Major Errors of Witness Lee’s Teaching

07-01-2017, 03:31 AM

I am not trying to convince anybody, I am simply sharing my "personal testimony". In fact, Don't believe anything I say, check it out for yourselves and come to your own conclusions, this is "TOO" important to trust somebody else with your spiritual destiny.

By God's Mercy, I am a seeker and lover of the Truth (Christ, Jn 14:6) and the Bible is my hobby. I like to "study" the Bible, not just read it. For over 30 years I've been studying W. Lee's teaching or ministry (like a textbook): the "life studies", books, audio tapes, footnotes, elders' training, morning revival, outlines, crystallization messages, etc, etc.... I quit my job, went to the Full Time Training in Anaheim and migrated to Russia for many years, I zealously taught W. Lee's teaching for over 30 years thinking I had something special, unique, that others didn't know this teaching, and that W. Lee couldn't be wrong.

I finished reading all the conclusion messages and other books of W. Lee; since I needed to continue studying, I continued with the collected works of W. Nee. Interestingly, I started to see differences in between W. Nee's and W. Lee's ministry. Additionally, since we live in these "last years" or apocalyptic age, I started to study Eschatology or the study of the "end times" ( 33% of the Bible is Prophecy and I knew almost nothing!). It became even more interesting when I was studying Rev 12:1-5 about the great sign of the woman in heaven... W. Lee says that the woman is the church (which is wrong), and W. Nee says the woman is Israel (which is correct). These are two different interpretations, so I wanted to find out which interpretation was correct according to the whole Bible.

I started to research and see what other theologians had to say about this matter (interesting to see the hidden hand of the Lord guiding me in this process of reduction, supplying exactly what I needed), and as I started to educate myself I started to find out things that I had no clue about and I was ignorant about many things of the Bible. Then I realized I knew nothing of Israelology (83% of the Bible is related to Israel), I knew almost nothing of Prophecy (33% of the Bible is Prophecy) and what I knew, it was ALL wrong! Then before the Lord I asked myself, what else I do not know and what else I learned wrong? I got devastated before the Lord, "almost" my over 30 years of my Bible study meant nothing. I felt like a "steamroller" just passed over me! I had to almost start again from zero... the only good teaching left in me was "Soteriology" which is the matter of "Salvation". The other major parts of the Bible (Israelology, Eschatology and Ecclesiology) I knew almost nothing and the little I knew, it was wrong. At the same time my family and myself continued to meet with W. Lee's group. Through this experience I found that "many other" saints or believers in Christ from other christian groups, that don't belong to the W. Lee's local churches, have so much life, love, real truth (not allegories), Biblical riches, etc, etc,.... we found them because we simply started to pray and look around!!! This reminded me of Russia, the communist government prohibited their citizens to listen foreign radio stations and on TV they would show them Africa, their "huts" and their "starving children"; saying this is how it looks like the outside world of Russia. Then after communism collapsed, the citizens realized Russia was 50 years behind the rest of the world, so the Russian citizens started to leave Russia for a better life....

Eventually, I could see thanks to God's Mercy, that the Bible doesn’t mention anything about the “ground of oneness”. There is not even ONE verse in the whole Bible, unless you ALLEGORIZE like W. Lee’s teaching. The Bible mentions the ONENESS of the Spirit (Eph 4:3) which is the ONENESS of Body of Christ (1 Cor 12:4-13, especially vs.13). Also, the Bible mentions the “local churches” (Rev 2,3; 1:11), but NOT the “ground of oneness”. This realization set us free from W. Lee's local churches.

MAJOR ERRORS OF W. LEE'S TEACHING

Now I would like to point out the "Major Errors of Witness Lee’s Teaching"

(Nothing against the “person”, simply pointing out the errors of the “teaching”)

Table of Content In Order Of Importance

· Replacement Theology

· Importance of Israelology (83% of the Bible is related to Israel)

· Wrong Eschatology (33% is Prophecy in the Bible)

· Wrong Ecclesiology (result of NOT knowing Israeology)

"Replacement Theology" - Due to the seriousness of this error, some students of the Bible call this error “teaching from the pit of hell”. Because this erroneous teaching makes God a liar. There are so many verses in the Old Testament (Jer 33; 16:14-16; 30:1-7, Ez 20:42; 34:13, Isa 14:1, 27:13, 43:5-7, 60:21; Amos 9:11-15) as well as in the New Testament (Rom 9,10,11), showing that God did not give up Israel even though Israel is in rebellion and did not recognize the day of their Messiah’s visitation (Mt 23:37-39). Also, Israel and the church are 2 totally different entities, Israel is not a type of the church. Israel is the wife of Jehovah (Isa 54:5) and the church is the virgin bride of Christ (2Cor 11:2). In Gen 3:15 we see the relationship in between the woman (Eve=Israel) and the seed (Christ), it is a relationship of “mother-Son” and NOT a relationship “Bridegroom-bride” (bride=church). Israel and the church have 2 different sources and destinies. W. Lee in his teaching makes this matter “dark grey”. At times he says God is still dealing with Israel, at MANY other times he applies what is for Israel, to the church; as if Israel doesn’t exist anymore (Ex. Jer 31:31-34, see Life Study). This vagueness is due to the lack of knowledge of Israelology, failing to differentiate Israel from the church.

"Israelology"- Without the proper understanding of Israelology, we will have “fundamental” mistakes with our understanding of the Bible, since the Bible is a Judeo-Christian book with 83% related to Israel. Jesus Himself was Jewish. We cannot ignore such a HUGE point in the Bible. If we ignore Israelology, we will mix erroneously Israel with the church, we will apply to the church what is for Israel (One of the many examples, The Great Tribulation: in Dan 9:24-27), we will apply to the church what is for Israel, we will not understand that Israel is earthly and the church is heavenly (Gen 12:3b; 22:17, Jer 33:22). Consecutively, we will not understand the Jewish cultural expressions and that lack of understanding of the Jewish cultural expressions, idioms, feasts, marriage celebration, etc., etc.,… will lead to allegorize or come up with some kind of private interpretation, so called “divine revelation”. By the way, allegorization is the license for “inventing doctrine”. Allegorization also leads to say that the Bible has some parts “more important” than others, so we don’t need to understand or pay attention to those so called “less important” parts. On the contrary Jesus Himself said in Mt 5: 17, 18 17“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18“For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished”. This means we have to take God’s Word seriously and ALL the Scripture (2Tim 3:16), not just a few verses or chapters or only the New Testament but the WHOLE BIBLE (Old and New Testaments). Again, Paul the apostle is telling us ALL Scripture, the one to whom God gave directly the revelation of the mystery (Eph 3:3,4). Ps 40:7 “Then I said, Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me”. The whole Bible (meaning Old and New Testaments) speaks about Christ, and ALL the Scripture is God’s breath; meaning Old Testament and New Testament. Jesus Himself when He was on the earth taught everything from the Old Testament, because the New Testament did not exist yet. Our safeguard to avoid falling into error, is to follow what the Bible (the 66 books) is telling us LITERALLY.

"Wrong Eschatology" – Because of the lack of understanding of Israelology, the understanding of eschatology is also wrong. In addition, the hermeneutics (method of interpretation) is erroneous due to allegorization of the Bible. Many Christian groups don’t want to study “prophecy” (like this one) because it requires a deeper and more thorough study of the whole Bible. It is this kind of study that puts under the test any kind of interpretation (Rev 19:10), you need (LITERALLY) the “whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27) and accurately handling the word of truth (2Tim 2:15); because 33% of the Bible is “Prophecy”. We cannot ignore 33% of the Bible and say: “we will just concentrate in the main parts of the Bible”, when Jesus Himself told us in Mt 5:17,18 that nothing is trivial (not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass), that we need to take the text seriously. Additionally, why is prophecy important? Because prophecy is a “blessing” (Rev 1:3) and the Lord uses prophecy to tell us the end from the beginning (Isa 46:10) and He wants to tell us ahead of time, what is coming up (Amos 3:7). In this way, we will not be “scared” of what is coming, but “prepared” because He loves us and we belong to Him. Often W. Lee says that the Bible does not mean what it says, it means something else (we need the intrinsic significance), allegorizing or spiritualizing the Bible. For example, one specific example (out of the many) of how W. Lee allegorizes the Bible: W. Lee says that the 10 commandments in Exo 20 is a “marriage contract”. It is a beautiful “allegory” made up by himself and it fits the verses, but the problem is that LITERALLY the Bible doesn’t say that. Therefore, based on that self-made allegory he builds another allegory then he ends up with something else that the Bible is NOT saying. This kind of hermeneutics (method of interpretation) is very “dangerous”, because you end up with something else, that the Bible is NOT saying. The Bible will tell you very specific if that is an allegory or not, like in Gal 4:24 “This is allegorically speaking, for these women are two covenants: one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar”. But if we read the Bible plainly what it says, we will see that the Bible means what it says and it says what it means LITERALLY, without allegorizing or spiritualizing (Mt 5:17,18). Otherwise you come up with your private interpretations so called “divine revelation” that “nobody else knows”, because it is private.

Another big problem of allegorizing the Bible is with the matter of “the Ground of Oneness”. There is NOT a single verse in the Bible about “the Ground of Oneness”, unless you allegorize the Bible, making it fit to the verses and start applying to the church what the Bible is saying LITERALLY about Israel and Jerusalem which is Jewish and not the church. Through allegorization we can “freely” mix Israel and the church, the way we want and make a salad in between Israel and the church as a result of the lack of understanding of Israelology which is 83% of the Bible (see Israelology section above). Isreal and the church are 2 entities totally different, have different origins and different destinies; Israel is earthly and the church is heavenly (Gen 22:17). Plus the church is a hidden mystery (Eph 3:9), very different than Israel. Actually, if you read one of the many examples, Rom 11:11 says that God uses the gentiles (church) to make Israel jealous (to understand better read Rom 9, 10, 11).

"Wrong Ecclesiology" – As a result of the above (Replacement Theology, ignoring Isrelology, Wrong Eschatology); W. Lee’s ecclesiology is also wrong. There is so much emphasis on the “church” in W. Lee’s teaching, that he makes the church the center of everything in the Bible. W. Lee, due to his allegories (like the “ground of oneness”), says that those who meet in that group, ONLY they are the church because they are in the “ground of oneness”. There is NOT one single verse in the Bible proving this statement unless you allegorize the Bible. At this point it is important to be aware that “allegorization is the license for inventing doctrine”, through allegorization, anyone can say what they want by making it fit with the verses. We need to see what the Bible says LITERALY (Mt 5:17,18), paying attention to the grammar and CONTEXT (God is His own interpreter). Because ONLY the Bible is God’s Breath (2Tim 3:16). This means that ANYTHING that is men’s writing, IS NOT God’s Breath and we have to “be careful” with men’s writings or interpretations. Because of this, the Lord Jesus Himself gave us a command in Mt 24:4 “See to it that no one misleads you”. For us not to be deceived, we need the “whole counsel of God” (Act 20:27). The one who started allegorical interpretations was Origen, then Augustine continued allegorizing the Bible.

It is critical to rightly understand what the Bible says about the ONENESS of the Spirit (Eph 4:3) which is the ONENESS of Body of Christ (1Cor 12:4-13, especially vs.13), again LITERAL interpretation. According to the Bible, the ONENESS of the Body of Christ is NOT Witness Lee’s teaching or anybody else’s teaching. Therefore, the only foundation of the believers in Christ, is the Spirit and the Word of God. All the believers in Christ should have NO other requirements other than the Spirit and the Word of God and should feel perfectly comfortable with ONLY the Spirit and the Word of God. To insist with other things besides the Spirit and the Word of God, is divisive and not according to the Bible (1Cor 12:25) (Only 1 leader, 1 publication, only he knows what the Bible says, only he is right, only their practices are right and you have to follow W. Lee’s teaching and practices if you want to survive in their midst). Further, Rom 14 show us how we believers in Christ should receive one another, which is ACCORDING TO CHRIST, not according to W. Lee’s teaching or somebody else’s teaching. Rom 14:4 says: “Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand”. Then Rom 15 continues with verses 4-7: “ 4 For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, 6so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God. Verse 4 says that the Scriptures are for our instruction, not man’s teaching, but God’s teaching. Verse 5 says we have to have “the same mind” which is according to Christ Jesus and not according to W. Lee’s teaching. Verse 6 says “with one accord”, our one accord “again” is our Lord Jesus Christ, not W. Lee’s teaching. These verses go in a beautiful harmony with the earlier verses of Eph 4:3, 1Cor 12:4-13, Rom 14 and Rom 15:4-7; which are related to the church, the ONENESS of the Body of Christ and the receiving of one another.

Also, the Bible doesn’t mention anything about the “ground of oneness” there is no such a verse, unless you ALLEGORIZE like W. Lee’s teaching and start applying to the church, what is for Israel, making a salad (mixing) of Israel and the church. The Bible LITERALLY mentions the ONENESS of the Spirit (Eph 4:3) which is the ONENESS of Body of Christ (1Cor 12:4-13, especially vs.13). Also the Bible mentions the “local churches” (Rev 2,3; 1:11); but not the “ground of oneness”.

THE MATTER OF TAKING A "NAME"

In Rev 1:11, 2, and 3 you see the 7 "local" churches; 1 church, 1 city. Also, Paul when he writes to the churches says: ... to the church in Corinth (1Cor 1:2), ...to all who are in Rome (Rom 1:7), ...to the saints who are in Ephesus (Eph 1:1), etc, etc,.... No specific "names" besides the church in that city. Witness Lee and the local churches, they follow this practice in the cities where they are at. But their unhealthy and disturbing attitude (not Biblical) is this: in order to be accepted (survive) in their media, you have to fully agree with Witness Lee's teaching, agree that everything he teaches is "correct" and that he cannot be wrong, also you have to follow their "practices", if you read literature of someone else, you are off, they think they are the only ones right, etc, etc, etc,.....Because they follow the biblical way: the church in "......" whichever city they are at; they look down on ALL the other Christian groups with names saying that ONLY they are the "church" in that city since they don't have a name. I agree that they follow the biblical way of not taking a name, but with their unhealthy attitude (not Biblical) that I mentioned above, they make it "worse" than the other Christian groups with names. Ironic, because W. Lee himself teaches that we can fellowship with any believer as long as they are not heretical or sinful (The Speciality, Generality and Practicality of the Church Life), I guess that is ONLY in theory, but not in practice.

On the other hand, there are Christian groups with names (which is not biblical) that accept everyone who loves Jesus and His Word (Bible), they are O.K. if you read literature of someone else, they don't claim that they are the only ones right, they don't force you in their practices, they don't look down on others, etc, etc,.... . It seems to me, these Christian groups with names (which is not biblical), over all, are "healthier" spiritually than those "without name" (which is Biblical). It seems that the medicine is worse than the disease.

Also what makes someone part of the church (which is the Body of Christ Eph 1:22,23) is their regeneration or being born of the Spirit (Jn 3:3,5); not whether they "take a name" or "not". Those believers (born again) in Christian groups with names (which is not biblical), are part of the church and members of the Body of Christ. Eph 4:3 says ... being diligent to keep the ONENESS of the SPIRIT.... . The "real" oneness of the church is when we are one with the Holy Spirit, because that ONENESS belongs to the SPIRIT; whether we "take a name" or "not". And our oneness is NOT the matter of not taking a name. This truth (Eph 4:3) overrules or is stronger than “taking a name” or “not taking a name”.

It is difficult TODAY to find the "PERFECT" situation, in fact this is what the Bible shows us in Rev 2 and 3 with the 7 local churches due to the "degradation of the church". Every church has problems and the Lord is calling the INDIVIDUAL "overcomers" in EVERY church; even in the churches that He has nothing negative to say (Smyrna and Philadelphia). If a church thinks they don’t have a problem, the Lord says: …you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked (Rev 3:17).

Another critical error is to consider any man’s writing or commentary as “God’s Breath”. ONLY the Bible is God’s Breath (2Tim 3:16). Verse 16 is powerful: “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness”. Notice this verse is talking about “GOD’S WORD” (all Scripture), and NOT about “men’s writings”. We can NOT treat men’s writings at the same level as the Bible. ONLY the Bible is inspired by God. That means: Life studies, morning revival, outlines, crystallizations, footnotes, etc, etc,… can never be treated at the same level of the Bible. We need to FOCUS and concentrate and read and study the Bible. This will solve our problem of Bible illiteracy. We read all kinds of Life studies, morning revival, outlines, crystallizations, footnotes, etc, etc and do NOT know what the Bible says. This practice leads to major deviations and wrong teachings from the Bible, like W. Lee's teaching.

CONCLUSION

If every time we have discrepancies in our understanding of the Word of God, instead of kicking people out and putting our "rules and conditions" (like W. Lee's local churches), if we would come together in prayer with the right spirit (Mk 9:38-40, Lk 9:49,50) and fellowship to try to understand "WHY" we have this discrepancy, the church on this earth would be in a totally different level of growth in Life. Just a little "dream".

The proper way to study the Bible and to avoid to be deceived by following the wrong teaching or interpretation is: First to have prayer and relationship with the Author (God) of the Bible (Jn 5:39,40), then we need to take notes as we read and study the Bible (God’s Word), lastly we can check with the commentaries of the theologians; NOT just ONE author, but 3 or 4. And try to understand why the interpretations differ. We need to do our homework and NOT blindly believe the commentaries, learn from the Berean believers (Act 17:10,11).

The Lord bless you richly with Himself.

Thank you.

A lover of Jesus and His Word.

HERE THERE ARE SOME "CULT LIKE" PRACTICES TO BE AWARE

What are some signs and practices of a cult?
by Matt Slick
There have been many serious studies on the dynamics of cults and behavior of people within those cults. Following is a representative list of characteristics common in cult groups. Not all cults hold to every item.
We have to be careful when assigning cult-like behavior to any group. Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so to, cult-like behavior is subjective. Generally, it takes a trained person who can identify unhealthy patterns and teachings as compared to healthy ones and can then identify a cult. Furthermore, cult-like behavior is more commonly identified through excessive control, manipulation, and esoteric teaching of a group where the group's members are often isolated and indoctrinated into special teachings and practices.
Social aspects of cult-like behavior
For a group to be a cult in the social sense, many of the following characteristics would have to be present. For a group to be a cult in the doctrinal sense, essentials (in this case of the Christian faith) would have to be violated. Some of the characteristics are listed below.
1. Submission:
1. Complete, almost unquestioned trust in the leadership.
2. Leaders are often seen as prophets, apostles, or special individuals with unusual connections to God. This helps a person give themselves over psychologically to trusting someone else for their spiritual welfare.
3. Increased submission to the leadership is rewarded with additional responsibilities and/or roles, and/or praises, increasing the importance of the person within the group.
2. Exclusivity
1. Their group is the only true religious system, or one of the few true remnants of God's people.
3. Persecution complex
1. Us against them mentality. Therefore, when someone (inside or outside of the group) corrects the group in doctrine and/or behavior, it is interpreted as persecution, which then is interpreted as validation.
4. Control
1. Control of members' actions and thinking through repeated indoctrination and/or threats of loss of salvation, or a place to live, or receiving curses from God, etc.
5. Isolation
1. Minimizing contact of church members with those outside the group. This facilitates a further control over the thinking and practices of the members by the leadership.
6. Love Bombing
1. Showing great attention and love to a person in the group by others in the group, to help transfer emotional dependence to the group.
7. Special Knowledge
1. Instructions and/or knowledge are sometimes said to be received by a leader(s) from God. This leader then informs the members.
2. The Special Knowledge can be received through visions, dreams, or new interpretations of sacred scriptures such as the Bible.
8. Indoctrination
1. The teachings of the group are repeatedly drilled into the members, but the indoctrination usually occurs around Special Knowledge.
9. Salvation
1. Salvation from the judgment of God is maintained through association and/or submission with the group, its authority, and/or its Special Knowledge.
10. Group Think
1. The group's coherence is maintained by the observance to policies handed down from those in authority.
2. There is an internal enforcement of policies by members who reward "proper" behavior, and those who perform properly are rewarded with further inclusion and acceptance by the group.
11. Cognitive Dissonance
1. Avoidance of critical thinking and/or maintaining logically impossible beliefs and/or beliefs that are inconsistent with other beliefs held by the group.
2. Avoidance of and/or denial of any facts that might contradict the group's belief system.
12. Shunning
1. Those who do not keep in step with group policies are shunned and/or expelled.
13. Gender Roles
1. Control of gender roles and definitions.
2. Severe control of gender roles sometimes leads to sexual exploitation.
14. Appearance Standards
1. Often a common appearance is required and maintained. For instance, women might wear prairie dresses, and/or their hair in buns, and/or no makeup, and/or the men might all wear white short-sleeved shirts, and/or without beards, or all wear beards.

07-01-2017, 03:31 AM	#1
Unregistered Guest Posts: n/a	Major Errors of Witness Lee’s Teaching I am not trying to convince anybody, I am simply sharing my "personal testimony". In fact, Don't believe anything I say, check it out for yourselves and come to your own conclusions, this is "TOO" important to trust somebody else with your spiritual destiny. By God's Mercy, I am a seeker and lover of the Truth (Christ, Jn 14:6) and the Bible is my hobby. I like to "study" the Bible, not just read it. For over 30 years I've been studying W. Lee's teaching or ministry (like a textbook): the "life studies", books, audio tapes, footnotes, elders' training, morning revival, outlines, crystallization messages, etc, etc.... I quit my job, went to the Full Time Training in Anaheim and migrated to Russia for many years, I zealously taught W. Lee's teaching for over 30 years thinking I had something special, unique, that others didn't know this teaching, and that W. Lee couldn't be wrong. I finished reading all the conclusion messages and other books of W. Lee; since I needed to continue studying, I continued with the collected works of W. Nee. Interestingly, I started to see differences in between W. Nee's and W. Lee's ministry. Additionally, since we live in these "last years" or apocalyptic age, I started to study Eschatology or the study of the "end times" ( 33% of the Bible is Prophecy and I knew almost nothing!). It became even more interesting when I was studying Rev 12:1-5 about the great sign of the woman in heaven... W. Lee says that the woman is the church (which is wrong), and W. Nee says the woman is Israel (which is correct). These are two different interpretations, so I wanted to find out which interpretation was correct according to the whole Bible. I started to research and see what other theologians had to say about this matter (interesting to see the hidden hand of the Lord guiding me in this process of reduction, supplying exactly what I needed), and as I started to educate myself I started to find out things that I had no clue about and I was ignorant about many things of the Bible. Then I realized I knew nothing of Israelology (83% of the Bible is related to Israel), I knew almost nothing of Prophecy (33% of the Bible is Prophecy) and what I knew, it was ALL wrong! Then before the Lord I asked myself, what else I do not know and what else I learned wrong? I got devastated before the Lord, "almost" my over 30 years of my Bible study meant nothing. I felt like a "steamroller" just passed over me! I had to almost start again from zero... the only good teaching left in me was "Soteriology" which is the matter of "Salvation". The other major parts of the Bible (Israelology, Eschatology and Ecclesiology) I knew almost nothing and the little I knew, it was wrong. At the same time my family and myself continued to meet with W. Lee's group. Through this experience I found that "many other" saints or believers in Christ from other christian groups, that don't belong to the W. Lee's local churches, have so much life, love, real truth (not allegories), Biblical riches, etc, etc,.... we found them because we simply started to pray and look around!!! This reminded me of Russia, the communist government prohibited their citizens to listen foreign radio stations and on TV they would show them Africa, their "huts" and their "starving children"; saying this is how it looks like the outside world of Russia. Then after communism collapsed, the citizens realized Russia was 50 years behind the rest of the world, so the Russian citizens started to leave Russia for a better life.... Eventually, I could see thanks to God's Mercy, that the Bible doesn’t mention anything about the “ground of oneness”. There is not even ONE verse in the whole Bible, unless you ALLEGORIZE like W. Lee’s teaching. The Bible mentions the ONENESS of the Spirit (Eph 4:3) which is the ONENESS of Body of Christ (1 Cor 12:4-13, especially vs.13). Also, the Bible mentions the “local churches” (Rev 2,3; 1:11), but NOT the “ground of oneness”. This realization set us free from W. Lee's local churches. MAJOR ERRORS OF W. LEE'S TEACHING Now I would like to point out the "Major Errors of Witness Lee’s Teaching" (Nothing against the “person”, simply pointing out the errors of the “teaching”) Table of Content In Order Of Importance · Replacement Theology · Importance of Israelology (83% of the Bible is related to Israel) · Wrong Eschatology (33% is Prophecy in the Bible) · Wrong Ecclesiology (result of NOT knowing Israeology) "Replacement Theology" - Due to the seriousness of this error, some students of the Bible call this error “teaching from the pit of hell”. Because this erroneous teaching makes God a liar. There are so many verses in the Old Testament (Jer 33; 16:14-16; 30:1-7, Ez 20:42; 34:13, Isa 14:1, 27:13, 43:5-7, 60:21; Amos 9:11-15) as well as in the New Testament (Rom 9,10,11), showing that God did not give up Israel even though Israel is in rebellion and did not recognize the day of their Messiah’s visitation (Mt 23:37-39). Also, Israel and the church are 2 totally different entities, Israel is not a type of the church. Israel is the wife of Jehovah (Isa 54:5) and the church is the virgin bride of Christ (2Cor 11:2). In Gen 3:15 we see the relationship in between the woman (Eve=Israel) and the seed (Christ), it is a relationship of “mother-Son” and NOT a relationship “Bridegroom-bride” (bride=church). Israel and the church have 2 different sources and destinies. W. Lee in his teaching makes this matter “dark grey”. At times he says God is still dealing with Israel, at MANY other times he applies what is for Israel, to the church; as if Israel doesn’t exist anymore (Ex. Jer 31:31-34, see Life Study). This vagueness is due to the lack of knowledge of Israelology, failing to differentiate Israel from the church. "Israelology"- Without the proper understanding of Israelology, we will have “fundamental” mistakes with our understanding of the Bible, since the Bible is a Judeo-Christian book with 83% related to Israel. Jesus Himself was Jewish. We cannot ignore such a HUGE point in the Bible. If we ignore Israelology, we will mix erroneously Israel with the church, we will apply to the church what is for Israel (One of the many examples, The Great Tribulation: in Dan 9:24-27), we will apply to the church what is for Israel, we will not understand that Israel is earthly and the church is heavenly (Gen 12:3b; 22:17, Jer 33:22). Consecutively, we will not understand the Jewish cultural expressions and that lack of understanding of the Jewish cultural expressions, idioms, feasts, marriage celebration, etc., etc.,… will lead to allegorize or come up with some kind of private interpretation, so called “divine revelation”. By the way, allegorization is the license for “inventing doctrine”. Allegorization also leads to say that the Bible has some parts “more important” than others, so we don’t need to understand or pay attention to those so called “less important” parts. On the contrary Jesus Himself said in Mt 5: 17, 18 17“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18“For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished”. This means we have to take God’s Word seriously and ALL the Scripture (2Tim 3:16), not just a few verses or chapters or only the New Testament but the WHOLE BIBLE (Old and New Testaments). Again, Paul the apostle is telling us ALL Scripture, the one to whom God gave directly the revelation of the mystery (Eph 3:3,4). Ps 40:7 “Then I said, Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me”. The whole Bible (meaning Old and New Testaments) speaks about Christ, and ALL the Scripture is God’s breath; meaning Old Testament and New Testament. Jesus Himself when He was on the earth taught everything from the Old Testament, because the New Testament did not exist yet. Our safeguard to avoid falling into error, is to follow what the Bible (the 66 books) is telling us LITERALLY. "Wrong Eschatology" – Because of the lack of understanding of Israelology, the understanding of eschatology is also wrong. In addition, the hermeneutics (method of interpretation) is erroneous due to allegorization of the Bible. Many Christian groups don’t want to study “prophecy” (like this one) because it requires a deeper and more thorough study of the whole Bible. It is this kind of study that puts under the test any kind of interpretation (Rev 19:10), you need (LITERALLY) the “whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27) and accurately handling the word of truth (2Tim 2:15); because 33% of the Bible is “Prophecy”. We cannot ignore 33% of the Bible and say: “we will just concentrate in the main parts of the Bible”, when Jesus Himself told us in Mt 5:17,18 that nothing is trivial (not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass), that we need to take the text seriously. Additionally, why is prophecy important? Because prophecy is a “blessing” (Rev 1:3) and the Lord uses prophecy to tell us the end from the beginning (Isa 46:10) and He wants to tell us ahead of time, what is coming up (Amos 3:7). In this way, we will not be “scared” of what is coming, but “prepared” because He loves us and we belong to Him. Often W. Lee says that the Bible does not mean what it says, it means something else (we need the intrinsic significance), allegorizing or spiritualizing the Bible. For example, one specific example (out of the many) of how W. Lee allegorizes the Bible: W. Lee says that the 10 commandments in Exo 20 is a “marriage contract”. It is a beautiful “allegory” made up by himself and it fits the verses, but the problem is that LITERALLY the Bible doesn’t say that. Therefore, based on that self-made allegory he builds another allegory then he ends up with something else that the Bible is NOT saying. This kind of hermeneutics (method of interpretation) is very “dangerous”, because you end up with something else, that the Bible is NOT saying. The Bible will tell you very specific if that is an allegory or not, like in Gal 4:24 “This is allegorically speaking, for these women are two covenants: one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar”. But if we read the Bible plainly what it says, we will see that the Bible means what it says and it says what it means LITERALLY, without allegorizing or spiritualizing (Mt 5:17,18). Otherwise you come up with your private interpretations so called “divine revelation” that “nobody else knows”, because it is private. Another big problem of allegorizing the Bible is with the matter of “the Ground of Oneness”. There is NOT a single verse in the Bible about “the Ground of Oneness”, unless you allegorize the Bible, making it fit to the verses and start applying to the church what the Bible is saying LITERALLY about Israel and Jerusalem which is Jewish and not the church. Through allegorization we can “freely” mix Israel and the church, the way we want and make a salad in between Israel and the church as a result of the lack of understanding of Israelology which is 83% of the Bible (see Israelology section above). Isreal and the church are 2 entities totally different, have different origins and different destinies; Israel is earthly and the church is heavenly (Gen 22:17). Plus the church is a hidden mystery (Eph 3:9), very different than Israel. Actually, if you read one of the many examples, Rom 11:11 says that God uses the gentiles (church) to make Israel jealous (to understand better read Rom 9, 10, 11). "Wrong Ecclesiology" – As a result of the above (Replacement Theology, ignoring Isrelology, Wrong Eschatology); W. Lee’s ecclesiology is also wrong. There is so much emphasis on the “church” in W. Lee’s teaching, that he makes the church the center of everything in the Bible. W. Lee, due to his allegories (like the “ground of oneness”), says that those who meet in that group, ONLY they are the church because they are in the “ground of oneness”. There is NOT one single verse in the Bible proving this statement unless you allegorize the Bible. At this point it is important to be aware that “allegorization is the license for inventing doctrine”, through allegorization, anyone can say what they want by making it fit with the verses. We need to see what the Bible says LITERALY (Mt 5:17,18), paying attention to the grammar and CONTEXT (God is His own interpreter). Because ONLY the Bible is God’s Breath (2Tim 3:16). This means that ANYTHING that is men’s writing, IS NOT God’s Breath and we have to “be careful” with men’s writings or interpretations. Because of this, the Lord Jesus Himself gave us a command in Mt 24:4 “See to it that no one misleads you”. For us not to be deceived, we need the “whole counsel of God” (Act 20:27). The one who started allegorical interpretations was Origen, then Augustine continued allegorizing the Bible. It is critical to rightly understand what the Bible says about the ONENESS of the Spirit (Eph 4:3) which is the ONENESS of Body of Christ (1Cor 12:4-13, especially vs.13), again LITERAL interpretation. According to the Bible, the ONENESS of the Body of Christ is NOT Witness Lee’s teaching or anybody else’s teaching. Therefore, the only foundation of the believers in Christ, is the Spirit and the Word of God. All the believers in Christ should have NO other requirements other than the Spirit and the Word of God and should feel perfectly comfortable with ONLY the Spirit and the Word of God. To insist with other things besides the Spirit and the Word of God, is divisive and not according to the Bible (1Cor 12:25) (Only 1 leader, 1 publication, only he knows what the Bible says, only he is right, only their practices are right and you have to follow W. Lee’s teaching and practices if you want to survive in their midst). Further, Rom 14 show us how we believers in Christ should receive one another, which is ACCORDING TO CHRIST, not according to W. Lee’s teaching or somebody else’s teaching. Rom 14:4 says: “Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand”. Then Rom 15 continues with verses 4-7: “ 4 For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, 6so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God. Verse 4 says that the Scriptures are for our instruction, not man’s teaching, but God’s teaching. Verse 5 says we have to have “the same mind” which is according to Christ Jesus and not according to W. Lee’s teaching. Verse 6 says “with one accord”, our one accord “again” is our Lord Jesus Christ, not W. Lee’s teaching. These verses go in a beautiful harmony with the earlier verses of Eph 4:3, 1Cor 12:4-13, Rom 14 and Rom 15:4-7; which are related to the church, the ONENESS of the Body of Christ and the receiving of one another. Also, the Bible doesn’t mention anything about the “ground of oneness” there is no such a verse, unless you ALLEGORIZE like W. Lee’s teaching and start applying to the church, what is for Israel, making a salad (mixing) of Israel and the church. The Bible LITERALLY mentions the ONENESS of the Spirit (Eph 4:3) which is the ONENESS of Body of Christ (1Cor 12:4-13, especially vs.13). Also the Bible mentions the “local churches” (Rev 2,3; 1:11); but not the “ground of oneness”. THE MATTER OF TAKING A "NAME" In Rev 1:11, 2, and 3 you see the 7 "local" churches; 1 church, 1 city. Also, Paul when he writes to the churches says: ... to the church in Corinth (1Cor 1:2), ...to all who are in Rome (Rom 1:7), ...to the saints who are in Ephesus (Eph 1:1), etc, etc,.... No specific "names" besides the church in that city. Witness Lee and the local churches, they follow this practice in the cities where they are at. But their unhealthy and disturbing attitude (not Biblical) is this: in order to be accepted (survive) in their media, you have to fully agree with Witness Lee's teaching, agree that everything he teaches is "correct" and that he cannot be wrong, also you have to follow their "practices", if you read literature of someone else, you are off, they think they are the only ones right, etc, etc, etc,.....Because they follow the biblical way: the church in "......" whichever city they are at; they look down on ALL the other Christian groups with names saying that ONLY they are the "church" in that city since they don't have a name. I agree that they follow the biblical way of not taking a name, but with their unhealthy attitude (not Biblical) that I mentioned above, they make it "worse" than the other Christian groups with names. Ironic, because W. Lee himself teaches that we can fellowship with any believer as long as they are not heretical or sinful (The Speciality, Generality and Practicality of the Church Life), I guess that is ONLY in theory, but not in practice. On the other hand, there are Christian groups with names (which is not biblical) that accept everyone who loves Jesus and His Word (Bible), they are O.K. if you read literature of someone else, they don't claim that they are the only ones right, they don't force you in their practices, they don't look down on others, etc, etc,.... . It seems to me, these Christian groups with names (which is not biblical), over all, are "healthier" spiritually than those "without name" (which is Biblical). It seems that the medicine is worse than the disease. Also what makes someone part of the church (which is the Body of Christ Eph 1:22,23) is their regeneration or being born of the Spirit (Jn 3:3,5); not whether they "take a name" or "not". Those believers (born again) in Christian groups with names (which is not biblical), are part of the church and members of the Body of Christ. Eph 4:3 says ... being diligent to keep the ONENESS of the SPIRIT.... . The "real" oneness of the church is when we are one with the Holy Spirit, because that ONENESS belongs to the SPIRIT; whether we "take a name" or "not". And our oneness is NOT the matter of not taking a name. This truth (Eph 4:3) overrules or is stronger than “taking a name” or “not taking a name”. It is difficult TODAY to find the "PERFECT" situation, in fact this is what the Bible shows us in Rev 2 and 3 with the 7 local churches due to the "degradation of the church". Every church has problems and the Lord is calling the INDIVIDUAL "overcomers" in EVERY church; even in the churches that He has nothing negative to say (Smyrna and Philadelphia). If a church thinks they don’t have a problem, the Lord says: …you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked (Rev 3:17). Another critical error is to consider any man’s writing or commentary as “God’s Breath”. ONLY the Bible is God’s Breath (2Tim 3:16). Verse 16 is powerful: “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness”. Notice this verse is talking about “GOD’S WORD” (all Scripture), and NOT about “men’s writings”. We can NOT treat men’s writings at the same level as the Bible. ONLY the Bible is inspired by God. That means: Life studies, morning revival, outlines, crystallizations, footnotes, etc, etc,… can never be treated at the same level of the Bible. We need to FOCUS and concentrate and read and study the Bible. This will solve our problem of Bible illiteracy. We read all kinds of Life studies, morning revival, outlines, crystallizations, footnotes, etc, etc and do NOT know what the Bible says. This practice leads to major deviations and wrong teachings from the Bible, like W. Lee's teaching. CONCLUSION If every time we have discrepancies in our understanding of the Word of God, instead of kicking people out and putting our "rules and conditions" (like W. Lee's local churches), if we would come together in prayer with the right spirit (Mk 9:38-40, Lk 9:49,50) and fellowship to try to understand "WHY" we have this discrepancy, the church on this earth would be in a totally different level of growth in Life. Just a little "dream". The proper way to study the Bible and to avoid to be deceived by following the wrong teaching or interpretation is: First to have prayer and relationship with the Author (God) of the Bible (Jn 5:39,40), then we need to take notes as we read and study the Bible (God’s Word), lastly we can check with the commentaries of the theologians; NOT just ONE author, but 3 or 4. And try to understand why the interpretations differ. We need to do our homework and NOT blindly believe the commentaries, learn from the Berean believers (Act 17:10,11). The Lord bless you richly with Himself. Thank you. A lover of Jesus and His Word. HERE THERE ARE SOME "CULT LIKE" PRACTICES TO BE AWARE What are some signs and practices of a cult? by Matt Slick There have been many serious studies on the dynamics of cults and behavior of people within those cults. Following is a representative list of characteristics common in cult groups. Not all cults hold to every item. We have to be careful when assigning cult-like behavior to any group. Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so to, cult-like behavior is subjective. Generally, it takes a trained person who can identify unhealthy patterns and teachings as compared to healthy ones and can then identify a cult. Furthermore, cult-like behavior is more commonly identified through excessive control, manipulation, and esoteric teaching of a group where the group's members are often isolated and indoctrinated into special teachings and practices. Social aspects of cult-like behavior For a group to be a cult in the social sense, many of the following characteristics would have to be present. For a group to be a cult in the doctrinal sense, essentials (in this case of the Christian faith) would have to be violated. Some of the characteristics are listed below. 1. Submission: 1. Complete, almost unquestioned trust in the leadership. 2. Leaders are often seen as prophets, apostles, or special individuals with unusual connections to God. This helps a person give themselves over psychologically to trusting someone else for their spiritual welfare. 3. Increased submission to the leadership is rewarded with additional responsibilities and/or roles, and/or praises, increasing the importance of the person within the group. 2. Exclusivity 1. Their group is the only true religious system, or one of the few true remnants of God's people. 3. Persecution complex 1. Us against them mentality. Therefore, when someone (inside or outside of the group) corrects the group in doctrine and/or behavior, it is interpreted as persecution, which then is interpreted as validation. 4. Control 1. Control of members' actions and thinking through repeated indoctrination and/or threats of loss of salvation, or a place to live, or receiving curses from God, etc. 5. Isolation 1. Minimizing contact of church members with those outside the group. This facilitates a further control over the thinking and practices of the members by the leadership. 6. Love Bombing 1. Showing great attention and love to a person in the group by others in the group, to help transfer emotional dependence to the group. 7. Special Knowledge 1. Instructions and/or knowledge are sometimes said to be received by a leader(s) from God. This leader then informs the members. 2. The Special Knowledge can be received through visions, dreams, or new interpretations of sacred scriptures such as the Bible. 8. Indoctrination 1. The teachings of the group are repeatedly drilled into the members, but the indoctrination usually occurs around Special Knowledge. 9. Salvation 1. Salvation from the judgment of God is maintained through association and/or submission with the group, its authority, and/or its Special Knowledge. 10. Group Think 1. The group's coherence is maintained by the observance to policies handed down from those in authority. 2. There is an internal enforcement of policies by members who reward "proper" behavior, and those who perform properly are rewarded with further inclusion and acceptance by the group. 11. Cognitive Dissonance 1. Avoidance of critical thinking and/or maintaining logically impossible beliefs and/or beliefs that are inconsistent with other beliefs held by the group. 2. Avoidance of and/or denial of any facts that might contradict the group's belief system. 12. Shunning 1. Those who do not keep in step with group policies are shunned and/or expelled. 13. Gender Roles 1. Control of gender roles and definitions. 2. Severe control of gender roles sometimes leads to sexual exploitation. 14. Appearance Standards 1. Often a common appearance is required and maintained. For instance, women might wear prairie dresses, and/or their hair in buns, and/or no makeup, and/or the men might all wear white short-sleeved shirts, and/or without beards, or all wear beards.