商品簡介
Based on the author's PhD thesis from 2010, this study describes the teachings, activities, and reception of Eastern Lightning (Dongfang shandian), or the Church of Almighty God, a religious movement that emerged in rural north China in the early 1990s that teaches that Jesus Christ has returned to Earth as a Chinese woman to judge humankind and end the present age. It explains how its teachings relate to those of other religions in China from the past and present, how the religion is disseminated, how it has challenged the legitimacy of the government and Protestant churches, and how these parties have responded to it. It considers written statements and publications to understand the doctrines, documents, and experiences of Eastern Lightning and the responses of the Chinese state and Protestants, discussing the development of nine Protestant-related new religious movements in China since the early 1980s, when religious expression was increasing after decades of repression; Eastern Lightning's doctrine and eschatology through its scriptures, hymns, and testimonies, as well as its beliefs; the origins of its doctrine concerning a “big red dragon” from the history of Christianity in China; the relationship between Protestant-related new religious movements and the Chinese state as one of suppression, as they are labeled as “heterodox doctrines” or “cults”; Eastern Lightning's recruitment techniques; Protestant responses to its heresy; and its relationship to local and global religious environments. Annotation c2015 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)
作者簡介
Emily Dunn is an Associate of The University of Melbourne's Asia Institute. She was awarded her Ph.D. in 2010 by that Institute, where she now teaches part-time. She can be contacted at ecdunn@unimelb.edu.au.
