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Originally Posted by UntoHim
A lot of extraneous issues have been introduced. The extraneous issues raised do have merit, but need to be addressed on another thread.
Back to the "greatest errors of Witness Lee and the Local Church"
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The greatest errors of Witness Lee and the Local Church may make more sense when seen in context of the greatest errors of Christian church in toto.
Jesus taught, go to visit the sick, the imprisoned, give food to the hungry, comfort the weary. How does that sound like, "You must believe what I believe or you will be damned/imprisoned/killed"? Christians need to realize they don't have the answer. If God exists, and has the answer, He/She/It has surely been parsimonious in doling it out. Look at how much of "the kingdom of heaven" we've brought, and how much we've in fact denied and repressed, shunted away. So a little humility would be in order, no? A little of Paul's dictum, "Think the other one better than you" is in order.
But where was any trace of humility in the LC? No, it was "most Christians just don't get it. But we get it." And to other religions, or unbelievers, forget it! No humility at all. Just lip-curling condescension.
But that is a symptom of a larger issue. Three times by my count the Christian faith has had dominion on the earth - cultural, philosophical, economic, political. First was after Constantine. There was no Islam. Christianity was hegemonic in North Africa (Libya/Egypt), throughout the Middle East, Iran, Iraq, Greece, Italy, into Europe. And what happened? They fell to fighting over words and meanings of abstractions - doctrines. Second was the Roman Catholic Church and the Holy Roman Empire. Third was the American (Protestant) Century. In all 3 cases, Christianity held dominant & unchallenged position over large swaths of the globe. And look what they did with it... where was heaven on earth? So I daresay, a little humility is in order, here, a chance to question, and consider, and even reconsider, and to genuflect.
The writer of the NT epistle wasn't named James. He was named Ya'acob. Jacob. He was a Jew. But the translators evidently didn't like a Jewish name because, you know... the Jews killed Jesus. So they buried it. (Spanish call him 'Santiago', or 'Saint'.) The religious group that was started by Jews, and exported by Jews, and venerated a Jew ("King of the Jews" and all that) became known for ferociously persecuting them. The Orthodox pogroms in Russia, the Catholic Inquisition, the Protestant death camps in Poland.
A little humility might be in order. For all of us. Maybe, just maybe, we could learn from those who don't think like we do. Maybe we could listen, instead of pontificate. (this last comment is aimed not at any specific person, group, or poster on this forum. It's a generalization, based on the previous observations). Witness Lee sure didn't like to listen to others. Maybe we can learn from his example, and reconsider our ways.
So, the greatest error of the LC is that it is a Christian group, of Christian origin and orientation, and suffers from errors common to all Christian groups, only in extremis, in extreme degree. No Christian group is perfect. But the group that condemns all others as defective, is the most defective of all. In its refusal to learn, to listen, to repent, to grow, it becomes the symbol of self-righteous intolerance and religious priggery. Its only "truth" is its wholesale imposition of its fantastical delusions upon the naïve, the weak, the unwilling.
I believe God raised Jesus from the dead. I believe. But I think a little humility might be in order, for us all. Including, especially myself... I haven't got it going on, by any means. That's why I'm here, posting. Not to impose but to learn.