Local Church Discussions - View Single Post - The God-Men: An Inquiry into Witness Lee & the Local Church

NeitherFirstnorLast · 11-23-2012, 03:49 PM

Chapter 1

For the purposes of our study of this book, and in keeping within the rights of fair-use laws, I want to keep what I post down to excerpts from our book. For that reason, I will offer a brief synopsis of the chapter, and then go over some of the major points.

I would like to state that throughout this book are numerous references - in fact, the appendix at the back of the book cites no less than 295 references from which quotes have been taken. These references are not only of Lee's works - with page references. A quick count shows that there are around 20 of Lee's published titles here. I say this simply to illustrate the thoroughness of this investigation.

Chapter One is about why we should investigate our spiritual teachers, what we should use a standard to investigate their teachings, what might attract one to a particular kind of teaching, and what reasons we have in particular to investigate Witness Lee.

Why Should We Investigate our Teachers?

"Evangelical Christians regard the Bible as the authoritative source for teaching on morality and social propriety, as well as theology... Many of Paul's letters emphasize a need for orthopraxis in addition to orthodoxy, that is, for both "right doing" and "right teaching", guided by Scripture.

In his commentary The Epistles of John, John R. W. Stott notes the need for Christian communities to evaluate their teachers using Scripture as their base. Focusing on 1 John 2, Stott recommends the application of three tests, two of which are a social test and a doctrinal test. These enable a Christian community to recognize the sometimes alluring falsities of pseudopraxis and heterodoxy among it's teachers.

..1 John 2:9 "The one who says he is the light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him." An instructor whose relationships within the Christian community are consistently abrasive and fraught with strife, has, by biblical definition, run askew."

...1 John 2:24-25 "let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father." ...the apostle John required Christians to measure the teachings of their instructors by the apostolic teachings."
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It cannot be argued that Witness Lee and the Local Churches certainly have poor relationships with outsiders. Christian brethren have not only been the target of attacks from within Lee's writings, but also in the real world. I have heard stories of LC youth marching on Moody Bible College, telling them that "Babylon is falling", and we all know that the lawsuit launched against SCP was not the first and not the last LSM has cooked up. The authors have not cited any of these incidents - and I believe that's because they want the reader to look for themselves at their own teacher and his movement.

As for Lee's teachings, he is proud to say that he has been shown so much more than others, that he preaches a higher gospel, that he has recovered the 'high peaks", etc, etc. I only ask, is Lee saying that the Bible is insufficient in itself to reveal God's redemptive plan to men without Lee's ministry?

11-23-2012, 03:49 PM	#51
NeitherFirstnorLast Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 348	Our Reading Continues Chapter 1 For the purposes of our study of this book, and in keeping within the rights of fair-use laws, I want to keep what I post down to excerpts from our book. For that reason, I will offer a brief synopsis of the chapter, and then go over some of the major points. I would like to state that throughout this book are numerous references - in fact, the appendix at the back of the book cites no less than 295 references from which quotes have been taken. These references are not only of Lee's works - with page references. A quick count shows that there are around 20 of Lee's published titles here. I say this simply to illustrate the thoroughness of this investigation. Chapter One is about why we should investigate our spiritual teachers, what we should use a standard to investigate their teachings, what might attract one to a particular kind of teaching, and what reasons we have in particular to investigate Witness Lee. Why Should We Investigate our Teachers? "Evangelical Christians regard the Bible as the authoritative source for teaching on morality and social propriety, as well as theology... Many of Paul's letters emphasize a need for orthopraxis in addition to orthodoxy, that is, for both "right doing" and "right teaching", guided by Scripture. In his commentary The Epistles of John, John R. W. Stott notes the need for Christian communities to evaluate their teachers using Scripture as their base. Focusing on 1 John 2, Stott recommends the application of three tests, two of which are a social test and a doctrinal test. These enable a Christian community to recognize the sometimes alluring falsities of pseudopraxis and heterodoxy among it's teachers. ..1 John 2:9 "The one who says he is the light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him." An instructor whose relationships within the Christian community are consistently abrasive and fraught with strife, has, by biblical definition, run askew." ...1 John 2:24-25 "let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father." ...the apostle John required Christians to measure the teachings of their instructors by the apostolic teachings." ******************** It cannot be argued that Witness Lee and the Local Churches certainly have poor relationships with outsiders. Christian brethren have not only been the target of attacks from within Lee's writings, but also in the real world. I have heard stories of LC youth marching on Moody Bible College, telling them that "Babylon is falling", and we all know that the lawsuit launched against SCP was not the first and not the last LSM has cooked up. The authors have not cited any of these incidents - and I believe that's because they want the reader to look for themselves at their own teacher and his movement. As for Lee's teachings, he is proud to say that he has been shown so much more than others, that he preaches a higher gospel, that he has recovered the 'high peaks", etc, etc. I only ask, is Lee saying that the Bible is insufficient in itself to reveal God's redemptive plan to men without Lee's ministry?