their father as his father. He would never link up with a brotherhood scheme that would make the Devil his father instead of Jehovah! Yet modern interfaith zealots would embrace all, as shown by an editorial on “Interfaith Day”: “Christian, Jew, Moslem, Buddhist, or whatever we may be, we are all children of God, however differently we may conceive him.” (New York Times, September 23, 1951) But our conception of God does matter. He is approached only through Christ. (John 14:6) Even professed Christians that do not allow themselves to be disciplined by God into conformity with his Word “are really illegitimate children, and not sons”. (Heb. 12:4-11, NW) The broad road of interfaith, on which “anything goes”, is the broad road to destruction.—Matt. 7:13, 14.

20. Centuries after Jesus’ day what interfaith move was launched, and on what Scriptural grounds did Christians shun it?

²⁰ Centuries after Jesus’ day the Roman emperor Constantine launched an interfaith movement to fuse all religions, allowing the various sects and cults to retain their many conflicting beliefs, but agreeing on a few principal points, just as in interfaith movements today. Its purpose was to promote political solidarity and religious uniformity. Only true Christians resisted, knowing that the apostate Christians that merged with paganism and succumbed to the state-sponsored interfaith drive had violated Jehovah’s Word: “Do not become unevenly yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership do righteousness and lawlessness have? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? Further, what harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what portion does a faithful person have with an unbeliever? And what agreement does God’s temple have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said: ‘I shall reside among them and walk among them, and I shall be their God, and they will be my people.’ ‘“Therefore get out from among them, and separate yourselves,” says Jehovah, “and quit touching the unclean thing,’” ‘“and I will take you in.”’” Then Jehovah will be our Father and we his sons, but not otherwise.—2 Cor. 6:14-18, NW.

“Record Record”

“From Washington last week came some figures which caused one sect to rejoice, while other churches might well feel ashamed.

“In the biggest religious gathering ever assembled in the nation’s capital, Jehovah’s Witnesses held a three-day meeting of 57,500 persons. The members heard good news: Their numbers since 1900 have grown from 6,000 to 425,000 this year in 115 [now 121] countries. The Watchtower, major publication of the group, is now available in 32 [36] languages and sells 1,210,000 [semimonthly; now 1,310,000] copies. . . . But even more encouraging to the Witnesses—who refuse to serve in the armed forces and will not salute the flag because they consider it an act of worship—was the increase of understanding of their beliefs. From 1935, when 500 Witnesses ran afoul of the law because of such accusations as peddling papers without a permit or disorderly conduct, the number of annual arrests rose to 2,500 in 1942. Last year, only 50 were arrested.

“The sad story was that, in general, churches and religious organizations are employing fewer workers and paying them lower wages than they did 22 years ago. The U. S. Department of Commerce revealed that religious groups this year were employing 218,000, but this was 4,000 below the 1929 figure. Moreover, in 1929 clergy and lay workers earned about $200 above the yearly average for all occupations (which was $1,421). Now the average yearly income is $3,024—but religious workers got about $750 less than that.”—Newsweek magazine, October 29, 1951.