CRISIS OF CONSCIENCE (page 8)

wizzstick

From a reader's perspective however, the addition of an introduction from a Trinitarian, the great crowd booklet, and single pages from ISofCF in the appendix was not worth waiting 5 plus years. Was there some sort of misunderstanding that a new edition needed to be produced before it could be republished? I think the majority of people just wanted to read the original book as quickly as possible.

The Trinitarian point is moot. There is nothing in the prologue about the trinity.

The Great Crowd booklet has been added as this is what Ray Franz was going to do in a later edition.

Single pages from ISofCF in the appendix were added as a convenience to readers (presumably so you don't need to have both books in front of you).

We need to be mindful that Deborah Dykstra has been through a lot with her husbands years of ill health and subsequent death.

You can read her statement here.

Let's all agree that it's great to have CoC back.

Ray sold Jon Mitchell’s pamphlet through Commentary Press and if I remember correctly he referenced it in the Christian Freedom book. The Franz estate might hold the copyright for the Mitchell pamphlet. As for Randy, there’s more to it than the fact he’s a Trinitarian. There was a bit of bad blood between them and Ray felt that Randy tried to upstage COC by releasing his pamphlet about what happened at Bethel in 1980. Interestingly Ray didn’t feel this way about Jon Mitchell’s work. At any rate, I believe the inclusion of the Mitchell piece as well as Dykstra’s addition (especially since she had been slandered and her motives questioned by the same person who violated the copyright) are appropriate. The foreword by Henke sounds a bit fishy though. Guess we’ll have to see how that ties in with Ray’s narrative.

slimboyfat

It's not the end of the world that someone from Watchman has written an introduction. But to ask whether Franz would have approved, I think is relevant to people who are interested. That's all.

And is it possible to regret Deborah Dykstra's loss and difficult time over the last few years. But at the same time think she hasn't handled the publication of the book very well? Which predates illness and death of her husband by years. I think this is possible. There has never been any reasonable explanation why publication didn't continue after Cynthia's deaths 2013, just as it had done after Ray Franz himself died three years earlier. So far it is available as an ebook. If it does actually come out as a physical book too even better. There is no reason why a book can't be released in print simultaneously but we'll need to wait and see what happens.

wizzstick

But at the same time think she hasn't handled the publication of the book very well? Which predates illness and death of her husband by years.

No it doesn't. Deborah states (emphasis mine):

Along my journey since working on re-publication of the book, I have endured the heartache of my husband’s declining health, and fight for his life. On May 11, 2017, my darling husband, Dan Dykstra lost his battle for his life and he died. He was not well for a very long time. The past two years of his life were especially hard.

Cynthia Franz died December 29th 2013.

Deborah's husband died in May 2017, and as per the above she says the previous 2 years were very hard. So that goes back to 2015. And before that he was also ill ('for a very long time').

So it's entirely possible that her husband was ill even when Cynthia died.

Let's hold off on comments like 'she hasn't handled the publication of the book very well.'

slimboyfat

My copy of the Great Crowd booklet says "Copyright 1992 by John Mitchell All rights reserved". Do they have permission to reproduce the booklet from the copyright owner? It would be ironic (but again not the end of the world) if after all this fuss, they published this material without permission from whoever owns it.

wizzstick

Do they have permission to reproduce the booklet from the copyright owner?

Again, from the link above:

The reason I have included this in Appendix C is because Raymond Franz had intended to include it in the Appendix of a future edition. That has now happened.

So what do you think?

By the way, is there a good reason for your cynicism?

Las Malvinas son Argentinas

Dykstra indicated in a previous statement that the copyright did not transfer until 2015. Depends on what you would define as reasonable. An elderly woman whose spouse had been seriously ill for that time period which culminated in his death just this past year shouldn’t be expected to just drop everything because exJWs are clamouring for Ray’s book. If Dykstra is going to be critiqued for not getting outside help, then perhaps Ray and Cynthia Franz could be called out just the same way for letting the copyright fall to an aged woman who was ill-equipped to carry on a legacy and get it re-published. Evidently Ray Franz felt it was more important for his work to fall into the hands of his trusted friends than to hand it off to a younger and more pro-active party.

wizzstick

Evidently Ray Franz felt it was more important for his work to fall into the hands of his trusted friends

Makes sense to me.

Las Malvinas son Argentinas

Ray published and distributed Mitchell’s pamphlet when he was alive. It’s not a stretch to assume that he had permission to include it in COC. That pamphlet had been largely forgotten and inclusion in COC would have done the writer a huge favour.

Newly Enlightened

Let's not forget that it took over 2 years, just for the U.S copyright office to transfer it from Cynthia to Deb.

I am being told that you can pre-order the paperback & hardback now. Those pages are up on Amazon.

It should be available for shipment in the next day or so.

https://www.amazon.com/Crisis-Conscience-struggle-between-religion/dp/0999499211/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1520292027&sr=1-6&keywords=crisis+of+conscience+raymond+franz

CRISIS OF CONSCIENCE

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