From the time that Brother Lee arrived in the United States, he sought to make the riches of this ministry available to all of God’s children. For many years he ministered by holding trainings and conferences primarily for those in the local churches; nevertheless, he also wanted to reach out to theologians, pastors, and seeking believers throughout the country, whether they met with the local churches or not. One means he envisioned for reaching those believers not meeting in the local churches was a Christian journal to affirm the truth in the Bible and critique deviations from the truth. He believed that, through wide distribution, such a publication could introduce the deeper truths to thoughtful Christians. In 1980, he publicly expressed his burden for this kind of publication:

Since the Lord has shown us much divine revelation from the Bible, I hope that some among us will receive a burden from the Lord to publish a Christian journal that presents the divine truth revealed in the Bible and critiques teachings in various sections of modern Christianity that miss the mark of the truth. I believe that eventually such a journal will be respected by many Christian groups as the authority on affirming the truth in the Bible and critiquing every deviation from the truth. We need this kind of journal in order to present the truth and blow away the clouds that keep Christians from seeing the divine revelation in the Word. (CWWL, 1980, vol. 2, “Presenting the Truth to Others, Responding to Opposition, and Fighting for the Lord’s Recovery,” pp. 427-428)

Brother Lee saw the need for such a journal as a strategic way of presenting the divine revelation in the Word. Sixteen years after he first spoke publicly about this burden, the first issue of Affirmation & Critique (A&C) was finally released. Brother Lee was full of burden for the production and distribution of this journal. He encouraged the saints “to pray for the labor to produce the journal Affirmation & Critique” (CWWL, 1994—1997, vol. 3, “Pre-meeting Fellowship on the God-man Living,” p. 599), and based on his burden and fellowship, A&C was widely distributed to seminary libraries, seminary professors, and pastors all over the country.

Since 1996, A&C has faithfully presented the divine truth revealed in the Bible, covering specific topics (e.g., the Triune God and the all-inclusive Christ) as well as specific books and chapters of the Bible. In the Fall of 2024, A&C released a special issue entitled “Justification by Faith – A Historical Evaluation,” which served as a distillation of Living Stream’s recent publication Challenging the Traditional Interpretations of Justification by Faith as part of its new series Historical Evaluations of Christian Thought.

In light of Brother Lee’s burden to distribute this publication widely and spread the truth, the editors of A&C have taken up a renewed burden to expand its reach and at the same time are beginning a new series called “The Words of This Life,” as described in the first issue:

This issue of Affirmation & Critique is part of a series called “The Words of This Life,” a title taken from Acts 5:20. While we may be pressing the literal meaning of this expression, we wish to indicate that there are certain key words that signify important aspects of our Christian life and our church life and that these key words are, for the most part, common to all New Testament believers. However, we are also acutely aware that across the millennia many of the common words of this life have been understood variously by the different Christian traditions. Examples abound: faith, eternal life, grace, oneness, glory, church, worship. At first blush, words like these may seem to be simple and to have only one possible meaning (that is, the one in our own minds). But the facts of history make clear that many of these words mean immensely different things to Christians of different traditions, and it is worthwhile to consider whether to accept the traditional meanings or not, especially in light of a careful consideration of the Scriptures. To this end, in the issues of this series we will focus on some of the words of this life, considering their meanings from both biblical and traditional perspectives. Sometimes these perspectives will match; sometimes they will not. But our hope is that in our presentation the biblical perspective will be accurately relayed and will confirm, establish, and enrich—and perhaps even test and adjust—our readers’ understanding of these crucial words that relate to our Christian life and church life. (Affirmation & Critique, vol. 30, 2025, p. 2)

The first issue in this new series, to be released in April of this year, will be on the word faith. Faith is certainly one of the precious words of this life. All believers appreciate faith and have some sense of what the word faith means, but few have a proper understanding of this great gift as revealed in God’s holy Word. As the authors identify in the opening pages of this issue, this lack of a proper understanding of faith requires a faithful presentation of what faith is and what faith does in the carrying out of God’s economy:

faith (fāth) noun

1. a. Belief in God or in a set of religious doctrines.
   b. A set of religious doctrines; a body of dogma…
   American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed.
   (https://ahdictionary.com)

As far as the English language is concerned, these definitions from American Heritage Dictionary are correct and probably accord with our own personal understandings of the word faith. Most English speakers recognize a subjective aspect of faith—believing in something—and an objective aspect—the something believed. The problem is, according to the New Testament, faith in its subjective aspect is not simply belief, and in its objective aspect, not at all doctrines or dogma…We should let the Bible define what faith means, and in this issue of A&C we will do that.

Faith characterizes not only God’s New Testament believers (those who have faith) but also what God does in His New Testament economy (“which is in faith”—1 Tim. 1:4). We devote one article to what subjective faith is and is not, and another to what objective faith (“the faith”) is and is not. In the third article we unpack the crucial expression “God’s economy, which is in faith” (1 Tim. 1:4) and show the principle of faith operating in the carrying out of God’s eternal purpose. Then, we follow with an article on what living by faith means practically in our Christian experience and church life. In the next two articles we present that great benefit of faith, that is, the victory of our faith, and that great responsibility to faith, that is, our properly contending for it. In the last article, we consider the unique sin of unbelief, which not only condemns the unbelievers but also easily besets even us as believers and must be attended soberly. At the end of the issue we consider historically that strange but unique phrase in the New Testament believe into, and we review two significant books regarding faith. Our sincere hope is that this issue will be a great service to the faith of all our readers (Phil. 2:17). May it be so by the Lord’s mercy. (Affirmation & Critique, vol. 30, 2025, p. 2)

With the beginning of this new series, several changes will be introduced. A&C will adopt a slightly new format and shift from a biannual to an annual publication, released each April. The new cost of a subscription (including tax and shipping) is now $5 domestically and $15 internationally per issue. Single issues will be available for $7 (plus tax and shipping). Additionally, A&C is now available digitally on all major ebook platforms (e.g., Amazon, Google Play Books, Apple Books).

As this new series begins, we ask the saints to renew their prayers—not only for those laboring to produce A&C but also for its wider distribution throughout the English-speaking world. We also hope that the saints will enjoy and aggressively share this publication, which is dedicated to presenting the truth to thoughtful Christian readers. We believe that many, both in this country and beyond, can benefit from A&C, since it provides a helpful way to share the riches of this ministry with dear believers who do not meet with the local churches. May the Lord accomplish all that is on His heart through this publication.

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If you would like to give for the free distribution of this publication among seeking believers, you can do so at www.affcrit.com. And if any are willing and burdened to help distribute this publication, please write to [email protected].