Ed sent me these comments on behalf of Dave Hunt in their beliefs against Watchman Nee's Latent Power of the Soul, when they respond to a questioner at Dave Hunt's site.
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Originally Posted by Ed
Question: I've read and enjoyed many of Watchman Nee's books but The Latent Power of the Spirit has me concerned. He says that Adam and Eve originally had soul or mind powers that would seem supernatural to us; that these powers were “immoblized” by the Fall and now lie dormant within us, their descendants; and that the disobedient “release” of these latent powers through occult techniques produces psychic phenomena. What do you think?
Answer: We don't believe this particular view of Watchman Nee’s is scriptural. Here is our perspective regarding what the Bible teaches concerning the important subject of psychic power:
1. Man was made in God’s “image” (Gn 1:26-27). An image is reflected in something such as a mirror. Being like a mirror of God’s glory, man was intended to reflect a reality other than his own. It is just as absurd for a man as it would be for a mirror to try to develop a “good self-image”! If the reflection is distorted, it is because the mirror is no longer in a right relationship with the one whose image it is to reflect. There is only one possible solution: to correct this relationship. Self-image and self-acceptance and self-love psychology turns a person to himself rather than to God, where the solution lies. Man is totally dependent upon God, having been created to reflect the character of God, and not some goodness or power of his own. This would seem to argue against any “latent” psychic powers as well.
How Hunt's words here argue against any latent psychic power the evil spirit tries to access is unclear. Watchman Nee would not disagree with what Dave Hunt said except the part about the non-existence of the latent power of the soul. Thus, the danger with Hunt is denying this power exists that the evil spirit tries to harness in man. To deny it is to be deceived by it.
The Christian’s Attitude
These miraculous phenomena in religion and science are but the manifestation of man’s latent power which in turn is used by the evil spirit. They all follow one common rule: to break through the bonds of the flesh and release the power of the soul. The difference between us (the Christians) and them lies in the fact that all our miracles are performed by God through the Holy Spirit. Satan makes use of man’s soul force to manifest his strength. Man’s soul power is Satan’s working instrument, through which he works out his evil end.
God, though, never works with man’s soul power, for it is unusable to Him. When we are born again, we are born of the Holy Spirit. God works by the Holy Spirit and our renewed spirit. He has no desire to use soul power. Since the fall God has forbidden man to again use his original power of the soul. It is for this reason that the Lord Jesus often declares how we need to lose our soul life, that is, our soul power. God wishes us today not to use this soul power at all.
We cannot say that all the wonders performed in the world are false; we have to acknowledge that many of them are real. But all these phenomena are produced by the latent power of the soul after Adam’s fall. As Christians we must be very careful in this last age not to stir up soul’s latent energy either purposely or unwittingly.
Let us return again to the Scriptures read at the beginning. We notice that at the end of the age the particular work Satan and the evil spirits under him will do is to trade in man’s soul power. The aim is simply to fill this world with the latent power of the soul. One correspondent to the Overcomer magazine made the following comparison: "the forces of psyche (soul) arrayed against the forces of pneuma (spirit)." [As quoted in Penn-Lewis, Overcomer magazine for 1921-23, quoted in Mrs. Jessie Penn-Lewis, Soul and Spirit. Poole, Dorset, England, Overcomer Literature Trust, 1968?, p.55. Also available in the United States from Christian Literature Crusade, Fort Washington, Pa.]
All who have spiritual insight and sensitivity know the reality of this statement. Soul power is rushing towards us like a torrent. Making use of science (psychology and parapsychology), religion, and even an ignorant church (in her seeking excessively supernatural manifestations and in her not controlling supernatural gifts according to the guidance of the Bible), Satan is causing this world to be filled with the power of darkness. Yet this is but Satan’s last and final preparation for the manifestation of the Antichrist. Those who are truly spiritual (that is, those who reject soul power) sense all around them the acceleration of opposition from the evil spirits. The whole atmosphere is so darkened that they find it hard to advance. Nevertheless this is also God’s preparation for the rapture of the overcomers.
We need to understand what soul power is and what this force of the soul can do. Let me say that before the Lord’s return similar things to these will be greatly increased, perhaps even more than a hundredfold. Satan will perform many astonishing feats by utilizing this soul power so as to deceive God’s elect.
We are now drawing nearer to the time of great apostasy. "The momentum is increasing rapidly," observed Mrs. Penn-Lewis. "The hand of the Arch enemy of God and man is on the helm, and the world is rushing to the dark hour, when, for a brief period, Satan will actually be the ‘god of this age’, ruling through a superman whose ‘parousia’ (appearance) cannot long be delayed." [Penn-Lewis, op. cit., p.69.]
What is soul power? By going to the Scriptures and under the illumination of the Holy Spirit believers ought to realize that this power is so hellish as to spread over all nations on earth and to turn the whole world into chaos.
Satan is now engaging this soul power to serve as a substitute for God’s gospel and its power. He tries to blind people’s hearts, through the marvel of soul force, into accepting a bloodless religion. He also uses the discoveries of psychic sciences to cast doubt upon the value of supernatural occurrences in Christianity—causing people to consider the latter as likewise being nothing but the latent power of the soul. He aims at substituting Christ’s salvation with psychic force. The modern attempt to change evil habits and bad temperaments by hypnosis is a forerunner to this objective.
The children of God can be protected only by knowing the difference between spirit and soul. If the deeper work of the cross is not applied to our Adamic life and by the Holy Spirit a real life union is effected with the Resurrected Lord, we may unwittingly develop our soul power.
It may be helpful here to quote again from Mrs. Penn-Lewis.
‘Soul-force’ versus ‘Spirit-force’ is the battleground today. The Body of Christ is by the energy of the Holy Spirit within her, advancing heavenward. The atmosphere of the world is thickening with psychic currents behind which are massed the aerial foes. The only safety for the child of God is an experimental knowledge of the life in union with Christ wherein he dwells with Christ in God, above the poisonous air in which the prince of the power of the air carries on his work. The Blood of Christ for cleansing. The Cross of Christ for identification in death. The Power of the Risen Ascended Lord by the Holy Ghost, continually declared, laid hold of and wielded, will alone bring the members of the Body through in victory to join the Ascended Head. [Penn-27]
My hope for today is that you may be helped to know the source and the operations of the latent power of the soul. May God impress us with the fact that where soul force is, there also is the evil spirit. We must not use the power which comes from us, rather must we use the power which proceeds from the Holy Spirit. May we especially deny the latent power of the soul, lest we fall into Satan’s hand. For the soul’s power has, through Adam’s sin, already fallen under the dominion of Satan and has become the latter’s working instrument. We therefore need to exercise great caution against Satan’s deception.
Adam’s Authority and Physical Prowess
"And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them: and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth" (Gen. 1.27,28). Have dominion over the earth, says God.
Friends, have you ever thought how immense the earth is? Suppose a master asks a servant to manage two houses. He makes the appointment on the basis of the latter’s ability to take care of them. No one servant is able to handle all the houses located on a given lane, for he cannot do what is beyond his ability. A hard master may demand his servant to do a little more than his duty requires, but never will he demand his servant to undertake anything beyond his ability. Would God, then, ask Adam to do what he was incapable of doing? We can therefore conclude that if Adam was capable of managing the earth, his prowess was most certainly superior to ours today. He had power, ability, and skill. He received all of these abilities freshly from the Creator.
Although we may not rate Adam’s power as being a billion times over ours, we can nonetheless safely reckon it to be a million times over ours. Else he would not have been able to perform the duty commanded him of God. As for us today, though, if we were required to merely sweep a lane three times daily, we would not be able afterwards to straighten our back. How then could we possibly rule the earth? Yet Adam not only ruled the earth but he also had dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, and every living thing on the earth. To rule is not just to sit by doing nothing. It requires management and work. From a seeing of this we should recognize the superior power which Adam in fact possessed. It far exceeds our present situation.
But do you think that this insight is something new? Actually this is the teaching of the Bible. Before his fall Adam had such strength that he never felt tired after work. It was only after his fall that God told him, "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread."
Adam’s Brain Power and Memory
"And out of the ground Jehovah God formed every beast of the field, and every bird of the heavens; and brought them unto the man to see what he would call them; and whatsoever the man called every living creature, that was the name thereof" (Gen. 2.19). My friends, is this not marvelous? Suppose you were to take a dictionary and to read all the names of the animals; would you not confess that you could neither recognize nor memorize them all? Yet Adam gave names to all the birds and animals. How intelligent he must have been! Those of us who are not so brilliant would no doubt soon give up the study of zoology once we saw our inability to memorize all the details. But Adam was not one who memorized these zoological names; he was the denominator, for he gave names to all. Hereby do we know how rich and perfect was Adam’s rational power.
Adam’s Managerial Power
"And Jehovah God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it" (Gen. 2.15). From looking into how Adam governed the earth let us now dwell somewhat on the things which God charged him to do. God commanded him to dress the garden of Eden. This needed to be done systematically. How big was the garden? Genesis 2.10-14 mentions four rivers; namely, Pishon, Gihon, Hiddekel and Euphrates. They all flowed from Eden and divided into four river regions. Can you imagine now how big the garden was? How strong must Adam be to be charged with dressing a land which was surrounded by four rivers! He was not only to dress it but also to keep it; to keep the garden from being invaded by the enemy. Therefore the power which Adam had in that day must have been tremendous. He must have been a man with astounding ability. All his powers were inherent in his living soul. We may look upon Adam’s power as supernatural and miraculous, but so far as Adam was concerned these abilities were not miraculous but human, not supernatural but natural.
Did Adam use up all his powers on that day? From what can be seen in our study of Genesis, he had not exhausted his power. For after he was newly created by God, but before he could manifest all his abilities, he fell.
What was the bait which the enemy used in enticing Eve? What did the enemy promise her? It was this: "In the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil" (Gen. 3.5). "Be as God" was the enemy’s promise. He told Eve that not withstanding the power which she already possessed there was still a great chasm between her and God, but that if she ate this fruit she would then have God’s authority, wisdom, and power. And on that day Eve was tempted and fell.
The Power God Gave to Adam
We are not, by our probing in this fashion, being inordinately curious; we only desire to know what God actually gave to Adam. "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" (Gen. 1.26). The words "image" and "likeness" may seem to be alike in meaning and may therefore appear repetitious. But in Hebrew the word "image" does not point to physical likeness, rather it denotes moral or spiritual similarity. Someone has put it as: "change into likeness"; that is, "to be conformed to a likeness". The purpose in God creating man is for man to be transformed according to His image. God wanted Adam to be like Him. The devil said, "Ye shall be as God." But God’s original intention was that Adam should be transformed to become like Him.
From this we conclude that before the fall Adam had in him the power to become like God. He possessed a hidden ability which made it possible for him to become like God. He was already like Him in outward appearance, but he was ordained by God to become like Him morally (I use the word "morally" to indicate that which is above the material, not what merely points to man’s good behavior). Thus are we shown how much loss mankind has suffered through the fall. The magnitude of the damage is probably beyond our imagination.
The Fall of Man
Adam is a soul. His spirit and body are joined in his soul. That astonishing power which we have just mentioned is present in Adam’s soul. In other words, the living soul, which is the result of the coming together of the spirit and the body, possesses unthinkable supernatural power. At the fall, though, the power which distinguishes Adam from us is lost. Yet this does not mean there is no longer such power; it only denotes that though this ability is still in man, it is nonetheless "frozen" or immobilized. According to Genesis 6, after the fall man becomes flesh. The flesh envelops the whole being and subjugates him. Man was originally a living soul; now, having fallen, he becomes flesh. His soul had been meant to submit to the spirit’s control; now it is subject to the dominion of the flesh. Hence the Lord said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man for ever, for that he also is flesh" (Gen. 6.3). When God here mentioned man, He called him flesh, for in His eyes that was now what he was. Consequently it is recorded in the Bible that "all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth" (Gen. 6.12); and again, "upon the flesh of man shall it (the holy anointing oil, representing in type the Holy Spirit) not be poured" (Ex. 30.32); and further, "by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified in His sight" (Rom. 3.20).
Why do I dwell at some length on this? In Revelation 18 things are mentioned which shall come to pass in the last days. I indicated at the very beginning how man’s soul will become a commodity in Babylon—that which can be sold and bought. But why is man’s soul treated as a commodity? Because Satan and his puppet the Antichrist wish to use the human soul as an instrument for their activities at the end of this age. When Adam fell in the garden of Eden his power was immobilized. He had not lost this power altogether, only it was now buried within him. He had become flesh, and his flesh now enclosed tightly this marvelous power within it. Generation has succeeded generation with the result that this primordial ability of Adam has become a "latent" force in his descendants. It has turned to become a kind of "hidden" power. It is not lost to man, it is simply bound up by the flesh.
Today in each and every person who lives on earth lies this Adamic power, though it is confined in him and is not able to freely express itself. Yet such power is in every man’s soul just as it was in Adam’s soul at the beginning. Since today’s soul is under siege by the flesh, this power is likewise confined by the flesh. The work of the devil nowadays is to stir up man’s soul and to release this latent power within it as a deception for spiritual power. The reason for my mentioning these things is to warn ourselves of the special relationship between man’s soul and Satan in the last days.
We have already seen how Adam possessed special supernatural ability, though in actuality what he had was not at all special or supernatural, however much it may appear that way to us today. Before his fall Adam could quite naturally exercise this ability with ease, since it was embodied in his soul. But after his fall, this power of his was interned by his body. Formerly the body was a help to Adam’s powerful soul; now the soul had fallen, and his power was circumscribed by the shell of the flesh. Satan, however, attempts to break open this fleshly shell and to release the power dormant in man’s soul in order to gain control over man. Many do not understand this strategy, being deceived into accepting it as of God.
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2. Satan’s promise to Eve that she could “become like God” would have had no meaning to her if she already had godlike powers within herself. Furthermore, we know that this promise was a lie, which would argue against the possibility of such powers being acquired then or now.
Watchman Nee never said "godlike powers" when referring to the power of the soul, but that man had great managerial responsibility over earth given to him by God for which a certain power capable enough is needed to manage. What Satan was proposing was not mere managerial responsibility in the power of the soul given to man, but something far more to "become like God." Furthermore, these powers weren't acquired then or now, but it comes with man being made in God's image, after His likeness.
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3. If Adam, the first man, had psychic powers before he sinned, then surely Jesus, the Second Man, who was without sin, would have displayed these powers, which He did not. He always said that He himself was not doing the works, but His Father was doing them through Him. In John 1:47-51, when Jesus told Nathanael that He had seen him “under the fig tree” when this had been physically impossible, Nathanael acknowledged this as evidence that Jesus was the Son of God. Christ accepted that recognition. He didn’t assure Nathanael that this was a display of “clairvoyance” made possible by the psychic powers that reside in all men. Much less did he encourage Nathanael or anyone else to develop psychic powers, as many church leaders now recommend.
Nee said, "Satan is now engaging this soul power to serve as a substitute for God’s gospel and its power." So Jesus is not engaging soul power, but rather spirit power, doing the will of His Father, receiving revelation from His Father. Yes, Adam had a strong mind of his soul with great responsibility with likeness, but it has fallen. God wants man to walk by the spirit, not by the soul, because it is fallen. The the mind of the soul is to aid the spirit, not to usurp it. I fear Hunt knows nothing of the dividing of his own spirit, soul and body to walk by the spirit. Therefore, he should read The Spiritual Man (white cover only). Nee writes,
The Lord’s Example
"Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father doing: for what things soever he doeth, these the Son also doeth in like manner" (John 5.19). The Son can do nothing of Himself. In other words, of all the things which the Lord has done, not a single one of them is done by Himself. This is our Lord’s continual attitude. He does nothing by His own power or according to His own idea. Whatever would come from Him is what He denies to do. Yet is there anything wrong with His soul? Is not His soul power quite usable? Since He has not the slightest trace of sin, it would not be sinful for Him to use His soul power. Nonetheless, He affirms that the Son can do nothing of Himself. If such a holy and perfect Lord as He refuses to use His own power, how about us?
The Lord is so perfect, yet His whole life is one which depends helplessly and hopelessly on God. He comes to the world to do the Father’s will in all things. We who are but a speck of dust are really nothing. We must set aside psychic force and deny whatever comes from the soul before we can work with spiritual force and bear much fruit. May God bless us.
The greatest advantage in knowing the difference between spirit and soul is in perceiving the latent power of the soul and in understanding its falsification of the power of the Holy Spirit. Such knowledge is not theoretical but practical in helping people to walk in God’s way.
Just last night I was reading what F. B. Meyer once said in a meeting shortly before his earthly departure. Here is a section of it: "This is an amazing fact that never has there been so much spiritualism outside the church of Christ as is found today . . . Is it not factual that in the lower part of our human nature the stimulation of the soul is quite prevailing? Nowadays the atmosphere is so charged with the commotion of all kinds of counterfeit that the Lord seems to be calling the church to come to a higher ground." Today’s situation is perilous. May we "prove all things; hold fast that which is good" (1 Thess. 5.21). Amen.
We have already seen how Adam was endued with unusual and astonishing abilities when he was created by God. These seemingly miraculous powers fell together with Adam. People who are ignorant tend to think that at his fall Adam lost all of his wonderful powers. But the evidences produced by modern parapsychology indicate that Adam had not lost his original power, only that he had it hidden in his soul. During the past five or six thousand years, there have been quite a few among unbelievers who were able to demonstrate this soul force. Within the last one hundred years, more and more people are capable of manifesting this latent power of the soul. Adam’s original ability has not been lost, it is merely hidden away in his flesh. In this portion of the message I will speak on the relation between this latent psychic power and a Christian. Unless we know its danger we will not know how to guard against it. I invite you to observe especially the following four facts. (See Chapter 2, Latent Power of the Soul.)
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4. The only supernatural powers that Christians are to exhibit are called “gifts of the Spirit.” It is evident that they do not result from some latent power within man that has been awakened, but that man has once again become, through the Holy Spirit, a channel of God’s life and image. Man is like a TV set, a receiver and reflector of content from outside itself. This analogy fits 1 Corinthians 12:7, which calls the display of these miraculous gifts a “manifestation” of the Holy Spirit. Clearly, then, it is not a manifestation of anything that man can call his own.
Dave Hunt misunderstands what is meant by latent power. Latent power is the misuse of such original abilities given to Adam. Because they have been smothered by the flesh, they are latent and not to be accessed. God's way is for man to walk by his spirit, not his soulical dormant powers.
To repeat, Nee did say:
Let us return again to the Scriptures read at the beginning. We notice that at the end of the age the particular work Satan and the evil spirits under him will do is to trade in man’s soul power. The aim is simply to fill this world with the latent power of the soul.... "The forces of psyche (soul) arrayed against the forces of pneuma (spirit)." All who have spiritual insight and sensitivity know the reality of this statement. Soul power is rushing towards us like a torrent. Making use of science (psychology and parapsychology), religion, and even an ignorant church (in her seeking excessively supernatural manifestations and in her not controlling supernatural gifts according to the guidance of the Bible), Satan is causing this world to be filled with the power of darkness. Yet this is but Satan’s last and final preparation for the manifestation of the Antichrist. Those who are truly spiritual (that is, those who reject soul power) sense all around them the acceleration of opposition from the evil spirits. The whole atmosphere is so darkened that they find it hard to advance. Nevertheless this is also God’s preparation for the rapture of the overcomers.
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5. It would follow that the display of supernatural powers by psychics, shamans, etc., that are not gifts of the Spirit coming to man on the conditions of repentance, redemption, faith, and obedience set forth in Scripture, must then be the manifestation of another spirit of a demon, or Satan himself, according to the Bible.
Of course, as Nee would agree.
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6. The following examples from the Bible illustrate these two possibilities:
a. Samson manifested supernatural power which was clearly not his own. It was not muscular development that enabled him to rip the entire gate and the posts supporting it right out of a city wall and carry it to the top of a hill! This was “spiritual” power displayed through a man, and it came from God.
b. The man possessed with demons in Mark 5:2-13 broke iron chains like thread. Certainly this again was beyond the capability of flesh and blood. It was the manifestation of spiritual power, but in this case from demons.
(a) God is giving Samson supernatural "spiritual" strength with strength resident in Samson (not by magic) accessed by the Holy Spirit according to God's desire.
(b) The evil supernatural is using man's latent power of his soul (not by magic).
When the term "latent" is used, it is referring to misuse.
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7. That Satan has great power is evident from the Book of Job. It is also clear that his power can only be displayed upon earth within bounds that God sets in individual cases. No doubt the degree to which a person turns his back upon God and deliberately steps into the occult determines the amount of psychic power that demons can manifest through him and also the control that Satan is able to exert over him.
I think Hunt contradicts himself because above he says there isn't "any 'latent' psychic powers"; but here, he says, there is an "amount of psychic power that demons can manifest through him and also that Satan is able to exert over him."
I would like to point out this doubletalk seems to exist in other areas by Dave Hunt, because he sells books by Calvinists, such as Spurgeon, who falsely teach total depravity and other parts of TULIP, yet Dave Hunt writes a book against Calvinism. I find this to be contradictory behavior. Incidentally, Watchman Nee was an OSAS Arminian. And Ed tries to marry the unsaved Witness Lee to Watchman Nee, claiming there is some false teaching shared by both. I am not sure what that is, but there exists the 6 Major Sins of Leeism which Watchman Nee never taught. Witness Lee was a calvinist, that is, he taught total depravity, like Spurgeon does.
I believe this is breaking the ten commandments: do not bear false witness!
