(Ebook) Crisis of Conscience by Raymond Franz ISBN 9780914675235, 9780914675242, 0914675230, 0914675249

(Ebook) Crisis of Conscience by Raymond Franz ISBN 9780914675235, 9780914675242, 0914675230, 0914675249

A former member of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses gives unique insight into the authority structure of that religion and its abuses of the members. Although originally written in 1983, the subsequent years reveal a persistent tendency of the Watchtower religious authority to seek to dominate rather than serve, and the struggle of those who wish to prevent the erosion of their God-given freedom of conscience -- these form the heart of the very personal and candid account in Crisis of Conscience. The scene of struggle is within the membership of a distinctive religion: Jehovah's Witnesses. The same fundamental issues that mark this account, however, could arise within any of the world's religions. Starting in the 1870's as an independent Bible study group composed of a handful of persons in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Jehovah's Witnesses today number more than five million in some 200 lands. When their publishing agency, the Watch Tower Society, puts out a new book, the normal initial printing is one million copies, with other millions following. In countries where they are active, few people have not had contact with the Witnesses as a result of their intense door-to-door activity.