On May 17, 2025, the annual conference of Chinese Christian Studies was conducted via an online meeting. Fifteen editorial team members shared insights and engaged in discussions on topics including American Christianity and politics, the history of Chinese Christianity, and Christian theology and philosophy. The specific presentations are as follows (listed in chronological order of delivery):
Li Ling (Christianity and China Research Center, Los Angeles, USA): “Is ‘America Back’ or ‘Christianity Back’? On Whether Christianity Can Regain Dominance in American Society After Trump's Second Election in 2025”
In November 2024, Donald Trump was re-elected as President of the United States. This election marked an unprecedented victory for the Republican Party: securing all seven swing states, winning 312 electoral votes, and capturing 2,700 counties nationwide. This outcome appears to signal America's return to the right path—that of the North American Christian tradition. On March 25, 2025, Trump delivered the longest presidential address to Congress in history: “America is back.” In essence, this “America is back” signifies “Christianity is back.” Christianity plays a pivotal role in Trump's political ideology, evident in his consistent references to “God,” “the Bible,” and “religious freedom” in every public speech. During his first term, he implemented numerous initiatives aimed at “reviving Christianity in America.” The newly inaugurated Trump has again implemented measures to revive Christianity. For instance, on May 1, 2025, he signed an executive order establishing the “Commission on Religious Freedom,” aimed at investigating and promoting policies to protect religious freedom in the United States. In February 2025, he signed another executive order creating the “Task Force to Eliminate Anti-Christian Bias,” tasked with investigating and addressing prejudice against Christians within the federal government. So, will Christianity revive in America? In reality, the number of Christians in the United States continues to decline, and the influence of Christianity is waning. The Christian Nationalism promoted by Trump may harm Christianity due to excessive political interference. If “restoring Christianity's mainstream status” is treated as the sole prerequisite for “national strength,” it could foster exclusivity, intensify social divisions, and potentially trigger a “clash of civilizations” on the international stage.
Feng Chengwei (Fuller Theological Seminary): Theosis in China
This article employs comparative religious studies and systematic theology to explore the similarities and differences between China's pursuit of longevity and Christianity's concepts of eternal life and theosis. It first traces the historical evolution of Chinese immortality thought: from the “symbolic immortality” of ancestor worship and shamanism in the Shang-Zhou period, to the institutionalization of alchemy and early Daoist practices in the Han dynasty, then to the theoretical development and mind-body unity concept of internal alchemy cultivation in the Tang-Song era, ultimately extending to modern “scientific Daoism” and life extension technologies. In contrast, Christian “eternal life” emphasizes union with God, grounded in Christ's incarnation and resurrection. Through grace and the Holy Spirit, believers participate in divinity—particularly within Orthodox traditions where the doctrine of “theosis” emerged. This doctrine asserts human participation in God's life and nature while preserving ontological distinction between God and humanity. This paper further compares the two traditions across four dimensions: ontology, understanding of human nature, practical pathways, and views on death. It demonstrates that Chinese tradition tends toward bodily cultivation and cosmic harmony, while Christianity emphasizes divine intervention and redemptive-historical transformation. The author's unique contribution lies in reinterpreting the Chinese concept of immortality as an “Eastern model of deification” and proposing a possible path for cross-cultural theology, offering a new interpretive framework for “human transcendence” within a global theological context. This paper transcends superficial analogies between the two religious traditions, employing an interdisciplinary framework of historical theology, religious studies, and systematic theology to conduct a deep structural comparison. By juxtaposing Taoism's “attaining enlightenment within the body” model with Christianity's “participation in grace” model, this paper not only profoundly reveals the distinct approaches of the two cultures in addressing the question of “human ultimate potential,” but also offers an insightful academic entry point for cross-cultural theological dialogue in the context of globalization, particularly on topics such as “theology of the body” and “the incarnational nature of faith.”
Zhou Pingping (Tongji University): “Christians and Modern Chinese Industry”
“Industrial Salvation” emerged as a pivotal ideology in China's modern national rejuvenation. Its core tenet advocated developing indigenous industries to bolster economic strength, thereby resisting foreign aggression, improving people's livelihoods, and achieving national independence and prosperity. This ideology took root and flourished primarily in response to the severe national crisis faced by the Chinese nation during the 19th-century invasions by Western powers. Amid national peril, a cohort of patriotic industrialists driven by the long-cherished aspiration of industrial salvation emerged, throwing themselves into the tide of modern industrial and commercial development. Among them were numerous Christian industrialists with intricate connections to the West. Most of these Christian industrialists were born during the Self-Strengthening Movement era and were primarily concentrated in treaty ports such as Shanghai, Tianjin, and Wuhan. Having witnessed firsthand the Qing government's incompetence and weakness, they advocated for actively introducing Western culture and technology to establish modern enterprises. Their efforts played a significant role in advancing China's early modernization. However, their association with “foreign religions” and their history as compradors serving Western interests led to mixed evaluations in academic circles, even today. While these Christian industrialists certainly had their limitations, their significant role in facilitating China's early modernization process must not be overlooked. By examining their contributions and influence, this paper aims to offer a new perspective on the multifaceted drivers of China's modernization.
Peng Rui (Nanchang University): The Construction of Ancient Hebrew Society from the Perspectives of Kinship and Geographical Ties
In primitive societies, humans primarily relied on kinship ties to establish and maintain their social communities, with totem worship serving as the fundamental religious form of this social construction. In this sense, human kinship was not purely biological but rather a social and religious construct. However, as geographical ties gained prominence, humans faced tensions between kinship and geographical relationships. In the ancient Fertile Crescent, Mesopotamia developed geo-temporal societies (city-states) centered around local temples, while Egypt evolved expanded geo-temporal temple societies centered around pharaonic temples. Both ancient civilizations completely replaced bloodline totem beliefs with geo-temporal temple worship. Yet the ancient Hebrews, situated between Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations, sought to preserve their bloodline-based structure. To this end, they adopted a religious social form featuring mobile shrines (erecting altars and pillars) and constant migration, thereby developing a unique theology of the mobile shrine. Through Moses' religious reforms, the ancient Hebrews' mobile temples evolved into the Tabernacle and Temple centered around the Ark of the Covenant. Mobile temple theology began shifting toward abstract metaphysical temple theology, while the ancient Hebrews' clan-based communal society transitioned into a religious communal society of the Hebrew nation. It goes without saying that the ancient Hebrews' commitment to building and maintaining their blood-related society inevitably led to tensions with surrounding societies in terms of geographical relations.
Wang Hao (Shanghai University): Chen Yuan and the Anti-Christian Movement
In May 1927, Chen Yuan published “A Letter Concerning Christian Literary Endeavors” in the Monthly Journal of the Literary Society. This article is absent from The Collected Works of Chen Yuan and may be considered a lost text by Chen. By examining this piece alongside relevant materials, the following significant aspects emerge: First, this article demonstrates Chen Yuan's quiet attention to the prominent Christian indigenization movement. Were it not for a chance event prompting Chen Yuan to write this piece, textual evidence of this connection would be lacking. 2. While ostensibly criticizing Wang Zhaoxiang, Chen Yuan's article actually targets Xu Zongze, the author referenced in Wang's work. This indicates Chen Yuan had long been aware of the errors in Xu Zongze's writings but had not originally intended to point them out. His decision to respond only after observing Xu's errors gaining traction demonstrates his deep familiarity with both authors' writings and their publishing platforms—qualities essential for crafting such a swift and effortless rebuttal. Third, these subtle events reveal the ambivalent nature of Chen Yuan's relationship with Christianity, characterized by a “neither fully engaged nor entirely detached” dynamic. IV. Further analysis deepens our understanding of the relationship between Chen Yuan and Ma Xiangbo, two pivotal figures in modern Chinese Christianity. While Chen frequently critiqued Ma's scholarly positions, Ma did not regard Chen as a fellow believer in matters of faith. Yet this divergence did not signify animosity between them; rather, it exemplified the rare embodiment of “harmony without uniformity” characteristic of gentlemen.
Liu Ping (Fudan University): The Forging of a Classic: A Study of the “Shanghai Vernacular-Classical Chinese Joint Translation (Written Version)”
In 2024, the 1920 edition of the “Shanghai Vernacular-Classical Chinese Joint Translation (Written Version)” brought this forgotten and buried masterpiece back into the public eye, offering an invaluable testament for contemporary cross-cultural dialogue between China and the world. This translation was forged over two decades (1893-1913) by the Shanghai Dialect United Bible Translation Committee. Tracing the entire Shanghai vernacular translation process, this monumental achievement traces back to the pioneering work of McDougall in 1847. Between 1847 and 1879, spanning 32 years, Anglo-American Protestant missionaries in Shanghai completed at least 12 Chinese-character editions of the Shanghai vernacular Bible. With support from the Shanghai Vernacular Bible Society, the Shanghai Dialect Joint Bible Translation Committee initially completed at least six vernacular editions. Thus, this classic took a total of 66 years (1847–1913) to complete.
Yang Weihua (Shanghai University): Individualism Imagination and Identity Reshaping Among Republican-Era Christians
Influenced by World War I, socialist movements, and the global economic crisis, Chinese and foreign Christians began reevaluating Western individualism, advocating for human and social welfare to prevent China from repeating past mistakes. From the September 18 Incident to the end of the War of Resistance, as national calamities escalated and the world shifted toward collectivism, individualism's reputation in the West further deteriorated. Chinese Christians also came to see individualism not merely as a Western phenomenon but as the root cause of crises in China and the world. This led Christians to join the ranks of those who diminished the individual in favor of exalting the nation and other collective “greater selves.” After the victory in the War of Resistance, individualism gained room to re-emerge in the West. However, China's landscape of international and domestic conflicts led Christians to view individualism as the underlying cause, perpetuating its negative connotations. Overall, though, Christians across different periods critically examined the alienation of individualism and the drift toward collectivism while consistently guarding individual values. This approach served to prevent the deterioration of collectivism and guide its healthy development. This became the most valuable contribution of Christianity to the narrative of individualism. Of course, this represents the mainstream. Some individuals adopted more radical or conservative stances, paving the way for the construction of distinct political and religious identities.
Nie Li (South-Central University for Nationalities): “Navigating Between Two Parties: Logan Herbert Roots and the Kuomintang and Communist Party”
Logan Herbert Roots (1870–1945), also known as Lu Zhi or Lu Zhi, served as the Bishop of the Diocese of Hubei and Hunan of the American Episcopal Church from 1904 to 1937. He was a pivotal figure in modern China's Christian missionary movement. His entire career unfolded in China, where he served for forty-two years (1896–1938). He not only devoted himself to establishing and expanding the church in the Hubei-Hunan Diocese but also lived through China's most turbulent period—from the Xinhai Revolution and the Nationalist Revolution to the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan—maintaining close ties with the shifting landscape of modern China. He participated in and witnessed the development and adaptation of Christianity in China during the first three decades of the 20th century. Beyond his role as Bishop of the Diocese of Hubei-Hunan, he held key positions and was highly active within China's core Christian organizational structures, including the Anglican Church of China, the Chinese Christian Council, and the All-China Christian Council. During his episcopacy, Bishop Wu cultivated extensive connections, earning him the nickname “Red Bishop.” This paper primarily traces Wu Deshi's interactions with high-ranking figures from both the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, analyzing the possible reasons behind his “Red Bishop” moniker. It also reveals that Wu maintained close ties with Chiang Kai-shek and others. As a prominent religious figure, he navigated between the two parties during that era, actively becoming a frequent guest at the tables of key leaders from both the Kuomintang and the Communist Party.
Guo Jianbin (Southwest University for Nationalities): “Reprinting of Late Ming-Early Qing Catholic Documents in the Late Qing Period: Focusing on Li Wenyu”
After the Jesuits were dissolved by the Pope in 1773, the Society of the Divine Word took over church affairs in Jiangnan, with local Chinese priests gradually becoming the dominant force in church administration. When the Jesuits were restored in 1814, believers in Jiangnan eagerly anticipated their return. In 1842, French Jesuits arrived in Shanghai, attempting to reorganize church affairs and continue the missionary traditions of the Ming and Qing periods. However, they soon discovered numerous undesirable practices among local clergy, consecrated virgins, and devout families. Faced with this situation, the new Jesuits decided to prioritize reorganizing church affairs and temporarily postpone scientific endeavors (to be advanced once missionary numbers were sufficient). They established institutions such as public schools and seminaries in the Jiangnan diocese, cultivating youth through education to advance missionary work. Li Wenyu (1840–1911) epitomized this era. An early student at Xuhui Public School and Jesuit member, he authored and translated 78 works throughout his life: roughly two-thirds focused on Catholic doctrine, liturgy, and saint biographies; the remainder primarily engaged in Sino-Western cultural dialogue or promoted Catholicism through Western learning dissemination. Some of his works reprinted texts by Ming and Qing Jesuits (such as those included in The Essence of the Way). This demonstrates that while the New Jesuits inherited the missionary traditions of the Old Jesuits (such as spreading knowledge and technology), the content of their disseminated knowledge had been updated with the times, reflecting a combination of adaptability and continuity.
Xiao Qinghe (Peking University): Detailed Examination of Qian Qianyi's Relationship with Western Learning and Teaching
During the late Ming dynasty, Qian Qianyi aligned with the Donglin faction. At the dynastic transition, he surrendered to the Qing dynasty, becoming one of the traitorous ministers, later attempting to mask his betrayal through anti-Qing resistance. The Buddhist-oriented environment of the Qian family and his political circumstances led Qian to embrace Buddhism for life, becoming a devout lay Buddhist. Beyond his Buddhist faith, Qian also incorporated various folk beliefs. Despite publicly or privately criticizing Catholicism, Qian maintained connections with Western scholars and missionaries and collected their works. Mirroring his mercurial character, Qian's relationship with Western learning and religion was equally complex. Examining this intricate dynamic sheds light on the interactions between the Donglin faction, traitorous officials, and Western scholarship, while also revealing the merits and shortcomings of the “syncretizing Confucianism with Buddhism” strategy.
Xi Wang (Fuyao University of Science and Technology): Wagner on Religious Truth and Religious Symbolism
In his later years, Wagner forged Schopenhauer's philosophy and Indian religious thought into a unique aesthetic of redemption. He believed the truth underlying the vast cosmos lies in the intrinsic unity of all things. True religion should penetrate appearances, guiding individuals to acknowledge the identity of the other and the self through “empathy,” thereby dismantling the barriers of egoism and sharing life's suffering with all beings. Thus, he affirmed Christianity's moral and empathetic power centered on the image of Christ's suffering. Yet he criticized the church's institutionalization and dogmatism for obscuring this power, arguing that the church had alienated “symbols” (such as miracles and dogmas) into rigid worship of facts, reducing Christianity to an artificial shell. Wagner further argued that art should restore religion's empathetic power: as an idealized symbolic form, art awakens empathy through sensuous intuition, enabling direct apprehension of the religious truth behind symbols. Art thus becomes the vessel of religious truth, elevated to a religious height. Through the empathy for life stirred by art, sacredness manifests as an ethical awakening inherent in the interconnectedness of all things. Yet Wagner's entrusting of religious truth to aesthetic empathy risks subordinating moral obligation to subjective experience, reducing Christian doctrine and authority to dispensable narratives, and ultimately dissolving God as a substantive entity.
He Teng (Fudan University)
This report focuses on Eckhart's mystical thought, revealing its core lies in the metaphysics of “the One,” deeply rooted in the Neoplatonic tradition. Though labeled a heretic for emphasizing the non-differentiation between God and creation, Eckhart was not anti-rational. Instead, he constructed a rigorous metaphysical system through apophatic theology: God transcends existence in essence, being the “Intellect” that is the source of all things; simultaneously distinguishing between “Divinity” (Gottheit) and ‘God’ (Gott)—the former being the ineffable absolute origin, the latter its overflowing manifestation. Practically, he symbolized the possibility of union between human and divine through the “spark of the soul,” emphasizing the abandonment of attachment through “de-imaging” to allow the divine to be present in everyday actions.
Xie Yilin (Jinan University): Philo on the Ascension of Moses' Soul
Philo drew upon the Platonic framework of the soul's ascent to analogically demonstrate that Moses, within Judaism, achieved both the soul's ascension and the ultimate human purpose of walking with God. Thus, within the Platonic philosophical context, Philo not only constructed Moses as the archetypal philosopher-king but also forged his unique image as a divine-human figure. This paper argues that Philo's construction of this novel image of Moses not only demonstrates his adherence to and transformation of the Jewish faith path but also secured Judaism a place in the polyphonic cultural landscape of Hellenized Mediterranean society. This enabled Judaism to transcend national boundaries and engage with the wider world, reflecting Philo's achievement in synthesizing and transforming Greek philosophy with Hebrew faith.
Wang Xuesheng (Zhongyuan University): “The Epistle to Philemon from an Identity Theory Perspective: Exploring Philemon's Multiple Identities and Behavioral Choices”
This study employs identity theory to analyze the Epistle to Philemon, examining Philemon's multiple identities and how these influenced his behavioral choices. The research indicates that Philemon, simultaneously a Christian, church leader, slave owner, and social elite, faced intricate identity conflicts. Paul's rhetorical strategy aimed to heighten the salience of Philemon's identities as a Christian and church leader while challenging his role as a slave owner. Based on Identity Theory, Philemon likely went beyond Paul's explicit request by completely freeing Onesimus and establishing a new interpersonal relationship model grounded in Christian values. This reflects the revolutionary impact of early Christianity on contemporary social structures. Furthermore, this study examines how Roman slavery and early church organizational structures shaped Philemon's identity construction, offering fresh perspectives on early Christian communal identity dynamics and demonstrating the effective application of modern sociological theories to ancient textual analysis.
Xu Songzan (University of Cambridge): “The Cold War and Gospel Migration: Trans-Pacific Movements of Local Churches in the 1950s-70s”
The rapid growth of Chinese Christianity in the 20th century is widely regarded as a significant manifestation of the rise of global Christianity in the Global South. Within Chinese Christian studies, most research focuses on how Christianity integrated into China's sociocultural fabric through processes of localization, contextualization, and adaptation. However, this approach lacks examination of the transnational dissemination and global development of indigenous Chinese Christianity—specifically, how it reached, integrated into, and even influenced Western Christianity through “reverse mission.” This study aims to fill this gap by examining the Local Church Movement. Originating in China yet exhibiting the most pronounced global characteristics, the Local Church movement was initiated by Watchman Nee in the 1920s. After the 1950s, Local Churches outside mainland China were introduced and disseminated to Western nations through Nee's co-workers, collaborators, European and American readers, and followers. This dissemination further expanded to over 150 countries, ultimately evolving into a multiracial, multilingual, and cross-cultural global church movement phenomenon. This paper primarily investigates how, between the 1950s and 1970s, the Local Church employed a “Gospel Migration” strategy within the Cold War context to conduct evangelism, Bible training, and spiritual nurturing among white American citizens. Additionally, it explores the geopolitical and religious circumstances that shaped these “reverse missionary” movements. What cultural conflicts, adaptations, and theological controversies emerged? By tracing and mapping the Local Church's movement patterns and methodologies within the Cold War context, we gain deeper insight into the globalization characteristics of indigenous Chinese Christianity—and indeed, Christianity from the Global South—alongside the tensions it encounters within Western religious landscapes.