[OBW]

I tend more bipartite because I find the so-called distinctions between soul and spirit (which Nee, and then Lee, tried so hard to separate in a neat way) to be so overlapping, by definition, with each other that they could not be separated. And the only place where there is a reference to separating them requires a sharp, two-edged sword of the Spirit.

My reason for somewhat combining them is that the record I see would appear to treat "spirit" (of man) as if it is a part of the soul that is not otherwise found in other animals rather than something completely separate. That is not for the purpose of avoiding more spiritual things. But spiritual is more a part of all of life rather than something unique to "non-secular" experience. In other words, something that is "spiritual" is not so because it is separated from ordinary experience and relegated to what might (without denigration) be called religious experience. Instead, it is spiritual because it comes from the life of ones who are living according to the spirit. That should include the way that we pray, read, learn, drive, shop, "kill time," and so on.

While there are sometimes events, feelings, realizations, emotions, etc., that occur while within somewhat more "religious" undertakings, like praying, reading and meditating on scripture, worship of God (both individually and corporately), I am slow to rely on feelings or emotions, primarily for two reasons.

1. The first goes back to my AOG upbringing (which you may recall or find in one the first posts in my blog) which is very dependent on emotional experiences — even to the extent of making mockery of what God is fully capable of doing and even sometimes does. But a core of believe that insists that the right prayers will bring miracles of all sorts, including causing you to speak in tongues.

2. The second is because of my time in the LRC. There, it was so often the emotional sense created by the belief of spiritual superiority. Also, a propensity to get us whipped-up so that the next thing said (which was too often the important thing) was accepted without reasonable consideration. Too often the sheer litany of otherwise irrelevant verses to which we all shouted "amen" and "hallelujah" to in ever-raising chorus (and rightly so) just made our response to the next statement, which was as erroneous as the day is long, an even louder "hallelujah." No, that did not always happen. But it is just like standing up in the middle of an unrighteous lynching to "call on the Lord three times" so that we can salve ourselves that we are doing the right thing.

And not part of the numbered reasons, insisting on tripartite seems to need a reason. And for the LRC, they had one. So that you could become your own source of God. You don't pray to God, you turn to your spirit. You don't really read and study the scripture. You turn to your spirit. That separate organ that is higher than your soul. That place that is capable of telling you that something is right (or wrong) without any actual tracking to something of scripture or sound teaching. That place that uses your group-think training so that you know how to feel better about going along with the group. That place that has all the teachings of Nee, Lee, and the "brothers" saturated so that you will always feel like they want you to feel.