This is what I read that made me question J P-L's ideational thrust:
Quote:
|
Mrs. Penn-Lewis’ “mother was one of the first to join . . . the Good Templar Movement” in her town, and Jessie “was keenly eager to be a Templar too,” so she followed her mother as a “Templar” in the demonic cult of Freemasonry.[503] The “very first Lodge night after [her] twelfth birthday . . . [she was] initiated into the coveted circle.” She soon became “Chief Presiding Officer of the juveniles . . . [in the Minor] Lodge,” while her husband-to-be was “Treasurer of [that same] Lodge at th[at] time.”[504] She “continued as secretary of the Lodge by re-election quarter after quarter until . . . compelled to give it up”[505] because of her father’s death. Her Quaker and Masonic influences were connected, as a “Quaker . . . undertook to teach [her] the secretarial work [of the Lodge].”[506]
|
[503] Compare “Freemasonry and the Christian,” Eddy D. Field II & Eddy D. Field III. Master’s Seminary Journal, 5:2 (Fall 94) 141-158; also The Secret Teachings of the Masonic Lodge, John Ankerberg & John Weldon (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1990).
[504] Pg. 4, Jessie Penn-Lewis: A Memoir, Mary N. Garrard. Garrard was Mrs. Penn-Lewis’ secretary and confidant for decades, and after Penn-Lewis’ death Garrard “serve[d] as general secretary and magazine editor” of The Overcomer “for sixteen years” (pgs. 305ff. The Trials and Triumphs of Mrs. Jessie Penn-Lewis, Jones; cf. pgs. 10, 86, 156, 250, 297).
[505] Pg. 6, The Trials and Triumphs of Mrs. Jessie Penn-Lewis, Jones.
[506] Pg. 6, The Trials and Triumphs of Mrs. Jessie Penn-Lewis, Jones.
https://www.amazon.com/Trials-Triump.../dp/B01FGJ4744
https://www.amazon.com/Mrs-Penn-Lewi...s=books&sr=1-1
https://faithsaves.net/jessie-penn-lewis/
There seem to be troubling facts raised by these sympathetic biographies of intimate companions, and if they're accurate and J P-L had such foundations in the Freemasons, don't you suppose that would affect her theology? Look up "Four Planes of Existence Freemasonry" or "levels of Freemasonry" and what do you get? I get various explanatory tracts from that group. J P-L's Four planes of Christian existence seems more aligned with the Freemasons than with anything I remember seeing in the NT, and then her biographers acknowledge her deep involvement during her formative years?
In sum: the links back from the Local Church to Watchman Nee are evident. The links from WN to J P-L are also clear. What J P-L built on is murkier, but a cursory review is troubling. I haven't read the Jones or Garrard books but if the quotes are true then there's much concern from the Christian perspective, and the rotten fruit has a known source.
Again I'd ask those who find in Nee a wellspring for their Christian journey (as I was also and sympathise): if you're dependent on Nee as a source of Christian guidance, and Nee was so obviously leaning on Penn-Lewis, don't you think it's worthwhile to find what ideational soil she built on? Perhaps there are other salient facts besides what these two biographies show us above? If so what are they, and how (if at all) do they alleviate the obvious concerns?