ACQUAINTED WITH GRIEF

In a way this is a kind of scholarly companion to the book “The Long Road to Freedom” written by Stephen Wang mentioned in another book brief.  Those interested in twentieth century political and religious history in an Asian setting will find ample material to consider in this book.  It deals with issues of missions, politics and theology as well as questions of faith and dissent.  Wang Mingdao who is the subject of this book emerged from humble roots to take a dramatic stand against the state sponsored Chinese churches.  The robust stand of this man is in sharp contrast to that flabby and compromised testimony so often evident in churches of the western world.  Here is a wake up call to the church in our day. It is almost certain that state control and legal harassment of the churches will increase in years to come and the need to resist the totalitarian demands will be vital.  When should Christians practice political dissent and how?  These and other questions are considered in this book.  Those interested in the condition of the church in China will benefit from a reading of this book.  The Church as it exists in China today is divided into two main strands,first, that which is officially sanctioned by the government and is principly a social gospel Christianity and second,  that far larger portion which is underground and to this day suffers varying degrees of harassment and persecution because of its uncompromising stand for the Lord Jesus Christ. The different roots of these two strands are traceable to and illustrated by the life of Wang Mingdao.  The life, resistance, suffering, and perseverance of this man bear the marks of the Chinese church as it exists today.