Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Vusik
Does this sound familiar?
This post is identifying some of the teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong, who started his movement in the early 1930s in the USA. Some of the teachings that he called “restored truths”, are very familiar to those “recovered truths” in TLR. I’m wondering if MOTA just took some of them from HWA, and just modified them to his liking?
|
Many Christian movements have sprung up with noble aspirations to return the church to its Apostolic times. The Reformation, the Restoration, and the Recovery movements are just three of them. They all have their excesses and failures. Each of them were prone to elevate men and their teachings/ opinions above the scripture. No place in the New Covenant do we ever recognize the leadership of just one man, apart from Jesus Christ.
HWA and the Recovery may have shared errors, but an in depth study of that movement is beyond the scope of this forum. To answer your question, I am not familiar with Nee or Lee ever mentioning HWA. The Recovery "MOTA" background comes directly from the Exclusive Brethren, perhaps also drawing from Chinese culture and their history of dynasties.
The original Plymouth Brethren in early 19th century England and Ireland primarily drew from two ecclesiastical models. The Exclusives under John Darby had Anglican backgrounds with a hierarchy under the archbishop of Canterbury. The Open Brethren (Chapman, Muller, Craik, etc.) on the other hand were from Baptist backgrounds.
I think both the Bible and healthy Christian history point to the benefits of an ecclesiastical structure of a plurality of leaders/ elders governing local assemblies. Ironically, the Recovery in America began and was blessed when the leadership model followed the "Open" or Baptist model of multiple elders leading their own congregations. Over time, similar to the transitions made by Darby himself, the Recovery took on a Catholic/ Anglican/ Exclusive Brethren hierarchical style of leadership with a central headquarters. For the Exclusives, it was the London Park Ave hall. In the Recovery it was Anaheim Ball Road.
Many in the Recovery saw this transition as a horrible "change of nature," a ministry power grab, and as such a root of evil, from which many other evils sprung up.