The Economy of God
 front cover of The Economy of God | |
| Author | Witness Lee |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | The economy of God |
| Genre | Christianity |
| Publisher | Living Stream Ministry |
Publication date | 1968 |
| Publication place | United States of America |
| Pages | 216 |
| ISBN | 0-87083-415-0 |
| OCLC | 39149123 |
The Economy of God, first published in 1968, is one of Witness Lee's principle works and is a compilation of messages he gave in the summer of 1964 in Los Angeles. These messages build on one of Watchman Nee's classics, The Spiritual Man, which reveals that man is composed of three parts-spirit, soul, and body. The Economy of God shows how this understanding of the parts of man tie into the central revelation of the Bible, which is God's economy, God's plan to carry out His heart's desire of imparting Himself into man for His full expression. Lee reveals practical ways for believers to cooperate with God for the fulfillment of God's economy.
"The economy of God" is a quotation from 1 Timothy 1:4, according to the Greek. Economy is the Greek word "oikonomia", which primarily signifies the household management, the household administration, arrangement and distribution, or dispensation.[1] The word "economy" is used with the intention of stressing the focal point of God's divine enterprise, which is to distribute, or dispense, Himself into man.[2]
The key verses are 1 Timothy 1:3-7: "...that you might charge certain ones not to teach different things, nor to give heed to myths and unending genealogies, which produce questionings rather than a dispensation of God (Gk. God's economy) which is in faith. But the end of the charge is love out of a pure heart and out of a good conscience and out of unfeigned faith; from which things some, having misaimed (Gk. missed the mark), have turned aside to vain talking, desiring to be the teachers of the law..."
A mass-distribution edition of this book was published in 2004.
Brief Explanation of the Greek Basis of "The Economy of God"
As noted above, the word "economy" is the anglicized form of the Greek word οἰκονομία (oikonomia). Οἰκονομία signifies the management of a household or of household affairs. Another definition is the management or administration of the property of others and thus can be translated "stewardship" in contexts such as Luke 16:2-4 where οἰκονομία is seen from the perspective of a particular person. (Note that οἰκονομία is often translated "dispensation" which commonly but erroneously is defined as a period of time or epoch.)[3]
The word οἰκονομία is composed of οἶκος, meaning house, and νομός, meaning law.[3] The word νομός can be traced back to the word νέμω, meaning "to distribute among themselves, hence to possess, enjoy, and have in use."[4] Thus οἰκονομία can be defined as the distribution of goods to the members of a household for their possession and enjoyment.
In The Economy of God, Witness Lee reveals that God's economy is to distribute Himself, to dispense Himself, as the "household goods" to His chosen people, as members of His household, to "possess" and "enjoy."[4] Lee progresses from the personal experience of God's economy to the corporate experience of the church as the expression of God on the Earth.[2]
External links
- Living Stream Ministry Publisher of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee
References
- ^ Barnes, Albert. Barnes' Notes on the New Testament. Ed. Ingram Cobbins. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1962. Print.
- ^ Lee, Witness. The Economy of God. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1968. Print.
- ^ Vines, W.E. Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Inc., 1996. Print.
- ^ Liddel, Henry, and Robert Scott. Greek-English Lexicon. New York: Oxford University Press, 1891. Print.