[Jay]

Originally Posted by aron

That such cut-rate theology can survive and even flourish brings an obvious question: How can such poor thinking get disseminated, accepted, promoted, and vociferously defended? It's really striking at first glance.

Case in point - intensification as the 3rd stage of God's economy. Where is the basis for consideration of intensification of the HS as something Paul either taught or asked Timothy to safeguard, as LSM teaches? Because it's said to be revealed to John in the Apocalypse account due to degradation, yet it was an integral part of God's NT economy, per Paul? It was clearly added on by WL. There's no trace of Paul (or Jesus) teaching intensification, much less as part of God's economy. It was manufactured by WL, clearly. There's no justification for saying otherwise. (And there were 7 lamps burning in Exodus 25, so degradation & intensification is also theologically wobbly).

Or, the role of women in the ekklesia. Foundational to Nee, but forbidden by Lee. They both can't be logical positions. One or the other is illegitimate, by their own terms. It's theology of convenience, just like the idea of intensification as integral to the God's economy being taught by Paul.



First supporting pillar is that the group member is conditioned to think that any error must be on their part. If you see a problem, you are negative or poison or ambitious or divisive. So critical thought is suppressed and illogic is accepted.

For confirmation see Jo Casteel open letter. Witness Lee was Seer of the Divine Revelation, God's Oracle, the Humble Bondslave of Jesus Christ, and if he didn't make sense, then you were somehow deficient and defeated. He HAD to make sense, even when he didn't seem to. He was Spiritual Man, able to discern others while his thought was cloaked in mystical impregnability. You just needed the vision, we were told.

The second pillar is that everything - everything - that you see in print from WL was introduced publicly in an atmosphere of heel rocking, groaning, sighing, neck rolling, arm waving, repetitive chanting, modulated intonations with fist pumps to put the audience into a state of heightened suggestibility. At that point, they'll overlook the most obvious illogic.

How can there be multiple centers of the universe? It's by definition a singularity. Yet look how often WL publicly reintroduced the concept, continuing to offer new and incompatible centers. Just google "Witness Lee center of the universe" and you'll see what I mean. And there are many such examples. A ministry of thousands of messages that is riddled with inconsistencies. The only constants that are seen are convenience and self- interest. The (ahem) revealed truth is whatever expediencies will tickle the audience today, and keep the game rolling.

Well one thing I'll say is that how many times can you repeat the same thing over and over. I enjoy a reiteration and I enjoy the major points of God's economy. But it's pretty obvious that LSM repackages the same points over and over again from every possible angle and then puts out these publications as if they're "new" or fresh revelation from God. They call it "the current speaking." Which is why I struggle with the morning revival. I agree with the concept of reviving my spirit in the morning and the concept of eating Bible verses with prayer. But then you read a large portion of Nee and Lee ministry which again, is just the same stuff repeated over and over. It took me a lot of years to get through all of their concepts. But once you do you realize it's all the same stuff. I guess some would say that Paul says to only pay attention to God's economy (1 Timothy 1:4), which I guess is well and good, but many times I find myself just utterly bored reading the same theology from a remixed perspective. And you can just read Lee forever and it's mostly all the same stuff. Idk maybe it just is what it is. I suppose the thought there is to have the same diet and to help attune the body into the same mind and thinking

But then also it gives ground to call it a cult and that's where the concept of "mindbenders" comes in. It's very homogenous. Almost like an Amish community. I remember in college I went on a field trip to an Amish community and it was eerily similar to the local church where I was meeting. They all dressed the same and they all had the same kind of fear of outsiders and fear of "the world" there, just like in the local church at that time. Maybe now it's gotten more normal but it's just kind of funny how similar that type of thing was. And I've heard many "tape recorders" of brother Lee who just say and repeat the same lines and stuff he said. Like they don't even have their own mind. You can tell there's no "writers voice" with these people. I was like that for awhile myself. Not really having any personal uniqueness or personal flavor in what I was saying. Just rehashed and repeated doctrine and theology that was copying something Lee said. Many in the recovery are just kind of clones of one another or clones of Lee, and Lee for sure encouraged that type of thing and behavior. I've read him many times say "I hope all of you brothers will be little tape recorders of me." What he meant was that he loved God's economy and he just wanted the brothers to speak only God's economy. Which I suppose is theoretically correct in a sense according to the Bible. But they took him so literal that they literally just repeat things he's said over and over again. Like how many different ways can you cook chicken? But anyway