9. (a) What accounts for the spiritual famine in the world today? (b) Why is this one of the root causes of mankind’s problems?

⁹ One of the root causes of mankind’s problems is spiritual famine. Because they have abandoned Jehovah, he does not favor them with understanding of his Word, and, as a result, they experience “a famine, not for bread, and a thirst, not for water, but for hearing the words of Jehovah.” (Amos 8:11) Spiritually famished people grope for answers to such vital questions as: What is the meaning of life? Why do people die? Is there any real hope for the future? Crazed from spiritual hunger, such people often hurt themselves and others as they engage in immoral and criminal conduct to satisfy their cravings.

The religious and secular philosophies of the world have left mankind with gnawing spiritual hunger.