Description
Book SynopsisThe Church of Almighty God, also known as Eastern Lightning, teaches that Jesus Christ has returned to earth as a Chinese woman to judge humankind. The Chinese government has banned it and similar groups, and targeted them in its campaign against “cults” such as Falun Gong. Based on the Church’s own texts and exogenous reports, Emily Dunn offers the first comprehensive account of what the Church of Almighty God teaches, how Chinese Christians and the government have responded to new religious movements related to Protestantism, and how it all fits with global Christianity and the history of Chinese religion.
Trade Review"Dunn delivers a circumspect and instructive assessment of a key actor of the PRC’s contemporary new religious landscape. While the doctrinal dimension and context of Eastern Lightning is tangible through the large corpus of writings, the group’s historical and sociological aspects remain fragmentary and cursory due to the specific (i.e., being informed by the official government discourse) nature of the sources. Dunn certainly makes the best of it. This is a compulsory reading for the student of East Asian new religious movements." Lukas Pokorny, University of Aberdeen, Religious Studies Review, Vol. 42.2, June 2016
Table of ContentsACKNOWLEDGMENTS NOTES LIST OF FIGURES LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS CHAPTER ONE: Eastern Lightning and Religion in China CHAPTER TWO: Protestant-Related New Religious Movements in Contemporary China CHAPTER THREE: The Teachings of Eastern Lightning CHAPTER FOUR: The Heritage of Eastern Lightning's Teachings: A Case Study CHAPTER FIVE: The Chinese Government's Response to Protestant-Related New Religious Movements CHAPTER SIX: The Art of Persuasion: Eastern Lightning's Recruitment Strategies CHAPTER SEVEN: Chinese Protestant Depictions of Heresy CHAPTER EIGHT: CONCLUSION: Eastern Lightning in Local and Global Perspective APPENDIX 1: Annotated Bibliography of Eastern Lightning (Church of Almighty God) Chinese Texts APPENDIX 2: Annotated Bibliography of Eastern Lightning (Church of Almighty God) English Texts BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX
