Quote:
Originally Posted by Igzy
Stress the threeness of the One too much, and you not only risk lapsing into the vile heresy of multiple Gods, you also cut the cords of any claim that mankind should be one.
Stress the oneness of the Three too much, and you undermine the importance of the individual and the diversity of the group. This was the error of the LRC. I don't think it is any coincidence that their Trinity doctrine and their Church unity doctrine both go to an extreme when stressing oneness.I believe the latter sprang from the former. The disregard of the individual and diversity in the LRC sprang directly from the de-emphasis of the diversity in the Trinity. When they claimed the Father is the Son and the Son is the Spirit, they laid the groundwork for saying differences between believers and churches should be suspect and eliminated as much as possible as well.
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Good observations.
There is also a good case to be made that WL's oneness theology sprung up from the ground of oneness teaching. Recovery oneness ideologies, i.e. ground of locality teachings and practices, among the Brethren and Chinese LC assemblies were firmly entrenched long before WL launched his Trinity theology in the USA.
I seem to remember a comment made by poster Hope about WL's initial "near-modalism" teachings back in the late 60's. IIRC, Hope's observation of WL's teaching was, to the effect, that initial complaints of "modalism" from outsiders could have been clarified in the formative stages of the teaching. Instead of accepting some adjusting critique, WL dug in the more fiercely, and built a hardened fortress around his teaching.
Let me add more to your observations. Whether Trinity oneness theology or church oneness theology came first, both teachings were used and misused by WL for his own self-serving interests. As you have said, "
The disregard of the individual and diversity in the LRC sprang directly from the de-emphasis of the diversity in the Trinity." This helps to explain why so many dear brothers and sisters have been hurt over the years. WL's teachings of distorted oneness of the body of Christ also robbed elders of their responsibility to shepherd the flock according to the Head. All this benefited no one but WL and his ministry.