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Redeemed by Fire: The Rise of Popular Christianity in Modern China Hardcover – Illustrated, February 23, 2010

by Xi Lian (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 12 ratings
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This book is the first to address the history and future of homegrown, mass Chinese Christianity. Drawing on a large collection of fresh sources—including contemporaneous accounts, diaries, memoirs, archival material, and interviews—Lian Xi traces the transformation of Protestant Christianity in twentieth-century China from a small, beleaguered “missionary” church buffeted by antiforeignism to an indigenous popular religion energized by nationalism and millenarianism. Lian shows that, with a current membership that rivals that of the Chinese Communist Party, and the ability to galvanize China’s millions into apocalyptic convulsion and messianic exuberance, the popular Christian movement channels the aspirations and the discontent of the masses and will play an important role in shaping the country’s future.

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  1. Print length
    352 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Yale University Press
  4. Publication date
    February 23, 2010
  5. Dimensions
    6.13 x 1 x 9.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0300123396
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0300123395
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

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"Redeemed by Fire presents a fascinating and impressively wide-ranging account of China's modern Christian experience, which is all the more valuable for the author's shrewd observations about the religion's future impact in the emerging superpower. Particularly striking are his rich descriptions of China's flourishing prophetic and popular movements."―Philip Jenkins, author of The Lost History of Christianity -- Philip Jenkins

"Lian Xi's book, an important contribution on a neglected subject, is the only in-depth study of popular, independent Chinese Christianity. He knows his Chinese history and philosophy and writes clearly with vivid and apt metaphors."―Jessie Lutz, author of Opening China: Karl F.A. Gutzlaff And Sino-western Relations, 1827-1852 -- Jessie Lutz

"Truly a landmark book. . . [a] must-read. . . written in an elegant style that makes it a pleasure to read. . . . Essential for understanding China today."--Daniel H. Bays, International Bulletin of Missionary Research
 -- Daniel H. Bays ― International Bulletin of Missionary Research

"A major contribution . . . a rich resource and compelling account . . . clear and convincing."—Dr. G. Wright Doyle, Christianity in China
 -- G. Wright Doyle ― Christianity in China

"Important . . . very valuable."--David Lyle Jeffrey, Books and Culture

-- David Lyle Jeffrey ― Books and Culture

"Beautifully researched and sympathetically written . . . accessible and attractive . . . important and provocative . . . essential reading."—Henrietta Harrison, American Historical Review
 -- Henrietta Harrison ― American Historical Review

"Succeeds wonderfully."—Philip Jenkins, Christian Century
-- Philip Jenkins ― Christian Century

"Fascinating. . . . Lian's work excels. . . . [A] well-executed and detailed portrayal of the formation of Christianity as a Chinese religion. This engaging and provocative book would readily provoke stimulating discussion in many undergraduate classrooms."—Jeff Kyong-McClain, Journal of Church History -- Jeff Kyong-McClain ― Journal of Church History

“This history hasn’t been told so authoritatively in a Western language before. Lian can range across Chinese sources with ease, even as he writes in cogent English prose.”—Ian Johnson, New York Review of Books -- Ian Johnson ― New York Review of Books

About the Author


Lian Xi is professor of history at Hanover College and author of The Conversion of Missionaries: Liberalism in American Protestant Missions in China, 1907–1932. He lives in Louisville, KY.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Yale University Press; Illustrated edition (February 23, 2010)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0300123396
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0300123395
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.45 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.13 x 1 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 12 ratings

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Xi Lian

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4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
12 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

DFB Orlando
5.0 out of 5 stars a needed study
Reviewed in the United States on December 21, 2013
Verified Purchase
While I have not been able to read fully this valuable study, it promises to be a fascinating insight into an aspect of Christianity in China seldom studied.
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Robert C. Rogers
4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource for understanding Christianity in China today
Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2014
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Most Christians who are interested in missions are aware that Christianity has grown dramatically in modern China, despite persecution by the Communist government. But the story of how Christianity grew and what it looks like today in China remains a mystery to most Western Christians. Lian Xi, a native of China who is now professor of history at Hanover College, lifted that mystery for Western readers in 2010 with his carefully researched book published by Yale University Press, Redeemed by Fire: The Rise of Poplar Christianity in Modern China.

Xi briefly surveys the presence of Christianity in China in ancient times, and then focuses most of the book on Christianity in China in the 19th and 20th centuries. China was forced to sign treaties with Western nations that included official toleration of Christianity after 1858. For the next century, over 23,000 missionaries poured into China from the West, half of them Americans. While this mission effort did contribute to over 623,000 members in mission churches by 1949, it also led to a deep resentment against Christians by most Chinese, who saw it as a religion of foreigners that was forced upon them. This resentment erupted into violence at times, such as the Boxer Rebellion. Xi stresses that Protestant Christianity was able to become truly indigenous under Communist rule, and no longer was seen as a foreign religion. The Communist government unwittingly allowed this to happen, by settting up the officially recognized and state-controlled Three-Self Church. Most Christians rejected the Three-Self Church as guilty of ungodly compromise with the state, and turned instead to a variety of underground church movements.

Xi then follows the stories of several influential indigenous movements among Protestant Christians, including the True Jesus Church, the Bethel Band, the Jesus Family, and the Little Flock, with charismatic leaders like John Sung, Wang Mingdao, and Watchman Nee. Most of these churches held to a fundamentalist faith, a charismatic leader, pre-millennial hope, and a revivalistic, if not Pentecostal, fervor. Some half million Christians died under Communist persecution, but by 2000 there were 15 million Protestants and 5 million Catholics in the official registered churches, and an additional 30 million Protestants and several million Catholics in underground churches.

Westerners tend to idealize the faith of Chinese Christians, but Xi points out that the lack of theological training and isolation from any accountability in underground churches occasionally led to doctrinal heresies and mixtures of Chinese folk religion with Christianity, as well as opening the door to leaders who were dictatorial and sometimes immoral. Despite these shortcomings among the underground churches, Xi credits them with having a powerful appeal by offering hope to the powerless under Communist oppression. Despite the phenomenal growth of Christianity in China, it is still a minority faith in China, and expected to remain a religion of the common people, not a majority faith or a faith of those in influence or power in China.

I found Xi’s research to be thorough and highly informative, but it came across as somewhat aloof and skeptical of genuine faith. He tends to explain away the faith of Chinese Christians in terms of sociological factors. He includes stories of the moral failings of Chinese Christian leaders, but he reports very few of the stories of commitment, martyrdom and persecution suffered by Chinese Christians. Nevertheless, Xi’s research is likely to become a standard resource for any historian or missiologist wishing to understand Christianity in modern China.
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JM
4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Academic Tool
Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2010
Redeemed by Fire by Lian Xi is an academic investigation of the indigenous Chinese Christian Church from the 19th century to the present day. This book focuses almost exclusively on native Protestant Christian movements in China and is thus largely silent on the development of foreign Protestants or Catholics during this same time period. Xi organizes his book around the major indigenous churches of the 19th and 20th centuries, devoting chapters to the Taiping Rebellion, the Jesus Family, the True Jesus Church, the Bethel Band, and the Little Flock, as well as some heretical cults. In the epilogue, Xi draws all of the historical evidence together to make his central point that China's exploding Christian population is "of the masses...not of the elite" and will thus be limited in its ability to affect large scale changes in Chinese culture and politics (pg. 244).

One of this book's best attributes is the meticulous research that Xi has done in regards to these movements. Every major indigenous Christian leader's back story is given so that the reader has a full understanding of the context in which these people lived, giving vital insight into how and why these figures developed their distinctive theologies and styles of leadership. Furthermore, Xi is careful to note the historical setting in which these indigenous revivals take place so that the reader always understands how the surrounding environment shapes the nature of different Christian movements (see pgs. 47, 148, 193 for examples of this contextualization). Also, Xi points out relevant sociological and psychological studies that help give the reader a frame of reference for phenomenon such as "spirit-possession" and the higher rates of female Christian conversion (see pgs. 71-72, 239). Lastly, Xi does an excellent job of proving his point that modern Chinese Christianity has been largely shaped by its indigenous forebears, both theologically and stylistically, rather than by Western Christian movements (see pg. 223, on Watchmen Nee and premillenial dispensationalism).

While I found this book extremely informative, there were some aspects that I found rather frustrating. By organizing his book by religious movements (Xi generally focused on one movement or leader per chapter) it made it hard to grasp a clear chronology of the events. Be prepared to cope with jumping back and forth among different time periods as Xi moves from chapter to chapter to focus on different groups who often overlap chronologically. Furthermore, Xi has a tendency to state confidently the inner motivations of the characters in his book in a manner that is inconsistent with the historical scientific approach he takes for the majority of his work (see pgs. 84, 115, 118).

While this book does have some flaws, I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who wants to do a serious study on the history of indigenous Chinese Christianity as well as any prospective Christian missionaries in China (especially Western ones). Redeemed by Fire is definitely not a pleasurable read, but it lays out a well-researched history of native Christianity in China that gave me an amazing insight into how the modern Chinese Church has developed in the past two centuries. This knowledge would be invaluable to those who want to be on the mission field in China and anyone interested in an academic approach to the subject.
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