of mind and mildness, with long-suffering, putting up with one another in love, earnestly endeavoring to observe the oneness of the spirit in the uniting bond of peace. One body there is.” It takes all members in this congregational body to maintain this Christian peace and unity. So what is required of overseers in the way of mildness of temper, patience, gentleness, self-control, long-suffering, humility, love, and so forth, is also demanded of every one of Jehovah’s dedicated people.—Ex. 12:49; Lev. 24:22; 1 Cor. 9:25-27; Eph. 1:1; 4:1-4.

EXERCISING MILDNESS AND SELF-CONTROL IN THE HOME

12. Where does one find an absence of mildness and self-control, and what has this resulted in?

¹² Some of life’s most knotty problems are domestic ones. Witness the staggering number of unhappy married people, the prevalence of parental and child delinquency, the appalling number of broken homes and the rising rate of divorce as evidence of the breakdown and moral decline of this old world’s unhappy society. Husbands and wives squabble and feud both privately and in public. Juvenile delinquency ranges from childish tantrums and petty fits of anger to open assault and murder of parents. It is all too obvious that peace and tranquillity do not inhabit these shattered homes, because there is a complete lack of Christlike mildness and self-control.

13. On the other hand, when husbands and wives carry out the divine will what happy domestic conditions prevail?

¹³ Where husbands and wives are Jehovah’s happy witnesses one does not find such deplorable conditions. Why not? Simply because the same Christian principles of patience, love, gentleness, long-suffering, tolerance and control of temperament, developed and practiced in the congregation, are carried over into life within the family circle. “You wives, be in subjection to your husbands, as it is becoming in the Lord. You husbands, keep on loving your wives and do not be bitterly angry with them.” And to both husbands and wives this instruction is given: “Continue putting up with one another and forgiving one another freely if anyone has a cause for complaint against another.” There is absolutely no excuse or reason, and there are no problems so great or emergencies so crucial as to justify married people losing control of their emotions and tempers. If husbands and wives are carrying out the divine will, then they must be mild-tempered, kind, considerate and tolerant toward each other and toward their children at all times.—Col. 3:18, 19, 13.

14. Where there is a divided household what divine counsel should be followed by the Christian mate?

¹⁴ This is all very well, some may say, in a theocratic home where both the husband and wife are dedicated servants of God, but how about the home where, perhaps, a Christian wife is married to a man who is not in the truth? There are many such homes today, and when the head of the home is not a true Christian he is bound to lose his temper and be unreasonable and downright mean at times. This, however, does not justify the wife’s abandoning her happy state to join her husband in his unhappy state of mind. Under such circumstances the dedicated mate should follow the divine will, to wit: “You wives, be in subjection to your own husbands, in order that, if any [husbands] are not obedient to the word, they may be won without a word through the conduct of their wives . . . let your adornment be . . . the incorruptible apparel of the quiet and mild spirit, which is of great value in the eyes of God.” Doing this, the dedicated, mild-tempered wife will enjoy a happiness and contentment not shared by her harsh-tempered husband.—1 Pet. 3:1-4.

15. What Scriptural counsel must parents with minor children follow if they want their home blessed with peace and contentment?

¹⁵ Not only must parents in the Christian home be mild in temper toward each other, but they must also have the same mental disposition toward their children. “You, fathers, do not be irritating your children, but go on bringing them up in the discipline and authoritative advice of Jehovah.” Discipline of children is absolutely necessary, for Jehovah’s advice is: “The rod and reproof are what give wisdom; but a boy let on the loose will be causing his mother shame. Chastise your son and he will bring you rest and give much pleasure to your soul.” It is an act of love, not hatred or ill will toward the child, for the parents to administer corrective discipline. “The one holding back his rod is hating his son, but the one loving him is he that does look for him with discipline.”—Eph. 6:4; Prov. 29:15, 17; 13:24.

16. How important is parental correction to you children who want to live in God’s new world?

¹⁶ Now you children, and this also includes all you teen-agers, have in mind that this discipline prescribed by Jehovah is medicine for your good, because disobedience, stubbornness and fits of anger are the ways of sin and death, and they are bound up in your heart from your very birth. It you want to live under God’s kingdom rule, these devilish hereditary tendencies must be forcefully rooted out and supplanted with godly qualities, and the parental rod of correction will help to do this. “Foolishness is tied up with the heart of a boy; the rod of discipline is what will remove it far from him.”—Prov. 22:15.

17. (a) Explain why there were no juvenile delinquents in ancient Israel when Jehovah’s laws were enforced (b) Why is the problem of delinquency practically nonexistent among Jehovah’s witnesses today?

¹⁷ There may be rare instances where a child is so hardened in its stubbornness that even the rod of correction cannot drive it out. In the days of Israel parents were instructed by Jehovah to take such a rebel to the city fathers and they, in turn, took the incorrigible one out and stoned him to death. There were no juvenile delinquents under such a system. (Deut. 21:18-21) So also today, the New World society of Jehovah’s witnesses can not and will not tolerate juvenile delinquency to exist in its midst. So, to avoid a possible death-dealing blow by being disfellowshiped from the congregation, wise theocratic children give heed to and follow what God’s Word says: “Children, be obedient to your parents in union with the Lord, for this is righteous.” “You children, be obedient to your parents in everything [this leaves nothing out], for this is well-pleasing in the Lord.” “Listen to your father who caused your birth,” the Proverb says, “and do not despise your mother just because she has grown old.”—Eph. 6:1; Col. 3:20; Prov. 23:22.

18. In what respects is the organization of Jehovah’s witnesses like the garden of Eden in its beautiful fruitage, and how is this made possible?

¹⁸ So whether married or single, whether adults or juveniles, of the remnant or of the “great crowd,” overseers or not, one and all of Jehovah’s witnesses with the aid of God’s holy spirit, and by exercising mildness and self-control, are able to produce an abundant and never-ending crop of peaceable fruitage. Under Jehovah’s loving watchcare their organization in the beauty of peace and unity is like the garden of Eden. This is because each one has deep respect and love for Jehovah’s laws and commandments, together with zeal and devotion in carrying out the divine will in everything. “My son, my law do not forget, and my commandments may your heart observe, because length of days and years of life and peace will be added to you.” “Abundant peace belongs to those loving your law, and for them there is no stumbling block.”—Prov. 3:1, 2; Ps. 119:165.

19. How only may those who love peace and contentment be assured of enjoying it forever and ever?

¹⁹ All persons everywhere who are of good will and who love peace and unity, if you want to share in the all-surpassing happiness and live in everlasting peace and contentment in a paradise garden under the rule by God’s kingdom, then quickly associate yourselves with Jehovah’s peace-loving witnesses, and together with them be mild-tempered, calm, lovingly patient, self-controlled. Continue to obey the divine will, which includes Psalm 37: “Do not show yourself heated up because of the evildoers. . . . For like grass they will speedily wither . . . Let anger alone and leave rage . . . For evildoers themselves will be cut off, but those hoping in Jehovah are the ones that will possess the earth. And just a little while longer and the wicked one will be no more, and you will certainly give attention to his place and he will not be. But the meek ones [the mild-tempered ones] themselves will possess the earth and they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.”—Ps. 37:1, 2, 8-11.

The Apocrypha—of God or of Men?

IS THE Apocrypha of God or of men? Is it part of “all Scripture [that] is inspired of God” and beneficial for our being “fully competent, completely equipped for every good work”? Or does it belong to “the tradition of men,” to “the elementary things of the world,” against which the apostle Paul warned Christians? What are the facts?—2 Tim. 3:16, 17; Col. 2:8.

The original meaning of the term “apocrypha” is made clear from Jesus’ use of it: “For there is nothing hidden that will not become manifest, neither anything carefully concealed that will never become known.” In time, however, the term took on the unfavorable connotation of “writings or statements of doubtful authorship or authority.” As most commonly used today, “The Apocrypha” refers to the eleven additional writings declared canonical by the Roman Catholic Church in her Council of Trent (1546), but which are challenged by others.—Luke 8:17.

These eleven additional writings are Tobit, Judith, Wisdom (of Solomon), Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, 1 and 2 Maccabees, a supplement to Esther and three additions to Daniel: The Song of the Three Holy Children, Susanna and the Elders, and The Destruction of Bel and the Dragon. Catholic writers refer to these books as deuterocanonical, meaning “of the second (or later) canon,” as distinguished from protocanonical.