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Summary: Exposes the corrupted leaders of Jehovah's Witnesses
Review: This book is written in a calm but unrelenting fashion exposing the spiritual and moral corruption of the Governing Body. (leaders of Jehovah's Witnesses). It shows how a religious organization, built on Biblical values and faith, in the end came to disregard everything it stood for to protect its power and image. A must-read for any Jehovah's Witness and former Jehovah's Witness.
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Summary: Indeed a Crisis of Conscience
Review: As I was starting reading this book, I realized that I wasn't the only one with "crisis of conscience". What I like about this book is that it also contains countless quotations and referrals to the Watchtower megazines and the other publications so that I could look into my Watchtower Library CD Rom. Yes, I've seen the arrogance of the Watchtower Society especially in the child molestation case....
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Summary: I reccomend it to all recovering ex-Jehovah's Witnesses.
Review: I was an elder's wife and saw alot of things that others in the organization did not see. The more 'submissive' you become, the higher your position becomes within the 'church', and the more they entrust you to see. I saw much of what Raymond Franz describes about the organization of Jehovah's Witnesses, firsthand, to be 100% true. The last couple of sections of the book, talks about what happens to someone when they are disfellowshipped and this is explained very acurately as well. I saw many people expelled from JW's firsthand and the heartaches that went along with it. This book reminded me why I had to disassociate myself from the Witnesses and how important it is to read a book such as this to help in the recovery process.
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Summary: Thanks, I needed this
Review: If possible, I would like to thank Raymond Franz personally for writing this book! I was of the millions of 'rank and file' he mentioned and there is no way I would ever know what goes on at the core of the Watchtower organization without his sharing this with us. I was looking for an informative, honest viewpoint with an underlying Christian theme of love and I found it in this book. It's too bad that Jehovah's Witnesses aren't allowed to read such a book, but then they would know what the real 'truth' is, wouldn't they?
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Summary: YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: For Active, Inactive, Disfellowshipped or Disassociated, and those who are contemplating becoming one of Jehovah's Witnesses, and those who have family members who are members:All the reviews here say it as well as I could say it. I feel this book is a necessary reading along with "In Search of Christian Freedom". The book is one of the most kind books about Jehovah's Witnesses I have seen, yet shows the secret interworkings of an organization that even it's members are not allowed to know about. Raymond Franz can talk with authority, since he was at the top of the corporate ladder as one of the Governing Body members. They are the ones who make the rules, and guildlines that all Jehovah's Witnesses live by. So it is from the horses mouth so to speak, that this book is brought to us.
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Summary: This book should be read by all honest Jehovah's Witnesses!
Review: I was brought up a Jehovah's Witness and remember hearing all the rumours surrounding Raymond Franz's departure and the publishing of his book. I asked my father why we were not allowed to read such "apostate" literature because I reasoned that our faith should be strong enough to counter any attacks. He told me that such literature came from the demons and poisoned one's mind. Thus my impression of this book had always been that is was written by a bitter man wanting to take vengeance on the JW's and that it was designed to tear down one's faith.
After finding myself disfellowshipped by the JW's, I still did not want to read this book because of these preconceived ideas I still held. Finally, a friend who had also been disfellowshipped told me that it would not tear down my faith but that I would find it very interesting. IT OPENED MY EYES!!!
My impression from reading this book is that Brother Franz is a kindly man, whose love and fondness for his former "brothers" shines through strongly, despite his being treated the way he was.
Needless to say, my faith was not torn down but built up immensely. I could see the hypocrisy of the JW's, despite many sincere individuals within the organisation. This book is full of honesty and truth, written by a man who has the courage to face up to the truth and bear the drastic consequences of his actions.
Thank you Brother Franz!
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Summary: Must read for anyone thinking about becoming a JW.
Review: I was a JW for 25 years. I remember all the rumors and lies that were told about Mr. Franz and others who were disfellowshipped in the 80's. Of course I was told they were apostate and we would never want to read anything they wrote.
I have since left the organization as well. I found this book to be a very honest, straight forward account of the inner workings of the governing body of Jehovah's Witnessess.
Mr Franz in never vindictive or hateful, in fact at times I felt he still feels sorrow over the lose of friends and family and would have preferred a different outcome.
It is an excellent book for anyone who has no knowledge of the Watchtower. Mr. Franz goes into the history of the organization in such a way that anyone can easily understand it's roots and how it came to be where it is today.
I highly recommed this book to anyone. It's important not just to know what a religion teaches but how they act as well.
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Summary: Free at last
Review: "You will know the truth and the truth will make you free." "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Jesus' own words. I never understood those words until I left the J.W.s. I had left the organization in 1987 after much prayer, reading the whole Bible for myself, researching the Bible and soul searching. It wasn't until the year 2000 that I read two books by Ray Franz, "Crisis of Concience" and "In Search of Christian Freedom". When I did read his books they affirmed much of what I had already discovered, but he added what I could never have discovered because of the postition he had held with-in the Governing body of the organization, combined with his access to the literature of the Society of the the past. By the time I had read his books, I had been apart from the organization for nearly 13 years, and I was shocked at how shattered I felt. But after that came true glorious beautiful freedom, relief and pure joy. Finally. Not freedom from God and what he truly asks of us, but freedom from unnecessary man-made 'slavery'. Jesus gave us our freedom by showing us that it is what is in our hearts that matters. Our actions and behavior are a direct result of the faith and beliefs we hold in our hearts. Mr. Franz's experiences deserve to be read, he has the right to express what happened to him. The Governing Body of J.W.'s has a forum in all their literature to express their opinions, unchallanged. Mr. Franz is a Christian, as am I. Completely. He doesn't in any way encourage anyone to leave the Christianity of the Bible. Nor do I. He can be read with a clear conscience. Jehovah will not abandon us if we exercise our own clear thinking abilties. That is what the apostle Paul encourages as does the whole Bible "But solid food belongs to mature people, to those who through use have their perceptive powers tranied to distinguish both right and wrong." Jesus himself said that any one, any one who keeps on asking, seeking and knocking would be answered by our heavenly Father. Reading Mr. Franz's books will only help. If we don't agree with him, then at least we have made up our own mind. We can honestly say no one has told us what to believe. And we can stand in front of God with a clear conscience in that we were responsible for ourselves, we didn't pass our responsibility to use our "perceptive powers" on to some one else, who can not stand in front of God and answer for us any way. These books were written out of loving concern especially for J.W.s but it will help any who are enslaved by unnecessary man-made religions. This review is also written with a heart filled with love and concern, and the wish that all can find the pure joy and freedom of true Christian belief. "...love is the law's fulfillment." I pray God's blessing as we each continue on our path to more perfect knowledge and understanding and the beautiful relationship with our Father in Heaven.
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Summary: Used to Promote Violence and Bigotry
Review: Reviewer Kristina Gonzalez claims this book saved her life, yet daily we are receiving reports from those in Russia of the atrocities performed Jehovah's Witnesses, especially in the Georgian province. Interestingly, in order to fuel the cycle of hate and violence against Jehovah's Witnesses there, Ray Franz's polemic "Crisis of Conscience" has been translated into Russian and posted on the internet for free viewing. Franz claims to want to "help" others with his book...but instead it is being used in a most hateful fashion. I hope you can live with yourself Ray. I hope you can sleep at night, knowing your book is helping to destroy lives of your former brothers in Russia and turn the fight for religious freedom back to the dark ages. Frankly, I couldn't live with myself if I was in your shoes. If Kristina thinks Franz book promotes Christian Freedom, the facts speak otherwise. This goes for others also, like Ron Rhodes, James White, Rob Bowman, Walter Martin etc. If you only knew how your writings are being used to incite hatred, you might think twice.
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Summary: BEST BOOK ON JWs
Review: COC is much more than the mere story of a man who gave up almost everything because his christian conscience would no longer permit him to live a lie. COC is an expose of the inner workings of the Governing Body of a religion which refers to itself as "The Truth", and teaches that it is the only religion which has God's approval. COC also meticulously documents this religion's 125 years-long series of repeatedly revised endtimes predictions, which have been used to bolster its membership. COC sometimes disappoints readers because they expect the author, who has been slandered and villainized by this organization, to respond in kind. If there ever was a question concerning Raymond Franz's christian character, he has removed such by responding in a calm, objective, and surprisingly respectful fashion. It is unfortunate that the people who most need to read this book, that is, Jehovah's Witnesses, are forbidden to do so, under threat of expulsion. Although Jehovah's Witnesses continuously call at other people's homes to encourage those people to examine their own religion, Jehovah's Witnesses are forbidden to read any material about their religion which is not published by their organization. Even more outrageous is the fact that Jehovah's Witnesses are even discouraged from reading their own older publications, since those contain many unfulfilled predictions. The upside is that anyone who reads COC will know more about their history and more about their leadership than any Jehovah's Witness who will ever come knocking at the door.To view a comprehensive Book Report on COC, visit this URL....
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