Voices of Confirmation

7/31/2019 Voices of Confirmation

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Voices foonfirmation

C oncerning cW atchman W itnessN Lee, eethe

L Cocal hurchesthe


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2010 DCP Press. All rights reserved.

No part o this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any orm or by any meansgraphic,electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or in ormation storage and

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1st printing, December 2010

DCP Press is an imprint o :

De ense and Confrmation Project (DCP)P.O. Box 3217

Fullerton, CA 92834

DCP is a project to de end and con rm the New estament ministry o Watchman Nee andWitness Lee and the practice o the local churches.

Even as it is right or me to think this concerning you all because you have me in your heart,since both in my bonds and in the de ense and con rmation o the gospel you are all ellow

partakers with me o grace. Philippians 1:7


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ab le o f Con ten t sS t a t e m e n t o f F a i t h . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

I n t r o d u c t i o n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

H i s t o r y o f t h e L o c a l C h u r c h e s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

O n t h e N a t u r e o f G o d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

S t a t e m e n t f r o m F u l l e r T h e o l o g i c a l S e m i n a r y . . . . . . . 1 0

H a n k H a n e g r a a f f S p e a k s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2

G r e t c h e n P a s s a n t i n o S p e a k s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 3

I n R e c o g n i t i o n o f Wa t ch m a n N e e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 4

E v a n g e l i c a l Vo i c e s S p e a k . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 5


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t a t emen t o f Fa iHolding the Bible as the complete and only divine revelation, we strongly believe thatGod is eternally one and also eternally the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, the three beingdistinct but not separate. We hold that Christ is both the complete God and the per ect

man. Without abandoning His divinity, He was conceived in the womb o a human virgin,lived a genuine human li e on earth, and died a vicarious and all-inclusive death on thecross.

A er three days He resurrected bodily and has ascended to the heavens. He is now inglory, ully God but still ully man. We look to His imminent return with the kingdom o God, by which He will reign over the earth in the millennium and in eternity. We con essthat the third o the rinity, the Spirit, is equally God. All that the Father has and is, isexpressed by the Son; and all that the Son has and is, is realized as the Spirit. We urtherbelieve that mankind is in need o Gods salvation. Tough we were absolutely unableto ul ll the heavy demands o Gods righteousness, holiness, and glory, Christ ul lled

all the requirements through His death on the cross. Because o Christs death, God hasorgiven us o our sins, justi ed us by making Christ our righteousness and reconciled usto Himsel . Based on Christs redemption, God regenerates the redeemed with His Spiritto consummate His salvation, that they may become His children. Now possessing Godsli e and nature, the believers enjoy a daily salvation in His Body in this age and the eternalsalvation in the coming age and in eternity. In eternity we will dwell with God in the NewJerusalem, the consummation o Gods salvation o His elect.

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S t a t e m e n t o f F a i t h


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W hen Witness Lee came to the United States in the early 1960s, he and thosemeeting in the local churches were met with interest by some and skepticismby others within the evangelical community. By the mid-1970s a number o countercult ministries had come into contact with the local churches. Many o thelocal churches teachings were then misinterpreted and misrepresented, resulting inallegations o heresy, aberrance, and even cultism. Contemporary critics have chosen to repeat these same judgmentswithout a ording the local churches the opportunity to speak or themselves. Tus, it was the countercult ministriesthat de ned Witness Lee and the local churches to contemporary Christianity.

oday, however, there has been a shi in attitude toward the local churches. Early critics are now speaking outto correct misperceptions created 30 years ago. Tis booklet presents the testimony o these and other leadingevangelical voices.

Most striking is the testimony o the Christian Research Institute (CRI), a widely respected apologetics ministry bestknown or its radio program Bible Answer Man. Under the leadership o President and radio host Walter Martin,CRI was among the rst to disseminate criticism o Witness Lee and the local churches. In 2003 representatives o the local churches approached Martins successor, Hank Hanegraa , to address previous charges o heresy. Tis wasthe rst time in history that representatives o the local churches were given opportunity to explain their own belie sand practices to past critics.

As a result o this dialogue, CRI initiated a six-year research project culminating in a reassessment o its earliernegative evaluation. Tese ndings were published in a special issue o the Christian Research Journal entitled WeWere Wrong. Tere, Hank Hanegraa , Elliot Miller (the journals editor-in-chie ), and Gretchen Passantino (directoro Answers in Action) strongly a rmed the orthodoxy o the local churches. Excerpts rom that publication, as wellas other writings, are provided here.

Infuential voices across the evangelical world have con rmed this change in view. Fuller Teological Seminary,among the largest and most respected seminaries in the world, conducted a two-year study o the local churchesand the teachings o Watchman Nee and Witness Lee. Tis process resulted in a de nitive statement endorsing theorthodoxy o the local churches later echoed by the leading evangelical newsmagazine Christianity oday .

Tree major voicesleaders in Christian apologetics, theological education, and evangelical journalismnow sharea new and positive view. We hope that these testimonies will help you have a true and accurate understanding o ourbelie s and practices.

De ense and Con rmation Project

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When the Communists came into power, severe persecution was unleashed on the LC and Nee was imprisoned in 1952, where hedied twenty years later. Nee sent Lee to aiwan to help ensure that the movement, and the New estament truths they had recovered,would survive.

Many o the movements ideas, such as the plurality o elders as the collective pastor o the local church, the abolition o the clergy-

laity distinction, and worship centered on the Lords able, were derived rom the Exclusive (Plymouth) Brethren, to which both Neeand Lee had ample exposure. However, Nee considered the divisiveness he observed among the Brethren to be unbiblical, and so,seeking the New estament ground or the unity o believers, he developed the concept that there should be only one church per city,autonomous rom all other local churches, denominations, mission boards, and so orth. Although conceived or the purpose o unity,this has proved to be the most controversial element about the LC, or it is essentially anti-denominational and rejects the legitimacy o any church that meets on any other basis than localityalthough the LC embraces all Christians as genuine children o God.

R o o t s i n t h e P l y m o u t h B r

One o the earnest Chinese Christians who bene ted rom Nees publications was a young mannamed L Chngshu (19051997), who came to be called Witness Lee. Lee had been raised as aSouthern Baptist 1 and personally accepted Christ as his Savior in 1925. Lee arranged or Nee tocome and speak in 1933 to a church he had planted in his home town o Che oo, and, desiring hisministry to be ully coordinated or one with Nees, he moved to Shanghai later that year.

In the ollowing years Nee wrote many books and held regularcon erences and trainings or church workers. Nee, Lee, and otherworkers planted churches up and down China and in Southeast Asiathat numbered at least six hundred by the time o the CommunistRevolution in 1949. A truly indigenous Chinese movement thatcame to be known by outsiders as the Little Flock (because they sang rom a Plymouth Brethren hymnal called Hymns or the LittleFlock), they emphasized an experiential knowledge o Christ, theconsecrated li e, and the recovery o the New estament pattern orthe local church.

he LC as a movement can be traced to the conversion o a bright andpromising seventeen-year-old, Nee o-sheng (19031972), in Fuzhou (orFoochow), Fujian Province, China. Watchman Nee (as he became known)wholeheartedly committed his li e to the service o the Lord. What Neelacked in ormal training he made up or by voracious reading o as much

Christian literature as he could get his hands on, and by hands-on experience in evangelism andchurch planting. Nee developed a reputation or pro ound insight into the inner Christian li e andthe New estament church li e, which he expressed through books and magazines he publisheda er moving to Shanghai in 1927.

Elliot Miller is an ordained ministerwith pastoral experience and aBible teacher. He holds a B.A. inministry rom Anaheim ChristianCollege and an M.A. in apologeticsrom Simon Greenlea University.He has served as editor-in-chie orall o Christian Research Institutes(CRI) publications and has beeneatured with CRI President Hank

Hanegraa on the nationally syndicated Bible Answer Manradioprogram.

H i s t o r y o f t h e L o c a l C h u r c h e s( f r o mC h r i s t i a n R e s e a r c h J o u r n a l )


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And day by day, continuingstead astly with one accord in thetemple and breaking bread romhouse to house, they partook o their ood with exultation and

simplicity o heart.Acts 2:46

1 It is important to note that neither Lee nor Nee came from a Buddhist background. The mystical leanings in their writings are not traceable to Eastern religions, as has been alleged, but to Western Christian inner life teacherssuch as Jessie Penn-Lewis, Andrew Murray, and Madame Guyon.

2 The Lords Recovery of Experiencing Christ and Practicing the Church Life in Oneness, History, The Present RecoveryOne City, One Church (A.D. 1937Present), 2, http://w ww.lordsrecover y.org/history/iv.html.3 The first theological critic of Lee was James Chen, who had been appointed by Nee as one of two elders in Hong Kong. Interestingly, his charge was one that we have never heard in America, that Lee was teaching Arianism.

He based this on the fact that Lee called the incarnate Christ a creature. Lee did indeed teach that Christ is a creature with respect to His humanity, but he also taught that, with respect to His deity, Christ is the Creator of theuniverse. This pattern, in which Lee makes radical statements and balances them elsewhere in his teaching, only to have his critics seize on his radical statements without factoring in the balancing statements, has continuedto the present day. In fact, this theme pretty well sums up the balance of this article, insofar as it deals with theology.

4 The LC has been careful to define mingling in a way that does not suggest a change in the essential nature of God or man. See the sidebar, MinglingWas There Ever a Better Word? Affirmation and Critique 1, 3 (July1996): 31, 62.

5 The Present RecoveryOne City, One Church (A.D. 1937Present), 19.6 For a thorough explanation of their beliefs in this regard, see the entire History section at the Web site, The Lords Recovery of Experiencing Christ and Practicing the Church Life, http://www.lordsrecovery.org/history/

index.html.

In 1958 Lee traveled to the United States and met with a group o believers inLos Angeles who were hungry to experience the New estament church. Leestayed in touch with them and in 1962 he moved to Los Angeles, believing thatthe Lord was directing him to spread the recovery into the United States.

By 1969 there were local churches in Cali ornia, New York, and exas, butmost o the country was untouched by the movement. Lee began to teachthat in the Book o Acts the church li e was spread through migration, andso groups o LC members began moving to di erent parts o the country andestablishing churches there. With the explosion o the Jesus movement in the1970s many idealistic young people, as well as spiritually hungry older people,were seeking a greater experience o Christ and also o the New estamentchurch, and so the ranks o the LC swelled and they became a known quantity at least among Christians in many cities across the United States. Churcheswere also planted in Canada and on every continent.

During this period Lee more ully developed several teachings that were present in Nees ministry, such as themingling o God and man, 4 Christ as the li e-giving Spirit (which brought on the charge o modalism), andthe understanding o the church as the New Jerusalem, as well as devotional practices such as pray-readingand calling on the name o the Lord. All o these were presented as new revelations, not in the sense o a newtruth that goes beyond the Bible, but rather in the sense o a biblical truth that had been lost sight o but thatthe Spirit has uncovered and that the church has recovered.5 Hence, the movement o en re ers to itsel as theLords recovery, since they see themselves as part o a continuing restoration o biblical truth to the people o God that can be traced rom the pre-Re ormation period through the Protestant Re ormation and all the way to the ministries o Watchman Nee and Witness Lee. 6

E a s t M e e t s W e s t

L e e F u r t h e r S h a p e s t h e M o v e m e n t

In aiwan the movement grew to sixty- ve churches with twenty thousand participating saints (the LCspre erred term or believers) by 1955. 2 Lee assumed the mantle o leadership, although certain leaders andchurches that were part o Nees Little Flock movement never became one with Lee as Lee had become onewith Nee, and it was rom some o these people that the charge o heresy was rst raised against Lee. 3

...they emphasized an experiential knowledge o Christ, theconsecrated li e, and the recovery o the New estament pattern or the local church.

Vo i c e s o f C o n f i r m a t i o n C o n c e r n i n g W a t c h m a n N e e , W i t n e s s L e e , a n d t


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You may remember the catch phrase coined by Bill Clintons political strategist James Carville in the 1992 presidential race to keepthe campaign on message: Its the economy, stupid. In a di erent sense the same rebuke might well be addressed to those o us whomissed a distinction requently made in LC literature between the essential rinity (also called the ontological rinity or the immanentrinity) and the economic rinity. Tese terms re er to a distinction that is widely made in orthodox theology; one that we at CRI have

always embraced and taught. It is a distinction between the eternal nature and interrelationship o the three divine persons and thetemporal (i.e., time-related and situated) roles that they assume in their relationship with creation. 1 It is there ore the case that mucho the LCs identi cation o the Son with the Father and the Spirit is stated in the context o the operations o the economic rinity,and is based on a similar identi cation that is made in Scripture.

O n C h r i s t a n d t h e S p

As this is one o the topics that has drawn the greatest amount o criticism concerning Witness Lees teaching, we eel that it isimportant to add a ew quotations rom others on the subject. At least one notable contemporary scholar worth mention is James D.G. Dunn, who addresses some o the same scriptural passages that Witness Lee has given requent attention to:

...Paul identi es the exalted Jesus with the Spiritnot with a spiritual being...or a spiritual dimension or sphere..., but with theSpirit, the Holy Spirit....Immanent christology is or Paul pneumatology; in the believers experience there is no distinctionbetween Christ and Spirit. Tis does not mean o course that Paul makes no distinction between Christ and Spirit. ( Te Christ and the Spirit , vol. 1,Christology[Grand Rapids, MI: W. B. Eerdmans, 1998], 164-165)

W. H. Gri th Tomas, the noted theologian rom a generation ago and one whom Witness Lee requently quoted regarding therinity, also makes re erence to the two oldness o this divine truth, while o ering a remarkably clear and succinct summary o theidenti cation o Christ and the Spirit:

It is essential to preserve with care both sides o this truth. Christ and the Spirit are di erent yet the same, the same yet di erent.Perhaps the best expression we can give is that while their Personalities are never identical, their presence always is. ( Te HolySpirit [Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 1986; reprint o Te Holy Spirit o God , 4th ed., Grand Rapids: W. B. Eerdmans, 1913], 144)

It is clear rom these quotations as well as rom the entirety o the ministry o Witness Lee that it is in the realm o the believersexperience o Christand not in Gods immanent existencethat the identi cation between Christ and the Spirit obtains. H. B. Swetecon rms this same thought:

Te Spirit in its working was ound to be in e ect the equivalent o Jesus Christ...where the possession o the Spirit o Christis clearly regarded as tantamount to an indwelling o Christ Himsel ....the Lord the Spirit, (i.e. Christ in the power o Hisglori ed li e) are viewed as being in practice the same. ( Te Holy Spirit in the New estament [London; New York: Macmillan,1912], 306)2

I t s t h e E c o n o m y , S t u p i d !

Te biblical bases cited in LC literature or their identi cation o the persons o the rinity with each other will be explained in detailshortly, but to state them succinctly, they are (1) the activity o the three persons in the economic rinity and (2) the coinherence othe three persons in the essential rinity. Te purpose or their emphasis on this identi cation o the three persons is to provide acorrective to what they view as rampant tritheism in the West.

I or one knew o no other group classi ed as modalistic that made similar detailed con essions o rinitarian orthodoxy. Te thoughtcrossed my mind more than once that perhaps we were missing something in the LCs teachings that would clari y this seemingly blatant contradiction. Indeed, we at CRI were missing something, and so were virtually all o our colleagues in the countercultcommunity!

O n t h e N a t u r e o f G o d( f r o mC h r i s t i a n R e s e a r c h J o u r n a l )


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1 By relationship I refer to every aspect of the Triune Gods activity as creator, preserver, judge, and redeemer of the world.2 A Statement concerning the Teachings of Living Stream Ministry Prepared for Fuller Theological Seminary , January 20, 2007, 1214. (This document is posted at http://www.lctestimony.org/StatementOfTeachings.pdf.)3 See, e.g., Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995), 248; Phil Gons, Are You a Practical Modalist? PhilGons.com, Thoughts on

Theology and Technology, January 19, 2009, http://philgons.com/2008/01/are-you-a-practical-modalist/; and Rev. James Hastings, M.A., ed., The Expository Times , vol. 7: October 1895September 1896 (Edinburgh:T. and T. Clark, n.d.), 153.

T u r n i n g t h e T r i n i t a r i a n T aW h a t E v a n g e l i c a l s C a n L e a r n f r o m W i t

As we have seen among the quotations supplied in the Open Letter to the LC, Witness Lee has already stated the problem: Te Spirit,in traditional thinking, comes into the believers, while the Father and Son are le on the throne. When believers pray, they are taught

to bow be ore the Father and pray in the name o the Son. o split the Godhead into these separate Persons is not the revelation o theBible....

From even the limited material provided in the Open Letter it should be evident, however, that Lees real concern was tritheism, whichmakes it ironic that the Open Letter includes this quotation as evidence o Lees unorthodox teaching. Do the dra ers and signers o the Open Letter really want to say that when the Spirit comes into believers the Father and Son are le on the throne? Do they really contend that splitting the Godhead into three separate persons is the revelation o the Bible? I so, then conscientious Christians shouldbe concerned about their belie s on the rinity.

A care ul e ort to understand LC writings on their own terms is bound to discover that the strong modalistic-sounding language o enound therein is a reaction to, and an attempt to correct, the tritheistic tendencies that Lee and his compatriots believed they wereencountering in the West. Indeed, some Western theologians have made the same observation about modern evangelicalism, 3 and the very act that the distinction between separate and distinct is not recognized even by theologians and countercult apologists involvedwith the Open Letter would seem to corroborate this concern.

O course, the vast majority o Western Christians are not ull-blown tritheists (believing that the rinity is composed o three separategods). However, many o them do seem inconsistently to hold belie s about God that imply tritheism.

Tere is clearly a sense biblically in which the three persons o the rinity share a singular personal identity: Yahweh, the covenant-keeping God, who we appropriately re er to as He or Him. o a rm this is not to con use the eternal and economic distinctions thatexist between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is rather to sa eguard the equally important biblical truth that they comprise one eternalBeing, a truth that describing them as three separate persons compromises. Tose o us who have used the word separate to distinguishthe persons o the rinity owe a debt o gratitude to Witness Lee or pointing this out.

I believe that su cient evidence has been provided to exonerate the LC rom charges o heresy, aberration, duplicity, and sel -contradiction as regards the rinity. Just as we at CRI admitted that we had wrongly charged the LC with modalism, I am con dentthat other evangelical critics o the LC who are air minded and open to correction will reach a similar conclusion.

A care ul contextual reading o LC literature orces the exact same conclusions on the other alleged theological errors identi ed in theOpen Letter.

Editors Note: In January 2007 a group identi ying themselves as Christian scholars and ministry leaders published an open letter callingon Living Stream Ministry and the local churches to disavow certain statements made by Witness Lee. Te statements, arranged under thegeneral rubrics On the Nature o God, On the Nature o Man, and On the Legitimacy o Evangelical Churches and Denominations, weretaken out o context and created a distorted impression o Witness Lees teaching. In December 2009 Christian Research Institute devoted anissue o its Christian Research Journal (CRJ) entitled We Were Wrong to address the concerns expressed in the open letter. Te preceedingour pages are slightly edited extracts rom A Reassessment o the Local Church Movement o Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, written by CRJ Editor-in-Chie Elliot Miller. Tese extracts have been reviewed by the author.



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It is the conclusion o Fuller Teological Seminary that the teachings and practiceso the local churches and its members represent the genuine, historical, biblicalChristian aith in every essential aspect. One o the initial tasks acing Fullerwas to determine i the portrayal o the ministry typically presented by its criticsaccurately refects the teachings o the ministry. On this point we have ound agreat disparity between the perceptions that have been generated in some circlesconcerning the teachings o Watchman Nee and Witness Lee and the actualteachings ound in their writings. Particularly, the teachings o Witness Lee havebeen grossly misrepresented and there ore most requently misunderstood in thegeneral Christian community, especially among those who classi y themselves asevangelicals. We consistently discovered that when examined airly in the lighto scripture and church history, the actual teachings in question have signi cantbiblical and historical credence. Tere ore, we believe that they deserve theattention and consideration o the entire Body o Christ.

It is the conclusion o Fuller Teological Seminarythat the teachings and practices o the local churchesand its members represent the genuine, historical,biblical Christian aith in every essential aspect.

uller Teological Seminary (Fuller) and leaders rom the local churches and its publishing service,Living Stream Ministry (LSM), have recently completed two years o extensive dialog. During this timeFuller conducted a thorough review and examination o the major teachings and practices o the localchurches, with particular emphasis on the writings o Witness Lee and Watchman Nee, as published by Living Stream Ministry. Tis process was undertaken in an attempt to answer many o the questionsand accusations that are o en associated with this group o churches and to locate the teachings and

practices o these two men and the local churches in light o historical, orthodoxChristianity. Participants in the dialog rom Fuller included Dr. Richard Mouw,President and Pro essor o Christian Philosophy; Dr. Howard Loewen, Dean o the School o Teology and Pro essor o Teology and Ethics; and Dr. Veli-MattiKrkkinen, Pro essor o Systematic Teology. Representing the local churcheswere Minoru Chen, Abraham Ho, and Dan owle. Representing LSM were RonKangas, Benson Phillips, Chris Wilde, and Andrew Yu.

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And they continued stead astly in the teaching and the ellowship o the apostles, in the breaking o bread and the prayers. Acts 2:42

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It is important to note, in understanding the process that we have undergone, that considerable attention wasdevoted at the outset to the stand o these churches on the essential elements o the genuine Christian aithadhered to by all true Christian believers. We believe that i agreement on the basic tenets o the aith can beclearly established, then subsequent dialog and discussion concerning non-essential teachings properly allwithin the realm o the ellowship o believers. Tis determination was made by reading their publicationsand through our ellowship in ve ace-to- ace meetings between Fuller and representatives o these churchesand this ministry. In regard to their teaching and testimony concerning God, the rinity, the person andwork o Christ, the Bible, salvation, and the oneness and unity o the Church, the Body o Christ, we oundthem to be unequivocally orthodox. Furthermore, we ound their pro ession o aith to be consistent withthe major creeds, even though their pro ession is not creedal in ormat. Moreover, we also can say withcertainty that no evidence o cultic or cult-like attributes have been ound by us among the leaders o theministry or the members o the local churches who adhere to the teachings represented in the publicationso Living Stream Ministry. Consequently, we are easily and com ortably able to receive them asgenuine believers and ellow members o the Body o Christ, and we unreservedly recommendthat all Christian believers likewise extend to them the right hand o ellowship.

Our times together were characterized by sincere, open, transparent, and unrestricteddialog. Tere were several topics that we at Fuller approached with particular interest,such as the rinity, the mingling o divinity and humanity, dei cation, modalism, theirinterpretation and practice o the local church, the divine and human natures o Christ, and their attitude toward believers outside their congregations. We were givenunlimited reedom to explore each o these areas. In every instance we ound the publicperception o some to be ar removed rom the actual published teachings as well as thebelie s and practices o the believers in the local churches.

Tis statement is intended to provide those interested with a general overview o theprocess that we have been involved with and our overall conclusions. Tis brie statementwill be ollowed in the coming months by a paper addressing the a orementionedand other important theological topics in greater detail. Representatives o the localchurches and Living Stream Ministry have agreed to write a statement outlining insummary orm their teachings on the major topics o interest concerning them.Comments by Fuller will be o ered on their teachings, as we have come to understandthem a er signi cant research and dialog.

Dated: January 5, 2006



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H a n k H a n e g r a a f f S p e a k s

I stand shoulder to shoulder with the local churches when it comes to the essentials that de ne biblical orthodoxy.With respect to the rinity, or example, we are united in the reality that there is one God revealed in three personswho are eternally distinct. Although we may disagree on the exegesis o particular passages, this premise is inviolate.It is signi cant to note that in interacting with members o the local churches over a protracted period o time, I havewitnessed in them a keen interest in doctrinal precision sadly missing today in major segments o the evangelicalcommunity.

Te Local Churches: Genuine Believers and Fellow Members o the Body o Christ, p. 10

Finally, the local churches are an authentic expression o New estament Christianity. Moreover, as a group orged

in the cauldron o persecution, it has much to o er Western Christianity. Te Local Churches, p. 11

While we have signi cant doctrinal di erences with the local churches on nonessentials such as aspects o eschatology, whenit comes to essential Christian doctrinethe very doctrines or which the martyrs spilled their bloodwe stand shoulder-to-shoulder.

We Were Wrong, Christian Research Journal (CRJ), vol. 32, no. 6, p. 4

Furthermore, when leaders in the LC testi ed to their belie in one God, revealed in three Persons who are eternally distinct; to the reality that human beings can never ontologically attain Godhood; and to the act that they are only the church as opposed to being the only church, Christian charity alone compelled me to give them the bene to the doubt. A er a six-year primary research process, I am ully persuaded that the LC is innocentrather thanguiltyo compromising essential Christian doctrine. Moreover, it has become apparent that the Holy Spirit hasmoved in their midst to recover New estament principles and practices widely neglected in the modern church.

Finally, what is true rom a theological perspective is true sociologically as well. A er meeting thousands o LCadherents and personally interacting with hundreds, I am not only convinced that they are innocent o the charge o cultism rom a sociological perspective, but I can testi y that they are among the nest Christians I have encounteredin li e and ministry.

D-I-S-C-E-R-N , CRJ , vol. 33, no. 3, p. 12

Hank Hanegraaf serves as president and chairman o the Christian Research Institute,based in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is the author o several books, including Te Prayer o

Jesusand Christianity in Crisis , and is best known as the host o the Bible Answer Man radioprogram. Widely regarded as one o the worlds leading Christian apologists, Hanegraa alsotravels extensively as a con erence speaker and itinerant preacher.

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G r e t c h e n P a s s a n t i n o S

I you are a young person who is experiencing your own spiritual epiphany, let me encourage you that your spiritual li ewill be enriched and enhanced as you join yoursel to a true work o God, whether that is with the brothers and sisters o the local churches or in some other ellowship where God is working. God really is interested in capturing your heart or hisservice and he really will empower you to make your world a better place through Jesus Christ. I you are a parent, proudo your young adult o springs seemingly overnight spiritual blossoming, but a raid that he or she is going to crash andburn in spiritual chaos, let me reassure you. Te local churches are a legitimate, theologically orthodox, spiritually aith ulinvolvement by means o which your o spring can develop genuine Christian commitment and maturity. Tey are not adangerous ensnarement o the devil.

Te Local Churches: Genuine Believers and Fellow Members o the Body o Christ, p. 14

Some other apologetics colleagues continue to insist that the teachings and practices o the local churches are hereticaland outside Christian orthodoxy. Surprisingly, these particular apologists base their insistence on the very same incompletework my late husband Bob and I initially produced between 1975 and 1980, despite the act that today I and others candemonstrate the insu ciency in breadth, depth, and analysis o that ormer inadequate research here. Te current moreadequate assessment o mysel and other colleagues necessarily carries greater weight than did that rst un ortunately incomplete ormer research base. Unless and until some o my colleagues join with others who have been willing to engage inthe much larger body o documentation, they will be le behind, outside robust Christian research. Tose who have ollowedHank, Elliot, and me in this better research have had their research enhanced by a deeper application o the study o thewider diversity o the Christian world, a greater understanding o Christian worship as it has diversi ed over the centuries,and augmented their Christian experience by greater interaction and communication with Christians rom di ering culturesand centuries.

Te Local Churches, p. 20 , edited by the author

A Christian believer who joins the local churches will nd sound theology, enriching worship, challenging discipleship,and enthusiastic evangelism opportunities. A er 40 years o Christian aith, I have not lost my rst love o Jesus Christ. Irecognize that same vibrant Spirit in the local churches.

Te Local Churches , p. 28

Gretchen Passantino is the co- ounder and director o Answers in Action, a proli c author, and an adjunct seminary pro essor. She and her husband, Bob Passantino, co-authored several books. She holds a B.A. in Comparative Literature

rom the University o Cali ornia, Irvine, and an M. Div. with an emphasis in apologetics rom Faith Evangelical LutheranSeminary in acoma, Washington.

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I n R e c o g n i t i o n o f W a t c h m a n N e e , C o n g r e s s i o n a l R e c o r d

Mr. SMI H o New Jersey.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge theimmense spiritual achievement o Watchman Nee, a

great pioneer o Christianity in China.

Christianity oday magazine recently honoredWatchman Nee as one o the 100 most infuentialChristians o the twentieth century. WatchmanNee died over thirty years ago but his li e andwork continue to infuence millions o ProtestantChristians in China. oday more than threethousand churches outside o China, includingseveral hundred in the United States, look to him asone o their spiritual and theological ounders.

Watchman Nee was an astonishingly devoted andenergetic man, which I think can be seen rom acapsule summary o his li e. He became a Christian in1922. In the 1930s, he traveled to Europe and NorthAmerica, where he delivered sermons and speeches.Later his sermons were collected and published asbooks. By the late 1940s, Nee had become the mostinfuential Chinese Christian writer, evangelist, andchurch builder. In 1952, the Chinese governmentimprisoned Nee and many other Christian leaders

or their aith. Nee was never released, though duringthe 1960s and 1970s several o his books continuedto grow in infuence and popularity, particularly in the United States, and his best-known book,Te Normal Christian Li e , sold over one million

copies world-wide and became a twentieth-century Christian classic. In 1972 he died at the age o 71 in alabor arm; his ew surviving letters con rm that heremained aith ul to God until the end.

Madam Speaker, it is estimated that China has morethan one hundred million Christians, and millionso them consider themselves the spiritual heirs o Watchman Nee. Millions more are rightly proudo the contribution Watchman Nee made to globalChristianityhe was the rst Chinese Christian toexercise an infuence on Western Christiansandindeed o his contribution to world spiritual culture.It is sad that the works o Watchman Nee are o cially banned in Chinaeven as they are being discovered

a resh by a new generation o Western Christians. Itis my hope that Watchman Nees collected works canbe reely published and distributed within China.

A er Watchman Nees death, when his niece came tocollect his ew possessions, she was given a scrap opaper that a guard had ound by his bed. What waswritten on that scrap may serve as Watchman Neestestament: Christ is the Son o God Who died orthe redemption o sinners and was resurrected a erthree days. Tis is the greatest truth in the universe.

I die because o my belie in Christ. Watchman Nee.

Hon. Christopher H. Smith


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E v a n g e l i c a l Vo i c e s

J. Gordon Melton is the director o the Institute or the Study o American Religion,a distinguished senior ellow at Baylor University, and a research specialist with theDepartment o Religious Studies at the University o Cali ornia, Santa Barbara. He is agraduate o Garrett-Evangelical Teological Seminary and an ordained United Methodistminister. Melton has authored more than 35 re erence works and scholarly texts on religioustopics, including several encyclopedic works such as the Encyclopedia o American Religions.

Te locality teaching does have real value, however, or every ecumenically inclined Christianwill admit that there ought to be only one church in each citynot a single congregation,

perhaps, or that could be unwieldybut one body o Christians sharing one hope and oneaith and one Lord, one God (c . Ephesians 4:4 ). Te Local Churches may seem to be, and may develop into, just another denomination; but their doctrine o locality makes them a witnessto a genuine Christian ideal: the unity o Christendom.

Te Experts Speak Concerning Witness Lee and the Local Churches , p. 126

When I visited the Local Church in Newington, Connecticut, I ound there a worship service thatI would characterize as in ormal, good-humored, joy ul, and riendlywith slight pentecostalovertones. In the low-keyed style o worship, I ound elements o the house churches that werepopular among many evangelicals in the 1970s. Members o the congregation addressed oneanother as Brother or Sister, a airly common practice in evangelical circles. I was impressedby the interracial character o the congregation and the ease with which Anglos, Asians, andA rican Americans related with one another (this is still airly rare among evangelicalsas it israre among other religious groups in America).

Unpublished statement

Randall Balmer is a pro essor o American religious history at Barnard College, ColumbiaUniversity, and earned his Ph.D rom Princeton University. In addition to teaching atColumbia, he has also been a visiting pro essor at Yale, Princeton, Drew, and NorthwesternUniversities, and at Union Teological Seminary (New York), where he is also an adjunctpro essor o church history.

I personally have been unable to nd a single point upon which it [the local churches] deviateson any essential doctrine o the Christian aith, though it has a number o di erences on mattersall o us would consider nonessential, i.e., doctrinal concerns upon which Christians candisagree without reading each other out o the Christian community, in particular, ecclesiology and piety.

An Open Letter Concerning the Local Church, Witness Lee and Te God-Men Controversy, p. 3

Eugene Van Ness Goetchius was a pro essor o biblical languages rom 1963 to 1989, holdingchairs simultaneously in the Episcopal Teological School and the Philadelphia Divinity School. He taught Greek and Hebrew and collaborated with colleagues rom HarvardDivinity School and Weston School o Teology in teaching introductory courses in Newestament interpretation and exegesis.


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Edwin S. Gaustad is an Emeritus Pro essor o History and Religious Studies at the University o Cali ornia, Riverside. He has also served as president o the American Society o Church History andhas authored over a dozen books including New Historical Atlas o Religion in America and Church

and State in America.

From my observation, I conclude that the Local Church stands in the tradition o evangelical Christianity,o the Protestant emphasis on biblical authority, o the great Christian mystics and pietists concern orthe inner li e, o the millennia-old expectation o a New Age, and o born-again, experiential religion.Tey meet together, pray together, sing and study together, and grow together. Tey labor to be loyalto their particular vision o the Christian li e. It seems enough. It also sounds very much like the ree exercise o religion.

Te Experts Speak Concerning Witness Lee and the Local Churches , p. 200

Billy Graham and Carl F. H. Henry ounded Christianity Today in 1956 to represent the views o theologically conservative Christians. oday it is the leading evangelical newsmagazine and o ersinsight and commentary on a wide range o issues, trends, and current events.

Just to be clear, the Local Church/Living Stream is not even close to being a cultso their indignationis understandable. Tey loyally ollow the teaching o Watchman Nee and Witness Lee. Lees writingscan be con using and (to our minds, anyway) contradictory at points. But [ Christianity oday ] editorshave asked Local Church leaders doctrinal questions, and their answers were straight orward andsatis ying. We agree with a Fuller Teological Seminary study that concluded the Local Churchrepresents a genuine, historical, biblical Christian aith in every essential aspect.

Loose Cult alk, Christianity oday , vol. 50, no. 3, p. 27

E v a n g e l i c a l Vo i c e s S p e a k

Chris,

I thoroughly enjoyed our time together, too. I dont meet many people (outside o Hank) who havesuch a comprehensive understanding o theology. I also love the act that you understand the limitso theology and are willing to pause at the door o mystery. I read almost everything you le that same a ernoon. It really helpedme clari y some nuances in my own theology. I thought it was a very straight- orward exposition o what the Bible teachesand,I might add, what historical Christianity embraces. I did not nd anything with which to disagree. I also loved the tone. It was very matter-o - act but gracious toward your detractors and adversaries. Its encouraging to nd someone who believes in bothorthodoxy and orthopraxy.

I sent an e-mail to the ECPA executive committee the same a ernoon we met. I gave a good report o our time together and told

them I was personally satis ed with the outcome. I recommended that we drop the issue. Tey quickly replied with a collectiveAmen. A er reading through your material, I do not think it is necessary to create a talking points memo. I think your openletter is su cient. I someone objects to your theologyor should I say a characterization o your theologyand is unwilling toread the letter, then I simply dont have time or them. Something other than theology is driving their behavior. I look orwardto more ellowship in the uture. I eel like I have made a good riend.

Warmest regards,

Mike

Michael Hyatt is the chairman and CEO o Tomas Nelson Publishers and ormer chairmano the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA). In 2007 Hyatt was in the processo reviewing the ECPA membership o Living Stream Ministry (LSM). Chris Wilde o LSM visited Hyatt to discuss the theology and practices o Watchman Nee, Witness Lee, and thelocal churches. Te ollowing is a letter rom Hyatt to Wilde in response to that meeting and isreproduced here with the authors permission.

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