Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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143 of 156 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Credible Testimony about the Watchtower, January 9, 2003
About 12 years ago I considered myself the "cult-buster." In my young mind I could, armed with proof-texts, shoot down any cult member, especially Jehovah's Witnesses. Unfortunately I was just as rigid and legalistic as the Jehovah's Witnesses I would witness to. Actually most of them were less chained to their ideology than I was. Unfortunately, many books that reach out to Jehovah's witnesses are written by conservative JWs turned conservative Baptist, who take a different doctrinal stance, but still do not shed the notion that only "Only I and those Christians like me have the truth." Franz, on the contrary, offers a more balanced appraisal. Unlike other books written by former JWs, Franz seems more saddened than angry, and his tone reflects this. This style displays his personality, which was in constant conflict with the Watchtower's rigid leadership.Franz does not detail doctrinal problems with the Watchtower. Franz most likely holds to many of his old Watchtower doctrines. The Watchtower does have doctrinal problems when compared with the beliefs commonly held by the Church throughout Christian history. In fact the Watchtower is in my opinion just another apocalyptic group founded in the mid-late 1800s. However, Franz is not concerned with issues like the Trinity or Christ's divinity. He is more concerned with what makes a group truly a cult, which is control by the leaders over its members. Franz details this marvelously, and explains how the Watchtower even monitored its members bedroom activities. He speaks of disfellowshippings where families were encouraged to "shun" other members who had been kicked out of the Watchtower, effectively ruining the lives of thousands people. Franz also documents and explains failed prophecy, which caused many trusting members of the "truth" to sell homes, postpone college, and other goals in order to be ready for the end. The entire book is a calm and sober, yet highly personal, account of Franz's life deep within the Watchtower and his eventual exit. Franz's book is a breath of fresh air. I believe that many who write anti-cult books are themselves so concerned with minor issues, that they themselves sometimes come across as cultish. Their tone is often disrespectful, which I think turns off educated people. As someone who studys Christian history and embraces its doctrines and practices, I think the Watchtower is indeed incorrect in certain areas of its theology and its practice, but I think its "cult" status hinges on its leadership's control over members. Franz's book documents this fact in a fashion befitting of Christ's love and mercy.
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62 of 68 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sadly "The Truth", May 5, 1999
By A Customer
To all my fellow Witnesses: After reading this book, I was VERY disheartened. Having spent most of my childhood and early adult life affiliated with the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, I can attest to EVERYTHING that Raymond Franz states in this book. Throughout all my years as a JW, I knew something wasn't right, but did not know what a fraud this organization really is. I urge you to PLEASE read this book with an open mind and heart. I am glad I did, and now I am truly FREE. This book will tell you what exactly what goes on behind the Watchtower curtain. Read the book, than ask yourself if you are in "the truth". I cried and cried as I read experiences that were similar to my own. The emotional pain of growing up "not of the world" will remain with me for the rest of my life. Thankfully, people like Raymond Franz, and many others are exposing this organization for what it really is: A CULT. All my love to the world, FINALLY!
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38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE BEST EVER!, September 12, 2000
This book was not available when I left the Watchtower Society in 1974. Had it been, I would not have had to go through so many confusing and agonizing years of readjustment away from the Watchtower Society. I read many books in my effort to make sense out of it, but not until Ray's, Crisis of Conscience, did it come together. He not only confirmed the things that I had seen that were terribly wrong, he revealed and explained many more deceptive strategies of practice and policy from his vantage point within the Governing Body of the organization. He uncovered the sinister twists and turns on which this organization moves and operates. But he does so with great skill, gentleness and poise. He is not in the least bit offensive or mean spirited, but writes out of compassion and consideration, while uncovering the deception and corruption of the Watchtower organization. I my opinion, it is the best book ever written exposing the truth about the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of the Jehovah's Witnesses. http://www.psnw.com/~awaketothewt/
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