Editorial reflection and analysis on issues shaping Chinese Christianity.
As the news of the battle for Sanjiang Church in Wenzhou began to break over the last week and I read the accounts, I was reminded again why fully understanding Christianity in China from the West is so hard.
In a recent interview in the ChinaSource Quarterly, Purdue professor Yang Fenggang is quoted as saying that "the Chinese Christian church has become an institutional base for passing on transformed Confucian values to younger generations." Dr. Yang, a sociologist and Director of the Center on Religion and Society at Purdue University, does not necessarily see Confucianism and Christianity as being in competition with one another. Rather, he encourages Christians to seek common ground where possible.
An interview with Dr. Fenggang Yang about a new exchange program at Purdue University.
The Spring 2014 issue of ChinaSource Quarterly takes up the topic of Confucianism'S resurgence in China and its implications for the church. Certainly not a new topic, the relationship between China's dominant worldview and the Christian gospel has been a perennial subject of discussion since at least the days of Matteo Ricci. Successive generations of Christians in China have asked the pertinent questions in different ways, some choosing to find accommodation between the two, while others find them to be mutually exclusive.
A brief discussion of the origins and evolution of the Eastern Lightning cult, an introduction
Section three of "Where did Eastern Lightning Come From?" This section looks at the origins of Eastern Lightning's ideas.
Section two of "Where Did Eastern Lightning Come From?"
This is my third blog reflecting back on six days I spent in China recently with Brent Fulton where we met with pastors, seminary leaders and academics in Shanghai and Beijing. I shared in the first blog about my amazement at the growth of the church and the window that seems to be opening for the gospel, and in my second I raised concerns about the environmental disaster that is overtaking China and the key role of the church in calling people to care for God's creation.
Section four of "Where Did Eastern Lightening Come From." This section looks at some of the teachings of Eastern Lightening.
Last week I had two meetings in as many days regarding two proposed leadership training efforts aimed at Christians in China. Both were well thought through and grew out of decades of China experience.
It's an interesting question, and, as the saying goes, "it depends on what the meaning of the word 'atheist' is."
This is my second blog reflecting back on six days I spent in China recently with Brent Fulton where we met with pastors, seminary leaders and academics in Shanghai and Beijing. I shared in the first blog about my amazement at the growth of the church and the window that seems to be opening for the gospel.