Part of Series
Volume 47 of The Collected Works is composed of two books by Watchman Nee on the subject of the church and authority in the church. The Orthodoxy of the Church is based on a Bible study conducted by Watchman Nee during the period between 1942 and 1948. This section of Volume 47 has been previously published as a separate title. Authority and Submission, based on a series of messages given by Watchman Nee in his training at Kuling Mountain in 1948 through 1949, contains two distinct but related parts. In 1988 the Living Stream Ministry published the first part under the title Authority and Submission, covering the general subject of spiritual authority and submission. Volume 47 of The Collected Works includes a second, previously untranslated part, covering the matter of being God’s deputy authority.
Author
Watchman Nee (Chinese: 倪柝聲; pinyin: Ní Tuòshēng; Foochow Romanized: Ngà̤ Táuk-sĭng; 1903–1972) was a Chinese Christian author and church leader during the early 20th century. He spent the last 20 years of his life in prison and was severely persecuted by the Communists in China. Together with Wangzai, Zhou-An Lee, Shang-Jie Song, and others, Nee founded The Church Assembly Hall, later which would be also known as the "Local churches" (Chinese: 地方教會). or more commonly as (聚會所) meaning "assembly hall" Born into a Methodist family, Watchman Nee experienced a religious revival, and joined the Church of Heavenly Peace, Fuzhou in 1920 at age 17 and began writing in the same year. In 1921, he met the British missionary M. E. Barber, who was a great influence on him. Through Miss Barber, Nee was introduced to many of the Christian writings which were to have a profound influence on him and his teachings. Nee attended no theological schools or Bible institutes. His knowledge was acquired through studying the Bible and reading various Christian spiritual books. During his 30 years of ministry, beginning in 1922, Nee traveled throughout China planting churches among the rural communities and holding Christian conferences and trainings in Shanghai. In 1952 he was imprisoned for his faith; he remained in prison until his death in 1972.
