Like most things in the human realm, we all have subjective impressions. Looking at a painting in a museum, three people might "see" three different things, or aspects, or interpretations. Perhaps all three (or more) impressions woven together might make more of the story. So what follows are my subjective impressions.
If Deputy Authority was so crucial, then why did Nee leave the Anglicans? His grandfather was an Anglican minister, and Nee went to an Anglican college. And Lee likewise was raised with the Baptists - if obeying those above you were such an issue, then why reject the admittedly imperfect Baptists?
Oh, because first we have to "recover" the local ground, which conveniently removes us from the taint of foreign control. Then, we look in the Bible and lo and behold! We discover the DA. But if we'd discovered the DA first, we never could have left the denominations. The timing is altogether too convenient (self-serving) for my liking.
Was ME Barber the so-called spiritual giant, the DA of the early 20th century, or was there another? If Nee was attached to her, and she had "rebelled" against some sending missionary authority, and gone to China on her own, and Nee joined her in rebellion, how is this? Conversely, how was she not subject to any authority, unless she was God's DA herself? Only the DA is exempt from getting in Nee's proverbial line - "Find out who's in charge, and get in line" - if MEB exempted herself from this, then either she was God's DA or she was in rebellion against God's DA.
Again, I find it far too convenient for my taste, to presume that God has restricted his move on the earth to you and you alone. (Not saying that this is what MEB taught, but that what WL et al seem to ascribe to her, to flesh out the DA idea, and the 'Barber-Nee-Lee' lineage thereof.)
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Originally Posted by OBW
The LCM uses the term New Testament Ministry all the time and they don't mean the same thing. Better to just say that you don't find deputy authority in the New Testament. If that is true, then no matter what you think is the New Testament Ministry, it shouldn't be part of it. Meanwhile, the LCM says that DA is in the New Testament Ministry.
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We can say that the DA is seen in the New Testament, especially in Paul's writings, but we can also see beheading repeatedly in the NT, e.g. in Luke's writings (9:9; Acts 12:2) which doesn't make it the universal norm. In order to tease out the DA motif from the letter of Paul (his writings), and give it some actuality, reality, or concreteness on your preferred manner, you need to violate the spirit of Paul, and the both spirit and the letter of Jesus. The Bible presents us an organic whole, a testimony undisturbed, and we can't overturn or ignore any part in order to make it say something we prefer.