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Originally Posted by OBW
I also believe that Lee spent hours praying, even as mentioned here. The problem is that he was never a cleansed vessel in the way that Don Hardy once believed. I'm not denying his salvation. I am denying some special cleansing. I would rather characterize his condition as "needing more cleansing." Since we have some record now of his returning to Taiwan to regain control over those churches (in the midst of this "cleansed" period), what was happening in the US can only be characterized as window dressing.
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Yes indeed you have hit on a core issue! Witness Lee was persona non grata in Taiwan due to business dealings that went awry there. But is he going to come to America and tell people that? Of course not! So a "spiritual" story had to be made up to legitimize him and his work in the eyes of Christians here. (Using the name of Watchman Nee to gain credibility was part of that process.)
The cultural turmoil of the 1960s happened to be an ideal time for him to land on our fair shores with his tale because young people were searching for something "new" and the LC system's model at the time was highly community oriented. This was attractive to many who didn't want to be hardcore hippies but wanted communal living. Basically Jesus people who ended up in the LC system instead of another church.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OBW
I find these kinds of statements like "charged and burdened by the Lord for the release of the Spirit and the unveiling of Christ and the church in the Scriptures," "Witness Lee was a cleansed vessel," and "His ministry was not common, but was proceeding out from the throne of God" to be extremely naive given all that we now know.
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I find such statements by
Indiana to not only be naive but also somewhat insulting to those who know what Witness Lee was really like.
I'm willing to say Witness Lee was a flawed Bible teacher who handicapped himself and his ministry by his own arrogant attitude and behaviors including engaging members of the LC system (in the Far East and America) in his failed business schemes. I agree with some of the things he taught and disagree with some of the things he taught. IMHO claiming that his ministry is anything more than that is wishful thinking at best and frankly I find it childish when
Indiana or anyone else engages in such empty and unnecessary rhetoric.