by Corvin 31 Replies latest jw friends
I just purchased, at Amazon.com, and I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of, two of Raymond Franz's books, Crisis of Conscience and the other one . . . Christian Freedom I think it was called.
For those who have read them; would you please give some sort of brief review of these books and rate them either "" or upto FIVE ""?
Thanks,
Corvin
the essential apostate book, CofC. two thumbs up.
I meant to get around to ISOCF, but by the time I got to it, I wasn't a christian anymore. I read excerpts though earlier, on the web. The chapter in it on the blood issue had a big part in changing my life however. In fact, I went from a life long JW, to, within a day of reading that chapter, declaring that I knew I'd never think of myself as a JW ever again.
I've just started "the 4 presidents of the WT Society" (which I suspect is authored by someone who used to post here). It's fascinating reading.
Six
I meant to get around to ISOCF, but by the time I got to it, I wasn't a christian anymore.
That's exactly how I felt. I received both books at the same time. COC was a great comforting help and I'd give it , but by the time I started reading ISOCF it was all I could do not to put it down half-way through. My mind was already made up - and Franz is very much a Christian, which I'm not. I'd also give it
Ian
Crisis of Conscience I was unable to put down and was reading it at all times even at red lights while driving. lol. For pure content I'd give it five thumbs up.
ISOCF sits on my shelf only partially read, I guess because I am not ISOCF and felt after a few chapters that it was going down a road I no longer believe in.
flower
ps. I only have two thumbs, so my two thumbs for C of C is wholehearted enthusiasm for the book, lol.
Also, don't read it while you're driving no matter what flower says!
CoC
This is an absolutely unique testimony and needs to be read.
However, I never finished the second one. I was already too far from this kind of thinking.
CofC -
Reading it was the most freeing experience I have ever had.
ISOCF - never got more than a third of the way through it.
I loved the book CoC. I didn't read the Christian Freedom cause I found out what I needed to know from the first book. The fact that the JW religion is full of lies and I'll NEVER go back EVER!!! Thumbs up to a humbly written book.
Strawberryfieldsforever
I will echo many of the other's opinions...
Crisis of Conscience, even though I had already made the decision to get out of the b0rg, was an amazing read. Written in an almost sorrowful manner, due to the seriousness of the events considered, it conveys very well, not only the facts, but also how it affected the people involved. Topics are thoroughly documented and researched. A definite read.
In Search of Christian Freedom was very well written also, at least the part that I had read. By the time I got a couple of chapters into this tome, I realized that I no longer wished to read someone else's beliefs, but wanted to find my own. It was at this point that I started studying more scholarly (than religious) books.
I was recommended a book called Who Wrote The Bible by an author named Richard Friedman. I was skeptical going into this book, but it gave some amazing facts (always using scriptures as examples) and gave me a whole new view of the book on which millions base their lives. It almost destroyed any faith I had in the Bible... but by the end of it, I realized that the Bible (or at least part of it) probably was inspired by God initially, but as time went on, it was edited, compiled, edited again, and filtered down to what we have today. There are seeds of truth still in the Bible, but I feel that there is too much evidence for anyone to insist that the Bible is exactly what God gave us in the beginning. Unfortunately mostly it is nothing more than a book of nice stories now.
Futher Mucking Scholar
