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Old 05-19-2024, 10:53 AM   #4
UntoHim
Οὕτως γὰρ ἠγάπησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν κόσμον For God So Loved The World
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 3,824
Default Re: Merged Thread - Did Witness Lee Teach Modalism?

I think we all know what verses Lee used. Not much mystery there.
I think there are two questions that need to be addressed -

*1)Were their any renowned, reputable Christian teachers, scholars, authors or apologists that used these verses as prooftexts?
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*2)What are the assessments/criticisms of the majority of teachers, scholars, authors and apologists regarding Lee's teachings on the Trinity?

In regards to the first question, one is very hard-pressed to find any reputable Christian author who even comes close to agreeing with Lee's "modified modalism". However I did discover this paper written by Richard Gaffin Jr., a theology professor at Westminster Theological Seminary, quite a number of years ago entitled "LIFE-GIVING SPIRIT: PROBING THE CENTER OF PAUL’S PNEUMATOLOGY". This is a very large and comprehensive, technical and scholarly treatment of 1 Corinthians 15:45, but the main gist of Gaffin's thesis can be found in the opening paragraphs of the paper:
A couple of interlocking, mutually reinforcing considerations show, decisively it seems to me, that “spirit” in v. 45 refers to the person of the Holy Spirit. (1) Pneuama in v. 45 and pneumatikovn, twice in v. 44 and once in v. 46, are linked semantically.....This conclusion is reinforced by the participial modifier Paul uses. The last Adam did not simply become pneuama but “life-giving” pneuama (pneuama zwopoiouan). The “spirit” in view is not merely an existing entity but an acting subject. Paul’s use of this verb elsewhere proves decisive here, especially his sweeping assertion about the new covenant in 2 Cor 3:6: “The Spirit gives life.” In the contrasting parallelism that stamps this passage too, few if any will dispute that “the Spirit” (to; pneuama) in v. 6 is “the Spirit of the living God” just mentioned in v. 3—in other words, the Holy Spirit. Again, Rom 8:11 attributes the “life-giving” activity of resurrection to the Spirit (cf. John 6:63). For these reasons, pneuama in 1 Cor 15:45 is definite and refers to the person of the Holy Spirit.
***In a very interesting (if not ironic) coincident, Richard Gaffin Jr.'s father, Richard, Richard B. Gaffin, Sr. (1907-1996) was one of the founders of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Taiwan, and was also the very first person who introduced confessional reformed faith to the people in Taiwan. I also noticed that Gaffin Sr.'s life and ministry coincided almost exactly with that of Witness Lee. (1905-1997)

In regards to the second question, the Internet is replete with many scholarly evaluations and polemic criticisms of all the major teachings of Witness Lee and Watchman Nee. As a matter of fact, many, if not most, of them are chronicled on this very forum.
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Open-Letter.Org - More than 70 evangelical Christian scholars and ministry leaders from seven nations have signed an unprecedented open letter to the leadership of the “local churches” and Living Stream Ministry.
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A Response to the Christian Research Journal’s Recent Defense of the “Local Church” Movement
Norm Geisler and Ron Rhodes

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