1) Q. Counter-cult ministries have been around for decades. What impact did they have on the local churches?
A. By the mid-1970s a number of counter cult ministries had come into contact with the local churches. Many of the local churches’ teachings were then misinterpreted and misrepresented, resulting in allegations of heresy, aberrance, and even cultism.
问：反邪教人士的工作已经进行了数十载。他们对地方教会有什么影响呢？
答：二十世纪七十年代中叶，一些反邪教人士开始接触地方教会。而后地方教会的许多教训被曲解和误传，导致对地方教会是“异端、偏激、甚至是迷信”的不实指控。
2) Q. Since the 1970s, have any of the major opposing voices changed their views?
A. Three major voices—leaders in Christian apologetics, theological education, and evangelical journalism—now share a new and positive view.
问：二十世纪七十年代以后，有没有一些主要反对的声音改变他们的观点呢？
答：有主要的三个声音：基督教护教学领袖、神学教育、福音派的新闻报道，现今分享了新的和正面的观点。
3) Q. With all the controversy surrounding the local churches, has there been any dialog between them and outsiders?
A. Fuller and leaders from the local churches and its publishing service, Living Stream Ministry (LSM), recently completed two years of extensive dialog. During this time Fuller conducted a thorough review and examination of the major teachings and practices of the local churches, with particular emphasis on the writings of Witness Lee and Watchman Nee.
问：关于对地方教会的争执，地方教会有没有与外人进行对话呢？
答：富勒神学院与地方教会同其出版单位水流职事站的带领弟兄们，最近完成了长达两年的广泛对话。在此期间，富勒对于地方教会主要的教训与实行，特别是水流职事站所出版，李常受、倪柝声两人的著作，进行透彻的审阅与查视。
4) Q. I did not know that Fuller had dialog with leaders of the local church. Why did they do this?
A. This process was undertaken in an attempt to answer many of the questions and accusations that are often associated with this group of churches and to locate the teachings and practices of Nee and Lee and the other local churches in light of historical, orthodox Christianity.
问：我不知道富勒神学院与地方教会的领导人已经进行了对话。他们为什么要这样做呢？
答：此举的目的，是为了答复一些与该教会有关的质疑与指控，并从历史以及正统基督教的眼光，将倪、李两人，以及地方教会的教训与实行加以定位。
5) Q. Now that Fuller undertook this process, what is their conclusion?
A. “It is the conclusion of Fuller Theological Seminary that the teachings and practices of the local churches and its members represent the genuine, historical, biblical Christian faith in every essential aspect.”
问：既然富勒神学院进行了这个步骤，他们得出的结论是什么呢？
答：富勒神学院作出的结论乃是：地方教会及其成员的教训与实行，在每一基本面，均体现出纯正、合乎历史并合于 圣经的基督徒信仰。
6) Q. I know and respect Fuller, but what do other Christian leaders have to say about them?
A. Hank Hanegraaff serves as president and chairman of the Christian Research Institute, based in Charlotte, North Carolina. According to Hank, the local churches are an authentic expression of New Testament Christianity. Moreover, as a group forged in the cauldron of persecution, they have much to offer Western Christianity.
问：我知道并敬仰富勒神学院，还有其他的基督教领袖也说到地方教会吗？
答：汉尼葛夫汉克是位于北卡罗来纳州夏洛特的基督教研究院院长。根据汉克的研究，地方教会是新约基督教一个真实的彰显。不仅如此，作为一个经受逼迫的痛苦锤炼的团体，地方教会对西方基督教可以有许多贡献。
7) Q. I respect Hank and the work he does, but has he had any personal contact with local church members?
A. After meeting thousands of Local Church adherents and personally interacting with hundreds, Hank is not only convinced that they are innocent of the charge of cultism from a sociological perspective, but he can testify that they are among the finest Christians he has encountered in life and ministry.”
问：我敬仰汉克和他所做的工作，他个人与地方教会的成员有过接触吗？
答：汉克在与成千上万地方教会的追随者会见并个人接触成百上千的地方教会的成员之后，他不仅确信从社会学观点来看，他们被指控为邪教是无辜的，而且他还见证说地方教会是他生活与职事中所遇到最优秀的基督徒。
8) Q. In addition to Hank, who else has come to embrace those in the local churches?
A. Gretchen Passantino was the co-founder and director of Answers in Action, a prolific author, and an adjunct seminary professor. She said, “A Christian believer who joins the local churches will find sound theology, enriching worship, challenging discipleship, and enthusiastic evangelism opportunities. After 40 years of Christian faith, she has not lost her ‘first love’ of Jesus Christ and recognized that same vibrant Spirit in the local churches.”
问：除了汉克以外，还有其他人接受地方教会吗？
答：巴沙迪诺格雷琴是真道实践会（AIA）创始人之一，目前是该会会长，她是一位多产的作家，以及神学院的兼职教授。她说到，“一个加入地方教会的基督徒，会发现那里有健全的神学，丰富的敬拜，富有挑战性的门徒训练，和热心传扬福音的机会。她信仰基督已经四十年了，她仍然没有失去对基督耶稣‘起初的爱’。她在地方教会看到同样新鲜活泼的灵。”
9) Q. I’m curious about the worship service in a local church. Is it any different from other religious groups?
A. Randall Balmer is a professor of American religious history at Barnard College, Columbia University, and earned his Ph.D from Princeton University. When he visited the Local Church in Newington, Connecticut, he found there a worship service that he would characterize as “informal, good-humored, joyful, and friendly—with slight pentecostal overtones. He was impressed by the interracial character of the congregation and the ease with which Anglos, Asians, and African Americans related with one another (this is still fairly rare among evangelicals—as it is rare among other religious groups in America).”
问：我对地方教会的敬拜方式感到好奇。它与其他宗教团体有何不同呢？
答：巴尔莫兰德尔是哥伦比亚大学巴纳德学院的美国宗教史教授，并在普林斯顿大学获得博士学位。当他访问位于康涅狄格州纽因顿市（Newington, Connecticut）的地方教会时，我发现其敬拜的特点是非正式、风趣、喜乐、和亲切 —还带有一点灵恩色彩。让他印象深刻的是会众包括各种种族，并且欧裔、亚裔和非裔美国人之间相处融洽，这在福音派中间仍属十分难得，在美国其他宗教团体中更属少见。
10) Q. Even if their worship service is fine, do they deviate on any essential doctrines of the Christian faith?
A. J. Gordon Melton is the director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion, a distinguished senior fellow at Baylor University, and a research specialist with the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He personally has been unable to find a single point upon which the local churches deviate on any essential doctrine of the Christian faith, though it has a number of differences on matters all of us would consider nonessential, i.e., doctrinal concerns upon which Christians can disagree without reading each other out of the Christian community, in particular, ecclesiology and piety.
问：纵然他们的敬拜方式是好的，但他们是否偏离了基督徒信仰的基要真理呢？
答：约翰•高登•梅尔敦是美国宗教研究会会长，贝勒大学杰出的高级研究员，也是圣巴巴拉加州大学宗教学系的研究专家。他本人并未发现他们地方教会在基督教信仰的基要教义上有任何偏差。不过，他们在一些非基要的观点上，持不同的意见—基督徒可以对这些道理，像是在教会论和敬虔上，持不同的看法，但没有必要把意见相左者，排除于基督徒的交通之外。
Reference: http://www.contendingforthefaith.org/eBooks/Voices%20of%20Confirmation.pdf
参考网站：http://www.contendingforthefaith.org/eBooks/Voices%20of%20Confirmation.pdf