The Society has never published the details of exactly how the governing body came into existence. THAT would be telling
Fred Franz climbs the pyramid of power to CREATE WORLD EVENTS
by Terry 31 Replies latest watchtower scandals
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james_woods
Was an Elder wrote:
Terry, could you clear this up for me. It's not meant as a challenge to what you wrote, I am trying to reconcile it to what I'd thought I'd read here and there. You say, "Now, decades later, Franz had engineered the mantle of FDS onto a body of elders in the Governing Body itself which HE HIMSELF was the senior member and chief intellectual vanguard." Is this after he opposed the formation of a governing body as he seemed to be during his talk to the Gilead graduation? I thought he was against the idea because he wanted to be the Watchtower President the same way all the other "Popes" of Brooklyn had been, chief soothsayer and prophet. I agree he took on that role, but I wonder if he didn't oppose the change in format. Thanks, W.Once I also have a little different view on Freddy (than the engineer of the GB), thanks to what Marion and Ed Dunlap told be from the old 1980 apostacy days. Freddy was actually pretty senile by the time that the 1980-81 rebellion started. He thought he was the lifetime president of the Society, just like Knorr, Judge, and Prophet before him. The GB was in fact a way to wean away control of the society from him, on the part of other power seekers. The dying Freddy was, however, successful in maintaining a certain degree of control - evidence in the 2/3 rule, the cop-out on 1975, maintaining most of the old failed doctrine, and of course that famous watchtower which showed his picture as "president" along with his 3 predecessors, and also eventually in the dismantling the hated "rotation of elders" of which nothing more has ever been heard, I suppose. One of my favorite Ed Dunlap stories is from the little group of "bethel boys" that Freddy had picked out as spa companions for bible study and general BS shooting on free evenings. One of these guys was an informant to the apostates - and he related in hilarious detail how Freddy would rant on (as only a delusional oldster could) about how "they tried to get me with that governing body thing, but they just didn't know the scriptures like I did, do de da da da...da.). Like in the playboy mansion, though - what happens in the Grotto, stays in the Grotto...
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whereami
This guy claims to know the real truth about Russell, http://pastorrussell.blogspot.com/ Just another JW apologist. He refutes the information about Russell being a adulterer. Says That Russell did not become president of the WTS by force, and says that he has proof to support it. I know some here know Russell history very well. I was wondering if you can refute the claims on this blog.
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Terry
der Farkel-meister wrote:
Terry,
:Fred Franz had studied New Testament Greek in college
Not true. He studied Classical Greek in college, and I believe he only took one Semester of that.
Hey Fark, I'm just reporting what Wikipedia's article on Franz stated:
Frederick William Franz (September 12, 1893 – December 22, 1992) served as President of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, the legal entity used to direct the work of Jehovah's Witnesses). He had previously served as Vice President of the the same corporation from 1945 until 1977 and as a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses before replacing Nathan H. Knorr as president in 1977. Raymond Franz, also a member of the Governing Body until he was expelled and subsequently disfellowshipped in 1982, was Frederick's nephew. [1]
Franz was born in Covington, Kentucky, and graduated high school in 1911. He attended the University of Cincinnati where he studiedBiblical Greek, [2]
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Terry
:In the 1940's, brothers were receiving life sentences for refusal to accept draft notices in defense of America.
Wow! I've never heard of life sentences for draft refusal! Do you have references for that?
Farkel
Yes! I believe it was a Time magazine article. I've got it on a portable hardrive. I'll try and find it for you.
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Nathan Natas
James_Woods said,
Undoubtedly he did. In my recent mini-research on Hayden Covington (the society lawyer), I discovered that he had been Judge Rutherford's hand-picked successor.
This is fascinating - something I had not heard of before: that Covington was in contention with Franz to win Joe-Hovah's favor. I'm not challenging you, but I must ask what your source for this info is.
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james_woods
Try this thread, Nathan:
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Terry
Originally, Pastor Russell and his wife, Maria, were the "twain" who constituted the "faithful and discreet slave". Russell broke away from his wife to become the sole "slave" through whom it was asserted Jehovah's Truth was revealed. The Watchtower magazine and the books penned by Pastor Russell served up "food" to the membership at the proper time for it to be read, understood and followed.
Russell left detailed instruction as to who he, the spirit-guided anointed mouthpiece, wanted to follow him as Directors of the Watchtower Society.
These instructions were violated by the next president, Joseph (Judge) Rutherford. Rutherford maneuevered himself into the sole controlling power position and left the others as non-functioning figureheads.
Pastor Russell deliberately left local congregations autonomous and completely free of central control by the Society itself. Rutheford saw fit to reverse this policy.
Pastor Russell wanted no membership lists to obtain or tests of orthodoxy to be held over the congregations. Rutherford reversed this policy as well.
Judge Rutherford allowed Russell to be understood as the "faithful slave" until such a time as he entrenched his powers and controls over the membership. At such a time the understanding of the doctrine of "faithful slave" morphed into the exact opposite of what Pastor Russell and his wife originally described.
The religion of Jehovah's Witnesses is a hierarchy. Senior elders in local Bethels control the religion and its policies and practices much the same as bishops and cardinals guide the practices of Catholicism.
In 1931 the legal name of the religion changed to Jehovah's Witnesses from that of International Bible Students Association.
At least 75% of the membership split away from the religion as a result of Judge Rutherford's takeover and policy changes. The faithful members who would not accept Rutherford's claims of anointing and spiritual headship remain as a group today.
The offices, publications and official journal was completely controlled by Rutherford as a result of his legal moves to usurp Russell's legacy. The membership roles he obtained through his travelling agents and the strong arm enforcement strategies he brought to bear on outlying congregations forced a series of reckonings. Rutherford branded any who would not comply with his power and authority as Apostates.
These "Apostates" remained autonomous as Russell had wanted them. Today they are known variously as Associated Bibles Students and Steadfast Bible Students.
What legal manuever did Rutherford use to wrest control from the board setup by Pastor Russell?
Rutherford contended that the membership of the Board had never been confirmed by vote at the annual corporation meeting. This left them vulnerable to dismissal by Rutherford's legal opinion; he being the legal spokesman for said Society.
This interpretation was never tested in court, but; the application to Rutherford himself would logically and necessarily apply as well! Rutherford was never confirmed by vote either!
Rutherford proceeded to use the Society's printing facilities to set forth his personal views and side of the controversy in direct violation of Pastor Russell's express wishes that nothing be launched in publication after his death. By this time, Judge Rutherford had compiled a mailing list of the membership and directed his campaign of persuasion in personal attacks on four members of the existing committee of Directors. Subsequently, Rutherford fired the four and appointed his own choices to fill the empty positions.
The four dismissed members published their own rebuttals using their own resources and money, but; without the mailing list to guide their arguments their claims largely fell silent. Rutherford had the assets and monies of the Watchtower coporation at hand to win lawsuits if such should arise. The injured parties had no such equivalent wealth or legal standing to continue their fight.
Under the Judge, membership of the Board of Directors was a name-only position for everyone involved but himself. He did as he pleased and the members were told afterward as a rubber stamp function.
For all practical purposes, it was Judge Rutherford's authoratarian coup which set the standard for the monlithic legalism which grew by leaps and bounds ever afterward.
Instead of a religous group of bible students joined in mutual equality and autonomy; the corporate takeover of the Society's assets blossomed into a world wide sounding board for one man's ever stranger opinionating and prejudices.
The bombastic, excoriating series of books and articles which began to emanate from Pastor Russell's bible society, under the leadership of Judge Rutherford, dramatically established a new era of controversy, acrimony and public defiance.
So, unhinged was Rutherford's rampant takeover that he landed the board of Directors in prison shortly afterward for counseling members of the armed forces to lay down their weapons and leave the battlefield.
This began an endless series of clashes with government, churches and society itself which can only be characterized as a rampage of egotism.
From those days forward, Rutherford's policies and dictums took on a flavor of legalism that devolved into nitpicking behavior controls. Authoratarianism, threats, controls, legalism and outright bullying shaped the remaining 25% of Russell's original faithful few into a feisty culture of contrarian vigilantes willing to march into hell for the Judge's spoken commands.
Members began to be viewed as troublemakers instead of bible students. They insulted churches, pastors, Christianity, government, the military, holidays and even treasured customs in an effort to be noticed as holier-than-thou.
You had to be tough, feisty and cocksure to make it through those years. Those who did and lived to tell about it were the hardcore evangelists who went to extremes to bring in the next generation of misfits, upstarts and know-it-alls who would expand the membership from thousands into millions worldwide.
Today, the Watchtower Society is run with the same basic hierarchy structure as the Catholic Church. The chief difference being the tradition behind the theology has changed almost daily at the whim of the Governing leaders.
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Farkel
Terry,
With regards to whether Fred Franz studied Biblical (Koine) or Classical Greek in University, you stated the former and I stated the latter. Then you replied with your reference from Wikipedia, so I checked your reference, but it er, didn't exactly confirm your assertion!:
:1911-1913 University of Cincinnati transcript for Frederick W. Franz. Between 1911 and 1913 Franz attended the University of Cincinnati. He earned 15 hours of Latin, 21 hours of classical Greek, and a single 2-hour credit class in a course titled “The New Testament—A course in grammar and translation.”
As you can see, most of his Greek was Classical as I stated, except for TWO HOURS in "New Testament Greek!"
No WONDER he did such an outstanding job on the NWT. Yep, it was them two hours that did it for him!
Farkel
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Nathan Natas
Farkel, when speaking of those two hours, we must apply the "day for a year doctrine," just as Jehovah's Magic Spirit has directed us. Thusly, those two hours represent 30 days of osmotic, spirit-directed, home schooling. Let the reader use discernment. Selah.