Frederick William Franz
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Frederick William Franz (September 12, 1893 – December 22, 1992) served as President of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, the legal entity used to direct the work of Jehovah's Witnesses). He had previously served as Vice President of the the same corporation from 1945 until 1977 and as a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses before replacing Nathan H. Knorr as president in 1977. Raymond Franz, also a member of the Governing Body until he was expelled and subsequently disfellowshipped in 1982, was Frederick's nephew.[1]
Franz was born in Covington, Kentucky, and graduated high school in 1911. He attended the University of Cincinnati where he studied Biblical Greek,[2] having already decided that he wanted to be a Presbyterian preacher. After reading some of the literature of Charles Taze Russell, he became interested in the Bible Students. He was baptized as a Bible Student on 30 November 1913, and left the University in May of 1914. Franz immediately began evangelizing full time as a pioneer.
In 1926, he joined the editorial staff as a Bible researcher and writer for the Society’s publications. Franz is generally (although never officially) acknowledged to have been a leading figure in the preparation of the Witnesses' New World Translation of the Bible, which was prepared anonymously like most Watchtower publications. He was the oldest member to lead the organization, and one of the oldest ever to be a leading figure in any religion. In his last years, he was quite feeble.
Franz died in Brooklyn, New York in 1992 at the age of 99 and was succeeded by Milton G. Henschel. The New York Times of December 24, 1992 described him as "a religious Leader....[of] a Christian denomination" and "a biblical scholar." The article claimed he was "versed in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek."
[edit] Achievements and Education
Franz is generally acknowledged as the leading translator in the preparation of the New World Translation.[3][4] Franz was also the Editor of the New World Translation published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.[5]
Frederick Franz attended the University of Cincinnati where he was an honor student.[6] His formal training concentrated on Latin and classical Greek.[7][8] According to A. H. Macmillan, in addition to his native tongue of English, Frederick Franz was fluent in Spanish, Portuguese and German, conversant in French, and a scholar of Hebrew, Greek, Syrias and Latin.[9]
[edit] References
- ^ Witness Under Prosecution, Time Magazine, February 22, 1982
- ^ Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, chapter 9
- ^ Michael Marlowe editor, The New World Translation, published online by Bible Research
- ^ Wills T, M.A., A People For His Name – A History of Jehovah’s Witnesses and An Evaluation, Second Edition, Lulu, 2006: 253 (Originally published in 1967 by Vantage Press) “[Frederick] Franz is a language scholar of no mean ability—he supervised the translation of the Bible from the original languages into the New World Translation, completed in 1961.”
- ^ Walsh vs Honorable James Latham, Court of Session Scotland, 1954, cross examination of Frederick Franz pp. 87-88
- ^ Penton, James, Apocalypse Delayed, Second Edition, 1999, p. 79. James Penton is disfellowshipped from the Watchtower organization.
- ^ 1911-1913 University of Cincinnati transcript for Frederick W. Franz. Between 1911 and 1913 Franz attended the University of Cincinnati. He earned 15 hours of Latin, 21 hours of classical Greek, and a single 2-hour credit class in a course titled “The New Testament—A course in grammar and translation.”
- ^ The Watchtower, May 1, 1987 pp. 23-24, Frederick Franz states he left the University of Cincinnati near the end of his junior year. According to Franz his early departure from the University of Cincinnati was at a sacrifice. He states, “I have never regretted that, shortly before the announcements by the educational authorities regarding the outcome of the examinations for the Cecil Rhodes Scholarship, I wrote a letter to the authorities and advised them that I had lost interest in the Oxford University scholarship and that they should drop me from the list of contestants. This I did even though my professor in Greek at the university, Dr. Joseph Harry, informed me that I had been chosen to receive it.”
- ^ MacMillan AH, Faith on the March, Prentice Hall, 1957, p. 181-182. This author, Alexander Hugh MacMillan, sat on the Board of Directors of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, Incorporated, the publisher of the New World Translation.
| Preceded by Nathan H. Knorr |
President of Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania June 22, 1977-December 22, 1992 |
Succeeded by Milton G. Henschel |
