Good question Magnum!
I
agree with you Millie 210 that Jewish scholar friend of Freddie Franz was
important grist to his Biblical mill. I saw and heard Franz when in his nineties at close quarters
while working as a consultant at UK Bethel. An inoffensive even self deprecating
man, his role in influencing the course of the JW org through the 20th
century was I believe of prime importance.
He
had the role of being the back room theological boffin as I understood from
Bethelites. He was the right hand man of the more business minded Knorr who would
defer to Franz on points of “learned” doctrine. Remember for example that he
told president Knorr that a governing
body was not scriptural –as I understand.
So
Franz had smatterings of Greek and a fair understanding of the contents of the Bible
which he expounded with certainty on the advent of Christ in very specifically
his own day. He was baptized around 1914 and he saw his role elevated as God’s
spokesman to declare 1975 as the fitting end of the (fictitious) six thousand
years of the final seven, with one thousand to go for the final testing. All
ideas clearly possible within the jumble of Bible texts.
Like
Russell, he felt he was certain about the revelation of his end-times doctrine
and along with his connections at the top of the organisation this gave him the
authority and platform to fully promote his delusions. For half a century this contributed to the Franz outlook on all things Watchtower.
What
Franz had was not logic... he always used non-sequiturs and wild but spiritually
credible assumptions. His mindset and even his oratory I think, had echoes of Millerite
preaching and date setting methods using faith in the Bible and a language of
absolute certainty. If God is right and he cannot lie; therefore such and such.
. .
His
teachings are now shown to be false and played down by the GB but his oratory
style declaring absolute certainties on divine assumptions remains the most
effective way of bamboozling the flock.
So without FF who knows! but perhaps someone else would have taken up a similar cues to mislead JWs.
