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Originally Posted by JacobHoward
Agreed! Thanks for the suggestions, too. Keep 'em coming! I just put up another blog https://thelordsrecovery.org/2020/01...-on-romans-16/, talking about how Witness Lee had no consistent arguments against Romans 16 and "one city, one church" doctrine. Praying and hoping it will help a member, new or fully immersed, to see through the gunk and get to the truth! |
And thanks for your graciousness to listen to suggestions. Jesus promised, As one does to others (show grace by listening and considering), so others will do in return (show grace by paying attention). May we all have such hearts. Regarding Romans 16 and OCOC, your quote of Witness Lee is worth repeating.
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Witness Lee: The church in their house was the church in Rome. There were not two churches in Rome, one called the church in Rome and another which met in the house of Aquila and Prisca. The church in Rome simply met in the house of this couple, so there was a church in their house.
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I'd add to your remarks, which were good (esp that of Cenchrea in Corinth), that the NT usage pattern shows 'ekklesia' fitting the previous scriptural context, that of the LXX Greek. "In the midst of the 'ekklesia' I will sing hymns of praise to you" ~Psa 22
etc. Ekklesia meant 'meeting' or 'gathering', so one could have multiple 'ekklesia' in one city. In the LC they do it, and label them 'meetings', like 'home meetings' and 'prayer meetings' and 'college-age meetings' and condemn everyone else who doesn't have their labeling system. It's subjectively biased, self-serving, and not based on logic logical at all. At it's core it's like there's an unhappy 6-year-old saying "I can do it, but you can't".
Acts 19:41 ~ "And with these words he dismissed the 'ekklesia'" - was this 'ekklesia' in Ephesus the Church in Ephesus? Of course not - it was a public gathering, which was threatening to become disorderly. So the town clerk dismissed the participants. Truth is, there are 'ekklesia' all over, in the NT view. Big cities can have many of them.
Another issue that could be raised is that in the LC, Watchman Nee is celebrated for using multiple sources, but his followers are effectively forbidden from copying this practice. I wrote this earlier:
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Originally Posted by aron
"In many counselors is safety, and success", said Proverbs. Watchman Nee drew on this motif heavily, and his use of multiple sources was celebrated by Lee and other followers. Yet somehow with Nee, this adage was fulfilled and completed, and a new age had dawned? Somehow, after Nee, many counselors would only bring in confusion?
Does this make any sense? It makes no sense to me..
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It really helps to show that we can critically and profitably examine concepts which conflict and contradict each other, and are non-sensical and irrational, and cause real human psychological distress. Being released from the grip of disjointed thinking is part of our journey home.