Watchman Nee & Witness Lee — Doctrine of God
b1 — The All-inclusive Christ
God’s Eternal Plan — The Center
Passage 1 — The center of God’s eternal plan (ch. 1):
“The center of the Old Testament is the temple within the city.”
Source: Nee/Lee, The All-inclusive Christ, ch. 1 (“The Center of God’s Eternal Plan”).
Note: Lee locates God’s plan not in abstract attributes but in a concrete goal: a land with a temple (God’s house) and a city (God’s kingdom). This is his starting point for all theological reflection in this work.
Passage 2 — God’s mind and intention (ch. 1):
“In God’s mind is this piece of land with its temple and city.”
Source: Nee/Lee, The All-inclusive Christ, ch. 1.
Note: Lee speaks of God’s “mind” — a personal, intentional being who thinks and pursues a goal. God’s thoughts are not abstract but directed toward a concrete cosmic object.
Passage 3 — God’s eternal purpose (ch. 1):
“The land is the goal, the land is the aim, the land is the eternal purpose of God.”
Source: Nee/Lee, The All-inclusive Christ, ch. 1.
Note: The threefold repetition (“goal … aim … eternal purpose”) underscores the immovability of God’s will. Lee presents the “land” (typologically: Christ; ecclesiologically: the church) as the endpoint of God’s economy (oikonomia).
Passage 4 — God’s action as recovery (chs. 1–2):
“God wanted to recover the land and do something upon it. God came in to work; God began to recover the earth.”
Source: Nee/Lee, The All-inclusive Christ, chs. 1–2 (creation as recovery from Gen. 1).
Note: Lee reads Gen. 1 as a recovery work (chaos → order), presenting God as an active subject. God’s omnipotence appears here as creative and restorative power.
Passage 5 — Creation in God’s image (ch. 2):
“Then on this land which was full of life, man was created according to the image of God, having the likeness of God, and to this man was committed God’s authority.”
Source: Nee/Lee, The All-inclusive Christ, ch. 2.
Note: God’s “image” and “authority” are the two marks carried forward through man into creation — God’s being expresses itself through His representative.
God’s Presence and Authority
Passage 6 — Temple and city as dual centers (ch. 3):
“The temple is the center of God’s presence, and the city is the center of God’s authority. God’s presence and God’s authority could only be realized by the temple and the city built upon that piece of land.”
Source: Nee/Lee, The All-inclusive Christ, ch. 3.
Note: Lee distinguishes two aspects of God’s relation to creation: His presence (immanence) represented by the temple, and His rule (authority/kingdom) represented by the city. Both are inseparable.
Passage 7 — God’s house and kingdom (ch. 3):
“The city is the center of God’s authority, God’s kingdom, and the temple is the center of God’s house, God’s dwelling place.”
Source: Nee/Lee, The All-inclusive Christ, ch. 3.
Note: God’s “dwelling place” is a core category in Lee’s doctrine of God: God seeks a house in His creation. This is the immanence side of his theology proper.
Passage 8 — God’s purpose encompasses house and kingdom (chs. 3–4):
“When the people of God enjoy this land to a certain extent, something comes into existence — the authority of God and the presence of God, or, in other words, the kingdom of God and the house of God.”
Source: Nee/Lee, The All-inclusive Christ, chs. 3–4.
Note: Lee connects God’s presence and authority to the progression of God’s people in enjoying Christ. God’s plan realizes itself through His people.
God’s Care and Watchfulness
Passage 9 — God’s watchful eye (ch. 5, citing Deut. 11:12):
“A land which Jehovah thy God careth for. The eyes of Jehovah thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.”
Source: Nee/Lee, The All-inclusive Christ, ch. 5 (citing Deut. 11:12).
Note: Lee uses Deut. 11:12 to illustrate God’s unceasing attention — God’s omniscience and care are presented not abstractly but as personal and continuous: “from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.”
Passage 10 — God seeking after His people (ch. 5):
“God is seeking after this piece of good land. What God is seeking after is this piece of good land.”
Source: Nee/Lee, The All-inclusive Christ, ch. 5.
Note: Lee presents God as an actively seeking being — God’s purposefulness and desire for fellowship are the driving force behind His saving economy.
Passage 11 — God’s presence as experience (ch. 5):
“You will realize that you are one after whom God is seeking and one for whom God is caring. Because you are practically joined with Christ, you will not only experience Christ as the living water, but you will enjoy the presence of God.”
Source: Nee/Lee, The All-inclusive Christ, ch. 5.
Note: God’s immanence for Lee is not merely ontological but experiential: the believer who possesses Christ experiences the reality of God’s presence. This connects pneumatology and theology proper.
God’s Infinite Nature and Incarnation
Passage 12 — God’s infinity versus incarnation (ch. 6):
“O Lord, Thou art the infinite God, but Thou didst become a finite man.”
Source: Nee/Lee, The All-inclusive Christ, ch. 6.
Note: Lee acknowledges the tension between God’s transcendence (infinity) and His immanence in the incarnation (finitude). This passage touches the immutability question: how the infinite God became finite.
Passage 13 — God’s purpose: an all-inclusive Christ (ch. 4):
“God’s purpose is not just that we enjoy Christ a little, but that He should be the all-inclusive One to us.”
Source: Nee/Lee, The All-inclusive Christ, ch. 4.
Note: Lee presents God’s intention as total and absolute: not a partial revelation but a complete (all-inclusive) manifestation of God’s being in Christ. This touches the doctrine of the fullness of God (pleroma).