Customer Reviews

Spiritual Authority

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I want to focus on this book's view of Reason. First I have to prove that it says what it says, then I want to analyze it.

The author of this book had a noble and commendable goal; to search the scriptures and find what is at the root of every sinful decision. Throughout the first part of the book he goes through the Bible and looks at the ungodly decisions that were made, and his analysis leads him to a true conclusion. His conclusion is that Reason was at the center of all ungodly decisions. From there however, he figures that Reason is inherently bad, and that followers of God must do away with all reason. All of it. (see pages 93, 94, 96, and throughout the book). In Nee's eyes, Reason never serves a good purpose, rather it is something to be delivered from.

This view is taken to the point that we should do away with discerning right from wrong. I will defend this assertion with quotes. Page 23, "We should not be occupied with right or wrong, good or evil; rather should we know who is the authority above us."

Again on Page 71,"People will perhaps argue, `What if the authority is wrong?' The answer is, If God dares to entrust His authority to men, then we can dare to obey. Whether the one in authority is right or wrong does not concern us, since he has to be responsible directly to God. The obedient needs only to obey; the Lord will not hold us responsible for any mistaken obedience, rather will He hold the delegated authority responsible for his erroneous act. Insubordination, however, is rebellion, and for this the one under authority must answer to God." This book can be praised because it encourages us to make Authority a priority. BUT, should we really make it the most important thing? More important than doing what's right and wrong?

This makes more sense once you realize that to Nee, Authority is the most central thing, above everything else (page 91). For Nee, the idea of discerning right from wrong comes from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and therefore is to be rejected for the principal of authority (page 21). It's giving up one thing for the other. Throughout the book, Nee tells us that we have a choice. That choice is between the principle of Reason (which includes discerning right and wrong), OR the principle of Authority (page 93, 94). You can't have both.

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Now that we've established a couple of the core themes of the book, let's analyze it. Nee's views are based on the idea that in the Bible, Reason only serves a negative purpose. Nee discovered that at the root of every sinful decision, Reason seems to be the culprit behind it. But, let's suppose I went through the Bible and looked at every good decision. I would find that at the root every godly decision, there is also Reason. I could, like Nee, come to an opposite conclusion that Reason is inherently good. But of course, this is false, because Reason has gotten a lot of people to make sinful decisions (just read this book to find about them). Nee provides very robust evidence for the idea that Reason is bad, but he ignores the positive roles that Reason plays in the Bible, such as in:

Evangelism (1 Peter 3:15, Acts 17:2, Acts 17:17, Acts 18:4, Acts 26:25)

Testing Teachings/Discernment (1 Thess 5:19, Acts 17:11, Romans 12:2)

As a Result of being close with God (Psalm 111:10, Psalm 119:10)

When Jesus was questioned about what the most important commandment is, he quotes Deuteronomy 6:5, Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and strength... but he ADDS "mind" to it (Mark 12:30).

The Bible even alludes to there being value in reasoning that does not directly related to spiritual matters, in that Daniel learned from "all sorts of [Babylonian] literature" (Daniel 1:17), God gives Solomon wisdom about the natural world (1 Kings 4:29), and Paul quotes a Hellenistic proverb from a pagan culture, "Bad company corrupts good character" (1 Cor 15:33).

Since it's clear to see that Reason is a key part in all decisions, for good and for evil, it raises the question of "what is at the root of all sin?". I'm going to back to the Garden of Eden, like Nee, but I'm going to say that (since Reason is also in godly decisions), it must be something else. I would argue that at the root of all sin is Lies. Believing lies, thinking about lies, reasoning with lies... that is what leads to sin. Satan is called the father of lies, a master deceiver.

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If believing lies is what produces sin, it is important that we test this book, and every book we read, for falsehoods.

Falsehood #1: Nee asserts "Yet Paul did not use reason to fight against reason" (page 100), ironically, this is in reference to the passage in 2 Corinthians 10 about demolishing arguments. That chapter itself uses good reason to fight against bad reason, as well as almost every chapter written by Paul in the New Testament.

Falsehood #2: Nee asserts "He [Jesus] did not forewarn the disciples not to speak carelessly." (page 70) But Jesus did give such warning (pearls before swine) in Matthew 7:6.

Falsehood #3: The foundation of this book, which is that reason only leads to destruction, sin, and rebellion in the Bible.

Nee wants us to submit to who is just above us, submitting more to those in the chain of command directly over us, rather than going to straight to God. But young Jesus ditched his parents without their permission and disappeared for three days in order to reason in the temple courts (Luke 2). Jesus told us we have one master above us and offered a scathing, disrespectful, and offensive criticism of God's rightful representative authority, the teachers of the law (Matthew 23). Jesus disturbed the public peace and forcibly drove out the market from the temple (John 2).

Okay, but we're not Jesus. Then consider some other biblical examples of rebellion:
Moses versus Pharaoh. John the Baptist (who spoke critically against Herod and yet was called by Jesus the best man who ever lived (Matthew 11:11)).

To be fair, Nee does offer us a tiny 5-page chapter about such events, but he fails to help us navigate how these people were justified under his doctrine, and quickly returns to do the "do away with reason" doctrine after this chapter.

I hope people don't read this critique and think that I'm against increasing the priority of Authority in our lives. I am for increasing the priority of Authority. I just don't think it's biblical that Authority should be raised up above everything else, to the point that we should sin if Authority tells us to and that we should give up all Reason and all ability to discern good and evil. Is that strange?

If we're going to reject an idea, we need a better reason than doing it just because the idea is extreme. At the same time, if we're going to accept an idea, we need a better reason than doing it just because the idea is extreme. I can understand why radical, dedicated, extreme views can be attractive to some people and repulsive to others but whatever background you may be from, you may find that testing this book with scripture will be a great exercise for you. I have tested this book and found it to be lacking and disappointing, but it was a very edifying experience and I respect Nee and understand why he came to the conclusions that he did.

As an American Pastor who is not power hungry nor a control freak...as so many critics of this book claim it fosters...I have found this book deals with the issue of authority from a spiritual perspective. Nee doesn't hesitate to challenge Christians to trust in God and to demonstrate that trust in God by obeying leaders and by submitting to their God given authority. In our culture in America today, disrespect for leaders is considered a right. Nee calls it sin.

I think one of the reasons this book has so much controversy around it is because we are so off culturally in the land of the free and the brave...with respect to submission to leaders and to authority. We are so independent minded as a nation that the whole concept seems like a foreign concept. It's very easy then for some to label it as some sort of oriental influence. But in reality this book applied well is crucial for life transforming pastoral leadership.

Another reason this book has been criticized is because some leaders have used it while leading from their own insecurities and fear of losing people from their ministries. Some abusive tendencies have spawned just criticism of those ministries. But that is NOT Nee's problem...nor a result of the book. That is the result of leaders' allowing their old nature to cloud the spiritual principles laid out in scripture. So we should not blast 'Spiritual Authority'.

Some I know who have been wounded by this sort of
abusive leadership have overreacted by rejecting the entire concept of any leadership/authority at all. Some say that the
bible doesn't teach the concept of spiritual authority at all!!
That's pretty bad in my view.

Layered over that is the egalitarian movement which rejects authority in the sense Nee lays it out here. The combination is there are multiple pressures on the church to reject spiritual authority of any kind. I've seen some egalitarians fight hard
to redefine words which include the concept of authority and obedience so that they can remove the entire concept. But
the scriptures are clear on the subject.

If we can study what the scripture says about spiritual authority and compare it to what Nee says here, I think we will be encouraged to trust in God through all kinds of situations...and we will see the Kingdom of God advance.

There are very few books bold enough to tackle this issue. There are very few books which dealt with a failure to recognize authority in my life as this one did.

For me the most convicting chapter was the one on delegated authority. Nee points out that God places people in authority and that we are rejecting him when we fail to respect delegated authorities. This led me to contact the Assistant Pastor of my old church and ask for his forgiveness. He so appreciated the call.

Where do you have trouble submitting to authority?

Why not read this book...prayerfully and with an open heart?
Ask God to show you if you need to change and don't be surprised if you end up actually being placed into a place of spiritual authority after you learn the lessons God teaches you through this challenging book. I think that God used this book to help me transition into the ministry full time. It was and is a very helpful book for me personally.

I think one other caution is in line. Some people are so overly submissive that they don't need to read this book. For those people I would recommend NOT reading this book but instead focus on something that encourages them to have healthy conflict resolutions. Maybe these people should find a book on conflict resolution and read that instead. But for most of us...especially American Evangelicals in general...we desperately need this bold message!

Watchman Nee is, to me, a perfect example of a person with no "Christian" culture. Living in China, when he read the Bible, he had no premeditated bias, and his insights are astounding. This book focuses on God's authority, his delegated authority, and why it is crucially important, for your own sake, to recognize His authority wherever it lies. It is a book for anyone who wants an extremely mature, humbled walk with God in a depth you can only now imagine. On a side note, don't plan on reading this in a weekend. The information contained within is so deep and profound I found myself stopping after every two paragraphs and meditating on what Nee said for a week. Next to the Bible, it is one of my two favorite books, (the other one being Neil T. Anderson's "Victory Over the Darkness"). Jesus' revelation be with you.

I am disappointed to have to criticize Watchman Nee's book on authority. Heretofore, I had highly recommended Nee's works without reservation. He is, after all, the author of the book I consider "second to the Bible", *The Spiritual Man*. He penned that book on what everyone thought would be his death bed (he was instead miraculously and dramatically raised up), and perhaps as a consequence it possesses an amazing purity. And the fact is, virtually all of Nee's writings have rare clarity and value.

So it was with eagerness that I finally turned to Nee's explication of authority, a subject I consider especially critical to the church at this difficult and turbulent time.

On one hand, this book is a revelation. Nee gives breathtaking insight into how Christ's work of obedience saved all of creation from falling into an unending abyss of total chaos. He gives a very technical yet organic view of the nature of the Trinity that is highly revealing. I agree enthusiastically with his take on the relational essence of that Union, wherein perfect love is the substance of perfect unity. I'll have to let some of his other Trinitarian assertions simmer awhile, however, before I can pass judgment on them.

But when it comes to the matter at hand, authority, this book is a disaster. Nee makes stunning and bizarre assertions without substantiation. For one prime example, Nee claims that the person who is saved first - yes, I'm talking about chronological order here - is "over" those saved afterward. And what scriptural support are we given for this unique insight? For the 75 pages for which I was able to keep this book open, precisely none.

Consider the implications. According to Nee's dictum, Barnabus would be over Paul. For that matter, so too would Ananias of Damascus, presumably Paul's baptizer. Andrew would probably be over Peter. The proverbial guy who led Billy Graham to the Lord would be over him. And so on. Am I missing something here? This is so outlandish I can't believe it made it into print.

And I won't even go into my qualms about the legitimacy of any person being "over" another in the Lord in the first place. Anyone ever read Matthew 23?

But even worse than the stretching of any particular doctrine beyond any reasonable intellectual bounds is Nee's dynamic of constantly hammering away at the submission theme. And I do mean constantly. On virtually every page he hits it loud and hard. For a while, it's acceptable, and then excusable, as the reader with increasing unease allows the writer to make his point. But then it becomes badgering, and finally flat-out abuse. There is no other way to put it. When a writer has to obsess on a theme ad nauseam, some vital perspective is invariably lacking. He is out of balance and has lost his way.

Some have written here about how this book did a lot of good in their lives. I don't doubt it, because there is spiritual truth here, and, regarding authority, some of us may need a good stiff reminder. If they got something good from this book and were able to let the excesses roll off them, then I'm happy for them. But as for the matter of circumspect doctrine on the subject of authority, I must say that this book, despite some deep and wonderful tangential insights, is a dangerous failure. Read with caution.

I'm sorry to have to say that about a Nee work, as he is, beyond argument, one of our greatest explicators, and I don't want to keep anyone from him. Virtually all of his other works that I've read have been exceptional, and some are unparalleled. If you want to read him at his best, check out "The Spiritual Man" or its shorter counterpart, "Release of the Spirit".

To me, this is the best book brother Nee has ever written. It teaches submission to all authority, according to the Bible, and not according to submission in today's society. All authority is from God (Romans 13:1), and so obedience to the authorities around us is obedience to the Lord. I think this is very important to us today. Brother Nee does a great job of taking us through many old and new testament examples of obedience and disobedience to authority. This book made me realize how disobedient I was to God by not being fully submissive to the authorities in my life.

Spiritual Authority is a fantastic book. The concept of God's authority being manifested in the world was eye opening and spiritually convicting. The book takes portions of the bible and breaks them open to reveal many truths that are not readily apparant, however once discovered, are easily confirmed throughout the Bible. This book should be the basic training manual after the Bible for beginning to know God and how He works in this world. I can't recommend it highly enough.

"Spiritual Authority" should be required reading for all Christian disciples. If you read it expect for your toes to be stepped--well actually probably stomped would be a better word--a few times. This book teaches that God is God. We are His. To reject His authority in our lives is a sin. God works through delegated authorities on earth.

In a culture where authority is "out" and rebellion is "in" this book speaks volumes. Nee clearly presents the idea that everything is about submission to God's authority. He also clearly reveals that submission to God is manifested by our obeying goverment and church leadership. As a result this book will be a challenge to the average American Christian. Good! No doubt some can see this as some kind of extreme form of domination but that has more to do with who is reading it than the author's purpose. It can also be a difficult read as it was taken from notes from students who attended lectures by Nee on this subject. It is also of interest that Nee would eventually be jailed by the communists and die in captivity in China. There is a need to identify at what point a Christian should refuse obedience (not rebel... I read the book) to the governing authorities. Much of Chinese Christianity today is underground. I wonder how Nee would feel about that now? Anyway, this book is one of the most important books I have ever read in terms of my Christain experience.

This book is straight to the point and does not pull any punches. Anyone who reads this book and wants to see themselves and their faults will definitely find them. I had to put this book down for a while before continuing to read it because it hit me too hard and right where I live. I have been forever enlightened and enriched by reading this book. It is all about Gods' order and chain of command. Enjoy it. One love in Christ Jesus.

I read this book twice, once in Bible school, and once on the mission field.

In principle, it's fine. But, like the Bible itself, its teachings can be misunderstood, then used, even quoted and misquoted, to control and manipulate. I would really like to know more about Nee's ministry in order to understand this book in context. We have his books, but remember that most of his books were written later by others who heard him speak, with the notable exception of "The Spiritual Man". We know so little about how his ministry really functioned. Was he really teaching what Witness Lee later taught in the United States?

Trying not to attack those that misused its teachings, I will say that this book lay at the heart of some erroneous teachings championed by two movements, one originally based in New England (in which I had twelve years experience), and one based in Florida (I've only read about this one). It can, and has, led to a concept in which an evangelical organization becomes run from the top down, like the Roman Catholic Church. So read it and understand it, but realize that much of its teachings comes from a time in the Old Testament in which God really did speak to Moses, and Moses spoke to the children of Israel. The average person back them did not have the advantage of the indwelling Holy Spirit or of the law of God written on his heart, and the canon of scripture was not yet complete. If you want to submit to a human figure in the way that the children of Israel had to in the wilderness, then you risk spending your Christian life in the wilderness.

Besides these two movements, there's the one Witness Lee got going in the United States. I don't know how much he used "Spiritual Authority", but if he did, then that's a third group that used (or misused) this book in a harmful way.

The teachings of "not touching God's anointed" make sense, but that should not keep us from logical reasoning and rational analysis. David wouldn't kill Saul, but neither did he believe that Saul was right. David didn't turn himself in for execution. David became an outlaw, but he died of old age, not by the sword at the hand of Saul and his men. "Spiritual Authority" leaves these points out.

A short summation of what I think about this book is that yes, we are under authorities, but no, that doesn't mean they're always right. Obeying real, God-given authority is fine. Believing that they're always right is cultish. Was Saul right in his roughly three dozen attempts at David's life? Again, having spent twelve years in a ministry that relied heavily on this book and its teachings, I see this book's shortcomings in both theory (I've had lots of time to think about these teachings, and to compare my years in this ministry to time spent in other denominations) and in practice (I've seen what these teachings can do).

Ravi Zacharias has a radio program called "Let My People Think". Be sure to think when you read this book.