Quote:
Originally Posted by Nell
There have been several questions asked lately, answers to which are part of these intertwined topics.
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These are intertwined in my mind: two speakings, one from BP and one from RK. It was circa 2005-2007, and though I was mostly meeting with "Christianity", I still attended the occasional LC gathering. At one BP said, "There's a sister that's come out with a book against the recovery". Fairly blunt. RK was more oblique, saying, "Sometimes I think that the only thing worse than a rebellious brother is a spiritual sister." And he spoke the last two words with such palpable disdain.
Now, I may be mis-characterising at this remove, but at the time, in my mind, there was no doubt the two were referencing the same thing. If so, what was the actual crime?
"Being factious" is so subjective that the burden is on the accuser. There should be some clear, open pattern. It should be beyond doubt. Otherwise the one making the claim is perhaps being factious, and casting aspersions to cover their own factiousness. Being sectarian is similar: it must be obvious to all, independent of the actual statement.
"Drawing others after oneself" is likewise suspect. Witness Lee could be said to have drawn others after himself, as could Paul and Jesus, for that matter. It strikes me as entirely too subjective to be of much use. There's no way to objectively verify as true or false in any useful way.
"Holy sisters" seems to imply that the persons considered themselves special. Unless the persons openly called themselves by this moniker, then it is a kind of sarcastic sneer, a pejorative.
Now, to RK's remark. What is a "spiritual sister"? It makes me think of Paul's, "You who are spiritual". How is this wrong? We all should aim to be "spiritual brothers" and "spiritual sisters".
But what gets me is the innuendo, that somehow being sisters they have left their place, and aimed too high, so to speak, by going where only brothers should tread. They have "left their covering". Okay, but then why did WN rely on Jessie Penn-Lewis? Wasn't she also a "spiritual sister"? And if so, what then is the crime?