Merged Thread - Did Witness Lee Teach Modalism?

WitnessMe · 05-18-2024, 07:37 PM

I want to let you guys know that I am Chinese, and English is not my first language.

I was trying to use the Trinity framework to explain to two of the elders that Jesus became the Spirit, or Jesus became the life-giving Spirit is nonsense.

Given that Witness Lee affirms the orthodox understanding that there are “three persons in the Godhead” - https://an-open-letter.org/en/ets-20...f-witness-lee/, the elders cannot disagree with it.

Here is my reasoning. God is a spirit, the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit are also God, then the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit are also the Spirit. In other words, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are in the same Godhead, but distinct in persons.

"Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit." (1 corinthians 15:45)

In 1 Corinthians 15:45, the spirit in the "life-giving spirit" means Jesus's resurrected spiritual body, and "life-giving" means that the spiritual body can provide immortality. The word spirit cannot indicate Godhead in this context because, Jesus, the son of god, is the Spirit in terms of Godhead, but he is still the second person, the son of god, within the context. Even before Jesus's resurrection, Jesus's words give life to people, which means Jesus, the son of God, is always the "life-giving spirit" in terms of the Godhead.

"By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified." (John 7:39, NIV)

In John 7:39, the Spirit is the Holy Spirit in terms of Person, so what is the point of saying "Christ became the Life-giving Spirit"? This is meaningless, because as I have mentioned, Jesus is always the Life-giving Spirit in terms of Godhead, since God is a spirit in his nature and Jesus's words already give life even before his resurrection. Was Witness Lee trying to combine the second Person and the third Person into one Person in the Godhead?

After I asked the question to the two elders, there was still no response from them, but they told me that they had already found a local church brother in Taiwan, who does theological research and has a Master of Theology, can answer my question. I think that the reason for the brother to do theological research is to find loopholes in theology to defend WL's heresy.

What answers do you guys would expect from that brother? How will he defend that?

05-18-2024, 07:37 PM	#1
WitnessMe Member Join Date: May 2024 Posts: 22	Merged Thread - Did Witness Lee Teach Modalism? I want to let you guys know that I am Chinese, and English is not my first language. I was trying to use the Trinity framework to explain to two of the elders that Jesus became the Spirit, or Jesus became the life-giving Spirit is nonsense. Given that Witness Lee affirms the orthodox understanding that there are “three persons in the Godhead” - https://an-open-letter.org/en/ets-20...f-witness-lee/, the elders cannot disagree with it. Here is my reasoning. God is a spirit, the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit are also God, then the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit are also the Spirit. In other words, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are in the same Godhead, but distinct in persons. "Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit." (1 corinthians 15:45) In 1 Corinthians 15:45, the spirit in the "life-giving spirit" means Jesus's resurrected spiritual body, and "life-giving" means that the spiritual body can provide immortality. The word spirit cannot indicate Godhead in this context because, Jesus, the son of god, is the Spirit in terms of Godhead, but he is still the second person, the son of god, within the context. Even before Jesus's resurrection, Jesus's words give life to people, which means Jesus, the son of God, is always the "life-giving spirit" in terms of the Godhead. "By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified." (John 7:39, NIV) In John 7:39, the Spirit is the Holy Spirit in terms of Person, so what is the point of saying "Christ became the Life-giving Spirit"? This is meaningless, because as I have mentioned, Jesus is always the Life-giving Spirit in terms of Godhead, since God is a spirit in his nature and Jesus's words already give life even before his resurrection. Was Witness Lee trying to combine the second Person and the third Person into one Person in the Godhead? After I asked the question to the two elders, there was still no response from them, but they told me that they had already found a local church brother in Taiwan, who does theological research and has a Master of Theology, can answer my question. I think that the reason for the brother to do theological research is to find loopholes in theology to defend WL's heresy. What answers do you guys would expect from that brother? How will he defend that?