It is an understatement to say that the speaker at Melodyland has a blind spot, which becomes obvious in the way he quotes the Bible. He omits what is in the blind spot and quotes only what he can see. This is due to what we call deductive reasoning. With deductive reasoning, one begins with a premise which he already holds. He then brings it to the Bible, and because he already has the premise, he quotes only what agrees with the premise and omits what disagrees with the premise.
Take for instance 2 Corinthians 3:17: “Now the Lord is the Spirit.” The speaker at Melodyland brings the premise to this verse that Christ cannot be Spirit. He begins with that premise, so he reads it like this: “The Lord is the Spirit,” but all the time he knows in his mind that the Lord here cannot be Christ, because he already has the premise that Christ cannot be the Spirit. This is so even though in this passage the word “Lord” can absolutely be proved to mean Christ. It can be proved beyond the shadow of a doubt to anyone who does not have a blind spot, that in this passage “the Lord” is Christ.
In chapter three, verse 14, Paul says that the veil is taken away by Christ. Then he says in verse 16, “Nevertheless, when it [the heart] shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away.” Is the Lord who takes away the veil in verse 16 different from the Christ who removes the veil in verse 14? Is the Lord who takes the veil away in verse 16 Christ or someone else? Surely the Lord spoken of is Christ. “Now the Lord is the Spirit.” You can only arrive at a different conclusion if you have a big blind spot.
The speaker at Melodyland quoted John 1:1 according to his premise. These are his words: “Witness Lee says the Son is the Father. He is? If the Son is the Father, you’ve got a terrible problem with John 1:1. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was face to face with God. Who was He face to face with?” Then he makes the joke: “A cosmic mirror looking at Himself?” He doesn’t finish quoting John 1:1; he only quotes the first part, which says, “The Word was with God.” The blind spot causes him to omit the last part, which says, “And the Word was God.”
The teacher at Melodyland has no problem with the aspect of the three. He does have a problem with the aspect of one. I have never heard him refer to the aspect of one, although I have heard him speak a number of times. He always refers to the aspect of the three of the Trinity, never to the aspect of the one of the Trinity.
It is the same with Isaiah 9:6: “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Quoting the Melodyland speaker again: “Ah, says Witness Lee-there it is. The everlasting Father is Jesus. He should take some lessons in Hebrew, and he should take some lessons in what the Jews meant when they wrote titles.” I would like to ask why he didn’t give us the lesson in Hebrew. We are open to any lesson that is valid. We will listen to anything that is genuine. Why did he not give us the Hebrew lesson? I am disappointed. And what did the Jews mean when they quoted titles?
I do not know Hebrew, but I can read English. For instance, I have read Isaiah in three volumes by Edward J. Young, a man whose credentials are impeccable in the matter of Hebrew. He was for many years head of the Old Testament Department at Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia, one of the most conservative, fundamental seminaries in the United States. It says on the jacket of his book that he writes not primarily concerning textual problems but with the meaning of the text in view. On the section where it says in Isaiah 9:6, “And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father,” this is what he says:
The thought is that the Child is worthy to bear these names, and that they are accurate descriptions and designations of His being and character. In the Bible the name indicates the character, essence or nature of a person or object. [He is telling us what the speaker at Melodyland failed to tell us concerning the meaning of the title.] When, therefore, it is stated that He shall be called, we are to understand that the following names are descriptive of the Child and deserve to be borne by Him....To maintain with George Adam Smith that the text merely says he will be called, not that he actually will be what the names indicate, would be a gross misunderstanding of the nature of the prophecy, indeed, of the nature of the Biblical language generally.
I would ask, do the words in Isaiah 9:6 mean what they say? Take all the words and ask concerning each one-does it mean what it says? “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.” Does this really mean a child? Or does it have some other meaning in view? Is this really a son, or does it mean something else? “And the government shall be upon his shoulder.” Does this really mean the government, or does this mean a chair, a house, a scroll, or something else? “His name shall be called Wonderful.” Is His name wonderful? “His name shall be called...Counselor.” Is He a counselor to you? It says that He is the Mighty God. Do you believe that? And “the Eternal Father.” Does that mean what it says or not? It does-if you do not have a blind spot. But if you have a blind spot and begin with a preconceived premise, when you get to this point in the verse, you will twist it, turn it, or do something with it to explain it away because you cannot allow it to say what it actually says. “His name shall be called...The Eternal Father.” This means Jesus Christ.
At this point I call the reader’s attention to a little book entitled The Twofoldness of Divine Truth by Robert Govett. He says this:
Two hedges define the road; from two abutments springs the bridge. Does the bird fly with one wing? No-with two. Cut off one and it must forever keep to the surface. Thus does God try His people. Will they trust Him when He affirms that view of truth which runs counter to their temperaments and intellectual bias? or will they trample on one of His sayings in their zeal for the other? The humble, child-like saint will acknowledge and receive both; for his Father, who cannot err, testifies to each alike.
Again he says,
It must not be forgotten or denied that there are continually exhibited within its [the Bible’s] pages truths seemingly opposed to each other. It is the glory of man’s intellect to produce oneness. His aim is to trace different results to one principle, to clear it of ambiguities, to show how, through varied appearances, one law holds. Anything that stands in the way of the completeness of this, he eludes or denies, as something destructive of the glory and of the efficiency of his discovery. But it is not so with God.
This is exactly what the Melodyland speaker does. This is why we say he has a blind spot. He cannot accept the two, which seem like opposing sides, but are in reality two sides of one thing. He simply has to make everything fit. He has to force it into his theological mold. What he cannot make fit he either does not quote, or else wrenches, in order to make it say what his premise already holds. So he either eludes it or denies it.
It is so good to be able to come simply to the Word of God with no premise and derive our premise from within the Word; not to superimpose our premise upon the Word. We love to study the Bible to find out what is in the Bible.
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