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

NeitherFirstnorLast · 12-28-2012, 06:30 PM

Chapter 4 Cont'd: Human Beings in Bits and Pieces

The God-Men, pages 89-91

"The diagram of Witness Lee's doctrine of humanity (see pg 50 - this is the diagram of the three concentric circles, you know the one) goes beyond the Bible's revelation of human nature. Lee's doctrine practically binds Local Church adherents to his interpretation of Scripture as the surest route to spirituality. The faculties of the soul (mind, will, emotion) are set over against the spirit (intuition, conscience, fellowship with God) in unceasing struggle. Hence, although the mind, in subordination to the spirit, may theoretically be used to discern truth, its acceptance of any ideas other than Local Church dogma (A principle or set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true) is understood as "soulish" de facto. Such a distinction between soul and spirit in their operation has no biblical warrant.

In fact, Old Testament nephesh ("soul") is frequently used in parallel relation to one's body or flesh, but is also closely united with the spirit or heart (see Psalms 63:8, 84:2, 73:21, Proverbs 23:15-17)....

....God created man as a "living soul", so constituted that the "life [soul] of the flesh is in the blood," (Gen 2:7, Lev 17:11) and is dependent on God for preservationas a living (soulish) being. Even God "has" (is) a soul (Lev 26:11, 30) - that is, He is a living person; human souls are made in His image....

....When the Scriptures mention one specific aspect of human personality, the word used often intrinsically includes other dimensions as well. For example, in Acts 27:37, when Luke said "two hundred and seventy-six persons" were on a ship, he used the word psyche for "person", obviously not meaning a disembodied "soul"..... hence one finds scant biblical justification for Lee's notion of a merged Spirit-spirit as the dispenser of God's will to the soul through intuition, feelings, the senses and noncognitive processes.* (note to view Appendix 2 for further details - and I quote from that following....)

The "nature of human nature" is a traditional topic of controversy in Christian theology. When the subject is referred to by theologians under its technical title of "anthropology", most of their discussions focus around two major positions or schools of thought. Some theologians postulate a trichotomous view of human nature (three-part humanity as Nee and Lee did)... Other biblical scholars opt for a dichotomous view (two-part {body & soul}). Although Bible interpreters are disagreed as to the exact scriptural position, few have confined the Holy Spirit to a particular part of human nature, as Witness Lee has done. Fewer still have set the components of human personality in opposition to each other, as Lee has done....

********************

I will end the quote there, and looking back over the passage I have to highlight the result of this theology - that one can and will be admonished to "not" think through Lee's theology. Thinking is "anathema" to spiritual growth, in Lee's view - and that leaves a person who follows Lee unable to question anything Lee teaches. The section I will quote from tomorrow gets more into this.

I must confess that I too embraced the idea of a tripartite man; and I can't say I've entirely given the concept up, but I no longer hold it as "gospel" truth, merely a view which can and should continue to be challenged. I note that Lee took the teaching quite a few steps further with his placement of God's role in communicating with man, and in the nature of the division between the elements. I also hope we all know that Witness Lee or Watchman Nee didn't invent the tripartite man idea, and neither did the Brethren....

THE HISTORY OF TRICHOTOMY

Most Biblical scholars in the early church saw man as a threefold (trichotomous) being. Even as late as Augustine (A.D. 354-430), the common view was that man was trichotomous - that he possessed a body, a soul, and a spirit. The words of Augustine substantiate this fact very plainly when he wrote in Faith and Creed:
"... there are three things of which man consists - namely spirit, soul, and body ..." [Faith and the Creed (XX:23)].
But as Latin Theology (i.e., Roman Catholicism) began to take hold, most theologians abandoned trichotomy and began to see man as simply a two-fold being of soul and body (with spirit being just another name for the soul). This idea, known as dichotomy, continued as the majority opinion down through the centuries and still is the common view held by the Roman Catholic Church and most of the Protestant churches that came out of the Reformation (i.e., the Dutch Reformed, the Lutheran, the Episcopalian, the Presbyterian, etc.) - all of which, interestingly enough, hold to a post-millennial approach to eschatology [i.e., that the church must take control of the world before Christ can return (more about this later)]. It is interesting to note in this connection, however, that Martin Luther, the father (so to speak) of the Reformation, championed the view that man was trichotomous.
THE PLYMOUTH BRETHREN

It wasn't until the rise of evangelicalism in the 1800s [and most especially, the Plymouth Brethren, the group which is looked upon by most church historians as the parent body out from which evangelicalism sprang] and John Nelson Darby that trichotomy once again revived - and it's worth noting in this connection that along with a revived view of man as a trichotomous being, pre-millennialism also revived. Darby's teachings were popularized and gained wide acceptance and public acclaim in conservative church bodies throughout most of the 20th century. But with the rise of the modern ecumenical movement - i.e., the political movement of Protestant and Catholic bodies together to "take the nation back for Christ and the church" - post-millennialism (which "politicizing" promotes) resurfaced along with dichotomy - which post-millennialism of necessity encourages.

History of Trichotomy courtesy of Brent Harris' book "Body, Soul and Spirit"

12-28-2012, 06:30 PM	#317
NeitherFirstnorLast Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 348	Our Reading Continues Chapter 4 Cont'd: Human Beings in Bits and Pieces The God-Men, pages 89-91 "The diagram of Witness Lee's doctrine of humanity (see pg 50 - this is the diagram of the three concentric circles, you know the one) goes beyond the Bible's revelation of human nature. Lee's doctrine practically binds Local Church adherents to his interpretation of Scripture as the surest route to spirituality. The faculties of the soul (mind, will, emotion) are set over against the spirit (intuition, conscience, fellowship with God) in unceasing struggle. Hence, although the mind, in subordination to the spirit, may theoretically be used to discern truth, its acceptance of any ideas other than Local Church dogma (A principle or set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true) is understood as "soulish" de facto. Such a distinction between soul and spirit in their operation has no biblical warrant. In fact, Old Testament nephesh ("soul") is frequently used in parallel relation to one's body or flesh, but is also closely united with the spirit or heart (see Psalms 63:8, 84:2, 73:21, Proverbs 23:15-17).... ....God created man as a "living soul", so constituted that the "life [soul] of the flesh is in the blood," (Gen 2:7, Lev 17:11) and is dependent on God for preservationas a living (soulish) being. Even God "has" (is) a soul (Lev 26:11, 30) - that is, He is a living person; human souls are made in His image.... ....When the Scriptures mention one specific aspect of human personality, the word used often intrinsically includes other dimensions as well. For example, in Acts 27:37, when Luke said "two hundred and seventy-six persons" were on a ship, he used the word psyche for "person", obviously not meaning a disembodied "soul"..... hence one finds scant biblical justification for Lee's notion of a merged Spirit-spirit as the dispenser of God's will to the soul through intuition, feelings, the senses and noncognitive processes.* (note to view Appendix 2 for further details - and I quote from that following....) The "nature of human nature" is a traditional topic of controversy in Christian theology. When the subject is referred to by theologians under its technical title of "anthropology", most of their discussions focus around two major positions or schools of thought. Some theologians postulate a trichotomous view of human nature (three-part humanity as Nee and Lee did)... Other biblical scholars opt for a dichotomous view (two-part {body & soul}). Although Bible interpreters are disagreed as to the exact scriptural position, few have confined the Holy Spirit to a particular part of human nature, as Witness Lee has done. Fewer still have set the components of human personality in opposition to each other, as Lee has done.... ******************** I will end the quote there, and looking back over the passage I have to highlight the result of this theology - that one can and will be admonished to "not" think through Lee's theology. Thinking is "anathema" to spiritual growth, in Lee's view - and that leaves a person who follows Lee unable to question anything Lee teaches. The section I will quote from tomorrow gets more into this. I must confess that I too embraced the idea of a tripartite man; and I can't say I've entirely given the concept up, but I no longer hold it as "gospel" truth, merely a view which can and should continue to be challenged. I note that Lee took the teaching quite a few steps further with his placement of God's role in communicating with man, and in the nature of the division between the elements. I also hope we all know that Witness Lee or Watchman Nee didn't invent the tripartite man idea, and neither did the Brethren.... THE HISTORY OF TRICHOTOMY Most Biblical scholars in the early church saw man as a threefold (trichotomous) being. Even as late as Augustine (A.D. 354-430), the common view was that man was trichotomous - that he possessed a body, a soul, and a spirit. The words of Augustine substantiate this fact very plainly when he wrote in Faith and Creed: "... there are three things of which man consists - namely spirit, soul, and body ..." [Faith and the Creed (XX:23)]. But as Latin Theology (i.e., Roman Catholicism) began to take hold, most theologians abandoned trichotomy and began to see man as simply a two-fold being of soul and body (with spirit being just another name for the soul). This idea, known as dichotomy, continued as the majority opinion down through the centuries and still is the common view held by the Roman Catholic Church and most of the Protestant churches that came out of the Reformation (i.e., the Dutch Reformed, the Lutheran, the Episcopalian, the Presbyterian, etc.) - all of which, interestingly enough, hold to a post-millennial approach to eschatology [i.e., that the church must take control of the world before Christ can return (more about this later)]. It is interesting to note in this connection, however, that Martin Luther, the father (so to speak) of the Reformation, championed the view that man was trichotomous. THE PLYMOUTH BRETHREN It wasn't until the rise of evangelicalism in the 1800s [and most especially, the Plymouth Brethren, the group which is looked upon by most church historians as the parent body out from which evangelicalism sprang] and John Nelson Darby that trichotomy once again revived - and it's worth noting in this connection that along with a revived view of man as a trichotomous being, pre-millennialism also revived. Darby's teachings were popularized and gained wide acceptance and public acclaim in conservative church bodies throughout most of the 20th century. But with the rise of the modern ecumenical movement - i.e., the political movement of Protestant and Catholic bodies together to "take the nation back for Christ and the church" - post-millennialism (which "politicizing" promotes) resurfaced along with dichotomy - which post-millennialism of necessity encourages. History of Trichotomy courtesy of Brent Harris' book "Body, Soul and Spirit"