Dr. Joseph F. Zygmunt, Ph.D.

by Nathan Natas 7 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Nathan Natas

  Sometime within the past couple of weeks someone here mentioned Joseph Zygmunt's Ph. D. dissertation about Jehovah's Witnesses. A question was asked about where the dissertation could be obtained from. (I have tried without success to find that recent post) There may be others who would have an interest in this material.

  Here is the answer to that question:

  Order from DISSERTATION EXPRESS

  http://wwwlib.umi.com/dxweb/gateway

  each paper is $41.00

  This was Mr. Zygmunt's Doctoral dissertation:

  # T-13725 JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES: A STUDY OF SYMBOLIC AND STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS IN THE DEVELOPMENT AND INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF A SECTARIAN MOVEMENT.

  by ZYGMUNT, JOSEPH F., PHD. THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO, 1968. 978 pages.

  = = =

  This was Mr. Zygmunt's Master's thesis:

  # TM01914 SOCIAL ESTRANGEMENT AND RECRUITMENT PROCESS.

  by ZYGMUNT, JOSEPH F., MA. THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO, 1953. 410 pages.

  = = =

  Also, you can find some additional material by using GOOGLE SCHOLAR:

  http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=%22author%3AJ.%20F.+author%3AZygmunt%22

  I have not tracked down all of the Google hits to determine pricing and availability.
• 

  slimboyfat

  Thank you Nathan. I think it was my post you remember. I wonder if you can get Curry's study of JWs as a millenarian movement from the same source.

  I had the opportunity to buy Stroup's book on JWs online some time ago as well and didn't take it up - and now I can't find it anywhere. For Curry and Stroup I think I will hold out and wait until the books become available. Since Zygmunt's study was never published I think I will take up your suggestion to buy such a copy of his dissertation.

  Does anyone else have a copy, would they recommend it?
• 

  JW_Researcher

  I have Zymunt's article below in PDF I can share. Contact me via PM and I'll e-mail it to you. It is 2.675 KB.

  Prophetic Failure and Chiliastic Identity: The Case of Jehovah's Witnesses

  Joseph F. Zygmunt

  The American Journal of Sociology > Vol. 75, No. 6 (May, 1970), pp. 926-948

  I thought I scanned his dissertation but I can't lay my hands on it ....got lots of CDs around....with lots of topics. :-)
• 

  Leolaia

  I have chapters from Curry xeroxed. I would scan them except I am busy at the moment scanning my copy of Timothy White....
• 

  slimboyfat

  Leolaia,

  Would you recommend Curry? Penton says he makes basic mistakes. I have copied White's book as well - not read it all yet, but it looks very good so far. What about the Cronn-Mills (spelling?) book "Rhetoric and Reality in the Watchtower Religion" - anyone forked out $100 (or something like that) for that book? Was it worth it?

  JW_Researcher

  I have a book with Zygmunt's articles in it along with Singelenberg's article on 1975.
• 

  JW_Researcher

  I have Curry's dissertation in PDF (12MB) and Cronn-Mills' dissertation (9MB) in PDF.

  PM me if you want to try to e-mail them or some other method of transfer.

  I believe my ISP can handle 12MB...not certain though.

  There are other options also.

  On the other hand, you may not be interested in the dissertations.
• 

  Leolaia

  It's been ages since I've read Curry but I do remember indeed some errors of fact. There were some good insights too; the one that sticks out in my mind are his comments about JW's annihilationism and the belief in the resurrection of Christ, and how the Watchtower Society fit into the trend of muckraking and yellow journalism (think the "Golden Age", for instance) that contributed to the belief of the end being near...
• 

  Nathan Natas

  YES!

  Imagine my surprise upon discovering that both Curry and Cronn-Mills had first names and that their dissertations had titles! Woo-eee!

  As with Dr. Zygmunt's work, these are $41 each.

  JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES: THE EFFECTS OF MILLENARIANISM ON THE MAINTENANCE OF A RELIGIOUS SECT. CURRY, MELVIN DOTSON, JR., PhD. THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY, 1980. 322 pp. -- # 8016661

  A social construction of reality evident in the discourse of Jehovah's Witnesses. Cronn-Mills, Daniel David, PhD. THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA - LINCOLN, 1994. 278 pp. Advisor: Carter, Kathryn -- # 9519530

  I want to thank "the other" Nina for her recent PM, which offered this potentially money-saving tip:

  People associated with universities often have access to a bank of theses, free. They just order them up through the school library.
  
  
  You might be able to get what you want at no charge.

  This was something I didn't know. Thanks, (the other) Nina!

  By the way, I want to mention that all these dissertations and theses are protected by US copyright law, and that the owner of the copyright is the author unless those rights have been transfered. The copyright lasts 95 years.