Pastor Wang Ming Dao's take on Watchman Nee

[PriestlyScribe]

Originally Posted by bearbear

Here's a Google Translated version of the paper "Watchman Nee in the Eyes of Wang Mingdao":

https://www.verserain.com/pdf/wang_m...translated.pdf

These two quotes in the introduction stand out:

Thanks bearbear for providing this download. Several portions stood out to me in addition to those obvious tells you pointed out in the introduction. In my opinion these fragmented but insightful observations on the part of Wang Mindao suggest that Watchman Nee may have worn a psychological "suit of armor" in order to prevent others from actually knowing him as a real person - preferring to be seen as some great Bible Teacher. And based upon reports others have made concerning puzzling interactions with Witness Lee in his home, it's possible that a similar "game" was being played by Lee as well. Because of Wang's praise of another Christian Worker's transparency (Ying Fuk-tsang) it's probably not fair to say Nee's personal opaqueness was merely an Asian characteristic. But maybe I'm wrong about that.

Here are the segments which got my attention:
Page 142: https://blendedbody.com/WangMingdao/142hl1.png
Page 143: https://blendedbody.com/WangMingdao/143hl1.png
Page 158: https://blendedbody.com/WangMingdao/158hl1.png

I look forward to more of this writing coming out in English!

P.S.

[bearbear]

Originally Posted by PriestlyScribe

Here are the segments which got my attention:
Page 142: https://blendedbody.com/WangMingdao/142hl1.png
Page 143: https://blendedbody.com/WangMingdao/143hl1.png
Page 158: https://blendedbody.com/WangMingdao/158hl1.png

I look forward to more of this writing coming out in English!

P.S.

Thanks PriestlyScribe! I'll have my wife take a look and provide a better translation once she is available.
Also I just realized that whenever the machine translated paper mentioned "king" it is really referring to "Wang" since "wang" means "king" in Chinese.

[UntoHim]

As a related aside, here are a couple of excerpts from an entry about Watchman Nee in the Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Christianity (BDCC) Of special note, Nee's expulsion in the 1940s was apparently not the first time he was excommunicated for sexual immorality, it seems that a relative of his new wife publicly exposed his womanizing and galivanting back in 1934. Malicious rumor? Could be, but why did Nee "step down as leader of the movement"?
https://bdcconline.net/en/stories/nee-watchman

When he married “Charity” in 1934, an aunt of Charity’s who opposed the match published an “expose” in the media about his alleged romantic involvement with other women, which damaged his reputation, so he stepped down as leader of the movement, handing it over to elders whom he had previously appointed. He resumed his position the next year.

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Then later in 1943:
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Ni was expelled from leadership for several reasons: His increasing, and finally full-time, work with his brother’s pharmaceutical company; multiple instances of shady business practices; and the exposure of ongoing sexual immorality with female co-workers and other women, including prostitutes.
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[bearbear]

PriestlyScribe, here are the improved translations of the portions you highlighted from my wife:

Page 142 (2nd Paragraph)

However, in the 1980s, Wang Mingdao recalled this meeting in a conversation.
He said: "I especially went out of my way to travel to Fuzhou by ship and stayed at his [Watchman Nee’s] place for four days. During the first one or two days, he was very hospitable, but then he turned very cold all of a sudden. I don’t understand what made him change. I loved him wholeheartedly and wanted to have fellowship with him, but he was very cold to me. I was very disappointed, and went back home."

Page 143 (Bottom)

Footnote 47 "Wang Mingdao's Unpublished Posthumous Manuscript". In this manuscript, during an encounter, Wang Mingdao said to Watchman Nee: "If you continue down this road, I am afraid that one day you will hate yourself and [blank] yourself."

(The [blank] is a missing Chinese character. If we had to guess the sentence may have ended as "hurt yourself")

Page 158

[Concerning Mr. Song]

Among God’s workers, some have shortcomings that are many times worse compared to him [Mr. Song], but nobody knows about them because they know how to hide their shortcomings. But if he had any weaknesses he would not try to hide them. Many people criticize him for this, but I love this about him. I don't love his shortcomings, what I love is his sincerity. Of course those shortcomings are bad and should be corrected...

One of Mr. Song’s greatest strengths is his courage. He has the courage of the Old Testament prophets. He is a warrior who isn't afraid to confront sin. He fearlessly condemns sin in society as well as sin in the church. He has no regard for what others think of him when they oppose him..