Angus Kinnear (–2002)

Ever since his writings and the facts of his situation became widely known in the late 'fifties Watchman Nee has been for many in the West a symbol of Christian faithfulness under totalitarian pressure. Of his story, however, little has been made known, partly because his friends saw the need for the message of his books to stand on its merits unaided by emotional appeal to his sufferings, and partly from fear of People's Government retaliation upon him and those Christian leaders of his generation still living. But meanwhile the information vacuum began to be filled with a Nee mythology of torture and mutilation and of "prison epistles" smuggled out by converted warders who, when executed for this, were at once replaced by more warders bearing out further Christian messages from his prolific pen. In fact, however, aside from one or two brief thank-you letters, no significant writing by Watchman Nee dating from after his imprisonment in 1952 is known to exist. It is a most reviving story in which Nee's significance as a spiritual pioneer shines out. The account of this man's spiritual pilgrimage is a major contribution to the annals of the defiant Christian faith.… (more)