Watchman Nee & Witness Lee — Trinitarian Theology
b3 — Basic Elements of Christian Life, Volume 1
Unity of God and Trinity
The doctrinal statement at the end of the volume formulates trinitarian theology as follows:
“God is the only one Triune God—the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit—equally co-existing and mutually coinhering from eternity to eternity.” — Doctrinal statement, point 2, p. 46
Interpretation: The formula combines unity (“the only one”) with trinity (Father, Son, Spirit) and equality (“equally co-existing”). The addition “mutually coinhering” refers to the classical doctrine of perichoresis.
Perichoresis — “Mutually Coinhering”
The doctrinal statement uses the technical term mutually coinhering:
“God is the only one Triune God—the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit—equally co-existing and mutually coinhering from eternity to eternity.” — Doctrinal statement, point 2, p. 46
Interpretation: Coinherence is the English equivalent of the Greek perichoresis and Latin circuminsessio—the mutual indwelling of the three Persons in one another. The formula affirms this as an eternal characteristic of God, not merely a historical-economic datum.
Economic Trinity — Christ as the Life-Giving Spirit
BXL1 develops an economic-trinitarian movement: God → incarnation → death/resurrection → life-giving Spirit:
“In order to accomplish His plan, God first became a man called Jesus Christ (John 1:1, 14). Then Christ died on the cross to redeem man (Eph. 1:7), thus taking away his sin (John 1:29) and bringing him back to God (Eph. 2:13). Finally, in resurrection, He became the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b) so that He could dispense His unsearchably rich life into man’s spirit (John 20:22; 3:6).” — Ch. 1, p. 8
“Jesus Christ came to this earth… He died, was resurrected, and was made a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). Second Corinthians 3:17 says that ‘the Lord [Christ] is the Spirit.‘” — Ch. 5, p. 40
Interpretation: The economic movement has three steps: God as Father who plans, Christ who redeems, and the Spirit who dispenses. BXL1 emphasizes that the resurrection marks the transition from Christ-as-person to Christ-as-life-giving-Spirit.
Spirit Identification with Christ
BXL1 explicitly identifies the Holy Spirit indwelling the believer with Jesus Christ Himself:
“When we are saved, we become God’s temple and have His Spirit indwelling us (1 Cor. 6:17, 19; Rom. 8:9, 11, 16). This Spirit within is not a ‘force’ or a ‘thing,’ but a living person, Jesus Christ Himself (1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor. 3:17; 13:5). Like every living person, He has feelings and attitudes.” — Ch. 2, p. 17
“This is indeed wonderful! Christ is the Spirit, we have a spirit, and these two spirits are joined as one.” — Ch. 5, p. 41
“Now this life-giving Spirit has come into us and is mingled with our spirit, thereby joining us to Him as one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17).” — Ch. 5, p. 40
Interpretation: Lee functionally identifies the risen Christ with the Holy Spirit. This is a characteristic of his Spirit-Christology: the distinction between the second and third Persons of the Trinity is not emphasized for practical faith experience. This position raises questions in relation to the classical distinction of Persons.
Procession of the Spirit
The doctrinal statement describes the outpouring of the Spirit as follows:
“After His ascension Christ poured out the Spirit of God to baptize His chosen members into one Body. Today this Spirit moves on the earth to convict sinners, to regenerate God’s chosen people by imparting into them the divine life, to dwell in the believers of Christ for their growth in life, and to build up the Body of Christ for His full expression.” — Doctrinal statement, point 7, p. 47
“The Lord is not only rich, but also near and available, because He is the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b). As the Spirit, He is omnipresent.” — Ch. 4, p. 34
Interpretation: The procession of the Spirit is described here in functional-economic terms: the Spirit is poured out by Christ (a filioque-like structure), not through immanent-trinitarian categories. An explicit treatment of the filioque or the immanent procession is absent.