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ZION'S
WATCH
TOWER
ages"
is
that
the
person
who
eats
meat
clean
in
itself
but
thinking
the
matter
to
be
wrong,
thus
defiling
his
own
con
science
by
eating,
wauld
be
damned-sent
to
an
eternity
of
torture.
But
no
such
thought
was
in
the
Apostle's
mind
nor
could
it
be
properly
understood
in
his
words.
He
there
emphasized
the
fact
that
any
person
eatmg
meat,
however
clean,
but
thinking
it
to
be
a
sin,
a
crime,
to
eat
it,
would
as
a
consequence
be
under
condemnation
for
having
violated
his
conscience,
his
judgment
of
the
Lord's
will,
and
this
would
serve
as
a
cloud
to
separate
between
himself
and
the
Lord,
who
judges
the
heart
and
not
merely
the
outward
conduct.
Such
an
alienation
might
ultimately
lead
to
the
loss
of
the
great
prize
af
our
high
calling,
and
thus
into
the
great
company,
or
posslbly
eventua)]y
into
the
second
death.
The
Apostle
explains
why
this
condemnation
would
hold,
saying,
"because
he
eateth
not
of
faith'
'-not
in
harmony
with
his
con.science-and
whatsoever
is
not
in
harmany
with
faith
and
conscience
is
a
sin.
The
principle
here
applied
to
the
question
of
using
or
not
using
spirituous
liquors
would
certainly
be
profitable
to
a)]
of
God's
peo
pIe:
the
persoll
who
uses
them
believing
them
to
be
sinful
is
volating
his
con.science;
the
person
wha
uses
them
know
ing
that
another
will
be
effected
the'reby
unfavorably
is
violating
the
law
of
10Ye,
"Loye
thy
neighbor
as
thyself."
This
matter
becomes
a
ve'ry
important
one
in
our
day,
more
than
eyer
before,
because
today
the
question
of
conscience
in
the
matter
of
using
liquors
is
more
pronounced
than
ever
before.
The
fo)]owing
article,
dipped
from
the
Literary
Digest,
is
translated
from
the'
French.
and
wiIl,
we
trust,
be
both
inter
esting
and
instructiye
to
many
in
connection
with
this
lesson:
UNTO
THE
THIRD
AND
FOURTH
GENERATION
"One
cannot
he,
With
impunity,
the
son
of
a
drunkard'
,
so
says
Dr.
A.
Joffroy,
a
French
physician,
who
writes
on
,
'Alcohol
and
Alcoholism"
in
the
Revue
Scientijique
(Paris,
July
13).
Dr.
Joffroy's
article
reads
in
places
hke
an
old
fashioned
temperance
tract,
but
it
is
in
reality
a
pitiless
scientific
statement
of
facts.
Diseases,
the
author
points
out,
are
of
two
kinds,
those
that
attack
persons
in
normal
health
and
those
that
touch
only
those
who
are
predisposed
to
them.
To
create
such
morbid
predispositions
alcohol
is
eminently
suited,
and
in
this
way
it
strikes
down
not
only
those
who
abuse
it,
but
their
descendants,
often
ceasing
its
ravages
only
when
it
has
obliterated
a
whole
family.
We
can
quote
here
only
a
sma)]
part
of
what
Dr.
Joffroy
says.
First
comes
his
division
of
diseases
into
the
two
categories
mentioned
above.
We
read:
"
'In
the
case
of
some
diseases
(scarlet
fever,
small-pox,
plague,
etc.),
the
pa
thog-enic
agent
produces
the
specific
malady
in
everyone
exposed
to
contagion,
whatever
may
have
been
his
previous
condition
of
health.
But,
on
the
other
hand,
there
is
a
whole
class
of
dise'as('s
that
attack
only
such
as
axe
predisposed.
Of
100
infants
fed
in
the
same
way,
one
or
two
will
berome
abnormally
fat,
because,
for
example,
the
father
had
gout
or
the
mother
diabetes.
"
'But
hereditary
predisposition
exists
also
with
nervous
diseases,
and
alcoholism
is
one
of
the
most
effective
means
of
creating
such
predisposition,
as
we)]
as
developing
it
where
it
exists.
To
have
cholera
or
rheumatism,
for
instance,
one
must
have
obese,
nervous
alcoholic
parents.
A
man
may
be
seized
with
shaking
palsy,
follOWIng
some
violent
emotion,
.
.
.
but
heredity
must
be
present
to
facilitate
the
action,
and
alcoholism
is
generally
found
to
be
at
the
bottom
of
this
heredity.
'
"
'In
mental
diseases,'
Dr.
Joffroy
goes
on
to
say,
'the
role
of
heredity
is
greater
still.
We
may
almost
say
that
rredisposition
is
absolutely
necessary
for
these.'
The
author
rejects
the
classification
made
by
some
authors
who
divide
mental
diseases
into
those
of
the
normal
and
abnormal
brain.
The
former,
he
thinks,
do
not
exist,
a
diseased
brain
being
always
abnormal.
Even
poisons
that
act
on
the
brain
select
those
who
are
predisposed,
and
this
is
eminently
true
of
alcohol
itself.
Predispositions
(generally
alcoholIc)
determine
the
special
form
of
drunkenness
and
explain
why
wine
makes
one
man
gay,
another
sad,
another
quarrelsome.
Likewise,
hered
itary
predisposition
explains
why
alcoholism
results,
with
one
man.
in
an
ulcer
of
the
stomach,
with
another
in
cirrhosis
of
the
liver.
with
others
in
paralysis
of
one
or
another
set
of
neryes.
The
writer
continues:
"
'On
epilepsy
the
action
of
alcohol
is
quite
clearly
mani
fest;
sometimes
a
subject
plainly
epileptic
from
infancy
takes
to
drink
at
about
20,
with
the
result
that
his
attacks
increase
in
violence
at
each
excess;
sometimes
a
man
of
thirty
to
forty
years
who
has
had
only
slight
seizures
in
childhood
begins
to
have
the
characteristic
attacks,
which
disappear
or
lessen
when
he
becomes
abstinent.
"
'In
order
that
I
may
be
clearly
understood
I
will
repeat
the
definition
that
I
have
given
elsewhere
of
incipient
degen
eracy.
"The
totality
of
organic
defects,
of
hereditary
or
acquired
origin,
which,
by
lessening
organic
resistance,
create
new
morbid
aptitudes
and
make
causes
pathogenic
when
of
themselves
they
would
be
powerless
to
injure
a
normal
organ
ism."
"
'And
I
repeat
again
that,
in
the
creation
of
these
new
morbid
aptitudes,
this
hereditary
predisposition,
which
domi
nates
almost
all
pathology,
alcoholism
stands
pre-eminent,
doing
more
harm
and
counting
more
victims
than
tUberculosis.
Alcoholism,
in
fact,
not
only
affects
the
individual,
but
its
effects
are
continued
to
his
descendants.
One
cannot
be,
with
impunity,
the
son
of
an
alcoholic.
Alcoholism
bt'g'ins
with
the
father
and
strikes
down
his
children,
and
generally
its
action
continues,
until,
in
the
fourth
or
fifth
generation,
it
has
de
stroyed
the
family.
But
befure
this
final
result
is
reached,
the
alcoholics
and
their
descendants
are,
according
to
circum
stances,
hurled
into
disease,
madness
or
crime,
filling
our
hospitals,
asylums
and
jails,
as
I
have
already
said.
"'Blind
indeed
are
thuse
who,
ignorant
of
the
dangers
of
alcohol,
see
in
it
only
a
source
of
revenue
I
'
"-Translation
made
for
the
Literary
Digest.
VorJ.
XXVIII
ALLEGHENY,
P
A.,
NOVEMBER
15,
1907
VIEWS
FROM
THE
WATCH
TOWER
No.
22
CURIOSITY
A
DANGEROUS
SNARE
Tncreasingly
th<>
f>viflenc('s
multiply
which
show
the
power
of
thr
fallen
[Ingels
111
the
affairs
of
men.
We
call
attention
to
the
fact
that
ruriosity
is
the
"bait"
which
they
generally
use
to
entrap
their
virtims.
Apparently
the
human
mind
is
so
ronstitutf'd
that
thf>se
"demons"
cannot
intrude
upon
it
rxc('pt
with
its
ronsent:
henre
the
r('sort
to
curiosity
to
gain
the
rons('nt
of
the
will
to
investigate.
Then
gradually
the
l('afling
is
onward
into
foolishness
or
perhaps
to
obsession.
l\!('rhanil'lll
toys
which
answer
all
kinds
of
questions
are
amongst
these.
Th<>y
are
of
various
designs,
but
all
requir
ing
perFonal
manipulation,
and
all
tending
to
establish
reli
ancr
in
and
communication
with
the
fallen
angels
who
person
ate
the
d<>ad
and
sometime'S
personate
the
Lord
himself,
and
give
religious
counsel
in
the
endeavor
to
bind
to
themselves
the
ronfidence
of
mankind.
The
more
absurd
the
proposition
the
more
likely
will
it
be
to
arouse
curiosity.
It
seems
absnrd
to
believe
that
a
"Ouija
hoard"
can
and
noes
answer
questions
correctly.
There
is
)'('ason
to
noubt
that
the
operator
may
have
something
to
flo
with
the
movements,
and
each
must
try
for
hims<>lf,
thus
slightly
coming
under
the
power
of
these
"wicked
spirits."
(Eph.
6:12,
margin.)
The
only
safe
plan
is
to
have
noth
ing
whatever
to
do
with
"
occult
powers."
They
are
all
,
'powers
of
darkness";
for
the
holy
angels
do
not
thus
com-
municatt'
with
man
during
this
Gospel
age,
and
as
"the
dead
know
not
anything"
(Eccl.
9:10)
they
cannot.
Hence
all
such
occult
powers
are
of
the
lying
spirits,
with
which
men
may
have
communion
and
fellowship
only
at
their
peril.
To
our
surprise,
all
that
we
have
written
on
this
subject
does
not
keep
some
of
our
readers
aloof
from
these
snares.
We
have
heard
recently
of
some
who
were
"not
afraid
to
operate
a
Ouija
board."
The
truth
should
and
does
give
courage,
but
this
is
not
the
way
to
exercise
it.
Our
Lord
says,
"Fear
God,'
'-that
is
to
say,
"Fear
to
disobey
and
to
offend
God.
"
The
Apostle
says,
"Let
us
fear,
lest
a
promise
being
left
us
of
entering-
into
his
rest
we
should
seem
to
come
short
of
it."
The
Editor
of
this
journal
fears
not
what
men
or
demons
can
do
to
him,
so
long
as
he
abides
in
the
loving
favor
of
God;
but
he
would
fear
to
disobey
the
Lord
in
respect
to
having
communication
with
these
demons
and
their
various
"
curious"
devices.
It
is
well
that
we
not
only
remember
the
promises
of
God;
but
let
us
also
remember
to
be
"obe
dient
children."
"All
things
shall
work
together
for
good
to
them
that
love
God-the
called
ones
according
to
his
pur
pose,"
and
the
delusions
of
the
end
of
this
age
will
not
be
such
as
would
deceive
the
very
elect;
but
we
should
remember
the
other
side
also,
namely,
that
such
as
would
have
the
special
watch-care
and
deliverance
promised
must'
I
abide
under
the
shadow
Of
the
Almighty."
Of
such,
only,
it
is
written,
[4086]
(335-339) ages’’ is that the person who eats meat clean in itself but thinking the matter to be wrong, thus defiling his own conscience by eating, would be damned—sent to an eternity of torture. But no such thought was in the Apostle’s mind nor could it be properly understood in his words. He there emphasized the fact that any person eating meat, however clean, but thinking it to be a sin, a crime, to eat it, would as a consequence be under condemnation for having violated his conscience, his judgment of the Lord’s will, and this would serve as a cloud to separate between himself and the Lord, who judges the heart and not merely the outward conduct. Such an alienation might ultimately lead to the loss of the great prize of our high calling, and thus into the great company, or possibly eventually into the seeond death. The Apostle explains why this condemnation would hold, saying, ‘‘because he eateth not of faith’’—not in harmony with his conscience—and whatsoever is not in harmony with faith and conscience is a sin. The principle here applied to the question of using or not using spirituous liquors would certainly be profitable to all of God’s people: the person who uses them believing them to be sinful is volating his conscience; the person who uses them knowing that another will be effected thereby unfavorably is violating the law of love, ‘‘Love thy neighbor as thyself.’’ This mattcr becomes a very important one in our day, more than ever before, because today the question of conscience in the matter of using liquors is more pronounced than ever before. The following article, clipped from the Literary Digest, is translated from the French, and will, we trust, be both interesting and instructive to many in connection with this lesson: UNTO THE THIRD AND FOURTH GENERATION “One cannot be, with impunity, the son of a drunkard’ ’— so says Dr. A. Joffroy, a French physician, who writes on ‘‘Aleohol and Alcoholism’? in the Revue Scientifique (Paris, July 13). Dr. Joffroy’s article reads in places like an oldfashioned temperance tract, but it is in reality a pitiless scientifie statement of facts. Diseases, the author points out, are of two kinds, those that attack persons in normal health and those that touch only those who are predisposed to them. To create such morbid predispositions aleohol is eminently suited, and in this way it strikes down not only those who abuse it, but their descendants, often ceasing its ravages only when it has obliterated a whole family. We can quote here only a small part of what Dr. Joffroy says. First comes his division of diseases into the two eategories mentioned above. We read: ‘*¢In the case of some discases (searlet fever, small-pox, plague, ete.), the pathogenic agent produces the specific malady in every one exposed to contagion, whatever may have been his previous condition of health. But, on the other hand, there is a whole class of discases that attack only such as are predisposed. Of 100 infants fed in the same way, one or two will become abnormally fat, because, for example, the father had gout or the mother diabetes. . ZION’S WATCH TOWER ALLEGHENY, Pa. ‘« *But hereditary predisposition exists also with nervous diseases, and alcoholism is one of the most effective means of creating such predisposition, as well as developing it where it exists. To have cholera or rheumatism, for instance, one must have obese, nervous alcoholic parents. A man may be seized with shaking palsy, followmg some violent emotion, . but heredity must be present to facilitate the action, and alcoholism is generally found to be at the bottom of this heredity.’ ‘**In mental diseases,’ Dr. Joffroy goes on to say, ‘the role of heredity is greater still, We may almost say that predisposition is absolutely necessary for these.’ The author rejects the classification made by some authors who divide mental diseases into those of the normal and abnormal brain. The former, he thinks, do not exist, a diseased brain being always abnormal. Even poisons that act on the brain select those who are predisposed, and this is eminently true of alcohol itself. Predispositions (generally alcoholic) determine the special form of drunkenness and explain why wine makes one man gay, another sad, another quarrelsome. Likewise, hereditary predisposition explains why alcoholism results, with one man, in an uleer of the stomach, with another in cirrhosis of the liver, with others in paralysis of one or another set of nerves. The writer continues: ‘* On epilepsy the action of alcohol is quite clearly manifest; sometimes a subject plainly epileptic from infancy takes to drink at about 20, with the result that his attacks increase in violence at each excess; sometimes a man of thirty to forty years who has had only slight seizures in childhood begins to have the characteristic attacks, which disappear or lessen when he becomes abstinent. . . *¢ ¢In order that I may be clearly understood I will repeat the definition that I have given elsewhere of incipient degeneracy. ‘‘The totality of organic defects, of hereditary or acquired origin, which, by lessening organic resistance, create new morbid aptitudes and make causes pathogenic when of themselves they would be powerless to injure a normal organism.’ ‘<¢And I repeat again that, in the creation of these new morbid aptitudes, this hereditary predisposition, which dominates almost all pathology, alcoholism stands pre-eminent, doing more harm and counting more victims than tuberculosis. Alcoholism, in fact, not only affects the individual, but its effects are continued to his descendants. One cannot be, with impunity, the son of an alcoholic. Alegholism begins with the father and strikes down his children, and generally its action continues, until, in the fourth or fifth generation, it has destroyed the family. But before this final result is reached, the alcoholics and their descendants are, according to cireumstances, hurled into disease, madness or crime, filling our hospitals, asylums and jails, as I have already said. ‘¢ ¢Blind indeed are those who, ignorant of the dangers of alcohol, see in it only a source of revenue!’ ’’—Translation made for the Literary Digest. Vou. XXVIII ALLEGHENY, PA., NOVEMBER 15, 1907 No. 22 VIEWS FROM THE WATCH TOWER CURIOSITY A DANGEROUS SNARE Increasingly the evidences multiply which show the power of the fallen angels in the affairs of men. Wo call attention to the fact that curiosity is the ‘‘bait’’ which they generally use to entrap their victims. Apparently the human mind is so constituted that these ‘‘demons’’ cannot intrude upon it except with its consent: hence the resort to curiosity to gain the consent of the will to investigate. Then gradually the leading is onward into foolishness or perhaps to obsession. Mechanical toys which answer all kinds of questions are amongst these. They are of various designs, but all requiring personal manipulation, and all tending to establish relianee in and communication with the fallen angels who personate the dead and sometimes personate the Lord himself, and give religious counsel in the endeavor to bind to themselves the confidence of mankind. The more absurd the proposition the more likely wil] it be to arouse curiosity. It seems absurd to believe that a ‘‘ Ouija hoard’? can and does answer questions correctly. There is reason to doubt that the operator may have something to do with the movements, and each must try for himself, thus slightly coming under the power of these ‘‘wicked spirits.’’ (Eph. 6:12, margin.) The only safe plan is to have nothing whatever to do with ‘‘occult powers.’’ They are all ‘‘powers of darkness’’; for the holy angels do not thus com municate with man during this Gospel age, and as ‘‘the dead know not anything’’ (Eecl. 9:10) they cannot. Hence all such occult powers are of the lying spirits, with which men may have communion and fellowship only at their peril. To our surprise, all that we have written on this subject does not keep some of our readers aloof from these snares. We have heard recently of some who were ‘‘not afraid to operate a Ouija board.’’ The truth should and does give courage, but this is not the way to exercise it. Our Lord says, ‘*Fear God,’’—that is to say, ‘‘Fear to disobey and to offend God.’’ The Apostle says, ‘‘Let us fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest we should seem to come short of it.’? The Editor of this journal fears not what men or demons can do to him, so long as he abides in the loving favor of God; but he would fear to disobey the Lord in respect to having communication with these demons and their various ‘feurious’’ devices. It is well that we not only remember the promises of God; but let us also remember to be ‘‘obedient children.’’ ‘‘ AJ] things shall work together for good to them that love God—the called ones according to his purpose,’’? and the delusions of the end of this age will not be such as would deceive the very elect; but we shovld remember the other side also, namely, that such as would have the special watch-care and deliverance promised must ‘‘ abide under the shadow of the Almighty.’’ Of such, only, it is written, [4086]
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