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Wednesday 12 May 2010

Why I Can No Longer Endorse Any Of Watchman Nee's Books

Teaching carries a spiritual health warning












More Info Added 12 Nov 2010
This article is written because of  my previous inadvertent endorsement of Watchman Nee. I apologise to all for any angst that may have caused. I usually thoroughly research those I endorse first, but as explained on my post Why I  Previously Endorsed Watchman Nee Inadvertently   http://watchmanforjesus.blogspot.com/2010/05/why-i-endorse-watchman-nee-book.html  I did not think it was necessary with him. Obviously, I now need to check out all those I trusted in my early Christian life before I endorse them. I also want others who are ignorant (like I was) to be aware why we should not trust his teachings. See my report at the bottom of this post as to why we cannot trust Watchman Nee's books.  
This is what I wrote on  Why I  Previously Endorsed Watchman Nee Inadvertently :

"Please note that I have now removed my endorsement of Watchman Nee's book "love not the world". This is not because I am aware of false teaching in that specific book, because I found much of his teaching on this particular subject sound. However, I have since discovered some seriously wrong teachings on many of his other books. It could be that there may be something in that book which may be wrong too (haven't read it for a few years). Therefore, I do not want to be the cause of some young believers reading any of his material and being deceived. 

As a young believer I read parts of "Normal Christian Life" the whole of "Love not the world" and parts of  "sit, walk, stand". At the time I was very much impressed by the last 2 books. I cannot remember everything I read in those books but there were general teachings I found very helpful and insightful and got me into serious Bible study. I always maintain that whatever any man says we should be Bereans and "check the scriptures daily to see whether these things are so".  I assumed that Watchman Nee was a sound teacher as was spoken very well of, at the time (1977 to 1981).   At that time I was not so discerning and a bit too trusting. From my research and help from someone else using this site I have discovered that his main false teaching came in his other books which I had never read. Praise God He kept me from those books.



I have also edited my post Who Runs The World? An Investigation Into The Global Scheme Of Things. Completed Report  found on  http://watchmanforjesus.blogspot.com/2010/04/who-runs-world-investigation-into_20.html with the above in mind. Notice it now has the word "revised" in its title."


Anyway, after that introduction, now the purpose of this report as follows:



Why Watchman Nee's teachings Cannot Be Trusted

The following  was written by G. Richard Fisher of  Personal Freedom Outreach and was found on "Apologetics Index" website. From what I can see that website looks sound and the author seems ok. Please note it is not just him saying this. I could have pasted many other similar reports. It is just that I chose this one.

Watching Out For Watchman Nee

"Many Christians uncritically accept the writings of Watchman Nee even though few know anything about his background. Many are impressed by the volume of his work and the dogmatism and feeling of deep spirituality that characterize his writings. His ideas and books still influence charismatics, fundamentalists and people in between.

But one need not be a theologian to discover that his teachings call for scrutiny and caution by Christians. Much can be learned about Nee from a cursory reading of some of his books and the writings of others who were around him. These show that his theology developed through encounters with four different people and it was from these that he "borrowed" ideas extensively. Each new book seemed to develop from "discoveries" received from these teachers.

Nee's basic writings cover over 40 volumes and have been researched by Dana Roberts. His findings are not flattering to Nee and are presented in his book Understanding Watchman Nee. This writer is indebted to Roberts for much of the material in this article.

Nee was born Nee Shi-Tsu in November 1903. His mother, a Methodist mission convert, later changed his name to "Bell ringer," or Watchman, with all the Christian connotations. He claimed conversion to Christianity in April 1920. At a Bible school in Shanghai, he came under the influence of a female teacher, Miss Yu. Under her instruction he seriously sought a "second blessing." He later said he felt he had "recovered" truth for the church and taught four subsequent experiences after conversion.

Miss Yu directed Nee to Miss M.E. Barber, who taught him in the Keswick concept of the filling of the Spirit. In February 1922, Nee claimed, he was "baptized in the Spirit" and put himself under the continuing instruction of Barber. Barber then was responsible for the development of Nee's perfectionistic theology. Barber also convinced Nee of the truth of the "partial rapture" theory assigning carnal believers to a kind of Protestant purgatory. Nee admitted that in his writings on the book of Revelation, he depended on a book from Barber's library by Robert Govett that teaches a partial rapture. Thus we see how he got these new "insights" that became the basis for new books.

Later, Barber allowed Nee to read the works of Jesse Penn Lewis when she thought he was "mature enough," Roberts says. Penn Lewis, a mystic with a Welsh Methodist background, saw many parts to man's inner nature. Her literature, considered "holiness literature," is the main source for Nee's Spiritual Man series, in which he developed a gnostic view of man, Roberts says. Nee also got doses of Catholic mysticism through the writings of Madame Jeanne Guyon, as published in Penn Lewis' magazine.

Nee continued to read widely and when Barber exposed him to the writings of John Darby, he found the basis for his ecclesiology, or thoughts on the church. From that point, everything Nee wrote on the church is easily identified with the teachings of the Plymouth Brethren. He rejected clergy as unscriptural.

During this time Nee also professed to be led by inner leadings. He justified this subjective means of revelation by saying that the ways of God are not known by external means but by "internal registrations." Again, he was rejecting external authority.

Nee had his own eclectic system developed when he encountered another woman in 1935. Elizabeth Fischbacker introduced him to Pentecostal theology and speaking in tongues. Nee did not regard tongues as unbiblical but never spoke in tongues himself.

In 1942, Nee took over the running of his brother George's chemical factory. He consigned all the property to the church and sought to have the church members as the factory workers. As a result he contradicted previous positions he had taken regarding disassociation of the church and business. In 1949, Mao-Tse Tung came to power and Communist China was born. Nee, a factory owner, was seen as an imperialist and eventually was jailed. He remained in prison until his death in 1972.

The teachings that developed over Nee's lifetime and out of his encounters with these women and the teachings they directed him to are dangerous to Christians seeking clear guidelines to follow. Space allows a listing of only a few of the problems in Nee's teachings:

1) Nee outlines no method of Bible study and interpretation and appears to deny evangelical hermeneutics. In his book Spiritual Authority, he sets himself and his elders up as the unquestionable authorities. By all appearances, Nee saw himself not as a servant but as a guru

2) One gets the impression from Nee that the Bible was not nearly as important as Christians generally consider it. In his book The Ministry of God's Word, Nee says, "Words alone cannot be considered God's Word." In this book, Nee becomes very philosophical, mystical and incoherent. He says that only as we deliver the Word in terms of the "reality behind it," using what he calls "Holy Spirit memory" and "presenting the pictures as well as speaking the words" will the words be correct; otherwise they are not real.

3) Nee overemphasizes emotions. In The Ministry of God's Word, he claims that the effectiveness of a preacher's delivery is a product of his emotions. If a preacher does not feel emotionally charged in delivery, "the Spirit is stuck" and the "Spirit is inevitably arrested," Nee says. He continues, "The Spirit flows through the channel of emotion." Then he arrives at a strange conclusion: "Nose in the Scripture stands for feeling. Smelling is a most delicate act, man's feeling is most delicate." Therefore, Nee says, a preacher in speaking needs to "mix feelings with the words spoken, else his words are dead. If our feeling lags behind, our words are stripped of the spirit." To say as Nee does, on page 210, that the Holy Spirit only rides on feeling is dangerous.

4) Nee uses terms imprecisely. One example is his writing about a minister's receiving "revelations" in his "Holy Spirit memory" and those revelations being remembered in us by the Holy Spirit. This sort of metaphysical mumbo jumbo is impossible to understand, since there is no direct scriptural reference to a "Holy Spirit memory." 

5) When a Christian begins to see Nee as a guide in determining the value of other Christian writers, or sees Nee's writings as a key to spirituality, that person is headed for trouble. Nee's presuppositions are suspect in light of the Word of God. His books provide grist for cult groups such as The Way, The Alamo Foundation, the Children of God and other groups. The astute believer should watch out for Watchman Nee."

Regarding his book Spiritual Authority he overstates the authority of church leaders and our uncompromising submission to them (even if they are wrong). From this the heavy shepherding idea within charismatic groups emerged.


[Source of Watchman Nee biography. 
http://www.apologeticsindex.org/2694-watching-out-for-watchman-nee

More Info Added 12 Nov 2010
Here is a testimony of some one with first hand experience:
http://www.apologeticsindex.org/n00.html#neew


Nee's Books Are Required Reading to Bring Members Under the Authority of their Pastors

Nee, Watchman (1903-1972) Widely read Christian author with some controversial teachings. Nee required blanket, unquestioning obedience. He also taught that all Christians must have a "Covering" - a person who has delegated authority, must be obeyed unconditionally, and who must be imitated. This "covering" does not stop with matters of faith and doctrine, but also extends to personal and secular matters (such as choice of employment, place to live, whether or not to marry, etc.)

 In addition, Nee taught there should only be one congregation in each city. Whenever Nee's followers moved into a city, they proclaimed themselves as the only church approved by God in that city. These doctrines have been picked up by various abusive churches and cultic movements, such as the International Churches of Christ.

Under the leadership of Nee's disciple and co-worker, Witness Lee, his house church movement, the Local Church (known to it's followers as "The Lord's Recovery") later also became controversial. - Articles - Roots of the Modern Discipline Movement Chapter from an online book called "The Discipling Dilemma". In this chapter, Watchman Nee's teachings are shown to be one of the roots of discipling movements such as the cultic International Churches of Christ.

Here are some interesting comments that were originally found under:
http://www.apologeticsindex.org/2694-watching-out-for-watchman-nee
Comments section:
December 13, 2000 -
Question:
Does anyone have info on Watchman Nee? Our church requires the reading of the Book "Spiritual Authority" by Watchman Nee. Other books by Nee are: "The Normal Christian Life", "Love Not The World," "Changed into His Likeness," "A Table in the Wilderness," "What Shall This Man Do," Victory Press Evangelical Publishers, Nottbridge Drove, Eastbourne, Sussex


Answer: By no means am i endorsing these books. I find this discussion very interesting...that churches are using Nee's book on Spiritual Authority to bring people under the authority of pastors. Nee was anti-establishment and completely rejected the institutional church and its hierarchial structure. I haven't read the book for 30 years but it has to be a missapplication of his original teachings.

There were no formal "pastors" in the "local church" which formed the basis for today's house churches in China. I was in the "local church" movement of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee as a leader and elder for 15 years from 1962 to 1977. I spent two months touring the churches in the Far East in the summer of 1968.

The movement was cultic and exclusive, but criticized traditional Christianity for its structure, hierarchy, programs and lack of a true "body" life and church life. They exercised psychological control through more indirect means. Nee was very much against the "western" missionaries and saw himself as completely divorced from organized Christianity.

Regarding Watchman Nee, there are some very dangerous teachings in his materials. Consider the fruit that many of his disciples committed suicide after his death. I have observed people reading some of his works getting very depressed. One must consider the full counsel of the scriptures. Watchman Nee teaches that there is nothing good in the soul or body, therefore to be spiritual you must deny soul and body.

This causes a splitting in the psuche and is very harmful. Many of the followers got involved in adultery and soulish stuff; but denied it because it was not their spirit that was involved. The full counsel of Scriptures teaches that we are to be sanctified body, soul, and spirit; that we are to be every wit whole. These books have been used a lot by the dangerous Shepherding movement and other psuedo hyper spiritual sort of movements. It leads to legalism and a religious spirit.

You did touch on the 4th book of his I was led to read, "The Latent Power of the Soul" published by CFP. This book addresses the soul in a way that explains much of the strange manifestations of the spirit in the Brownsville Assembly of God, Toronto Airport Church and New Pentecostals, as well as false religions. Having been a subject in a cultic group and experiencing these things this book made a lot of sense, at least to me. I think we have continued this thread enough and can close it, unless others are interested to continue.
End of Comments

Note:
The last section on that website's page (comments) has now been closed and is not being shown anymore. I am not sure when it was closed but presumably late 2010/early 2011 (ie after 12th Nov 2010). This note is written on 6th Oct 2014


45 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi EI

I have cut your last reply into 2 parts. The first will appear here. The 2nd half appears within the Nephilim post

Expected Imminently said...

I have your email and am in the process of responding.

I wanted to write my own caution about WN but as I was unable to remember what was wrong, and as I had already made mention of other things, decided to leave it alone.

Briefly my reaction is the same as your 'someone'.

Unknown said...

I have made an addition at the bottom of this article, by adding someone's first hand testimony of being involved in the shepherding movement and how it was influenced by Watchman Nee.

Unknown said...

Hello,

This saddens me because, although I agree that Nee was far from 'perfect' in his theology and his life, I have been really encouraged and blessed by his work.

Put simply, I wouldn't be following Christ any longer had God not led me to Nee's book, 'Sit Walk Stand' when I was a student.

Surely God calls us to read any Christian writer discriminately, without writing them off wholesale. Martin Luther wrote horrible things about the Jews; John Calvin committed unspeakably cruel acts when he watched over Geneva to give just two examples. No man or woman is perfect and you're right that some of Nee's writing on the spiritual life and the church are dodgy.

But has anyone ever written so brilliantly on God's grace (Sit Walk Stand)? Has anyone ever opened up Romans 1-8 so powerfully (Normal Christian Life)? Give the man credit where it's due. He died as a martyr and carried his cross right to the end for his Lord.

Tony Cox said...

Hi Tom

I understand how you feel - my issue is this - if you mix just a dash of poison in with your coffee - then it becomes impossible to drink just the coffee!

I am very familiar with Watchman Nee and some of his writings could be considered brilliant by some - but - is not Satan more brilliant than any man?

You may be blessed in discerning - but there are many out there who are not - and I feel it is irrrsponsible to steer anyone towards anything that contains anything that is not scripturally sound - regardless of many truths are mixed in with it.

Unknown said...

Hi Tom

Please refer to my article http://watchmanforjesus.blogspot.com/2010/05/why-i-endorse-watchman-nee-book.html

where I state (2 paragraphs):

"Therefore, I do not want to be the cause of some young believers reading any of his material and being deceived.

As a young believer I read parts of "Normal Christian Life" the whole of "Love not the world" and parts of "sit, walk, stand". At the time I was very much impressed by the last 2 books. I cannot remember everything I read in those books but there were general teachings I found very helpful and insightful and got me into serious Bible study. I always maintain that whatever any man says we should be Bereans and "check the scriptures daily to see whether these things are so". "

ie, I haven't specifically called him false, neither does his name appear in my "false" list on http://watchmanforjesus.blogspot.com/2010/12/list-of-false-christian-leaders-false.html

Point I am making is that I do not want to endorse any book/books from any author who teaches "some" dangerous or harmful teachings.

I do not want to be instrumental in influencing any of my readers (some being young impressionable believers) to read any material from such authors (which may contain poison amongst the meat).

For example Watchman Nee has some gnostic leanings and is overly analogous in interpreting scriptures, reading too deep into the text teaching which does not actually exist.

Word Faith founders and teachers and other false organisations ALL have this in common (with W Nee) that they drag out of the Bible things which were not intended by the Bible authors.

This blog tries to encourage readers to study THE BIBLE and not imperfect, finite human authors who COULD interpret scriptures incorrectly and have a faulty systematic theology (as does Watchman Nee have)

Unknown said...

Hello John and Tony,

Thank you for your comments and for taking the time to reply to my concerns.

I admire the passion you both have for keeping younger believers on track. However, speaking as one such younger believer (I’m 27), I think it far more healthy to encourage people to weigh up truth for themselves, rather than drawing a line in the sand for them and judging Christian teachers to be ‘sound’ or ‘unsound.’ We are instructed to test everything and very much ‘hold onto the good’ whilst rejecting evil (1 Thess 5).

In this way, I actually think it is possible to separate the coffee from the so-called poison. Nee is very strong on God’s grace in Christ and much weaker on the spiritual life. Thus, I would whole-heartedly recommend ‘Sit, Walk Stand’ to a young believer but not ‘The Spiritual Man.’

I consider Nee’s earlier work to be ‘brilliant’ only because it all points to Christ and his glory. I doubt Satan had any hand in anything so Christ-centred. More to the point, I would never describe the devil as ‘brilliant’: he is a pathetic liar who only has the power to corrupt and destroy, never to create.

I agree that Nee can be analogous when interpreting the Scriptures but I would ask why this is such a bad trait. Sometimes a good analogy can open up a difficult biblical truth for the more simple-minded believer. When I was 20 I read Nee for the first time and simultaneously realised that I was saved by grace. Five years of good, solid and sound biblical teaching at my home church had failed to get his important truth across to me, which I think is telling. Instead, I think we in the western church are biased towards a very academic approach to opening the scriptures (hence your complaint that Nee has a faulty systematic theology). Maybe the fact that Nee comes from a completely different culture influences his analogous approach?

Lastly, Jesus Christ gave us one test to discern whether a man or woman was on the right track: fruit. Nee’s ministry was very fruitful indeed. During his last days in prison, his Communist captors decreed that prison guards could only watch over him for a maximum of six hours because he kept on converting them to Christ! I’m not claiming that the man was without fault; I’m asking the honest question ‘does his work glorify God?’ The fruit of his ministry would suggest so: I can testify that 20 year old students are still being inspired to worship Christ through his teaching, 70 years on!

Unknown said...

Hi Tom

I just noticed that I never published your last comment (until now - see above). Sorry for that oversight.

When we refer to younger believers, we do not mean young in age. We mean recent converts. Converts who are more vulnerable to danger. The bible calls new converts as "babes in Christ". The Bible describes babes as immature regarding the things of God, who need to be nurtured on milk - not meat.

You are absolutely spot on and most appropriate by quoting:
"test everything and very much ‘hold onto the good’ whilst rejecting evil" (1 Thess 5).

Being analogous is dangerous because many have "spiritualised" away from the true meaning of the text. Many texts have literal meanings but are "watered away" by using analogy when they shouldn't.

Jesus spoke parables, giving analogies, but always told us that it was a parable ie not to be taken literally. From my understanding of the Bible, it always tells us when it is a parable or picture or not to be taken literally. This means that if it we are not told otherwise, it should be taken literally.

Regarding fruit. I wrote an article regarding the fruit Jesus was referring to, so will not get into it here.

Those who have been influenced by Watchman Nee: are they now teaching truth or error? Are their lives based upon the Word Of God or upon "experiences". Are they "sound" followers of Jesus or of self? The answer to those questions may determine if the fruit is actually good or bad.

God bless

Anonymous said...

Thanks for your willingness to say "I was wrong" and give a good insight into why you now no longer can support teachings of Watchman Nee.

I have little time to waste reading things I don't need to be reading. I really want to only FOCUS on God's Word and His Truth and be set firmly in what the Bible says.

Unfortunately I can't get to a good Bible teaching Church these days due to chronice Ilnesses (yes plural as I have a number of them and they keep me bedridden or at home).

So I read my Bible as much as I can and from time to time search the Internet for some Free Books (not having much money to live on as I can't work).

I was recommended Watchmen Nees "Love not the World" as one of his books that was good Bible teaching. However if Watchmen Nee was not a man totally anchored in God's Word I'm going to give it a miss.

I think I will stick with Andrew Murray. So far I have not found any fault with his books or sermons. I am praying for the Lord to lead me to other Preachers who I can learn from they don't need to be from the Old Time Preachers period.

I only have dial up as it is really cheap so I like to get hold of any written sermons but unfortunately most these days only use YouTube or Video styled media.

Never mind Jesus is the author and the finisher of my Faith and God will provide as He always does.

Cheers from Australia
God Bless
Milly

Unknown said...

Thanks for your comments Milly

On this blog we have a number of good contributors who can very much identify with you. If you will please email me privately from your own email address, I will put you in touch (privately) with a missionary sister who I am sure would be happy to fellowship with you (on line) and advise you of reliable teachers.

Harry Ironside seems to be one who has sound biblical teaching.

God bless

BL said...

Hi Milly,

I hope you are checking back as I want to encourage you to check out H.A. Ironside and Clarence Larkin's works that you can find online. Sadly, you will not find their works in a "Christian" bookstore.

Some of the material is public domain and available online. But if you are interested in getting more of their commentaries and books you will need to search online to order them. Lifeline books offers them at a very reasonable price. I have found them a valuable aid in studying the Word.

Please check in from time to time to let us know how you are doing.

BL said...

Tom, I would like to respond to your comments about your objections to those who point out error.

What if we didn't have signs on the road warning us of dangers ahead such as "Bridge Out" , "Icy Road". In the Body of Christ we need each other and when we see a danger it is the responsible and caring thing to do to alert and warn. And we should be grateful for those who take the time and effort to warn others so they won't fall into a trap.

The Body of Christ is not "every man for himself". It is caring about each other and watching each others' back. Actually there is not enough of that going on and sadly when warnings are given out they are largely ignored, and people do that to their peril. We live in perilous times with all sorts of wiles of the devil with wolves masquerading as sheep.

Steen said...

I was brought up in both factions of Plymouth Brethren, first Open Brethren then Exclusive Brethren.

I was withdrawn from for exposing Big Jim as an adulterer, now long deceased.I dared to challenge the World Leader a mere lad, but I had the signed evidence to stand up in any court of law.

I have read some of Watchman's Nees books, and soon realised the spiritual state the man was writing from, but also his frailty of being an identity of distinction.

Pride is the hardous of all, to overcome.Especially the pride of our own convictions being the real truth.

The ultimate test for any truth is the change it brings about in a believer's life. Theology no matter how enlightened, has no value if it does not change a believer's life. The proof of the recipe is in the pudding, only God alone knows the real truth, we can only surmise if we really think about our unlofty nature, our mortality and frailty no matter how dedicated.

Nethertheless we have an "unction" from the Holy Spirit, and therefore the "spiritual know all things" and that need not be written or spoken, but be "groanings that cannot be uttered" it is internal silent dialogue of the inner man that transforms the outer perishing man with a heavenly glow.

We concentrate too much I humbly say on the external of God's Word rather than the Spirit of the Word, looking for authority in the past and "not present truth" hence drinking from waters drawn out of the Living Stream. long ago in man's mere vessel's or books gone stagnant.

Unknown said...

Hi Steen

Thanks for visiting this blog and contributing to it. Much appreciated!

What you say sounds good (on the face of it) but I am a bit confused to the point you are making. Would you please clarify the OVERALL point you are making - especially regarding the last paragraph?

Thanks

Anonymous said...

All men fail and say wrong things amongst some good things that we *may* say. I wouldn't endorse any teaching but just tell those who seek to walk faithfully to test everything with scripture. If it doesn't line up with the teachings of Jesus and the apostles then reject it.

Its becoming harder and harder in this age to find a church that just stands on the words of the bible. I would go as far to say that just about every instituted church I have ever visited has in some ways got wrong teaching.

We have churches ordaining women against the word of God. We have churches saying that Sunday is the new sabbath against the word of God...baby baptisms, sacrament keepers...all of this stuff is against the word of God.

Jesus said, those that believe on me in no way shall I cast out. We need to look past the church building and start looking at the church...the people of God...not one of us can say that he has no sin...so we pray for each other and we encourage one another and we rebuke one another from the word of God...

The word of God is final...we must stand on the word of God...especially when the world doesn't like some of its teaching...at that time we are especially to stand on his word

Burning Lamp said...

Colin is exactly right about testing all by the Word.

However, there ARE certain teachers that discerners should issue alerts about,that are should be avoided ENTIRELY and one of those is Nee. His error is subtle compared to others, but it is just as deadly.

There ARE certain time-tested teachers that one can safely recoommend always with the caveat that to test all by the Word.

Yes, it is VERY hard to find ANY churches in the current apostasy that teach the true Gospel and the Word.

But they ARE out there even though they are few and far between. They will NOT be found on the internet or any so-called "Christian" TV.

They will likely be found in some obscure place as a nondescript person who has never attained a large following and never written a book. They have no axe to grind, no network loyalties.

Anonymous said...

Well I always liked Watchman Nee but the more I read the stuff that seemed so incredible and spiritual, the more confused I got. One word I now think is appropriate is mysticism. All the weird and wonderful spiritual sounding stuff just takes you away from a normal Jesus.

Epaphroditus said...

watchman nee's teachings are all from the bible.All the messages and the information are perfectly located in the bible.Sometimes, it is better to pray for the new believers not to be misinformed instead of criticizing a man of God...JUST pray to GOD He gives u the revelation and insight of the Bible..

Unknown said...

Hi Epaphroditus

Just because a teacher quotes from the Bible does not make him trustworthy. You only need to see how many false cults and religions use scripture (a twisted interpretation, though) and skilfully use it to make their points. What ALL false teachers do is to collate scripture verses (passages) together, WAY OUT OF CONTEXT, and make a unique doctrine from their collection of verses. What they also do is to deliberately ignore/conveniently overlook the passages which contradict their position. The prosperity teachers are EXPERTS at doing this i.e the Word Of Faith crowd.

Please carefully read these following verses which are a warning regarding the likes of Watchman Nee etc:

"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.

And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
2 Cor 11:13-15

In these verses, we see that false teachers are "deceitful workers" who will appear as "ministers of righteousness" convincing many people that they are speaking words of truth. TO PROVE IT they will often quote (or even read)from the Bible to display their authority, but as ravenous wolves they have ulterior motives to turn people away from the truth.

DO NOT EVER be taken in by mere men - no matter how holy or righteous they superficially appear to be, but always get into the Word for yourself and do not be persuaded by men like Watchman Nee without first THOROUGHLY investigating what the WHOLE Bible says.

Anonymous said...

Hi John,
The verse you attributed to Watchman Nee on your last blog is out of order. I thought you are not endorsing only Nee's books. It was unfair of you to tag Watchman Nee as a deceitful worker having ulterior motives. His life and work was a testimony of Jesus not loving his soul life even unto death.

You may disagree with his insights and practices but certainly he was not a false teacher of the basic tenets of the christian faith.

Watchman Nee preached the same Christ of the bible, and preached the same gospel, believing in the trinity of God, the incarnation of God, salvation through faith, the ressurection of Christ etc. (By the way, the word trinity of God is not in the bible but was agreed upon in the Nicean council. I would understand Nee coining a term in the bible to illustrate his thoughts andcexperiences. Whethe we agree or not is another issue)

A false prophet or teacher is described in the foregoing verse:

2 Cor 11:4 For if indeed he who comes preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached or you received a different spirit, which you have not received or a different gospel....

Hi Tony,

Following your reasonings, you would have judged our Lord Jesus just like the scribes and pharisees of His time when they did not see the Christ in their midst in spite of their knowledge of the scriptures but instead labeled our Lord as the Lord of demons reasoning why He was able to cast demons.

Look at the life and the testimony of the man and the fruit of his works if Watchman Nees works are of the Devil.

With regards to submission to authority even if the leaders were wrong is with scriptural basis. The Bible admonished the believers to submit themselves to their Roman rulers. The key is to differentiate the meaning of submission and obedience. Submission is more of the attitude of our hearts and obedience is on carrying out the order. I.e. In the old testament, during the exile of the jews, Daniel was submissive (did not rebel) but disobeyed the decree of the King.

We are in the age of grace and also in the age of mystery... The bible is full of mysteries yet these mysteries were revealed with the coming of Christ. Christ in Himself is a mystery but the church as His body is the mystery of Christ and were expounded by Paul. Were it not for the Apostle Paul, the four synoptic gospels gave only accounts of our Lord Jesus earthly ministry. By Paul's accounts, he expounded on Christ's heavenly ministry and Christ as the Spirit livingin our spirit and expounded on the church as the mystery of Christ. Any writer who delves on the topic of the Spirit and the church would be classified as a mystic. Paul was such a servant of our Lord. Was Paul Dangerous? Yes to the Jews and pagan gentiles but bold, faithful and courageous to us all. Nee on the same track expounded on the Spirit which is dwelling in the spirit of man, shared his personal experiences and insights on the Spirit vs the flesh and is much validated by the experiences of Apostle Paul too.

In Christ,

Carson



Unknown said...

Hi Carson

My last comment was a GENERAL comment about false teachers being deceitful workers. This article has sufficient evidence to show that some of his teachings and the spirit in which he spoke showed signs of "false" about him. Was he a deliberate deceiver? I don't know! But from the evidence it is clear that he showed some worrying signs.

It seems that you have only read my last comment but have NOT read the article or many of the other comments. I strongly urge you to read everything first (which contains the full reasons for my assertions) before dismissing my comment about him being a false teacher.

Anonymous said...

Hi John,

I read all the comments posted and though i may have questions on some of his viewpoints and interpretations of the bible especially on matters of the spirit and the church, i still believe that Nee was a faithful servant of the Lord till the end.

On your previous earlier posts, you mentioned that you don't categorize Nee as false but did pin him down on your last.

I searched the net to check how other believers have been inspired by Nee's books and have been made closer to God. I discovered that most reviews of his books were mostly given a 5-star and with very positive reviews on his works.

I checked the scriptures to qualify whether Nee is of the evil one.

Here is the test to check if it is from God aside from 2 Cor 11:4 that i have mentioned in my previous post.

1John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.

I agree with you that in this age of confusion where many claims to be a man of God, we should test with the scriptures to check if the doctrines are sound and biblical.

I would however caution myself not to summarily call one man false if by all standards of the christian faith, one is a true believer though he or she may have a different practice or opinion on things outside the basic faith. I am referring to "faith" not to the act of our believing but the kernel of our beliefs - the things we believe in.

For many centuries, christians have been divided on issues of interpretations not on the basic tenets of faith but of trivial outward practices. I.e. baptism by immersion, speaking in tongues, head coverings, etc

Although these things may be scriptural, they are not what make us christians. Nee, on the same note would like us all to recover the practices of the early christians and church. One of which is the one local church for every city ( not one congregation). Although we are all members of the body of Christ which is the Church universally speaking, in practicality, and administration it should be local and would be denomination free if there is only one in every city to maintain the oneness. ( just imagine having two or more Cityhalls with two or more Mayors in a city, it would be a chaos and destroy the one accord). Now, although this is what he teaches and is by all means scriptural, this is a practice to maintain oneness but not a prerequisite of salvation.

I disagree with you also on your comment to take the bible literally except for the parables. Im sure you will agree with me that aside from the parables, there are many figures of speech that were used and cannot be taken literally. I.e. We are the body of Christ. Jesus is the Lamb of God. Circumcise our hearts.

Nee's "reading too deep to the text.... " was also my skeptism before. But looking back, as i consider the epitles of Paul, he wrote also with a lot of mystism. Terms like the New Man, Christ as the head of the Church and we as the members of the body of Christ....Christ as the Highpriest in the order of Melkishedec, warring of flesh and spirit and when he expounded on idols..(. It is not only the physical idols but the idols in our hearts) .... Did Paul see too much into the texts?

In conclusion, i hope you will find in your hearts to receive Nee as one true christian servant of God. Peculiar and Mystical? That is the only caution that i would agree with you all but certainly not a false one.

Your Brother In Christ,

Carson

Unknown said...

Hi Carson

You said:

"I searched the net to check how other believers have been inspired by Nee's books and have been made closer to God. I discovered that most reviews of his books were mostly given a 5-star and with very positive reviews on his works."

With due respect, that is NOT the way to research Nee! Of course, if you use search words such as "Nee inspiration" you will obviously get a biased list of favorable websites. If you want to investigate FAIRLY on Nee, then you need to use a variety of searches using different key words, such as "Watchman Nee truth or error".

If you do "positive" searches on Nee then obviously you will see biased opinions. But remember:

Jesus said "wide is the way that leads to destruction and many are on that road". False teachers/prophets will inevitably have a massive following because they are on the wide road to destruction. "Narrow is the way that leads to life and few find it".

The point is that even if many were inspired by Nee that is NO PROOF that he was a true teacher. The evidence presented on this blog AND MANY OTHER BLOGS is that Nee WAS FALSE.

Anonymous said...

I dont get it. In this article I found only "perceptions" of Nee's false teachings but no real argumebts at all... What exactly is his false teaching? Could anyone please reply to this only? Adrian

Unknown said...

Here are just 4 (to go on with) of his false teachings:

Nee adopted "perfectionistic theology".

Nee taught the work based "partial rapture" theory (ie only for worthy believers) assigning carnal believers to a kind of Protestant purgatory.

Nee adopted the teaching of gnostic and Catholic mystic leaders, seeing many parts to man's inner nature.

Nee professed to be led by inner leadings. He justified this subjective means of revelation by saying that the ways of God are not known by external means but by "internal registrations."

ALSO:
As I understand it (please correct me if I am wrong) he effectively taught that individuals need to be accountable to mere men through surrendering their wills the guidance (or mentoring) of the elders, rather than in their guidance coming from the Holy Spirit.

It is enough to know that he was strongly influenced by the teachings of gnosticism. Gnosticism has an occultic background with its teachings/practices first originating out of old Babylonic religion. Anyone following gnosticism has been effectively corrupted by occultism.

Please do a search on the word "gnosticism". The search should convince you that W Nee is dangerous based upon that position, alone.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Watchman Nee's view on the partial rapture.

Only those believers who genuinely love the Lord and live 100% for Him will be raptured before the 7 year tribulation period.

Those carnal believers whose lives are no different from those of the unbelievers will definitely be left behind.

Pretribulation rapture anonymous.

Anonymous said...

John Chingford, I saw your list of false teachers and my goodness that list leaves almost none out. Well, without taking sides I come to one section of the Bible - James 3:1-2. John I don't know if you have written any books - therein you yourself would be exposed on some aspects of the christian doctrine. Criticizing one's works is quite an easy task until you write you own and let others critique it. So just be careful who you tag 'false'.

Much as we need the warning signs I don't think we were called to seek out and identify false teachers as our life's purpose. We need to pursue and grow in Christ together building up the Body of Christ which will be His Bride. (Please don't address this latter part as it is more tempting).

Joseph

Unknown said...

I am getting alot of comments from Anonymous's. I do not know if they are the same person or different ones. It would be nice if you would identify yourself with a unique anonymous name by typing using "name" rather than clicking on the "anonymous" button.

Most of these are from those who are strong defenders of Watchman Nee.

Rather than repeating what I have already shown as to the reasons why Nee's teachings are dangerous, I will just focus in replying to other questions - possibly not already covered:

Anonymous 1:
Regarding Nee's partial rapture; can you not see how that is a "work based" theology? Basically, if you are not living a worthy enough life then you will face the tribulation. How can ANYBODY know whether they qualify as worthy enough? The result is that you will inevitably feel the need to EARN it by self effort.

We are saved AND WILL BE RAPTURED by GRACE alone through faith.

Anonymous 2:
This blog is not seeking to criticise any person's specific isolated teaching. Of course, none of us have our theology 100% correct. It is not isolated areas of teaching but an overall systematic theology I object to - especially if it decimates the whole overall overview of God's Word and specifically if that teacher is lnked to ecumenism, new age or any other cult or occultic practices or supports such a group.

Nee's teachings and allegiances have shown that he is linked in such ways.

You are probably correct that it should not be a person's life calling to expose false teachers. I never stated that this was mine. If you check up my label on "biblical truth" you will see that I try to keep to a good balance of encouraging us all to look at ALL aspects of the Christial life and not just focus on one area.

However, IT IS the calling of EVERY believer to follow the instructions of the WHOLE BIBLE in CONTEXT. This INCLUDES exposing false teaching, false teachers, heresy etc. To show this in more detail, please read my article

http://watchmanforjesus.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/do-not-judge-but-watch-out-for-false.html

which will be a better place to see my response to your criticism.

Anonymous said...

It is easy to criticize others. What you must realize that in our Christian life Christ must become all and all. Traditional Christianity compromises with truth in order to make the Christian life easier. God has never trusted man to accomplish His purpose. Christ told the disciples that He would build His Church. Christianity like Catholicism has put the importance of man building the Church. Many groups even teach about self improvement and family matters. The only solution to man's many problems is to stay in Christ's death and allow the multiple experiences of applying the cross to all our circumstances that Christ could bring us into the experiences of His resurrection. Christ told the disciples that He had overcome the world. We can't overcome the world only Christ in us can. Only Christ can do this. Through His death and resurrection we have been put into Christ. Christ is the one new man. All the service of the saints must be done in Christ and through Christ. Also God is One. Christ who is God and Whom dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily has blended the Body together by becoming The life giving Spirit and entering into all the believers at the moment of believing. There can be no division of this life. Christ said God can not be divided. For any one to separate themselves and to meet and to break bread outside of the ground of oneness is rebelling against God and taking a way outside of God's ordination. There is no way this acceptable to Christ. There can be no
Substitution. There can be no compromise of this truth. Watchman Nee saw this. After much prayer and reading of the word could not go along with the trend. Those reading this need to know the truth and not a way of teaching. The only truth we know is the teaching of the Apostles. If any other teaching sways from this Paul himself says let him be a cursed. In the end we must repent and return back to the teaching of the apostles which is to build up the Body of Christ by allowing Christ as the divine oil to fill our vessel our spirit with Himself. Only when this happens will the Church be built up as the Bride of Christ to bring the Lord back. Amen.That my fellow saints is the real truth. If you read the Bible with an open heart you will see and know it to be so.

Anonymous said...

Very interesting, the people judging Watchman Nee. You need to read Watchman Nee for yourself and show yourself approved. The Spirit inside of you will bear witness of the truth, as promised in the Bible. You don't need other angels of light teaching you, as you will be taught by God, as promised in the Bible. There are many people that know, form there inner witness that something is not right with today's visible churches. 1 John 3:1 tells us the world does not know us. The world knows every visible church building today. Mathew 13 warns us of the today's visible churches where the wheat and tares sit side by side and you can't tell the difference until the fruit of each one is revealed. Paul was not beaten by the world, he was beaten by religious people for challenging their Judaizer doctrines, mixing the truth of New Covenant with the religious rituals of the Old Covenant: 1)temples(physical churches buildings) 2)Priesthood (church building leaders/pastors) 3) Written code (10 commandments vs new Christian commandment?) 4) Earthly promises (Hebrews 11, Christian have heavenly promises).
Peter's epistle says Paul's writings are difficult to understand and many of us twist to our own destruction. Watchman Nee, not a perfect man, like Paul is difficult to understand by the religious man. Let you Spirt lead you to all Truth, not another Christian minister.

Unknown said...

Hello Tom,
I am an avid reader of Watchman Nee's writings, and even though I don't agree with everything he wrote, I would never go to the extent that you have and others on your post have done to condemn this man as a false teacher. I could make the same argument for Calvin, with his teachings on the Elect. There is no human teacher outside of the Apostles, who is not subject to error regarding their teachings. My goodness, I dont even agree with everything my Pastor says! But would you or others on this blogsite who criticize Watchman Nee spend 20 years in a Chinese labor camp for just for being a Christian? I doubt it! I will continue to read Watchman Nee's writings and be blessed by them. If you or others don't want to read them, then unfortunately, that is your loss.

Timothy Davis

MadaHorn said...

100% committed to Jesus...I have heard that phrase many times from the 4 and no more groups. I was part 30 years ago and they are the same few people still saying that they are the only ones giving 100%. I am sure we will all agree that NO ONE gave 100% but Jesus. "He is coming for those who look for His appearing" I like that scripture!

Anonymous said...

AMMMMMEN! I read W.N.'s "Normal Christian Life" back in Fall of '77, as an 18 month old Christian. A fellow Bible Study member lent it to me with enthusiasm, but me, the whole time I read it, my reaction was "Yes! No! Yes! No!" Finally, 15 years later, I found the answer: the CRI referred to him as "aberrant," which sums it up.

Blessings from Disrnr

Steven Masone said...

Watchman Nee's writings of course were in Chinese. His writings were mostly sermon notes that were translated by many different Christian viewpoints who of course edited them to fit their theology. As with any commentary on the Bible, one must be vigilant in using "doctrine's of men" in lieu of sound doctrine. Interpreting deep spiritual teachings concerning spiritual warfare, healing, overcoming carnality etc...can have many pitfalls unless one can apply them with experiential success. One man's heresy is another man's mistranslated false accusation. I have found 90% of Nee's teachings valuable and scriptural.Nee's teachings are not for new converts if they have a limited bible foundation.When teaching pneumatology, those with little or no experience operating in the realm of the Holy Spirit will find the "meat" too strong because they were not given the whole counsel of God concerning "pure milk of the word." CS Lewis said,"Evangelism without discipleship is dead." Discipleship without an anointed teacher of the "deep things of God" is a recipe for carnal Christianity. Study the Holy Bible first,then with other commentaries if the Holy Ghost leads. "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he ... he will lead you into the whole truth, for he will not speak of his own will, but he ... It is the method the Holy Spirit takes, first to convince, and then to comfort." John 16:13

John said...

As a nu-b to the Nee-Lee world I have to say I like the write up and all the comments, both good & bad...

As for my thoughts? Well, I see nothing in Nee-Lee's writings that would make them any more dangerous or heretical than any other popular modern day Christian leader that you read about or hear that is the next best thing since sliced bread.....

9 times out of 10 if you hear of a “man of God” thru the media, they are worse than Nee or Lee could ever be...IMHO.....

Pray for discernment before reading ANYTHING, and may God guide you all into the knowledge of His Word, not man's....

Unknown said...

My husband has been caught up with Watchman Nee for years. What has this produced in him. He is extremely judgmental towards any one who calls themselves a Christian. I do not consider myself to be Heady in my thinking and have not gone to seminary as my husband did. But after reading 5 chapters of 1 of Watchman Nee's books I could spot the counterfeit. I brought my concerns of the Book Spiritual Authority up to my husband and he in turn defended him in a rant of cursing. I in tears laid out 4 concerns I had in just 5 chapters I told my husband he was a mistic, he devalued the work on the cross, he took away the need of grace to walk in the spirit and he had a superiority over those who did not understand His Revelation of scripture.
His teachings have nearly destroyed my marriage and have caused my husbands testimony to be questionable. I am still in the trenches with a man who puts WN writings above all including scripture. I told my husband he was a heretic and a false teacher. So pray for my husband. and myself I just emailed him some info and I hope he can accept them

Unknown said...

Hi Timothy

Would you say that the famous nun, MotherTheresa was a woman of God because of her life of dedication and self denial? The fact is that she trusted in the queen of heaven for her salvation and did not believe that the death, blood and resurrection of Christ was all sufficient for her salvation.

The point I am making is that you cannot make the assertion that just because Nee suffered for his faith it means that his writings can be trusted as sound.

I have received a lot of comments (most of which I have not published) from Nee supporters, some of which have been really nasty in attacking me.

One thing which has been very noticeable in these comments is that his followers study his books much more than they do the bible. Their doctrine comes from Nee and not from Jesus. This is much like what all cults do. One such writer stated that reading Nee was like reading the letters of Paul and Peter. That is a very worrying thing to hear.

The other thing I have noticed by the comments is that the followers have got very caught up in Nee mysticism of how to experience the inner soul.

One supporter was a catholic who could identify with Nee's teachings as they were similar to the catholic teachings of the mysteries.

I also noticed that there were some from New Frontier churches who expressed their support of Nee's writings. It seems clear that those who like Nee are usually ecumenical.

Anonymous said...

I find these heresy-hunters to be ridiculous. They assume THEY have perfect doctrine and so can critique everyone else. Attacking Watchmen Nee like this shows the critics are deceived and caught up in their own errors and arrogance. Who are these people anyway! Who is G. Fischer, but a Pharisee who attacks everything and everyone as false except for him, his four and no more. Anyone stupid and unspiritual enough to attack the Brownsville Revival, having not been there, not CAREFULLY RESEARCHED the people and the teachings there, are reckless and feckless Pharisees. I was there. THE POWER OF GOD WAS THERE. The Gospel was preached, the wrath of God was preached, the men were anointed, hundreds of thousands were touched.

Watchmen Nee was a fundamentalist Christian, who came to understand some of the deeper things of the Spirit of God. His ideas about spirit-soul and body have some insights, but are debateable. He was a faithful martyr of Jesus Christ, and went back into China after the Communist takeover because he felt joined to the brethren who didn't escape, and felt he had to continue to minister there. NONE OF YOU WHITE-WASHED TOMBS WOULD HAVE DONE THAT! SHUT YOUR FACE ALREADY!

Print this. You all need the rebuke. Don't hide behind your rules to insulate yourselves from rebuke and exposure. If you want to attack men of God, then take a rebuke. If this is not published the way I wrote it, then you are hypocrites and cowards

Unknown said...

I do not normally post such nasty comments as the one sent by the last writer. I have had a lot of such comments which I have previously deleted. The reason I have published this one, this time, is because I thought it best to give an example to show the type of people that Watchman Nee followers are turning out.

This person claims that the Brownville revival was of God because he was part of it. Now, if a revival is of God then I would expect to see Godly fruit containing lasting humility, gentleness & tenderness, respect, love etc as evidence that God has changed them. What I see is pure nastiness and uncontrollable hateful anger which has developed in those people over a period of years. That would suggest that the revival was not of God.

Just like all the recent false movements they have been taught that they can become little Jesus's on the Earth and be just like Him. They think it ok to stand up and judge the same way using exact same words that only Jesus (as God) can use.

The difference is that they do not understand the compassion of Jesus because their experience was probably not of God with the result that their words come from a wrong attitude and motive.

Only Jesus knew/knows the heart and mind of man and who were hypocrites. None of us can know who the real hypocrites are because we do not know their hearts motive. Jesus occasionally used certain words (it was not the norm) to shake them from their sin. When Jesus listed all the "woes" it was not rudeness but an appeal to them to change. He ended the conversation by showing His compassion "how often I would have gathered you together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would not". Jesus wept over Jerusalem.

These people show none of that.

We are not judging the heart condition of Watchman Nee or anybody else (for that matter). We are simply exposing the false teaching or (in serious cases) the actions if it brings the Christian message into disrepute. We are not judging the man's heart or relationship with God because only God knows their heart.

Unknown said...

Hi Kimberli

I do not think it to be a good idea to call your husband a heretic and false teacher. That is likely to make him angry needlessly.

It is far better to reason with him through biblical evidence. Show him what the bible says but always speak to him with real tenderness, compassion, patience and respect.

If you use the words "heretic" and "false teacher" it is likely to cause an angry reaction and closed ears. If you want him to hear then you must be careful that your words show him that you respect him, but are concerned.

Unknown said...

Hi Anonymous (the one who wrote in Feb 2014)

You mentioned that Matthew 13 states that tares and wheat should grow together in the same churches. You are incorrect with that interpretation. If you read verse 38 you will see that the field is the world - not the church. The apostle Paul spent a lot of his time trying to protect the church from false teachers and false teaching.

To illustrate what the parable of the tares and wheat is teaching us in todays world please read this article:

http://watchmanforjesus.blogspot.co.uk/2010/02/why-we-should-expose-tares-of-false.html

Unknown said...

Hi Steven M

I accept most of what you are saying. However, I advise against using C S Lewis as a true authority in the discussion. His writings are FULL of heresy and occultism. Here are some examples:

Lewis believed that some people, devout members of false religions, were saved and didn’t even know it…

“There are people in other religions who are being led by God’s secret influence to concentrate on those parts of their religion which are in agreement with Christianity, and who thus belong to Christ without knowing it … For example a Buddhist of good will may be led to concentrate more and more on the Buddhist teaching about mercy and to leave in the background (though he might still say he believed) the Buddhist teaching on certain points. Many of the good Pagans long before Christ’s birth may have been in this position” (Mere Christianity, pp. 176-177).

Lewis also taught that water baptism and the sacraments were a means to obtaining salvation…

“There are three things that spread the Christ-life to us: baptism, belief, and that mysterious action which different Christians call by different names — Holy Communion, the Mass, the Lord’s Supper” (Mere Christianity, pp.62,63).

“…this new life is spread not only by purely mental acts like belief, but by bodily acts like baptism and Holy Communion.” (Mere Christianity, pp.62,63).

In the other world “there will be every occasion for being the sort of people that we can become only as the result of doing such acts here” (Mere Christianity, p.63).

C. S. Lewis – Became a Catholic Before his Death

Lewis indicates that shortly before his death he was turning toward the Catholic Church. Lewis termed himself “very Catholic” — his prayers for the dead, belief in purgatory, and rejection of the literal resurrection of the body are serious deviations from Biblical Christianity (C.S. Lewis: A Biography, p. 234). Lewis even went to a priest for regular confession (p. 198), and received the sacrament of extreme unction on 7/16/63 (p. 301). His contention that some pagans may “belong to Christ without knowing it” is a destructive heresy (Mere Christianity, pp. 176-177), as was his statement that “Christ fulfils both Paganism and Judaism…” (Reflections on the Psalms, p. 129).

Unknown said...

cont ....

C. S. Lewis – Taught Works Salvation

C.S. Lewis plainly stated that he believed a person has to work to keep salvation…

“There are people (a great many of them) who are slowly ceasing to be Christians…” (Mere Christianity, p.162).

“…a Christian can lose the Christ-life which has been put into him, and he has to make efforts to keep it” (Mere Christianity, p.49).

Lewis believed that morality and obeying God’s Law were a means to eventually being born-again…

“… ye must be born again. Till then, we have duty, morality, the Law. A schoolmaster, as St. Paul says… But the schooldays, please God, are numbered” (Letters to Malcolm, p.115).[emphasis added]

“The point is not that God will refuse you admission to His eternal world if you have not certain qualities of character: the point is that if people have not got at least the beginnings of those qualities inside them, then no possible external conditions could make a ‘Heaven’ for them …” (Mere Christianity, p.63).

In context, to be “born again,” for Lewis, is somewhere down the road yet (Mere Christianity, pp.59,60). Lewis taught that a life of self-righteousness was necessary to eventually become born-again. In sharp contrast, Jesus taught that being born-again was a second birth which BEGINS the believer’s life in Christ. Lewis was a very confused and doctrinally flawed man. As a consequence, Lewis has led many people to hell because of their strong dependence on his teachings.

C. S. Lewis – Denied a Literal Hell

Lewis never believed in a literal Hell, but instead believed hell is a state of mind one chooses to possess and become — he wrote:

“…every shutting-up of the creature within the dungeon of its own mind is, in the end, Hell” (The Great Divorce, p. 65)

C. S. Lewis – Claimed the Bible Contained Myths

Lewis believed the Book of Job is “unhistorical” (Reflections on the Psalms, pp. 110), and that the Bible contained “error” (pp. 110, 112) and is not divinely inspired (The Inklings, p. 175).

“I have the deepest respect for Pagan myths, still more for myths in the Holy Scriptures” (The Problem of Pain, p.71)

- See more at: http://www.discerningtheworld.com/2010/12/05/c-s-lewis-narnia-chronicles-of-deception/

Anonymous said...

Not to be confused with the person calling themselves Anonymous, although i must confess before hand that i agree a lot with their comments.

Greetings from Africa!

I am not here to discuss for or against watchman nee or whether he was a saint or heretic. HOwever, I must mention that it is suddening to see the finger pointing that goes on in our Christian circles. Why are we so judgemental? The Bible says we have one foundation on which everyone builds and that in the end, each person's work will stand a test. If one builds with straw or stone. In the end, our work will be tested.

Watchman Nee, and many other people, despite their many flaws, should not be dragged to the chopping board to be judged so harshly. Even the saints written in the Bible show so many weaknesses. Look at David who committed adultery. Samson who got dissilusioned by a woman. And yet their lives still remain examples to us today. should we throw them all out in the wind as heretics too? How about Peter who denied Christ three times? Or all the disciples for that matter who returned to fishing after Christ's death? How about Peter who preached circumcision for new believers until Paul corrected the situation? Should we call them heretics too? Should we throw away all their writing too?

Watchman Nee may not have been perfect given his time. But he was not a heretic. Not just for what he wrote...but also the life he lived. And the death he died too. I respect him a lot. Maybe if some of you were exposed to the life he lived...and the suffering he bore for the sake of the Lord...you would not stand it.

Anonymous said...

Dear John,
Thank you for your reasoned, well thought out warning to prevent us from easily being led in a potentially unsafe place. I had this happen a number of years ago and am so very grateful when my pastor pointed out an unsafe premise I had slowly adopted. I think that a warning is true kindness and how sad that the people questioning your motives are perhaps doing the thing they accuse you of!(Judging your motives.) Thank you. As someone who unwittingly experienced being led in false doctrine despite attempting to be watchful and aware, this is something that may befall anyone of us, and I for one appreciate the kindness to warn us . My name is Jan.