Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio
Very shortly after my first LC meeting, I came across Kinnear's biography of Nee, Against the Tide. The book title corresponded with whatever else I had gleaned at the time, so I looked forward to reading it. I happened to mention the book to a Chinese elder in Cleveland, who seemed alarmed at my choice of reading material, as a new member of the church in Cleveland.
He assured me that the book had "more than 200 major errors," which shocked me at the time, and so I promptly discarded the paperback. I never did hear who had determined all those errors, but I'm sure it was Lee. Since the only available history on Nee that I knew of at the time was Kinnear's, I, like every other LC adherent, was left with Lee's oral traditions of Nee.
Like everything else related to Lee, we are always confronted with the stark choice: either only Witness Lee is faithfully accurate and truthful and all others pernicious liars, or vice versa.
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It is clear that even dating back to the time of Nee, there was a consistent effort to color history a certain way. It all started with the promoting of a man and a ministry. Much of the turmoil surrounding Nee's later life wasn't made known until many years later. Sad to say, books with titles like
Seer of the Divine Revelation in the Present Age didn't seem suspicious to me until I realized that there were negative aspects to Nee.
Regarding the various biographies of Nee, it would seem like Lily Hsu's book is one that LSM might view as a threat. This begs the question of why a positive book like
Against the Tide would have provoked a strong reaction so many years ago. I haven't read that book, but I can assume that it doesn't elevate Nee to the status of a MOTA or a
Seer of the Divine Revelation in the Present Age. That is probably the issue right there. The supposed 'inaccuracies' are just an excuse. It doesn't present the LSM sanctioned history, therefore it is viewed as borderline poisonous even though it likely paints Nee in a positive light.
LCers could manage nothing less than to view Nee as the MOTA. They have gone to great lengths to get him mentioned in congress. In the LC people are told that Nee influenced millions of Christians in China and beyond. If such claims are true, that is a better legacy than anyone could ask for (and we know LCers care about legacy). It really makes one wonder why they still feel the need to sensationalize Nee. It's not like Nee is unknown outside the LC. At any rate, it is very telling how much the LC is concerned with promoting legacy.