Who Was The "Real" Witness Lee?

askseek · 04-12-2017, 09:11 AM

I'd like to know more about Witness Lee's imprisonment by the Japanese during the later stages of World War 2.

I vaguely recall WL's own account from a video message years ago. There was some form of water torture that caused a really bad case of tuberculosis requiring about a year to recover from. (If I'm not mistaken, the long-term effects of his TB is why he would often cough during his messages.) In the midst of his imprisonment he had some sort of dream, which became the guiding vision for his ministry. I don't recall any details of the length of imprisonment, the torture details, or the dream. Can someone elaborate on this?

I also recall reading his account of the fabled Chefoo revival. I'm thinking it had to be sometime in the early-mid 1940s prior to his imprisonment. One specific thing I recall is that the big increase was virtually all war-displaced migrants to the city, not the native inhabitants. (There may have been some sort of ethnic/regional/language distinction here that I can't remember.) This made sense to me; people displaced by war are likely going to be the seekers.

A Rutledge post here mentioned that a rival Christian preacher in Chefoo was the one who started the rumors of WL's insurgency, for which the Japanese occupiers arrested him. The rival preacher is news to me. Can somebody elaborate? (Rutledge also speculated it may have been a source of bitterness that caused WL to speak so harshly about "Christianity" in later years.)

04-12-2017, 09:11 AM	#1
askseek Member Join Date: Mar 2017 Posts: 37	Who Was The "Real" Witness Lee? I'd like to know more about Witness Lee's imprisonment by the Japanese during the later stages of World War 2. I vaguely recall WL's own account from a video message years ago. There was some form of water torture that caused a really bad case of tuberculosis requiring about a year to recover from. (If I'm not mistaken, the long-term effects of his TB is why he would often cough during his messages.) In the midst of his imprisonment he had some sort of dream, which became the guiding vision for his ministry. I don't recall any details of the length of imprisonment, the torture details, or the dream. Can someone elaborate on this? I also recall reading his account of the fabled Chefoo revival. I'm thinking it had to be sometime in the early-mid 1940s prior to his imprisonment. One specific thing I recall is that the big increase was virtually all war-displaced migrants to the city, not the native inhabitants. (There may have been some sort of ethnic/regional/language distinction here that I can't remember.) This made sense to me; people displaced by war are likely going to be the seekers. A Rutledge post here mentioned that a rival Christian preacher in Chefoo was the one who started the rumors of WL's insurgency, for which the Japanese occupiers arrested him. The rival preacher is news to me. Can somebody elaborate? (Rutledge also speculated it may have been a source of bitterness that caused WL to speak so harshly about "Christianity" in later years.)