Do You Remember?

Have you appreciated reading the recent issues of The Watchtower? See if you can answer the following questions:

• Why can the first sin​—Adam’s disobedience—​be likened to a hereditary disease?

It is like a disease because Adam transmitted sin to his offspring. We have thus inherited the defect of sin, just as some children inherit a disease from their parents.​—8/15, page 5.

• What are basic causes of the increased violence today?

Satan is trying to estrange people from Jehovah by sowing a spirit of violence in hearts, such as through movies, music, and computer games that incite players to simulate brutality and slaughter. Media violence has contributed to many acts of violence.​—9/1, page 29.

• Who was Pontius Pilate?

He was a Roman of the lower nobility who had likely been in the military. Roman Emperor Tiberius appointed Pilate governor of the province of Judaea in 26 C.E. At Jesus’ trial, Pilate heard charges made by the Jewish leaders. To please the crowd, he sanctioned Jesus’ execution.​—9/15, pages 10-12.

• What is “the sign” mentioned at Matthew 24:3?

This sign is composed of several facets that make up a composite identifying mark, or signal. The sign includes war, famine, pestilence, and earthquakes, and it would enable Jesus’ followers to recognize his “presence” as well as “the conclusion of the system of things.”​—10/1, pages 4-5.

• What was the Diaspora, and what locations were involved?

The term applies to the Jews living outside Palestine. In the first century, the main Jewish centers were in Syria, Asia Minor, Babylonia, and Egypt, and there were smaller communities in the European part of the Roman Empire.​—10/15, page 12.

• Can a Christian maintain a good conscience if he accepts armed employment?

Engaging in secular work that requires carrying a firearm or another weapon is a personal decision. But armed employment exposes one to possible bloodguilt if one uses the weapon and to the danger of injury or death from an attack or reprisal. A Christian carrying such a weapon would not qualify for special privileges in the congregation. (1 Timothy 3:3, 10)​—11/1, page 31.

• Since the word “Armageddon” is drawn from the expression “Mountain of Megiddo,” will the battle of Armageddon be fought at a mountain in the Middle East?

No. There is no Mountain of Megiddo, only a mound, or tell, rising above the adjacent valley plain in Israel. That area could not hold all “the kings of the earth and their armies.” God’s great war will be fought earth wide, and it will end all wars. (Revelation 16:14, 16; 19:19; Psalm 46:8, 9)​—12/1, pages 4-7.