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Raymond Victor Franz (born 1922) was a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses from 1971 until May 22, 1980,[1] and served at the organization's world headquarters for fifteen years, from 1965 until 1980. Franz claims the request for his resignation and his subsequent disfellowshipping resulted from allegations of his apostasy from the faith. Franz has written and edited two books that relate his personal experiences with the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society and fellow members of the Jehovah's Witnesses organization.
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Early life
Franz was born in 1922 and raised as a third-generation Jehovah's Witness. His uncle, Frederick Franz, was influential in the religion's development, practices and doctrines. His father was baptized in 1913 as a Bible Student (as Jehovah's Witnesses were known prior to 1931). Franz joined the Jehovah's Witnesses in 1938, and became a baptized member in 1939.[2]
Missionary
In 1944 Franz graduated from Gilead, the religion's school for training missionaries, and temporarily served the organization as a traveling representative in the continental U.S. until receiving a missionary assignment to Puerto Rico in 1946. Franz became a representative of Jehovah's Witnesses throughout the Caribbean, traveling to the Virgin Islands and the Dominican Republic, at least until 1957 when Jehovah's Witnesses were banned in the Dominican Republic by dictator Rafael Trujillo.[3] At the age of 37 Franz married his wife, Cynthia, who joined him in these missionary travels from 1959 onward. Both returned to the Dominican Republic in 1961 to evangelize for four more years.[4]
World Headquarters
According to his own account, Franz began working in the organization's writing department and was assigned to collaboratively write Aid to Bible Understanding, the first religious encyclopaedia published by Jehovah's Witnesses. In the preface of his first book, Crisis of Conscience, Franz describes his experience at the headquarters in this way:
What I saw, heard and experienced during the next fifteen years had a great impact on me. Whether the reaction of the reader will coincide with mine, I have no way of knowing, but one thing is certain, and that is no one could understand what brought me to a crisis situation without knowing these developments. The proverb is apt: 'When anyone is replying to a matter before he hears it, that is foolishness on his part and a humiliation'—Proverbs 18:13[5]
Membership in the Governing Body
In his personal memoir Franz stated that the crossroads in his life occurred during his nine years as a Governing Body member:
By the end of 1979 I had arrived at my personal crossroads. I had spent nearly forty years as a full time representative, serving at every level of the organizational structure. The last fifteen years I had spent at the international headquarters, and the final nine of those as a member of the worldwide Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses. It was those final years that were the crucial period for me. Illusions there met up with reality. I have since come to appreciate the rightness of a quotation I recently read, one made by a statesman, now dead, who said:
- "The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie—deliberate, contrived and dishonest—but the myth—persistent, persuasive and unrealistic."
I now began to realize how large a measure of what I had based my entire adult life course on was just that, a myth—"persistent, persuasive and unrealistic."[6]
In late 1979 Franz discussed these concerns with his wife, and they decided "the advisable course for us was to terminate our activity at the international headquarters."
Expulsion
In March 1980 Franz and his wife decided, due to health concerns, to take time off on leave of absence from the world headquarters. On 8 May 1980, Albert Schroeder, then-chairman of the Governing Body, phoned Franz to inform him that he had been implicated as an apostate.[7] On 20 May 1980 he met with the Chairman's Committee, and was played a taped audio interview of a married Witness couple who spoke about rumours of private meetings of Witnesses who were discussing various teachings of the Watchtower Society[dubious ]. Franz relates that the two-hour tape was filled with leading questions by the Watchtower representatives who conducted the interview, and pressure was applied by them in an attempt to obtain information which would be grounds for charges of apostasy. According to Franz, the information obtained existed in the form of rumours only.[8]
Resignation
According to Franz's account, on 21 May 1980 he was called to a Governing Body session which was to be tape-recorded. He agreed to participate, with the stipulation that he be given a copy of the tape recording; he states that although he was verbally assured by the Governing Body that his request would be honored, it was not.[9] Franz claimed that he was questioned for three hours about the Church and its doctrines.[10]
On 22 May 1980 Schroeder came to Franz's room and informed him that some Governing Body members wanted him disfellowshipped and that the Governing Body wanted Franz to resign. Franz chose to write a resignation letter, and refused the Watchtower Society's offer of a monthly stipend as a member of the 'Infirm Special Pioneers'. He and his wife then left the organization's headquarters.[11]
Official Apostasy
In the August 1980 edition of the monthly newsletter, Our Kingdom Ministry, sent to all congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses, the front page contained the statement that five members of Bethel and also a number of others had been disfellowshipped. The article did not mention any names in connection with these claims.[12]
On 1 September 1980 the Governing Body distributed a letter to all Circuit and District overseers further addressing the issue of apostasy in relation to those who do not actually teach or spread contrary beliefs[13].
Life after disfellowshipping
Since Franz's disfellowshipping as of 31 December 1981, he has written two books presenting detailed accounts of his experiences as a Jehovah's Witness, a Governing Body member, and his experiences throughout various levels of the organization. These books are Crisis of Conscience and In Search of Christian Freedom.
Franz currently lives in the USA with his wife, Cynthia.
References
- ^ "Announcements", Our Kingdom Ministry, August 1980, page 2, "This is a notification that Raymond Victor Franz is no longer a member of the Governing Body and of the Brooklyn Bethel family as of May 22, 1980."
- ^ Franz, Raymond (1983). Crisis of Conscience. Commentary Press. p. 11.
- ^ Franz, Raymond (1983). Crisis of Conscience. Commentary Press. p. 16.
- ^ Franz, Raymond (1983). Crisis of Conscience. Commentary Press. pp. 18–19.
- ^ Franz, Raymond (1983). Crisis of Conscience. Commentary Press. p. 21.
- ^ Franz, Raymond (2000). Crisis of Conscience. Commentary Press, Third edition, Second printing. pp. 223, 224.
- ^ Franz, Raymond (2004). Crisis of Conscience. Commentary Press, Forth edition. pp. 312-313.
- ^ Franz, Raymond (2004). Crisis of Conscience. Commentary Press, Forth edition. p. 317.
- ^ Franz, Raymond (2000). Crisis of Conscience. Commentary Press, Third edition, Second printing. pp. 314, 336–341.
- ^ Franz, Raymond (2000). Crisis of Conscience. Commentary Press, Third edition, Second printing. p. 331.
- ^ Franz, Raymond (2000). Crisis of Conscience. Commentary Press, Third edition, Second printing. p. 321.
- ^ "Branch Letter", Our Kingdom Ministry, August 1980, "We are saddened to report at this time that five members of the Bethel family, and a few others in the New York city area have recently been disfellowshiped. There has been some apostasy against the organization and the promoting of sectarian divisions in some of the congregations of God’s people. (Titus 3:9-11) Living as we are in times difficult to deal with, it should not be surprising that such things occur. The first-century congregation also experienced deviations as we well know from our reading of the Holy Scriptures.—1 Tim. 1:20; 4:1; 2 Tim. 2:17, 18; 1 Cor. 15:12, 13; Acts 20:29, 30."
- ^ Protecting the Flock part 1: http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=gx1b3eW9 Part 2: http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=aVgAAxJ
External links
- Time magazine The February 22 1982 article about the expulsion of Raymond Franz
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