THE BIBLE IS A UNIQUE GUIDE FOR HUMAN CONDUCT Flashcards
The moral standards and rules of conduct provided in the Bible are unsurpassable Bible counsel never causes harm to the person following it (2 Timothy 3:16)
Bible counsel never causes harm to the person following it. What is the scripture below that indicates this?
“All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness..”
2 Timothy 3:16
Following Bible principles results in healthful living, a good conscience, and peace. What are the scriptures below that indicate this:
- “My son, do not forget my teaching, and may your heart observe my commandments, because they will add many days and years of life and peace to you.”
- “To learn wisdom and discipline; To understand wise sayings; To acquire the discipline that gives insight, righteousness, good judgment, and uprightness; To impart shrewdness to the inexperienced; To give a young man knowledge and thinking ability.”
Proverbs 3:1, 2 & Proverbs 1:2-4
w14 6/1 p. 3 - A Global Epidemic
Why is smoking a global epidemic?
- It killed 100,000,000 people during the last century.
- It takes about 6,000,000 lives a year.
- On average, it kills one person every six seconds.
- Authorities estimate that if current trends persist, by 2030, the annual death toll from smoking will climb to more than 8,000,000. And they predict that smoking will have taken 1,000,000,000 lives by the end of the 21st century.
- Each year, the tobacco industry spends billions of dollars on advertising to attract new customers, especially among women and young adults living in developing countries.
- Advertising and addiction keep many trapped in a habit they wish they could break.
w14 6/1 p. 3 - A Global Epidemic
What experience, from a woman named Naoko, shows the addictive nature of smoking?
The experience of Naoko.
She began smoking as a teen. Copying the way the habit was portrayed in the media made her feel sophisticated. Despite seeing both of her parents die from lung cancer, she continued smoking, even while raising her two daughters. “I was concerned about getting lung cancer and worried about my children’s health,” she admits, “but I still couldn’t quit. I thought I would never stop smoking.”
w07 4/1 p. 5 - Avoid Habits That Contaminate
“Therefore, since we have these promises, beloved ones, let us cleanse ourselves of every defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
2 Corinthians 7:1
g 7/07 6-7 - “Keep On Asking” for God’s Help
Why should one “Keep On Asking” for God’s Help to break free from Tobacco addiction? (Romans 7:21-24; Luke 11:9, 10)
Admittedly, doing what is right in God’s eyes is not always easy. In fact, the Bible likens our inner struggle against sin to a war. (Romans 7:21-24) With God’s help, however, that war can be won. “Keep on asking,” said Jesus, “and it will be given you; keep on seeking, and you will find . . . For everyone asking receives, and everyone seeking finds.” (Luke 11:9, 10) Yes, Jehovah will not turn away from anyone sincerely trying to walk the narrow path that leads to everlasting life.—Matthew 7:13, 14.
g 7/07 6-7 - “Keep On Asking” for God’s Help
What example, from a man named Frank, shows the need to “Keep On Asking” for God’s help?
“Keep on asking,” said Jesus, “and it will be given you; keep on seeking, and you will find . . . For everyone asking receives, and everyone seeking finds.” (Luke 11:9, 10)
Note the example of Frank.
He was addicted to tobacco when he began to study the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses. After reading 2 Corinthians 7:1 and correctly concluding that his habit was a “defilement of [the] flesh” in God’s eyes, Frank resolved to quit smoking. Acting on his resolve, however, was not so easy. On one occasion he even found himself crawling around on his hands and knees looking for old cigarette butts to light up!
This undignified behavior brought home to Frank how enslaved to tobacco he had become. (Romans 6:16) Thus, he prayed earnestly for help, took full advantage of the wholesome association provided by the local Christian congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and conquered his bad habit.—Hebrews 10:24, 25.
gm 165-6 - Wise Principles
How can the Bible help us even when we face a situation not specifically mentioned in it?
Often, we find broad principles to guide us. For example, many at some time in their lives face a decision regarding the habit of smoking tobacco. Since tobacco was unknown in the Middle East in Jesus’ days, the Bible does not mention it. Nevertheless, there are appropriate Bible principles to help us make a wise decision in this matter.
gm 165-6 - Wise Principles in the matter of using Tobacco
“All things are lawful for me, but not all things are advantageous. All things are lawful for me, but I will not let myself be controlled by anything.”
1 Corinthians 6:12
gm 165-6 - Wise Principles
In what way do Bible principles help us to come to a wise decision in the matter of using tobacco, and how do we benefit by following these principles? (1 Corinthians 6:12; 2 Corinthians 7:1)
Smoking tobacco, while reportedly pleasurable, actually involves inhaling concentrated pollutants into the lungs. A smoker pollutes his body, as well as his clothes and the air around him. In addition, smoking is an addiction. People who want to stop often find it very difficult.
First, consider the problem of addiction. Paul, when speaking about foods, said: “I will not let myself be brought under authority by anything.” (1 Corinthians 6:12) Paul was free to eat any kind of food, but he knew that some people back there had sensitive consciences. So he said he was not so “addicted” to certain foods that he could not give them up if he had to in order to keep from stumbling others. If a person cannot stop smoking—or chewing—tobacco, he is definitely ‘under its authority.’ So Paul’s statement on the matter of food is a good guideline for tobacco use. We should not allow ourselves to become enslaved by a habit.
Second, consider the matter of pollution. The Bible says: “Let us cleanse ourselves of every defilement of flesh and spirit.” (2 Corinthians 7:1) Smoking is without doubt a defilement, or a pollution, of the flesh. The seriousness of this pollution is seen in the fact that, according to the World Health Organization, it causes more than a million people to die prematurely each year. If we follow the Bible principle about staying clean from defilements of the flesh, we will be protected from the serious health hazards of smoking, as well as drugs and other defilements.
rs 109-11 - A Serious Offense
Why do Jehovah’s Witnesses view tobacco smoking as such a serious offense? (Acts 17:24, 25; Rom. 12:1; Jas. 2:8)
- It shows disrespect for the gift of life
Acts 17:24, 25: “The God that made the world and all the things in it . . . gives to all persons life and breath and all things.”
“The evidence that cigarettes shorten life is overwhelming; the causal connection is as firmly established as any in medicine.”—Science 80, September/October, p. 42.
Reports show that in the United States the annual death toll from smoking has been tabulated as being 300,000; in Britain, 50,000; in Canada, 50,000. “More than one million people die annually because of smoking-related disease and the Third World, which accounts for 52% of world tobacco consumption, is making up a rapidly increasing proportion of those deaths.”—The Journal (Toronto), September 1, 1983, p. 16.
Former U.S. Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, Joseph Califano, said: “Today there can be no doubt that smoking is truly slow-motion suicide.”—Scholastic Science World, March 20, 1980, p. 13.
- It is not consistent with what God requires Christians to render to him
Rom. 12:1: “I entreat you by the compassions of God, brothers, to present your bodies a sacrifice living, holy, acceptable to God, a sacred service with your power of reason.”
The surgeon general of the United States, C. Everett Koop, said: “Cigarette smoking is clearly identified as the chief preventable cause of death in our society.” (The New York Times, February 23, 1982, p. A1) “Medical studies show that . . . the average life expectancy of a smoker is three to four years less than that of a nonsmoker. The life expectancy of a heavy smoker—a person who smokes two or more packages of cigarettes a day—may be as much as eight years shorter than that of a nonsmoker.” (The World Book Encyclopedia, 1984, Vol. 17, p. 430) Is it proper for a person to present his life for service to God and then slowly to destroy that life?
“Smoking is so devastating, especially to the heart and lungs, that the other aspects of preventive medicine become comparatively insignificant if the person smokes.” (University of Southern California News Service, February 18, 1982) “Smoking is probably the largest single preventable cause of ill health in the world.” (Dr. H. Mahler, director-general of the World Health Organization, in World Health, February/March 1980, p. 3) Is it consistent for a person to present himself to God for sacred service and then deliberately to ruin his health?
- Smoking is a violation of the divine requirement that we love our neighbor
Jas. 2:8: “You must love your neighbor as yourself.”—Compare Matthew 7:12.
“A recent study . . . revealed that the nonsmoking wives of men who smoke die on the average four years younger than women whose husbands are also nonsmokers.” (The New York Times, November 22, 1978, p. C5) “Smoking during pregnancy can cause congenital malformations so severe that either the fetus dies, or the infant does shortly after birth.” (Family Health, May 1979, p. 8) Such unloving treatment of family members is clear evidence that a person is not acting as a Christian.—Compare 1 Timothy 5:8.
“Studies have shown that since the average smoker actively smokes his cigarette for only a small portion of the time it is lit, a nonsmoker may actually be forced against his will to breathe almost as much carbon monoxide, tar and nicotine as the active smoker sitting next to him.” (Today’s Health, April 1972, p. 39) A person who is thus unloving toward his fellowman does not give evidence of loving God either.—See 1 John 4:20.
g00 4/8 6 - The 20th Century - A Turning Point
According to many commentators, what has happened to morals during the 20th century?
According to many commentators, there was a large-scale deterioration of morals during the 20th century. An essay about moral philosophy says: “One can clearly see that society’s view of sex and what is morally acceptable has changed much in the past 30 to 40 years—from society making clear what is morally correct, by means of strict rules, to a more free and individualist view.”
This means that sexual conduct and other aspects of morality are things that most individuals now feel they can decide for themselves. To illustrate this, the essay cites statistics showing that in 1960 only 5.3 percent of all children in the United States were born out of wedlock. In 1990 the figure was 28 percent.
In a lecture at the University of Notre Dame, U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman described the morals of our time as a “values vacuum, . . . where traditional ideas of right and wrong have been gradually worn away.” According to Lieberman, this phenomenon “has been brewing for the better part of two generations.”
g 4/07 3-4 - The Decline Worldwide
Site reports showing the worldwide decline in morals
- Africa News of June 22, 2006, reporting on a “workshop on sexual abuse and pornography” in slums in one part of Uganda, said it is the “parent’s neglect that has increased prostitution and drug abuse in the area.” The paper observed: “The officer in charge of Child and Family Protection Unit at Kawempe Police Station, Mr. Dhabangi Salongo, said the rate of child abuse and domestic violence had increased tremendously.”
- According to a doctor in India, “society is losing its cultural moorings.” One film director there said that “the combination of increased drug use and greater sexual promiscuity is yet another sign that India is sinking into ‘Western debauchery.’”
- Hu Peicheng, secretary-general of the China Sexology Association in Beijing, noted: “Before in society, we had a sense of right and wrong. Now, we can do whatever we want.” An article in the magazine China Today put it this way: “Society is growing ever more tolerant towards extramarital affairs.”
- “It seems everyone is taking their clothes off and using sex as a sales tool,” observed England’s Yorkshire Post recently. “Little more than a generation ago such actions would have caused moral outrage. Today, we are bombarded with sexual imagery from every conceivable angle and pornography has . . . planted itself firmly in the mainstream.” The newspaper added: “Material that was once only considered safe for an 18-plus audience is now often essential family viewing and, according to anti-pornography campaigners, often explicitly targeted towards children.”
- The New York Times Magazine said: “[Some teens] talk about [their sexual encounters] as matter-of-factly as they might discuss what’s on the cafeteria lunch menu.” Tweens News, “the parentguide for 8 to 12-year-olds,” observed: “In a child-like scrawl, a young girl had written a heart-wrenching message: ‘My Mom is pressuring me to go out and date boys and have sex. I’m only 12 years old . . . help!’”
- How times have changed! Canada’s Toronto Star noted that not long ago “the very idea of gays or lesbians openly cohabiting was a moral outrage.” Yet, Barbara Freemen, a teacher of social history at Carleton University, Ottawa, observes: “People now say, ‘Private life is private life. We don’t want other people interfering.’”
gm 168-70 - Marriage and Morality
Why does Bible counsel sometimes appear old-fashioned?
Because while the Bible’s counsel is for our long-term good, applying it often takes discipline and self-denial; and these qualities are not popular today.
gm 168-70 - Marriage and Morality
“In reply he said: “Have you not read that the one who created them from the beginning made them male and female and said: ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother and will stick to his wife, and the two will be one flesh’? So that they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has yoked together, let no man put apart.””
Matthew 19:4-6
gm 168-70 - Marriage and Morality
“But to the others I say, yes, I, not the Lord: If any brother has an unbelieving wife and she is agreeable to staying with him, let him not leave her; and if a woman has an unbelieving husband and he is agreeable to staying with her, let her not leave her husband. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified in relation to his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified in relation to the brother; otherwise, your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. But if the unbelieving one chooses to depart, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not bound under such circumstances, but God has called you to peace.”
1 Corinthians 7:12-15
gm 168-70 - Marriage and Morality
What are the Bible standards for marriage and morality? (Matthew 19:4-6; 1 Corinthians 7:12-15; 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10)
- It specifies monogamy, one husband for one wife. And while it mentions extreme cases where divorce or separation might be possible, in general it says that the marriage bond is for life. “Have you not read that the one who created them from the beginning made them male and female and said: ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother and will stick to his wife, and the two will be one flesh’? So that they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has yoked together, let no man put apart.”—Matthew 19:4-6; 1 Corinthians 7:12-15.
- The Bible says that the only place for sexual intimacy is within the marriage bond. It forbids all such intimacy outside marriage. We read: “Those who are sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, men who submit to homosexual acts, men who practice homosexuality . . . will not inherit God’s Kingdom.”—1 Corinthians 6:9, 10.
gm 168-70 - Marriage and Morality
In what ways are Bible standards of morality being widely ignored today?
Loose moral practices are common. Sexual relations between teenage dating couples are often viewed as normal. Living together before marriage—‘just to make sure’—is frequent. And once couples get married, illicit sexual affairs are not uncommon.
gm 168-70 - Marriage and Morality
What has resulted from a widespread ignoring of Bible standards of marriage and morality?
It has brought nothing but turmoil—and expensive turmoil at that—resulting in unhappiness and broken homes. There is also a pandemic of sexually transmitted diseases directly traceable to loose morality. The spread of gonorrhea, syphilis, and chlamydia, among others, is out of control. In recent years, prostitution and homosexual practices have accelerated the spread of AIDS. There is an epidemic of young single girls having babies when they are hardly out of childhood themselves. Ladies’ Home Journal noted: “The emphasis upon sex that typified the sixties and seventies has brought not infinite human happiness but some serious human misery.”
gm 168-70 - Marriage and Morality
What comment made by a professor of sociology indicates the wisdom of following the Bible’s standard of morality?
Professor of sociology Carlfred B. Broderick stated: “Perhaps we are grown up enough to consider whether it would not serve us all better to promote premarital abstinence as a policy that is the most responsive to the needs of our citizens and their right to freedom: freedom from disease, freedom from unwanted pregnancy.” Truly, the Bible’s standard of morality has proved, in the long run, to bring the greatest happiness.
rs 370 - Sex
Is the Bible’s view regarding sex perhaps old-fashioned and needlessly restrictive? (1 Thess. 4:3-8)
1 Thess. 4:3-8: “For this is the will of God, that you . . . abstain from sexual immorality . . . So, then, the man who disregards this is disregarding, not man, but God, who gives you his holy spirit.”
(The Bible’s view regarding sex is not simply something that was developed by certain humans who lived many years ago. It comes from mankind’s Creator; it makes clear what is required in order to have his approval; it also provides guidelines that contribute to stable families and wholesome, happy relationships outside the family. Those who apply this counsel safeguard themselves against the deep emotional scars and loathsome diseases that go with immoral conduct. The Bible’s counsel is very much up to date in meeting the needs of those who want a clean conscience before God and a life free from needless frustration.)
rs 370 - Sex
“For this is the will of God, that you should be holy and abstain from sexual immorality. Each one of you should know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not with greedy, uncontrolled sexual passion like the nations have that do not know God. No one should go beyond proper limits and take advantage of his brother in this matter, because Jehovah exacts punishment for all these things, just as we told you previously and also strongly warned you. For God has called us, not for uncleanness, but for holiness. So, then, the man who disregards this is disregarding, not man, but God, who gives you his holy spirit.”
1 Thessalonians 4:3-8
