| Author(s) | Witness Lee |
|---|---|
| Country | United States of America |
| Language | English |
| Subject(s) | Central Revelation of The Bible |
| Genre(s) | Christianity |
| Publisher | Living Stream Ministry |
| Publication date | 1968 |
| Pages | 216 |
| ISBN | 0-87083-415-0 |
| OCLC Number | 39149123 |
The Economy of God, published in 1968, is one of the principal books by Witness Lee, a late Christian preacher. Witness Lee, formally known as Changshou Li, was a Chinese citizen.
The subject of Witness Lee's book is that the central revelation of the Bible is God's economy which is the way God carries out His heart's desire to impart Himself into man for His full expression. Witness Lee reveals practical ways for believers to cooperate with God for the fulfilment of God's eternal purpose.
In the book, "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, housekeeping or arrangement, and distribution or dispensation. 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. The key verses are 1 Timothy chapter one, verses 3 through 7: "...that you might charge certain ones not to teach different things, not 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..."
The same quotation gives authority for the "oikonomia" (housekeeping) practiced by Orthodox bishops, a management power to dispense with the letter of church law, but not of course divine law, so as to satisfy its spirit and purpose; a standard example is the practice of recognising certain non-orthodox forms of baptism so that a convert may proceed immediately to Orthodox chrismation (equivalent to confirmation)