“Jehovah’s Witnesses do not claim to be inspired prophets. They have made mistakes. Like the apostles of Jesus Christ, they have at times had some wrong expectations. — Luke 19:11; Acts 1:6” (Bolding added.)
I was so relieved that the Reasoning from the Scriptures book had addressed this issue. Before I could even think much about the above answer to the failed prophecies of the past, I presented it promptly in defense. I concluded that although the Watchtower organization was a prophet, they certainly were not “inspired.” David responded: “Does this then mean that since they are not claiming “inspiration”, they are not responsible for their prophetic mistakes?” Following with an example of a person claiming to be a surgeon, yet refusing to accept responsibility for the patients who die on the operating table due to their mistakes. Who in response might say, “You can’t blame me, I didn’t go to medical school and, I’m not licensed to practice medicine. So I made a few mistakes, don’t expect me to have the track record of a ‘real’ surgeon!” In essence stating: Just like a fake doctor who takes the physical lives of their patients, the fake prophet takes the spiritual lives of their followers.
I wanted to have an answer for the above analogy, but I just could not come up with one. I was troubled. Although I did not acknowledge this to David, I knew that the Bible talked about two kinds of prophets, true prophets and false prophets. I also knew the Bible did not have a third category for a “true but uninspired prophet”; unaccountable for whatever they say in God’s name. No sooner had I thought that thought, when David had me turn to my Bible to read Deuteronomy 18:20-22:
“‘However, the prophet who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded him to speak or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die. And in case you should say in your heart: “How shall we know the word that Jehovah has not spoken?” when the prophet speaks in the name of Jehovah and the word does not occur or come true, that is the word that Jehovah did not speak. With presumptuousness the prophet spoke it. You must not get frightened at him.’” NWT
The only thing that seemed logical for me to do was to go straight to the second part of the Reasoning from the Scriptures book about how the apostles made mistakes, having at times “wrong expectations.” David’s response was that the apostles did not “teach” or “promote” false ideas, which I agreed.
I brought up the point that we all make mistakes because of imperfection. Were not God’s prophets of old guilty of making mistakes? David agreed that God’s prophets were imperfect. They did make human mistakes. However, when we examine the record we find that, when they spoke a prophecy in God’s name, they made no mistakes. Every prediction came true. I could not disagree.
At this point, the Henke’s had no idea how very upset I was as I pondered these things. I was deeply unsettled. I began squirming in my chair because my back was breaking out in hives. I realize now that it was an emotional reaction to what I was learning; yet in the moment, I did not connect it. Carole took mercy on me, taking me into the restroom and put soothing cream on my back.
I had now been at the Henke’s home for 6 hours. They asked me to stay to have some supper with them. Afterwards they wanted to show me a documentary movie about Jehovah’s Witnesses. My curiosity was piqued. I was also hungry, so I agreed. They ordered pizza and we all sat down to eat. I was relieved to have a momentary oasis of time not to think about issues with Jehovah’s Witnesses. To engage in light conversation, I decided to ask David what he did for a living? To which he replied, “this.” I responded with, “What do you mean ‘this’?” He went on to say that he was the founder of Watchman Fellowship, a ministry outreach to Jehovah’s Witnesses and other cults.1 In fact, he said that local Jehovah’s Witnesses in Columbus, Georgia consider him to be part of the “evil slave” and anyone spending the time I just spent with him would probably be disfellowshipped. At that moment, I didn’t know what to do with the bite of pizza in my mouth—whether to swallow it or to spit it out. Nevertheless, stressed as I was; I decided to stay because I wanted to see the documentary that David had promised to show me.
After eating, we went into the living room to watch a video called Witnesses of Jehovah produced by Jeremiah Films in 1987. The video is one hour long, but it took at least two hours to view it because I kept having David stop the video. A statement would be made in the video that I disagreed with and I would exclaim: “Stop it, stop the movie! That’s not true! I can tell you because I have spent all my life as a Jehovah’s Witness and that is NOT true!” He would calmly ask me to write it down on my paper and after the video, he promised to give me all the proof I needed. The whole video was stop and go, with my objections, David’s calm assurances of proof and my writing items down for later reference.
Once the video was over, I needed to go for a walk to get myself together to be able to process any proof that David might present me with. Many things were presented in the video that if true… would change my whole perspective of Jehovah’s Witnesses as the only true Christians on the earth. Could I face it, if these things were true? I came back from my walk and asked for “proof” of everything I had written down on my paper. Some of the things I wanted confirmation of were:
•Did the Watchtower Society change the date of when Jesus established his enthroned heavenly presence over time? Did they indeed believe until 1925 that Jesus established his enthroned heavenly presence in 1874? Also I wanted proof that they established 1914 as the date of his enthronement, only after 1925.
•I wanted proof that there was a mansion in San Diego, California, (built in 1929), called Beth Sarim, “house of the princes.” Was this mansion cared for by the Watchtower Society and deeded to the anticipated resurrection “princes” of the Old Testament patriarchs, including Abraham, Isaac, Moses, Samson, Samuel, David, etc.? Did J. F. Rutherford use the mansion for himself, while waiting for the resurrection of the “princes” to arrive? Was there proof that he died there himself, in 1942?
•Did the Watchtower Society ever use Johannes Greber, a known spiritualist, who translated the New Testament “with help from spirits” as a scholarly reference in support of the New World Translation?
•Did the Watchtower Society change being baptized in the name of “the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit” to being baptized in the name of “the Father, the Son and the ‘spirit directed organization’”?
•Did the Watchtower print an article in August 1968 called “Why are You Looking Forward to 1975?”
•Was Jerusalem destroyed as the Watchtower Society claims in 607 B.C.E. or in reality 586/587 B.C.E. negating the basis for 1914 as the date Jesus was enthroned in heaven? (The answer to this one was found in an Encyclopedia.)
•And many other questions.
Line item, after line item, David went to his bookcase and pulled out a Watchtower Society book, opened it and let me read it for myself. There it was, right in front of me, not in a book about Jehovah’s Witnesses but in one of their very own books published by the Watchtower Society themselves. The Henke’s were unaware of how profoundly these “proofs” were being received by me. As each confirmation was given, I moved on to the next item until all of them were answered.
It had now been 12 hours since I arrived in the Henke’s home and in that time David was able to show me that what I had believed to be true all my life was not true. I was devastated. As I prepared to leave to go home, the Henke’s prayed with me and sent me on my way with a large stack of literature. In that stack was a copy of Crisis of Conscience by Raymond Franz.
In only 12 hours, everything I had believed and built my life on had vanished. As I said at the beginning of this account, I felt empty, hollow. The compass for my life had disappeared. I found the rock I thought I had under my feet, had crumbled to dust. My confident future was gone and I was without “truth.” I was in extraordinary emotional pain! For three days I felt as if I were in a nightmare. On the third day, I found myself pleading with Jehovah in prayer, asking him to p
lease tell me what is the way and the truth? As I prayed, the scripture in John 14:6 came to my mind; “Jesus said to him: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” This was a defining moment for me. I had put my hope in an “organization” for most of my life. Now I was amazed as I pondered this scripture. I had read that verse countless times, and yet on this day it was fresh and new. Jesus is the “way and the truth.” Incredible! How could I have missed it? “Truth” is not an “organization” it is Jesus!
After that clarifying moment of realizing that Jesus is the “truth,” I immersed myself in Bible reading at every possible moment. I used a minimum of four translations other than the New World Translation and at times up to 11 translations. It was an amazing time of discovery. I got much out of comparing other translations. Before reading a given translation, I read about the translators and/or translation committee. I wanted to know who they were and what ancient texts were relied upon. I also wanted to know what was their translation methodology, whether they implemented a ‘word for word’ or ‘thought for thought’ rendering. (This information is found in the front of most Bibles.) I was not then and am not now an expert in these fields, however I wanted to know about them and understand the concepts. I gave weight to ‘consensus’ among scholars and not so much to the ‘exception’ in translation. As I read, studied and researched; I felt enriched and was learning more about the Bible than I had ever known.
Even though I was enjoying my new discoveries, I was finding the need to discuss them with someone else. This was prior to the Internet, Google and social media, which were not an option then. The Henke’s lived 135 miles away. Telephone rates per minute at the time were prohibitive for me to afford. It was important to me to have friends that shared my journey nearby. I knew I could not share this with any of my friends in the congregation or else risk being labeled as a doubter at best, or an “apostate” at worst. I wanted a friend or friends that knew the struggles of leaving the organization, that would be able to leave it and retain high moral and ethical standards, at the same time coming out of it better, stronger and with a resilient faith in God. But how would I ever find such friends?
In the beginning of September 1988, I read Crisis of Conscience. (It had only been six weeks since my meeting with the Henke’s.) As I read Ray’s story, I was impressed with his demeanor, as he presented himself in the book, expressing love toward those who hurt him. Even under extraordinary pressure and stress, Raymond Franz presented himself as I imagined a Christian should conduct himself. As I read his story, I admired the way he behaved under such circumstances. I wanted to meet this person of integrity and his wife. After a bit of research, I was able to find a telephone number for the Franz’ and I called it. Raymond Franz’ wife, Cynthia, answered my call. We talked for two and a half hours. She told me where they lived, which was to the west of metro Atlanta. I lived in the northeast metro Atlanta area, which was a one hour drive from my home and yet within a toll free telephone calling area. At the end of our conversation she invited me to supper at she and Ray’s home. I accepted.
On Friday evening September 9, 1988, I rang the doorbell to the Franz’ home. A smiling Ray, who warmly invited me into his home, greeted me. Cynthia was busy in the kitchen cooking. They had other guests there, Jon Mitchell, a former secretary to the Governing Body, a couple visiting from Australia, and Harrison Carlton, a former elder. As Cynthia busied herself in the kitchen, they all let me tell my story about meeting David and Carole Henke and my realization that Jesus is “the way, the truth and the life.” I also shared the journey of my Bible reading and many of my discoveries from my studies. They listened with kindness and thoughtfulness. At that point, Cynthia let everyone know supper was ready and we all gathered around the dining room table. We shared a meal, our hearts and our struggles. None of us needed to fear saying or being anything but ourselves. The air seemed to be filled with extraordinary freedom and a joy.
Thereafter, Cynthia Franz invited me to come to their home every Sunday for a Bible study and lunch. I was delighted to accept the invitation. As I came to the Franz home week after week, Ray would always greet me with a big smile at the door and Cynthia was always busy in the kitchen. Ray would engage anyone that was there in light conversation, sharing stories or a joke or two. While he was busy being the host, Cynthia preferred preparing everything in the kitchen. She almost always refused any help as she prepared a meal or cleaned up afterwards. She wanted to be the one to take care of everyone else. Every week would be the same, Ray would greet and visit, and Cynthia would put on a tasty lunch. Ray would then lead everyone in reading and discussing a chapter of the Bible. Jon Mitchell was almost always there. Others might attend sporadically, however Jon was there consistently. Many times it would be Ray and Cynthia, Jon Mitchell, my five-year-old daughter and me.
A few times Ray and Cynthia had a large gathering of former Jehovah’s Witnesses from several states. I had the pleasure of meeting Ed and Betty Dunlap, Peter and Janet Gregerson, and many others. Additionally some people that read Crisis of Conscience would contact the Franz’, inquiring if they could come to visit them. Ever welcoming, ever hospitable, Ray and Cynthia enjoyed their roles as they opened their home to any and all that would come to them. Many would travel great distances to visit them, from other states and countries. Most were seeking answers to many questions, others would share their painful journey and to inquire if there could be a fulfilling future after their experience with the Watchtower Society? They opened their home and their hearts to them. Ray was a patient listener, thoughtful and understanding. He both comforted and encouraged person after person. I have often said, “Raymond Franz ministered to the brokenhearted.”
As for me, I came to Ray and Cynthia primarily for friendship, and that is what I received. Even so, I did learn many things from both of them and I am thankful for it. Nevertheless, it was friendship that I was seeking and I gained a treasure in them as dear loving friends.
At the time I met the Franz’, I was not married. I had gone through a divorce in 1986 and I had a little girl from that marriage. My daughter was five years old when I met them. She was small for her age, which allowed Ray to pick her up easily. Around and around, Ray would spin her in his arms, to the delight of her giggles. The Franz’ enjoyed having my daughter join us. Jon Mitchell was pleased to have a child join us too. After lunch, Jon would get out a game of blocks and play with my daughter for a couple of hours at a time. One and all seemed happy to have a small child visit so often.
It was through connections with the Franz’ that Dan Dykstra began to court me. They had been friends with Dan since 1982. They both always took responsibility for matchmaking my husband and me. They loved to tell and retell the story. Once Dan started writing to me, we had a whirlwind romance with a courtship of only a few months. Dan and I married in mid-August 1989. Ray and Cynthia were happy for me, however they were not pleased that both my daughter and I would be moving away to Michigan as a result.
Even though I moved away, we stayed in contact with each other over the years. We would visit whenever we came to Georgia and they came to visit us in Michigan on three occasions. As the years went by, it became more difficult to keep up with one another’s lives as Ray and Cynthia, as well as Dan and I, had escalating health issues.
In the spring of 2007, Dan and I moved to Georgia. We moved for several reasons including being near our daughter (from my first marriage) and her husband. We also needed to be in a warm climate for my husbands’ health.
We ended up moving to the east of metro Atlanta. Ray and Cynthia lived to the west of metro Atlanta. We were pleased that we could be near our daughter and her husband as well as the Franz’. At the time Ray was 85 years old, and Cynthia was 72 years old. My husband and I wanted to be available to them as they aged. We were happy to be within driving distance where we could easily visit them whenever the need would arise.
Back in the year 2000, Ray had suffere
d a moderate stroke, without paralysis, but it left him tired and low on energy. As a result, his right carotid artery was completely blocked. It was important that he undergo surgery on his left carotid artery to keep it open, as it was in process of becoming blocked too. He underwent successful surgery to address this in September 2007. It greatly relieved his mind, as he was feeling very vulnerable concerning the probability of another stroke. His general countenance appeared to improve after this surgery allowing him to travel to Europe on a 16 day trip the next month in October.
In early 2008, Ray reestablished regularly getting together for a home Bible study including both my husband and me. Because of both Ray and Cynthia’s health issues, the Bible study had been meeting sporadically with a few friends for a couple of years; now however, the Bible study was back on a regular schedule. Besides Ray and Cynthia and my husband and me, there was one other married couple and two single people regularly participating in Ray’s Bible study, with an occasional guest. There were no children attending. Because we were all scattered around the metro Atlanta area, as a group we agreed to meet once every two weeks. For a while we took turns having the Bible study and lunch each in a different home. However we most often met at one person’s home that was centrally located for all of us. We would have lunch and then sit down to read a Bible chapter or two and discuss it. Ray was delighted that the Bible study and gathering with others was a regular occurrence again.
Crisis of Conscience Page 55