UG-4

In this 3 volume series, Nee covers a lot of ground. The first half of Vol 1 sets up the basis for his understanding of Man. This is based on his belief that Man is made of 3 parts: spirit, soul, and body. This "holistic" or "complimentarian" trichotomy view was also held by evangelicals such as Scofield and Chaffer, but it's not the prevalent view. He uses reasonable scriptural arguments to back this view and though I don't necessarily agree, I don't see anything wrong or opposed to standard evangelical views either. In any case, with a little mental work, one can adopt the other sections to a more conventional dichotomist/ dualistic view. It's a framework for understanding more important principles. The problem is, most people get hung up on the framework and miss the real lessons and Biblical truths he was conveying. I've read some reviews that said that he supports a view of Platonic-style antagonism between spirit and body (flesh). After going through these books, nothing is further from the truth. He believes God made man of spirit, soul, and body and IT WAS GOOD.

While all the sections proved profitable, the sections on the Mind and Will with the powerful, unequivocal instruction on spiritual warfare are vitally important for today's believers. Coming from a charismatic/ Pentecostal background, I've found many brethren are not inclined to test the spirits. Nee gives strong Biblical support for recognizing the demonic and then regaining ground for the Kingdom. Much of the book is a strong call for a personally active Christian and rejecting passivity as a lazy surrender to the enemy. The old adage - the devil will find work for idle hands applies to minds, too. Your mind is the primary battlefield in spiritual warfare. If you continue to dwell on bad things, you are surrendering ground to the enemy who hates you. In spiritual warfare, there are no tactical retreats: every bit of surrendered ground is a new beachhead to attack more of you. "Here I am!" is the cry of an actively obedient will.

My only problem is that much of the book is spent moderating extremes. ( On the one hand... On the other hand... On the other other hand) in an effort to forestall those who would push a doctrine to heretical extremes.

As with any human author, there will be things I don't agree with, but regardless, Nee's work makes you think and dig into your Bible. I didn't detect anything that fell outside the general evangelical mainstream. He's imminent, premillennial, pre-trib, once-saved/ always saved, intermediate heaven, Bible alone, faith alone, etc. Reading this, I read his position as supporting total depravity, but others (maybe from other books?) say he did not support that view. ( )

IQS-3/4