The Talk

Today I must finish my studying for the meeting tonight and get my talk written so I can give Sylvia, my householder, a copy, and we can decide when and where we will practise it for Thursday week.

The assigned talk is:   HOW DO WE KNOW THERE REALLY IS A DEVIL?

And the assigned material is taken from "Reasoning from the Scriptures" p361 par.2 - p362 par.2:   

"The Bible is the chief source of evidence. There he is repeatedly referred to by name (Satan 52 times, Devil 33 times). Eyewitness testimony as to Satan’s existence is also recorded there. Who was the eyewitness? Jesus Christ, who lived in heaven before coming to earth, repeatedly spoke of that wicked one by name.—Luke 22:31; 10:18; Matt. 25:41.

What the Bible says about Satan the Devil makes sense. The evil that mankind experiences is far out of proportion to the malice of the humans involved. The Bible’s explanation of Satan’s origin and his activities makes clear why, despite the desire of the majority to live in peace, mankind has been plagued with hatred, violence, and war for thousands of years and why this has reached such a level that it now threatens to destroy all mankind.

If there really were no Devil, accepting what the Bible says about him would not bring lasting benefits to a person. In many instances, however, persons who formerly dabbled in the occult or who belonged to groups practicing spiritism report that they were at that time greatly distressed because of hearing “voices” from unseen sources, being “possessed” by superhuman beings, etc. Genuine relief was gained when they learned what the Bible says about Satan and his demons, applied the Bible’s counsel to shun spiritistic practices, and sought Jehovah’s help in prayer.—See pages 384-389, under the heading “Spiritism.”

Believing that Satan exists does not mean accepting the idea that he has horns, a pointed tail, and a pitchfork and that he roasts people in a fiery hell. The Bible gives no such description of Satan. That is the product of the minds of medieval artists who were influenced by representations of the mythological Greek god Pan and by the Inferno written by the Italian poet Dante Alighieri. Instead of teaching a fiery hell, the Bible clearly says that “the dead . . . are conscious of nothing at all.”—Eccl. 9:5."

Study No.25: Use of an Outline...  this is a difficult one for me. Do I yet have the confidence to work from an outline, rather than a full script, which I prefer?

Setting:  Making a return visit to someone who showed interest.  I am going to call back on Sylvia and we will talk...

This is very timely, as we, the children of Adam, are busy memorialising World War 1 - "the war to end wars" - when, according to an article in The Independent recently - there are now only 11 countries in the world free from some kind of conflict.

What is the force that is pulling the strings?  Or rather, who?  I hope my Bible-based talk will help identify him. But it won't unless I get it written!

I am very much enjoying The Great British Bake-off - and the accompanying Guardian blog.   A comment from the blog today:  "Mary's look at the mention of sesame seed ice cream was her best since the legendary store bought fondant incident of 2014."

Indeed.

The Captain is coping valiantly.