Watchman Nee & Witness Lee — Creation
b5 — Basic Elements of Christian Life, Volume 3
The Two Trees as Two Principles of Living (Gen. 2:9)
Watchman Nee expounds Gen. 2:9 as a parable about two fundamentally different principles by which man may live. The two trees in the garden do not merely represent a historical element of creation but an abiding fork in the road:
“God uses two trees to speak to us in a parable. The tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil are a kind of parable. They show us that man has two different kinds of food and can live either by life or by the knowledge of good and evil, that is, the knowledge of right and wrong.”
— Basic Elements of Christian Life, Vol. 3, ch. 1 (Two Principles of Living)
“God said, ‘Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die’ (Gen. 2:17). Note that ‘good and evil’ are put together here as one way, while ‘life’ is another way. Christians should not just refuse evil; they should even refuse good. There is a standard that is higher than the standard of good; it is the standard of life.”
— Basic Elements of Christian Life, Vol. 3, ch. 1
Interpretation: Nee treats the tree of life as the principle of the Christian life par excellence. The knowledge of good and evil represents religion, law, and human ethics — everything that falls outside of life. This is a creation-theological argument: the two trees determine the cosmic fork for humanity from the very beginning.
The Purpose of Creation as God’s Economy
Witness Lee describes the creation of heaven and earth as instrumental to God’s eternal economic plan. Creation is not autonomous or self-contained but is in service of God’s purpose:
“It is for this purpose that God created the universe with the heavens and the earth. In the center of His creation, God created man as the vessel to contain Himself. God’s intention was to put Himself as life and everything into this man in order to have many sons.”
— Basic Elements of Christian Life, Vol. 3, ch. 2 (The Way to Build Up the Church)
“First, God created us, and then He begot us through regeneration. By creation He brought us into existence, and by begetting us He imparted Himself into us as our life.”
— Basic Elements of Christian Life, Vol. 3, ch. 2
Interpretation: Lee distinguishes two divine acts: creation (creatio) and regeneration (regeneratio). Creation produces the human vessel; regeneration fills it with God’s life. [TENSION with b2 (Economy of God): b2 elaborates the same distinction via the Trinitarian grammar of Gen. 1:26-27.]
Man Created as a Vessel for God
Lee describes the human spirit as the specific created element that distinguishes man from the rest of creation — man is a vessel designed to receive, contain, and express God:
“We are the containers made by God; therefore, He purposely created a spirit within us in order to receive Him, to keep Him, and to express Him. God in Christ as the Holy Spirit spreads Himself outward from our spirit to all the parts of our being.”
— Basic Elements of Christian Life, Vol. 3, ch. 2
“The human spirit is just like the element of a light bulb. Without the element in the bulb, the bulb cannot receive electricity. The bulb must have the element within to be the recipient or the receiver of the electricity, and it is also that same element which enables the bulb to express the electricity.”
— Basic Elements of Christian Life, Vol. 3, ch. 2
Interpretation: This is a functional anthropology from a creation perspective: the spirit is not incidental but constitutes the very purpose of man’s creation. The tripartite structure of spirit-soul-body (cf. 1 Thess. 5:23) is presented as a creation structure.
Eve as a Type of the New Creation from Christ
Lee connects the Eve-type to ecclesiology as new creation. The church is not historically constructed but has sprung from Christ, just as Eve sprang from Adam:
“The church is an entity which comes entirely out of Christ, just as Eve came out of Adam. She was a part of Adam and was taken out of Adam. The new man, which is the church, is a part of Christ and is taken out of Him.”
— Basic Elements of Christian Life, Vol. 3, ch. 2
Interpretation: Lee links the creation of Eve (Gen. 2:21-23) typologically to the new creation in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17). Ecclesiology rests on a creation typology. [TENSION: Nee & Lee emphasize continuity between Adam-Eve and Christ-Church, not discontinuity.]
The Bible as the Tree of Life (Contrasted with the Tree of Knowledge)
In chapter 3, Witness Lee returns to the two-trees schema of Gen. 2 to determine the nature of the Bible:
“The Bible is not the tree of knowledge; it is the tree of life! If we come to the Bible to learn and to understand, we are eating from the tree of knowledge. But if we come to the Bible to taste the Lord, we are eating from the tree of life.”
— Basic Elements of Christian Life, Vol. 3, ch. 3 (Pray-reading the Word)
Interpretation: Lee extends the creation type of Gen. 2:9 into hermeneutics: the two trees become a hermeneutical principle for approaching Scripture. This anchors creation theology in daily spiritual practice.