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Originally Posted by Ohio
Ok. Without the standards and teachings of the NT, the church would have drifted further and further off course, not ever knowing where we started from. Growing up in the RCC I would have considered it completely normal to worship the "mother of God" as the rest of my extended family.
I see the true Church continually needing to unload itself of "extras" or traditions that we seem to always accumulate over time. Practices always tend to be codified into ordinances which, though they were once helpful, have become legalistic bondages to successive generations. Hence the need to "return" to the pure word, dumping these leavens.
The LCM began this way in the US. Actively returning to the word of God is a practice that brings blessing from God. Unfortunately and ironically Lee introduced far more baggage over time than most of us started with. Hence the cycle must be repeated.
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The two most important manifestations of Christianity from the 4th Century on are sometimes referred to as Church Christianity. Church Christianity includes the Roman Catholic Church the Eastern Orthodox church and many of the earlier Protestant churches such as the Lutheran Presbyterian and Anglican churches. Biblical Christianity develops out of Church Christianity but it locates God's highest authority in the Bible.
So by and large what Witness Lee refers to as Christianity I'm now calling Church Christianity. At the heart of it is hierarchical power that flows down from Heaven to Earth from God the Father through his Son the mediator who in turn channels power through his designated representatives on Earth-- the clergy. Church Christianity aims to create a universal Christian Society and when necessary is willing to enter into alliance with political power to achieve this aim.
The Lord's recovery movement, of course, came out of Biblical Christianity which was facilitated by the printing press. With the Bible as a supreme authority for life people no longer needed a priest Bishop Pope or theologian they could form their own community of saints living in conformity to God's word. You know all this, and I think what I'm saying here is essentially an agreement with what you have said above.