Was Witness Lee a Calvinist?

[Trapped]

Regarding Acts 8:30-35 as an example of using guides for edification:

1. Edification concerns believers. The Ethiopian was not yet a believer.

2. What resulted in those verses was not the Ethiopian's edification, it was his salvation. Once he got saved, then edification can begin. The guide here is for salvation.

3. The Ethiopian's words were "How could I unless SOMEONE guides me?" Here we have the "to each other" that I mentioned previously. This was a one-on-one human guide. Probably most believers have been brought to salvation through another person. There is no "study guide" in these verses.

4. Yes! As you said, the Holy Spirit arranged for Philip to act as the guide. Not a publishing house who's material you must get into whether or not it meets the particular, aching needs of the dear saints in your church currently. The Holy Spirit!

Regarding the rest of your post, you said, "And that is why edification is not merely using the bible alone word for word, but explaining and applying it to the particular situation at hand." This can be done by and among the people gathered. It does not require Witness Lee's presence in printed form to be the only one providing an explanation.

I'm not saying using a guide is a problem or is wrong. I think we all have received help from study guides, both LC-ministry books and non-LC-ministry books. All I am saying is:

1) the Bible alone is sufficient for edification (a % of which can be individual with a larger % being corporate), and
2) study guides are more than fine as long as ANY helpful study guide is welcomed, and the use of only one man's study guide is not made the basis for fellowship or acceptance in the ways I've mentioned previously.