Andrew T. Kaiser, author of Voices from the Past: Historical Reflections on Christian Missions in China, The Rushing on of the Purposes of God: Christian Missions in Shanxi since 1876, and Encountering China: The Evolution of Timothy Richard’s Missionary Thought (1870–1891) has been living and working in Shanxi with his family since 1997.
Official and popular attitudes towards the written language vacillate between shame (characters are too awkward, slowing China’s development) and pride (characters are China’s unique cultural heritage) …China’s place among the nations rises in tandem with the development of her language, revealing the intimate relationship between linguistic modernization and the modernization of the nation itself.
Said by Christianity Today to be “the most important person you do not know,” Prof Walls's ideas have transformed the way people in the West and around the world understand the Christian faith.
Few things are more meaningful to a scholar than to have their work read carefully by respected authorities in their field. I am deeply honored that Richard Cook chose to devote his time and attention to such a close reading of my research on . . . Timothy Richard.
Welsh Baptist missionary to China Timothy Richard (1845-1919) was once widely regarded as "one of the greatest missionaries whom any branch of the Church, whether Roman Catholic, Russian Orthodox, or Protestant, has sent to China." Today, few have heard of Richard and his remarkable lifetime of ministry in China.
A book review
An interview with an oral historian on the importance of church history.
The guest editor's point of view . . .
This book makes it possible for today's Christians to benefit from the past experience of these missionary giants, such as Hudson Taylor, Timothy Richard, John Nevius, and William Milne. , Each of the included thirty quotations addresses a different aspect of cross-cultural missions in China.
This is the first complete account of Protestant missions in Shanxi Province, China. This book begins with the arrival of the Protestant missionaries during the 1878 North China Famine and the fiery test of the 1900 Boxer Uprising and subsequent martyrdom of hundreds of Shanxi Christians.
Faithful cross-cultural service requires at least some understanding of the local context. During my years in Shanxi I have invested a sizable portion of time and energy into helping my colleagues here—Chinese and expatriate—better understand local history, particularly as it pertains to ministry. I have been impressed over and over again by the striking degree to which the words and deeds of our spiritual ancestors relate directly to our present circumstances.
Voices from the Past: Historical Reflections on Christian Missions in China by Andrew T. Kaiser.
Reviewed by Brent Fulton
The editor's point of view.