Redeemed by Fire: The Rise of Indigenous Christianity in Early Twentieth-Century China

FAIN: FT-54637-06

Xi Lian
Hanover College (Hanover, IN 47243-9648)

The proposed monograph project explores the transformation of Protestant Christianity in China from an alien faith preached and presided over by Western missionaries into an indigenous religion of the masses. The incipient popular Chinese Christianity was characterized by a potent mix of Pentecostal ecstasies, Biblical literalism, and millenarian expectations that were tinged with nationalistic exuberance. To me, it was a transformation precipitated by the political and social crisis of the early twentieth century and driven by the forces of both nationalism and popular millennialism. My study focuses on the rise of major native Protestant sects as well as independent evangelists and revivalists outside Western missions.