Making Christ Present in China: Actor-Network Theory and the Anthropology of Christianity. By Michel Chambon. London: Palgrave Macmillan, October 26, 2021, 304 pages. ISBN-10: 3030556077; ISBN-13: 978-3030556075. Paperback available on Amazon.
Introduction
Do you ever wonder what daily church life in China is like? We often only get fragmented information, especially from negative events. Michel Chambon’s Making Christ Present in China presents a recent, rigorous and thought-provoking anthropological study of Christianity in China, particularly in the Nanping region of Fujian Province in southeastern China. The author spent 17 months living in and researching religious life in Nanping,1 a third-tier city. Chinese third-tier cities are typically one to three million in population, with moderate per capita GDP compared to larger cities and often retain stronger elements of local culture.
Chambon brings a unique perspective to the study of church life in China. Educated as a Catholic seminarian in central France, he turned to academic studies to serve the church. His research interests focus on the interplay of faith and culture. He completed a master’s degree in theology at the Catholic University of Paris, exploring how Taiwanese Catholics deal with the Chinese belief in ghosts. Due to the rapid church growth among Protestant churches in China, Chambon sought a suitable location where he could spend a full year immersed among a local religious community. Before selecting Nanping, he visited 50 churches across China to identify a suitable location. This fieldwork became the basis for his PhD dissertation.2
Fieldwork and Methodology
Chambon’s extensive fieldwork allowed him to maintain ongoing contact with various Christian churches and other religious groups in Nanping. He also visited Protestant and Catholic churches in other parts of China, such as Zhejiang Province, Guangdong Province, Nanjing, Beijing, and Shanghai. The fieldwork, conducted during 2015-2016, provided a unique perspective on church life in China. In more recent years, this kind of intensive field research has been difficult to do due to increasing restrictions on academic research by foreign researchers and increasing restrictions on Chinese churches. Chambon describes his work as taking place in an “academically ambiguous, religiously complex, and politically sensitive situation.”3
The book has a strong academic flavor, valuable for readers interested in learning more, with numerous references to other sources and descriptions of the theoretical framework used for analyzing the fieldwork results. Chambon merges the analytical observations of a trained anthropologist with sympathetic theological understanding to describe the Christian churches in Nanping and their interaction with the non-Christian society around them. He employed Actor-Network Theory (ANT), developed by social scientists in France, to present a nuanced exploration of how Christianity, as a global faith, manifests locally.4 Chambon explores the interplay of human actors and material agents in shaping Chinese Christianity, challenging traditional Western-centric frameworks and focusing on how Chinese Christians negotiate their faith within a socio-cultural and political landscape often foreign to Christianity.
Navigating Faith and Culture
Chambon’s reflections begin with an important question: How do Chinese Christians navigate their faith within a context shaped by deep ancestral traditions, material symbolism, and political restrictions? By questioning the impact of Christianity on Chinese cultural perceptions and practices, he challenges simplistic narratives and solely relying on Western frameworks. Instead, he examines how Christianity interacts with longstanding Chinese traditions, including beliefs about ghosts, material objects, and religious syncretism. This foundational inquiry resonates with missiological concerns about cultural contextualization and theological authenticity. Chambon highlights how Christianity, historically viewed as foreign, is undergoing localization and becoming a vibrant agent of transformation within Chinese communities.
For instance, Chambon describes the “Christianizing assemblages” in Nanping—diverse networks of believers that create their Christian identity through unique expressions of worship, material culture, and ethical practice. Chambon was in contact with local Christian groups ranging from the Gospel Church (founded by American Methodist missionaries), Little Flock Christian Assemblies, Adventist churches and the True Jesus Church along with Catholic churches.
It is rare to find such a detailed examination of the geographic distribution, local practices, organizational structure, and community outreaches for any church in China. Chambon’s fieldwork reveals the complexity of religious identity, spatial organization, and material mediation in shaping Christianity’s place in contemporary China. Chambon not only researched Nanping Christians in their church buildings and meetings, but followed Nanping Christians outside of their churches in order to examine how they interact with the surrounding society.
The Role of Material Objects in Worship
One of the book’s striking features is its discussion of materiality in Chinese Christianity. Chambon challenges a purely spiritualized view of faith, emphasizing how buildings, crosses, pianos, and even seating arrangements actively shape the spiritual and communal life of believers. He also explores the interaction with traditional Chinese cultural beliefs such as feng shui and belief in ghosts. Chambon argues that Christianity does not emerge solely through human agency but also through material and spatial mediations. He proposes that Christian buildings, often constructed in strategic locations, contribute significantly to shaping believers’ experience and influencing non-Christian communities.
For instance, Chambon explores how church buildings are positioned relative to feng shui principles and local temples, reflecting a dynamic negotiation between Christian and Chinese cosmological views. Additionally, he highlights how these spaces discipline worshippers’ bodies and guide their senses toward religious experiences, demonstrating that materiality plays a crucial role in constructing Christian networks. Chambon’s insights into the agency of objects provoke reflection on the role of sacred spaces and artifacts in fostering worship and discipleship. He gives an example of a “prayer mountain” that is visited several times a year by multiple Christian groups and traces its heritage back to the time of the famous Chinese evangelist John Sung in the 1930s. His exploration of church buildings as “agents” in Christianizing spaces invites churches to consider how physical environments can reinforce theological truths and community identity.
Another fascinating aspect of the book is its exploration of worship practices in Nanping churches. Chambon meticulously describes Pentecostal-style services, rituals of conversion, and the role of pianos—objects present in every church but absent in Chinese temples. His analysis of worship dynamics reveals the centrality of dialogue in Christian rituals, where churchgoers and pastors interact with religious symbols, texts, and musical instruments in a highly structured manner. Interestingly, Chambon contrasts Christian worship spaces with Chinese temples, noting that churches emphasize verticality, enclosed spaces, and structured seating arrangements, while temples promote horizontality and fluid movement. These distinctions, he argues, reflect differing approaches to religious engagement and discipline.
Evangelism Amid Political Sensitivity
Chambon’s fieldwork also reveals the politically sensitive nature of Christianity in China. Chambon’s account of navigating these sensitivities is particularly relevant to contemporary church life and missions in China. The challenges faced by house churches and state-registered congregations illustrate the precarious balance between faithfulness to Christ and submission to governing authorities. Chambon’s detailed account of Nanping’s Gospel Church reveals how Christians have developed creative strategies to engage their communities, such as running elderly care homes that demonstrate the gospel through service.
His discussion of Chinese Christian organizations engaging in elderly care further highlights the intersection of religion and civil society. By running nursing homes, Christians not only demonstrate their commitment to social service but also subtly negotiate their place within Chinese governance structures. Chambon argues that these institutions serve as a form of “political merit-making,” allowing Christians to cultivate relationships with various state agencies while maintaining their religious commitments.
Strengths and Limitations
One of the book’s greatest strengths is its methodological innovation. By integrating ANT, ethnography, and theological inquiry, Chambon provides a fresh perspective on Chinese Christianity that moves beyond simplistic descriptions. His emphasis on material agents expands the discussion of religious practice beyond doctrinal debates, offering a holistic understanding of faith as an embodied and spatially mediated experience.
Additionally, Chambon’s ethnographic fieldwork is extensive and deeply insightful. His engagement with multiple Christian denominations and traditions allows for a broad and comparative analysis. His ability to capture the voices of local Christians, pastors, and officials enriches the book’s narrative, making it both academically rigorous and socially relevant.
Despite its many strengths, Making Christ Present in China does present some challenges. The heavy reliance on ANT, while insightful, may be difficult for readers unfamiliar with theoretical anthropology. Some discussions on material agency and religious networks may feel overly abstract for those seeking a more straightforward historical or sociological account of Christianity in China.
Additionally, Chambon’s use of terms such as “Christianizing assemblages” might require further clarification. While his analysis is sophisticated, readers may struggle with the conceptual intricacies of how Christian networks operate beyond traditional ecclesiastical definitions. A clearer articulation of these theoretical terms in layman’s language could make the book more accessible.
Finally, the book could benefit from a deeper engagement with contemporary Chinese theological debates. While Chambon focuses on anthropological interpretations, further discussion on how Chinese theologians themselves conceptualize Christianity would add another valuable dimension.
Conclusion
Making Christ Present in China is a rich and thought-provoking exploration of Christianity’s intersection with Chinese culture, politics, and materiality. For Christian academics, Chambon’s work is both an affirmation and a challenge: it reaffirms the transformative power of the gospel while challenging us to reconsider how we embody and communicate that message in diverse cultural settings. By unpacking the complex interplay of faith, culture, and practice, Chambon provides a framework for seeking to engage thoughtfully and faithfully with the global church. His ethnographic research provides a rich and multifaceted picture of Christian life in Nanping, revealing the intricate negotiations between believers, the state, and the broader Chinese cultural landscape. His insights into the resilient and adaptive nature of Chinese Christianity illuminate the universal truth that Christ continues to build his church.
This book is a valuable resource for scholars of anthropology, religious studies, and Chinese Christianity. In addition, general readers will also find the detailed descriptions of church life valuable in understanding how Christians live out their faith in today’s Chinese society.
- For more on Nanping, see “Nanping,” Wikipedia, last modified June 28, 2025, accessed July 31, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanping.
- Michel Chambon, Ph.D. diss., Materiality and Christianity in Nanping: Making God Present (Boston University, Department of Anthropology, 2018).
- Michel Chambon, Making Christ Present in China: Actor-Network Theory and the Anthropology of Christianity (Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2020), 14, Kindle edition.
- “Actor–network theory,” Wikipedia, last modified July 16, 2025, accessed July 31, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actor%E2%80%93network_theory.
