A Digital Newsletter from Living Stream Ministry
You may have heard about a new series of LSM publications titled Historical Evaluations of Christian Thought. In this article we explain the burden and purpose of this series.
The inaugural volume in the new series Historical Evaluations of Christian Thought became available for purchase in print and e-book formats on January 1, 2022. This series is in response to a time of fellowship that Brother Witness Lee had with serving ones in his home on July 20, 1994. In that fellowship he shared that Brother Watchman Nee and he had long had the intention to carry out two great lines of Christian work: interpreting the Bible as fully as possible and evaluating the history of the church in light of that interpretation. He said that, for his part, he was preparing to finish what the Lord had given him to do in the first line but that the second line in this work would be left undone. He expressed the hope that others would pick up the burden for this second line and give their whole lives to carry it out faithfully.
“We must present our best cargo. I can do only a little more; all of you must do the rest. This is your commission. I have prepared the way, but some must make this their lifelong job.”
This second line of work was very much in Brother Lee’s heart. The following year he expressed his burden in a meeting with elders and co-workers. At that time, he said:
We should speak concerning the Divine Trinity and compare our teaching with that of the various theologies. Athanasius, for example, spoke about the Trinity, but he did not cover the compound Spirit, the sevenfold Spirit, Christ becoming the life-giving Spirit, or why before Christ’s glorification the Spirit was not yet (Phil. 1:19; Rev. 1:4; 1 Cor. 15:45; John 7:39). Then we can deal with Luther’s teachings on the Trinity. One by one we should compare and point out the shortages. After this, we can cover the all-inclusive Christ and the Christology of the early centuries. This is the way to touch the shortages of Christianity. We must critique in a high way and give people no ground to criticize us…I gave up my future, and I have been on this line for seventy years, but I never had the opportunity to write in this way. Now if we do not take this opportunity, we are foolish…We must present our best cargo. I can do only a little more; all of you must do the rest. This is your commission. I have prepared the way, but some must make this their lifelong job. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 3, pp. 45-46)
In May 1996 he again touched this matter with elders and co-workers, saying:
What we are presenting at this time is the genuine, complete, and top theology. We need to present our study and critique of the major theologies in Christianity. Many in Christianity do not properly believe in regeneration and other basic items of the truth. We need to critique Martin Luther’s theology and even the theology of the Council of Nicaea of A.D. 325, comparing them to the ministered truths in the Lord’s recovery. The way to defeat degraded Christianity is to defeat its distorted, deformed theology. If we do this, the Lord will have a way to spread the genuine theology to produce the overcomers to build up a genuine constitution as His Body today and the New Jerusalem in the future. Otherwise, He will have no way. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 4, p. 299)
These are not the only times that Brother Lee spoke on this matter. It is evident, then, that his feeling for such a critique of Christian theology was very strong. Since he went to be with the Lord on June 9, 1997, much has happened to prepare the way for his burden to be carried out. First, the interpretation of the Bible according to the ministry in the Lord’s recovery has been completely published in The Collected Works of Watchman Nee (62 vols; 1994), Life-study of the New Testament (17 vols.; 1985), Life-study of the Old Testament (15 vols; 1996), Conclusion of the New Testament (8 vols; 2010), and The Collected Works of Witness Lee (135 vols.; 2019). Second, others in addition to those with whom Brother Lee first fellowshipped in his home in 1994 have been prepared to enter into this labor. Third, many historical and theological resources necessary for an endeavor of this nature have since been digitized and are thus easily accessible for research purposes. More than twenty-five years have passed since Brother Lee gave that initial commission to serving ones in his home, but we are convinced that the delay was altogether under the Lord’s sovereign arrangement. The provisions He has made in the intervening years indicate to us that now is the best time to engage in such a serious and long-term labor.
As the series title Historical Evaluations of Christian Thought indicates, this series of publications will assess the church’s interpretation of the Bible on key topics. It is not a history of the church in a general sense but an evaluation of what the church has taught through the ages. As with any evaluation, there must be a clear standard for our evaluation, and for this endeavor our standard is the interpretation of the Scriptures that has been delivered to us through the ministry of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee. We believe that, coming at the end of nearly two millennia of biblical interpretation, this ministry stands upon the shoulders of those who have gone before us and progressed in the understanding of the divine revelation, both by contributing to it and by defending it from attack. It is reasonable to assume that as beneficiaries of this progress under the Spirit’s guidance we stand in a position that allows us to look back and consider the merits and the detriments in what precedes us. Our taking the ministry of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee as the standard for our evaluation has nothing to do with who we are in ourselves today, nor, in a real sense, with who Watchman Nee and Witness Lee are (let everyone account them simply “as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God”—1 Cor. 4:1); rather, taking this ministry as our standard has much to do with where we are today in the progress of the history of the Christian church. As has been the case at every point in the past, our place today at the end of those preceding ages provides us with a vantage point that cannot be equaled. And thus, it is fitting for us, who have received so much from the past, to look back on the past from our own perspective in order to affirm what has benefited and critique what has hampered the progress of the saints who came before us.
“...taking this ministry as our standard has much to do with where we are today in the progress of the history of the Christian church.”
“...our sincere wish is that many others also would gain an appreciation for these gifts from the Lord, for He has given them not only to us in the local churches but ‘to men’ in the most general sense of the word so that all may come to the full knowledge of the truth.”
For every topic to be considered we first thoroughly lay out the truth of the topic according to our understanding of the Bible. Then, we turn our attention to the riches of the ministry of our brothers to fully explore and expound the truth of the topic. These riches, we hope, will shed more light on the Scriptures through the gifts that the Lord has given to His church for this purpose (Eph. 4:11; 1 Cor. 12:28-29; Acts 13:1). Through the help of these gifted members we expect that what is first presented as the truth in the Bible will then be unveiled thoroughly, so that our readers will be led “unto all the riches of the full assurance of understanding” (Col. 2:2). Of course, those of us who already enjoy the riches of the ministry of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee will appreciate this part of our presentation, but our sincere wish is that many others also would gain an appreciation for these gifts from the Lord, for He has given them not only to us in the local churches but “to men” in the most general sense of the word (Eph. 4:8) so that all may come to the full knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Tim. 2:25). Following the ministry’s expounding of the biblical truth, we proceed in each volume to evaluate the church’s teaching on that particular topic from the early period to the present day.
We are grateful that the saints’ response to this series and the need for it has been very positive. Some have asked if the series is intended to replace Affirmation & Critique, but it is not. Affirmation & Critique, now in its twenty-sixth year of publication, will continue unabated. Moreover, the series is not intended to replace the ministry bequeathed to us by our brothers; rather, it intends to further equip the saints by helping them to weigh the past profitably to understand what is wanting and what is worthy in all that has gone before.
At present we intend to release a new book in the series every 1 ½ to 2 years. If you would like to order the first volume in the series, read selected excerpts from it, receive updates about new releases, learn more about this endeavor, or read more of Brother Lee’s fellowship on the need for such an endeavor, we invite you to visit preciousfromworthless.com.
This is a long-term writing endeavor, and in response to Brother Lee’s commission, LSM intends to commit the necessary resources, as the Lord provides through the Body, to support it. Brother Lee was very burdened that some among us would labor to correct the defects of traditional Christian theology. This is a serious work that requires deliberate labor. However, this endeavor also needs the service and supply of all the Body, and therefore, we earnestly beseech every saint to enter into this burden personally by praying for it.
To order the first volume in the series, read selected excerpts, or to learn more about this endeavor:
To receive updates about new releases in this series: