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This book offers a fresh perspective on the history of Chinese Christianity, retelling it through the lens of Pentecost (Acts 2) to illuminate the rise of Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity in China from the 20th century onward. Parting from traditional academic studies of Chinese Pentecostalism, Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity in China from the 20th century onward. Parting from traditional academic studies of Chinese Pentecostalism, the author departs from beginning with the early 20th-century introduction of the Pentecostal movement to China, and instead examines the deeper historical and theological roots of Chinese Christianity. In identifying this gap, the author argues that China’s rich religious and cultural context—shaped by a pantheon of spirits and ghosts—provided a fertile ground for the acceptance and flourishing of modern Pentecostal thought and practice. Through this innovative analysis, the book connects Pentecostalism’s global emergence with the unique spiritual landscape of China, offering new insights into both Chinese and Pentecostal Christian history. It is an important read for scholars of religious history and theology.
Dr. Jacob Chengwei Feng is a Lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of California, Irvine, and a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Center for Missiological Research (CMR) at Fuller Theological Seminary. He holds a Ph.D. degree in Theological Studies from Fuller Theological Seminary. He is the Leader of the Theology Interest Group at the Society for Pentecostal Studies (SPS), a Fellow at Oxford Interfaith Forum, and an Academic Researcher at the Asia Research Center (ARC). He lives in Southern California, with his wife and college-age daughter.
List of contents
Chapter 1. Introduction.- Chapter 2. China’s Spirit World as the “Dancing Floor” for the Holy Spirit.- Chapter 3. The Pentecost and Jingjiao: The Holy Spirit Dancing with Qi.- Chapter 4. The Pentecost and Yelikewen: Lived Experience of the Pentecost and Poetic Dancing with Qi.- Chapter 5. The Pentecost and the Jesuits of the Ming and Qing Dynasties: Reluctant Compromise in Dialogue with Confucianism.- Chapter 6. The Pentecost and the Earliest Protestant Missionaries.- Chapter 7. The Pentecost and the Earliest Pentecostal Missionaries in the 1910s and 1920s.- Chapter 8. The Pentecost and Indigenous Spiritual Gifts Movements in the Republican Era (1912–1949).- Chapter 9, The Pentecost, Watchman Nee and The Little Flock.- Chapter 10. Toward a Chinese Pentecost Theology for the Third Millennium.
About the author
Dr. Jacob Chengwei Feng is a Lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of California, Irvine, and a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Center for Missiological Research (CMR) at Fuller Theological Seminary. He holds a Ph.D. degree in Theological Studies from Fuller Theological Seminary. He is the Leader of the Theology Interest Group at the Society for Pentecostal Studies (SPS), a Fellow at Oxford Interfaith Forum, and an Academic Researcher at the Asia Research Center (ARC). He lives in Southern California, with his wife and college-age daughter.
Summary
This book offers a fresh perspective on the history of Chinese Christianity, retelling it through the lens of Pentecost (Acts 2) to illuminate the rise of Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity in China from the 20th century onward. Parting from traditional academic studies of Chinese Pentecostalism, Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity in China from the 20th century onward. Parting from traditional academic studies of Chinese Pentecostalism, the author departs from beginning with the early 20th-century introduction of the Pentecostal movement to China, and instead examines the deeper historical and theological roots of Chinese Christianity. In identifying this gap, the author argues that China’s rich religious and cultural context—shaped by a pantheon of spirits and ghosts—provided a fertile ground for the acceptance and flourishing of modern Pentecostal thought and practice. Through this innovative analysis, the book connects Pentecostalism’s global emergence with the unique spiritual landscape of China, offering new insights into both Chinese and Pentecostal Christian history. It is an important read for scholars of religious history and theology.
