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Ray Franz, 1922-2010

Obituary

On June 2, Raymond V. Franz passed away peacefully following the effects of a fall and subsequent brain haemorrhage suffered on May 30. Ray is survived by his much loved and devoted wife, Cynthia.

Not a few readers of EN will recall this brave man who served for decades in the Watchtower Movement (Jehovah’s Witnesses) as a missionary, elder, leading writer and finally membership of the so-called Governing Body at the Watchtower headquarters in Brooklyn. Possessed of a sharp mind, Ray was involved in the writing of many of the cult’s publications, but his personal crisis emerged during the production of a massive volume entitled Aid to Bible Understanding. A keen researcher, Ray suddenly found that many of the core beliefs that were bedrock to the Watchtower’s superstructure were not supportable either by secular history or, in some cases, Scripture itself.

Faith not works

By 1980 Ray had severed his links with the Brooklyn headquarters and left to work for a JW friend in the South. But all was not over; that period of time was to see not a few in the JWs starting to raise embarrassing questions about not just the cult’s eschatological views, but, more importantly, the issue of salvation by faith alone rather than works. In a draconian series of acts, the Watchtower produced articles that by subtle innuendo smeared the good names of many who had left the cult only because of conscience. So it was that in 1983 Raymond Franz published a book that was to shake the cult to its foundations, Crisis of Conscience. Not only did it strip bare the inner workings of the organisation, but it did it in a way that was totally without anger or a desire for revenge. This volume has remained a classic and is available in 14 languages worldwide.

It was in the early days of EN, realising the difficulty in obtaining Crisis of Conscience from the States, that the then editor, Bob Horn, organised the transport of bulk orders from the publishing company Ray had started, and by advertising in EN sold many copies both in the UK and beyond.

Here I must take up the story personally as the postman arrived at my home in Leicestershire with boxes and boxes of books which my wife and I dispatched individually as the orders came into EN. Many were the letters of gratitude received and when Raymond completed his second volume, In Search of Christian Freedom, the same exercise was repeated. I became very good friends with the Post Office parcel service!

I will miss Ray, a warm, genuine, humble man, and I will always treasure my telephone conversations with him. It was said that anyone visiting him found a real welcome, to say nothing of sampling Cynthia’s excellent cooking, especially cakes!

Ray’s monumental works stand as the greatest, most scholarly materials ever published on the Watchtower. So, while this gentle modest man has now left us to meet his creator, his work will long continue.

Richard E. Cotton