China's Urban Christians: A Light That Cannot Be Hidden (Studies in Chinese Christianity) by Brent Fulton

Author:Brent Fulton [Fulton, Brent]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Religion, General
ISBN: 9781498273381
Publisher: Pickwick Publications, an Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers
Published: 2015-12-27T16:00:00+00:00

As in the case of popular religious movements in pre-modern China, which were usually unable to complete their intellectual formulation and to find legitimate political or social expression, contemporary popular Christianity has been condemned to a similarly stunted political growth. Persecuted by the state, fractured by its own sectarianism, and diminished by its contempt for formal education (theological or otherwise), it will probably also remain, as sectarian religious groups did in the past, in the state of intellectual decapitation.”151

Others, such as Huo Shui, the Chinese intellectual quoted in chapter three, are more hopeful about Christianity’s prospects as a cultural contributor: “If Christianity can come out in time with a position as the provider of social ethics and morals and provide a spiritual belief system for Chinese society, if it can address the loss of faith of the Chinese people, then the people, the society, the culture, and China’s rulers will completely change their opinion of Christianity.”152

Great Expectations

Finally, China’s urban Christian leaders view the church’s social involvement as critical to the healthy development of the church itself. Without such engagement the church could easily turn inward, becoming preoccupied with its own internal needs and thus losing its very reason for existence. Citing the recent decline of Christianity in Korea, Pastor Jin exhorted his congregation,

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.