That was a good little book, I think I had it at one stage, but had all my resource materials stolen in a burglary some years back,
Apostles of Denial (1970) -- PDF!
by cabasilas 22 Replies latest watchtower bible
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civicsi00
Wow, thanks!
I had heard of this book before but had forgotten to look it up. I believe Len Chretien mentioned this book (and that it helped him) in his testimony at the Witnesses for Jesus convention back in the 80's.
Give my supreme thanks to the author! I have already started going through it and it looks very well written!
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AK - Jeff
Thanx.
You have a PM.
Jeff
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cabasilas
cab, very nice story and thanks for the book....i bet "olin moyles ghost", a poster here will like it for sure.....but i cant help but wonder what drew you so strongly to the org at 15? that seems an odd age to give up so many things....how did the jw experience change your life, your family, and ending it all as well?.......
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Well, Oompa, I had no formal religious background before joining the JWs. I guess I was looking for certainty during my teen age years. The JWs had all the answers, or so it seemed. I also did not have many friends so the immediate source of many friendships among JWs was a big plus. Of course, many JW parents held me up as an example to their children. That made it harder to fit into the JW teen crowd, but I tried hard not to be more righteous than my peers.
No one else from my family ever converted to the JWs. After leaving the JWs I married a pioneer. We were married 3 years when I left the JWs. Things were quite rocky for several years but our marriage perservered. Our two children have never known the JWs and my wife left the JWs about 9 years ago. We both are united in Christian faith and had our marriage blessed in the Church at the same time as our 25th wedding anniversary (we'd been married originally in the Kingdom Hall back in 1977).
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cabasilas
Oops..."After leaving the JWs I married a pioneer." I meant, after leaving Bethel I married a pioneer."
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hmike
I'm surprised some haven't heard of it.
Gruss also wrote a book titled "We Left Jehovah's Witnesses" which is actually a collection of personal testimonies. It's sitting on my bookshelf right next to "Apostles of Denial" and "Crisis of Conscience."
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betweenworlds
Excellent! Can't wait to read it. Many thanks to Mr. Gruss and yourself Cabasilas!
bw
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kurtbethel
I had never heard of this book. After skimming several chapters I see the tone is very moderaate, and not a shrill denunciation. I like it, and plan on using some of it in future studies and interaction with JWs. Also, thanks for the personal testimony. I went through such searching when I was 14 and 15, even closely studied Bible Students literature, but I am not a joiner so nothing took hold like that.
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VM44
Thanks Cabasilas and Dr Gruss for this! It is a very significant work about The Watchtower and the JWs.
Another good book that Dr Gruss wrote is "Jehovah's Witnesses and Prophetic Speculation" that was also published in 1972.
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cabasilas
I mistakenly said that Gruss wrote Apostles of Denial as part of a doctoral dissertation. Gruss did later receive an honorary doctorate, but this book was written as part of a Master's thesis. I just wanted to clarify that.
A couple of other Bethel memories. The first was a couple of years before I went to Brooklyn. A good friend of mine had gone and wrote in a letter that if I ever knew anyone coming to visit Bethel, could I ask them to bring something for them? Well, shortly afterwards there was a young sister in our congregation who travelled to Brooklyn to see her fiance. I asked if she'd be willing to transport something for my friend. I did not know what he wanted, and I was really surprised when he wrote back asking for Coors beer! So was the sister, but she was willing to take a case of Coors beer back to him for me. (Coors was not available in NY and this was a favorite beer among many Bethelites.) While in Brooklyn myself, I heard of several such "care" packages of Coors beer delivered to Bethelites who missed the taste of their favorite brew!
The other memory was receiving our annual clothing allowance. I believe it was about December 1st and was supposed to help Bethelites be able to purchase needed clothing for the year. Of course, some of us had other plans for some of the money! I remember that I headed right over to the local liquor store (I was working nights in the bindery at the time) to purchase some Southern Comfort. While I was there, I met two other Bethelites who also had to celebrate with their new found money!!
When I went to Watchtower Farms there were no nearby stores. I was not a big beer drinker, but I did miss the ease of purchasing some occasional suds. Turns out, we had an enterprising Farm brother who set up his own little store to sell beer. I remember his first name was Tyler. You could go to his room and knock. If he was there, he'd say come in and you could go right to his little fridge and take your cold one. There was a jar to put in the cash for the beer. I think he sold a can for $1. It got so busy for him that he put his fridge out into the "closet" (where Bethelites could store their extra items) and we just went there to buy our beer. I remember that he even put up a sign as you'd leave the closet that said, "Be sure to turn out the lights." That only lasted a few weeks before the Bethel Office said he could no longer use the closet to sell beer to us. So we went back to going to his room. Most of us eventually learned to buy our beer in town, which was much cheaper anyway!