create music, if you want to be a comedian, you have to create comedy, and the more you create, the more likely it is that you’ll stumble onto some interesting stuff. Even Kaufman admitted that the paragraph was eerily like something he would say, though it was completely original to the AI. And GPT-3’s abilities do not end at imitating writers. It has demonstrated the ability to generate poetry, stories, and music, to play games it was not programmed to play—such as chess and Go—and even to create original, functional com-

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puter code. Some of these outcomes surprised even the system’s creators. David Chalmers, professor of philosophy and neural science at New York University, called GPT-3 “one of the most interesting and important AI systems ever produced,” and said its ability to pick up brand new tasks after being exposed to a few examples shows “hints of general intelligence” (DailyNous.com). But is GPT-3 thinking? Is it a system truly on the verge of artificial general intelligence? No, it isn’t. A New York Times article noted that “if you ask for 10 paragraphs in the style of Scott Barry Kaufman, it might give you five that are convincing—and five others that are not.” As computer scientist Mark Riedl explained, “It is very articulate. It is very good at producing reasonable-sounding text. What it does not do, however, is think in advance. It does not plan out what it is going to say. It does not really have a goal.” The creation of GPT-3 was quite an achievement for its human creators. But what has GPT-3 achieved, itself? Writing at MindMatters.ai, neurosurgeon Michael Egnor often highlights the fundamental difference between computer processing and truly intelligent thinking. Quoting the observations of philosopher Ed Feser, he reminds us: [C]onsidered by themselves and apart from the intentions of the designers, the electrical currents in an electronic computer are just as devoid of intelligence or meaning as the current flowing through the wires of your toaster or hair dryer. There is no intelligence there at all. The intelligence is all in the designers and users of the computer…. We will surely continue to develop increasingly advanced machines, able to imitate human output in dramatic and convincing ways. Given the impressive feats of GPT-3, who knows what to expect from a future GPT-4 or GPT-5? But, as Egnor emphasizes, “There’s not a shred of intelligence in a computer. Human beings are intelligent and we use computers to represent and leverage our human intelligence. All of the logic ‘in’ a computer is really human logic, represented in a computer.”

The expert hands of a team of digital artists can bring to life a virtual version of the Grand Canyon, imitating—with enough processing power—details as fine as the texture of the rock and the visual effects of dust particles lingering in the air and scattering the sunlight. But the result remains only an imitation. The Grand Canyon has been represented, but not truly reproduced. So, too, do programmers of remarkable skill work together to produce systems such as GPT-3, yet the results of their work remain just that: imitations. The creators of the first digital calculator did not create a machine that understands arithmetic. They simply designed a system capable of imitating their own work at arithmetic. And, so far, attempts to produce artificial general intelligence show no hope of creating machines that truly comprehend what they are doing— regardless of the grand scale of our newest imitations. Is Mind Merely Matter? So, is there a fundamental problem in the search for AGI? Is there some assumption being made that dooms researchers’ efforts to reproduce the human mind through microchips and networks—some missing element that keeps true AGI forever out of reach? Attempts to create genuinely human-like intelligence and its associated characteristics—consciousness, free will, and abstract thinking—have been rooted in fundamentally materialist assumptions from the very beginning. Researchers take for granted that the material world—the physical matter and energy of the universe and the physical forces that act upon them—is all there is to reality. Their work relies on the idea that matter is essentially all there is to mind. And, truly, matter does have its effect on the human mind. Humans are physico-chemical beings. Like the rest of creation around us, we are made of particular arrangements of atoms and molecules. The human brain—which plays an essential role in the human mind—is clearly a physical object, made up of a vast network of neurons engaging in intricate chemical and electrical transmissions. Neuroscientists have many tools that allow them to measure how different activities and feelings excite different regions of the brain. Studies show that damage to the brain can dramatically alter one’s personality, and researchers have found that applying a magnetic field to a portion

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IN OU R OW N I M AG E

of the brain can even affect the moral choices a person makes. Unquestionably, our physical brains play a vital role in making us who we are. Mind over Matter But there is abundant evidence that our minds are also more than our brains—that something outside the physical, chemical confines of the human brain also contributes powerfully to the human mind. In this regard, neurosurgeon Egnor frequently points to the work of two famed individuals in his field of brain science: Roger Sperry and Wilder Penfield. Roger Sperry won the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for his famous split-brain research with human subjects whose corpus callosum had been severed—the connection between the right and left halves of their brains had been completely removed. The subjects seemed to function just fine, even with one half of the brain completely unable to communicate with the other. But Sperry’s tests teased out

that act on those chemicals and molecules. “Mental forces in this particular scheme are put in the driver’s seat, as it were,” Sperry concluded. “They give the orders and they push and haul around the physiology and physico-chemical processes as much as or more than the latter control them. This is a scheme that puts mind back in its old post, over matter, in a sense—not under, outside, or beside it.” Simply reducing the human mind to the physical components of the brain, in Sperry’s formulation, fails to account for the complex activity of human thought, consciousness, and will. While not denying that humans possess a physical brain like that of the animals, Sperry concluded that his view of the mind “does deny, however, that the higher human properties in the mind and nature of man are the same as, or are reducible to, the components from which they are fashioned.” Another suggestion that “mind” transcends the physical brain is found in neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield’s advances in the field of brain surgery to control epilepsy. Penfield found that, when performing brain surgery on conscious patients, he could prompt them to experience particular phenomena by stimulating different parts of the brain. Patients would experience sights, odors, and other physical sensations—even emotions—prompted by nothing more than his electrical stimulation of parts of the brain. Yet he noticed that one outcome never resulted from his work: No poking or prodding of the brain ever produced an abstract thought in a patient. It never produced a movement in the patient’s intellect or conceptual thinking. While physical sensations could be teased physically out of his patients’ brains, abstract thoughts and concepts could not. In fact, as patients could communicate with him and reason about the illusory sensations he was prompting, he understood that their human intellect, reasoning, and will stood in some way apart from the work he was doing on the physical brain. Although Penfield began his career as a materialist—believing that there was no more to the human IN OUR OWN IMAGE CONTINUES ON PAGE 27

HIS 30-YEAR CAREER IN NEUROSURGERY FORCED HIM TO CONCLUDE THAT SOMETHING EXISTS OUTSIDE THE BRAIN, COMPLETING THE HUMAN MIND. intriguing details—such as finding instances when subjects could not describe an object seen by just one eye, as the brain’s language center was located in the hemisphere lacking access to the image that eye saw. But he also found that his subjects’ normal powers of reasoning and abstract thought were intact. Surgery had limited the information to which they had access—the right eye, for instance, could only pass information to the left hemisphere—but the ability to reason, make conjectures, and think conceptually was not diminished in the slightest, even though their brains were literally severed into two distinct parts, each unable to communicate with the other. To fully account for his research results, Sperry concluded, one must consider the realm of ideas and consciousness not simply as a byproduct of the brain’s chemicals and molecules, but rather as vital elements

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INFLATION: IS YOUR WALLET SHRINKING? Modern economics reminds us of a valuable lesson from Scripture.

ou don’t need a degree in economics to recognize inflation. Just go to the grocery store, retail store, gas station, or online vendor, and you will discover higher prices. You may also notice that boxes, cans, and packages keep getting smaller and containing less product. Coffee cans shrink from 16 ounces to 10 ounces, a half-gallon of ice cream is downsized to 1.5 quarts, 2 liters become 1.75 liters, 56-count is now 48-count, and 90 sheets are now only 80 sheets—all for roughly the same prices as before. Some have dubbed this “shrinkflation”—a reduction in the amount with no reduction in price. As a teenager—way back in the 1960s—I worked part-time at a local grocery store, stocking the shelves. Occasionally, we had price changes for which we had to manually change the price on each package. Yes, these were the days before barcodes and computerized checkouts, and I am a “dinosaur.” (I won’t bore you with tales of candy bars for only five cents, though I recently delighted in recounting these to my grandsons!) Search online for 1960s prices and you’ll clearly recognize inflation. Some economists believe we may soon experience worse inflation. As a teen, I learned about the Consumer Price Index and began to track its figures on the dollar’s declining purchasing power. As time went on, I noticed that the base year of the index was moved forward repeatedly, making inflation look smaller and less significant. I suppose it’s important for those in power not to remind people of what their dollar used to buy. The Inflating Figures of Today “Figures don’t lie, but liars figure” is a humorous way of saying that numbers can be manipulated to present a better-looking picture. The Bible has much to say about fraud and false measurements. No one likes to be deceived. If we buy a pound or metric measure, we expect to get what we pay for. A consistent valuation—both of the product and the currency—is important. We want our dollar or other currency to maintain value, buying the same amount of goods today as it did yesterday. When it erodes in value, we experience inflation—the decline of purchasing power due to increased money supply, increased costs, and/or increased demand.

In 1965, the United States began debasing U.S. coinage by removing silver content. In 1973, the U.S. government finally abandoned the remnants of the gold standard. Since then, the “monetarist theory” has been in operation, and our dollars buy less and less each passing year. Inflation may be a benefit to borrowers and those who hold physical assets, but it is a hidden “tax” on savers. God’s Just Economy of the Future One can endlessly argue monetary theories, but it is clear that the absence of standards makes it easier for powerful manipulators to win while the public loses. In the Bible, the Apostle James talks about riches being corrupted and gold and silver One can argue corroded, and he condemns defrauding the wages of labormonetary ers (James 5:1–6). Proverbs 11:1 theories, but speaks of dishonest scales, while Proverbs 16:11 and other scripit is clear that tures teach God’s expectations the absence regarding honest scales and of standards weights. I remember seeing a makes it easier Norman Rockwell painting that appeared on the cover of the Ocfor powerful tober 3, 1936 Saturday Evening manipulators Post; a woman buying a chicken to win while the being weighed was pushing up on the scale pan, while a grocer public loses. was pushing down—neither one doing what God would want. God says, “You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment regarding measures in length, weight, or quantity” (Leviticus 19:35, Modern English Version). He speaks about standards of measurement and money in Ezekiel 45:9–12. God wants just standards and a “love your neighbor” system that cares for all. This will only be accomplished when Jesus Christ returns to establish His Kingdom on earth. To know more about that approaching time, read our free booklet The World Ahead: What Will It Be Like? You can order your own free copy or read it online at TomorrowsWorld.org. —Roger Meyer

August 2021 | Tomorrow’s World 21

India’s Coronavirus Crisis

By Timothy Mager

espite a population of 1.4 billion people living on a landmass one-third the size of the United States, most experts credited India with handling the COVID-19 pandemic rather well for more than a year. However, successful coronavirus control quickly became undone in April of this year, when a surge in cases infected hundreds of thousands of new victims each week. At the peak of the surge, in May, a record 400,000 COVID-19 cases were reported each day in India. In the first week of May alone, India reported 2.7 million new COVID-19 cases and 234,000 deaths (“India reports over 400,000 daily cases for the third time in a week as second wave hammers country,” CNBC.com, May 7, 2021). By late June, Indian health authorities had recorded more than 30 million cases of COVID-19, and nearly 400,000 deaths—making India second only to the United States in numbers of people affected by the virus. Various factors are thought to have contributed to the recent surge. By January, the country was becoming complacent about pandemic restrictions. Mask-wearing declined, and sports, religious events, and political rallies brought increasing numbers of people together in tight spaces without social distancing (“Inside India’s COVID-19 Surge,” NewYorker.com, May 4, 2021). Hospitals and medical facilities in India were overwhelmed by April’s sudden spike in infections, and it wasn’t until mid-April that even one percent of Indians were fully vaccinated against the virus. Even as of late

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June, fewer than four percent were fully vaccinated, compared to the United Kingdom’s rate above 60 percent and the U.S. rate above 50 percent. Ravages of Death and Disease The surge caused so many deaths in such a short period of time that citizens losing loved ones in the nation’s capital, New Delhi, made makeshift cremation sites and resorted to mass burials (“Mass cremations in New Delhi as India’s capital faces deluge of COVID-19 deaths,” ABC.net.au, April 23, 2021). Though crematoria burned through the night, workers were unable to keep up with the continual delivery of more bodies to be burned. In poor rural villages, bodies were buried in shallow sand graves or COVID-19 victims were dumped into the Ganges River and police found the bodies washed up on the riverbanks downstream (“Bodies of COVID-19 victims among those dumped in India’s Ganges—govt document,” Reuters.com, May 16, 2021). In the absence of modern medical tools, many infected Indians chose to rely on their Hindu faith and its holy symbol, the cow, travelling to cow shelters and covering their bodies in cow dung, urine, and milk (“Indian doctors warn against cow dung as COVID cure,” Reuters. com, May 11, 2021), raising fears that other diseases might be spread by this potentially dangerous practice. Unhygienic conditions have also been a factor enabling the virus to spread rapidly throughout India. UNICEF India reports that 50 million people in 15 cities have no access to safe and affordable drinking water (“In urban India, 50 million people in 15 cities have no access to safe, affordable drinking water: Unicef re-

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I N D I A’ S CO R O N AVI RUS C RISIS

port,” HindustanTimes.com, April 24, 2021). In addition, the rural sanitation system is in disarray, as “around 1,200,000 toilets have no water supply and thousands of toilets are completely abandoned, with collapsing roofs, water pipes in poor shape and soggy, broken doors” (“The pandemic has exposed India’s dirty truth: a broken sanitation system,” IndianExpress.com, April 29, 2021). In the absence of safe drinking water and proper waste management, the virus can take a greater toll on diseased and poorly nourished bodies. Impact on the World The crisis in India has affected nations around the world by limiting vaccine availability, as Indian vaccine manufacturers prioritize their own desperate citizens. India is currently the world’s leading vaccine manufacturer, and more than 70 countries, including Britain, had relied on India to provide 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine for their vaccine rollout programs (“India Cuts Back on Vaccine Exports as Infections Surge at Home,” NYTimes.com, March 25, 2021). Since its surge in cases, India has also decided to greatly reduce its export of vaccines to poorer countries relying on the nation for their own vaccine rollouts. All of this is a hard blow to a world fixing its hopes on vaccines to kickstart national economies, reinvigorate global travel, and provide confidence to people whose lives have been profoundly affected by the pandemic. As a further blow to the nation’s prospects, more trouble seems to be ahead. With the emergence of a new virus variant, known as “Delta Plus,” public health experts fear that the new variant might lead to a third wave of infections by September or October (“Can India Prevent Third Covid Wave?,” BBCNews.com, June 24, 2021). In the meantime, we are seeing the impact of our tightly linked global economy. Australia has worked

very well to minimise the impact of COVID-19 and recently stopped 70 dual Indian-Australian citizens—who had either tested positive to the virus or had been a close contact of a positive case—from boarding a flight back to the country (“More than 70 passengers barred from first repatriation flight from India after 40 test COVID positive,” SBS.com.au, May 14, 2021). A Better Future Is on the Way Jesus Christ warned His disciples that pestilences would arise in various places in the last days, yet these would be only the beginning of sorrows (Matthew 24:7–8). God also told the Israelites that He would appoint terror and sickness upon them if they refused to obey Him (Leviticus 26:14–16). However, God promises to forgive and provide blessings of health and peace to those who do repent and follow Him (Jeremiah 33:6, 8). These are not encouraging times, but there will be an end to pandemics! India and other disease-stricken nations of this world will be cleansed and protected from deadly infirmities when God’s hand guides the way to a healthier future. A day will come when proper hygiene will be taught and available to all mankind, and effective health principles will be utilised, promoting more vibrant, glowing societies. God expects us to do our best to take care of the bodies He has blessed us with. The Apostle Paul wrote, “Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit… from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20). Even during this health crisis, you can be implementing helpful biblical health principles in your own life. Read our timely booklet Biblical Principles of Health online or order your free copy at TomorrowsWorld.org. When Jesus Christ returns and the Kingdom of God brings perfect order by replacing an unstable world, all evil things will be removed along with the pain and suffering they cause. Ultimately, there will be no more hurt! The Apostle John was inspired to give us a glimpse of this new world government coming soon when he wrote that “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4). By praying and seeking God, looking forward to His soon-coming Kingdom, we can have hope and confidence that a glorious future will supersede the trials of this present age. May God speed that day! TW

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Works T H E

OF HIS HANDS

The Walking Human Pharmacy

s you begin to read this article, a host of chemical processes are occurring throughout your body and brain. You contain a horde of cells undergoing chemical reactions every second. The number of cells in the human body is estimated at more than 30 trillion; even if each cell only averaged one chemical reaction per second, that would still be more than 30 trillion chemical reactions every second. Imagining that many chemical reactions in a high school chemistry classroom, let alone one human body, is enough to give a science teacher cardiac arrest. As you read, neuropeptides are flashing into existence throughout your brain, an army of immune factors are responding to the usual daily onslaught of environmental pathogens, stomach acids are breaking down the salted pretzels you just ate, and messenger molecules called hormones are binding to receptor sites located throughout your body. Your body is also “diagnosing” and “treating” health conditions before they are even detectable by medical professionals. Face it—you are a walking, talking human pharmacy. Chemicals, Chemicals, Chemicals! Even the pharmacies human beings build are amazingly complex. They must be, as diagnoses, treatments, and classification of the tens of thousands of treatable medical disorders are tremendously complex, themselves. The International Classification of Diseases is a coding tool now containing more than 70,000 codes for possible diagnoses (“The switch from ICD-9 to ICD-10: When and why,” ICD.codes, October 29, 2015).

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The system is further complicated by the myriad of overlapping treatments and possible drug interactions. Medical doctors and pharmacists must complete a great deal of continuing education to keep abreast of the applications, cautions, interactions, and administration of a sea of drugs and pharmaceutical agents. To administer this vast system requires significant human intelligence—and design. Yet your body’s orchestration of its own chemistry is even more stunning in its complexity. Like a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility, physician, and pharmacy all rolled into one, your body performs all those roles and more. Your body properly selects and distributes just the right chemicals that target the right cells at just the right time in just the right amounts. The idea of random-chance evolution creating such a symphony of chemicals is preposterous. Harmony of Your Hormones Many vital chemicals make up your body’s internal “pharmacy,” including its powerful biochemicals called hormones, paired with tens of thousands of receptors on various specific cells. Hormones are produced by eight major glands—a master gland in the hypothalamus and some gland-like tissues, including the intestines and heart (“Anatomy of the Endocrine System,” HopkinsMedicine. org). As does the nervous system, hormones carry messages throughout the body. But unlike electrical impulses traveling through nerves, hormones are released in minute quantities into the bloodstream. So potent are these hormones that mid-range concentrations can be one part hormone to a trillion parts blood. That would compare to a drop of blue food coloring in ten million gallons of water.

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THE WAL K I N G HUMAN PHAR MACY

Throughout your life, your body seeks to maintain a critical balance much like that of walking a tightrope. With too much of one hormone, you begin to die; with too little of another hormone, you begin to weaken and get sick. Too much estrogen? Polycystic ovary syndrome or cancer. Too little testosterone? Weakened heart and immune system. Too much thyroid hormone? Hyperthyroidism. Too little thyroid hormone? Hypothyroidism. On and on the list goes for insulin, glucagon, adrenalin, cortisol, etc. Full of negative and positive feedback loops like thermostats on your air conditioning, hormone interactions are layered in overlapping controls. Not only do the endocrine glands function in an interdependent network, other systems like the nervous system, cardiovascular system, and the immune system all work with the endocrine system in seamless harmony.

‘time’ to gloss over macroevolutionary problems—but this is not evidence for evolution” (Frank Sherwin, “Endocrine System Evolution: A Textbook Example?,” Acts & Facts, 2013, vol. 42, 9, p. 15). We also find circular reasoning in evolutionists’ writings. Macroevolutionary progression of species is feebly theorized in attempts to explain morphological (or shape) changes based on descendant species’ levels of growth hormone. In the face of wild statistical impossibilities, exuberant words like “burst” are liberally sprinkled into hopeful explanations (O.C. Wallis and M. Wallis, “Molecular evolution of growth hormone (GH) in Cetartiodactyla: cloning and characterization of the gene encoding GH from a primitive ruminant, the chevrotain (Tragulus javanicus),” General and Comparative Endocrinology, 2001, vol. 123, 1, pp. 62–72).

Irreducible Complexity at Its Finest Overwhelmed? So are evolutionists! The riddles of human hormones are many and difficult for evolutionary theorists. For example, an expectant mother’s cascade of hormones is carefully timed to ensure the development of a human fetus in the womb. However, without immunological controls that protect the developing baby from the mother’s own immune system, all that complexity would be for naught. The mother’s immune system would attack what it would view as alien cells and no fetus would ever come to birth. How did these two complex systems randomly evolve to prevent humans from becoming extinct? Just as puzzling are the seemingly unnecessary hormone-induced differences between the sexes. Sex hormones like estrogen, prolactin, and testosterone yield structural and functional changes, and not all differences are purely about reproduction. For instance, hormones induce persistent (or “plastic”) changes in brain function and structure (Pilar Vigil et al., “Influence of sex steroid hormones on the adolescent brain and behavior: An update,” The Linacre Quarterly, 2016, vol. 83, 3, pp. 308–329). Why? If these differences are seemingly unnecessary for survival, why are there such clear physical differences between men and women? Evolutionists falter at explaining pathways and mechanisms whereby the endocrine system could have evolved. Biology and zoology texts have been taken to task for overusing “two well-worn words that are ubiquitous in evolutionary literature and explain nothing: ‘over time.’ Darwinists often use generous portions of

Working Together for Good The Bible gives answers that go far beyond attributing biological complexity to nothing more than the magic of mindless time and passionless nature. The amazing living chemistry of human hormones is one of creation’s many beautiful symphonies of well-ordered design. It was God who created man, woman, and all the hormones and genetics involved with being a man or woman (Genesis 1:27). There is no reality in which the design of humankind can be written off as a “fortunate accident” caused by blind and uncoordinated natural forces. Rather, every one of us reflects the deliberate and purposeful hand of a Divine Designer—one of astonishing intelligence who clearly created you for a reason. After a period of chaos and darkness, “God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness’” (Genesis 1:26). Why in His image? John wrote, “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:2–3). Your hormones, gender, genetics, and future are not a random mistake or happenstance. Although you are yet a bit hormonal, you have the opportunity to become an immortal child of God. For more on your incredible human potential, order your free copy of Your Ultimate Destiny or read it at TomorrowsWorld.org. —Bryan Fall

August 2021 | Tomorrow’s World 25

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS How Can You Know Which Church Is the Real One? Question: With so many denominations around the world promoting so many different beliefs and practices, how do I know which one is right? What are the signs of the true Christian Church? All the differences are very confusing, and the idea that “everyone has a little bit of the truth” doesn’t seem right. Answer: You are right to be concerned and your confusion is very understandable—thankfully, the answer is simpler than you might think. Currently, there are more than 45,000 differing sects and denominations making up the professing Christian world, and it would be impossible to evaluate the beliefs, teachings, and doctrines of each one. Rather, it is important to know exactly what to look for. The Bible teaches that God is not the author of confusion, that there is indeed one true Church of God, and that it is an individual’s responsibility to prove to themselves where that Church is today (Ephesians 4:4–5; 1 Corinthians 14:33; 1 Thessalonians 5:21). Jesus Christ tells those seeking the true Church that there are many identifying signs of it. Jesus said He would build up His Church and that it would be preaching the Gospel of His coming Kingdom (Matthew 16:18; 24:14). Christ also said that the true Church could be identified by the fruits of His followers (Matthew 7:20–23)—that is, those who followed His teachings. Jesus simply said that there would be many using REQUEST YOUR His name, sincerely FREE BOOKLET believing themselves Where Is God’s True to be doing His Work, Church Today? but really practicing “lawlessness.” Such people and groups profess to be Christ’s followers, but are breaking God’s laws. What to Look For To know whether an organization is God’s true Church, look for these signs: Its ministry will teach baptism in the name of Christ for the forgiveness of sins; it will teach obedience to God’s laws (1 John 2:3– 4; Isaiah 8:20); it will preach God’s seventh-day Sabbath and biblical Holy Days—and faithfully observe them (Exodus 20:8; 31:13); it will teach God’s plan

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of salvation and His purpose for creating mankind, believing in a future resurrection and the establishment of a real, physical, godly government on earth at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ (Daniel 7:27; Revelation 5:8–10; 11:15) rather than “preaching souls into heaven” or condemning them to an ever-burning hell at death; its name will contain the biblical name “Church of God” (Acts 20:28; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 10:32; 11:22; 15:9; 2 Corinthians 1:1; Galatians 1:13). If a church or “Christian” sect is lacking any of these identifying signs, it cannot be the true Church doing the Work of God! Some churches and denominations do speak about the Kingdom of God, but claim that it is something that exists in the hearts of believers or up in heaven—a If a church or “spiritual” or “figurative” “Christian” sect kingdom rather than a real is lacking any of one that will be set up on earth these identifying when Jesus Christ returns. Others teach observance of signs, it cannot the weekly Sabbath, but not be the true God’s annual Sabbaths (the Church doing the Holy Days), which Christians are still commanded to Work of God! observe today. By contrast, God’s true Church teaches His “whole counsel” (Acts 20:27), not merely some of it. How to Learn More Here at Tomorrow’s World, we encourage people not to merely believe us, but to diligently study the Bible and believe what is written in it. We offer study guides and materials to help, with more answers based on the pure word of Scripture, but recognizing how far most of professing Christianity has departed from the basic doctrines we’ve described here is a strong beginning. Be sure to take advantage of the Tomorrow’s World Bible Study Course for an in-depth look at the teachings of the true Church of God. Another helpful resource for proving these doctrines to yourself in greater depth is the study guide Where Is God’s True Church Today? You can find both resources online or order your free copies at TomorrowsWorld.org. TW

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IN OUR OWN IMAGE CONTINUES FROM PAGE 20 mind than the collection of material that makes up the brain—his 30-year career in neurosurgery forced him to reconsider that position and conclude the opposite: that something exists outside the brain, completing the human mind and contributing to its higher faculties. The Missing Ingredient The idea that Sperry and Penfield developed through their research—that the human mind is not completely reducible to the physical components of the brain and possesses some additional element—is actually reflected in the inspired pages of your Bible. There, we are told that “there is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding” (Job 32:8). Indeed, it is the spirit in man that gives him knowledge and comprehension: “For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?” (1 Corinthians 2:11). This is not an immortal soul; it is an essential God-given element of the mortal human mind, making men and women who and what they are. The spirit in man and the remarkable human brain combine to produce the phenomenon we know as the human mind. Just as a player sitting at a piano produces music, the human spirit and human brain work together to make thoughts, plans, and consciousness possible. Separate the player and piano, and the music stops. Similarly, separate the human spirit from the human brain, and thoughts cease. Indeed, the book of Psalms describes the human condition at death: “His spirit departs, and he returns to the earth. In that very day, his thoughts perish” (Psalm 146:4, World English Bible). Consider the difference between a “player piano”—a piano with a rotating drum that can reproduce preprogrammed instructions to play its keys—and a seasoned musician sitting down at a finely tuned instrument to perform a masterpiece. There may be a superficial similarity at first, but when the preprogrammed notes run out, the similarity ends. So, too, have all human attempts at creating AGI fallen short of the wondrous reality of the human mind. We may—in fact, we almost certainly will—come closer and closer to creating convincing imitations

MAY WE S U G G EST?

of the real thing. But the dream of truly and fully reproducing the wonder of the human mind through the realm of silicon and copper wire will likely remain just that: a dream. Limited AI and Limitless Humanity The human brain will continue to create fascinating approximations of itself, as scientists develop ever-more-complex software that can interact with flesh-and-blood human beings. It will surely create broader and broader implementations of what today are narrow problem-solving artificial intelligences. But the more we advance in imitating ourselves through AGI, the more we will discover about the complex nuances of our own human image. The more we learn in our attempts to “reproduce” our humanity, the more we learn about ourselves—including the amazing discovery that we are far more than an assembly of chemicals produced by repeatable physical processes. We are in fact much more than the sum of our physical parts. We are truly something astonishing. Indeed, how apt are these words attributed to Wilder Penfield: “How little we know of the nature and spirit of man and God. We stand now before this inner frontier of ignorance. If we could pass it, we might well discover the meaning of life and understand man’s destiny.” Indeed, God reveals what mankind is unable to discover—not only that there is a spirit in man, but also that mankind has a wonderful destiny ordained by its Creator. That destiny will not ultimately be found in man’s struggle to create technology in his own image, but in his rediscovering that he himself is made in the image of Another. With one foot planted in the physical realm and one in the spiritual, we bear the fingerprints of our Divine Designer in a way that should fill us with wonder and cause us to reflect: For what purpose has He made us so? And how have we aligned our lives in harmony with that purpose? Our efforts to create something in our own image should impress upon us the humbling significance of the fact that we are made in His. TW

Your Ultimate Destiny Find out the true meaning of your life, proven with the Bible! Request this free printed booklet from the Regional Office nearest you, or order at TomorrowsWorld.org. PDF, ePub, and Kindle are also available.

August 2021 | Tomorrow’s World 27

NEWSWATCH

Mark 13:37 | “And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!”

Noise Pollution Is Killing Us Researchers and physicians have long understood the connection between stress and environmental noise, and recent studies continue to demonstrate that relationship. Noise from automobiles and aircraft has now been linked to cardiovascular risks such as heart attack and stroke (BBC, March 15, 2021). Scientists are beginning to understand the relationship between these risks and the chemicals our bodies produce when under such stress. According to a 2018 German study of more than one million people, “People living near the Frankfurt Airport… have as much as a 7% higher risk of stroke than those living in similar but quieter neighbourhoods.” A study in Zurich found that risk of death and disease increased with the number of noisy nighttime flyovers, even if people were asleep and not conscious of the sound. Cities today are hubs for trade and finance, but they foster an increase in crime and unhealthful conditions, including high stress and loud noise. In the coming Kingdom of God, Jesus Christ will restructure human society to eliminate unnecessary sources of stress and trauma. The Prophet Isaiah told of a coming time when people

“will dwell in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places” (Isaiah 32:18). It will be a time when “the whole earth is at rest and quiet” (Isaiah 14:7).

Experts Warn of Rise in World Hunger Deutsche Welle, responding to sobering news from the United Nations’ World Food Program (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), recently reported, “Acute hunger will increase in over 20 countries if the global community does not take action soon” (March 23, 2021). Thirty-four million people—a group roughly equivalent to the population of Canada or Peru—are experiencing extreme malnutrition, a condition considered “close to dying from starvation.” According to the report, Yemen, South Sudan, and northern Nigeria are in an especially dangerous state, and “acute hunger could also increase in many other countries such as Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon and Haiti.” Experts identify key causes of starvation as war and conflicts, COVID-19-related hunger, extreme weather, locusts, and lack of food access to those most at risk. Three factors appear to be most critical to

prevent more starvation: an end to war and fighting, the ability to access and help vulnerable populations, and funding (WFP and FAO estimate US$5.5 billion is needed). From a human perspective, the situation is dire and defies solution. Indeed, the Bible has long warned that if Jesus Christ does not return, “no flesh would be saved” (Matthew 24:22). Thankfully, the good news is that Jesus will soon return to establish the Kingdom of God and His government will put an end to wars and fighting (Isaiah 2:2–4), also ending suffering and starvation (Amos 9:13).

EU, Vatican Clash over LGBT Support and Biblical Morality Recently, the European parliament passed a resolution overwhelmingly in favor of declaring the 27 member nations of the European Union an LGBT “freedom zone” (Associated Press, March 10, 2021). This legislation is partly a reaction to Poland’s “Charters of Family Rights,” which are aimed at protecting the traditional family. Scotland also passed a bill making it a crime to “[stir] up hatred” against societal minorities (Catholic Herald, March 12, 2021).

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In response, the Vatican recently issued a statement seemingly opposed to this legislation. To clarify the church’s stance on civil unions, the office of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith noted that the Vatican “does not have the power to bless same-sex unions. Such blessings, therefore cannot ‘be considered licit’” (Vatican News, March 15, 2021). The declaration also emphasized that any sexual relationships outside of that between a man and a woman married to each other “do not respond to the ‘designs of God.’” Where will this apparent clash of ideologies lead if the Vatican openly opposes same-sex unions while European nations make this position a crime? The Bible reveals that, at the end of the age, a group of ten “kings”—perhaps nations—will give their power over to a “beast” (cf. Revelation 17). While this elite group will be spiritually led by the Roman Catholic Church, prophecy also describes the “iron and clay” nature of these nations that struggle to be unified and foretells an eventual falling out between government and religious leaders (cf. Daniel 2:32–34; Revelation 17:16).

Decaying Cities Face “Rewilding” Declining populations affect numerous areas of the world—and in predictable ways. “Rewilding” describes the return of urban areas to a natural wild state. Japan, where population has declined for decades, provides important insights into this growing phenomenon. “Already there are too few people to fill all its houses,” reports The Guardian, noting that “one in every eight homes now lies empty” (January 24, 2021). These

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Abandoned wooden “ghost” house in Kanazawa, Japan empty and unattended houses, often in rural areas, quickly fall into disrepair and are “reclaimed” by local wildlife. In Spain, the reduction in demand for land has caused forests to triple in size since 1900. “Rural abandonment on a large scale is one factor that has contributed to the recent resurgence of large carnivores in Europe: lynx, wolverines, brown bears and wolves.” As populations decline globally, large predators moving into once-populated areas will pose problems for people. Biblical prophecy foretells a situation at the end of the age in

which many on the earth will be killed “with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth” (Revelation 6:7–8). As world events speed up, these ancient prophecies begin to take on more meaning.

China and Russia Allying Against EU? The European Union, United Kingdom, United States, and Canada have recently imposed sanctions on China for civil rights violations against the Muslim Uyghurs in China’s western province of Xinjiang (Deutsche Welle, March 22, 2021). Additionally, U.S. President Joseph

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Biden not long ago called Russian president Putin “a killer” (CNN, March 18, 2021). Russia responded by saying that “there hasn’t been anything like this in history.” At a high-level meeting in Alaska, “Chinese officials accused the US of inciting countries ‘to attack China,’ while the US said China had ‘arrived intent on grandstanding’” (BBC, March 19, 2021). In response to these rising tensions, Chinese and Russian foreign ministers recently met in a show of unity against the EU, the U.S., and other Western powers. The Russian foreign minister “said sanctions were drawing Russia and China closer together and accused the West of ‘imposing their own rules on everyone else, which they believe should underpin the world order’” (Associated Press, March 23, 2021). What few realize today is that the Bible has long predicted that powers to the north and east of Jerusalem—where Russia and China are located—will act together as the end of the age approaches (cf. Daniel 11:40–44). Biblical prophecy reveals that a massive army from the north and east will eventually descend on the Holy Land by crossing the Euphrates River (Revelation 9:16; 16:12). Russia, China, and their allies are certainly capable of mustering such a large force and providing the financial and technical know-how to support its deployment. Events developing on the world stage appear to be falling into line with biblical prophecies.

The Human Eye Still Confounds Science It was once thought that one or two genes controlled eye color—with

brown being genetically dominant. Earlier science, based on a rudimentary understanding of the human genome, resulted in a very simplistic view of the genetics of the eye. Fast-forward several decades to more recent times, and we find that scientists are discovering how wrong they were. New research from King’s College and Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam, testing nearly 200,000 subjects across Europe and Asia, has demonstrated that human eye color is influenced by 50 different genes (Science Daily, March 11, 2021)! Yet, even after identifying 50 distinct eye-color-related genes,

scientists still do not fully understand how eye color occurs! Nearly two centuries ago when Darwin wrote his famous work On the Origin of Species, many facets of life were thought to be relatively simple, and macroevolution seemed quite plausible. But as science progresses and the mechanisms of life are found to be profoundly more complex than they were once believed to be, the outdated ideas of macroevolution begin to look more and more foolish. Three thousand years ago, David wrote, “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are your works” (Psalm 139:14). Modern discoveries make an ever more reasonable case—not for evolution, but for a Creator! TW

August 2021 | Tomorrow’s World 29

L E T T E R S T O TW TE LL U S WH AT YO U T H INK

Several days ago, I walked past a secondhand shop with two boxes of free books in front of it. To my delight, I saw a book called The Ten Commandments from your church. What a joy! I absolutely loved reading it. It’s very good. I love understanding the law better. —Reader in New Zealand I find it difficult to put your book What Is a True Christian? down. It is been so helpful for me. Thank you. —Email from a Reader Wow, the booklet Which Day Is the Christian Sabbath? was a true eye-opener for me. Thank you so much! The insights and accuracy of the practice of original apostles, and faith of our fathers touched deep chord within. (And still reading it…) You might be interested to know that when this publication was ordered (from Malaysia) the package arrived at my house ripped open and stapled back together with an explanatory postal label. Satan’s time is clearly up! Would you please send us The Beast of Revelation? —Subscriber in Saitama, Japan Thank you so much for all the help you and your colleagues have given me. The [April–May 2021] magazine means so much to me and gave me strength that I need to keep going, to think about the future, and to be a better man to myself. The knowledge I’ve learned from your ministry will help me for the rest of my life. I don’t have the words to express just how important your ministry is to me. The Tomorrow’s World ministry feedback was truly a gift. You have inspired me to learn new skills of education and how to accomplish things

Image(s) used under license from Shutterstock.com unless otherwise noted. P. 23 PradeepGaurs / Shutterstock.com P. 29 Barry Ritter / Shutterstock.com Tomorrow’s World® is published ten times per year by the Living Church of God™, 2301 Crown Centre Drive, Charlotte, NC 28227. ©2021 Living Church of God. Printed in the U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Unsolicited manuscripts will not be returned.

that I didn’t know before. I’ve become a useful man to myself, and I am dedicated to be a better man and a hard worker. —Reader in British Columbia I just completed the Tomorrow’s World Bible Study Course and have never been so pleased. Tomorrow’s World is truly God’s ambassador to the world to do His will. I have never heard or read anything from you that I cannot prove from my Bible. I will contact you soon for telephone of your local pastor and nearest church in Ft. Lauderdale area. God brought me to you to help prepare me for the return of Jesus. I pray to be worthy. —Subscriber in Florida Editor’s Note: That is wonderful! Anyone interested in information about a congregation of the Living Church of God, sponsor of the Tomorrow’s World telecast and magazine, can contact any one of our Regional Offices listed on page 4 of this magazine or click on “Meet the Church behind TW” on our home page at TomorrowsWorld.org. Erratum: In the April-May 2021 issue, the photo at the top of page 8 was taken at the infamous Buchenwald concentration camp during a roll call of prisoners. As the article is about anti-Semitism, one would naturally infer that these men were Jewish prisoners. However, the badge on their uniform indicates that these men were not Jewish, themselves, and were imprisoned at Buchenwald for other reasons. We apologize for any confusion.

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Television Log AUSTRALIA Nationwide

7two

SU 7:00 a.m.

NEW ZEALAND Nationwide TVNZ2 Nationwide TVNZ2 +1

TH 9:30 a.m. TH 10:30 a.m. MO 11:30 p.m.

BARBADOS St. Michael

CBC 8

SU 2:00 p.m.

JAMAICA Kingston

PHILIPPINES Nationwide

TVJ

SU 7:00 a.m.

SOUTH AFRICA Nationwide CTV/SA

Monterey Palm Springs Salinas San Luis Obispo Santa Barbara Santa Maria

KION (CW) KCWQ (CW) KION (CW) KSBY (CW) KSBY (CW) KSBY (CW)

SU 8:00 a.m. SU 8:00 a.m. SU 8:00 a.m. SU 8:00 a.m. SU 8:00 a.m. SU 8:00 a.m.

Grand Junc.

KJCT (CW)

SU 10:30 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m.

WWLP (CW)

SU 8:00 a.m.

CANADA Nationwide Networks (All times Eastern) Vision SA 3:30 a.m. CO Colorado Springs KXTU The Cowboy Channel FAITH TV CHNU CTV (Maritimes) CTV (Alberta)

SU 8:00 a.m. SU 5:30 p.m. MO-FR 10:30 p.m. TU 5:00 p.m. MO-FR 10:00 p.m. SU 7:30 a.m. SU 1:30 p.m.

CT Hartford

DC Washington DC WDCA

SU 7:30 a.m.

DE Harrington

WMDT (CW)

SU 8:00 a.m.

WCJB (CW) WCWJ WBFS WBFS WCJB WJHG (CW) WTLF WTOG

SU 8:00 a.m. SU 6:30 a.m. SU 6:30 a.m. SU 6:30 a.m. SU 6:00 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 8:00 a.m. SU 8:00 a.m.

WALB (CW) WALB WAGT (CW) WLTZ WTLF (CW)

SU 8:00 a.m. SU 11:00 a.m. SU 8:00 a.m. SU 7:30 a.m. SU 8:00 a.m.

KCWI

SU 7:00 a.m.

KYUU KIFI

SU 7:00 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m.

WJYS Mediacom WHOI WGEM Insight Insight Insight

SU 8:00 a.m. MO 5:00 p.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. TU 5:00 a.m. TU 1:00 p.m. TU 10:00 p.m.

WPTA Comcast

SU 7:30 a.m. SU 9:00 a.m.

KS Parsons

TWPAR

WE 7:00 p.m.

KY Bowling Green Latonia Latonia Lexington Lexington Louisville

WBKO PEG PEG WTVQ Insight WBNA

SU 7:00 a.m. WE 6:30 p.m. TH 10:00 p.m. SU 7:00 a.m. Various SU 9:30 a.m.

KBCA KLAX WBRZ KATC KVHP KNOE WNOL KSHV KMCT

SU 7:00 a.m. SU 9:30 a.m. SU 10:00 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 9:30 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 10:00 a.m. SU 6:00 a.m.

MA Malden

Access

SU 11:00 a.m.

MD Baltimore Westminster Westminster

Community Adelphia Adelphia

SU 9:00 a.m. TH 10:00 a.m. FR 10:00 a.m.

WABI TV3 TV3 WBPQ

SU 8:00 a.m. SA 8:30 a.m. SU 6:30 a.m. SU 8:00 a.m.

WBAE WLAJ WBKP

SU 8:00 a.m. SU 11:00 a.m. SU 8:00 a.m.

FL V-Télé (en français) SU 6:30 a.m. UNITED STATES Nationwide Networks (All times Eastern)

The CW Plus

Gainesville Jacksonville Miami Ft. Lauderdale Gainesville Panama City Tallahassee Tampa Bay

SU 8:00 a.m. GA Albany MO 2:00 a.m. Albany SU 9:00 a.m. Augusta

FOLK TV

getTV

Columbus

SU 7:00 a.m. Thomasville SU 11:00 p.m. IA Des Moines MO 10:30 p.m.

Impact TV

ID Boise NewsNation (formerly WGN) SU 6:00 a.m. Idaho Falls

The Word Network WALK TV Z Living

WE 6:00 a.m. IL SU 6:00 a.m. SU 7:30 p.m. FR 7:00 p.m. SU 10:30 a.m.

SU 7:30 a.m.

DISH Network* (All times Eastern) Impact Ch. 268 DIRECTV* (All times Eastern) Word Ch. 373

SU 11:00 p.m. SU 6:00 a.m. SU 7:30 p.m. FR 7:00 p.m.

For the most up-to-date listings please go to: TomorrowsWorld.org/tune-in AK Anchorage Fairbanks Juneau

KYUR KATN KJUD

SU 6:00 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 6:00 a.m.

Birmingham Dothan Huntsville Huntsville Montgomery Opelika

WABM WTVY (CW) WHDF WAMY WBMM (CW) WLTZ

SU 10:00 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 7:30 a.m. SU 9:30 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 7:30 a.m.

El Dorado Fayetteville Fort Smith Jonesboro

KNOE KHOG KHBS KAIT

SU 7:00 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m.

AZ Tucson Yuma

KMSB KECY (CW)

SU 8:30 a.m. SU 9:00 a.m.

KGET (CW) KHSL (CW) KECY (CW) KECA-LD/KVIQ (CW)

SU 8:00 a.m. SU 8:00 a.m. SU 9:00 a.m. SU 8:00 a.m.

Bakersfield Chico El Centro Eureka

TV5

Chicago Moline Peoria Quincy Springfield Springfield Springfield

IN Fort Wayne Fort Wayne

Alexandria Alexandria Baton Rouge Lafayette Lake Charles Monroe New Orleans Shreveport West Monroe

Bangor Brunswick Brunswick Presque Isle

MI Alpena Lansing Marquette

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO Nationwide CNC3-TV

SU 8:00 a.m.

UK & NW EUROPE WORD (TWN) Sky TV 590 Sky TV 590 Sky TV 590

SU 11:00 a.m. SU 12:30 a.m. FR 12:00 a.m.

SU 11:00 a.m.

MN Cloquet Duluth Minneapolis Minneapolis Minneapolis Minneapolis Rochester Roseville Roseville St. Paul

MEDCLO KDLH MTN NWCT NWCT NWCT KTTC CTV CTV Nbhd. Network

SU 8:00 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. TH 12:00 a.m. SA 10:30 p.m. SU 4:30 a.m. SU 10:30 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. WE 4:00 a.m. WE 12:00 p.m. SU 8:30 p.m.

MO Columbia Joplin Kansas City St. Louis

KOMU KFJX KCWE KPLR

SU 7:00 a.m. SU 8:30 a.m. SU 7:30 a.m. MO 6:30 a.m.

Biloxi Columbus Greenwood Jackson Jackson Meridian

WXXV WCBI WBWO Spectrum Spectrum WTOK

SU 7:00 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 10:00 a.m. WE 4:00 p.m. SU 7:00 a.m.

Billings Butte Butte Glendive Great Falls Helena Missoula

KTVQ KBZK KXLF KWZB KRTV KMTF KPAX

SU 7:00 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m.

Charlotte Charlotte Greenville Hickory Raleigh

WAXN WMYT WNCT WHKY WRAZ

SU 9:00 a.m. SU 8:30 a.m. SU 8:00 a.m. MO 7:30 p.m. SU 7:30 a.m.

NM Albuquerque Albuquerque Albuquerque Santa Fe Santa Fe

KWBQ KCHF KCHF KCHF KCHF

SU 8:00 a.m. MO 7:30 p.m. FR 9:00 p.m. MO 7:30 a.m. FR 9:00 p.m.

NV Reno

KREN

Albany-Troy Binghamton Binghamton Binghamton Brooklyn Canandaigua Elmira Oneida Oneida Queens Queens Riverhead Rochester

Spectrum Spectrum Spectrum WBNG BCAT Finger Lakes WENY Access Access Public Access Public Access Cablevision Finger Lakes

MO 3:00 p.m. WE 10:00 p.m. FR 8:00 p.m. SU 8:00 a.m. MO 4:30 p.m. SU 11:30 a.m. SU 8:00 a.m. TH 2:00 p.m. TH 7:00 p.m. MO 11:00 p.m. TU 4:30 p.m. SU 7:00 p.m. SU 7:00 a.m.

Cincinnati Cincinnati Cincinnati Cincinnati Cleveland Fairborn Lima Lima

WSTR Spectrum Spectrum Spectrum WUAB CAC WBOH WBOH

SU 9:00 a.m. TH 8:30 a.m. SU 11:30 a.m. TU 1:00 p.m. SU 8:30 a.m. TU 12:00 p.m. SU 7:00 a.m. MO 7:00 a.m.

OK Ada Lawton Tulsa

KTEN KAUZ KQCW

SU 7:00 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 8:00 a.m.

KTVZ KMTR KTVL Community

SU 8:00 a.m. SU 8:00 a.m. SU 8:00 a.m. SU 12:30 p.m.

WSEE

SU 8:00 a.m.

Bend Eugene Medford Portland

PA Erie

TomorrowsWorld.org/telecasts

SU 8:00 a.m.

Johnstown Philadelphia

Atl. Broadband WPSG

MO 10:00 p.m. SU 7:30 a.m.

Charleston Columbia Greenville Greenville Myrtle Beach

WCBD WOLO WYCW WGGS WWMB

SU 8:00 a.m. SU 11:00 a.m. SU 9:30 a.m. SU 11:30 a.m. SU 8:00 a.m.

SD Rapid City

KWBH

SU 7:00 a.m.

Jackson Knoxville Knoxville LaFollette Memphis

WBJK WKNX WKNX 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.

Amarillo Amarillo Beaumont Beaumont Corpus Christi Dallas Laredo Laredo Lubbock Lufkin McAllen Midland Odessa San Angelo San Antonio Sherman Tyler Tyler Wichita Falls Victoria

KVIH KVII KBTV KFDM KRIS-DT2 KDAF KYLX KTXW KLCW KTRE KCWT KOSA/KWAB KOSA/KWAB KTXE KABB KTEN KLTV KYTX KAUZ KVCT

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 8:30 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 6:30 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 5:30 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 6:00 a.m SU 7:00 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m.

Charlottesville Charlottesville Chesterfield Fairfax Fairfax Fairfax Norfolk Roanoke

WVIR ADELVA Comcast Public Access Public Access Public Access WSKY WWCW

SU 8:00 a.m. WE 6:30 p.m. TH 6:30 p.m. MO 5:30 p.m. FR 1:00 a.m. SA 10:00 a.m. SU 9:30 a.m. SU 8:30 a.m.

Bennington Bennington Bennington Bennington Bennington Bennington Burlington Burlington

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.

WA Everett Kennewick Pasco Richland Seattle

Comcast Spectrum Spectrum Spectrum KSTW

WE 4:30 p.m. SU 8:00 a.m. SU 8:00 a.m. SU 8:00 a.m. SU 2:00 a.m.

WI La Crosse Milwaukee

WXOW WMLW

SU 7:00 a.m. SU 8:00 a.m.

WV Bluefield Charleston Clarksburg

WVVA WQCW WVFX

SU 8:00 a.m. SU 7:00 a.m. SU 8:00 a.m.

WY Cheyenne

KGWN

SU 8:00 a.m.

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