Watchman Nee / Witness Lee — Anthropology
b4 — Basic Elements of Christian Life, Volume 2
The Human Spirit as the Deepest Part of the Human Being
Lee describes the human spirit not merely as one of three components, but as the deepest part of the human being. Summarizing the work of Christ, he states:
“When we believed into Him, He as the Spirit came into our spirit, the deepest part of our being, to be our life and everything to us. Today, He as the Spirit is like the air to us — so fresh and so available.”
— Basic Elements of Christian Life, Vol. 2, ch. 2, p. 17-18
The phrase “deepest part” adds a dimensional hierarchy to the trichotomy: the body is the outermost layer, the soul the middle, and the spirit the hidden center of the human person. This connects to b2 (The Economy of God, ch. 6), where Lee described the spirit as the “hidden part” concealed even within the soul.
Interpretation: In BXL2 the trichotomy is not re-established systematically (as in b2 and b3), but the hierarchy is applied functionally: the spirit is the meeting place with God, the innermost level of human existence.
Mind vs. Spirit: The Practical Distinction
Lee draws an explicit line between exercising the mind (a soul activity) and exercising the spirit as the proper organ for contact with God:
“During this thirty minutes we must forget about knowledge, a message, a movement, or a work, etc. All this must be forgotten and our whole attention given to spending proper and adequate time in the Lord’s presence… For at least thirty minutes each day, we must learn not to exercise our mind too much, but simply to exercise our spirit in pray-reading.”
— Basic Elements of Christian Life, Vol. 2, ch. 1, p. 10
And further:
“We should not appraise our mind and appreciate our understanding so much. We need to be blind men and even fools, simply coming to the Word to exercise our spirit to pray-read. Forget about the old, traditional way!”
— Basic Elements of Christian Life, Vol. 2, ch. 1, p. 10-11
The instruction to pray “from deep within” clarifies which organ is meant:
“With your eyes upon the Word and praying from deep within say, ‘O Lord, In the beginning! Lord, I praise Thee…‘”
— Basic Elements of Christian Life, Vol. 2, ch. 1, p. 10
Interpretation: “From deep within” is Lee’s experiential term for the spirit as distinct from the soul. Exercising the spirit stands opposite to exercising the mind (Col. 3:16 vs. Eph. 5:18). This connects to b3 (BXL1), where Lee described the unbeliever as “one hundred percent fallen” into soulish life — the believer must learn to live from a different organ.
Calling from Deep Within: Contact Method through the Spirit
Lee directly connects calling “from deep within” to the indwelling of Christ in the human spirit:
“Our calling upon the Lord should not be in an objective manner, calling on the Christ who dwells in the heavens, but calling on the Christ who is the Spirit and who dwells within our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22). By calling upon Him from deep within, we will sense the flowing and fellowship of Christ within us.”
— Basic Elements of Christian Life, Vol. 2, ch. 2, p. 15
The anthropological implication: the human spirit is not merely a passive organ but the contact zone where the Holy Spirit and the human spirit meet. Calling “O Lord!” is not an external activity but an inner, spiritual act:
“When we cry in this way to the Lord from deep within, we have a deep inner sense of Christ and His life flowing and moving within us.”
— Basic Elements of Christian Life, Vol. 2, ch. 2, p. 16-17
Interpretation: The formula “calling from deep within” functions as a practical key to the anthropological thesis in b2 and b3: the spirit is the organ for contact with God. BXL2 demonstrates that in daily practice this means: consciously bypassing the mind and calling from the innermost part. Cf. 1 Cor. 6:17: “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.”
True Worship in Spirit (John 4:23-24)
Lee interprets the true worship of John 4:23-24 as an anthropological act that proceeds exclusively through the human spirit:
“But an hour is coming, and it is now, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truthfulness, for the Father also seeks such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness.” (John 4:23-24)
— cited in Basic Elements of Christian Life, Vol. 2, ch. 2, p. 14
Lee then explains what worshipping “in spirit” means in practice:
“The true worship in these verses is not participating in and keeping certain rules, forms, rituals, and regulations, but rather calling upon the Lord from deep within, contacting and fellowshipping with Jesus Christ, the truth and the reality.”
— Basic Elements of Christian Life, Vol. 2, ch. 2, p. 14-15
Interpretation: “In spirit” is for Lee not a metaphor but a precise indication of the organ through which the human being reaches God. This confirms the anthropological statement from b3 (BXL1, ch. 5): “God is Spirit, and we must worship Him in our spirit. We cannot worship or contact Him with the body or with the soul.” BXL2 concretizes this in practice.
The Hidden Life as the Depth-Dimension of the Human Person (Ps. 42:7)
In the third chapter (“Deep Calls Unto Deep”), Watchman Nee develops an anthropology of inner depth based on Ps. 42:7:
“Deep calls unto deep. Only a call from the depths can provoke a response from the depths. Nothing shallow can ever touch the depths, nor can anything superficial touch the inward parts. Only the deep will respond to the deep.”
— Basic Elements of Christian Life, Vol. 2, ch. 3, p. 19
Nee connects this depth-dimension to the distinction between hidden and displayed life, developed through the root metaphor:
“Roots are the hidden life, whereas leaves are the manifest life. The trouble with many Christians is that, while there is much apparent life, there is very little secret life. In other words, there is the lack of a hidden life.”
— Basic Elements of Christian Life, Vol. 2, ch. 3, p. 20
And the conclusion:
“As we extend ourselves deeper and take root downward, we will discover that ‘deep calls unto deep.’ When we can bring forth riches from the depths of our inner life, we will find that other lives will be deeply affected… When deep touches deep, deep will respond to deep.”
— Basic Elements of Christian Life, Vol. 2, ch. 3, p. 25
Interpretation: Nee uses “depth” as an anthropological term for the spiritual life of the human being in distinction from the soulish. The hidden life corresponds to the human spirit as the deepest and innermost part. The displayed life (leaves) corresponds to the soul and body. The theology of the hidden life is thus a practical outworking of the trichotomy.
[TENSION with prior source] In b3 (BXL1), Lee emphasized the necessity of forfeiting the soul as a life-source; Nee in ch. 3 emphasizes preserving and hiding the inner riches. Both, however, support the same structure: the spirit/depth as the true seat of spiritual life.