Apostles in The Church: Yesterday and Today

[Ohio]

Originally Posted by Igzy

The question is, what is the point of believing Lee was an apostle? So that people will accept his teachings and the Church will benefit?

The reason Drake and those like him want people to believe Lee was an apostle is to confer to him the authority to order the Church around, and thus confirm their own decisions to let him define their lives.

Make no mistake, they are not arguing for the existence of latter day apostles for any other reason but to defend the supposed authority of their guy(s).

Yes, this is exactly the point, and let me add to it.

Apostolic authority, aka deputy authority, is used in exclusive systems like the Plymouth Brethren, Nee's Little Flock, Lee's Recovery, and the Blendeds LSM to wield great power and advantage to silence critics. Lee used his authority to introduce all sorts of failed businesses, cover up for criminal activity of his sons, silence whistleblowers, eliminate perceived rivals, etc.

Unfortunately, Lee's authority was not just for building up, (ref. 2 Cor 10.8) but also for tearing down those who got in his way.