God Is Red: The Secret Story of How Christianity Survived and Flourished in Communist China - Softcover

Liao Yiwu

Softcover

ISBN 10: 006207847X ISBN 13: 9780062078476

Publisher: Bravo Ltd, 2012

Synopsis

Paperback. Pub Date: 2012 09 Pages: 256 Publisher: the HarperOne When journalist Liao Yiwu first Stumbled upon a the Viant Christian Community in the Officially secular China. he knew little about Christianity In fact he'd been taught that religion was evil . and that those who believed in it were deluded. cultists. or imperialist spies. But as a writer whose work has been banned in China and has even landed him in jail. Liao felt a kinship with Chinese Christians in their unwavering commitment to the freedom of expression and to finding meaning in a tumultuous society.Unwilling to let his nation lose memory of its past or deny its present. Liao set out to document the untold stories of ave believers whose totalitarian government could not eak their faith in God. including: * The over-100-year-old nun who persevered in spite of beatings. famine. and decades of physical labor...

About this title

Product Description:

Chinese dissident author Liao Yiwu the once lauded, later imprisoned, and now celebrated author of The Corpse Walker profiles the extraordinary lives of dozens of Chinese Christians, providing a rare glimpse into the burgeoning underground world of belief that is taking hold within the officially atheistic state of Communist China. A luminous writer, and not a Christian himself, Yiwu offers a uniquely objective and insightful perspective on the position Christians occupy in mainland China, in a book that readers of Philip Jenkins The Lost History of Christianity as well as Peter Hessler s Country Driving will not want to miss.

Review:

"There is the authorized version of life in China propagated by the Communist Party, and then there is the unauthorized version. Liao Yiwu is one of the foremost authors of the latter, for which he has paid a steep price."--Wall Street Journal

"A leading Chinese writer [provides] an insider's look at the surging interest in Christianity within the world's most populous nation . . . a journalistic chronicle of how Christians survived the repressive Mao era as well as a glimpse into why their numbers are rising."--Christian Science Monitor

"God Is Red is the most wonderfully surprising report on the church in China I've seen, and Liao Yiwu is the best literary guide since Vergil."--John Wilson, Editor, Books & Culture

"Beginning with a 100-year-old nun and ending with a recovering slacker, . . . the voices of individual believers are lively and immediate. . . . Though Liao's subjects claim to have no interest in politics, the question of political change in China is the subtext ."--Wall Street Journal

"Liao's coverage of Christians allows truth to shine in the darkness. That's the beauty of his writings."--Liu Xiaobo, 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner

"A subtle and sober account by one of the foremost banned writers of contemporary China. An irresistible read, pulsating with humanity."--Lian Xi, author of Redeemed by Fire: The Rise of Popular Christianity in Modern China

"The author, himself an object of intermittent government harassment, is a deft interviewer. Not a believer himself, Liao empathizes with the Christians he encounters. These portraits of faithful Christians are beautifully drawn, neither triumphalist nor maudlin. Suffering, but also resilience and hope, are the common lot of these believers."--Daniel Bays, author of Christianity in China

"It is very difficult to read Liao Yiwu's work without being constantly reminded of Christian struggles in the ancient Roman Empire. . . . Who can tell how the story will play out this time round?"--Philip Jenkins, author of Jesus Wars

"If you want to read one book that sums up the glory of the Christian witness under persecution and the tragic 20th-century story of China's Christians, read God Is Red. Brilliant and immensely moving, it will, if anything can, inject new backbone into your own Christian life."--Christianity Today

"It is a story of faith and determination in the midst of poverty and persecution. ... A book like this will open your eyes to the amazing freedom and blessings we enjoy in this country. It should bring into focus what really matters."--RedState

About this edition

• Publisher: Bravo Ltd
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 006207847X
• ISBN 13: 9780062078476
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256