The chapters in this volume on the nature of Spiritual Authority are drawn from a series of messages delivered by the great Chinese preacher-teacher, Watchman Nee, during a training period for Christian workers in China in 1948.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I picked up this book. I’d heard of Watchman Nee, but I’d never read his works and I didn’t know what approach he would take towards spiritual authority in this book.

I thought this book might be about authority in prayer. I was a bit surprised to discover this book is really about earthly authority/leaders — how should Christians respond to those in authority, who does God put in authority, what qualifies someone to be in authority, what can people in authority expect their lives to be like.

Despite my surprise, the book was fascinating and I learned a ton (I only read a few pages a day to give myself time to meditate on what I’d learned). There were some parts that gave me problems (I never really grasped the concepts so I kept going), but overall I feel like I have a deeper, more biblical understanding of authority/leadership.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone curious about the church structure or leadership among/with Christians. Get your copy here!