Course Content
A team of reporters for the respected Sunday Times has uncovered laboratories around the world willing to sell or export lethal biological agents capable of killing thousands of people—in one case for as little as $1,000.
Posing as representatives of a medical lab in Africa, these undercover men were offered samples of anthrax and brucella by a lab in Indonesia. This Asian plant made no check on their identities or even asked how the lethal products might be used. Another group of Sunday Times reporters was offered lethal botulinum bacteria by a plant in the Czech Republic. These two labs—one in Eastern Europe and one in the Far East—are among about 450 germ collectors worldwide. Some 50 offer anthrax; about 35 trade in botulinum.
Undercover British reporters contacted about 20 of these plants, including three in Mexico, Brazil and China. The latter did at least ask for an export license before approving the sale.
What are the implications of these discoveries? Microscopic amounts of these germs can quickly kill hundreds of people if inhaled or consumed in contaminated food products. Rogue countries such as North Korea and Iraq, along with terrorist cells around the world, are suspected of buying and storing these lethal agents. Several British politicians are clamoring for tighter international controls.
A feature article concluded: "The CIA has warned that biological and chemical weapons represent the most urgent long-term threat to the West. There are fears that anyone with a basic scientific knowledge and a backroom laboratory could use the bugs to make biological weapons." (Source: The Sunday Times[London].)
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
Scott Ashley was managing editor of Beyond Today magazine, United Church of God booklets and its printed Bible Study Course until his retirement in 2023. He also pastored three congregations in Colorado for 10 years from 2011-2021. He and his wife, Connie, live near Denver, Colorado.
Mr. Ashley attended Ambassador College in Big Sandy, Texas, graduating in 1976 with a theology major and minors in journalism and speech. It was there that he first became interested in publishing, an industry in which he worked for 50 years.
During his career, he has worked for several publishing companies in various capacities. He was employed by the United Church of God from 1995-2023, overseeing the planning, writing, editing, reviewing and production of Beyond Today magazine, several dozen booklets/study guides and a Bible study course covering major biblical teachings. His special interests are the Bible, archaeology, biblical culture, history and the Middle East.
