Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Cox
So...within a given city, who decides which is THE church in that city.
I think if Witness Lee really wanted to get back to the beginning, he would have told all the churches to sell their meeting halls. The churches didn't meet in designated "church" buildings (or "meeting halls") for at least the first two hundred years, maybe more. Think of how many millions that would have saved; how many hungry people could have been fed with that money.
If Witness Lee really wanted to get back to the beginning, he would have instructed all the churches to have someone stand in the meeting and just read the scripture. Paul told Timothy to not forsake the reading of scripture.
If Witness Lee really wanted to get back to the beginning, he would have called off all the "Trainings" and conferences. There is no record of these activities in the New Testament.
And on, and on, and on...
P.C.
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Yes, I agree with this. Taking the observations about oneness and saying that you have packaged them and it is your group and not anyone else's is to me, quite ugly. However, that was not what I first believed in "one church one city" nor is that what I believe now. Having lived through the LRC attempt at "practical oneness" I can testify that they truly did not practice oneness with other christians.
It does not take a genius to figure out that when Christians meet, whether in a home or a hall that that room will not be sufficient for every believer in that city. Therefore, meeting in several homes or several halls is not a divisive factor. However, saying that you will get sick if you take the Lord's table at another meeting hall of Christians in the city is certainly a sectarian teaching. And that is pretty much what I was taught by RG and others while in the LRC. This was never taught in a way that you could examine the scriptures, only as a "this is what I saw happen" kind of testimony. I treated that the same way I would treat someone else's testimony. I filed it away waiting for my own observations to confirm or disprove it. Now that I have those observations I feel comfortable in condemning that teaching.
Once again, I learned the "one church one city" teaching from WN. I do not have much issue with it as taught by WN. I do take issue with the LRC version of this teaching, hence my analogy of "Jesus Christ Superstar".