Understanding Watchman Nee: Spirituality, Knowledge, and Formation

Understanding Watchman Nee is a ground-breaking scholarly studies on Watchman Nee's spirituality and spiritual theology. It is done in close conversations with some significant voices in the history of Christian spirituality. Such interactions reveal that Nee's crucial theological convictions exhibit strong parallels with related themes found in the church's spiritual or mystical treasures. This book also responds to some unsympathetic critics of Nee, and convincingly contends for the significance and practicality of Nee's spiritual teachings for contemporary believers. This book is valuable for students, teachers, scholars, pastors, and others who are interested in the theology and practice of Christian spiritual and intellectual formations.

        In this book Dongsheng John Wu examines Watchman Nee's thought on the spiritual life, focusing on the relationship between spiritual knowledge and spiritual formation. Different ways of acquiring spiritual understanding are explored, including the respective roles of divine illumination, intellectual studies, and life circumstances. This book begins by synthesizing strategic aspects of Nee's teachings, as well as formative events and influential sources in the development of Nee's own spirituality and theology. It then utilizes the critical work of contemporary theologian Mark McIntosh to bring Nee's voice into dialogue with some important figures in the Christian spirituality history. This book situates Nee's view within the rich heritage of the Protestant, Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox spiritual traditions, and thus renders Nee's thought more intelligible to Christians of both evangelical and more liberal persuasions.

        This book would be helpful for evangelical believers to re-source their own spiritual legacy as well as to re-evaluate the mystical strand of the broad Christian tradition. It would also facilitate the building of the bonds of love among various communities of Christians.

        The following is taken from the book's Foreword by Arthur Holder (Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs, John Dillenberger Professor of Christian Spirituality, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California):

"Dongsheng John Wu's work is an excellent example of the best interdisciplinary work now being done in the field of Christian spirituality. . . .

Readers of many different backgrounds and interests who come to this study with an open mind will find themselves invited into a deeper appropriation of the cruciform way of discipleship, the mysterious truth at the heart of the universe, and the abundant life that is God's gift to humankind."