Quote:
Originally Posted by ZNPaaneah
Oh, my bad.
You said "My post showed you that he did not "denigrate a term".
are you saying that these quotes of Witness Lee are not on topic or have nothing to do with what you said?
“Anything that is scriptural and even spiritual, yet without life, becomes religion” (Witness Lee, Christ versus Religion, Chapter 12, Section 6)
"Religion is a human invention, a product of the fallen human mind." (Witness Lee, Life Study of John, Chapter 14, Section 1)
"religion is anything done for Christ but not having the presence and reality of Christ." (Witness Lee, Enjoying Christ as the All-inclusive Spirit for the Practical, Genuine, and Real Church Life, Chapter 1, Section 3).
"Religion is to try to worship God but without God, Christ, or the Spirit." (Witness Lee, The Recovery of Christ in the Present Evil Age, Chapter 1, Section 2)
You said "You seem to be twisted Lee's words to mean that he was against taking care of orphans and widows. That is not the meaning of being "against religion".
And to that I responded with the following quotes to show that Witness Lee was against charitable works and was against religion.
"Religion is something formed by the human mentality under Satan's instigation and inspiration in order to oppose God's economy. Apparently, religion is for God, but in actuality, it is fully against Him." (Witness Lee, The Lord's Recovery and the Present Situation of Religion, Chapter 2, Section 1)
We do not like to set up social and charitable works such as schools and hospitals. The apostle Paul did not do this kind of work. (Witness Lee, Basic Lessons on Service, Chapter 15, Section 2).
Are you saying that these quotes do not adequately respond to what you said?
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ZNPaaneah, in all those quotes I cannot find anything which is out to denigrate the term religion.
Religion in this context means a system of beliefs and rituals. If you prefer to use the definition of religion in James, that is fine, but the majority of people in the world do not define religion in this way.
So when Lee speaks of religion he is not speaking about helping orphans and widows, but a system of man-made beliefs and rituals.
Lee is saying that a system of beliefs and rituals cannot give life.
This is what his first quote means
"“Anything that is scriptural and even spiritual, yet without life, becomes religion”
The fact that I found one quote where Lee spoke positively of religion, saying it is good, proves that he did not denigrate the term.
Yes, he said religion is against God. But it is. Hard for you to argue that Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, etc is not against God in as much as they reject Christ.
Lee was not against helping widows and orphans, he was saying that like Paul, it is not the focus of his ministry.
In short, his view is that religion is good from a human perspective, but cannot give life, only Christ can.