Customer Reviews

The Latent Power of the Soul

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Recently, I was compelled to get that book off the shelf and read it. I can't say for certain, but it felt like a dream had said, "Read the Latent Power of the Soul." Whatever the inspiration, I did read it, and wished it had been sooner! I cannot understand why anyone would feel this book was controversial. It helped me to understand about dividing the spirit and soul in Hebrews, a Biblical concept I had never heard expounded in years of churchgoing in various denominations. "New wine" of the spirit cannot abide in the "old bottles" of the soul. As we let go the "old, outer man" and allow the Holy Spirit to dwell in the inner holiness of our Temple, our soul takes its rightful place as the sanctuary, with our body being the outer court--all necessary, but in that order. Too many of us are ruled by the cravings of the flesh, when it should be in submission. This book helps make it simple, if not easy. I know now why I was led to buy this book in the first place!

I will say that the conclusion of this book, the end result, is very great. It is a call to be weary of using different types of hype - loud energetic music, emotional appeals, and stirring testimonies in order to create a soulish effect. He concludes (and I agree) that much of the work of the Holy Spirit can be counterfeited by our own efforts, man-made if you will. The only problem is that they do not give life, only the Holy Spirit can. So, these "spiritual booster shots" have to be given more and more, with increasing energy, in order to prop up people who are still dead in trespasses - or at best spiritual babes. I would recommend reading it just for this sake.

Now, some of his presuppositions I cannot necessarily agree with. He makes an assumption that Adam has supernatural powers in his soul, and at the fall, never lost them, they were just supressed. And, he states that the power is still available, and Satan takes men submitted to him and shows them how to unlock this in order to bring about the final end days deception. I cannot defintely agree, or disagree, with the way he comes to the conclusions. My understanding (with limited study) has been that these powers are released through demonic spirits, not man's "latent power of the soul".

So, I do recommend reading this - it is a short book, and has some profound insight. Just use it as a word of caution to not produce God's results with your own flesh (lights, energetic music, motivational speaking), and trust in God's power.

Man is tripartite - spirit, soul, and body. Prior to the fall of man, there was the spirit, linking man with the Divine, which was the highest; the body, connecting man with the material, the lowest; intermediate stood the soul, partaker of the nature of the others, the bond that united them and through which they could act on each other. Nee speculates that since it is written "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" (Gen. 1.26), that image and likeness would be repetitive if it merely meant physical attributes. He was already like Him in outward appearance, but he was ordained by God to become like Him morally, so that man could have dominion over the earth, as he was originally instructed by God.

When Adam fell in the garden of Eden this moral likeness along with its power was immobilized. He had not lost this power altogether, only it was now buried within him. Man had become flesh, and his flesh now enclosed tightly this marvelous power within it. Generation has succeeded generation with the result that this primordial ability of Adam has become a "latent" force in his descendants. As a result, Satan attempts to break open this fleshly shell and to release the power dormant in man's soul in order to gain control over man - so that man can be deceived into thinking he is as God. Many do not understand this strategy, accepting these powers as being of God. For example, I've actually heard several people say that John Edwards, who allegedly communicates with the dead, has a God-given gift!

Nee gives the example of Buddhist monks that, through ascetic practices, eventually attain to the elimination of all food. He mentions that some monks of high degree can even pierce the unknown past and predict the future and perform many other wonders by Buddhist magic. Nee explains that the engaging in all of these different kinds of abstinences and ascetic practices flows from one single governing principle: the Buddhist is attempting to break all physical and material bonds so as to get his soul power released from its subservience to the flesh.

Whether it is in China or in Western nations, all of these practices of breathing, ascetic exercise, hypnosis, prediction, and psychic communications are but the release and manifestation of the latent power of the soul. Satan makes use of man's soul force to manifest his strength. Man's soul power is Satan's working instrument, through which he works out his evil end.

God, though, never works with man's soul power, for it is unusable to Him. When we are born again, we are born of the Holy Spirit. God works by the Holy Spirit and our renewed spirit. Since the fall, God has forbidden man to again use his original power of the soul. It is for this reason that Jesus often declares how we need to lose our soul life, that is, our soul power. God wishes us today not to use this soul power at all, but instead depend on Him. This is Nee's warning and admonition to Christians about brilliant displays of psychic ability - to flee from them.

This book is very short, but the warning need not be long. To make a long book out of the subject would simply feed man's curiousity about the subject, which is what Nee is trying to warn against in the first place. Note that this very short work is included in "The Complete Works of Watchman Nee", so the reader may find that purchasing that product is a better total value.

Although Mr. Watchman doesn't use the KJV he does a great job defining the difference between the body, the soul, and the spirit. I wish that I was taught it this well defined in Bible College.

The book "Latent Power Of The Soul" by Watchman Nee, is as relevant today as it was in the early church. This book brings clearity as to the powers working within and through the human soul in church meetings. The book address which spirit is operating through the power of the soul within a leader to either manipulate or control a congregation.
This book is highly recommended for all christians, leaders and laymen alike to discern whether the Holy Spirit is at work or the spirit of witchcraft.
The book pin points and identifies "Charismatic Witchcraft" and the devestating effects both physically and spiritually by coming under it's influence.

"The Latent Power of the Soul" is an unusual book that bears all the hallmarks of Watchman Nee's extraordinary wisdom, but on a topic not normally addressed in his writings: psychology and parapsychology. Unfortunately, while he does an admirable job of analyzing the former, he stumbles on the latter.

Nee postulates that when Adam fell, not only did his remarkable physical body suffer, but also his superior soul. Now trapped in his flesh, Adam's soul became not a force for good, but for corruption. From this corrupted soul comes a force that can be tapped to take on aspects of "soul power" that can result in unusual manifestations usually associated with yogis, clairvoyants, and shamans. This paranormal manifestation of soul power is not of God and conflicts with the spiritual power given by the Holy Spirit to believers. It is the source for false miracles and devilish phenomena that Nee believes will be behind the deception of the elect talked about in Revelation.

The author also discusses how this abusive power is enabled by modern psychiatric methods. Beyond this he also notes how this will to power is abused even by those in the Church. Preachers preach out of their own charisma rather than the Holy Spirit's, congregations suffer from a form of self-hypnosis that mimics real worship while not attaining to it, and even prayers can come from the soul rather than the spirit. None of this is of God; true believers will discern this and stay far away. Nee gives ample tips on how to distinguish the real from the fake.

Unlike some of Nee's other fine works, this book sadly has some holes. Nee's belief that people like Franz Mesmer, Uri Geller, and other pseudo-mystics tapped some unusual power is hopeful at best. Professional debunkers of psychics-- James Randi comes to mind--have shown that modern psychics are simply clever illusionists whose paranormal powers cannot stand up to scientific scrutiny. If there is a latent power of the soul, these frauds do not display the paranormal aspect of it. Concerning the demonic activity that takes on these qualities, Nee affirms it exists, but why try to attach it to man's fallen soul rather than seeing it as wholly its own manifestation?

In summary, Nee's Asian worldview influences this work as he stands apart from a Western interpretation of the tripartite nature of Man--especially the soul. As for the more normal aspects of tapping the power of the soul to win over people or to create the many will to power issues Nee examines in the book, the author has many salient points that can help believers understand when something comes from the emotional soul rather than the calm spirit.

Not his best work and sometimes quite esoteric, even for Nee. Only two and a half stars, but an extra half just because of the reputation of the author. For those who are new to Nee, consider "The Normal Christian Life" or "Sit, Walk, Stand" first.

Strong area is the explanation of the difference between spirit, soul and body. Weakness is the introduction of psychology into the discussion which seemed dated.

After reading many of Nee's books, I was at once delighted and shocked at what I read in "Latent Power of the Soul."

What shocked me was his assertion that a natural man, that is, a descendent of Adam, contains supernatural powers, as it were, superhuman powers, although I believe he does not use the word superhuman. At first glance, this seems to me to be a contradiction. Either Adam, after the fall was human or he was superhuman. One cannot be less and more at the same time. Further, it seems that Nee has made the logical error of assuming simple correlation is indication, correlating reports of clairvoyance, telepathy, etc., to be indicative that such things do indeed exist. He cites Rev. 18:11-13 ". . . "And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargoes any more -- cargoes of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls . . . and slaves and human lives (souls)."

Nee makes an enormous leap, assuming that this passage is referring to Satan trading in men's souls in order to capture the supernatural, though latent power of a natural man's soul. He offers no intermediate steps in his reasoning to solidly link the two ideas, that is, reports of supernatural events and this obviously obscure passage in revelation. In fact, Nee goes on to imply that Satan has no power to act outside of this supernatural soul power of man, that he has "to rely upon the latent power of man's soul." This, then, contradicts the numerous references in scripture to the power and authority exercised by Satan, himself. However, in this same sentence, Nee seems to contradict himself saying "And it is therefore inevitable that in the last days he (Satan) will raise up an Antichrist who will be given his own power and authority, for he will have to rely upon the latent power of man's soul." Well, which is it that is active? " . . . his own power . . ." or "the latent power of man's soul." For myself, I cannot go along with this leap of logic.

On the other hand, just about everything else Nee has to say in this short book is extremely valuable. C.S. Lewis has said somewhere that if one begins with a false premise, the entire structure thereafter is faulty. Although this may be a good rule to follow, it is not necessarily true in every case. George MacDonald has said that truth is truth, whether from the lips of Balaam or from the lips of Christ. I agree with Nee's conclusions if not with his "latent power of the soul" premise. Nee points out with very good scriptural reference that any native power that a man possesses, latent or otherwise, is of the flesh and is useless to God. He takes great care to point out the special abuse made by so-called ministers of the gospel in manipulating the mind, will and emotion of men, to wit, their souls. I am reminded of the approach Paul took toward the Corinthian church when he said in 1 Cor. 2:1-5, "And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God."

I can see no clearer evidence of the trading in men's souls than the manipulations of charismatic men who occupy pulpits of the happy church, masquerading as ministers of the Gospel of Christ. In this, I wholeheartedly agree with Nee.

Nee manages to arrive at the proper conclusions in spite of a faulty pillar in his structure because he is a spiritual man. In this way, all spiritual men are probably guilty of believing a wierd thing or two. The important matter before us all is to come to a maturity in Christ in which we lay everything of ourselves at the foot of the cross remembering his words "Apart from me, you can do nothing." We are not reconciled to God because we are right but because He (Christ) is right.

I recommend this easy to comprehend book to anyone with a warning to beware of the premise implied in its title. The only other work of Nee's that I could not recommend at all is his book on Revelation in which he is once again long on doctrine but short on scriptural support.

I found myself wanting more from this book but i must say that the conclusion of the book was the biggest eye opening reality making the whole book worth having and reading. Infact if the advise in this book is followed the christian will be able to discern the truth all the time.
I have had many questions about psychics and the such and have always put them in the conman status or demon possessed. Now i have a third choice which explains much but still puts these events into the ungodly realm.

I was recently @ Barnes and Nobles and walking through the Christian section, somewhat dissatisfied by the selection; I was searching for spiritual meat. This small book by Watchman Nee, whom I had never heard of, was facing foward with a beautiful flower on the cover and it immediately caught my eye. I read much of it at the bookstore, but I had to buy it and finish the whole book. I have now read A Spiritual Man and I am walking in the Spirit like never before. Thank you Jesus. He always gives us what we need, when we need it. This book will change your walk.