to investigate whether they are truly a people who are responding to God’s love. In making your investigation, apply the rule set forth by Jesus Christ: “By their fruits you will recognize them. Never do people gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles, do they? Likewise every good tree produces fine fruit, but every rotten tree produces worthless fruit; a good tree cannot bear worthless fruit, neither can a rotten tree produce fine fruit.”​—Matt. 7:16-18.

Rightly you should expect to find a people who respect the Bible. They should be demonstrating by word and deed that they believe that “all Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work.”​—2 Tim. 3:16, 17.

This means that you should be able to observe in the lives of Jehovah’s Christian witnesses that their applying Bible teaching has produced better husbands and fathers, better wives and mothers and better sons and daughters. You should be able to see a people who are striving to do what God requires of Christians:

“Let all malicious bitterness and anger and wrath and screaming and abusive speech be taken away from you along with all badness. But become kind to one another, tenderly compassionate, freely forgiving one another just as God also by Christ freely forgave you. Therefore, become imitators of God, as beloved children, and go on walking in love, just as the Christ also loved you and delivered himself up for you as an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling odor. Let fornication and uncleanness of every sort or greediness not even be mentioned among you, just as it befits holy people; neither shameful conduct nor foolish talking nor obscene jesting, things which are not becoming, but rather the giving of thanks. . . . Go on walking as children of light, for the fruitage of the light consists of every sort of goodness and righteousness and truth.”​—Eph. 4:31–5:9.

If you wish to be among people who desire to conform their lives to these lofty requirements, we invite you to go to the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses nearest your home. Why not do so this week?

Questions From Readers

● Does Galatians 4:15 show how Christians should view the transplanting of body organs?​—U.S.A.

Galatians 4:15 reads: “If it had been possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me.” Here the apostle Paul was simply using a figure of speech. So great was the regard and affection the Galatians had for Paul that they would have been willing to sacrifice anything useful to themselves, yes, even something as precious and indispensable as their seeing eyes, to assist him in seeing. Similarly Jesus Christ made reference to the eye as representing something gifted with sight when he said: “If, now, that right eye of yours is making you stumble, tear it out and throw it away from you.” (Matt. 5:29) The use of sight to look at something causing one to stumble to a spiritual fall was to be deadened. Neither Jesus nor Paul were discussing the subject of transplanting body organs.

● At the time of baptism, what is the proper attire for a woman?​—U.S.A.

The Bible does not say that either a man or a woman should wear a special garment at the time of baptism. So it is up to the woman to decide what she considers to be appropriate. Many women find that a modest swimsuit serves that purpose well. In some parts of the world women wear a dress or a robe. Of course, in choosing what to wear at the time of her baptism, a woman should keep in mind the seriousness of the occasion. Manifestly it would be unbecoming for her to wear a swimsuit that would be considered extreme and shockingly revealing. Neither would she wear a dress that immodestly clung to the body when wet. In harmony with 1 Timothy 2:9, her choice should reflect “modesty and soundness of mind.”

● Why are women allowed to speak up at the meetings of Jehovah’s Christian witnesses even though 1 Corinthians 14:34 says that “it is not permitted for them to speak”?​—U.S.A.

The application of the apostle Paul’s inspired command should be understood in the light of the context. When Paul wrote, the meetings of the congregation at Corinth, including those meetings where unbelievers were present, lacked order. More than one person at a time would be prophesying or speaking in a tongue. (1 Cor. 14:22-32) Evidently some women there would raise challenging questions and dispute with men appointed to teach the congregation. Thus these women were actually assuming the position of teachers and ignoring the position of headship assigned to the man.​—1 Cor. 11:3.

Correcting the situation, Paul called attention to the fact that “God is a God, not of disorder, but of peace.” (1 Cor. 14:33) Respecting women, he wrote: “Let the women keep silent in the congregations, for it is not permitted for them to speak, but let them be in subjection, even as the Law says. If, then, they want to learn something, let them question their own husbands at home, for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in a congregation.” (1 Cor. 14:34, 35) This admonition is in agreement with Paul’s later words in his first letter to Timothy: “Let a woman learn in silence with full submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach, or to exercise authority over a man, but to be in silence.”​—1 Tim. 2:11, 12.

Accordingly, the command for women not to speak applied whenever such speaking had the unwholesome effect of undermining the authority of the men in the congregation. That it did not rule out all speaking on the part of women is evident from 1 Corinthians 11:5: “Every woman that prays or prophesies with her head uncovered shames her head.” However, it would have been disgraceful for women to raise challenging questions or to lift themselves up above the men assembled and begin instructing them. For them to do such things would also have brought reproach on their husbands.

In keeping with the apostolic pattern, women in the congregations of Jehovah’s Christian witnesses do not teach the congregation at public meetings. They do not exercise authority over men. Any speaking they do is under the direction of men appointed to oversee the meeting. Thus at no time does their speaking contradict the authority men exercise in the congregation.

● Does not the Bible example in which Jehovah expressed his disapproval of Onan for wasting his semen show that the use of contraceptives is wrong?​—U.S.A.

No, for an examination of the record about Onan reveals that he was not put to death for practicing birth control.

After the death of his brother Er, Onan was instructed by his father Judah to perform brother-in-law marriage with Tamar. This was with the express purpose of ‘raising up offspring’ for his dead brother. He would have no right to have relations with her otherwise. Of Onan’s response to Judah’s command, we read: “Onan knew that the offspring would not become his; and it occurred that when he did have relations with his brother’s wife he wasted his semen on the earth so as not to give offspring to his brother. Now what he did was bad in the eyes of Jehovah.” (Gen. 38:8-10) Brother-in-law marriage was later incorporated into the Law covenant at Jehovah’s command.​—Deut. 25:5, 6.