Crisis of Conscience (4th edition), “Chapter 3, “Governing Body”, footnote 16”
“The New World Translation bears no translator’s name and is presented as the anonymous work of the “New World Translation Committee.” Other members of that committee were Nathan Knorr, Albert Schroeder and George Gangas. Fred Franz, however, was the only one with sufficient knowledge of the Bible languages to attempt translation of this kind. He had studied Greek for two years at the University of Cincinnati but was only self-taught in Hebrew.”
Raymond Franz was a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses from 1971 to 1980 and a nephew of Frederick W. Franz. The footnote is attached to his account of how doctrinal material was approved in the Knorr presidency.
No online copy located.
Provenance and verification note for Crisis of Conscience (4th edition), Chapter 3, “Governing Body”, footnote 16
Confidence note. The PDF was downloaded and converted to text on 19 September 2026 and the footnote read in full; the footnote stands at the foot of the page whose running head reads “56 CRISIS OF CONSCIENCE”, so it is on page 56; “Governing Body 57” is the running head of the following page. The book’s own contents page puts chapter 3, “Governing Body”, at pages 44-79. This establishes what the author wrote, not that the names are correct. The organisation has never published the membership of the committee, and no independent confirmation exists. Lists circulating online that add Milton Henschel do not derive from this footnote, and we did not locate their source.
Scan provenance. PDF of the fourth edition hosted by friendsofraymondfranz.com, a site run in the author’s memory. The copy consulted is hosted by a third party and its lawfulness is not established, so no link to it is published here.
Notes. Use only as a discovery-level source, and only to say where the names in circulation come from. Do not state the membership of the committee as fact.
Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-nwto-rfranz-2004-cc-committee