Acquainted With Grief - Hardcover

Harvey, Thomas Alan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1587430398 ISBN 13: 9781587430398

Publisher: Brazos Pr, 2002

Synopsis

Christians across the globe have watched and prayed for the persecuted church in China. Even secular media have run lengthy articles on the topic. However, despite our genuine concern, we're often left with more questions than answers. For example, what is the history of the persecuted church in China? When should Christians practice political dissent, and what are its theological and biblical grounds?

According to Thomas Harvey, the answers to all of these questions may be found by asking another crucial question: Who was Wang Mingdao? Acquainted with Grief tells the story of how this evangelist and minister emerged from humble roots to take a dramatic stand against the state-sponsored Chinese churches. After twenty years in prison, Wang was finally released as an old man, securing his legacy as "Dean of the House Churches" in China.

This unique book, rich with twentieth-century political and religious Chinese history, will fascinate anyone interested in Asian history, missions, politics and theology, and questions of faith and dissent.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

ìHarveyís sweeping story becomes a history of modern China, a cautionary tale about the political pitfalls of social gospel Christianity, and an ode to one manís loyalty to Christ.î óBooklist ìIn an age when faith is flabby and compromise commonplace, it is indeed timely to read Thomas Alan Harvey's carefully researched, biblically based, and incisive new study of Wang Mingdao, a Chinese Christian leader who valued his faith more highly than freedom or life itself.î óJames H. Taylor III ìA milestone in research on the church in China. The vital role of Wang Mingdao in resisting the totalitarian demands of the state is thoroughly vindicated. This is food for thought for all concerned for the church in China. But it has much wider implications for Christians in the West as they face growing pressures from increasingly hostile forces in government and the media. This book is a wake-up call.î óTony Lambert, author of Chinaís Christian Millions Acquainted With Grief provides the fascinating account of how evangelist and minister Wang Mingdao emerged from humble roots to take a dramatic stand against the state-sponsored Chinese churches. After twenty years in prison, Wang was finally released as an old man, securing his legacy as ìDean of the House Churchesî in China. Flap Copy (293 words) For decades, Christians across the globe have watched and prayed for the persecuted church in China. Despite our genuine concern, weíre often left with more questions than answers. For example, what is the political and social history of the persecuted church in China? What is the current condition of the church? When should Christians practice political dissent, and what are its theological and biblical grounds?

According to Thomas Harvey, the answers to all of these questions may be found by asking another crucial question: Who was Wang Mingdao?

This unique book, rich with twentieth-century political and religious Chinese history, will fascinate anyone interested in Asian history, missions, politics and theology, and questions of faith and dissent. From the Introduction The appellation ìDean of the House Churchesî suits Wang Mingdao well. His life, resistance, suffering, and perseverance bear the marks of the Chinese church. Even as his arrest and imprisonment marked the end of public defiance of the government, how much more did his re-emergence from the Chinese gulag twenty years later embody a Christian faith that has not only survived but grown stronger in spite of its official banishment. Even now, a half-century after his conflict with the government and ten years after his death, the figure of Wang Mingdao haunts the government in house churches that share the legacy of his resistance. Indeed anyone who would plumb the depths of Christianity in China must first come to understand Wang Mingdao. Thomas Alan Harvey is a faculty member at Trinity Theological College in Singapore and serves as the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. Educational Liaison to the Singapore Presbyterian Church. He has published scholarly essays in various journals, including Churchman and Church and Society. He currently lives in Singapore with his wife and three children.

About the Author:

Thomas Alan Harvey is a faculty member at Trinity Theological College in Singapore and serves as the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. educational liaison to the Singapore Presbyterian Church

About this edition

• Publisher: Brazos Pr
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 1587430398
• ISBN 13: 9781587430398
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 190