THE JOURNALIST looked at me, stunned. We were in the press area covering a nuclear disarmament rally.
One of the press corps wondered why The Plain Truth would send someone to cover a disarmament rally.
"You say in your magazine that God is going to destroy the earth," this woman journalist said.”So why would you be interested in any human effort to disarm?"
"Because," I answered, "God isn't going to destroy the earth — and neither do we publish such a message. What we do publish is the good news that God will send his son Jesus Christ to stop humans from destroying the earth and all humanity on it. Man will continue to misgovern himself to the point where the situation requires divine intervention to avoid ultimate human extinction. Therefore, we're very interested in efforts of men, who are cut off from any true knowledge of God, to halt the process of destruction."
Stunned at this remark, she continued as other members of the press joined in: "But doesn't the Bible say that God will destroy the earth? And anyway, why do you even use the Bible as your authority and reference point in The Plain Truth?"
What the Bible Really Says
These are fair questions. And we answer them every month in the pages of The Plain Truth.
But have you assumed, like this journalist, that an angry God will smite this planet "filled with sinners"? Do you really know what the Bible says about the causes of the human conditions leading to the "end of the world" and the dawn of a new age?
Notice this biblical account: "Then [at the end — the time you and I are fast approaching] there will be great misery [King James Version: "great tribulation"], such as has never happened from the beginning of the world until now, and will never happen again!" (Matt. 24:21, Phillips translation).
This world, already groaning under the complex human problems of war, poverty and starvation, will see yet worse.
Indeed, far worse!
"Terror will seize them, pain and anguish will grip them; they will writhe like a woman in labor" (Isa. 13:8, New International Version).
Few understand the cause of these tragedies that will so affect all mankind.
Fewer still have any knowledge of the good news about the solution to today's mounting problems. It's the message The Plain Truth proclaims in six languages every month. The good news that Jesus will return to cut short mercifully these tragic days, for, "if those days had not been cut short no human being would survive" (Matt. 24:22, Phillips).
To implement the solution to today's evils, Jesus Christ is coming to establish a way of life that is now practiced by only a very few — a way of living that's based on giving, caring and real love. If you survive to live into this great new world of joy, peace and prosperity, the Bible says you won't be living today's way of suffering and pain anymore. You won't be allowed to!
When Christ returns, he will halt the final awesome battle of man against man (Rev. 16:14-20. Zech. 14:1-4, 12). And he will return with supreme authority to bring humanity a new government (Dan. 2:44).
Why do so few understand that the actions of human governments — governments based on taking, not giving — cause today's global problems?
And further, that behind these wrong governments exist attitudes and forces that flaw every attempt at world peace?
What Only the Bible Reveals
Why does The Plain Truth stand on the authority of the Bible in announcing this good news?
First, consider the world you live in. If you read today's newspaper — any paper — you are instantly reminded of the squalor, the turmoil engulfing most of the human race.
Why must we have strife, starvation and warfare? Why, despite genuine human interest and efforts, are we unable to resolve racial tensions, murders, family breakups and divorce?
Do you realize that there is a cause for every effect? Do you realize that there are only two basic ways of life?
Let's understand this! Humanity suffers the evils — the curses of war, theft, crime — because men and women overwhelmingly embrace a way of taking, getting, hurting. For simplicity's sake, The Plain Truth calls this the way of "get." And few realize that this way of "get" causes — automatically nets — the evils and social plagues besetting humanity today!
The opposite way — the way of giving, of love and concern — is intimately revealed in the Bible. It is thought of highly in the words of men, but rarely fully understood and practiced in deeds!
This hypocritical world is so blinded, so completely confused (Rev. 12:9), it cannot of itself comprehend what this "give" way of life really means!
The Only Source
There is only ONE source that authoritatively reveals this missing knowledge so desperately needed. This source is the Holy Bible. Yet today no book is more completely misunderstood.
Only the Bible reveals a complete way of living that would bring peace, world disarmament, abolition of poverty.
But a deceived humanity, in abysmal ignorance, won't practice it! By personal, individual choice, men and women reject the authority of the Bible — purposely rejecting the LIVING spiritual laws that govern this universe.
The result? "Justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey" (Isa. 59:14-15, NIV).
None of this need ever be. The laws established by the great God — summarized in 10 overall principles known as the Ten Commandments — were established for our benefit, to guide human beings to happiness. And God blesses those who keep and obey them!
Notice what happens to those who sincerely yield their lives to God's revealed way of life and obey his laws: ". . . see what I will do, says the Lord of hosts; see if I will not then open the very sluices of heaven to pour a blessing down for you, a [physical] harvest more than enough . . . all nations shall call you happy, the Lord of hosts declares, for you shall be a land of delight" (Mal. 3:10-12, Moffat).
This is your personal choice — to continue in the way of competition, jealousy, greed and eventual human destruction, or to embrace a way that brings genuine satisfaction and real happiness.
If you want to find how relevant the Bible is to your life today, write for your free copies of our booklets Never Before Understood — Why Humanity Cannot Solve Its Evils and The Ten Commandments.
The way of real understanding stands open to you. What's your choice?