A Defense of the Gospel: Responses to an Open Letter from “Christian Scholars and Ministry Leaders” (1) and (2)

In early 2007 a group of “Christian scholars and ministry leaders” posted an open letter on the Internet calling on the leadership of Living Stream Ministry (LSM) and the local churches to “disavow and cease to publish” certain statements made by Witness Lee. These two books—A Defense of the Gospel: Responses to an Open Letter from “Christian Scholars and Ministry Leaders” (1) and (2)—contain detailed answers to that open letter and its manifold deficiencies, distortions, and twistings concerning our teaching.

Responses to an Open Letter (1)

A Defense of the Gospel: A Response to an Open Letter from “Christian Scholars and Ministry Leaders” (1) contains an initial short response and subsequent longer response from representatives of Living Stream Ministry and the local churches to the 2007 open letter. These responses address issues vital to the church as the Body of Christ, including the nature of God, the nature of humanity in light of God’s complete salvation, and the proper expression of the church according to the New Testament.

The open letter distorted Witness Lee’s teachings by selectively quoting short, isolated statements divorced from their original contexts and by disregarding the breadth of his ministry on these important subjects. The responses in this book present a balanced view of the teachings of Witness Lee according the full context of his ministry. This book gives the Christian public an accurate account of the teachings of Witness Lee, of who we in the local churches are, and of the faith in Christ that we profess.

Responses to an Open Letter (2)

A Defense of the Gospel: A Response to an Open Letter from “Christian Scholars and Ministry Leaders” (2) deals directly with the 2007 open letter’s misuse of the seventeen quotations it quotes out of context in its attempt to generate antipathy toward the ministry of Witness Lee and the believers meeting in the local churches. It demonstrates the faithfulness of Witness Lee’s teachings to the divine revelation in the Bible and shows those teachings to be consistent with the writings of great Christian teachers throughout the centuries.

The subjects addressed in this book—the nature of God, the nature of man, and the proper expression of the church, the Body of Christ—are vital to the Christian church as a whole. They are thoroughly interwoven with the way in which God carries out His salvation and the ultimate goal of that salvation. For this reason, the issues presented here are important to all earnest seekers of the truth.