Monthly Archives: April 2014
260.WHY ARE PEOPLE AFFECTED BY COFFEE?
When coffee was first introduced in Europe during the second part of the seventeenth century, there was a great deal of controversy about it. Many “learned doctors” announced that coffee was a strong poison and should be prohibited. Others insisted it was a good thing to drink coffee, and “coffee-houses” sprang up everywhere.
Coffee can actually act as a poison when it is given in large doses to animals in laboratory tests. It can also produce toxic effects in small children. But for adults who drink it in moderation, it is definitely not a poison.
259.WHO WAS MOHAMMED?
In the early part of the seventh century, a young Arab felt himself divinely inspired to found a new religion and go forth as its prophet. This great man, whose name was Mohammed, sowed the seeds of a faith that has become one of the three foremost world religions.
Mohammed proclaimed the one God of the Jews and Christians to be the only true God. He placed himself beside Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Mohammed called his religion Islam (which means submission to the will of God).
258.WHO WAS CONFUCIUS?
Years ago there used to a great many popular jokes that began: “Confucius say….” It seems as if everybody knows that Confucius said many wise things. Confucius was one of the greatest moral teachers of all time. He lived in China about five hundred years before Christ. Confucius studied ancient Chinese writings from which he took ideas that to him seemed important to the development of fine character. Then he taught these ideas to the princes and to the students of all classes who flocked to him for instruction. The rules he laid down 2,400 years ago are still held up as ideals.
Confucius’ Chinese name was Kung-Fu-tse. At the age of 22, three years after his marriage, Confucius began to teach men how to live happily. His principle rule for happiness, “What you do not wish done to yourself, do not do to others,” was much like the Golden Rule.
