Frederick William Franz (September 12, 1893 – December 22, 1992) was an American religious leader who served as president of the

Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania is a non-stock, not-for-profit organization headquartered in Warwick, New York. It is the main legal entity used worldwide by Jehovah's Witnesses to direct, administer and disseminate doc ...

, the legal entity used to administer the work of

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...

. He had previously served as vice president of the same corporation from 1945 until 1977 when he replaced Nathan H. Knorr as president. He was also a member of the

Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses The Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses is the ruling council of Jehovah's Witnesses, based in the denomination's Warwick, New York, headquarters. The body formulates doctrines, oversees the production of written material for publications and ...

, which assumed over-all control of all Jehovah's Witness corporations in 1976.''Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom'', Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1993, page 111.

Early life and education

Franz was born on September 12, 1893, in

Covington, Kentucky Covington is a list of cities in Kentucky, home rule-class city in Kenton County, Kentucky, Kenton County, Kentucky, United States, located at the confluence of the Ohio River, Ohio and Licking River (Kentucky), Licking Rivers. Cincinnati, Ohio, ...

. He was baptized in the Lutheran Church, but attended Catholic services as a child as a matter of convenience, before later attending the

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

Church."Looking Back Over 93 Years of Living", ''The Watchtower'', May 1, 1987, page 22-30. He graduated from Woodward High School in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, Ohio, in 1911 and attended the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...

, where he studied liberal arts and biblical

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, with the intention of becoming a Presbyterian preacher. He knew German and could read Latin, Greek and in later years self-taught Spanish, Portuguese, French and Hebrew.

Career

His association with the Bible Students began after he read some of the literature of

Charles Taze Russell Charles Taze Russell (February 16, 1852 – October 31, 1916), or Pastor Russell, was an American Christian restorationist minister from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and founder of what is now known as the Bible Student movement. He was an ...

. He was baptized as a Bible Student on either November 30, 1913, or, in Franz's own account, April 5, 1914. In 1920, he joined the Watch Tower headquarters staff in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, and in 1926 became a member of the editorial staff as a Bible researcher and writer for the society's publications. Upon the death of Watch Tower president Joseph Rutherford, Franz became head of the editorial department, and in 1945 he replaced Hayden C. Covington as vice-president of the Watch Tower Society. Franz was the society's leading theologian and has been named as a leading figure in the preparation of the Witnesses' ''

New World Translation The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (NWT) is a translation of the Bible published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society; it is used and distributed by Jehovah's Witnesses. The New Testament portion was released first, in 1950, ...

'' of the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

. His nephew and fellow Governing Body member

Raymond Franz Raymond Victor Franz (May 8, 1922 – June 2, 2010) was a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses from October 20, 1971, until his removal on May 22, 1980, and served at the organization's world headquarters for fifteen years, ...

resigned from the Governing Body and was subsequently

disfellowshipped Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

in 1982 during F. W. Franz's presidency. Franz continued to contribute to Watch Tower Society literature until his death in 1992 at the age of 99. He was succeeded as president of the Watch Tower Society by Milton G. Henschel.

Role in eschatology

In 2010, the Watch Tower Society asserted that the "generation" of 1914—regarded by Jehovah's Witnesses as the last generation before the battle of

Armageddon According to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Armageddon (, from grc, Ἁρμαγεδών ''Harmagedōn'', Late Latin: , from Hebrew: ''Har Məgīddō'') is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies ...

—includes persons whose lives "overlap" with "the anointed who were on hand when the sign began to become evident in 1914." In 2015, Franz was cited as an example of one of the last members of the "anointed" alive in 1914, suggesting that the "generation" would include any individuals "anointed" up until his death in 1992 at the earliest.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Franz, Frederick William 1893 births 1992 deaths Watch Tower Society presidents Members of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses American Jehovah's Witnesses Woodward High School (Cincinnati, Ohio) alumni