Who was the biggest Jehovah's Witness rebel?

by slimboyfat 58 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Twitch

  everybody who reads this ;)
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  tenyearsafter

  I go with Ray Franz...I don't think Fred would qualify since he was the architect of much of the madness!
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  AllTimeJeff

  Freddie was a rebel for JW's. He rebelled against all reasonable scholarship, represented himself as someone who knew Hebrew and Greek better then what he really did, and especially is responsible for the types and antitypes for JW prophecy that continues to tar this group.

  Rebel, yes, but only against logical, oxygen breathing scholars. Some of his takes on bible charecters = Presidents of the WTBTS should have triggered a drug test on Freddie.
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  tenyearsafter

  Well said Jeff!
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  quietlyleaving

  I don't think Freddie is a popular choice so I'm withdrawing him and vote for Ray Franz instead
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  AllTimeJeff

  I don't think Freddie is a popular choice so I'm withdrawing him and vote for Ray Franz instead

  No need to withdraw. He did have a rebellious streak in him. Of course, Freddie is as popular as the ebola virus to ex JW's, and probably hastened their demise with his ridiculous promotion of 1975. To that I say, "Cheers!"
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  stillajwexelder

  I read Carl Olaf Jonsson and the Crisis of Conscience. Jonsson was an elder and continues to publish. So he should be in the top 10 of rebels
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  stillajwexelder

  Gentile Times Reconsidered
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  slimboyfat

  and probably hastened their demise with his ridiculous promotion of 1975.

  Hastened their demise? Franz's 1975 prediction saved the Watchtower organization! They were beginning to fade in the 1960s. Only when the 1975 prediction came along did they begin to see growth again, and the organization had a new spring in its step. Any who left because of the 1975 are vastly outnumbered by those they gained through the whole affair. Embarrassment aside it was a net gain for the organization. If they ever realise this at the top then some Machiavellian type Watchtower leader might be tempted to try date setting again some time.
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  AllTimeJeff

  Embarrassment aside it was a net gain for the organization.

  Thats an excellent counterpoint. It was a net gain. But this "gain" is a little too termite infested in my view. Times have changed.

  Just a hypothesis, but if they tried a Machiavellian type date setting again, they will have 1975 thrown back in their face. They will have their bogus scholarship on all their accepted dates (607 vs 586 BCE, the Gentile Times, etc) used as a direct counterpoint. And what about that pesky "generation" term change in '94?

  There was no way for the flock to research all the dates back then. There was really no organized ex JW community at all. JW's living in their own bubble caused it to work. I don't think that will ever happen again.

  Most importantly, there was no internet. There is just too much information out there now.

  However, I do take your point about the effect of 1975. But it also started a chain of events that started with people like Ray Franz, Watters, JWD/JWN, that will prevent such an occurrence from happening again.

  In any case, my vote for biggest JW rebel is still Ray Franz.