Journal of Research for Christianity in China (JRCC)
type: channel
description: Journal of Research for Christianity in China (JRCC, Semi-Annual) is an international, peer reviewed academic journal. It is edited and published by the CCS Publishing House, Inc., USA, and the Christianity and China Research Center in Los Angeles, USA. JRCC was launched in December 2013. JRCC is an Open Access journal and all articles are published under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. The aim of JRCC is to provide an platform for Chinese Christian studies, publishing scholarly articles and reviews in Chinese or in English on the history of Christianity in China, Chinese religions, culture and etc. All articles related to the Chinese Christian studies are welcomed. All submitted articles are free of charges.
publisher: Center of Christanity and China in Los Angeles, USA
language: en
publication name: Journal of Research for Christianity in China (JRCC)
issn: 2325-9914
items: On the Comparative Study of Christianity and Daoism by Christian Scholars in the Early 20th Century
items: From dilectio to caritas
items: V. Solovyov’s Views on Chinese Religions
items: "All Things Are Lawful"? Paul’s Reframing of Freedom Through the Lens of Body (1 Corinthians 6:12-20)
items: Carving Books to Benefit Posterity
items: Contributions of Christianity to Humanity’s Civilization
items: The Integration and Interaction of Laozi and Christianity
items: The Trinity of Christianity in the Context of Religious Dialogue
items: Study on the East Syriac Anaphorae and Their Theological Implications
items: An Implicit Mariology
items: The Lady with Many Faces
items: The Construction of the National Identity of the Israelites from the Perspective of Geographical Space Changes in the Book of Ruth
items: Franciscan spirituality in Early Qing China
items: Adaptive Interpretation of Creatio ex Nihilo in Chaoxingxueyao
items: The Eastward Spread of Thomas Aquinas' Theological Thought and Its Construction of the Theory of Human Nature in Catholic Theology and Philosophy of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in China
items: A Study on Chiang Kai-shek’s Christian Faith in Ningbo, 1949
items: “Raising Enterprises to Evangelize and Relief”
items: An Examination of the Indigenization Pathways of Rural Churches
items: The Making of a Mobile Society in Modern Guangdong and the Protestant Churches’ Response
items: A New Interpretation of Paul Wei’s Life and Work in New Religious Reform and Independent Church Movements
items: Writing Faith on the Frontier
items: A Worldly Kingdom of Heaven in T. C. Chao’s Early Theology
items: Reports of the Academic Workshop on the Sinicization of Biblical Interpretation
items: The Key to Biblical Studies in Chinese Academia: A Review of Professor Tian Haihua's New Work, The History and Methodology of Biblical Interpretation
items: Religion and Art
items: Substance and Accidence: Imago, Vestigium, and Relatio in Ockham’s Philosophy and Theology
items: Christian views from the monthly magazine Thought and Time
items: The Image of Gansu in the Writings of Missionaries in Gansu during the Late Qing and Early Republican Periods
items: Meaning and Order: Typology and Responses of Theodicy in Kouduo Richao
items: Individual and Relationships: The "Deepened" Spirituality in Philip Teng's Thought

On the Comparative Study of Christianity and Daoism by Christian Scholars in the Early 20th Century
type: item
description: In the early 20th century, driven by the "Anti-Christian Movement" and the wave of national awakening, some Chinese Christian scholars began to pay attention to the comparison between Christianity and Daoism in order to promote the integration of Christianity with Chinese culture. Through methods such as cross-textual interpretation, they attempted to explore the construction of a Christian theological framework with distinctive Chinese cultural characteristics. At the same time, some more open-minded missionaries in China gradually abandoned their earlier prejudices against Daoism and expanded the scope of comparative studies between Christianity and Daoism from pre-Qin Daoist philosophy to the later canonical doctrines, rituals, and practices of religious Daoism. Although these studies were often limited by forced interpretations and insufficient engagement with practical concerns, their contribution lies in initiating preliminary attempts at equal dialogue between Christianity and Daoism, broadening the field and approaches of comparative research, and providing important theoretical resources and historical references for the sinicization of Christian thought.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Early 20th Century, Christian Scholars, Daoism, Comparative Study
  topic: keywords
creator: Tao XU
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2026-01-24
publication date: 2026-01-24
starting page: 88
ending page: 105
doi: 10.29635/

From dilectio to caritas
type: item
description: This article addresses the terminology of “love” in Book I of Augustine’s De Doctrina Christiana. From the perspective of biblical hermeneutics, it aims to demonstrate how Augustine, by shifting the terminology from dilectio to caritas, endows “love” with three progressive layers of meaning within the interpretation of the Bible: love as action, love as relation, and love as substance. Beginning with his treatment of the “commandment of love” in the Gospel of Matthew within the dichotomy of usus-fruitio(use-enjoy), Augustine leads dilectio, as an action, toward caritas, as a relation. He thereby establishes that the central task of biblical hermeneutics is “enhancing love”, and the connotation of dilectio in terms of action is subsumed into caritas. Ultimately, Augustine alludes to the substantial nature of caritas which integrates both action and relation. This substantiality is explicitly manifested in the proposition that “the Holy Spirit is love,” through which caritas acquires the power to fortify the authority of Scripture. Therefore, caritas becomes the ultimate end of Augustine’s biblical hermeneutics.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: dilectio, caritas, De Doctrina Christiana, biblical hermeneutics, Holy Spirit
  topic: keywords
creator: Hao LI
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-12-16
publication date: 2025-12-16
starting page: 51
ending page: 87
doi: 10.29635/

V. Solovyov’s Views on Chinese Religions
type: item
description: Religions of the Eastern world constituted a sustained intellectual preoccupation for Solovyov and served as a critical frame of reference in his conceptualization of Russian national character and the nature of religion itself. In his discussions, ancient Chinese philosophy, mystical religions, and the crucial principle of patriarchy together constitute the religious beliefs of the Chinese people, while such a religion also hinders China's progress toward absolute values. His philosophical system was fundamentally shaped by the dialectical opposition between Slavic and Western traditions, as well as between Eastern Orthodox and Western Christian traditions, with the ultimate teleological aim of establishing a universal Christian church and achieving collective human salvation. His perspective on China is an organic component of his moral philosophy and his theocratic teachings, and thus an essential element for understanding the Christian world's perception of China.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: V. Solovyov, S. Georgievsky, China, Universalism
  topic: keywords
creator: Xudong CHAI
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-12-09
publication date: 2025-12-09
starting page: 34
ending page: 50
doi: 10.29635/

"All Things Are Lawful"? Paul’s Reframing of Freedom Through the Lens of Body (1 Corinthians 6:12-20)
type: item
description: The relationship between the perception of human body and the understanding of freedom was a contentious issue in early Christian churches. This paper examines Paul's reframing of freedom from the lens of the body in 1 Corinthians 6:12-20. Through a three-tiered methodology—social-historical analysis, rhetorical analysis, and exegetical study of the Corinthian texts—this paper first reconstructs the Corinthians’ theology of body and traces its intellectual roots in the dualistic view of body in Stoicism and the similar dualistic traits manifested in Proto-Gnosticism. I argue that Paul, using the rhetoric of diatribe, challenges this dualistic and individualistic view of body, rejecting its disembodied moral implications and articulating instead a holistic and communal vision of freedom grounded in the embodied participation within the body of Christ. Finally, by engaging in a dialogue between Paul’s reframing of freedom and the Confucian concept of freedom, this paper proposes a constructive hermeneutical bridge for interpreting Pauline concept of freedom in Chinese cultural contexts.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: 1 Corinthians 6, Paul, Body, Freedom
  topic: keywords
creator: Yichen LIANG
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-12-09
publication date: 2025-12-09
starting page: 1
ending page: 33
doi: 10.29635/

Carving Books to Benefit Posterity
type: item
description: Under the leadership of Professor Ye Nong, the Institute of Macao Studies at Jinan University has dedicated itself to compiling literature and historical records centered on Macao during the Ming and Qing dynasties, focusing on the Maritime Silk Road. Beyond academic research, the institute has collaborated with publishing institutions in Macao and Guangzhou to produce series such as Maritime Silk Road Series. Since 2016, the institute has published over 30 academic works, including bibliographies, dictionaries, archives collections, Westerner's writings, inscriptions and image materials, monographs, translations, and policy-oriented reports. These publications vividly illustrate Macao’s role as a bridge in Sino-foreign cultural exchange, significantly advancing academic fields such as Macao Studies, Sino-foreign relations history, and Sinology.
subject: Reviews and Reports
  topic: section
subject: The Institute of Macao Studies at Jinan University, book publishing, Maritime Silk Road Series, Ye Nong
  topic: keywords
creator: Guoqing DAI
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-11-25
publication date: 2025-11-25
starting page: 459
ending page: 469
doi: 10.29635/JRCC.202512_(25).0018

Contributions of Christianity to Humanity’s Civilization
type: item
description: The Christianity, since it formed, always opposed against the various barbarous, backward and ignorant habits and traditions, such as infanticide by drawing and abandoning infants, gladiatorial shows, suicide, promiscuous heterosexual sex, homosexuality, pederasty, child marriage, polygamy, widows buried alive, foot binding of women, slavery, etc.. The Christianity too advocated universal love, compassion, charity and praised highly arts. The Christianity made positive contributions to Humanity’s Civilization and social progress and made itself developing gradually to a most civilized religion which has the biggest power and influence in the world. Alvin J. Schmidt’s Under the influence: how Christianity transformed civilization expounds these completely, systematically, deeply and concentratedly, and becomes a synthesized work.
subject: Reviews and Reports
  topic: section
subject: The Christianity, Various corrupt customs, Humanity’s Civilization; Under the influence
  topic: keywords
creator: Jian ZHANG
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-11-25
publication date: 2025-11-25
starting page: 441
ending page: 458
doi: 10.29635/JRCC.202512_(25).0017

The Integration and Interaction of Laozi and Christianity
type: item
description: Yuan Bujia's Laozi and Christ is an excellent work that promotes the integration of Laozi and Christianity and the sinicization of Christianity. In Yuan Bujia's understanding, Laozi's theory of the Tao and the Christian theory of God are highly isomorphic. The sage mentioned by Laozi is a prophecy of Jesus who would come to the world through "the incarnation of the Word" six or seven hundred years later. Cultivating the Tao according to Laozi's teachings is an embodiment of truly believing in God and his incarnation, Jesus. Yuan Bujia's integration of Laozi and Christianity is very conducive to Chinese Christians' understanding and acceptance of China's inherent excellent traditional culture. It is also very beneficial for Laozi to go global and be understood and accepted by countries that believe in Christianity.
subject: Reviews and Reports
  topic: section
subject: Yuan Bujia; Laozi and Christ; integration; sinicization of Christianity
  topic: keywords
creator: Huanzhong HAN
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-11-25
publication date: 2025-11-25
starting page: 423
ending page: 440
doi: 10.29635/JRCC.202512_(25).0016

The Trinity of Christianity in the Context of Religious Dialogue
type: item
description: The attribute of more in one of Trinity breaks through the natural exclusiveness of absolute monotheism, and the roles and functions of different persons give the support of dogmatic theory for the possibility of the dialogue between Christianity and the other religions. Although the Trinity has been accepted by Christianity as the basic doctrine, the situations and ideas of different eras always made debates for the Trinity, in order that the theory of the Trinity has often been understood and interpreted in different views. And then, the Trinity has the potential of being meaningfully expressed in the context of the pluralistic dialogues during religions. Therefore, the doctrine of the Trinity has become the resource of theory for the Christianity who wants to stand firmly in different forms of dialogues of religions while the Christianity is meeting, communicating and talking with other religions.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Religious dialogue, Christianity, Trinity, Understanding and interpretation
  topic: keywords
creator: Nada ZHENG
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-11-25
publication date: 2025-11-25
starting page: 404
ending page: 422
doi: 10.29635/JRCC.202512_(25).0015

Study on the East Syriac Anaphorae and Their Theological Implications
type: item
description: The East Syriac liturgy is one of the major liturgical traditions within Christianity. Its anaphorae, as the central prayer of the Sacrament of the Eucharist, bears rich theological meaning and a profound ecclesiastical tradition. This study compares the structure and content of the three principal East Syriac anaphorae, which are attributed to Mar Addai and Mari, Mar Theodore and Mar Nestorius, revealing their shared structure and thematic elements. Special focus is given to the Anaphora of Mar Theodore the Interpreter, examining its textual composition and theological implications. This paper highlights the central role of the epiclesis in all three anaphorae, particularly emphasizing the Spirit’s divine power in the consecration of bread and wine. Furthermore, it explores the interpretations of this prayer by Gabriel of Qatar and Yohannan Bar Zoˁbi, unveiling the religious significance of the epiclesis in the East Syriac rite and illustrating the distinctive liturgical theology of the Church of the East.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Liturgy, Anaphora, the Church of the East, Jingjiao, the East Syriac Christianity
  topic: keywords
creator: Wenjunyi DUAN
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-11-25
publication date: 2025-11-25
starting page: 381
ending page: 403
doi: 10.29635/JRCC.202512_(25).0014

An Implicit Mariology
type: item
description: Starting from Paul’s expressions such as “born of a woman” and “descended from David according to the flesh,” this study adopts a methodological approach that privileges theological interpretation while integrating textual exegesis and interdisciplinary insights from historical-critical studies, spiritual theology, and liturgical theology. Its purpose is to clarify the intrinsic relationship between Mary’s relation to the Incarnation and the twofold economy of salvation (Law/Spirit) as reflected in Paul’s letters. Although Paul does not elaborate extensively on Mary, in Galatians 4:4 he emphasizes that Christ was “born of a woman,” thereby affirming Mary’s pivotal role in the divine plan of salvation. Through faith and obedience, she became the gateway of God’s salvific economy and the channel of divine grace; her free assent allowed the Word of God to assume human nature and inaugurated a new history of cooperation between God and humanity. Mary is thus not only the mother of Jesus but also the spiritual mother of all believers. While Paul’s theology does not explicitly develop a Marian doctrine, it provides the foundational framework upon which later Church tradition deepened and confirmed Mary’s place within the mystery of salvation.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Paul’s Letters, Mary, Incarnation, Plan of Salvation
  topic: keywords
creator: Yiting QIAN
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-11-25
publication date: 2025-11-25
starting page: 355
ending page: 380
doi: 10.29635/JRCC.202512_(25).0013

The Lady with Many Faces
type: item
description: In the Book of Revelation, who is the “woman” in Chapter 12? The author John did not provide an answer in this chapter or the Book of Revelation, so her identity remains a mystery! According to the research of Bertrand Buby, there have been 28 interpretations of “woman”, and the woman is like a “lady with many faces”. This article sorts out four main types of the woman's identity - Type 1 “Mary”, Type 2 “Church”, Type 3 “Israel”, and Type 4 “People of God”. The author uses two hermeneutical rules to examine the rationality of the four main types.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Apocalypse, Revelation, woman, typology
  topic: keywords
creator: Yao-Kuo Eric CHIANG
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-11-25
publication date: 2025-11-25
starting page: 329
ending page: 354
doi: 10.29635/JRCC.202512_(25).0012

The Construction of the National Identity of the Israelites from the Perspective of Geographical Space Changes in the Book of Ruth
type: item
description: The Book of Ruth, as a short narrative in the Hebrew Bible, through the story of Ruth, a Moabite woman, migrating and integrating into the Israelite community, demonstrates the profound connection between geographical space changes and the construction of national identity. This article takes geographical space as the entry point, combining textual analysis, historical sociology, and cultural geography theories, to explore how the geographical space transformation from Moab to Bethlehem in the Book of Ruth symbolizes the crossing and reconstruction of the boundaries of the Israelite national identity. The Book of Ruth, through the fluidity and openness of geographical space, challenges the exclusive narrative of the traditional Israelite ethnic group, emphasizes the identity recognition model centered on moral law, and provides a model for identity integration for the Israelite community in the diaspora period.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Ruth, geographical space, national identity
  topic: keywords
creator: Liangqin ZHAO
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-11-25
publication date: 2025-11-25
starting page: 309
ending page: 328
doi: 10.29635/JRCC.202512_(25).0011

Franciscan spirituality in Early Qing China
type: item
description: In the Sixteenth century, Franciscan spirituality started to disseminate widely all over the world. There has been a great deal of research on how Franciscan spirituality was transplanted in Latin America, but there is presently little research on East Asia. This paper shows how a Sixteenth century Franciscan treatise on meditation came to be translated into Chinese language and published in Canton in 1694. Based on textual analysis, it focuses on its Spanish sources and its efforts toward localization.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Chinese Catholicism, meditation, Pedro de la Piñuela (石铎琭), Pedro de Alcántara, Bonaventure
  topic: keywords
creator: Thierry MEYNARD
creator: Qi WANG
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-11-25
publication date: 2025-11-25
starting page: 276
ending page: 308
doi: 10.29635/JRCC.202512_(25).0010

Adaptive Interpretation of Creatio ex Nihilo in Chaoxingxueyao
type: item
description: This article explores the adaptive interpretation of creatio ex nihilo by Ludovico Buglio in his translation of St. Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologiae I, Q45, A1 (corresponding to ChaoXingXueYao, CXXX, Section I.3, Chapter 10.2.1). By analyzing Buglio’s textual structural adaptations and terminological choices, this study highlights his strategies for bridging Western theological concepts with Chinese cultural frameworks. The primary findings reveal that Buglio employs the Confucian term HuaCheng (化成) to translate creatio and creare, emphasizing the dynamic process of creation while adjusting the content’s organization in accordance with Ming-Qing literary conventions. His translation prioritizes readability for Chinese audiences, striking a balance between fidelity to Aquinas’s arguments and cultural adaptation. Furthermore, Buglio’s work exemplifies the early Jesuits’ efforts to negotiate theological terminology across cultural boundaries, striving to construct “equivalence relations” between Latin-Christian and Chinese philosophical terms amidst linguistic and philosophical tensions. These “equivalence relations” not only facilitated the dissemination of Christian theology in China but also provide methodological insights for the development of Sino-Christian theology in terms of translation and hermeneutics.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Ludovico Buglio, Chaoxingxueyao, creatio ex nihilo, cross-cultural communication, equivalence relations
  topic: keywords
creator: Zizhuo DENG
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-11-25
publication date: 2025-11-25
starting page: 243
ending page: 275
doi: 10.29635/JRCC.202512_(25).0009

The Eastward Spread of Thomas Aquinas' Theological Thought and Its Construction of the Theory of Human Nature in Catholic Theology and Philosophy of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in China
type: item
description: The eastward spread of Thomas Aquinas' theological thought can be regarded as a path of "endogenous construction". It integrated into the internal logic of Catholic theology and philosophy in the Ming and Qing Dynasties of China based on its inherent theories and theological purposes and became a core resource for the construction of this philosophical system. Meanwhile, it was adjusted for localization in combination with the context of traditional Chinese philosophy. Therefore, it played a foundational role in the construction of Catholic theology and philosophy especially the Theory of Human Nature in the Ming and Qing Dynasties of China. Matteo Ricci's Tian Zhu Shi Yi and Giulio Aleni's Xing Xue Cu Shu are typical texts introducing Thomas Aquinas' theological thought. Especially in terms of the theory of soul and the theory of human nature,Tian Zhu Shi Yi basically inherits Aquinas' tradition of natural theology; Xing Xue Cu Shu realizes a systematic introduction to the Aristotelian-Thomistic theory of soul by using the expression of China's native "Xing Xue"; furthermore, Xing Shuo by Xia Dachang, a Confucian Catholic, initially constructed the "spiritual theory of human nature" by "adopting" Aquinas' theory of soul and integrating it with Confucianism's "theory of the goodness of human nature". Regarding the "endogenous construction" of Thomas Aquinas' thought, we need to pay attention not only to its role as a foundational cornerstone but also, more importantly, to its evolutionary characteristics in China and the responses from local scholars.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Thomas Aquinas, Endogenous Construction, Theory of Soul, Theory of Human Nature
  topic: keywords
creator: Haoyi ZHANG
creator: Yongchao ZHANG
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-11-25
publication date: 2025-11-25
starting page: 221
ending page: 242
doi: 10.29635/JRCC.202512_(25).0008

A Study on Chiang Kai-shek’s Christian Faith in Ningbo, 1949
type: item
description: Chiang Kai-shek (1887–1975), a native of Ningbo, Zhejiang, was both President of the Republic of China during the Chinese Civil War and a professing Christian. This article investigates the expression of Chiang’s Christian faith in 1949 by examining his participation in a range of religious activities while in Ningbo. Methodologically, the study combines historical analysis of primary sources with a sociological perspective on religion, enabling a nuanced interpretation of Chiang’s religious practices within their broader cultural and political contexts. The analysis demonstrates that Chiang’s Christianity was not an isolated religious identity but one deeply intertwined with Confucian ethical traditions and marked by enduring Buddhist influences. Moreover, as a political leader, Chiang’s choices concerning ancestral rites and other religious observances reveal the tension between personal belief, family traditions, and the exigencies of socio-political life. This case thus illuminates the complex interplay of faith, culture, and political authority in modern Chinese history.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Chiang Kai-shek, Christianity, ancestral rites, Ningbo, 1949
  topic: keywords
creator: Lingyun WU
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-11-25
publication date: 2025-11-25
starting page: 183
ending page: 220
doi: 10.29635/JRCC.202512_(25).0007

“Raising Enterprises to Evangelize and Relief”
type: item
description: During the late Qing Dynasty, with the opening of five ports for trade, Protestant missionaries flocked to China. Among them, the American Methodist Episcopal Church’s missionary, William N. Brewster, carried out his preaching activities in Hinghwa city, Fujian Province with the strategy of “Industrial Missionary Work”. However, at the same time, other missionaries opposed his “Industrial Missionary Work”, believing that it would lead to a secularization tendency. So, does Brewster’s method really work? What is its theological basis? And what are the actual effects and what kind of influence does it have? Based on these questions, this paper taking the historical background of that time as the starting point, re-examines and analyzes this strategy’s origin, characteristics, and the role it played in the development of Hinghwa indigenous church, aim to deepen the understanding of William N. Brewster and the Methodist Church. At the same time enrich the research on the history of Christian missionary work and the regional history of Christianity in Fujian.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: William N. Brewster, Industrial Missionary Work, Methodist Episcopal Church, Hinghwa Fujian
  topic: keywords
creator: Shoukang TANG
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-11-25
publication date: 2025-11-25
starting page: 155
ending page: 182
doi: 10.29635/JRCC.202512_(25).0006

An Examination of the Indigenization Pathways of Rural Churches
type: item
description: Christianity experienced widespread dissemination in rural Shandong. Taking the Anglican church as an example, both the number of rural chapels and adherents continued to increase, with Chinese workers playing a pivotal role in this process. In the sphere of doctrinal transmission, they translated theological concepts into local idioms, thereby strengthening emotional identification among the populace. In religious practice, they mediated the tension between Christian culture and indigenous beliefs through the integration of miracle narratives and ritual performances. At the organizational level, the kinship-based dissemination of faith fostered the formation of local faith community. Institutionally, Chinese workers assumed leadership in church governance, advancing the principles of self-propagation, self-support, and self-governance. Consequently, the indigenization of rural churches in central Shandong entailed not merely an adaptation of doctrinal transmission but also a reshaping of language, ritual, social structures, and institutional forms. The indigenizing trajectory of rural Christianity was neither a simple transplantation of Western models nor a wholesale accommodation to local culture, but rather a synthesis of universality and locality achieved within the framework of faith identity.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Shandong; Christianity; Rural Churches; Indigenization
  topic: keywords
creator: Siqi WANG
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-11-25
publication date: 2025-11-25
starting page: 133
ending page: 154
doi: 10.29635/JRCC.202512_(25).0005

The Making of a Mobile Society in Modern Guangdong and the Protestant Churches’ Response
type: item
description: Modern Guangdong society was characterized by high mobility, shaped by the development of modern transportation, the emergence of overseas Cantonese hometowns, and large-scale outward migration. In response to this dynamic context, Protestant churches in Guangdong strategically adapted their missionary routes, launched gospel watercraft to serve mobile populations such as the Dan people, established indigenous self-governing churches in the hometown of overseas Cantonese, and fostered Christian practices through faith networks that connected migrants with local believers. While this mobility posed significant challenges—such as the expansion of parish boundaries, the dispersion of congregants, and the destabilization of church communities resulting from extensive migration—Protestant churches in Guangdong responded proactively. Their adaptive strategies were manifested in three major transitions: from church planting to broader missionary outreach, from localized congregations to cross-regional missionary networks, and from ethnically defined churches to more inclusive, cross-cultural faith communities.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Mobile society, Protestant Church, Modern Guangdong, Population mobility, Transportation development
  topic: keywords
creator: Ximing XUE
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-11-25
publication date: 2025-11-25
starting page: 102
ending page: 132
doi: 10.29635/JRCC.202512_(25).0004

A New Interpretation of Paul Wei’s Life and Work in New Religious Reform and Independent Church Movements
type: item
description: Most secondary sources that mention the founding of the True Jesus Church tend to briefly state that “Wei Paul founded the True Jesus Church in 1917,” without examining in detail the developmental process behind his motivation to establish the church. This article argues that, in the early stages of his ministry, Wei Paul did not intend to create a new denomination. Rather, he sought to promote a religious reformation movement, one that included breaking away from the influence of Western mission societies and pursuing ecclesiastical independence. The name he gave the church, “True Jesus Church,” was meant to signify the genuine church of Jesus, rather than a denominational title. Likewise, the term “Universal Correction Christianity” referred to the goal of correcting all churches across the nations—it served as the programmatic title of this reform movement. Through an analysis of Wei Paul’s life and ministry, this article offers a new interpretation, hoping to contribute a fresh perspective to the study of the True Jesus Church.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: True Jesus Church, Universal Correction Teachings, religious reformation, restorationism, church independence
  topic: keywords
creator: Sian-Chin IAP
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-11-25
publication date: 2025-11-25
starting page: 73
ending page: 101
doi: 10.29635/JRCC.202512_(25).0003

Writing Faith on the Frontier
type: item
description: This article adopts the methodology of life history to investigate the processes of religious conversion among multiethnic communities in Guangxi’s frontier regions during the late Qing and Republican periods. As a site of ethnic convergence, Guangxi was both politically marginal within the Chinese state and characterized by diverse religious and cultural interactions. Drawing on archival records of the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C\&MA) and related sources, this study reconstructs the lived experiences of Zhuang, Yao, and Dong communities in their encounters with Christianity. The research demonstrates that conversion was not a unidirectional acceptance of religion, but rather a historical process shaped by the intersection of ethnic identity, local culture, and religious practice. The life history approach reveals the agency of individuals in conversion: on the one hand, religious transformation was closely tied to collective memory, vernacular language, and local social networks; on the other hand, the missionary strategies of the C\&MA and the responses of local believers jointly fashioned the multiple configurations of a “faith frontier.” This study argues that micro-narratives of life history deepen our understanding of the localization of Christianity and the multiethnic religious experience in Guangxi, while also supplementing existing church historiography that has primarily relied on macro-level narratives.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: life history; frontier; Christian and Missionary Alliance; Christian faith; multiethnic communities
  topic: keywords
creator: Buxiao NI
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-11-25
publication date: 2025-11-25
starting page: 21
ending page: 72
doi: 10.29635/JRCC.202512_(25).0002

A Worldly Kingdom of Heaven in T. C. Chao’s Early Theology
type: item
description: This paper discusses the conception of an ideal world present in T.C. Chao’s (Tsu Chen Chao) (1888-1979) early theological works, based mainly on the text Jesus’ Philosophy of Life (or, A New Interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount, written in late 1925). It concludes by pointing out that Chao’s view of a kingdom of heaven that ultimately eradicates the otherworld and does not transcend this world unconsciously echoes the Anti-Christian Movement within Chinese churches during the same period. This is, indeed, a tragedy in the development of T. C. Chao’s personal theological thought in the 1920s and 1930s.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Personality, T. C. Chao, Theology, Worldly Kingdom of Heaven
  topic: keywords
creator: Changping ZHA
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-11-25
publication date: 2025-11-25
starting page: 1
ending page: 20
doi: 10.29635/JRCC.202512_(25).0001

Reports of the Academic Workshop on the Sinicization of Biblical Interpretation
type: item
description: No Abstract
subject: Reviews and Reports
  topic: section
creator: Yuetong WANG
creator: Yaxuan YU
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-06-01
publication date: 2025-06-01
starting page: 460
ending page: 464
doi: 10.29635/JRCC.202506_(24).0016

The Key to Biblical Studies in Chinese Academia: A Review of Professor Tian Haihua's New Work, The History and Methodology of Biblical Interpretation
type: item
description: The History and Methodology of Biblical Interpretation traces the historical development of biblical exegesis, dividing its history into the following periods: Medieval Jewish-Christian exegesis, Renaissance, Reformation, Enlightenment-era biblical interpretation and translation, modern historical-critical biblical studies, social science approaches to biblical interpretation, feminist biblical interpretation, postcolonial biblical criticism, and postmodern biblical interpretation. Spanning over three millennia, it is a veritable historical epic. Each chapter focuses on three representative exegetes or intellectual currents, employing a horizontal analysis that effectively integrates diachronic and synchronic research. A key feature of this book is its clarification of the sequential or relative relationships among scholars and schools of thought, offering readers a clear presentation of the academic lineage of Western biblical hermeneutics and the image of the scholarly community collectively constructed by these scholars. Simultaneously, the book integrates theory with methodology; in the interpretive process, abstract theories are translated into concrete methods. Through accessible yet profound analysis, it ultimately presents a rich array of hermeneutical achievements.
subject: Reviews and Reports
  topic: section
subject: 《圣经诠释的历史与方法》、田海华、历时研究、共时研究、学术共同体
  topic: keywords
creator: Yan LIN
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 林艳 (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-06-01
publication date: 2025-06-01
starting page: 443
ending page: 458
doi: 10.29635/JRCC.202506_(24).0015

Religion and Art
type: item
description: Author: Richard Wagner (1813–1883), German musician. Translator: XIi Wang, Assistant Professor at the College of Liberal Arts, Fujian Fuyao University of Science and Technology; PhD in Philosophy from Peking University. Proofreader: GUO Chun, Doctoral Candidate (Class of 2023), Department of Musicology, Central Conservatory of Music. This translation is adapted from Richard Wagner: Über Staat und Religion / Religion und Kunst, Berlin: Herausgegeben von Karl-Maria Guth, 2017. Unless specifically marked as original notes, all unmarked annotations in this text are translator's notes.
subject: Translations
  topic: section
creator: Wang XI
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-06-01
publication date: 2025-06-01
starting page: 376
ending page: 441
doi: 10.29635/JRCC.202506_(24).0014

Substance and Accidence: Imago, Vestigium, and Relatio in Ockham’s Philosophy and Theology
type: item
description: In his Scriptum in Librum Primum Sententiarum, Ockham discusses the differing roles of traces and images in guiding human understanding of the Trinity. As a scholar of nominalist stance, Ockham argues that traces possess a certain empirical quality, thus granting them reality. Traces logically represent the real distinctions within the Trinity, while images, based on some productive principle, only have conceptual similarity or representation, and therefore lack reality and real distinction. However, to ensure the accuracy of theological doctrine, Ockham treats images as the concretization of concepts, thus giving images a representational capacity with substantiality. Although this conceptual concretization contradicts Ockham’s nominalist philosophy, it guarantees the correctness of theological teachings. This internal tension is also reflected in Ockham’s discussions on issues like “relatio” (as a category) and the dual nature of Christ. Despite Ockham’s view of relation as an accident and his demonstration of the absurd logical conclusions resulting from considering relations as substances, in order to preserve the real existence of the Trinity, the relationships among the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit must necessarily be regarded as real items. In fact, Ockham's divergent approaches to the same issue from theological and philosophical perspectives reveal the tension between faith and reason in the Middle Ages—a dynamic interplay that medieval philosophers collectively sought to confront and reconcile.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Ockham, accident, substance, vestigium, imago, relatio
  topic: keywords
creator: Yang LI
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-06-01
publication date: 2025-06-01
starting page: 355
ending page: 375
doi: 10.29635/JRCC.202506_(24).0013

Christian views from the monthly magazine Thought and Time
type: item
description: Thought and Time is a journal founded during the movement to the southwest China during the Anti-Japanese War, and the magazine remains as interested in Christianity. This paper analyzes their views on Christianity by introducing the articles on Christianity in the magazine, and finds that intellectuals during the Anti-Japanese War had a deeper understanding of Christianity and a more three-dimensional understanding of Western culture than before, which is also a typical stage in the history of Sino-Western cultural exchange. Of course, there are also unavoidable limitations of The Times and thinking.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Thought and Time; Christian views; Chinese traditional culture
  topic: keywords
creator: Shihai YANG
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-06-01
publication date: 2025-06-01
starting page: 330
ending page: 354
doi: 10.29635/JRCC.202506_(24).0012

The Image of Gansu in the Writings of Missionaries in Gansu during the Late Qing and Early Republican Periods
type: item
description: From the Late Qing Dynasty to the Republican period, Missionaries entered Gansu Province, Which located in China's northwestern frontier, to propagate their faith. While engaged in preach and travel, missionaries in Gansu conducted detailed observations and descriptions of the region, producing a wealth of written accounts. Utilizing the writings of missionaries who either proselytized or traveled in Gansu as historical source material, this study extracts their descriptions of Gansu's overall image, its ethnic groups and religions, and specific accounts of Lanzhou (the provincial capital), as well as the Hexi Corridor areas including Zhangye, Wuwei, and Jiayuguan. This process roughly outlines the image of Gansu as presented in the writings of these missionaries. Analysis of the vocabulary used and their evaluations reveals that the missionaries' assessment of Gansu was predominantly positive. In their collective portrayal, Gansu held significant geopolitical importance and possessed abundant natural resources. These writings offer valuable reference points for the extraction of Gansu's contemporary cultural symbols and the development of its cultural tourism industry.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Late Qing and Early Republican periods; Missionaries; Image of Gansu
  topic: keywords
creator: LI YUE
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-06-01
publication date: 2025-06-01
starting page: 295
ending page: 329
doi: 10.29635/JRCC.202506_(24).0011

Meaning and Order: Typology and Responses of Theodicy in Kouduo Richao
type: item
description: In Kouduo Richao, missionaries provided theological explanations for suffering and offered compensatory promises for resolving suffering through forms of theodicy such as absolute obedience, human righteousness, otherworldly compensation, and Christology. The suffering that troubled believers ranged from personal misfortunes to social injustices on a collective level. Analyzing believers’ responses in Kouduo Richao reveals that their acceptance of theodicy was influenced by their social class and the dominant Confucian values of society. This also offers a glimpse into the distinctive spiritual lives of the community of literati-believers in late Ming China.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Kouduo Richao, Late Ming Theodicy, Problem of Suffering, Meaning Construction, Literati-Believer Community
  topic: keywords
creator: Yuzhi DONG
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-06-01
publication date: 2025-06-01
starting page: 271
ending page: 294
doi: 10.29635/JRCC.202506_(24).0010

Individual and Relationships: The "Deepened" Spirituality in Philip Teng's Thought
type: item
description: Philip Teng’s spiritual perspective revolves around the concept of "Deepened," emphasizing spirituality as a dynamic and relational practice that unites inner renewal with outward testimony through daily living. Teng’s approach moves beyond the static or fixed notions of spirituality often seen in traditional Chinese churches, advocating instead for growth through repentance, self-denial, and union with Christ. This study systematically examines Teng’s major works and sermons, employing textual analysis and historical interpretation to uncover the theoretical foundations and practical strategies underlying his spirituality. Key areas of focus include his experiential epistemology, his use of negative theology, and his insights into the relationship between spirituality and mental health. Furthermore, Teng highlights the inseparability of spirituality and psychological growth, advocating practical methods such as the "School of Spirituality," "Rest," and "Fasting Prayer" to provide a holistic pathway for spiritual and mental development. His teachings offer contemporary Chinese churches essential guidance for pastoral care, helping believers shift away from idealized spiritual aspirations and instead cultivate a grounded, actionable, and transformative faith practice.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Philip Teng, deepened spirituality, relational practice, negative theology, mental health
  topic: keywords
creator: Buxiao NIU
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-06-01
publication date: 2025-06-01
starting page: 234
ending page: 270
doi: 10.29635/JRCC.202506_(24).0009