Publications
Crisis of Conscience by Raymond Franz
A former member of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses gives unique insight into the authority structure of that religion. Considered by many as the definitive work about the inner workings of the WT Society.Also available in Danish, German, Italian, Spanish, and Swedish.
Based on the entire manuscript of Franz’s 2008 printing of Crisis of Conscience, this fifth edition 2018, also includes:
Foreword by David Henke, author of Spiritual Abuse Recovery Workbook, and founder of Watchmen Fellowship, Inc. — David Henke is a Christian apologist that specializes in the field of Jehovah's Witnesses, issues of mind control, spiritual abuse, and legalism. In addition to the above workbook, Henke has authored evangelistic and educational tracts, and articles.
Raymond Franz died in 2010, however in this re-publishing of Crisis of Conscience based on it’s very last printing in 2008, the authors story, heart and expressions of his love for God and his fellow man remain with us.
In Search of Christian Freedom by Raymond Franz (1991), 736 pages.
A sequel to Crisis of Conscience. As a highly qualified researcher, Raymond Franz spent his last fifteen years within the Watchtower organization at the headquarters' Writing Department, nine years of which he also served on the Governing Body. His critical examination of the Society's doctrinal system, therefore, reflects his unique insight into the problems associated with the claims and message of the movement. The book is a goldmine of information.
The Gentile Times Reconsidered by Carl Olof Jonsson (3rd edition 1998) viii + 360 pages.
First published in 1983. This book reveals the actual origin of the interpretation which eventually produced the date of 1914 as a predicted year for the end of the "Gentile times," a date adopted and proclaimed worldwide to this day by Jehovah's Witnesses. The importance of this date for the exclusive claims of this movement is repeatedly stressed in its publications. The book carefully examines its Gentile times chronology, based on the supposition that Jerusalem was desolated by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar in 607 BCE, and presents fourteen lines of evidence demonstrating that the Watch Tower Society's chronology is based on a myth of great proportions.
"This is a most useful and timely publication which will be of great value to the understanding of the truth and interpretation of Scripture and also of ancient Near Eastern history and chronology."--Donald J. Wiseman, Emeritus Professor of Assyriology in the University of London.
The Sign of the Last Days--When? by Carl Olof Jonsson & Wolfgang Herbst (1987) (edited by Ray Franz), 288 pages.
Is Christ's return identified by unprecedented war, famine, pestilence, earthquakes, crime and other calamities? Evidence that this claim is based on a misunderstanding of Christ's own words; accompanied by historical facts demonstrating how surprisingly little the 20th century differs in these areas from past centuries. (Also available in Italian and Swedish.)
Apocalypse Delayed by James Penton (1985; revised 1997), 400 pages.
Penton, a professor emeritus of religious history at the University of Lethridge, Canada, was a fourth-generation Jehovah's Witness until 1981, when his research led to his break with the Watch Tower organization. His scholarly and thoroughly documented work on the movement will undoubtedly remain the standard work on the history of Jehovah's Witnesses for many years ahead.
Jehovah's Witnesses and the Third Reich: Sectarian Politics under Persecution 2nd ed. Edition
by James Penton
Since the end of World War II, leaders of the Jehovah's Witness movement in both Germany and elsewhere have steadfastly argued that Witnesses were united in their opposition to Nazism and did not collude with the Third Reich. Documents have been uncovered, however, that prove otherwise. Using materials from Witness archives, the U.S. State Department, Nazi files, and other sources, M. James Penton demonstrates that while many ordinary German Witnesses were brave in their opposition to Nazism, their leaders were quite prepared to support the Hitler government.
Penton begins his study with a close reading of the "Declaration of Facts" released by the Witnesses at a Berlin convention in June 1933. Witness leaders have called the document a protest against Nazi persecution, however closer examination shows it contained bitter attacks on Great Britain and the United States - jointly referred to as "the greatest and most oppressive empire on earth" - the League of Nations, big business, and above all, Jews, who are referred to as "the representatives of Satan the Devil."
It was later, in 1933 - when the Nazis would not accept Witness blandishments- that leader J.F. Rutherford called on Witnesses to seek martyrdom by carrying on a campaign of passive resistance. Many ultimately died in prisons and concentration camps, and postwar Witness leaders have attempted to use this fact to assert that Jehovah's Witnesses stood consistently against Nazism.
Drawing on his own Witness background and years of research on Witness history, Penton separates fact from fiction during this dark period.
Where is the "Great Crowd" Serving God? by Jon Mitchell (1993), 24 pages.
Mitchell, a former secretary to the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses, discusses Revelation 7:9-17, considered against the backdrop of events at the Watch Tower Society's headquarters in 1980.
The Fire That Consumes by Edward Fudge (Providential Press), 240 pages.
According to Clark H. Pinnock, McMaster Divinity College, Canada, “In this extensive and effective book, Mr. Fudge seriously challenges the popular assumption that God plans to raise the wicked to immortality in order to inflict upon them everlasting pain. I know of no book which answers Mr. Fudge’s powerful case for conditional immortality.”
The Christian Respondent by Ron Frye, Christian Respondent, Inc.
A critique of Watchtower teachings and policies, published between 1984 and 1991. Spiral bound set of all 52 original, plus 2 bonus issues. Available from 42851 260th Ln, Aitkin, MN 56431-4958.
The Father/Son Relationship by Ron Frye (Christian Respondent, Inc.) 87-pages.
Presents an overview of the relationship and respective dignities represented in God and his Son Jesus Christ. The author argues that the question that needed to be answered in the first century was not, “Is Jesus God?” but, “Is Jesus the Messiah?” The booklet also covers the development of the Trinity doctrine in the centuries following the establishment of the Christian congregation. Available from Christian Respondent, 42851 260th Ln, Aitkin, MN 56431-4958.
TheChristianRespondent.pdfClick to open PDF
Thus Saith the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses by Randall Watters.
Photographic reproductions of false prophecies and deceptions from their own publications. This book and many other resources are available from http://www.freeminds.org/
Historical Works by and About the Early Church
Paul's Idea of Community—The Early House Churches in Their Historical Setting by Robert Banks
What distinguished Christian communities of the first century? How did they function? Were they “organized?” Banks provides Biblical and historical answers. $8.95. Postage $1.25 first copy; $.50 each additional copy. Available from Commentary Press or from secular or Christian bookstores.
A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs, David W. Bercot
Quotations from the extant writings of early Christians, starting from late in the first century to approximately 325 A.D., on over 700 topics, with references to the context in the complete Ante-Nicene writings from which they were taken. Can be used as an index to those writings.
Complete Writings of the Ante-Nicene Fathers: 10 Volumes, by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, Philip Schaff, Henry Wace. The following description from Amazon.com:
The Ante-Nicene Fathers ranges from the Apostolic Fathers to various third and fourth century sources including the liturgies and ancient Syriac documents. It was intended to comprise translations into English of all the extant works of the Fathers (with the exception of the more bulky works of Origen) down to the date of the first General Council held at Nicaea in 325 A.D. This American edition by Arthur Cleveland Coxe is a revision of the original series edited by Alexander Roberts and Sir James Donaldson and published in Edinburgh and involves a major rearrangement to conform to the historical sequence, the addition of brief introductions and notes indicating variances in readings, specifying references to scripture or literature, clarifying obscure passages, and noting corruptions or distortions of patristic testimony (as forged in the Decretals). The basic aim of the translations has been to strive for literary exactness, placing the English reader as nearly as possible on an equal footing with those who are able to read the original.
Volume Titles:
Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Inrenaeus
Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria
Tertullian
Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius the Great, Julius Africanus, Anatolius and Minor Writers, Methodius, Arnobius
Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, Homily, and Liturgies
Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Aprocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents
Gospel of Peter, Diatessaron, Testament of Abraham, Epistles of Clement, Origen and Miscellaneous Works
Bibliography, General Index, Annotated Index of Authors and Works
A History of Christianity, by Paul Johnson, Atheneum.
Has been called the best one-volume history of the Christian Church.
Of General Interest
Darwin on Trial by Phillip E. Johnson
A University of California professor of law tests the argumentation and use of evidence by leading advocates of evolution. $15.95 hardcover. Postage $1.25 first copy; $.50 each additional copy.
Eight Translation New Testament (Tyndale House Publishers)
An excellent study aid, allowing the reader to view 8 different translations of the same verses on two facing pages. Contains the King James Version, Revised Standard Version, New International Version, Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, Phillips Modern English, Today's English Version and the Living Bible. $29.95 paperback. Postage $2.75 first copy; $1.35 each additional copy.
The above available from: Commentary Press or from secular or Christian bookstores.
Assistance With the Problems of Leaving an Authoritative Religion
Preparing For Child Custody Cases, a reproduction of the Watchtower Society's instruction booklet for lawyers representing JW's involved in child custody cases $4.95. Available from Marilyn Zweifel, PO Box 241005, Milwaukee, WI 53224
Combatting Cult Mind Control by Steven Hassan, (Park Street Press) 260 pages. $11.95 Hassan also has a web site: http://www.freedomofmind.com/
Channel C² is an on-line forum on which many current and former Jehovah’s Witnesses post thought-provoking questions and discuss topics anonymously. http://www.channelc.org/
The following books are excellent additions to one's library and are particularly useful for research.
Truth in Translation: Accuracy and Bias in English Translations of the New Testament
Jason BeDuhn's book compares nine translations (from the King James Version to several 20th century translations, including the New World Translation), not with each other, but with the original Greek of the New Testament. He analyses, in chapters Four (4) through Twelve (12), scriptures such as John 1:1, 8:58, Colossians 1:15ff, etc., as well as Greek words such as proskuneo ("worship") and pneuma ("spirit"). His conclusion as to which translation has been more accurate overall, based upon what words and scripture passages he does analyze, might surprise many! His own preferred translations, at times, ("a god" at Luke 20:38 for instance) are thought provoking. This is an excellent book not least because it is written for the public who have an interest in the subject of accuracy and bias in English Bible translations. but also because the same public rely upon English translations to understand God's Word today. It is paramount that theological biases of our times and held by scholars that translate the Bible into our tongue do not distort the true meaning of the Greek and produce inaccurate renderings. BeDuhn's book demonstrates that this has been the case in all the translations compares. But.....some much more than others. You might not agree with everything he writes (he has his own biases as he freely admits) but his is not only an honest evaluation but one free of anachronistic theological presumptions.
The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture: The Effect of Early Christological Controversies on the Text of the New Testament
The victors not only write the history, they also reproduce the texts. In a study that explores the close relationship between the social history of early Christianity and the textual tradition of the emerging New Testament, Ehrman examines how early struggles between Christian "heresy" and "orthodoxy" affected the transmission of the documents over which, in part, the debates were waged. His thesis is that proto-orthodox scribes of the second and third centuries occasionally altered their sacred texts for polemical reasons--for example, to oppose adoptionists like the Ebionites, who claimed that Christ was a man but not God, or docetists like Marcion, who claimed that he was God but not a man, or Gnostics like the Ptolemaeans, who claimed that he was two beings, one divine and one human. Ehrman's thorough and incisive analysis makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the social and intellectual history of early Christianity and raises intriguing questions about the relationship of readers to their texts, especially in an age when scribes could transform the documents they reproduced to make them say what they were already thought to mean, effecting thereby the orthodox corruption of Scripture.
The Role of Theology and Bias in Bible Translation: With a special look at the New World Translation of Jehovah's Witnesses
In the natural sciences, a basic principle is to break everything down to the smallest possible units and then study each unit. In linguistics and in the study of the biblical languages, a similar principle was followed with the word as the basic unit, but from the middle of this century the view has developed that the smallest units which were meaningful for translation had to be the sentence or even the paragraph. The author believes that the pendulum has swung too far in one direction, and that it still is meaningful to work with the word as the fundamental unit of translation. The book therefore suggests that for a particular target group - those who, by the help of their mother tongue, want to come as close as possible to the original languages - a literal translation will be better than an idiomatic one. In the course of discussion it is shown that the principles on which such a translation is based accords fully with modern linguistic principles.
