Quote:
Originally Posted by aron
Here's my common-sense metric for brain-washing.
If the speaker up front says, "The moon is made of Green Cheese" and everyone in the audience claps and cheers then perhaps they are under some mass delusion. Because I see no objective evidence that the moon is actually composed of Green Cheese (or any other for that matter).
Witness Lee would stand in front of hundreds and speak things that strained the limits of orthodoxy, that contradicted each other (is this the 1987 doctrine or the 1974 teaching), that defied common sense, that bothered our consciences (many witnesses here have testified here), and that depart from Christian practice dating centuries. Yet after each one of these sessions, nobody would stand up and say, "Wait a minute". . .
Yet we see a man who gave hundreds if not thousands of messages in front of who knows how many, and nobody EVER saw anything wrong? The man was that good? Or we were re-programmed? I say, the second, not the first.
"The tree of life is the center of the universe". Well, um, maybe not. I see the throne of God, and a river of water of life proceeding out of the throne, and the tree of life growing on either side of the river. So maybe the throne is the center.
Now, it may be the center, or it may not be. Maybe the tree of life is, in fact, the center. But it isn't as self-evident as Lee pretended it was. And we believed him, without question. The fact that nobody questioned his bland assertions, some of which were thinly made, indicates brain-washing.
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“Some years ago I read an article regarding the size of the universe published by an institute of astronomy. According to this article, two hundred forty million solar systems make one galaxy, and forty billion galaxies form the unique center of the universe.
I believe the throne of God is located in this unique center. “
(Witness Lee, Basic Training p. 9)
“Revelation 22:1 says, “He showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the middle of its street.”
The throne here is the center of the New Jerusalem. Every nation has a center. The center of a nation is its capital, the place where the central government is located. The New Jerusalem also has a center, which is the throne of God and of the Lamb.
According to the context of this portion of the Word,
the throne of God and of the Lamb is the center of the New Jerusalem, on which the redeeming God, as indicated by the expression “God and the Lamb”, carries out His administration based upon His redemption, in His eternal kingdom in the new heaven and new earth, to keep everything in the universe in the order that serves His purpose.”
(The Conclusion of the New Testament p. 2734)
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The throne of God in the center of the New Jerusalem is the unique source of the life supply. It is by His administration that God dispenses Himself into us as life, as the life supply, and as the eternal, absolute, all-inclusive grace. His dispensing of Himself into us depends upon His administration.”
(TCONT p. 4419)
“
The tree of life is the center of the universe. According to the purpose of God, the earth is the center of the universe, the garden of Eden is the center of the earth, and the tree of life is the center of the garden of Eden. We must realize that the whole universe is centered on this tree of life: nothing is more central and crucial to both God and man than this tree. It is very meaningful to see man in the garden standing before the tree of life.”
(Life-Study of Genesis, p. 140)
“Looking at the plot plan of the temple compound, we can see that no matter through which gate we enter, we will arrive at the altar. When God comes from the temple to meet man, He likewise arrives at the altar.
Therefore the altar is not only the center of the universe but also the meeting place of God with man and of man with God . . . the cross, therefore, is not only the center but also the circumference. . “
(Life-Study of Ezekiel, Msg 21)
"THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE - MAN" (Gospel Outlines, Title of Subject Three)
So, what's the center of the universe? The altar, or the tree of life, or the throne of God, or . . ? Answer: whatever Witness Lee needed it to be for that message. This was a ministry of expedience. Yet no one ever questioned these glaring contradictions. I could list many such examples - I just point out an obvious one.
All those messages in front of all those people. Yet nobody ever said, Wait a minute here . . . ??? Amazing, in retrospect.