[UntoHim]

Sons to Glory!
Before I rip into you about what you have posted .... I wanted to thank you for taking the time and care to post on the forum. Not many have had the guts to stick their neck out and defend the teachings and practices of the Local Church. Don't look now my brother, but you have been engaging in theological wranglings for over 9 years now on this very forum!

As is her habit, Nell has stolen my thunder. I was going to post almost word for word what she has. Thanks for beating me to the punch yet again sis.

Originally Posted by Sons to Glory!

And if the Lord used this experience to cause bro Hank to pursue Him more fervently, is that a bad thing?

While I do appreciate Hank's newfound experiences of the Lord, I would just assume that while he is doing the work of a Christian apologist, he actually do the work of a Christian apologist - using the God-breathed Word and apologetics "for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16) and not letting the subject of his "six year primary research project" turn the tables on him, and let the tail wag the dog. Of course Hank is famous for caving into the subjects of his investigations, so I guess we shouldn't have expected anything less from him when it comes to kowtowing and praising the very group he is supposed to be critiquing. But hey, I guess kowtowing and groveling gets the mortgage paid on that multi-million dollar house, and keeps him behind the wheel of those luxury vehicles he drive at the expense of his donors.

Originally Posted by Sons to Glory!

I was wondering if the "man becomes God" teaching is the main theological thing in considering it off-the-mark and a cult.

I am really surprised you could say such a thing. There are over 2,000 threads on this forum. Many of them go into the reasons why the theology of Witness Lee should be considered off the mark. The word "cult" is only as useful and impactful as those who are employing term. To put a sharper point on this, I would say it depends on who is calling who a cult.

While you're considering this a little more, you may want to take a look at Open-Letter.Org "More than 70 evangelical Christian scholars and ministry leaders from seven nations have signed an unprecedented open letter to the leadership of the “local churches” and Living Stream Ministry".
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