Watchman Nee & Witness Lee — Trinitarian Theology
b5 — Basic Elements of Christian Life, Volume 3
Unity of God and Trinity
BXL3 contains once more the 9-point confession, with trinitarian theology formulated in point 2 (p. 42):
“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.” — 9-point confession, point 2, p. 42
Interpretation: The same confession formula as in BXL1 (b3, p. 46) and BXL2 (b4, p. 28). Its repetition in all three BXL volumes confirms its normative, confessional status within the Nee/Lee corpus. The formula affirms: unity (“the only one”), threeness (Father, Son, Spirit), equality (“equally co-existing”) and perichoresis (“mutually coinhering”).
Economic Trinity — Trinitarian Ecclesiology (Eph. 3:14-19)
Chapter 2 “The Way to Build Up the Church” (Witness Lee) develops a trinitarian ecclesiology grounded in Eph. 3:14-19. The three trinitarian persons cooperate in the building up of the church:
“God in Christ as the Holy Spirit spreads Himself outward from our spirit to all the parts of our being. God does not work from the outside, in an inward direction into man, but from man’s spirit He spreads Himself outward in order to permeate and saturate all of man’s inward parts.” — H2, p. 24
“Then the Lord, as the living Spirit, will infill and strengthen our spirit; and spontaneously, Christ will make His home in our heart.” — H2, p. 30
Interpretation: The trinitarian structure is functional-economic: the Father grants strength (Eph. 3:16), Christ makes His home in the heart (Eph. 3:17), and the Spirit strengthens the inner man. Lee identifies “God in Christ as the Holy Spirit” as one movement — a Spirit-Christology that functionally unifies the three persons in the salvific experience. [TENSION with earlier sources]: This formulation is more explicit than in b3 and b4, but consistent with the confession formula found there.
God as Spirit — Ontological Basis for Trinitarian Pneumatology
Chapter 3 “Pray-reading the Word” (Witness Lee) establishes a trinitarian ontological basis for the doctrine of Scripture:
“We know that God is Spirit (John 4:24); the Spirit is God’s essence and nature. God is Spirit (just as a table is wood).” — H3, p. 35
“Since the Word is the breath of God, and God is Spirit, whatever is breathed out of God must be Spirit! So the essence of nature of the Word of God is Spirit.” — H3, p. 35 (on the basis of 2 Tim. 3:16)
Interpretation: Lee connects John 4:24 (“God is Spirit”) with 2 Tim. 3:16 (Scripture is “God-breathed”). From this he derives that the essence of Scripture is the Spirit. This is a trinitarian pneumatological claim: the Father breathes out the Spirit as Word. While primarily a bibliological statement, it grounds a trinitarian logic: God (Father) → breath (Spirit) → Word (Scripture as Spirit-bearer).
Procession of the Spirit
The 9-point confession describes the outpouring of the Spirit as an act of the glorified Christ (p. 43):
“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.” — 9-point confession, point 7, p. 43
Interpretation: The procession of the Spirit is described in functional-economic terms: the Spirit is poured out by Christ — a filioque-like structure. An immanent-trinitarian treatment of the procession is absent. The same confession text appeared also in BXL1 (b3) and BXL2 (b4); its repetition in BXL3 confirms its normative status.