Quote:
Originally Posted by Evangelical
In the New Testament, the singular word "church" is always used when referring to the "church in the city.."
There is no verse in the New Testament that says "churches in the city.."
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This whole line of reasoning is predicated on the presumption that the meaning of the word when mentioned with respect to a city can only be "assembly" as in a single collection of actual people meeting together. Yet we see the word clearly meaning more than that in other contexts, therefore it is presumptuous to claim that it means universal when it is OK to mean that, but standalone assembly when a city name is invoked.
But Nee had no basis to make that assertion. Just a desire for it to be so. And in making that assertion, he created a rule that did not account for the house churches. And when he was faced with them, he simply said it couldn't mean what it clearly did mean. Sort of like you. Claiming there are no house churches.
Set the rule, bring on the evidence against it and dismiss that evidence with the rule.
If Nee were putting this in any kind of paper for a scholarly work in school, he would be failed for not properly dealing with the evidence against his proposition. He probably would have been sent to take a few classes in logic and philosophy so that his thinking would not be so scattered lacking in sound reasoning.