A new book, The Independence of the Church in Modern China: A Case Study of the Chaohui Presbyterian Church (1881–1949), was recently released.
The work is written by Professor Hu Weiqing of Shandong University and was published by China Religious Culture Publisher in March 2023.
The book focuses on various issues. First is the issue of self-support in modern Chinese churches. In the early independence movement of modern Chinese churches, economic self-support was considered a prerequisite for the church to become independent; the book therefore examines the condition and level of self-support that the Chaoshan area Presbyterian Church has reached. The factors that constrain a church’s self-supporting ability and the correlation between self-support, self-governance, and self-propagation are also discussed.
The second issue is the self-governance of modern Chinese churches. The Presbyterian Church implemented a comparatively uncommon democratic system in its management. It is different from both the Congregational Church’s autonomous congregationalism and the Methodist Church’s highly centralized episcopal polity; lying between the two, it can be called a moderately centralized democracy. The book studies how such a system was related to church autonomy, in particular its relevance to congregation autonomy, and also its influence on church division.
The third issue discussed is the “missions agency factor” and nationalism. The “missions agency factor” is often considered a negative factor for the local churches’ independence in China, while nationalism is considered the driving force behind the independence movement of the churches. The book investigates and addresses the question of whether these ideas, which are well accepted in academic circles, are relevant to the Chaoshan Church's independence movement.
Employing the research methods of disciplines such as socio-economic history, clan history, and overseas Chinese history, the book quantitatively assesses the elements relating to the church’s independence movement as far as possible. It also expounds on the internal drivers of the movement and outlines the general growth trajectory of the local churches in China. Moreover, the author tries to avoid showing only institutions instead of people, which is one of the drawbacks of research studies. Therefore, he not only conducts a general overview in the book but also an in-depth analysis of several typical cases so that the activities of relevant figures can be combed through in detail and the richness of the church independence movement can be shown.
Born in 1961, Dr. Hu Weiqing is a professor and doctoral supervisor at the School of History and Culture of Shandong University. He has published various academic works, including The Challenge of Universalism: A Research on Christian Education in Modern China, From Education to the Gospel, Suffering and Faith: The Religious Experience of Modern Chaoshan Christians, and more than 60 academic papers.
- Translated by Joyce Leung
《近代中国教会的自立:以潮惠长老会为个案(1881-1949)》近期发行。
此书是胡卫清教授的新书，于2023年3月由宗教文化出版社出版。这本书重点关注了以下几个方面的问题。
首先是近代中国教会的自养问题。在近代中国教会的早期自立运动中，经济上自养被认为是教会能否实现自立的前提。那么在潮汕地区长老会的自养状况究竟是怎样的？达到什么样的水平？什么因素制约了教会的自养？以及自养与自治和自传的关联性等等。
其次是近代中国教会的自治问题，长老会在教会管理上实行的是一种比较独特的民主制度。它既不同于公理会的堂会自主制，也不同于高度集权的卫理公会会督制。而是位于两者之间，可以称之为一种适度集权的民主制。该书考察了这种体制与教会自治尤其是堂会自治乃至教会分裂的关联性。
第三是差会因素与民族主义。差会因素通常被认为是中国本土教会实现自立的负面因素，而民族主义则被认为是教会自立运动的原动力。该书在文中关注和探讨了这一被学术界广泛接受的论断对于潮汕教会自立运动的适用性。
本书试图借鉴社会经济史、宗族史、华侨史的研究方法，尽可能对与自立运动相关的要素进行量化分析，同时对自立运动的内部动因进行了解释，并希望以此勾勒出中国本土教会成长的大致轨迹。同时为避免在研究中只见机构不见人的弊端，该书在进行一般性描述分析的同时，选取了几个较为典型的个案进行深入分析，力图对相关人物的活动进行细致地梳理，希望以此展示教会自立运动本身丰富的内蕴。
胡卫清，1961年生，山东大学历史文化学院教授，博士生导师。出版《普遍主义的挑战：近代中国基督教教育研究》《教育与福音》《苦难与信仰：近代潮汕基督徒的宗教经验》等学术著作，发表学术论文60余篇。
新书速递|胡卫清教授所著《近代中国教会的自立:以潮惠长老会为个案(1881-1949)》出版发行
A new book, The Independence of the Church in Modern China: A Case Study of the Chaohui Presbyterian Church (1881–1949), was recently released.
The work is written by Professor Hu Weiqing of Shandong University and was published by China Religious Culture Publisher in March 2023.
The book focuses on various issues. First is the issue of self-support in modern Chinese churches. In the early independence movement of modern Chinese churches, economic self-support was considered a prerequisite for the church to become independent; the book therefore examines the condition and level of self-support that the Chaoshan area Presbyterian Church has reached. The factors that constrain a church’s self-supporting ability and the correlation between self-support, self-governance, and self-propagation are also discussed.
The second issue is the self-governance of modern Chinese churches. The Presbyterian Church implemented a comparatively uncommon democratic system in its management. It is different from both the Congregational Church’s autonomous congregationalism and the Methodist Church’s highly centralized episcopal polity; lying between the two, it can be called a moderately centralized democracy. The book studies how such a system was related to church autonomy, in particular its relevance to congregation autonomy, and also its influence on church division.
The third issue discussed is the “missions agency factor” and nationalism. The “missions agency factor” is often considered a negative factor for the local churches’ independence in China, while nationalism is considered the driving force behind the independence movement of the churches. The book investigates and addresses the question of whether these ideas, which are well accepted in academic circles, are relevant to the Chaoshan Church's independence movement.
Employing the research methods of disciplines such as socio-economic history, clan history, and overseas Chinese history, the book quantitatively assesses the elements relating to the church’s independence movement as far as possible. It also expounds on the internal drivers of the movement and outlines the general growth trajectory of the local churches in China. Moreover, the author tries to avoid showing only institutions instead of people, which is one of the drawbacks of research studies. Therefore, he not only conducts a general overview in the book but also an in-depth analysis of several typical cases so that the activities of relevant figures can be combed through in detail and the richness of the church independence movement can be shown.
Born in 1961, Dr. Hu Weiqing is a professor and doctoral supervisor at the School of History and Culture of Shandong University. He has published various academic works, including The Challenge of Universalism: A Research on Christian Education in Modern China, From Education to the Gospel, Suffering and Faith: The Religious Experience of Modern Chaoshan Christians, and more than 60 academic papers.
- Translated by Joyce Leung
New Book Examines the Independence of Modern China Churches through the Chaohui Presbyterian Church
