Christian Values in Communist China (Routledge Contemporary China) - Softcover

Wielander, Gerda

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1138918423 ISBN 13: 9781138918429

Publisher: Routledge, 2015

Synopsis

This book argues that as new political and social values are formed in post-socialist China, Christian values are becoming increasingly embedded in the new post-socialist Chinese outlook. It shows how although Christianity is viewed in China as a foreign religion, promoted by Christian missionaries and as such at odds with the official position of the state, Christianity as a source of social and political values - rather than a faith requiring adherence to a church is in fact having a huge impact. The book shows how these values inform both official and dissident ideology and provide a key underpinning of morality and ethics in the post-socialist moral landscape. Adopting a variety of different angles, the book investigates the role Christian thought plays in the official discourse on morality and love and what contribution Chinese Christians make to charitable projects. It analyses key Christian publications and dedicates two chapters to Christian intellectuals and their impact on political liberal thinking in China. The concluding chapter highlights gender roles, the role of the Chinese diaspora, and the overlap of the government and Christian agenda in China today. The book challenges commonly held views on contemporary Chinese Christianity as a movement in opposition to the state by showing the diversity and complexity of Christian thinking and the many factors influencing it.

About this title

Review:

"...the careful analysis of social and political values in relation to Christianity, and the interviews with Christian and intellectual leaders together comprise a valuable contribution to the understanding of the influences of Christian values in Chinese society today." - Fenggang Yang, Center on Religion and Chinese Society,
Purdue University, Sociology of Religion vol 76, no 4, December 2015

"Christian Values in Communist China" is an excellent introduction to Christianity and Christian values in China Today." - Thomas Harvey, Academic Dean of Oxford Centre for Mission Studies. International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church, 2015 

 

 

About the Author:

Gerda Wielander is a Principal Lecturer in Chinese Studies at the University of Westminster, UK.

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1138918423
• ISBN 13: 9781138918429
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 216