The majority of Christians in China over the course of the last century have worshipped not in missionary-founded churches or in congregations affiliated with the contemporary Three-Self Patriotic Movement or Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, but in independent and unregistered churches, often labeled "house churches." From the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements within the mission-church landscape of the early twentieth century, to the Calvinist Reformed movement in the present-day Protestant church, the vibrant faith life and extraordinary church growth of this sector of Chinese Christianity offer a fascinating witness and lesson to the world church. Yet despite the size of their congregations and the spread of their teachings, the theologies of these independent and unregistered churches have drawn much less academic attention than those of mission-church or "state church" theologians. This volume presents a selection of new studies on "house church" theologians and theologies. These begin in the early twentieth century with studies of the Spiritual Gifts movement in Shandong and the nature of Pentecostalism in Hong Kong, and arrive in the present with essays on the changing role of women's leadership in the church, given the spread of Reformed thought and the theological implications of Westminsterian Neo-Calvinism in China. The second section of the volume is devoted to the theological writings and lives of the two most prominent independent church figures of the twentieth century: Wang Mingdao and Ni Tuosheng (Watchman Nee). These chapters include studies of spiritual theology; of Ni's doctrine of humanity, his views on salvation, and his prison letters; and of Wang Mingdao's life and moral thought, his Confucian beliefs, and his understanding of the relationship of Christians to the state. The third section of the volume foregrounds church voices like the fundamentalist Samuel Lamb and the mediating figure Yang Shaotang, and considers local developments in Roman Catholicism in light of Vatican reforms.
Chloe Starr is professor of Asian Christianity at Yale Divinity School. She has published widely on Chinese literature and Chinese theology. Her works include Chinese Theology: Text and Context (2016); a coedited textbook, Documenting China (2011); a monograph, Red-Light Novels of the Late Qing (2007); a coedited volume, The Quest for Gentility in China (Routledge, 2007, 2009); and an edited volume, Reading Christian Scriptures in China (2008). She holds honorary posts at Renmin University of China, where she teaches regularly, and at the Institute of Sino-Christian Studies, Hong Kong.
Part I Theological Trajectories Kevin Xiyi Yao "The Spiritual Gifts Movement through the Eyes of the Northern Presbyterian Shandong Mission" Kwun-Ho Tai "The Theology of the Hong Kong Pentecostal Mission: A Mix of Western Christianity and Chinese Folk Religion?" Kang Jie ? "Theological transformation and the changing role of women in the Chinese House Church" Xu Ximian "'Give Us Dutch Neo-Calvinism:' Retrieving and Reconsidering Dutch Neo-Calvinism in the Chinese Context" Jason Lam "Why have non-mainstream faith groups been increasingly suppressed? A Sociological and Theological interpretation of the Martyrdom Complex in non-mainstream churches" Part II Inspiring the Church: Wang Mingdao and Ni Tuosheng Zhao Pan "A Disciple of Christ and A Student of Confucius: Moral Thought in Wang Mingdao's Theology" Xie Wenyu "Spiritual Life and Faithful Life--An Analysis of Watchman Nee's Doctrine of Humanity" Liu Ping "The Family Letters from Prison of Watchman Nee and his Prison Theology" Sun Yi "On Two Views of Sanctification: Comparing Watchman Nee and Calvin's account of the Christian life" Sui Kit (Brian) Chiu "The Sinicization of Christian Pietism: Jia Yuming's and Watchman Nee's Approaches to the Problem of "Rationality versus Spirituality"" Zheng Yan "Dissemination and best practice of the doctrine of Theosis in the Chinese Indigenous Church: a Case Study of the Local Church's Practice and Implementation of Deification" Part III Church Voices and Visions Liu Shibo "Samuel Lamb and the Fundamentalism of the Chinese House Church" He Aixia "Rev. Yang Shaotang: Ceaselessly Seeking a Path for the Chinese Church" Austen Song "Crying out in the Wilderness: Notes from a Jilin Catholic on the Salvation Revival in Hubei Province"
